Catalina - screensaver

[jameson]

Anyone able to set screensavers on Catalina. I had below script that worked fine for Mojave - but for Catalina it does not

#!/bin/sh
# Get user logged into console and put into variable "user"
user=`ls -l /dev/console | cut -d " " -f 4`
osMajor=$(sw_vers -productVersion | awk -F"." '{print $2}')
osMinor=$(sw_vers -productVersion | awk -F"." '{print $3}')


sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver CleanExit -string "YES"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver PrefsVersion -int 100
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver showClock -string "NO"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver idleTime -int 120


if [[ $osMajor -eq 14 ]] && [[ $osMinor -ge 2 ]]; then

        sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/PlugIns/iLifeSlideshows.appex" type -int 0

        else

        sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/iLifeSlideshows.saver" type -int 0
fi


sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver tokenRemovalAction -int 0

sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser LastViewedPhotoPath -string ""
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedFolderPath -string "/Library/EC/lockscreens"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedSource -int 3

sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaver.iLifeSlideShows styleKey -string "Classic"

sudo killall -hup cfprefsd

[JCMBowman]

Try this instead - note that I changed the actual screen saver and the photo path being applied to suit my uses...

#!/bin/zsh
# Get user logged into console and put into variable "user"
user=`ls -l /dev/console | cut -d " " -f 4`
osMajor=$(sw_vers -productVersion | awk -F"." '{print $2}')
osMinor=$(sw_vers -productVersion | awk -F"." '{print $3}')


sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver CleanExit -string "YES"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver PrefsVersion -int 100
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver showClock -string "NO"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver idleTime -int 120


if [[ $osMajor -eq 14  && $osMinor -ge 2 ]] || [[ $osMajor -ge 15 ]] ; then

        sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/PlugIns/iLifeSlideshows.appex" type -int 0

        else

        sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/iLifeSlideshows.saver" type -int 0
fi


sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver tokenRemovalAction -int 0

sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser LastViewedPhotoPath -string ""
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedFolderPath -string "/Library/Screen Savers/Default Collections/MyPics"
sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedSource -int 3

sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaver.iLifeSlideShows styleKey -string "VintagePrints"

killall -hup cfprefsd

The issue in the old script was that the "if" statement was looking for anything that was a major OS version equal to 14, and had a minor OS version greater than or equal to 1. But that meant that under catalina it didn't meet the major OS version so it applied the 10.14.1 and earlier fix.

[Lives]

@JCMBowman Thank you, this worked nicely!
Does anyone know what I would have to change in order to uncheck Shuffle Slide Order off?

Thanks!

[JCMBowman]

@Lives - try adding this line near the similar lines for com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser:

sudo -u $user defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser ShufflesPhotos -bool FALSE

[sfaeder]

I tried using this script and it does not seem to work for me at all on any MacOS version. No matter what I do, it only shows the stock photos. I verified the folder path is correct. Is there something else that needs to be changed aside from the SelectedFolderPath? Hopefully I'm just missing something small!

[smpotter]

I'm using this to set custom screensavers across all our Mac (macOS 10.13.x - 10.15.7 ) and it works great. I have custom folder created at "/Library/Screen Savers/Default Collections/CompanyName" where I place the image files and then execute the script (postinstall)...

#!/bin/sh

## get current user
user=`ls -l /dev/console | cut -d " " -f 4`

## get macOS version(s)
osMajor=$(/usr/bin/sw_vers -productVersion | /usr/bin/awk -F"." '{print $2}')
osMinor=$(/usr/bin/sw_vers -productVersion | /usr/bin/awk -F"." '{print $3}')

## set key items for screensaver
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver CleanExit -string "YES"
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver PrefsVersion -int 100
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver showClock -string "NO"
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver idleTime -int 1200

## configure screensaver framework based on macOS version
if [[ $osMajor -eq 14 ]] && [[ $osMinor -ge 2 ]]; then
    /usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/PlugIns/iLifeSlideshows.appex" type -int 0
  else
    /usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver moduleDict -dict moduleName -string "iLifeSlideshows" path -string "/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/iLifeSlideshows.saver" type -int 0
fi

## additional configuration settings for screensaver framework
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver tokenRemovalAction -int 0
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser LastViewedPhotoPath -string ""
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedFolderPath -string "/Library/Screen Savers/Default Collections/CompanyName/"
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedSource -int 3
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser ShufflesPhotos -bool "false"
/usr/bin/sudo -u $user /usr/bin/defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaver.iLifeSlideShows styleKey -string "Classic"
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/killall -hup cfprefsd
exit 0

[sfaeder]

This worked well for me. Thank you stranger!

[dpratl]

Hi @smpotter,

Thank you very much for this script. It is also working on an M1 MacBook and Big Sur!

BR
Daniel

[PaulS_CUKL]

Does anyone know the variables for the -stylekey string? im looking for Vintage Prints but can't figure it out...

[shrisivakumaran]

is it still working? tested in Catalina and Monterey its not working, screensaver is not working with custom image. does anyone have working scripts or policy?

[BagaleAnil]

@smpotter this script is not working on Sonoma.

Do we need to modify it for Sonoma OS?