Bug 485982

Summary:	When NetworkManager is not running, still display Networks widget but with an error message and a button to attempt recovery
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	mikar_gibbros
Component:	Networks widget	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED FIXED
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	nate
Priority:	NOR	Keywords:	usability
Version First Reported In:	6.0.3
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Other
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:	https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-nm/-/commit/eab27656bbd73b61e2d22a8255694123fb128ca7	Version Fixed/Implemented In:	6.5.0
Sentry Crash Report:

Description mikar_gibbros 2024-04-22 20:25:51 UTC

SUMMARY
If NetworkManager crashes, "Networks" disappears from the bottom-right taskbar (task manager) and should only be a button click to restart.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Find the "Networks" icon in the bottom-right taskbar (task manager).
2. To reproduces what happened when it randomly crashed on me:
$ sudo systemctl stop NetworkManager

OBSERVED RESULT
3. Notice "Networks" has completely disappeared after a crash.

EXPECTED RESULT
4. NetworkManager tries to automatically recover itself from this errored state.
5. If NetworkManager cannot automatically recover, still display "Networks" in the taskbar (with an alert symbol/color overlay of some kind) but have it only inform the user of NetworkManager's Status/Error and have a single button that runs:
$ sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager
6. This restart fixed my initial issue and the step 2. reproduction of the issue.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Bazzite 40
KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.0.0
Qt Version: 6.6.2
Kernel Version: 6.8.7-300.fc40.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 32 × 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-13980HX
Memory: 15.2 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Graphics
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Product Name: Vivobook_ASUSLaptop K6604JI_K6604JI
System Version: 1.0

Comment 1 Ben Cooksley 2024-12-23 18:25:46 UTC

Bulk transfer as requested in T17796

Comment 2 Nate Graham 2025-05-09 22:49:54 UTC

Removing the line
> "X-Plasma-DBusActivationService": "org.freedesktop.NetworkManager",
from the metadata is sufficient to make the tray icon stop disappearing when Networkmanager is disabled or crashed. The UI in the popup is already OK in this case, but could perhaps use some sprucing up to offer a more detailed message.

Comment 3 Bug Janitor Service 2025-06-10 21:53:19 UTC

A possibly relevant merge request was started @ https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-nm/-/merge_requests/439

Comment 4 Nate Graham 2025-06-23 22:28:35 UTC

Git commit eab27656bbd73b61e2d22a8255694123fb128ca7 by Nate Graham.
Committed on 23/06/2025 at 22:28.
Pushed by ngraham into branch 'master'.

applet: handle some more states

1. Looking for Wi-Fi networks but haven't found any yet
2. NetworkManager isn't running
Related: bug 462454
FIXED-IN: 6.5.0

| Looking for networks | NetworkManager not running |
| -------------------- | -------------------------- |
| ![looking_for_networks](/uploads/ffce210dae2fbca527226cb5e4f95e6a/looking_for_networks.png) | ![NM_not_running](/uploads/fb8286714842ea07f543528f45746c6b/NM_not_running.png) |

@teams/usability

M  +12   -3    applet/contents/ui/ConnectionListPage.qml
M  +2    -1    applet/contents/ui/Toolbar.qml
M  +0    -1    applet/metadata.json
M  +1    -1    libs/networkstatus.cpp
M  +1    -2    libs/networkstatus.h

https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-nm/-/commit/eab27656bbd73b61e2d22a8255694123fb128ca7