Bug 453096

Summary:	The "kickoff" menu disappears and won't come back
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	bkorb
Component:	Application Launcher (Kickoff) widget	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED DOWNSTREAM
Severity:	normal	CC:	kde, mikel5764, mvourlakos, nate, noahadvs
Priority:	NOR
Version First Reported In:	5.18.7
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Other
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description bkorb 2022-04-27 18:42:39 UTC

SUMMARY
***
This is likely the same as bug 448390, but that was closed as "irreproducible."

When I do a fresh install of openSUSE 15.3, the "start menu" aka "kickoff" disappears and doesn't come back.
***


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. install openSUSE 15.3
2. boot up, use it a bit
3. reboot. The menu is gone.

OBSERVED RESULT
kickoff/startup menu is empty

EXPECTED RESULT
kickoff/startup menu would be functional

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: 

> NAME="openSUSE Leap"
> VERSION="15.3"
> ID="opensuse-leap"
> ID_LIKE="suse opensuse"
> VERSION_ID="15.3"
> PRETTY_NAME="openSUSE Leap 15.3"
> ANSI_COLOR="0;32"
> CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:opensuse:leap:15.3"
> BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.opensuse.org"
> HOME_URL="https://www.opensuse.org/"

> $ plasmashell --version;kf5-config --version
> plasmashell 5.18.6
> Qt: 5.12.7
> KDE Frameworks: 5.76.0
> kf5-config: 1.0

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

I am currently using a script to limp along:

> $ cat bin/kde-menu 
> #! /bin/bash
> 
> if test $# -gt 0
> then logf=$1
> else logf=/dev/null
> fi
> 
> exec 1> $logf 2>&1 < /dev/null
> exec plasmawindowed org.kde.plasma.kickoff &

I am perfectly willing to use a debug version of kickoff or plasma to see if we can ferret out the cause. I am fed up with re-installing at this point, though.

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2022-05-03 17:29:37 UTC

So the popup has no contents when you click on the button on the panel to open it? Or there's no button on the panel? Can you attach a screenshot?

FWIW Plasma 5.18.7 is EOL and I would strongly recommend upgrading to Plasma 5.24, which is the new LTS version. The code for Kickoff is completely different and it's very likely the bug has already been fixed there.

Comment 2 bkorb 2022-05-04 20:42:16 UTC

I set the timeout to 1 month:

https://susepaste.org/80234894

You can see the cursor on the menu icon. Clicking there has no visible effect.

WRT "Plasma 5.18.7 is EOL" -- well, it is pretty dicey for someone to roll their own release. This was the latest openSUSE release as of a month ago. I will always, *ALWAYS* be behind your releases. I have that script hackaround that gets me the menu when I need it, so if I'm the only one stubbing my toe on this, then I can limp for a while. I don't know which Plasma is used in openSUSE's next (15.4) release, which should be current by now.

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2022-05-05 22:00:46 UTC

If you choose to use a distro that ships very old versions of KDE software, that's just going to be an inevitability, unfortunately. Distros that choose to this are implicitly (or explicitly) promising to maintain the old software they're shipping beyond the point where upstreams (i.e. KDE) are offering support. So I would recommend that you contact the openSUSE people about the issue. They should be able to help you since they have taken on the maintenance burden inherent in shipping software that is over two years old.