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?

7

Did this worked out for you? I had to roll back from a backup in order to have it in previous state, but having not updated qubes makes me nervous, so I would prefer to find working solution.

8

Maybe related to this bug Better way to detect the desktop environment · Issue #137 · ProtonVPN/proton-vpn-gtk-app · GitHub

1 Like
9

The issue neither has anything to do with QubesOS version upgrade from 4.2 to 4.3 or with debian upgrade from 12 to 13. The issue is actually with Proton VPN version 4.14. The issue was not there in 4.13

I can’t repor the bug on their github forum because when I choose to report a bug they redirect me to Proton VPN support page on their website.

1 Like
10

Note: not a dev, this is my partial understanding based on some reading

ProtonVPN 4.13 → 4.14 migrated from GTK3 to GTK4

but AyatanaIndicators’ GTK4 support removed legacy XEmbed fallback, which is what allowed the tray indicator in QubesOS.

GTK4 only supports StatusNotifier, which does not go through QubesOS’s compartimentalization.

See also: RFC: Remove appindicator (system tray) support · Issue #192 · transmission-remote-gtk/transmission-remote-gtk · GitHub, Lark-Gtk | lark-for-linux

11

Is there anything we can do about this? Or is this just a fact of life we have to accept?

12

I used “dnf downgrade proton-vpn-gtk-app” until I got back to noarch 4.13.0-1.fc43, and the systray is working again. Which demonstrates the issue is with ProtonVPN 4.14 not with Qubes 4.3, Fedora 43, or Debian 13.

13
14

I would expect that there’s nothing to do until QubesOS provides a notification proxy over dbus.

GTK4 will sowly replace GTK3 so this is likely to become a bigger problem over time.

Looking quickly around there doesn’t seem to be any github issue opened - I don’t have an account, so if someone can go ahead and open one…

1 Like
15

https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/10649

16

While I await on this issue to be resolved

I created a workspace in XFCE (admin) and i move the protonvpn apps there

out of sight and available when needed.