Apparently some settings for the plasma layout keep resetting on every log in. So far I’ve noticed the below:
The weather applet keeps disappearing, regardless of placement (on panel or on desktop). Other widgets, the ones I’ve tested at least, aren’t affected.
Which apps are pinned to the task manager also keep resetting. Unpinning some or pinning new ones, next login it’s the same as it used to be. Changing which task manager I use (for example, switching to icons only) doesn’t affect this.
Every login or every restart?
Because if every restart, it could happen somehow that plasma is quit force (but I don’t know why) and thus doesn’t have the time to save the settings.
Experiencing the same problem using a really old laptop (2012, some Intel i3, Nvidia GeForce GT 630M, Arch Linux). I am glad I do not use that laptop as a daily driver because sometimes, the computer just shuts down in like 1 second or so. When I restart that computer, the task bar is also reset.
Try creating a new user and see if the problem is still there. If it is then it is related to the OS (or KDE itself). If you can’t reproduce the problem with a new user then there’s something wrong with the user’s profile.
I haven’t been able to figure out the common factor affecting everyone yet. Needless to say, I can’t reproduce the issue myself, and neither can any developer I try to poke with my pointy stick to fix it!
Reading through these bug reports, I see systemd being mentioned.
Some years ago (so long before the Plasma 6 upgrade), I remember that an upgrade made my autostart items no longer work. I ran a command in a terminal that IIRC disabled something related to systemd, and after that autostart worked again.
I don’t remember what that command was and I had found it at the old KDE forums, so I can’t search for it again. But perhaps it’s related?
I can confirm this worked. Switching to X11, I unpinned the apps I wanted to unpin and added the weather applet, and these changes persisted, even after I switched back to Wayland.
I tried to unpin something else, back in Wayland, and this change didn’t persist. So whatever else might be related, I’d say Wayland is part of the issue.
This isn’t quite a solution but it’s a workaround, so I’m marking this topic resolved.