No event sounds in XFCE

J3ster · 25 December 2025 06:43

This is extremely minor, but I’ve finally gotten the system to run almost perfectly and it’s the last remaining thing that bugs me.

Despite Even Sounds being enabled in control panel, set to correct theme, the sound existing in the folder it still doesn’t play.

I have in the Multimedia category of the app menu Audio Mixer and Volume Control. The latter is Pulseaudio and it works just fine. I have sounds in all jacks and the overall sound output works just fine. The former is I think old Gstreamer mixer and if I click on it it gives me an error about not being able to find any sound devices.

I thought it might be a broken gstreamer-pulse bridge, so I checked if all gst plugins are installed

[alex@Desktop ~]$ sudo pacman -S --needed gst-plugins-good gst-plugins-bad gst-plugins-base gst-plugins-ugly
[sudo] password for alex: 
warning: gst-plugins-good-1.26.9-1 is up to date -- skipping
warning: gst-plugins-bad-1.26.9-1 is up to date -- skipping
warning: gst-plugins-base-1.26.9-1 is up to date -- skipping
warning: gst-plugins-ugly-1.26.9-1 is up to date -- skipping
 there is nothing to do
[alex@Desktop ~]$ gst-inspect-1.0 pulse
No such element or plugin 'pulse'

If I run

canberra-gtk-play -i service-login

It does play the sound fine.

I’m aware that XFCE sound system is garbage so it’s more of a curiosity thing for me. Is it even supported? I tested lasted Live Environment ISO and that one doesn’t have sound at all, but I cba to troubleshoot that since i never plan to use it.

nikgnomic · 25 December 2025 09:28

Libcanberra - ArchWiki

Libcanberra is a simple abstract interface for playing event sounds. It implements the XDG Sound Theme and Naming Specifications for generating event sounds on free desktops, such as GNOME. Further description here

libcanberra no longer requires any backends for ALSA, pulseaudio or gstreamer, as they are now built in to the libcanberra package.

It is necessary to have a sound theme installed in order to hear any event sound:

The default sound theme ‘freedesktop’ (sound-theme-freedesktop) will be installed as dependency of libcanberra.

Alternatively, search for “sound-theme” in the official repositories or the Arch User Repository.

Manjaro Xfce latest ISOs (25.0.10) include libcanberra (1:0.30+r2+gc0620e4-4) and sound-theme-freedesktop (0.8-6)
but sound-theme-freedesktop does not have many event sounds

ls /usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/

/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/alarm-clock-elapsed.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-front-center.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-front-left.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-front-right.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-rear-center.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-rear-left.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-rear-right.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-side-left.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-channel-side-right.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-test-signal.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/audio-volume-change.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/bell.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/camera-shutter.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/complete.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/device-added.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/device-removed.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/dialog-error.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/dialog-information.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/dialog-warning.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/message-new-instant.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/message.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/network-connectivity-established.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/network-connectivity-lost.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/phone-incoming-call.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/phone-outgoing-busy.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/phone-outgoing-calling.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/power-plug.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/power-unplug.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/screen-capture.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/service-login.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/service-logout.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/suspend-error.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/trash-empty.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/window-attention.oga
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo/window-question.oga

If you want more event sounds that are not included in default theme:

sound-theme-simple^AUR – Complete system sound theme with 70+ event sounds
sound-theme-smooth ^AUR – Complete system sound theme with 58 event sounds

J3ster · 25 December 2025 10:02

Thanks for replying.

I am well aware that it’s missing some sounds, the issue here is that the sounds that do exist don’t work.

Like I can play

canberra-gtk-play -i trash-empty

and i can hear it just fine, but it doesn’t actually work when I empty the trash.

nikgnomic · 25 December 2025 10:39

Please post more information about system configuration:

xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv | grep 'Sound'

echo $GTK_MODULES

Information about audio devices and playback sinks in PulseAudio or PipeWire:

pactl list cards; pactl list sinks

and information about audio devices in ALSA:

sudo alsa-info.sh --upload

J3ster · 25 December 2025 11:27

[alex@Desktop ~]$ xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv | grep 'Sound'
/Net/EnableEventSounds          true
/Net/EnableInputFeedbackSounds  true
/Net/SoundThemeName             freedesktop

[alex@Desktop ~]$ echo $GTK_MODULES
canberra-gtk-module:canberra-gtk-module

[alex@Desktop ~]$ pactl list cards; pactl list sinks
Card #0
	Name: alsa_card.pci-0000_01_00.1
	Driver: module-alsa-card.c
	Owner Module: 6
	Properties:
		alsa.card = "1"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA NVidia"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA NVidia at 0xfcffc000 irq 19"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:01:00.1"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card1"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "10de"
		device.vendor.name = "NVIDIA Corporation"
		device.product.id = "0e1b"
		device.product.name = "GK107 HDMI Audio Controller"
		device.string = "1"
		device.description = "GK107 HDMI Audio Controller"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	Profiles:
		output:hdmi-stereo: Digital Stereo (HDMI) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5900, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 800, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra1: Digital Stereo (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra1: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra1: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 2) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra2: Digital Stereo (HDMI 3) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra2: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 3) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra2: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 3) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-stereo-extra3: Digital Stereo (HDMI 4) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 5700, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround-extra3: Digital Surround 5.1 (HDMI 4) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		output:hdmi-surround71-extra3: Digital Surround 7.1 (HDMI 4) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 600, available: no)
		off: Off (sinks: 0, sources: 0, priority: 0, available: yes)
	Active Profile: off
	Ports:
		hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (type: HDMI, priority: 5900, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
			Part of profile(s): output:hdmi-stereo, output:hdmi-surround, output:hdmi-surround71
		hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (type: HDMI, priority: 5800, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
			Part of profile(s): output:hdmi-stereo-extra1, output:hdmi-surround-extra1, output:hdmi-surround71-extra1
		hdmi-output-2: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 (type: HDMI, priority: 5700, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
			Part of profile(s): output:hdmi-stereo-extra2, output:hdmi-surround-extra2, output:hdmi-surround71-extra2
		hdmi-output-3: HDMI / DisplayPort 4 (type: HDMI, priority: 5600, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "video-display"
			Part of profile(s): output:hdmi-stereo-extra3, output:hdmi-surround-extra3, output:hdmi-surround71-extra3

Card #1
	Name: alsa_card.pci-0000_00_14.2
	Driver: module-alsa-card.c
	Owner Module: 7
	Properties:
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA ATI SB"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA ATI SB at 0xfe024000 irq 16"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:14.2"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "1002"
		device.vendor.name = "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]"
		device.product.id = "4383"
		device.product.name = "SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "0"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	Profiles:
		input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Input (sinks: 0, sources: 1, priority: 65, available: no)
		input:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (sinks: 0, sources: 1, priority: 32823, available: yes)
		output:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 39268, available: yes)
		output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Analog Stereo Duplex (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 6565, available: yes)
		output:analog-stereo+input:iec958-stereo: Analog Stereo Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 39323, available: yes)
		output:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 38268, available: yes)
		output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo: Digital Stereo (IEC958) Output + Analog Stereo Input (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 5565, available: yes)
		output:iec958-stereo+input:iec958-stereo: Digital Stereo Duplex (IEC958) (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 38323, available: yes)
		output:iec958-ac3-surround-51: Digital Surround 5.1 (IEC958/AC3) Output (sinks: 1, sources: 0, priority: 300, available: yes)
		output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:analog-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (IEC958/AC3) Output + Analog Stereo Input (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 365, available: no)
		output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:iec958-stereo: Digital Surround 5.1 (IEC958/AC3) Output + Digital Stereo (IEC958) Input (sinks: 1, sources: 1, priority: 33123, available: yes)
		off: Off (sinks: 0, sources: 0, priority: 0, available: yes)
	Active Profile: output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo
	Ports:
		analog-input-front-mic: Front Microphone (type: Mic, priority: 8500, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
			Part of profile(s): input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:analog-stereo
		analog-input-rear-mic: Rear Microphone (type: Mic, priority: 8200, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
			Part of profile(s): input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:analog-stereo
		analog-input-linein: Line In (type: Line, priority: 8100, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Part of profile(s): input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:analog-stereo
		iec958-stereo-input: Digital Input (S/PDIF) (type: SPDIF, priority: 0, latency offset: 0 usec, availability unknown)
			Part of profile(s): input:iec958-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:iec958-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:iec958-stereo, output:iec958-ac3-surround-51+input:iec958-stereo
		analog-output-lineout: Line Out (type: Line, priority: 9000, latency offset: 0 usec, available)
			Part of profile(s): output:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:iec958-stereo
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (type: Headphones, priority: 9900, latency offset: 0 usec, not available)
			Properties:
				device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
			Part of profile(s): output:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:analog-stereo+input:iec958-stereo
		iec958-stereo-output: Digital Output (S/PDIF) (type: SPDIF, priority: 0, latency offset: 0 usec, availability unknown)
			Part of profile(s): output:iec958-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:analog-stereo, output:iec958-stereo+input:iec958-stereo
Sink #0
	State: RUNNING
	Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_14.2.analog-stereo
	Description: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo
	Driver: module-alsa-card.c
	Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
	Channel Map: front-left,front-right
	Owner Module: 7
	Mute: no
	Volume: front-left: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB,   front-right: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
	        balance 0.00
	Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
	Monitor Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_14.2.analog-stereo.monitor
	Latency: 54927 usec, configured 75012 usec
	Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY 
	Properties:
		alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
		device.api = "alsa"
		device.class = "sound"
		alsa.class = "generic"
		alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
		alsa.name = "ALC892 Analog"
		alsa.id = "ALC892 Analog"
		alsa.subdevice = "0"
		alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
		alsa.device = "0"
		alsa.card = "0"
		alsa.card_name = "HDA ATI SB"
		alsa.long_card_name = "HDA ATI SB at 0xfe024000 irq 16"
		alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
		device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:14.2"
		sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0"
		device.bus = "pci"
		device.vendor.id = "1002"
		device.vendor.name = "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]"
		device.product.id = "4383"
		device.product.name = "SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)"
		device.form_factor = "internal"
		device.string = "front:0"
		device.buffering.buffer_size = "352768"
		device.buffering.fragment_size = "176384"
		device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
		device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
		device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo"
		device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo"
		module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
		device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
	Ports:
		analog-output-lineout: Line Out (type: Line, priority: 9000, available)
		analog-output-headphones: Headphones (type: Headphones, priority: 9900, not available)
	Active Port: analog-output-headphones
	Formats:
		pcm

The upload thing didn’t work so here’s the pastebin of the output

Teo · 25 December 2025 19:58

I just tried half an hour trying to make it run too. I installed a lot of themes, libcanberra and the environments are ok. 2 differences in comparison to J3ster: i did not have the mixer, but seems we have checked this now too; and i thought it might be because i run pipewire, but i see J3ster is on pulsaudio and that makes no difference.

The furthest i went was to have the volume change sound, but that was activated via the panel plugin near the clock. And changing themes did not change it also, it was always the freedesktop sound.

Edit: i made progress. Apparently, the whole system is pretty buggy. What i last tried was to unpack that theme Smooth - complete system sound theme with 58 event sounds - Eyecandy for your XFCE-Desktop - xfce-look.org in ~/.local/share/sounds … and it worked (provided everything else like libcanberra and the gtk variable and the 3 xfconf settings are set). This theme is even in the AUR (which currently does not work again). I could not make all sounds work though, i guess there is also some naming convention…but i do not want to waste more time with this. The truth is, it is just not a finished function of xfce. Otherwise they would have made GUI for it, and now one can only set the name of the theme in xfconf.

Edit2: i also found the naming convention, the specification, and some more sounds. It is just not gonna happen. The windows click, the dialogs dong, but the trash for example does nothing. I guess this is a 18 Year old project that is now abandoned (btw, one of the main creators is the infamous Lennart P.) and nobody cared to develop further. The documentation stayed the same, nobody cared for the spec and with time incompatible changes were introduced…so it now only works partly.
Since i listen to music while on the PC, i do not care much about sounds. Still a pitty, someone develops something and abandons it.

J3ster · 27 December 2025 02:28

I can confirm this worked for me, thanks for taking the time to help!

system · 30 December 2025 02:29

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