gtkrc or .gtkrc-2.0 won't change background color, but GnoneCC will

[mintefrsh]

Mint 18.1 64bit, using Mint-x-aqua theme.
I wanted 3 things.
1. Resize & color scrollbar / slider in Gtk2 & Gtk3 apps. Doing it in Gtk3 was relatively simple.
I got it to work in Gtk2, but have questions.
For Gtk2 app sliders, is it possible to have a completely different slider "prelight" (hover) and / or activated colors ( dragging), than its Selected color?
Or for Gtk2 sliders, is a slight change in shading from the Selected color - when hovering or dragging, the only possible color decoration under Gtk2? Especially using the murrine engine?

The Gtk2 scrollBUTTONS will change color for hover & dragging. I've not found that code works for sliders when hovering or dragging.


2. BACKGROUND COLOR CHANGE_Gtk2: I can't make changing the gtkrc *OR* ~/.gtkrc-2.0 file work on Gtk2 apps, by changing bg_color & nbase_color, in the line: gkt_color_scheme = . Not after logging out / in. Tried switching themes then logging out/ in, then back to edited theme. Even rebooted. No joy.
But changes made for the Gtk2 scrollbar color did work. Can't see any syntax errors or figure why it won't work.

Others show https://askubuntu.com/questions/345648/ ... le-manager that editing the "gtk_color_scheme =" lines will work (but post's a few yrs old). Unless something's changed since 2013?

Different color pickers keep showing the same #DCDAD5 color for Gtk2 backgrounds, no matter what I enter. Never seen that color in any file for Mint-x-aqua, not even for Gtk3.
The original gtkrc theme colors, at very beginning of the file were

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# These are the defined colors for the theme, you can change them in GNOME's appearance preferences.

gtk_color_scheme = "bg_color:#d6d6d6\nselected_bg_color:#6cabcd\nbase_color:#F7F7F7" # Background, base.

Still at beginning of the file, I changed it - along w/ comment to (showing all the color schemes):

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# These are the defined colors for the theme, you can change them in GNOME's appearance preferences.

# 4-24-17 Was: gtk_color_scheme = "bg_color:#d6d6d6\nselected_bg_color:#6cabcd\nbase_color:#F7F7F7" # Background, base.
# Changed to: "bg_color:#E9E9E9, nbase_color:#FAFAF3.
gtk_color_scheme = "bg_color:[b][b]#E9E9E9[/b][/b]\nselected_bg_color:#6cabcd\nbase_color:[b][b]#FAFAF3[/b][/b]" # Background, base.
gtk_color_scheme = "fg_color:#212121\nselected_fg_color:#f5f5f5\ntext_color:#212121" # Foreground, text.
gtk_color_scheme = "tooltip_bg_color:#fbeaa0\ntooltip_fg_color:#212121" # Tooltips.
gtk_color_scheme = "link_color:#08c" # Hyperlinks

Change bg_color (affects toolbars, menu bars in apps) & nbase_color. Again - easy in Gtk3. Not so much in Gtk2 (but should be).
Read tutorials on this - covering Gtk2. Should be very simple, yet changes in gtkrc or ~/.gtkrc-2.0 don't affect Gtk2 apps. Yet Gnome Color Chooser works for this - BUT it creates a style for bg_color & adds to its own ".gtkrc-2.0-gnome-color-chooser" file, instead of editing the original code in gtkrc.

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3. Different quest:
CHANGING APPS' WORK AREA BACKGROUND COLOR:
Is this possible in Linux, if apps don't have their own config option to do it? I haven't found a single thing. Changing (Gtk3) "nbase_color" will change Nemo's background color, for example, but not the work area or desktop of most apps.