Filed under: Terminal Tips
Terminal Tips: Make your Screensaver a desktop background
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -backgroundTo get things back to normal (which you probably will want to do, as many screensavers will put undue load on your processor), either close the Terminal window, press control + C, or restart your computer. If you are running Leopard and have the clock overlay active, it will appear above all windows, which can get a little annoying.
Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and Terminal Tips sections.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ant said 9:05AM on 8-25-2008
Also front row doesn't load when this is enabled
Reply
Brett said 9:07AM on 8-25-2008
thats really cool, does anyone know how to make this change permanent?
Reply
kmfdm said 9:19AM on 8-25-2008
is there anyway to make this permanent?
Reply
Mark said 9:27AM on 8-25-2008
File this under: "Neat things OSX can do but why anyone would do this is beyond my comprehension".
The performance hit across the board is enormous by doing this.
Reply
Howie Isaacks said 9:28AM on 8-25-2008
Great. Thanks. It screwed up my screensaver. Good thing I'm an Apple Certified Tech!!!
Reply
oliver smith said 11:01AM on 8-25-2008
guys it's a 6 years old trick :-)
Sat, Aug 24 2002 at 8:22AM PDT • Submitted by andrewz
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20020824082233907&query=ScreenSaverEngine
Reply
Lincoln said 9:43AM on 8-25-2008
A lot of these Terminal Tips can all be performed within OnyX, without the Terminal part.
Reply
Brad said 6:36AM on 9-17-2008
A widget is available that is basically a wrapper for the Terminal command. It performs it beautifully and simply:
http://www.apaulodesign.com/widgets/wallsaver.php
Grizzly H Adams said 9:48AM on 8-25-2008
There is already a perfectly good app that accomplishes this on a permanent basis and without need for terminal windows: Wallsaver (http://www.wallsaverapp.com/)
Reply
Redhead said 9:53AM on 8-25-2008
Well, depends on how the screensaver performs. http://www.9031.com/downloads/screensavers.html , Fliqlo will probably perform good as a wallpaper and screensaver.
Will try this tip... thanks TUAW!
Reply
JesterXR said 10:02AM on 8-25-2008
An easier way is to use the program "Backlight 2" check it out!
Here is a link to download: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16015
ENJOY!
Reply
Jake said 10:07AM on 8-25-2008
Better terminal trick:
( ( /System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background & ) & )
then you can close the window and quit it.
End yhe screensaver with
killall ScreenSaverEngine
Reply
Chris Coleman said 10:17AM on 8-25-2008
Um, since closing the Terminal window will end this, why do you recommend restarting your computer? That's like saying, "to turn off the radio, turn off your car"
Reply
zombieseamonkeyz said 10:48AM on 8-25-2008
I hate to break it to you but Vista users have been able to have animated wallpapers for a long time that don't slow down computers at all. I support mac, but I would never have a screen saver as a wallpaper when I can have a normal one that's just as good of a quality that doesn't hog my processing power. Vista: 1, Mac: 999, sorry mac loses on this one...
Reply
Jonathan Wise said 11:29AM on 8-25-2008
Well I'll one up you on Windows. NeXTStep users were able to do this, back when Windows was at 3.0...
In fact, I imagine this Terminal hack does much the same thing as the NeXTStep function
Phlake said 12:41PM on 8-25-2008
Point of clarification:
Vista Ultimate is capable of running the screen saver as wallpaper, not any other version. All Macs can perform this trick.
In addition, the performance hit incurred by running the screen saver in the back is roughly the same as merely running the screen saver. OS X just has more demanding screen savers, such as the photo mosaic and such.
James said 12:58PM on 8-25-2008
This tip is ancient. It's been possible to do this since before they started coding Vista. No one-up here, sorry.
Andrew Moulton said 10:16PM on 8-25-2008
@ Phlake: untrue...a simple registry edit can "enable" dreamscene on any version of vista...
Simon said 11:06AM on 8-25-2008
You don't need an app for this (or use Terminal), there's a widget which will handle this for you:
http://www.apaulodesign.com/widgets/wallsaver.php
Can't recommend it though, for all the reasons previously mentioned, but it's a fun feature to try out. :)
Reply
John said 11:43AM on 8-25-2008
Here's a pair of AppleScripts that makes this easy to control - one to start, one to stop. Store the two AppleScript files anywhere you'd like - drag both to your dock for ready access.
One note: complex screensavers (like Flurry) and multiple displays will put a significant load on the CPU.
Enjoy, John G.
http://www.radtech.us/Software/ScreenTop.zip
Reply