I've added a VPN using System > Preferences > Network Connections. However, I can't see how to switch it on, because there's no Network Manager icon in the notification area!
nm-applet is running as me; stopping and restarting it doesn't help, nor does logging in and out. It's possible that nm-applet thinks it doesn't need to display an icon because I have wired networking - if so, how do I change its mind?
I'm running Ubuntu 10.04 "lucid" i386. Thanks!
I fixed it!
The solution was to remove eth0 from /etc/network/interfaces - it ended up there because I installed this system over the network rather than using a CD. I logged out and went to a console window, and did the following:
sudo stop gdm
sudo stop network-manager
sudo ifdown eth0
sudoedit /etc/network/interfaces # comment out eth0 entry
sudo start network-manager
sudo start gdm
I then logged back in, and the icon was present! Rar!
Go to panel preferences and edit Notification area, check that icon size =16px as below the nm-applet icon vanishes!
update to xfce 4.10 fixes it I think.
seems there are multiple reasons for this problem!
Some things you could try:
Adding a Notification Area applet to the panel (in case, for some reason, the notification area has been removed).
Restarting the panel. Some times I find that icons don't display properly but killing the gnome panel fixes this. Press Alt-F2 and enter xkill (your cursor should change to an X shape) and click on the panel.
The icon should always display, even if you are disconnected or connected to a wired network.
