Change the lock screen wallpaper in Kali Sana (Gnome)

Question

I'm annoyed by the 'lock screen' wallpaper of KALI SANA 2.0. This is the default 'lock screen' wallpaper:

I have seen many tutorials on how to change the 'login screen' wallpaper/background but didn't find any about changing the 'lock screen' wallpaper/background picture.

Is there anyone that can guide me through the process of changing the 'lock screen' wallpaper in KALI Sana 2.0?

Go to _System Settings > Personal > Background_. You have to options there (and you can't miss them): _Background_ and _Lock Screen_. — don_crissti, Sep 12 '15 at 10:02
Well, [per the docs](https://help.gnome.org/users/gnome-help/stable/look-background.html.en) that's how you do it. Now, if you're using a distro that has the habit of customizing/patching/modifying upstream code I don't know what to advise. — don_crissti, Sep 12 '15 at 10:16

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 12 '15 at 03:28

3

Try this. Make a file called /usr/share/images/desktop-base/lockscreen.xml, somewhat like this:

<background>
  <static>
    <duration>8640000.0</duration>
    <file>
      <size width="1920" height="1080">/path/to/wallpaper.jpg</size>
    </file>
  </static>
</background>

Then link the file like so: ln -sfv /usr/share/images/desktop-base/lockscreen.xml /etc/alternatives/desktop-background.xml

As root, run this: /etc/init.d/gdm3 restart or just reboot. That should do it. That was the process in older versions of Gnome, so as long as it hasn't changed, you should be good to go.

answered Sep 12 '15 at 03:28

ryanpcmcquen

201
2
5

I've just tried that out and it doesn't work. – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 03:42
@dryleaf, what version of Gnome does that have? – ryanpcmcquen Sep 12 '15 at 03:46
Gnome Shell 3.14.2 – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 03:49
@dryleaf do you have a valid path pointing to your wallpaper? Maybe you could provide that file? – ryanpcmcquen Sep 12 '15 at 03:51
Yes, I do. The image is in a PNG format and the size is same as in the lockscreen.xml script. – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 03:54
1

Did you check the background menu? Looks like that has a lock screen option in that version of Gnome. – ryanpcmcquen Sep 12 '15 at 03:58
It doesn't work for lockscreen. It only opens a picture editor and only gives one option in the menu for set as wallpaper and this only changes the background of the desktop. – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 04:04
Do you have the dconf editor? – ryanpcmcquen Sep 12 '15 at 04:34
Yes I have the editor – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 04:35
You should find the setting in there. – ryanpcmcquen Sep 12 '15 at 15:21
It is not there – dryleaf Sep 12 '15 at 15:22
@dryleaf looks like it is set in the css, check out this script: http://fxin3.deviantart.com/art/UPDATED-GNOME-3-lockscreen-mod-478462065 – ryanpcmcquen Sep 14 '15 at 13:49
Thank you for your help. But i'm afraid to say that that's about customizing the items on the gnome lockscreen, the file: gnome-shell.css itself doesn't contain any reference to change the background of the lockscreen. – dryleaf Sep 14 '15 at 14:31
But it does actually change the background, it seems that the background is actually rendered css. Strange I know, this is why I avoid Gnome. ;^) – ryanpcmcquen Sep 14 '15 at 16:15
I scanned the .css file myself, I saw all the parameters block by block, the only thing the gnome-shell.css does is to customize the icons, lookAndFeel->robots, transparency, fonts and many more. – dryleaf Sep 15 '15 at 01:00
@dryleaf, aha! You need to put an image inside your `~/Pictures` directory and log into gdm as root. Then you will be able to set it in the right-click 'Change Background' setting. – ryanpcmcquen Sep 15 '15 at 16:10
I have not tried that. I will try and see. – dryleaf Sep 16 '15 at 00:57
The thing is that with Root account, it sets the desired image for the lockscreen but it doesn't reflect on the lockscreen itself. In other words, the default lockscreen doesn't change even when you have set the desired image for the lockscreen. – dryleaf Sep 16 '15 at 02:50
Did you restart gdm? – ryanpcmcquen Sep 16 '15 at 05:17
I did even better, I restarted my system. – dryleaf Sep 16 '15 at 05:18
I just tested that on the Kali live ISO and it worked for me ... – ryanpcmcquen Sep 16 '15 at 15:20
@dryleaf, did you try a JPG? – ryanpcmcquen Jan 15 '20 at 14:47

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 05 '19 at 23:40

I also struggled with this for a little while, but what worked for me was annoyingly simple (and it also works for a custom desktop image):

have your file in a file-explorer window ready to click on.
right-click on the desktop and select Change Desktop Background
select the lock-screen to customise (or the desktop) for a list of pictures available
drag the image from the file-explorer window and drop it into to list of pictures shown in the last step (the cursor should change to have a small + visible
the new picture appears in the list and can be selected

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 17 '18 at 18:51

0

As root:
nano /etc/alternatives/gdm3.css

When the file opens:
control w Type: lockDialogGroup Press: Enter

To find:
#lockDialogGroup {
background: #2c001e url(resource:///org/gnome/shell/theme/noise-texture.png);
background-repeat: repeat; }

Change the lines into:
#lockDialogGroup {
background: #2c001e url(file:///SOMEPATHTOSOMEFILE);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-size: cover;
background-position: center; }

Restart and that should do it!

answered Nov 17 '18 at 18:51

Michael Prokopec

2,202
7
21

1

I appreciate you reaching out in 2018 but the distribution has changed a lot since 2015 and lots of bugs have been fixed. (Now already using Kali Rolling Kernel 4.18.0, GNOME 3.30.1) – dryleaf Nov 17 '18 at 19:57
1

You're welcome. I used info known to work as of today on gdm3, that is why I just thought why not. Have a great day! :) – Michael Prokopec Nov 17 '18 at 20:01

score -2 · Answer 4 · edited May 14 '19 at 18:04

My laptops runs Kali Linux with the Gnome DE. Here's how I just changed the lockscreen & login screen backgrounds:

open terminal, type in su root then your password,
type in, cd /usr/share/images/desktop-base then press enter.
type ls and find the png file that says kali wallpaper that fits your screen size and type in mv filename.png filename.png.bak to make a backup file.
Then type ls to see changed results then put your desired image in that folder, then label it with the same name as original ending with .png ext.
then lock the screen, and see results.

Change the lock screen wallpaper in Kali Sana (Gnome)

4 Answers4