xscreensaver-demo troubles since X.org 7.5 updates

[Scott Bennett]

     Ever since the mass of updates to upgrade X.org from 7.4 to 7.5, I've
been having troubles with the xscreensaver-demo application that is part of
x11/xscreensaver.  Prior to those updates, it would occasionally lose the
ability to switch to screensaving mode and stay there until the trackball
or keyboard got some activity, but it was a relatively infrequent occurrence.
In order to avoid GPU crashes on my Mobility Radeon 9800 card that occur when
certain screensaver modules are running, I just use the blank screen mode as
the screensaver.
     The old problem that occurred once in a while went like this.  If the
keyboard were locked and whatever the problem's trigger was had already
occurred, the keyboard would lock, but the passord panel would remain
displayed.  The password panel's vertical timeout bar would run down, the
panel would vanish and instantly reappear.  The screen would then have two
lines of error messages displayed, beginning in the upper left corner, and
would remain until I unlocked the screen by entering the password.  The
password panel would also continue to time out and repeat until the password
were entered correctly and the screen unlocked.
     Since the updates, the errors happen very, very frequently.  Further,
when locking the screen, the password panel appears immediately.  If I enter
the password and try locking it again, it usually works on that second try.
Once or twice it has taken a third try before locking with a blank screen.
However, even when it seems to work correctly, if any movement of the trackball
triggers the appearance of the password panel and I don't enter the password,
the panel will eventually time out, vanish, and immediately reappear.  This
process continues to repeat until the password is entered and the screen is
unlocked, just as described above for the situation in which the blank screen
never truly appears when I attempt to lock the screen the first time.  Exiting
and restarting xscreensaver-demo manually corrects the situation temporarily
for a seemingly random, but short, period of time.  It does not appear to be
necessary to kill and restart the xscreensaver daemon process, just the user
interface xscreensaver-demo.
     I never know just how long after starting xscreensaver-demo it will be
okay before failing.  However, I can test it before leaving the machine
unattended simply by clicking on the "Blank Screen Now" menu option.  If the
program is still okay, the screen will fade to black.  If it is not okay, the
screen will fade to black and then instantly go back to the normal, unblanked
display.  This at least allows me to test it without having to lock it and
type in the password in order to find out whether the screen will remain black
if I go away and leave it or lock it.
     If someone knows how to fix this or knows of some workaround for it, I'd
be deeply grateful to know the secret.  Thanks in advance for any help!


                                  Scott Bennett, Comm. ASMELG, CFIAG
**********************************************************************
* Internet:       bennett at cs.niu.edu                              *
*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
* "A well regulated and disciplined militia, is at all times a good  *
* objection to the introduction of that bane of all free governments *
* -- a standing army."                                               *
*    -- Gov. John Hancock, New York Journal, 28 January 1790         *
**********************************************************************