WSL GTK2 Issues

Installation & Configuration Windows
#1

Hi! I am having critical issues with running Ardour on WSL.
Why I am using WSL
I am a frequent Ardour user (and lover), always had used Linux, Fedora to be exact, but after recently I switched to a new laptop and didn’t notice the Laptop’s SoC’s Device Tree (ARM64) hadn’t yet been made publically available, meaning I couldn’t install Linux on it. So I was stuck with Windows, which I personally hate with passion.
Since I can’t, and hadn’t ever been able to purchase Ardour (see bottom), and building from source on windows is a nightmare, I was stuck with using WSL.

Issue:
I tried installing Ardour through a Fedora43 WSL (version 2).
While it does work; I am having major issues with GTK2’s modal windows: they can’t get properly focused.
Clicking on them only moves them up the Z-layer (so they appear on top) but they don’t actually get input; and clicking on any UI element makes the click “goes through” the window, and only targets the main, non-modal window behind it (if any).
Practically; it’s as if the window wasn’t there at all.

This makes using ardour impossible; as almost any main task in Ardour involves secondary (which apparently always means modal) windows. For example even just adding a track without opening a modal window that I can’t use.

The research I’ve made has told me that this has to do with WSL’s built-in X11 server, that apparently has been slightly modified to function on Windows; making it incompatible with GTK2 (stupid microsoft).
I have tried using alternative X servers for WSL, but thay didn’t solve the issue.

What could I do? Do you know any solutions for this annoyng WSL issue?

Notes:
The only possible solution I have found is building ardour for Windows from source; though that is expecially hard on Windows, and even more with ARM as MinGW doesn’t support ARM yet, so I’m sutck with the limited MSYS2 clang-ARM64 support (which, guess what, doesn’t support Xorg at all).

Also, I would enjoy actually donating to the Ardour community and also get a pre-built binary for Windows, but I can’t possibly use PayPal as I have lost access to my PayPal account in an unreversible way (that’s a totally different and VERY long story. But unfourtunatly, even though it will sound like an excuse, I genunely can’t recover my PayPal account nor create a new one (n)and/(n)or delete the old one). I have been trying to fix that for more than 15 years now, but nothing to do. I honestly can’t fix that right now.

#2

Never used WSL, but I think that there are 2-3 X-server alternative. Have you tried them ?

#3

Yes. I have tried both GWSL (Free Trial) and VcXrv (Open Source) but they didn’t solve the issue.

#4

Wouldn’t it be simpler just to install the Windows vesrion of Ardour?

Actually you’ve done well to make Ardour even run using WSL. I tried WSL many years ago and although I could install the Linux version of Ardour, it wouldn’t run (back then because WSL had no support for sound - so when Ardour tried to launch, it failed to find any audio devices). Presumably the sound must be working now?

#5

Wouldn’t it be simpler just to install the Windows vesrion of Ardour?

Yes, it would be.
But, as I have said, I can’t unfourtunately donate to the Ardour community due to paypal issues I can’t fix no matter what (I DO have been trying because I genuinely would appreciate donating).

So, I am either stuck with a demo copy or I’ll have to build from source.

#6

Okay, I understand. Could you maybe ask someone else to pay and then just give them the money?

BTW I’m interested to know which WSL version you’re using (open a Windows Command Prompt and type wsl --version). I’m currently using version 2.6.3 which according to this page is only one version behind the latest release (2.7.1). That page lists the changes for 2.7.1 and also the new pre-release (ver 2.7.3) but there’s no mention of sound support getting added :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

#7

You could also compile Ardour using mingw [1] and/or help @EZ4Stephen who already managed to build it using MSVC on Windows and is currently on the last leg to get all build dependencies upstream [2].

[1] Building Ardour on Windows using MSYS2
[2] MSVC Dependencies: Update [As of Feb 2026] - #84 by EZ4Stephen

#8

Thank you for your reply.
Now, I could ask for someone to pay for ardour, but I don’t have anyone available right now. Might try in the near future though, great idea!

Also, since you asked,
I am on WSL 2.6.3.0, and WSLg (the WSL module to load GUI apps) 1.0.71

#9

Yeah. I already tried to build with (MSYS2-)MINGW64, I actually followed the exact guide you’ve linked, though the problem I had is that I not only am on Windows (puah), but also ARM; meaning MinGW support is limited.
In particular, the binaries for the mingw-aarch64 (ARM64) version of Xlib aren’t available on pacman’s repos, meaning I would need to compile the whole Xorg “sutff” by hand (not a single Xorg package is present).
Also, I am pretty sure that Ardour doesn’t even use X11 on Windows, though it is seen as a requirement by WAF when building from Linux, even when I’m targeting Windows, and since I’m quite sure that the build dependencies are listed under the BLOB comment at the end of the wafscript, I don’t really know how to tell WAF to ignore them.

I gues for now I’ll just build for x64 and run it through an emulation layer.
Thank you for your reply anyways.

#10

Ardour does not support Windows/ARM at this point in time. The build system currently assumes that ARM platform is either macOS and Linux and would have to be updated for Windows/ARM.

You could also install GNU/Linux :slight_smile:

How is plugin support for Windows/ARM? I expect most VSTs are also not available for aarch64 either, and you’ll need the emulation layer to begin with.

#11

@peetaCodes - you’re probably already aware of this but Windows on ARM can run Intel based apps too (although I’d imagine the performance might be compromised…)

So whether you opt for Windows or Linux, before shelling out any money it might be worthwhile to install the demo version of Ardour and try your favourite plugins etc just to see how it all performs.

#12

Yeah, a lot of the VSTs just aren’t there for Windows ARM (though for Linux ARM there is a bit more).
At this point I don’t even think I’ll compile for Windows; since I would still be missing some classics like Guitarx and Calf (I just don’t like Calf’s windows porting).

I’m thinking to rather tweak the srouce code to remove the “modal” flag from every modal windows in ardour, recompile it on Linux, and run everything from WSL: both Ardour and plugins.

And, as soon as the DT for my SoC gets public (meaning I will finally have Linux support) I’ll instantly remove this terrible bloatware slop that Windows really is from my system.
That’s what I wanted to do from the beginning anyways.

#13

Yeah, I already installed the demo windows version (obviously, x64) and it ran like a charm (except for some VST plugins, but those aren’t necessary and I’ve found out work on Linux), so I know that it would work. When I talked about “emulation layer” I meant the Windows’ built-in tool to emulate Intel/AMD PEs on ARM.
I didn’t look into spending any money for an emulator, as I normally only use open-source.

#14

Calf is effectively abandonware at this point, it uses a graphics toolkit which was always inappropriate for plugins (GTK2) and is now deprecated and is beginning to be removed from distributions.
Because GTK2 is being removed from distributions Ardour now uses a stripped down GTK implementation included in the source tree, which makes current Ardour versions incompatible with Calf.

tl,dr: it is well past time to get rid of Calf, do yourself a favor and find alternatives now because you can’t continue using Calf when you upgrade your Ardour installation.

1 Like
#15

Have you ever had Ardour recording and playing audio when running from WSL? I also run 2.6.3 here and with the exception of some occasional beeps here and there I’ve never heard anything replaying proper audio.