I am running Ubuntu 24.04. I upgraded from 22.04, and I switched it from Gnome to KDE Plasma by installing associated packages with Apt (found a list somewhere with instructions). Until recently, Wi-Fi was working normally in it, but then suddenly, the integration into KDE Plasma for Wi-Fi just .. broke. The network icon shows up in dark gray with a red X, and when I click on it, it doesn’t list any Wi-Fi networks. However, if I manually run wpa_supplicant, it can use the configuration in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf and connect just fine. I’m submitting this topic from this laptop using Wi-Fi in this way. I am connected, and I can see that in ifconfig. When I run “Network Interfaces - Info center”, it can see the wireless interface that wpa_supplicant has configured. But the notification area icon is still dark gray with a red x, and when I click on it, the only thing it lists is an old Bluetooth device it was once paired to in the past for network access. There’s a checkbox with a Wi-Fi logo in the top-left corner, and it is checked off, and there’s another for airplane mode, and it is not checked off.
How do I figure out what’s going wrong here? Is there a place where diagnostic info related to the notification area icon in KDE Plasma would be logged?? Why would it just suddenly break? I haven’t installed anything system-related or installed updates recently. How to fix this?
Can you find those instructions? Your system might have been left in a tricky state if Plasma was installed on top of GNOME, as both could potentially be competing for control over system-wide settings - I say from hearing about others’ experiences, and because I experienced the same thing when I tried installing both environments for the same user in the same system installation. Knowing what was done in that process might help give leads on diagnosis
It was just a bunch of apt installations, as I recall, though it was over a year ago, and the Wi-Fi was working as expected the entire time from then up to about a week ago. I’ll see if I can track them down.
I’ve been reading things and poking around, and have come across /etc/netplan. In there, I see a main 99_config.yaml which lists networkd as its renderer, and a handful of GUID-named yaml files, one per network that I see under Advanced Network Configuration and under Connections in System Settings. If I run netplan apply, then the tray icon briefly disappears, then reappears, and sometimes a toast appears telling me that the connection lo has been activated. The icon remains in the “Disconnected” state.
I have found a solution. I don’t know if it’s the “right” way to solve it, as the actual underlying problem hasn’t actually been resolved, it’s just been made irrelevant.
I found this page /WiFi/HowToUse within wiki dot debian dot org (can’t link to it because my user account hasn’t been around long enough/done enough stuff yet).
It mentioned an alternative to wpa_supplicant called iwd. I installed iwd with apt and then ran the commands they suggested:
After doing this, my manually-run instance of wpa_supplicant was stopped and I lost my connection to the Wi-Fi. But, now the NetworkManager notification area icon’s context menu lists networks, and I was able, through the GUI, to pick my network, enter the password, and be connected. And, as mentioned in the Debian Wiki, it did seem to connect considerably faster than wpa_supplicant.
So, I don’t know why wpa_supplicant was/is broken, with respect to NetworkManager. Presumably, if I switch back to it, it’ll still be nonfunctional. But using iwd, I appear to be back to full functionality.
