Panel is broken! BOUNTY: $50

Support & Help Requests
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1

Hi Community - sorry for the multiple posts. This post may be related to (this)[Strange item in indicator applet in panel] but my efforts to fix that problem led to bigger problems. Now the network manager applet is completely missing from the panel.

I tried right clicking on panel and RESET-ALL-PANELS but that did not work. Is there a default config file for the panel that someone can share with me so that I can overwrite my own?

Screenshot at 2020-11-02 16-39-00

EDIT: As you can see, all my tinkering did not fix the issue, I still have two language indicators and the empty box with a red-strike through it. But I really do need network manager and everything else is a slight annoyance compared to that.

EDIT 2: I recently ran deborphan and deleted a bunch of old libs...

EDIT 3: The reason why I ran deborphan is because I've been updating mate sine 16.04 and thus I thought that the extra crud on the UI might be remnants from that lengthy upgrade process.

EDIT 4: Updated the title to include bounty. This is for solution that fixes all the issues with the panel.

EDIT 5: got network manager back. would love the default PANEL to be up and running properly. bounty still up.

2

gsettings reset-recursively org.mate.panel

3

@pavlos_kairis didn't work. Still missing network manager. and still have the dual language indicator and the miscellaneous box with the red-strike through it. But thank you for that command!

Where are the panel settings stored? Is there a text file somewhere?

4

I just tried it on my UM20.04 and it reset the panel. I had to add applets again.

I don't know where the panel information is stored.

5

I noticed that you are using 20.10 -- indicators are now ayatana so I suspect using dconf editor, you can look at the schema and find a similar command (like the one I typed) for ayatana instead of mate.

maybe: gsettings reset-recursively org.ayatana.panel

6

Hi @jonpolak,

since you performed an upgrade, not a clean install, your panel configuration may be corrupted. Some indicator applets in 20.10 were replaced with Ayatana ones.
Have you tried to:

  1. effectively reset your panel layout by choosing a preconfigured one from MATE Tweak (carefully, this will undo all changes you applied to your panel).
  2. check there are no conflicting indicators installed on your system. Try apt list --installed | grep indicator to ensure all Ayatana indicators do not have installed counterparts.
7

@pavlos_kairis no luck with the gsettings reset-recursively
@ironfoot here are the results of apt list command:

ayatana-indicator-application/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-common/groovy,groovy,now 0.8.1-1 all [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-datetime/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-notifications/groovy,now 0.8.1-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-power/groovy,now 2.1.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-printers/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed]
ayatana-indicator-session/groovy,now 0.8.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-sound/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1/groovy,now 0.5.5-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
**indicator-common/groovy,groovy,now 16.10.0+18.04.20180321.1-0ubuntu4 all [installed,automatic]
**indicator-datetime/groovy,now 15.10+20.04.20200217-0ubuntu3.1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libappindicator3-1/groovy,now 12.10.1+20.10.20200706.1-0ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libayatana-appindicator3-1/groovy,now 0.5.5-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libayatana-indicator3-7/groovy,now 0.8.1-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
**mate-indicator-applet-common/groovy,groovy,now 1.24.0-2 all [installed,automatic]
**mate-indicator-applet/groovy,now 1.24.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]

I put "*" in front of what looks like things that should be removed. Can you confirm that those packages shouldn't be there on a default install?

Also I'm noticing a bunch of gnome packages like shell and session. Should they be there?

gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-1.0/groovy,now 3.34.3-2 amd64 [installed]
gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0/groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-accessibility-themes/groovy,groovy,now 3.28-1ubuntu1 all [installed]
gnome-control-center-faces/groovy,groovy,now 1:3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed]
gnome-desktop3-data/groovy,groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed]
gnome-disk-utility/groovy,now 3.38.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-icon-theme/groovy,groovy,now 3.12.0-3 all [installed]
gnome-keyring-pkcs11/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-keyring/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-menus/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-session-canberra/groovy,now 0.30-7ubuntu2 amd64 [installed]
gnome-settings-daemon-common/groovy,groovy,now 3.38.0-1ubuntu1 all [installed,automatic]
gnome-settings-daemon/groovy,now 3.38.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-shell-common/groovy,groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed,automatic]
gnome-shell/groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-system-tools/groovy,now 3.0.0-9ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
gnome-user-docs/groovy,groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed]
language-pack-gnome-en-base/groovy,groovy,now 1:20.10+20201015 all [installed]
language-pack-gnome-en/groovy,groovy,now 1:20.10+20201015 all [installed]
language-selector-gnome/groovy,groovy,now 0.211 all [installed]
libgnome-autoar-0-0/groovy,now 0.2.4-2 amd64 [installed]
libgnome-bluetooth13/groovy,now 3.34.3-2 amd64 [installed]
libgnome-desktop-3-19/groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
libgnome-menu-3-0/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
libgnomecanvas2-0/groovy,now 2.30.3-4 amd64 [installed]
libgnomecanvas2-common/groovy,groovy,now 2.30.3-4 all [installed]
libpam-gnome-keyring/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
libreoffice-gnome/groovy,now 1:7.0.2-0ubuntu1 amd64 [installed]
libsoup-gnome2.4-1/groovy,now 2.72.0-2 amd64 [installed]
network-manager-gnome/groovy,now 1.18.0-1ubuntu2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
network-manager-openvpn-gnome/groovy,now 1.8.12-2 amd64 [installed]
network-manager-pptp-gnome/groovy,now 1.2.8-3 amd64 [installed]
pinentry-gnome3/groovy,now 1.1.0-4build1 amd64 [installed]
yaru-theme-gnome-shell/groovy,groovy,now 20.10.6.1 all [installed]
8

Jonathan ...
not sure if it would be easier to back up your /home and do a clean install of um20.10

9

@jonpolak, where have you reached now? Network icon fixed and remaining are two language indicators and strange icon, is that correct?

  • For two language indicators, you can remove ibus sudo apt remove ibus. It will remove blue "EN" icon.
  • for strange icon, I do not know what and why it is. Have you tried, changing layout (from Welcome or MATE Tweak) or delete and re-add Indicator-plugin-complete?
10

@jonpolak, that's what I have on UM 20.10 minimal install:

  1. apt list --installed | grep indicator :
ayatana-indicator-application/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-common/groovy,groovy,now 0.8.1-1 all [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-datetime/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-notifications/groovy,now 0.8.1-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-power/groovy,now 2.1.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-session/groovy,now 0.8.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
ayatana-indicator-sound/groovy,now 0.8.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gir1.2-ayatanaappindicator3-0.1/groovy,now 0.5.5-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libappindicator3-1/groovy,now 12.10.1+20.10.20200706.1-0ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libayatana-appindicator3-1/groovy,now 0.5.5-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libayatana-indicator3-7/groovy,now 0.8.1-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
mate-indicator-applet-common/groovy,groovy,now 1.24.0-2 all [installed,automatic]
mate-indicator-applet/groovy,now 1.24.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]

So, indicator-common and indicator-datetime are redundant.

  1. apt list --installed | grep gnome :
gnome-control-center-faces/groovy,groovy,now 1:3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed,automatic]
gnome-desktop3-data/groovy,groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 all [installed,automatic]
gnome-firmware/groovy,now 3.34.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-icon-theme/groovy,groovy,now 3.12.0-3 all [installed,automatic]
gnome-keyring-pkcs11/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-keyring/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-menus/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-session-canberra/groovy,now 0.30-7ubuntu2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
gnome-system-tools/groovy,now 3.0.0-9ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
language-pack-gnome-en-base/groovy,groovy,now 1:20.10+20201015 all [installed]
language-pack-gnome-en/groovy,groovy,now 1:20.10+20201015 all [installed]
language-selector-gnome/groovy,groovy,now 0.211 all [installed,automatic]
libgnome-desktop-3-19/groovy,now 3.38.1-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libgnome-menu-3-0/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libpam-gnome-keyring/groovy,now 3.36.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libsoup-gnome2.4-1/groovy,now 2.72.0-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
network-manager-gnome/groovy,now 1.18.0-1ubuntu2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
network-manager-openvpn-gnome/groovy,now 1.8.12-2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
network-manager-pptp-gnome/groovy,now 1.2.8-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]
pinentry-gnome3/groovy,now 1.1.0-4build1 amd64 [installed,automatic]

This is difficult to comment. If you used to have Gnome Shell alongside MATE, it may be a tricky task to clean the remnants of the previous desktop out.

11

I removed all the gnome components that you didn't have and now am left with this
comm -23 <(sort list1.txt) <(sort list2.txt)

gnome-icon-theme/groovy,groovy,now 3.12.0-3 all [installed]
language-selector-gnome/groovy,groovy,now 0.211 all [installed]
network-manager-openvpn-gnome/groovy,now 1.8.12-2 amd64 [installed]
network-manager-pptp-gnome/groovy,now 1.2.8-3 amd64 [installed]

12

I can only confirm that UM 20.10 clean minimal install works fine without those packages.

13

rebooted. still see the double keyboard thing, and the box with red-strike through

2020-11-04_18-39

the box with red strike through shows up after I open chromium.

14

@jonpolak, did you try to remove 'ibus'?

  • Remove ibus with sudo apt remove ibus. Logout and log back in. The blue 'EN' icon will be gone.
  • The small-cap 'en' icon shows when you have additional keyboard layout selected. If you need additional keyboard layout, then you probably want to retain it. Just to add, even if you are native English speaker and haven't selected another language, you still will get icon if you have other English layout (e.g., UK or Australia keyboard layouts).

keyboard-layout
keyboard-layout472×588 52.8 KB

For the strange icon (box with red-strike through), you can safely try to deselect 'Ayatana Indicator Application' from 'Startup Applications' and see if that helps. You will have to select 'Show hidden' checkbox for ayatana indicators to show. Either logout-login or reboot. If that does not help, you can select the checkbox again. It is also possible that Chromium snap does not have the icon defined.

ayatana-indicator-application

1 Like
15

I was able to reproduce the issue finally. It happens with applications which show icon in system tray, which can be Indicator Applet Complete (IAC) or Notification Area (NA).

I installed vlc snap and found this strange icon on starting it.

Screenshot at 2020-11-08 14-22-17

As I suggested above, I tried disabling indicator-application (On 20.04, it is indicator-application and on 20.10 it is ayatana-indicator-application). Bluetooth, network icon and any application icons now moved to 'Notification Area' (I dragged it to left to be able to distinguish) and the vlc snap showed icon.

I tried enable/disable of indicator-application few times and it was consistent on 20.04. On further checks I found,

  • native applications (.deb) always showd icons in both IAC and NA depending on enabling/disabling indicator-appliction service)
  • snaps mostly failed to show icons on IAC but OK on NA.
  • flatpaks were better in that many showed icons in IAC but not always (I don't remember which app failed, or I could have mistaken)

It seems to be issue with/between snap and indicator-application service (may be with flatpak as well but not as easily reproducible). I tested VLC, Clementine, Olivia, Discord, Spotify.

Please, can any one check and confirm?

@jonpolak, I could not reproduce the issue with chromium though. It does not put icon in notification area but may be you have some extensions enabled (?) that may cause it to place icon there.

1 Like
16

@saivinob you're right the strange box in the panel is related to SNAPS.
I found the issue!! chromium is a snap that creates the strange behavior in the panel ONLY IF you have the setting Continue running background apps when Chromium is closed enabled

slack / skype / vidcuter / zotero-snap are snaps that don't create the strange box in the panel
obs-studio is a snap that still creates the strange box in the panel.

The insight with chromium , when set to run in the background, attempts to leave its own logo in the panel but it seems like it's not been exposed properly to the panel, so since the panel can't find the right logo, it puts a box with a RED-X to show that it could not find the corresponding logo.

1 Like
17

@saivinob regarding :arrow_right:IBUS :arrow_left:
Yea, the blue icon in the notification area is removed when purging Ibus. However, IBUS is installed in order to type asian languages; it's not possible to type languages that require an interpreter between the keyboard code and the character (e.g. in chinese 3 or more keys are needed to define a single character, you need an interpreter like IBUS to help you choose which character is intended).

1 Like
18

Speaking of obs-studio, I noticed the problem was mostly with QT apps, irrespective of they continued to run in the background, but Chromium (which is GTK) did not fit in that pattern (although I did not have issue on my side). You answered that part now. Thank you.

For Ibus, if you need it for CJK support, you can then disable keyboard layouts under 'keyboard' that will remove the 'en' icon and only retain blue 'EN'. Not sure if it will default but you may have to set 'Keyboard input method system:' to IBUS under 'Language Support'.

19

This panel is running properly the strange icon with with red O with diagonal slash ( :no_entry_sign: ) is a sign that the icon is either missing or non compliant with the panel. Certien application icons and indicators can be disabled some cant since they might be spawned from application itself not the indicators framework.

1 Like
20

Thank you all @saivinob @ironfoot I want to pay the bounty. Should I pay it to the patreon or something else?

1 Like