[SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

WebReflection · 2015-05-05 16:11:51

It's being surprisingly difficult to understand what's needed in order to have a login screen that does not contain the default noise PNG as background.

Apparently now the default theme is a gresource so common css overwrite don't seem to make it.

How did you folks solved this problem?

Apologies if already discussed, it's just that the problem is NOT the GNOME Desktop Background, and NOT the lock screen, just ONLY the gdm background screen during login.

Other tricks seem to not work neither:
sudo -u gdm dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver picture-uri '/new/picture.png'

Thanks for any sort of help with this and Best Regards

Last edited by WebReflection (2015-05-06 19:00:05)

mychris · 2015-05-05 17:44:19

Have you tried the suggestions which are in the wiki.

atrotet · 2015-05-06 03:32:37

I finally got this to work. The wiki needs updating as of now it only states that gnome shell theme is now in a binary format, but not how to extract and repack it afterwards...
Anyway this is how i got it to work.

Use this script to extract gnome-shell-theme inside your choosen working directory

extractgst.sh

#! /bin/sh
 
#change workdir to suit your system
workdir=/home/merlin/temp/GS/test
gst=/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource
mkdir theme

for r in `gresource list $gst`; do
        gresource extract $gst $r >$workdir${r/#\/org\/gnome\/shell/}
done

Once you've run the script you should have the theme extracted to the theme folder which was created inside your workdir.
Now you can proceed to add a background image to this folder and edit gnome-shell.css by following the wiki page.

You must now create the file gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml inside the theme directory. Simply copy paste the xml code below into gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml, making sure to change the line that refers to your background image. On my system the background image is named login-background.jpg

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gresources>
  <gresource prefix="/org/gnome/shell/theme">
    <file>calendar-arrow-left.svg</file>
    <file>calendar-arrow-right.svg</file>
    <file>calendar-today.svg</file>
    <file>checkbox-focused.svg</file>
    <file>checkbox-off-focused.svg</file>
    <file>checkbox-off.svg</file>
    <file>checkbox.svg</file>
    <file>close-window.svg</file>
    <file>close.svg</file>
    <file>corner-ripple-ltr.png</file>
    <file>corner-ripple-rtl.png</file>
    <file>dash-placeholder.svg</file>
    <file>filter-selected-ltr.svg</file>
    <file>filter-selected-rtl.svg</file>
    <file>gnome-shell.css</file>
    <file>gnome-shell-high-contrast.css</file>
    <file>logged-in-indicator.svg</file>
    <file>login-background.jpg</file>
    <file>more-results.svg</file>
    <file>no-events.svg</file>
    <file>no-notifications.svg</file>
    <file>noise-texture.png</file>
    <file>page-indicator-active.svg</file>
    <file>page-indicator-inactive.svg</file>
    <file>page-indicator-checked.svg</file>
    <file>page-indicator-hover.svg</file>
    <file>process-working.svg</file>
    <file>running-indicator.svg</file>
    <file>source-button-border.svg</file>
    <file>summary-counter.svg</file>
    <file>toggle-off-us.svg</file>
    <file>toggle-off-intl.svg</file>
    <file>toggle-on-us.svg</file>
    <file>toggle-on-intl.svg</file>
    <file>ws-switch-arrow-up.png</file>
    <file>ws-switch-arrow-down.png</file>
  </gresource>
</gresources>

now the only thing left to do is to run

cd ./theme
glib-compile-resources gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml

It will create a gresource file that you can swap in /usr/share/gnome-shell.
Good luck and hopefully I will save many some headache. Took me quite a while to get the whole thing working

Last edited by atrotet (2015-05-06 04:49:36)

WebReflection · 2015-05-06 18:12:37

@mychris I'm the one that edited the Wiki in first place because of misleading info ... is very outdated, and I'm not sure how to clean it up with these info.

@atrotet THANKS A LOT!!!! So to make life easier for everyone else too, I've created a bash script that automates the entire procedure. Let's calls it login-background.sh

#!/usr/bin/sh

if [ "$IMAGE" = "" ]; then
  IMAGE=$(
    dbus-launch gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.screensaver picture-uri |
    sed -e "s/'//g" |
    sed -e "s/^file:\/\///g"
  )
fi

if [ ! -f $IMAGE ]; then
  echo "unknown IMAGE $IMAGE"
  exit 1
fi

echo ''
echo 'using the following image as login background:'
echo $IMAGE
echo ''

if [ -d ~/tmp ]; then
  CREATED_TMP="0"
else
  mkdir -p ~/tmp
  CREATED_TMP="1"
fi

WORKDIR=~/tmp/gdm-login-background
GST=/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource
GSTRES=$(basename $GST)

mkdir -p $WORKDIR
cd $WORKDIR
mkdir theme

for r in `gresource list $GST`; do
  gresource extract $GST $r >$WORKDIR$(echo $r | sed -e 's/^\/org\/gnome\/shell\//\//g')
done

cd theme
cp "$IMAGE" ./

echo "
#lockDialogGroup {
  background: #2e3436 url(resource:///org/gnome/shell/theme/$(basename $IMAGE));
  background-size: cover;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
}" >>gnome-shell.css

echo '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<gresources>
  <gresource prefix="/org/gnome/shell/theme">' >"${GSTRES}.xml"
for r in `ls *.*`; do
  echo "    <file>$r</file>" >>"${GSTRES}.xml"
done
echo '  </gresource>
</gresources>' >>"${GSTRES}.xml"

glib-compile-resources "${GSTRES}.xml"

sudo mv "/usr/share/gnome-shell/$GSTRES" "/usr/share/gnome-shell/${GSTRES}.backup"
sudo mv "$GSTRES" /usr/share/gnome-shell/

rm -r $WORKDIR

if [ "$CREATED_TMP" = "1" ]; then
  rm -r ~/tmp
fi

What does it do ?

It's quite simple, it accepts a generic IMAGE env variable

IMAGE=/usr/local/images/whatever.png sh login-background.sh

If not specified, it uses the default image used by GNOME 3.16 as locked out/screensaver

if not found, it gets out.

The rest is about doing what you suggested using sed, which is present by default in Arch, overwriting the CSS instead of replacing it (although not sure this is the best way but it ust works), creating a .backup file for he previous resource and moving the generated one over, cleaning up after everything is done.

It worked like a charm, so thank you very much for this!!!! I own you one

Last edited by WebReflection (2015-05-06 18:47:12)

WebReflection · 2015-05-06 19:08:21

Side note: in case anyone would like to take the shortcut, I'm maintaining my own OS flavor which is Arch Linux and GNOME and the main helper/installer is a file called

archibold

If you want the most simplified way to update the gdm login background and whatever else archibold has to offer this is the procedure:

curl -L -O http://archibold.io/sh/archibold
chmod +x archibold
sudo mv archibold /usr/bin/

# to know all options
archibold

# in case your lock screen is what you want as login background
archibold login-background

# in case you want a different image as background
# archibold login-background /usr/dir/different/image.png

Please ignore the resplash option if you are not on archibold created distro, and feel free to use other shortcuts to maintain your arch linux distro.

The reference site is archibold.io, already posted somewhere in this forum befoore :-)

Cheers

atrotet · 2015-05-07 13:50:44

WebReflection wrote:

It worked like a charm, so thank you very much for this!!!! I own you one

Hey no worries, I am glad after 9 years of using arch I finally get to help someone ...
I saw your post after litteraly spending a full day researching on resources file and how to work with them. Documentation is a bit lacking on the matter. I had just finished rebooting after installing my login background ahah.
And also I want to point out that you can achieve this using different methods as explained in this thread. I did try (and fail) to rebuild gnome-shell-theme from git as it seems the 3.16 branch was missing files. It did help me by providing me a template xml file though.
I believe the unpack/repack method is a better way to tweak the theme anyways...

Last edited by atrotet (2015-05-07 14:34:21)

eduncan911 · 2015-05-08 22:16:15

Thanks @WebReflection for the script. Worked like a charm! (though, I tweaked it to allow spaces in the name and to use cli parameters, instead of env).

And thanks to @atrotet for explaining how to do it!

shashankgandham · 2015-06-22 16:02:08

@atrotet

I cant seem to run your script

It gives me following error

test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-arrow-left.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-arrow-right.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-today.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/checkbox-focused.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/checkbox-off-focused.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/checkbox-off.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/checkbox.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/close-window.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/close.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/corner-ripple-ltr.png: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/corner-ripple-rtl.png: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/dash-placeholder.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/filter-selected-ltr.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/filter-selected-rtl.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/gnome-shell-high-contrast.css: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/gnome-shell.css: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/logged-in-indicator.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/more-results.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/no-events.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/no-notifications.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/noise-texture.png: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/page-indicator-active.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/page-indicator-checked.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/page-indicator-hover.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/page-indicator-inactive.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/process-working.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/running-indicator.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/source-button-border.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/summary-counter.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/toggle-off-intl.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/toggle-off-us.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/toggle-on-intl.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/toggle-on-us.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/ws-switch-arrow-down.png: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/ws-switch-arrow-up.png: No such file or directory

blufinney · 2015-06-23 00:27:30

shashankgandham wrote:

@atrotet
I cant seem to run your script
It gives me following error
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-arrow-left.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-arrow-right.svg: No such file or directory
test.sh: line 9: /home/test/theme/calendar-today.svg: No such file or directory
...

It was a few weeks back but I remember running into some self inflicted issues when initially attempting to use the shell script WebReflection compiled. Here are three things I did to alleviate the self infliction I was causing:

1. Make sure you grabbed the whole script, it should be 68 lines
2. Make sure you read the entire 68 lines to confirm you're comfortable running this in sudo
3. Use sudo since we're making changes to root level files to do this

Oh, and if you f'd up your ability to log in with GDM you'll need to do some fixing up.

1. Goto command line e.g. "Ctrl+Alt+F3"
2. Rename /usr/share/gnome-shell to /usr/share/gnome-shell.bak
3. re-install gnome (this will re-create the gnome-shell folder with defaults

Not sure if you were running into any of this, hope it helps you or someone else.

-blu

Jaden71 · 2015-09-10 02:44:19

Hello all,

This worked, however now there's an additional bar on the top that has a different blur/edits compared to the real image.
I would like it to look the same way as it's logged on (my theme has a transparent top bar).
Is there a setting that I can change so that this works?

This is my CSS that relates to the top bar:

Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the necro.

Last edited by Jaden71 (2015-09-10 02:51:54)

olliemath · 2016-03-12 12:45:32

Sorry to necro, but just to pre-empt others having the same problem and finding this as the first entry on google as I did: if you get an odd "wrapping" behavior for your image on the login screen, replace the section

echo "
#lockDialogGroup {
  background: #2e3436 url(resource:///org/gnome/shell/theme/$(basename $IMAGE));
  background-size: cover;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
}" >>gnome-shell.css

in WebReflection's script with

echo "
#lockDialogGroup {
  background: #2e3436 url(resource:///org/gnome/shell/theme/$(basename $IMAGE));
  background-size: cover;
  background-repeat: no-repeat;
  border:solid transparent 1px;
}" >>gnome-shell.css

Bitl0rd · 2016-04-19 15:37:31

The method described in the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GD … ound_image does not work in gnome 3.20.1. does not change the wallpaper and dialog boxes and leave perched

WorMzy · 2016-04-19 15:50:45

I'm going to go ahead and close this topic now.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … bumping.22

Closing.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-05-05 16:11:51

[SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#2 2015-05-05 17:44:19

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#3 2015-05-06 03:32:37

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#4 2015-05-06 18:12:37

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#5 2015-05-06 19:08:21

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#6 2015-05-07 13:50:44

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#7 2015-05-08 22:16:15

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#8 2015-06-22 16:02:08

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#9 2015-06-23 00:27:30

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#10 2015-09-10 02:44:19

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#11 2016-03-12 12:45:32

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#12 2016-04-19 15:37:31

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

#13 2016-04-19 15:50:45

Re: [SOLVED] GNOME 3.16 + GDM Login & Background Image

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