Setting up wi-fi, missing system tray

[Schwarzer Kater]

I don't think that you are missing something there (at least not at this directory level).
You can simply use Dolphin to take a look into those directories.
Copy /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/ into Dolphin's navigation bar like you would copy an URL into a web browser (I suggested to use CLI and ls before just out of habit).

[…]
apt list --upgradable showed me everything that I can upgrade, but I'm not sure what the command is to upgrade all of them, or if that will even help with this issue.

If this is the end of the line for where you're able to help, I just want to say I really appreciate all the time you've put into guiding me through this and the progress you have helped me make. As this is my first foray into this community, you've really left a glowing impression, thank you for everything!

sudo apt update && apt list --upgradable syncronizes package informations with the repositories and lists packages that can be updated
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade syncronizes package informations with the repositories and updates installed packages

But it is perfectly fine to update your system and programs with Discover! The only difference is that you will get much more information/feedback in the terminal.

And no: updating your system will very probably not help with the issue of the missing system tray…
Reinstalling plasma-desktop including dependencies might help, though.


Slighty OT:
Thanks for the kind works, btw.
It's the people that have kept me in this forum and why I like trying to help here (and because it is fun and I can always learn something - may it only be the one or other vocabulary).
People like e.g. claydoh, Snowhog, oshunluvr, Qqmike, jlittle, jglen490, Beerislife, GreyGeek, TWPonKubuntu, TwoFistedJustice, MoonRise, kc1di, StarWolf and many others…

[schlurb]

I'm not sure how to tell if there is data in the directories

[schlurb]

Oh I'm sorry, I missed the last two messages. ls /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/ looks like this:

org.kde.desktopcontainment
org.kde.plasma.manage-inputmethod
org.kde.kdeconnect
org.kde.plasma.marginsseparator
org.kde.kscreen
org.kde.plasma.mediacontroller
org.kde.kupapplet
org.kde.plasma.mediaframe
org.kde.milou
org.kde.plasma.minimizeall
org.kde.panel
org.kde.plasma.networkmanagement
org.kde.plasma.activitybar
org.kde.plasma.nightcolorcontrol
org.kde.plasma.activitypager
org.kde.plasma.notes
org.kde.plasma.addons.katesessions
org.kde.plasma.notifications
org.kde.plasma.analogclock
org.kde.plasma.pager
org.kde.plasma_applet_dict
org.kde.plasma.panelspacer
org.kde.plasma.appmenu
org.kde.plasma.printmanager
org.kde.plasma.battery
org.kde.plasma.private.grouping
org.kde.plasma.binaryclock
org.kde.plasma.private.systemtray
org.kde.plasma.bluetooth
org.kde.plasma.quicklaunch
org.kde.plasma.calculator
org.kde.plasma.quickshare
org.kde.plasma.calendar
org.kde.plasma.showActivityManager
org.kde.plasma.clipboard
org.kde.plasma.showdesktop
org.kde.plasma.colorpicker
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor
org.kde.plasma.comic
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.cpu
org.kde.plasma.devicenotifier
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.cpucore
org.kde.plasma.digitalclock
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.diskactivity
org.kde.plasma.diskquota
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.diskusage
org.kde.plasma.fifteenpuzzle
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.memory
org.kde.plasma.folder
org.kde.plasma.systemmonitor.net
org.kde.plasma.fuzzyclock
org.kde.plasma.systemtray
org.kde.plasma.grouping
org.kde.plasma.taskmanager
org.kde.plasma.icon
org.kde.plasma.timer
org.kde.plasma.icontasks
org.kde.plasma.trash
org.kde.plasma.keyboardindicator
org.kde.plasma.userswitcher
org.kde.plasma.keyboardlayout
org.kde.plasma.vault
org.kde.plasma.kickerorg.kde.plasma.volume
org.kde.plasma.kickerdash
org.kde.plasma.wacomtablet
org.kde.plasma.kickoff
org.kde.plasma.weather
org.kde.plasma.kimpanel
org.kde.plasma.webbrowser
org.kde.plasma.konsoleprofiles
org.kde.plasma.windowlist
org.kde.plasma.lock_logout
touchpad

[schlurb]

That's what I was picturing would be there running --fix-broken came back with
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 32 not upgraded.

apt list --upgradable showed me everything that I can upgrade, but I'm not sure what the command is to upgrade all of them, or if that will even help with this issue.

If this is the end of the line for where you're able to help, I just want to say I really appreciate all the time you've put into guiding me through this and the progress you have helped me make. As this is my first foray into this community, you've really left a glowing impression, thank you for everything!

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…]
Unfortunately I don't know by heart which packages contain the system tray plasmoid and modules… Hopefully someone else here does.

They should be part of plasma-desktop (and its dependencies?) and some more are part of plasma-widgets-addons as far as I can tell.

[Schwarzer Kater]

What does ls /usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/ look like? And is there actual data within the directories?

[Schwarzer Kater]

This looks like some of the default Plasma packages have not been installed automatically…

As a first step you could simply try sudo apt update && sudo apt install --fix-broken and see if this does or reports anything.

Unfortunately I don't know by heart which packages contain the system tray plasmoid and modules… Hopefully someone else here does.


PS: the system tray settings should look like this

[schlurb]

Yeah, all of that is missing for me unfortunately. Here's some screengrabs of where I'm at:

The far side of the task bar, where the tray should be:


Once the Edit Widget menu is open, we can see that there is an instance of the system tray where it should be, but the icons are missing:


Going into the settings for the system tray, the entries seem to be missing. I'm not sure what this menu is supposed to look like, but I would imagine that the entries for wi-fi, bluetooth, power regulation and the like would be here:

[Schwarzer Kater]

At least the culprit does not seem to be located within your /home/$USER directories…

To be on the same page, here are some screenshots how it should look (taken from one of the MacBooks - the German language does not matter here):

connected to Wi-Fi (with additional symbols on the left for Yakuake, the clipboard and Bluetooth)


connected to Ethernet


the expanded system tray


the expanded network system tray module

[schlurb]

Alright, so the test user has the same issue, and none of the other suggestions worked either. Something in the system is messed up?

[Schwarzer Kater]

Congratulations.
Yes, you had no Wi-Fi because the system could not properly communicate with your Wi-Fi chipset due to a missing kernel module.
In 99% of the cases Linux already has the correct drivers/modules for the hardware, but sometimes (especially with Wi-Fi chipsets) one has to do this manually.

For the system tray problem:
First you should find out if it is a system or a user problem. Create a new (test user) account and log into it.
If the system tray is also missing there, something in your system is messed up.
If it shows and works there, you probably have defective user settings or cache files.

Find this out and then we can work with this info - there are several more knowledgable people here than me regarding Plasma settings files, though.
And possibly it could be something else…


PS:

1. A quick and dirty fix could be to just remove the complete Plasma Panel and create a new one:
   --> right click anywhere on the desktop and --> Enter Edit Mode --> on the far right side of the bottom panel click Configue Panel… --> click More Options… --> Remove Panel.
   --> Right click on the desktop again and --> Add Panel --> Default Kubuntu Panel.
2. I have sometimes had strange effects due to the "Session Restore" function. To disable it:
   --> open System Settings --> Startup and Shutdown --> Desktop Session --> choose "Start with an empty session" --> click Apply --> log out and in again.

[schlurb]

DUDE perfect, it works now! Thank you so much for coaching me through that. Just so I'm understanding right, it was a missing driver causing the problem?

Hopefully this part is a little easier, but the system tray is still missing. I dug into the widget editing menu, and it says there is an instance of the system tray running, but I can't see it anywhere. If I try to drag another instance into the taskbar, it doesn't really show up as it probably should with the shortcuts, it just shows up as an editable separator. I tried to drag an instance onto the desktop as well, just to see if the icons would show up, but no luck there either. Just an empty box. Any idea how to proceed with that?

[Schwarzer Kater]

Well, that is also how it should look like - can you connect to a Wi-Fi network now (try WPA2 first)?

PS: check first - rfkill list should also show the network interface now, does it?

[schlurb]

No, that was it for the journalctl. Here's the most recent lspci:

03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 02)
Subsystem: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17, IOMMU group 13
Memory at c1a00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>
Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
Capabilities: [d0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
Capabilities: [13c] Virtual Channel
Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 95-1e-c3-ff-ff-92-7c-d1
Capabilities: [16c] Power Budgeting <?>
Kernel driver in use: wl
Kernel modules: bcma, wl

[Schwarzer Kater]

journalctl looks better now and everything that is necessary seems to be properly installed.
Anything after "May 25 15:46:00 dylmacbookpro kernel: ERROR @wl_notify_scan_status :" for this entry?

And sudo lspci -v for
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 02) ?