FunOS

Introduction

If you’ve followed the steps in our guide How to Adjust Screen Brightness in FunOS to install the Xfce4 Power Manager on FunOS, you might expect the applet to appear in the system tray, allowing for easy power management. While this works seamlessly on FunOS 22.04 and 24.04, users of FunOS 24.10 have reported that the Xfce4 Power Manager applet doesn’t appear in the tray.

This article provides a detailed solution to fix this issue, ensuring the Xfce4 Power Manager applet is visible and functional in your system tray.

Why This Issue Occurs

The problem is due to compatibility issues between the version of Xfce4 Power Manager included in the Ubuntu Oracular (24.10) repositories and the FunOS 24.10 (Ubuntu 24.10) environment. The solution involves removing the current version and installing a version from the Ubuntu Noble (24.04) repositories, which works flawlessly.

Step-by-Step Solution

Step 1: Open the Terminal

You can open the terminal in one of the following ways:

• Click the Menu button in the bottom-left corner, then click Terminal.
• Click the Terminal icon in the Tray.
• Press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard.

Step 2: Uninstall the Current Xfce4 Power Manager

Run the following commands to completely remove the existing Xfce4 Power Manager:

sudo apt remove --purge xfce4-power-manager xfce4-power-manager-data xfce4-power-manager-plugins
sudo apt autoremove --purge

This ensures that all configuration files and dependencies related to the problematic version are removed.

Step 3: Download and Install the Compatible Version

Download the compatible packages from the Ubuntu Noble (24.04) repositories:

wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/x/xfce4-power-manager/xfce4-power-manager_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/x/xfce4-power-manager/xfce4-power-manager-data_4.18.3-2build3_all.deb
wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/x/xfce4-power-manager/xfce4-power-manager-plugins_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb

Install the downloaded packages:

sudo apt install ./xfce4-power-manager_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb ./xfce4-power-manager-data_4.18.3-2build3_all.deb ./xfce4-power-manager-plugins_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb

Step 4: Clean Up Unnecessary Files

After installation, you can delete the downloaded .deb files if they are no longer needed:

rm -f xfce4-power-manager_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb
rm -f xfce4-power-manager-data_4.18.3-2build3_all.deb
rm -f xfce4-power-manager-plugins_4.18.3-2build3_amd64.deb

Step 6: Hold the Xfce4 Power Manager Packages

To prevent the xfce4-power-manager, xfce4-power-manager-data, and xfce4-power-manager-plugins packages from being upgraded when running the sudo apt upgrade command, you need to place these packages on hold. This ensures that the versions installed from Ubuntu 24.04 (Noble) repositories remain unchanged.

Run the following command:

sudo apt-mark hold xfce4-power-manager xfce4-power-manager-data xfce4-power-manager-plugins

After executing this command, the three packages will be held at their current versions, preventing automatic upgrades that could potentially cause the applet issue to reoccur.

Step 7: Continue with the Brightness Adjustment Guide

Now that you’ve successfully installed the compatible version of Xfce4 Power Manager, return to the How to Adjust Screen Brightness in FunOS guide and continue from Step 4.

Step 8: Verify the Applet in the Tray

After completing the above steps, the Xfce4 Power Manager applet should now appear in the system tray. You should be able to manage your power settings directly from the tray icon.

Conclusion

By following this guide, you’ve resolved the issue of the Xfce4 Power Manager applet not appearing in the system tray on FunOS 24.10. This solution leverages the stability of packages from Ubuntu Noble (24.04), ensuring compatibility with FunOS 24.10.

If you encounter any further issues or have additional questions, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out through our contact page.