I would honestly much prefer that you give a firm decision as to which you want to use - then we restrict your settings only to that program. From what I see above, covering too much is generating confusion.
What you really want to see is a single and simple instruction to attain your goal - not a series of them if you want this and another if you want the opposite...
No, I would prefer to know both alternatives in order to make a decision, as I don't know how the settings affect the login window or screensaver. I would like to have the normal black login window to log in. Also, the two services don't offer the same setting options.
I would like to have the service where I can influence how it behaves. Perhaps some settings are not accessible via the GUI, so I don't know what I can set at all.
I'm sure you can assess this much better.
Can you please just suggest one solution that I can try out?
Ordinarly, the Login window is set by LightDM.
LightDM is a display manager, so you cannot disable it from autostart or anything. Changing your DM would require terminal commands followed by several prompts - and would include you specifying a replacement window manager like GDM3 or SDDM. So you won't break it easily.
You can customize your LightDM Login window pretty much however you want, including the background image, using its customization tool:
sudo apt install lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
You can launch with Terminal:
lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
Or from the App Menu. This is a GUI settings application.
I hope this helps you to examine and explore your options for the Display Manager and Login screen, independent of your needs for locking the screen or using a screensaver.
Screen Locker in the autostart list).Lock Screen Tab, enable the slider for "Enable Lock screen"In other words, the login screen after restarting/booting the computer is the same as after a suspend and is always controlled by lightdm regardless of the screen saver and screen lock settings? That's good to know, because this login window is very variable and you can customize it to suit your needs.
Your explanation of how I can activate the two services individually and deactivate the other one is something I understand straight away when I have Zorin in front of me (using distrosea at the moment). Unfortunately, the settings look different in Mint, so I find it difficult to achieve the same thing there.
By default, yes. I know that XFCE4 Screensaver has the ability to give that screen a screensaver... I have never tried it out, though.
That last time I used an active screensaver, it was flying toasters on Windows...
I have been traumatized ever since.
Flying toasters - oh no!
It seems to be complicated in mint. The word "screensaver" is used for two different things.
I refer to only xfce4-screensaver. As long as you do not have another screensaver installed, like xscreensaver, this should not be an issue.
You mean, because xfce4 screensaver and lightlocker both are not able to display images or animations as screensavers but only black screen?
Because of this I can't distinguish which service is running the screensaver.
This is not correct. I am actually confused why you would ask this.
A screensaver shows images that are animated. That is its purpose.
Lightlocker should show the default lockscreen - I do not believe that the default lockscreen on Mint is black. That would make no sense to me.
I wonder if this is a bit of an X - Y
Is having a Lockscreen that is an unwanted black screen a separate issue?
My desktop background is black patternd, and the login window uses it by default. That's okay for me. I don't know where the settings for using images and animations at the screensaver are.
A black pattern?
Or black?
A black pattern.
I think screenshots may be needed...
You can use your camera to snap a photo.
If I assume that the screen is an intentional dark wallpaper...
Neither the screensaver managing login, nor the lightlocker managing login will change the screen or wallpaper unless you explicitly tell it to do so.
You can tell which is in use by which one is enabled in your settings and which is disabled in your settings.
I have finally found the "enable light-locker" settings window. It is not in the power-manager, but in the "Light locker settings" that are not contained in the general settings.
Yes, I set my desktop background so. This didn't happen automatically. And probably I set the screensaver to black because I normally prefer this. But I can no longer find the settings therefore.
Edit:
I read that in Linux Mint XFCE there is only an empty desktop as screensaver, so the black screensaver is normal. When I want to use others I would have to install xscreensaver.
I could still try out what happens when I install xfce4-screensaver. This actually offers the option of displaying animated white mice or animated tiles, for example.
I have now installed xfce4-screensaver. This wasn't yet installed.
This means that LM normally only uses Lightlocker and this as a screensaver (only black screen).
I now have significantly more settings options for the screensaver, including "Lock screensaver for full-screen applications", which could be helpful for video playback.
It is now also clear how I can use the lightlocker and xfce4-screensaver separately.
So far, there have been no more duplicate password requests. I will continue to monitor this and try out different settings.