I did a "apt-get source empathy" in Karmic to quickly check this out.
In file empathy-status-icon.c, a pixbuf is loaded with function "empathy_misc_get_pixbuf_for_notification", which can return a NULL. If the pixbuf is NULL, then the notification bubble never receives an icon.
So I went hunting for this "empathy_misc_get_pixbuf_for_notification" function in empathy-misc.c. It returns the avatar pixpuf if it exists, or an icon with an icon_name given as a parameter.
Okay, back to empathy-status-icon.c to see from where icon_name is coming from. It comes from "priv->event->icon_name'... but I don't see this "priv->event->icon_name" being set anywhere, I guess that's where the problem is.
I did a "apt-get source empathy" in Karmic to quickly check this out.
In file empathy- status- icon.c, a pixbuf is loaded with function "empathy_ misc_get_ pixbuf_ for_notificatio n", which can return a NULL. If the pixbuf is NULL, then the notification bubble never receives an icon.
So I went hunting for this "empathy_ misc_get_ pixbuf_ for_notificatio n" function in empathy-misc.c. It returns the avatar pixpuf if it exists, or an icon with an icon_name given as a parameter.
Okay, back to empathy- status- icon.c to see from where icon_name is coming from. It comes from "priv-> event-> icon_name' ... but I don't see this "priv-> event-> icon_name" being set anywhere, I guess that's where the problem is.