Applets randomly disappear at boot

[TuxNews]

Expected behaviour

Normally, applets on Mate-Panel should remain there all the time at every boot.

Actual behaviour

Applets just disappear/appear randomly at every boot/reboot. Sometimes clock is gone. Sometimes hardware sensors says bye bye. Sometimes things crash. It's a problem that was there since GNOME 2.32, and now on MATE its the same.

Steps to reproduce the behaviour

Having some applets (stock one too) and just Boot/reboot. It will happen.

MATE general version

1.20.1. Latest one.

Package version

idk.

Linux Distribution

Ubuntu MATE 18.04.1 LTS with all the updates applied.

Link to downstream report of your Distribution

[sc0w]

It happens here with the "show desktop button", it disappears at reboot, I need to killall the panel to show it again. (mate-panel 1.20.3)

[lukefromdc]

I have not had any trouble with this on any GTK3 version of MATE, though I use a highly customized panel layout. Wonder if this has something to do with panel layouts, I remember it was a real headache in the last days of GNOME 2, no surprise it's still around

[cwendling]

A colleague (@alexarnaud) of mine reproduces the issue, and it seems to be similar to #585 as the applet processes are there and restarting them fixes the issue for him. Looks like rendering issue to me then.

@sc0w as you reproduce, did you have a chance to look at the code and have any idea what the issue is?

[alexarnaud]

@sc0w We can imagine to add a bounty on this if needed of make a donation for solving this as it's critical for a beginner or regular user to not have icons on the panel. Also restarting the computer makes them that Linux is not as reliable as Windows or macOS just for such bug that could appear at first boot.

As you know we're (with @cwendling at Hypra) helping blind, visual-impaired and beginner to access computer.

Best regards,
Alex.

[lukefromdc]

OK, #585 concerned the tray disappearing when and only when a custom background image was on the panel and was fixed. Is this happening with they system background, an image background, a color background, any custom background, or no matter what the panel background?

[alexarnaud]

@lukefromdc We have no specific background, just the theme background. Here it's HighContrast theme but I assume @sc0w don't use such theme.

Best regards,
Alex.

[lukefromdc]

OK, if this happens regardless of panel background the problem is elsewhere than last time. Now a test to determine if the applet is loaded and not rendered or entirely missing. @sc0w , since your "show-desktop" icon is disappearing at reboot (it never does on my system), can you try to click on the space where it is supposed to be next time you see this and let us know what happens? Also try right-clicking and see whether you get the panel context menu or the applet's right click menu

[sc0w]

@lukefromdc ok, I will do it

btw, I experience the issue in the past with compiz, and now, with marco the icon is there

probably is related to the window manager?

@TuxNews which is your window manager?

[TuxNews]

@sc0w Compiz. And i don't want to switch to Marco. Can sounds stupid, but i installed MATE mainly for compiz effects. It reminds me old good times. (but, as far i can remember, i had the same problem even with stock settings, so with Marco. I'm starting to think its a bug of MATE-Panel, a big one honestly. Icons should stay and remain there ALWAYS. It reminds me KDE 5 at first release, when widget on panels NEVER stay there on reboot, a real nightmare every boot).

[lukefromdc]

There are two versions of compiz: the compiz 0.9 branch mantained by Ubuntu, and compiz-reloaded (0.8 branch with more available plugins). Which version are you using?

I cannot duplicate this bug with any version of compiz nor with marco and have never had it with MATE built with GTK 3 of any kind

[alexarnaud]

@lukefromdc @sc0w As I can see the module is correctly loaded. If I change the size of the panel of 1 pixel all the applet reaper. It can be the all applet like "show desktop" but only some part of the applet that is not shown (notification area or workspace switcher). I'm running Compiz 0.9 on Debian Stretch (I've reproduced also on Debian Jessie with Mate 1.8).

Best regards,
Alex.

[lukefromdc]

OK, that's almost certainly another redraw problem. I can't fix it here though because I cannot duplicate it. What panel size are you using? I have mine at 26px on the desktop and smaller on the laptop and never get this on either machine.

[alexarnaud]

Le 16/12/2018 à 22:15, lukefromdc a écrit :

OK, that's almost certainly another redraw problem. I can't fix it here though because I cannot duplicate it. What panel size are you using? I have mine at 26px on the desktop and smaller on the laptop and never get this on either machine.

I'm using a panel of 48 pixels at both top and bottom bar with the default layout. Best regards, Alex.

[TuxNews]

@lukefromdc i'm using Compiz 0.9.13.1. I noticed that the bug is currently not happening anymore, maybe its because i modified upper panel size to 28px do better adapt to my 2K screen. I also replaced the lower panel with Docky. Need to verify with other boots if something just crash away from my upper panel.

[lukefromdc]

I have a single panel at the bottom of the screen on all machines, all setups I noticed this with in the old days were 2 panels, wonder of that's the difference? I've had the wncklet (which provides show desktop) built both in process and out of process at different times (in-process since making that work with GTK 3.22 and later), so neither build option can be the trigger by itself.

[alexarnaud]

@lukefromdc Myabe, as I remember I've never seen this issue with only one panel but it's not totally comparable because in the case of one panel it had less widget than the two panel layout.

Maybe @sc0w will have more detailed information to give us. I've not his experience and technical skills.

Best regards,
Alex.

[sc0w]

seems the problem is with compiz, now I am happy with marco

debian buster/testing have new version, now it has compiz reloaded, @alexarnaud @TuxNews can you test if it works better with it?

[alexarnaud]

Le 19/12/2018 à 16:22, ZenWalker a écrit :

seems the problem is with compiz, now I am happy with marco

What is your enthronement ? (distribution and Mate version). Do you have compositing enabled in Marco? Best regards, Alex.

[raveit65]

Is there a running process of the missing applet?

[alexarnaud]

Le 20/12/2018 à 14:21, raveit65 a écrit :

Is there a running process of the missing applet?

Yes, there is. As stated, when it's the workspace applet I can see the first and last workspace preview but not others. When I move my mouse over the empty space and click the panel consider I am on an empty space, not the work space switcher. Best regards, Alex.

[raveit65]

Which graphic driver do you use?

[alexarnaud]

Le 20/12/2018 à 17:19, raveit65 a écrit :

Which graphic driver do you use?

I'm using the intel driver, see my xorg.conf file:

Section "Device" Identifier "Intel" Driver "intel" # Option "AccelMethod" "uxa" EndSection

Best regards, Alex.

[raveit65]

As former compiz maintainer in fedora i know that intel or nouveau driver causes very often graphical glitches.
Do you have a chance to reproduce the issue with proper graphic driver, eg. from nvidia, on another box?
I am using proprietary nvidia driver and i never noticed such a problem.

[sc0w]

I have nouveau (I am not interested in non free drivers)

I reproduce the issue with compiz, but I haven't tested with compiz "reloaded"

@TuxNews @alexarnaud your graphic driver?

[raveit65]

I have nouveau (I am not interested in non free drivers)

It is not a secret that nouveau driver only works for older nvidia cards.
With my gt 1030 (not really new) i have graphical glitches all over the desktop with nouveau.

And not using actual mesa driver from https://mesa3d.org/ increase problems with open-source drivers.

[TuxNews]

@sc0w 415.25, NVIDIA. Right now, one bug appeared (you're lucky boyz): i have a double...shutdown bar. On the upper side, top right of the panel, i should have one "complete indicator", but i have two. And i didn't added it. I've seen this bug A LOT of times in the past on GNOME 2.32, and its the same here. Can't understand if its "genetic" (lol?) or depend on compiz.

[alexarnaud]

It seems is not related to driver I can reproduce it both with my computer using Intel driver and with Virtualbox using its own driver. I'll investigate who is the culprit of the issue, initially I wasn't able to reproduce the issue in Virutalbox but now I can since I've upgraded both mesa and the kernel. Best regards, Alex. Le 21/12/2018 à 23:36, TuxNews.it! a écrit :

…

@sc0w <https://github.com/sc0w> 415.25, NVIDIA. — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#897 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD_1DLZQH5fZ_6CQDqSv1RPZe_blbNouks5u7WKLgaJpZM4ZIMuA>.

[cwendling]

If it's indeed Compiz, this might help: https://gitlab.com/compiz/compiz-core/merge_requests/161

[issteve]

@lukefromdc : I have the same issue like Alex:

@lukefromdc @sc0w As I can see the module is correctly loaded. If I change the size of the panel of 1 pixel the applet reappears.

What's different in my case:
It's with (and so far only with) the battery-applet 1.26.0 ("Akkuladeanzeige") and
-Computer-
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7300U CPU @ 2.60GHz
Thinkpad YOGA 370
Ubuntu MATE 22.04.1 LTS (Panel: 1.26.2)
Resolution : 1920x1080 pixels
OpenGL-Renderer : Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
X11-Hersteller : The X.Org Foundation
Window-manager: Marco (built-in: Xpresent) (and all other Marco-Options)
Two panels vertical left and right of the screen.
Happens on both panels. Left with 42px-size, right with 31px-size.

Let me know if I can do anything more to track it down.
regards,
issteve

[lukefromdc]

I cannot think of any further tests at the moment. Like I said,this is a very old GNOME 2 bug but I have not been able to duplicate it on my usual machines since the GTK3 transition

[muktupavels]

When applet does not crash and it is still not visible then problem is in the code. To track down problem you need to build gtk with correct options to enable following warning:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/blob/gtk-3-24/gtk/gtkwidget.c#L6181-6188

Recently I found that weather applet from gnome-applets does bad things, of course same is true for mate-applets - https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-applets/blob/master/mateweather/src/mateweather-applet.c#L229.

[issteve]

@lukefromdc : Thank you for the answer. I see the problem.
As the problem get solved by resizing the panel just by one point, could there be a workaround, like a shellscript which is resizing the panel by one point back and forth?
Is there a documentation where I could find a way to resize the panel by a script instead the graphical interface?

Auto starting it after a few seconds after login should be anything I need at the end. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

[issteve]

When applet does not crash and it is still not visible then problem is in the code.

@muktupavels : Do you mean it's in the code of the applet and not the panel? So I should seek help at the battery-applet-code and not the panel? Where would this be? Thanks for your help!

[muktupavels]

Are you speaking about battstat applet? If so, applet does change layout from size allocate - https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-applets/blob/master/battstat/battstat_applet.c#L918

Workaround:

g_idle_add (reconfigure_idle_cb, battstat);

static gbooolean
reconfigure_idle_cb (gpointer user_data)
{
  reconfigure_layout ((ProgressData *) user_data);
  return G_SOURCE_REMOVE;
}

[issteve]

I found it related to: mate-desktop/mate-applets#470 (and mate-desktop/mate-applets#622 ) and as a workaround this line mentioned there helped me in my case:

gsettings set org.mate.panel.toplevel:/org/mate/panel/toplevels/top/ size 42

to make the applet reappear. I just gonna place it in the autostart and everything should be fine for me.

[issteve]

I used in the Autostart ("Startprogramme") 3 seconds after login this shell-script (working fine in my case)

#!/bin/sh
# one pixel smaller
gsettings set org.mate.panel.toplevel:/org/mate/panel/toplevels/top/ size 41
# back to original size
gsettings set org.mate.panel.toplevel:/org/mate/panel/toplevels/top/ size 42

I hope it helps someone else too.

[lukefromdc]

This implies that somewhere in the code we need to be redrawing the applet but are not doing so. Resizing forces a redraw, thus the workaround

[sunrenjie]

I'd like to share my experiences with battstat applet (Battery Charge Monitor), running Fedora 36, mate-panel-1.26.3-1.fc36.x86_64 and mate-applets-1.26.1-1.fc36.x86_64:

1. When battstat disappears and I'm tweaking it, its Preferences popup menu refuses to open randomly.
2. before changing the gsettings, do check the original value in advance. On FC36, I have:
   $ gsettings get org.mate.panel.toplevel:/org/mate/panel/toplevels/top/ size
   24
3. Another workaround that works for me: when battstat disappears, add a Brightness Applet to the panel, remove it. Now the battstat applet will be back. I believe it's less disruptive.