Icon theme issues

Support Xfce
1

I was trying to fix a missing Dropbox tray icon in XFCE, and took my troubleshooting to ChatGPT, because I am not a very techy, but that might have been a big mistake. Anyway now it seems no icon theme works, not even Papirus, most of them default to white icons, both in system tray, on desktop etc.
desktop
panel
How can I fix this mess?

System:
  Kernel: 6.12.28-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=b6c21d4b-a4fa-481d-ad44-4eefb4cc6387 rw quiet splash apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.48 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
    with: albert,xfce4-panel tools: xfce4-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0
    Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B760-PLUS D4 v: Rev 1.xx
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: SKU uuid: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1658 date: 05/22/2024
CPU:
  Info: model: 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
    arch: Raptor Lake gen: core 13 level: v3 note: check built: 2022+
    process: Intel 7 (10nm) family: 6 model-id: 0xBF (191) stepping: 2
    microcode: 0x3A
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 7 cores: 10 threads: 16 mt: 6 tpc: 2
    st: 4 smt: enabled cache: L1: 864 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB, 6x48 KiB; i-6x32
    KiB, 4x64 KiB L2: 9.5 MiB desc: 6x1.2 MiB, 1x2 MiB L3: 20 MiB
    desc: 1x20 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/4600:3300 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800
    8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 800 14: 800 15: 800 16: 800
    bogomips: 79888
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling mitigation: Clear Register File
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB: conditional;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: BHI_DIS_S
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Lexa PRO [Radeon
    540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X] vendor: XFX Pine driver: amdgpu
    v: kernel arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 ports: active: DP-1,HDMI-A-1
    empty: DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:699f class-ID: 0300
    temp: 49.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.16 compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver:
    X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi
    gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0.0 note: <missing: xdpyinfo/xrandr>
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: Idek Iiyama PL2492H serial: <filter> built: 2023
    res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65")
    diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 model: Idek Iiyama PL2492H serial: <filter> built: 2023
    res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65")
    diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 25.0.5-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series
    (radeonsi polaris12 ACO DRM 3.61 6.12.28-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:699f
    memory: 3.91 GiB unified: no
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: xfce4-display-settings x11: xprop
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Raptor Lake High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs,snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7a50 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon RX
    550 640SP / 560/560X] vendor: XFX Pine driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Logitech Headset H390 driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
    type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-7.2.3:13
    chip-ID: 046d:0a44 class-ID: 0300
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.28-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd
RAID:
  Hardware-1: Intel Volume Management Device NVMe RAID Controller driver: vmd
    v: 0.6 port: N/A bus-ID: 00:0e.0 chip-ID: 8086:467f rev: class-ID: 0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 3.91 TiB used: 655.61 GiB (16.4%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 model: Predator SSD GM7 2TB
    size: 1.86 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: SN13683 temp: 38.9 C
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 QVO 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 2B6Q
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 250GB
    size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1B6Q scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD10EZEX-00ZF5A0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0A80
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.86 TiB size: 1.83 TiB (98.37%) used: 346.56 GiB (18.5%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 320 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 28.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 49.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 102
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.16 GiB used: 4.86 GiB (15.6%)
  Processes: 405 Power: uptime: 1h 14m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.44 GiB services: upowerd Init: systemd
    v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: 1316 pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 1281 libs: 379
    tools: pamac,yay pm: appimage pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 21 pm: snap pkgs: 14
    Compilers: gcc: 15.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37 running-in: alacritty
    inxi: 3.3.38

Edited by Moderator in order to correct the formatting

2

…and what have you done? Please share your secret.
Is timeshift installed? Simply roll back to a time before you chattet with “AI”.

…better ask here.

3

Yes Timeshift is installed, and it backs up. Good point. But I would probably have to resort to ChatGPT again to make use of it :sweat_smile:
I will try that

4

So I did a Timeshift restore to yesterday, but the issue remains. I also created a test user and logged on there to see if it was a profile issue, but no it was not any better. ChatGPT is telling me is is probably “GTK/XFCE integration problem”. It is also telling me that Papirus icons should be “colorful and vibrant”, but I have always seen the just white and boring version, both on this quite recent install of Manjaro and also the previous one.

5

Have you tried elementary or high contrast (just tested both) or installing some new theme?

At least now you know not to follow advice from artificial stupidity and to write down what you did, so that you can undo it :slight_smile:

6

Here is a bit of a write up of what I have tried:
-Tried multiple icon themes (Papirus, Tela, Qogir, Obsidian)
-Rebuilt icon caches and mime databases
-Tested with a brand new user account (same issue)
-Created proper fallback chains in index.theme
-Ensured symbolic overrides weren’t forced via .xprofile or settings.ini
-Reinstalled GTK and icon-related packages (gtk3, gdk-pixbuf2, shared-mime-info, etc.)

In essens I think my system probably never have showed icon themes correctly, - I have just never realized.

7

I somehow doubt you have a real problem. Not liking how something looks is not a bug.
Papirus tray icons are white. That’s why i told you to use something else. Cause i just tested what works.

You can also see the help button on the appearance dialog changing live as you click through themes.

8

This is how Elementary and highcontrast. Some of the icon spaces are empty too, so something must be wrong.

Elementary1
Elementary1447×658 89.8 KB

highcontrast
highcontrast442×634 75.2 KB

9

For xfce, you can install elementary-xfce-icons.
Your papirus-adapta-themes are depricated.

10

Is this about a Dropbox tray icon or are you having problems with several icons? Two different problems. If it is only about the Dropbox tray icon, then you might have noticed a popup indicator recently calling for installation of a libappindicator library. If your issue is about numerous other icons as well, then … never mind.

11

No, it started with the dropbox icon and then I started tinkering and things went wrong. Now whichever icon theme I select I will miss icons in the system tray or they are just plain white.
I have tried going with elementary, with highcontrast, papirus, Qogir but the result is the same.

12

I assume you tried going back to using the original theme that you were using before letting ChatGPT lead you down the … wrong … path?

Edit: Upon some reflection, I realized that I wrote something that was overly harsh and it reminded me that I had once been the target of similar harshness here. I know how that felt and would not want to inflict that on anyone else. My sincere apologies.

13

yes, a forum post is often the very last resort.
apologies accepted

14

Reset your session to defaults (nothing will be lost, it’s backed up):

The defaults are in /etc/skel - copy it from there.
But:
make sure that the Xfce user session is not running when you do this - do it from a TTY, logged in with your user account,
while logged out of the graphical session.

The session of the user you want to reset to defaults cannot be running (!) when you replace the config files.

Log out.
Switch to a TTY.
Log in there and issue these two commands, in that order:

mv ~/.config ~/.config-backup
cp -r /etc/skel/.config ~/

What these two commands do:
move ~/.config out of the way
copy the default configuration from /etc/skel

Then you can log into your graphical session again, which will be in it’s default state - just like when you first installed the system.

How did you install dropbox?
The icon should be there when you installed it from AUR.

15

I installed dropbox from Flatpak.
I will try your suggestion tomorrow afternoon

16

Flatpaks are containerized.
That’s likely the reason why theme and icon looks different or ist’t present at all.
There are ways to integrate them fairly well - but I have zero experience with that.
Have never even tried to use a Flatpak app.

The AUR version will not have this problem.

17

As proof – I’m using the AUR version of Dropbox (in Plasma) and have no problems with the tray icon.

18

As you can see, some tray icons are changed, the help button is changed and the ! signs too. So it works.
It is another matter that not every theme have icon for every app. I have the same result - on some themes some icons are blank. You can inspire yourself from pling.org. Or even make your own icons i guess.

The flatpaks are another matter entirely - you have to explicitly give the app access rights to the styling/theme directory.

19

Thank you all for your suggestions. But my system seems utterly broken. Even after resetting the system to default as Nachlese suggested the icons are gone or showing up wrong.
I guess I will have to go the long way and reinstall from scratch. But first I will give plasma a go.

20

Doesn’t ChatGPT have a replay function? - You can recall the conversation you had and thus can trace back the steps that you took based upon it’s (obviously incorrect) advice.

And then, of course, there is the Shell history - if it told you to issue commands …

If you know what you did, you can reverse it.

ps:
I forgot to mention that you should also clear/remove the cache folder:
rm -rf ~/.cache

For the other two steps it is critical that your graphical session is not running - you have to be logged out, so that you see the login manager - then switch to TTY …
Why?
There is a process (xfsettingsd) which prevents any external changes to the Xfce4 configuration files from succeeding.
… you could also just kill this process instead of ending the session and working from TTY …