Ubuntu 24.04 - missing app tray icon menu for the desktop app

I had Dropbox running on Ubuntu 22.04 but have upgraded to 24.04 and am having trouble.

 

I installed `nautilus-dropbox` from Ubuntu. This worked, but the system tray icon did not have a menu when I click or right click. I uninstalled it and downloaded the .deb from Dropbox instead. This has the same problem. Following the solution here I installed AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support, which is supposed to help legacy tray icons work properly. (I installed GNOME Shell integration extension on Firefox and `chrome-gnome-shell` through apt, then installed the extension from that page.)

 

It still didn't work. I decided to start afresh and write down properly what I did, which I'll do below.

 

I uninstalled Dropbox using the instructions here (first block of commands).

 

Then ran `sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox` to install the package from Ubuntu. This says:

 

 

Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
dropbox : Breaks: nautilus-dropbox
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

 

 

The output of `apt rdepends dropbox` is

 

 

dropbox
Reverse Depends:
Depends: nautilus-dropbox
Conflicts: nautilus-dropbox

 

 

Per this answer, this seems to say `nautilus-dropbox` is conflicting with itself, which seems to be a problem with the way Dropbox has encoded dependencies in the file.

 

Also per that answer, I ran `grep dropbox /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list` which gave the output:

 

 

/etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list:deb [arch=i386,amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/dropbox.asc] http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu noble main

 

 

The file `/etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list` only has that line. I think this means `sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox` is trying to install the version from Dropbox directly rather than the Ubuntu version. I commented out the line with a `#`.

 

Then I ran `sudo apt update`, then `sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox`, then `nautilus --quit`. Then I ran `dropbox start -i`. I got a pop up wanting to install the proprietary daemon. I clicked OK. This ran and then took me to the web browser to log in, which I did, and then the app changed to show it was syncing. Again when I click or right-click on the Dropbox app nothing happens.

 

I noticed that when I had run `dropbox start -i` the output included this warning, which I'm not sure is relevant:

 

 

(dropbox:9905): LIBDBUSMENU-GLIB-WARNING **: 09:52:22.423: About to Show called on an item wihtout submenus. We're ignoring it.

 

 

Again, I uninstalled Dropbox using the instructions here (first block of commands, except for `rm -rf /var/lib/dropbox` I had to run `sudo`).

 

This time I downloaded the .deb for "Ubuntu 22.10 or higher" from the Dropbox install page and installed this using `sudo apt install ./dropbox_2024.04.17_amd64.deb`. I ran `nautilus --quit` then a popup appeared saying "Dropbox Start Required Start Dropbox to finish installation." I clicked Start Dropbox and this brought the pop up that says to install the proprietary daemon. I clicked OK and it did its thing and took me to the Dropbox page to log in, which I did.

 

Again I have a Dropbox system tray icon but when I click or right click it doesn't do anything.

 

I noticed that this install had reinstated `/etc/apt/sources.list.d/dropbox.list`, which I guess is unsurprising. I left this in place.

 

I then noticed that FeRDNYC in this thread recommended turning the 'AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support' Extension off and on again. I did this by flipping the toggle in the 'Extensions' app and it turned off but wouldn't turn back on. I got a cross in a circle next to the toggle and when I clicked this it said "An error has occurred in this extension" with the details `TypeError: this._watchDog is null`.

 

I restarted my computer and on boot I both get a Dropbox icon in the system tray and a pop up asking me to install the proprietary daemon. When I click the icon, I get a menu. I clicked 'Cancel' on the pop up. I noticed the AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support' Extension has started turned on.

 

I left my computer alone for five minutes. When I returned the 'AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support' toggle is still on but greyed out and the circle-cross is back with the same error. The Dropbox icon is still clickable to get a menu.

 

It is possible the sequence of events that made this start working was this:

- install 'AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support' GNOME Extension.
- install Dropbox via .deb from Dropbox website.
- restart the computer

 

But I'm not confident this is what has worked. I'm not sure if the 'AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support' GNOME Extension is doing anything or whether I can uninstall it; for example whether it is loading briefly on system load and that is all Dropbox needs to get going, even though the Extension crashes shortly after. I'm not sure whether it mattered whether I installed Dropbox's .deb directly or `nautilus-dropbox'. Really, I'm not sure why I now have a menu on the Dropbox icon or whether it is actually fixed.

 

Fundamentally, it shouldn't be this much work to get it to work. And I think I still have the problem where on boot it loads Dropbox and tells me I have to install the proprietary daemon each time even though it's already installed. But I'm reluctant to touch anything now because this has eaten hours of my morning and I don't know if I can get back to this state after a change.

 

At present my plan is to not change anything and hope the app icon menu keeps working, and to put up with the annoyance of the pop up asking me to install the proprietary daemon each time I boot my computer. Any advice welcome.