The computer failed entirely to lock

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

Distribution

Mint 22.3

Package version

6.6.1

Graphics hardware in use

Onboard AMD

Frequency

Only occasionally

Bug description

I left the computer for long enough that it should have locked. It did not lock at all; the screen was showing as normal. The computer is a laptop. The laptop's lid was up. No media was playing, though previously I had been watching video; the program that had played the video was - before I left the computer - no longer running.

Steps to reproduce

Unknown.

Expected behavior

The screen should lock.

Additional information

$ cinnamon-screensaver --debug --hold
Loading AccountsService
Fractional scaling active: False
Trying to connect to logind...
Starting screensaver...
Debug mode active
Cinnamon Screensaver support not found in current theme - adding some...
service: 'GetActive' received, poking application.
service: 'GetActive' received, poking application.
service: 'GetActive' received, poking application.
service: 'GetActive' received, poking application.
org.gnome.ScreenSaver is gone from the session bus
org.mate.ScreenSaver is gone from the session bus
service: 'GetActive' received, poking application.
AccountsService ready
login client: found session path for user '[me]' (session_id: c2): /org/freedesktop/login1/session/c2
Successfully using logind

xsession-errors includes:

(csd-automount:2899): csd-automount-WARNING **: 00:29:45.879: Can't call GetActive() on the ScreenSaver object: Cannot invoke mcinnamon-session-binary[2745]: WARNING: t+74253.34061s: Could not retrieve current screensaver active state: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
ethod; proxy is for the well-known name “org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver” without an owner, and proxy was constructed with the G_DBUS_PROXY_FLAGS_DO_NOT_AUTO_START flag

Here is some perhaps relevant stuff from the syslog.

16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:01.791830+01:00 F13 CRON[1541254]: (root) CMD (command -v debian-sa1 > /dev/null && debian-sa1 1 1)
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.652926+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[2248]: [session uid=1000 pid=2248] Activating service name='org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver' requested by ':1.77347' (uid=1000 pid=1541426 comm="/usr/bin/python3 /usr/share/cinnamon-screensaver/c" label="unconfined")
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.733497+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Loading AccountsService
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.733562+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Fractional scaling active: False
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.740814+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Trying to connect to logind...
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.741475+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[2248]: [session uid=1000 pid=2248] Successfully activated service 'org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver'
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.741884+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Starting screensaver...
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.801705+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Cinnamon Screensaver support not found in current theme - adding some...
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:25:09.988589+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Successfully using logind
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:02.020753+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[1590]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.timedate1' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.timedate1.service' requested by ':1.21664' (uid=1000 pid=1543662 comm="/usr/lib/firefox/firefox" label="firefox (unconfined)")
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:02.031125+01:00 F13 systemd[1]: Starting systemd-timedated.service - Time & Date Service...
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:02.057304+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[1590]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.timedate1'
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:02.057414+01:00 F13 systemd[1]: Started systemd-timedated.service - Time & Date Service.
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.350680+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: AccountsService ready
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.358954+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Error in sys.excepthook:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.359010+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Original exception was:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.359045+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Error in sys.excepthook:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.359070+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Original exception was:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.359093+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Error in sys.excepthook:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:20.359120+01:00 F13 org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver[1541435]: Original exception was:
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:27:32.107880+01:00 F13 systemd[1]: systemd-timedated.service: Deactivated successfully.
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:29:44.350878+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[2248]: [session uid=1000 pid=2248] Activating service name='org.xfce.Xfconf' requested by ':1.77640' (uid=1000 pid=1547699 comm="xfce4-terminal" label="unconfined")
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:29:44.354812+01:00 F13 dbus-daemon[2248]: [session uid=1000 pid=2248] Successfully activated service 'org.xfce.Xfconf'
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:29:45.880837+01:00 F13 cinnamon-session-binary[2745]: WARNING: t+74253.34061s: Could not retrieve current screensaver active state: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
16/05/2026 00:31			2026-05-16T00:30:02.716279+01:00 F13 xdg-desktop-por[3431]: Realtime error: Could not get pidns: pidns required but no pidfd provided

My computer

fastfetch -l none
[. . .]
OS: Linux Mint 22.3 x86_64
Host: Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040Series) (A5)
Kernel: Linux 6.17.0-23-generic
Uptime: 9 days, 22 hours, 22 mins
Packages: 2654 (dpkg), 7 (flatpak)
Shell: bash 5.2.21
Display (NE135A1M-NY1): 2880x1920 @ 2x in 13", 120 Hz
DE: Cinnamon 6.6.7
WM: Muffin (X11)
WM Theme: Mint-Y-Dark-Teal (Mint-Y)
Theme: gtk2 [Qt], Mint-Y-Dark-Teal [GTK2/3/4]
Icons: Paper [Qt], Paper [GTK2/3/4]
Font: Noto Sans (11pt) [GTK2/3/4]
Cursor: DMZ-Black (38px)
Terminal: xfce4-terminal 1.1.3
Terminal Font: Liberation Mono (13pt)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (12) @ 4.97 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon 760M Graphics [Integrated]
Memory: 4.23 GiB / 14.93 GiB (28%)
Swap: 124.80 MiB / 46.57 GiB (0%)
Disk (/): 21.26 GiB / 147.39 GiB (14%) - ext4
Disk (/home): 62.05 GiB / 384.42 GiB (16%) - ext4
Disk (/timeshift): 97.48 GiB / 293.11 GiB (33%) - ext4
Battery (FRANGWA): 80% [AC Connected]
Locale: en_GB.UTF-8

This problem resembles #440, but is worse.

[claudiux]

v6.6.1? Please try updating Cinnamon.

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

I find now that cinnamon-screensaver --version does not give a version number.

$ cinnamon-screensaver --version
Loading AccountsService
Fractional scaling active: False
Trying to connect to logind...
Failed to register: Unable to acquire bus name 'org.cinnamon.ScreenSaver'

But:

apt list cinnamon-screensaver | grep installed

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

cinnamon-screensaver/zena,now 6.6.1+zena amd64 [installed]

Is there an update I am missing? The computer is being offered no update. And my other Mint laptop has the same version.

[mtwebster]

It will 'fail' like that if the process is already running (the process lives on for 30 seconds after you unlock the desktop before exiting).

If you wait a bit, the version check should succeed.

Check mintreport for crashes - has 'csd-power' crashed at all? That (cinnamon-settings-daemon power plugin) handles the idle timers that activate the screensaver.

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

Thanks both.

It will 'fail' like that if the process is already running (the process lives on for 30 seconds after you unlock the desktop before exiting).

Perhaps you should put that into the issue report form.

After waiting, the machine reported v6.6.1.

Mint Report reports no crash for csd-power and indeed no crashes at all for this month. System Monitor shows a process for 'csd-power'.

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

I have obtained from github a .deb of 6.7.1 of the screensaver. But that version is marked 'unstable'. Ought I to install it?

[mtwebster]

No definitely not. I'd try re-installing the current version. Is it not working at all now? Is this reproducable? All things being the same, it shouldn't just 'break'.

[LinuxOnTheDesktop]

I have reinstalled cinnamon-screensaver 6.6.11, as mtwebster advised. I will see whether over the next few weeks there is any failure. And I will report back, here.