Documentation incomplete - Pling not explained

[Bob Harvey]

Binary package hint: network-manager

I'm running nmapplet 0.8 as installed in Ubuntu Netbook remix. It works, quickly, and nicely.

When it connects I am left with an icon of grey arcs with a red pling or exclamation mark on the right. Plings usually mean there is something wrong.

I have been right through the right-click items, the help installed in the distro, and the wiki linked to by the 'about' page. Googling is no help. There is nothing to explain what the pling is trying to tell me, or what I am supposed to do about it.

[Bob Harvey (bobharvey)]

The netbook is running the Broadcom STA proprietary wifi driver, installed with
 System ▸ Administration ▸ Hardware Drivers

Perhaps this driver is supposed to report signal strength and doesn't? Perhaps some of the grey arcs should be coloured to indicate signal strength and aren't? Older installations had staircase steps that did this.

I shouldn't have to guess.

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

That icon means there is no connection.

You are right, this is an issue specific to the Broadcom drivers and how they report signal strength, and has already been fixed in the development release of Ubuntu.

If you want to test that it is indeed resolved for you (and you are not hiting another bug), you can try the Desktop CD of the development release - Maverick Meerkat. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ .

[Bob Harvey (bobharvey)]

I'm glad to hear the code is fixed.
I hope that the 'confirmed' status means the documentation can be fixed.

Thanks for the update.

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Yes. Keeping a task to add documentation about the different icons when I have some time (or if anybody else wants to write it I'll be happy to help out).

[corno (crncorno)]

I am new to the Ubuntu community (LaunchPad) and in order to familiarise myself with the processes and procedures here I would like to help with this bug (adding this documentation) if it still needs to be done.

[Bob Harvey (bobharvey)]

I would say so.

Since I reported it the visual indication has mysteriously changed from a stack of parallel horizonal bars to a series of segments of an arc, and a cartwheel progress indication has appeared as well. But there is still an exclamation mark, and no explanation of any of the graphical elements.

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Should have been network-manager-applet.

We no longer use the "pling" though, and just an empty "pizza slice" icon instead. Should we consider this fixed?

[Bob Harvey (bobharvey)]

Dunno. Does the documentation describe the pizza slice (onion layer?) (wavefront?) icon? where is it?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkManager is not obviously related. What's this '2 computer' stuff?
https://projects.gnome.org/NetworkManager/users/ says it is easy, but has no screen grabs or illustrations

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gu8HBkKLu_oC&pg=PA65&lpg=PA65&dq=network-manager-applet+ubuntu+documentation&source=bl&ots=Zopo0pZKjt&sig=Oxm3yZMFL2rQ4sqRjcFdto9HXZw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GD5PUojIF8WU0AXxyIGQDw&ved=0CHMQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=network-manager-applet%20ubuntu%20documentation&f=false seems to be years out of date.

Tell you what. You decide.