notifications appear over screensaver

[Derek Kaye]

In Xubuntu Lucid, popup notifications such as new IMs, people signing in etc. appear over the top of the screensaver. This is possibly the same as Bug #21172 but that is "Fix Released" and the last post is in 2005.

I'm not sure if this is a libnotify issue or a pidgin issue.

dezza@beatrice:~$ lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu lucid (development branch)
Release: 10.04

dezza@beatrice:~$ apt-cache policy libnotify1 pidgin-libnotify
libnotify1:
  Installed: 0.4.5-1ubuntu3
  Candidate: 0.4.5-1ubuntu3
  Version table:
 *** 0.4.5-1ubuntu3 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pidgin-libnotify:
  Installed: 0.14-1ubuntu14
  Candidate: 0.14-1ubuntu14
  Version table:
 *** 0.14-1ubuntu14 0
        500 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ lucid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

I feel that this is a privacy issue and that these notifications shouldn't go over the screensaver.

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Thank you for reporting this issue. With the xscreensaver locked, were you able to respond to any of the messages?

[Derek Kaye (kayedj)]

I am unable to interact with the notifications normally (other than blurring on mouseover) - I believe this may be due to not having notification-daemon installed.
I've just tested it, nad once the screensaver is activated I cannot move the mouse outside of the "enter password" box. The messages I sent over msn from one machine to the other displayed for all to see on top of the screensaver. I've also seen (as mentioned earlier) user log in / out messages.
I've not *seen* any other messages, but can ssh in to test if it's just a simple command / script to test to generate the popups?

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Marking this for security since the security knows more than I do.

[Derek Kaye (kayedj)]

I can reproduce it using this script "borrowed" and adapted from bug #534522.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Set screensaver to come on after 1min and lock when on.
2. ssh into machine
3. run:

$ export DISPLAY=:0
$ python osd_test.py

4. observe how notification appears on top of the screensaver.

NB: Not sure if it's relevant or not, but I'm using a dual-screen set up. The notifications appear in the usual place on screen 2.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

what screensaver do you use? gnome-screensaver? it's rather a bug in the screensaver or in the wm, not one in libnotify

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

Please let us know which screensaver this is. could you make sure gnome-screensave or xscreensaver is installed, and not both screensavers?

[Derek Kaye (kayedj)]

dezza@Demetria:~$ apt-cache policy gnome-screensaver
gnome-screensaver:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.30.0-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.30.0-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://mirror.as29550.net/archive.ubuntu.com/ lucid-updates/main Packages
     2.30.0-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://mirror.as29550.net/archive.ubuntu.com/ lucid/main Packages
dezza@Demetria:~$ apt-cache policy xscreensaver
xscreensaver:
  Installed: 5.10-3ubuntu4
  Candidate: 5.10-3ubuntu4
  Version table:
 *** 5.10-3ubuntu4 0
        500 http://mirror.as29550.net/archive.ubuntu.com/ lucid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
dezza@Demetria:~$

I've noticed that it's not just limited to libnotify. Skype and Thunderbird pop-ups also appear over the screensaver.

[Charlie Kravetz (cjkgeek)]

 Thanks for reporting this bug and any supporting documentation. Since this bug has enough information provided for a developer to begin work, I'm going to mark it as confirmed and let them handle it from here.

I have changed the package from gnome-screensaver to xscreensaver, since xscreensaver is the package in use.

Thanks for taking the time to make Ubuntu better!

[ImConfused (ed-dori-robinov)]

Skype4.0 uses a popup notifier that has the answer the phone button on it and no where else. The only way that I can get the popup to reappear when it doesn't work is to restart Skype. Unfortunately usually I find it isn't working when I can't answer and incoming call.

I did the following. I uninstalled the xscreensaver. I already had the monitor being powered down by the xfce power manager. I started Skype yesterday. It is still answering today I tested it with the Options, Notifiers, Incoming call ringing. and test. The test didn't work when it was not working correctly..

[ImConfused (ed-dori-robinov)]

17 hours later and Skype notifier still works after my last post. The screensaver is definitely the problem. In one comment it appeared that the notifier started getting put in a position below the bottom of the screen. There was a fix to change the alignment of the monitors in a dual monitor scenario. Should that be the reason for the disappearance, if the Skype programmers have any control over the position of the notification on the screen they should either place it somewhere on top right or left or higher on the bottom or give the user the option of where the notification is placed on the screen.

[Eugene Pakhomov (p-himik)]

Yeah, this bug is still in place. Desktop notifications from Google Chrome and notifications from Skype are being displayed over xscreensaver.

[Darxus (darxus)]

This bug is still present.

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS
Release: 14.04
Codename: trusty

$ apt-cache policy xscreensaver
xscreensaver:
  Installed: 5.15-3ubuntu1
...

[Darxus (darxus)]

Possibly relevant from the xscreensaver faq: https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/faq.html#popup-windows
The window manager I'm using is metacity 1:2.34.13-0ubuntu4.1.