Notifications - no longer working in Qubes 4.3 - Debian 13 template - ProtonVPN not minimizing to icon

User Support Testing Release
1

Hi,

I was looking for info on an issue with Notifications of ProtonVPN app
I did notice a thread about notification errors related to bluetooth - this seems different

Notification is no longer working in QuBes-4.3 and Debian 13 xfce template
it was fine in qubes-4.2 with Debian 12

it is failing with this error:


$ protonvpn-app 
Unrecognized value "gl-disable". Try GDK_DEBUG=help
Unrecognized value "vulkan-disable". Try GDK_DEBUG=help
2026-01-30T11:18:42.575418+00:00 | proton.vpn.core.connection:508 | INFO | CONN:STATE_CHANGED | Disconnected (initial state)
2026-01-30T11:18:42.878217+00:00 | proton.vpn.app.gtk.app:56 | INFO | APP:PROCESS_START | self=<app.App object at 0x794574914d40 (proton+vpn+app+gtk+app+App at 0x1b183980)>
2026-01-30T11:18:42.984458+00:00 | proton.vpn.app.gtk.widgets.main.tray_indicator:122 | WARNING | Tray icon enabled on an unsupported Desktop Environment
2026-01-30T11:18:42.986423+00:00 | proton.vpn.app.gtk.widgets.main.tray_icon:264 | WARNING | TRAY_ICON:STATUS_NOTIFIER_WATCHER_REGISTRATION_FAILED | Failed to register to StatusNotifierWatcher

config of notifications in appvm - same as it was in debian12 :

/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.Notifications.service

[D-BUS Service]
Name=org.freedesktop.Notifications
Exec=/usr/libexec/notification-daemon

Where should the answer be found, please?
I checked forums on XFCE4, and they gave the same config for notifications.

Thanks,

2

Protonvpn-gnome-desktop need appindicator package to minimize to tray.

3

hi @KitsuneNoBaka

thanks for the suggestion, but this package is already installed:

$ sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
gnome-shell-extension-appindicator is already the newest version (59-4).

once started, protonvpn-app will minimise to task-bar
if closed, it will remain in background
if you try to start another instance, the instance running will re-surface
(correct behaviour)

it is the notification that is bugged now

Cheers

p.s.: i did use the correct spelling - minimised

4

No solution but I just want to validate that I am also experiencing this issue using Fedora 43. I had to rebuild sys-vpn and not enable “start app minimized” in order to have access to the protonvpn app.

5

Notification is no longer working in QuBes-4.3 and Debian 13 xfce template
it was fine in qubes-4.2 with Debian 12

Not sure if related, but the Profanity XMPP client is also failing to
send notifications, it was working back in QubesOS 4.2, under debian 12
xfce.

6

Any updates on this?