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W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Plasma System Tray issues

A couple of icon issues in the system tray;

First, the print queue icon has disappeared from the tray and its configuration menu.

Second the weather icon seems to have disappeared and been replaced by the "blank" icon,
( circle with slash thru it ) in recent updates.

This is seen in multiple Plasma based installs, each with slightly different configurations.
Any idea how to either repopulate the system tray config menu or fix the weather icon?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

all of this works here. the slash icon can happen if you can't reach the configured weather data provider, have you tried pinging that manually? The printer applet depends on cups running, is that the case?

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

all of this works here. the slash icon can happen if you can't reach the configured weather data provider, have you tried pinging that manually? The printer applet depends on cups running, is that the case?

Sorry for the late response.   

Weather data from the weather provider is live and updates.  It is strictly an icon problem.
... and it appears across multiple KDE systems on real and virtual machines with different configs,

Also  with CUPS;

 cups.service - CUPS Scheduler
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/cups.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2025-11-28 09:34:43 EST; 1h 40min ago
 Invocation: f27238ca2d7443dea37b40903a2a8b74
TriggeredBy: ● cups.path
             ● cups.socket
       Docs: man:cupsd(8)
   Main PID: 1350 (cupsd)
     Status: "Scheduler is running..."
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 38378)
     Memory: 5.7M (peak: 8.1M)
        CPU: 43ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/system-cups.slice/cups.service
             └─1350 /usr/bin/cupsd -l

Nov 28 09:34:43 XXXXXXX systemd[1]: Starting CUPS Scheduler...
Nov 28 09:34:43 XXXXXXX systemd[1]: Started CUPS Scheduler.

and printing is no problem.  That applet simply does not appear either on the desktop or in the system tray config screen...

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

Mhm

pacman -Qikk print-manager kdeplasma-addons plasma-workspace plasma-desktop
journalctl -b --user --grep 'weather|print'

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

Mhm

pacman -Qikk print-manager kdeplasma-addons plasma-workspace plasma-desktop
journalctl -b --user --grep 'weather|print'

Well... print-manager wasn't installed... after I installed it I got this

pacman -Qikk print-manager kdeplasma-addons plasma-workspace plasma-desktop
Name            : print-manager
Version         : 1:6.5.3-1
Description     : A tool for managing print jobs and printers
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/
Licenses        : LGPL-2.0-or-later
Groups          : plasma
Provides        : None
Depends On      : gcc-libs  glibc  kcmutils  kconfig  kcoreaddons  kdbusaddons  ki18n  kio  kirigami  kitemmodels  knotifications  kwidgetsaddons  kwindowsystem  libcups  libplasma  qt6-base  qt6-declarative
Optional Deps   : system-config-printer: auto-detect the printer driver [installed]
Required By     : None
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 2.44 MiB
Packager        : Tomaz Canabrava <tcanabrava@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Tue 18 Nov 2025 09:03:23 AM
Install Date    : Fri 28 Nov 2025 03:09:13 PM
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

print-manager: 329 total files, 0 altered files
Name            : kdeplasma-addons
Version         : 6.5.3-1
Description     : All kind of addons to improve your Plasma experience
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/
Licenses        : LGPL-2.0-or-later
Groups          : plasma
Provides        : None
Depends On      : gcc-libs  glibc  icu  kauth  kcmutils  kconfig  kcoreaddons  kdbusaddons  kdeclarative  kglobalaccel  kholidays  ki18n  kiconthemes  kio  kirigami  kirigami-addons  kitemmodels  kjobwidgets  knewstuff  knotifications  kpackage
                  krunner  kservice  ksvg  kunitconversion  kwidgetsaddons  kwin  kwindowsystem  kxmlgui  libplasma  plasma-workspace  plasma5support  qt6-5compat  qt6-base  qt6-declarative  qt6-quick3d  sonnet
Optional Deps   : networkmanager-qt: POTD wallpaper [installed]
                  qt6-webengine: dictionary and webbrowser applets [installed]
                  quota-tools: disk quota applet [installed]
Required By     : None
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 10.01 MiB
Packager        : Tomaz Canabrava <tcanabrava@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Tue 18 Nov 2025 08:40:08 AM
Install Date    : Fri 21 Nov 2025 09:17:08 AM
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

kdeplasma-addons: 2402 total files, 0 altered files
Name            : plasma-workspace
Version         : 6.5.3-2
Description     : KDE Plasma Workspace
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/
Licenses        : LGPL-2.0-or-later
Groups          : plasma
Provides        : None
Depends On      : accountsservice  appstream-qt  dbus  fontconfig  freetype2  gcc-libs  glibc  icu  kactivitymanagerd  karchive  kauth  kbookmarks  kcmutils  kcolorscheme  kcompletion  kconfig  kconfigwidgets  kcoreaddons  kcrash  kde-cli-tools
                  kdeclarative  kded  kdbusaddons  kglobalaccel  kguiaddons  kholidays  ki18n  kiconthemes  kidletime  kio  kio-extras  kio-fuse  kirigami  kirigami-addons  kitemmodels  kjobwidgets  knewstuff  knighttime  knotifications
                  knotifyconfig  kpackage  kparts  kpipewire  krunner  kquickcharts  kscreenlocker  kservice  kstatusnotifieritem  ksvg  ksystemstats  ktexteditor  ktextwidgets  kuserfeedback  kwallet  kwayland  kwidgetsaddons  kwin  kwindowsystem
                  kxmlgui  layer-shell-qt  libcanberra  libice  libkexiv2  libksysguard  libplasma  libqalculate  libsm  libx11  libxau  libxcb  libxcrypt  libxcursor  libxfixes  libxft  libxtst  milou  ocean-sound-theme  plasma-activities
                  plasma-activities-stats  plasma5support  prison  qt6-5compat  qt6-base  qt6-declarative  qt6-location  qt6-positioning  qt6-svg  qt6-tools  qt6-virtualkeyboard  sh  solid  systemd-libs  wayland  xcb-util  xcb-util-cursor
                  xcb-util-image  xorg-xmessage  xorg-xrdb  xorg-xwayland  zlib  plasma-integration
Optional Deps   : appmenu-gtk-module: global menu support for some GTK3 applications
                  baloo: Baloo search runner [installed]
                  discover: manage applications installation from the launcher
                  kdepim-addons: displaying PIM events in the calendar [installed]
                  kwayland-integration: Wayland integration for Qt5 applications [installed]
                  kwin-x11: X session window manager [installed]
                  networkmanager-qt: IP based geolocation [installed]
                  plasma-workspace-wallpapers: additional wallpapers [installed]
                  plasma5-integration: use Plasma settings in Qt5 applications [installed]
                  xdg-desktop-portal-gtk: sync font settings to Flatpak apps [installed]
Required By     : kdeplasma-addons  plasma-desktop  plasma-nm  plasma-pa  plasma-vault  plasma-x11-session  powerdevil  xdg-desktop-portal-kde
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : plasma-wayland-session
Replaces        : plasma-wayland-session
Installed Size  : 54.04 MiB
Packager        : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Fri 21 Nov 2025 10:28:30 AM
Install Date    : Fri 28 Nov 2025 08:50:57 AM
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

plasma-workspace: 7101 total files, 0 altered files
Name            : plasma-desktop
Version         : 6.5.3-1
Description     : KDE Plasma Desktop
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : https://kde.org/plasma-desktop/
Licenses        : LGPL-2.0-or-later
Groups          : plasma
Provides        : None
Depends On      : attica  baloo  emoji-font  gcc-libs  glibc  kauth  kbookmarks  kcmutils  kcodecs  kcompletion  kconfig  kconfigwidgets  kcoreaddons  kcrash  kdbusaddons  kdeclarative  kglobalaccel  kguiaddons  ki18n  kiconthemes  kio  kirigami
                  kirigami-addons  kitemmodels  kitemviews  kjobwidgets  kmenuedit  knewstuff  knotifications  knotifyconfig  kpackage  kpipewire  krunner  kservice  ksvg  kwidgetsaddons  kwindowsystem  kxmlgui  libcanberra  libksysguard  libwacom
                  libx11  libxcb  libxcursor  libxi  libxkbcommon  libxkbfile  libplasma  plasma-activities  plasma-activities-stats  plasma-workspace  plasma5support  polkit-kde-agent  powerdevil  qt6-5compat  qt6-base  qt6-declarative  sdl2  solid
                  sonnet  systemd-libs  systemsettings  wayland  xcb-util-keysyms  xdg-user-dirs
Optional Deps   : bluedevil: Bluetooth applet [installed]
                  glib2: kimpanel IBUS support [installed]
                  ibus: kimpanel IBUS support [installed]
                  kaccounts-integration: OpenDesktop integration plugin [installed]
                  kscreen: screen management [installed]
                  libaccounts-qt: OpenDesktop integration plugin [installed]
                  packagekit-qt6: to install new krunner plugins
                  plasma-nm: Network manager applet [installed]
                  plasma-pa: Audio volume applet [installed]
                  scim: kimpanel SCIM support
Required By     : breeze-enhanced-git
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 36.00 MiB
Packager        : Tomaz Canabrava <tcanabrava@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Tue 18 Nov 2025 08:50:54 AM
Install Date    : Fri 21 Nov 2025 09:17:12 AM
Install Reason  : Explicitly installed
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

plasma-desktop: 4853 total files, 0 altered files
# journalctl -b --user --grep 'weather|print'
Nov 28 15:10:32 HAFXJST kernel: printk: log buffer data + meta data: 131072 + 458752 = 589824 bytes
Nov 28 15:10:32 HAFXJST kernel: printk: legacy console [tty0] enabled

Which means my print queue widget is back ...   Thank You!

Now for the trick question... the weather widgets icon???

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

the journalctl command needs to be ran as the same user that runs the plasma session.

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

the journalctl command needs to be ran as the same user that runs the plasma session.

OK

$ journalctl -b --user --grep 'weather|print'
Nov 28 19:18:33 XXXXXXX systemd[1941]: Starting Print Queue Applet...
Nov 28 19:18:33 XXXXXXX systemd[1941]: app-print\x2dapplet@autostart.service: Skipped due to 'exec-condition'.
Nov 28 19:18:33 XXXXXXX systemd[1941]: Condition check resulted in Print Queue Applet being skipped.
$

Print queue applet seems to be there...

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

I have a bunch of messages from the weather widget -- are you perhaps using something that's not part of the standard plasma distribution? What do you get from

qdbus6 org.kde.plasmashell /PlasmaShell org.kde.PlasmaShell.dumpCurrentLayoutJS #Needs qt6-tools

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

I have a bunch of messages from the weather widget -- are you perhaps using something that's not part of the standard plasma distribution? What do you get from

qdbus6 org.kde.plasmashell /PlasmaShell org.kde.PlasmaShell.dumpCurrentLayoutJS #Needs qt6-tools

Well, I don't recall removing the print-manager app...
And I do know that the weather widget started acting up on all systems
after a update...  if I'm doing something none standard, Its been going on for
years across KDE 4,5 and 6...

Also heres the output from that command...

$ qdbus6 org.kde.plasmashell /PlasmaShell org.kde.PlasmaShell.dumpCurrentLayoutJS #Needs qt6-tools
var plasma = getApiVersion(1);

var layout = {
    "desktops": [
        {
            "applets": [
            ],
            "config": {
                "/": {
                    "ItemGeometries-1920x1080": "",
                    "ItemGeometries-2991x1252": "",
                    "ItemGeometries-3440x1440": "",
                    "ItemGeometriesHorizontal": "",
                    "formfactor": "0",
                    "immutability": "1",
                    "lastScreen": "0",
                    "wallpaperplugin": "org.kde.image"
                },
                "/ConfigDialog": {
                    "DialogHeight": "909",
                    "DialogWidth": "1481"
                },
                "/Configuration": {
                    "PreloadWeight": "0"
                },
                "/General": {
                    "ToolBoxButtonState": "top",
                    "ToolBoxButtonX": "1207",
                    "arrangement": "1",
                    "positions": "{\"1920x1080\":[\"1\",\"9\",\"desktop:/org.kde.ksysguard.desktop\",\"0\",\"4\",\"desktop:/roxterm.desktop\",\"0\",\"3\",\"desktop:/vlc.desktop\",\"0\",\"2\",\"desktop:/trash.desktop\",\"0\",\"1\",\"desktop:/spacefm.desktop\",\"0\",\"0\"],\"2991x1252\":[\"1\",\"11\",\"desktop:/org.kde.plasma-systemmonitor.desktop\",\"0\",\"3\",\"desktop:/vlc.desktop\",\"0\",\"1\",\"desktop:/spacefm.desktop\",\"0\",\"2\",\"desktop:/roxterm.desktop\",\"0\",\"0\",\"desktop:/trash.desktop\",\"0\",\"4\"],\"3440x1440\":[\"1\",\"12\",\"desktop:/vlc.desktop\",\"0\",\"4\",\"desktop:/org.kde.plasma-systemmonitor.desktop\",\"0\",\"1\",\"desktop:/roxterm.desktop\",\"0\",\"2\",\"desktop:/spacefm.desktop\",\"0\",\"3\",\"desktop:/trash.desktop\",\"0\",\"0\"]}",
                    "previewPlugins": "appimagethumbnail,calligraimagethumbnail,audiothumbnail,blenderthumbnail,comicbookthumbnail,cursorthumbnail,djvuthumbnail,marble_thumbnail_shp,exrthumbnail,directorythumbnail,fontthumbnail,marble_thumbnail_gpx,marble_thumbnail_geojson,pothumbnail,imagethumbnail,jpegthumbnail,marble_thumbnail_kmz,marble_thumbnail_kml,calligrathumbnail,kraorathumbnail,mltpreview,windowsexethumbnail,windowsimagethumbnail,mobithumbnail,marble_thumbnail_osm,opendocumentthumbnail,palathumbcreator,gsthumbnail,quithumbnail,rawthumbnail,svgthumbnail,itinerarythumbnail,ffmpegthumbs,webarchivethumbnail,ebookthumbnail",
                    "sortMode": "-1",
                    "toolTips": "true"
                },
                "/Wallpaper/de.unkn0wn.htmlwallpaper/General": {
                    "DisplayPage": "file:///home/j4s5t4/src/javascript/TempestTime.html"
                },
                "/Wallpaper/org.kde.image/General": {
                    "Image": "/usr/share/wallpapers/BlackXWhite.jpg",
                    "SlidePaths": "/usr/share/wallpapers"
                }
            },
            "wallpaperPlugin": "org.kde.image"
        }
    ],
    "panels": [
        {
            "alignment": "center",
            "applets": [
                {
                    "config": {
                        "/": {
                            "PreloadWeight": "100",
                            "popupHeight": "612",
                            "popupWidth": "811"
                        },
                        "/ConfigDialog": {
                            "DialogHeight": "540",
                            "DialogWidth": "720"
                        },
                        "/General": {
                            "alphaSort": "true",
                            "compactMode": "true",
                            "favoritesDisplay": "1",
                            "favoritesPortedToKAstats": "true",
                            "systemFavorites": "suspend\\,hibernate\\,reboot\\,shutdown"
                        }
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.kickoff"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.pager"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                        "/ConfigDialog": {
                            "DialogHeight": "540",
                            "DialogWidth": "720"
                        },
                        "/General": {
                            "hideLauncherOnStart": "false",
                            "launchers": "applications:org.mozilla.Thunderbird.desktop,preferred://browser,preferred://filemanager"
                        }
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.taskmanager"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.marginsseparator"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                        "/": {
                            "PreloadWeight": "100"
                        }
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.systemtray"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                        "/": {
                            "PreloadWeight": "95",
                            "popupHeight": "550",
                            "popupWidth": "810"
                        },
                        "/Appearance": {
                            "autoFontAndSize": "false",
                            "dateDisplayFormat": "BelowTime",
                            "dateFormat": "longDate",
                            "enabledCalendarPlugins": "astronomicalevents,pimevents,holidaysevents",
                            "fontFamily": "Serif",
                            "fontSize": "18",
                            "fontWeight": "400",
                            "showSeconds": "Always",
                            "showWeekNumbers": "true"
                        },
                        "/ConfigDialog": {
                            "DialogHeight": "540",
                            "DialogWidth": "720"
                        }
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.digitalclock"
                },
                {
                    "config": {
                    },
                    "plugin": "org.kde.plasma.showdesktop"
                }
            ],
            "config": {
                "/": {
                    "formfactor": "2",
                    "immutability": "1",
                    "lastScreen": "0",
                    "wallpaperplugin": "org.kde.image"
                }
            },
            "height": 2.6153846153846154,
            "hiding": "normal",
            "location": "bottom",
            "maximumLength": 129.23076923076923,
            "minimumLength": 129.23076923076923,
            "offset": 0
        }
    ],
    "serializationFormatVersion": "1"
}
;

plasma.loadSerializedLayout(layout);

On Edit:  I forgot to mention this is x11  ...not wayland...

Last edited by W54J04S07T (2025-11-29 18:57:09)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

No obvious hint towards the weather widget, but that can be normal if it's supposed to be embedded into the systray, but the "official" plasma weather widget is fairly new and should not have existed in KDE 4, maybe not even 5. So it could be somewhat relevant which exact widget you're looking at.

Maybe share your systray config dialog, which widget do you have enabled there? When adding new plasmoids/widgets do you have multiple weather widgets to choose from and does one of them happen to work correctly?

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

No obvious hint towards the weather widget, but that can be normal if it's supposed to be embedded into the systray, but the "official" plasma weather widget is fairly new and should not have existed in KDE 4, maybe not even 5. So it could be somewhat relevant which exact widget you're looking at.

Maybe share your systray config dialog, which widget do you have enabled there? When adding new plasmoids/widgets do you have multiple weather widgets to choose from and does one of them happen to work correctly?

Well, I removed all entries on the panel and repopulated with new items including the system tray.  I immediately noticed that the weather widget built into the system tray was showing a weather graphic, so I set it up to my current weather provider and the icon went blank... but the weather data was there when you clicked/hovered over it.  Very annoying, so I selected another reporting station and bingo... everything works just fine.  Now I'm annoyed because it appears to be specific to that reporting station.  Why it only became an issue after a system update a few months ago, I have no idea. 

I should point out theres a widget that is outside the system tray ( also a weather widget ) which I'd been using for some time, that I haven't tested.  This whole thing looks to be strictly a glitch of some sort. May simply be a wait for a new update type of thing.  Will have to test the other widget and see if the problem appears there as well.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,916

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

Ah that could be possible... if we/you/the KDE devs are unlucky, the relevant wheather station assumed API abuse and either blocked your IP range specifically, blocked a potential KDE/Arch API Key or similar, but then it's a bit weird that the overview works out, but just the icon for "current" being affected. Maybe report to KDE?

Last edited by V1del (2025-12-02 17:58:45)

W54J04S07T

Member

Registered: 2016-06-27

Posts: 127

Re: Plasma System Tray issues

Ah that could be possible... if we/you/the KDE devs are unlucky, the relevant wheather station assumed API abuse and either blocked your IP range specifically, blocked a potential KDE/Arch API Key or similar, but then it's a bit weird that the overview works out, but just the icon for "current" being affected. Maybe report to KDE?

Tried the none system tray widget... same problem.  Its weird, that a different station from the same provider works just fine.  Looking at this it seems that one station has a human observer, and the other does not.  My suspicion is that at some point, the widget got "updated" and the method for displaying icons got changed.  This change must not, some how, account for the source of the weather icon observation...  just my guess.  Another bug report to KDE.

Last edited by W54J04S07T (2025-12-02 19:52:06)