Zyv-Wallpapers

A 579 KB live wallpaper engine for Linux. Video behind your icons, decoded on the GPU, that stops itself the moment a window covers the desktop.

Read this first: X11 only

Important

Zyv-Wallpapers does not run on Wayland, and there is no workaround. It places its window at desktop level and makes it input-transparent using X11 extensions that Wayland deliberately does not provide.

Check which session you are in:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

If that says wayland: log out, click the gear icon at the login screen, and choose Ubuntu on Xorg. Ubuntu 22.04 and later default to Wayland, so most Ubuntu users will need to do this once.

On Zorin OS, Linux Mint Cinnamon and Xfce you are already on X11 and there is nothing to change.

Installing it

sudo apt install ./zyv-wallpapers.deb

Every dependency is declared in the package, so apt pulls in mpv, GTK 4, Libadwaita, xdotool and wmctrl on its own. You do not need to install anything by hand.

Setting a wallpaper

  1. Open Zyv-Wallpapers from your applications menu.
  2. Browse to a video file — MP4, WEBM, MKV, anything mpv plays.
  3. Turn audio on if you want it. It is off by default.
  4. Press Start Wallpaper.
Note

A short clip that loops cleanly at 1080p is the sweet spot. A 4K sixty-frame video will work but costs noticeably more power on a laptop running on battery.

The settings that matter

Auto-pause

Leave it on. It watches the desktop and stops playback the moment a window is maximised or goes full screen, then resumes when you can see the desktop again. This is the difference between a live wallpaper you can live with and one you uninstall after a day.

Audio and volume

Off by default. The volume goes to 150%, past the normal ceiling, for clips that were mastered quietly.

Hardware acceleration

Always on, through VA-API. Your GPU decodes the video, not your processor.

Coming back after a restart

The package installs an autostart entry that waits for the X server and the audio system to actually be ready before it starts, rather than firing at login and failing silently.

If it does not come back, the usual cause is that you logged into a Wayland session — check $XDG_SESSION_TYPE again.

Removing it

sudo apt remove zyv-wallpapers

That takes the autostart entry with it. Your video files are untouched.