Ubuntu
network-manager-applet package

nm-applet regularly crashes at logon, in combination with failing 3G connection

Asked by gerardo

I'm running Ubuntu 15.10 with network-manager 1.0.4-0ubuntu5.2.

Regularly (if not always) the nm-applet icon is not showing in the Unity panel after logon. Syslog shows these error messages:

Jan 23 21:07:21 desk1 gnome-session[3904]: (nm-applet:4812): nm-applet-WARNING **: Could not find ShellVersion property on org.gnome.Shell after 5 tries
Jan 24 09:42:37 desk1 gnome-session[19922]: (nm-applet:20700): libnm-glib-WARNING **: Error in get_property: Method "Get" with signature "ss" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
Jan 24 09:42:38 desk1 gnome-session[19922]: (nm-applet:20700): nm-applet-WARNING **: Cannot grab information for modem at /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0: No ModemManager support
Jan 24 09:42:38 desk1 gnome-session[19922]: (nm-applet:20700): nm-applet-WARNING **: ModemManager is not available for modem at /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0
Jan 24 09:42:38 desk1 gnome-session[19922]: message repeated 3 times: [ (nm-applet:20700): nm-applet-WARNING **: ModemManager is not available for modem at /org/freedesktop/ModemManager1/Modem/0]
Jan 24 09:42:38 desk1 gnome-session[19922]: nm-applet:ERROR:applet-device-broadband.c:644:get_icon: assertion failed: (info)

Manually starting nm-applet from a Terminal works, sometimes however only after some attempts where error messages similar to the ones above are shown (btw, even when succeeding, the first 2 warning/error messages on the ss signature and the ShellVersion show up). Once nm-applet is started, the 3G modem connection signal bars are shown and sometimes indeed a network connection (through 3G modem) is available. Often however, several manual disconnect and subsequent connect operations are needed before having the network connection really up and running.

I suspect hence that there is an issue with my ModemManager and/or NetworkManager configuration or implementation, and that nm-applet is not robust enough to properly deal with these connection failures. The need for nm-applet restarts is obviously less frustrating than the network connection issues themselves.

I have no issues on another Ubuntu 15.10 system with the same version of network-manager installed.

I have been trying to understand this issue for a (too) long time now, and I realize that I will not manage without some help of the Community. Any input is therefore appreciated.

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gerardo (geestbos) said : 		#1

Some further troubleshooting from my side learned that:
1. The crash is caused by the absence of a 'devinfo' key inside the NMDevice object (line 644 in applet-device-broadband.c, get_icon method)
2. The missing 'devinfo' key is caused by the absence of a mm1 property inside the NMApplet object (line 1004 in applet-device-broadband.c, device_added method).

I don't understand why the mm1 property is missing. The only place where I see this property initialized is on line 3101 of applet.c, in method mm_new_ready. However, if this initialization would have failed, I would expect to see a warning logged in syslog through "g_warning ("Error connecting to D-Bus: %s", error->message);". This warning however I do not see.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#2

I suggest you report a bug

Revision history for this message
gerardo (geestbos) said : 		#3

Thanks, I created a bug report (https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1537482).

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