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PackRat

Member

Registered: 2024-09-24

Posts: 40

xfce4-4.20_2 Void Linux not applying theme - stuck on Adwait

Running Void with xfce4-4.20_2.

When trying to change the theme, the new theme is not applied. The theme is stuck on Adwaita.

There was another thread about it - https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=18924
But that didn't work for me.

I think I tracked it down. The ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xsettings.xml file will not change the line:

<property name="ThemeName" type="string" value="Adwaita"/>

to another theme.

I cannot change that line. If I use the "Appearance"  setting from the menu, mousepad indicates the file has changed and wants to reload, but no changes are made. If I change something else, like the antialias setting, that edit is made. If I change that line manually and then log out/log in, the line defaults back to Adwaita.

And this just started. No problems changing themes maybe 2-3 weeks ago. Don't recall if any xfce4 updates came through.

Maybe this should be submitted as a bug?
Bad package from Void?

Last edited by PackRat (2026-02-09 22:08:24)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,478

Re: xfce4-4.20_2 Void Linux not applying theme - stuck on Adwait

When this happens, can you post back the output of the following commands:

whoami
ps -ef | grep xf
ls -al ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/
ls -al ~/.config/gtk-3.0
cat ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

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PackRat

Member

Registered: 2024-09-24

Posts: 40

Re: xfce4-4.20_2 Void Linux not applying theme - stuck on Adwait

doug

---

root      1138     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfsalloc]
root      1139     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs_mru_cache]
root      1140     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-buf/nvme0n1p4]
root      1141     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-conv/nvme0n1p4]
root      1142     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-reclaim/nvme0n1p4]
root      1143     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-blockgc/nvme0n1p4]
root      1144     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-inodegc/nvme0n1p4]
root      1145     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-log/nvme0n1p4]
root      1146     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/R-xfs-cil/nvme0n1p4]
root      1147     2  0 16:44 ?        00:00:00 [xfsaild/nvme0n1p4]
doug     15733 15715  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-session
doug     15769     1  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
doug     15785     1  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
doug     15797     1  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session xfce4-session
doug     15840     1  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
doug     15855 15733  1 18:59 ?        00:00:00 xfwm4
doug     15864 15733  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 xfsettingsd
doug     15871 15733  1 18:59 ?        00:00:01 xfce4-panel
doug     15884 15733  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 xfdesktop
doug     15892 15733  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-power-manager
doug     15893 15733  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
doug     15987 15871  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/plugins/libsystray.so 6 31457292 systray Status Tray Plugin Provides status notifier items (application indicators) and legacy systray items
doug     15988 15871  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/plugins/libxfce4powermanager.so 12 31457293 power-manager-plugin Power Manager Plugin Display the battery levels of your devices and control the brightness of your display
doug     15989 15871  0 18:59 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib64/xfce4/panel/plugins/libpulseaudio-plugin.so 13 31457294 pulseaudio PulseAudio Plugin Adjust the audio volume of the PulseAudio sound system
doug     16534     1  1 19:00 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/xfce4-terminal
doug     16616 16540  0 19:01 pts/0    00:00:00 grep xf

---

total 88K
drwx------ 2 doug doug 4.0K Feb  9 18:59 ./
drwxr-xr-x 3 doug doug 4.0K Feb  9 13:15 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  156 Feb  9 13:15 displays.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  203 Feb  9 13:19 keyboards.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  790 Feb  9 16:17 thunar.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 2.2K Feb  9 16:19 xfce4-appfinder.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 1.4K Feb  9 16:43 xfce4-desktop.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  13K Feb  9 13:15 xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  604 Feb  9 16:41 xfce4-notifyd.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 4.3K Feb  9 18:59 xfce4-panel.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  510 Feb  9 18:58 xfce4-power-manager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 2.2K Feb  9 13:19 xfce4-session.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  276 Feb  9 18:51 xfce4-settings-manager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug  518 Feb  9 13:23 xfce4-terminal.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 5.4K Feb  9 18:59 xfwm4.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 2.2K Feb  9 16:51 xsettings.000
-rw-r--r-- 1 doug doug 2.1K Feb  9 18:58 xsettings.xml

---

total 32K
drwx------  3 doug doug 4.0K Feb  9 16:25 ./
drwxr-xr-x 49 doug doug 4.0K Feb  9 18:54 ../
drwxr-xr-x  2 doug doug 4.0K Feb  9 16:25 assets/
-rw-r--r--  1 doug doug   19 Feb  9 13:32 bookmarks
-rwxr-xr-x  1 doug doug 4.9K Oct 17 09:26 colors.css*
-rw-r--r--  1 doug doug 1.4K Feb  9 13:31 gtk.css
-rw-r--r--  1 doug doug  422 Feb  9 16:19 settings.ini

---

[Settings]
gtk-theme-name=Fluent-round-grey-Light
gtk-icon-theme-name=Newaita
gtk-font-name=Inter 10
gtk-cursor-theme-name=
gtk-cursor-theme-size=0
gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ
gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR
gtk-button-images=1
gtk-menu-images=1
gtk-enable-event-sounds=0
gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=0
gtk-xft-antialias=1
gtk-xft-hinting=1
gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintslight
gtk-xft-rgba=rgb

Solved/Fixed for now.
I renamed ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xsettings.xml then log out/ log in

Made some changes from the Settings -> Appearnce gui and then edited that line manually. Took a couple tries, but the theme is set now -

 <property name="ThemeName" type="string" value="Fluent-round-grey-Light"/> 

Going to reboot and see if it sticks or defaults to Adwaita again.

Edit - theme did not revert to Adwaita after reboot.

Last edited by PackRat (2026-02-10 00:09:26)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,478

Re: xfce4-4.20_2 Void Linux not applying theme - stuck on Adwait

Out of curiosity, can you:

diff xsettings.xml xsettings.000

Also, having an ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file, especially if it contains a "gtk-theme-name=" line can cause problems. You now have them both set to the same theme name so no harm. If the problem returns, try deleting this file.

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Mark solved threads as [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find solutions.
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PackRat

Member

Registered: 2024-09-24

Posts: 40

Re: xfce4-4.20_2 Void Linux not applying theme - stuck on Adwait

5c5
<     <property name="ThemeName" type="string" value="Fluent-round-grey-Light"/>
---
>     <property name="ThemeName" type="string" value="Adwaita"/>
17c17
<     <property name="DPI" type="empty"/>
---
>     <property name="DPI" type="int" value="96"/>
26,27c26,27
<     <property name="FontName" type="string" value="Noto Sans 11"/>
<     <property name="MonospaceFontName" type="string" value="Noto Sans Mono 11"/>
---
>     <property name="FontName" type="string" value="Inter 10"/>
>     <property name="MonospaceFontName" type="string" value="Fira Mono 10"/>
43a44
>     <property name="LastCustomDPI" type="int" value="96"/>