So I stopped NM and started it back only to notice that my old nm-applet was still running (still no icon). To be sure I was doing it the way you needed I killed nm-applet, then started NM with --debug (that's what I've attached).
When NM was running with --debug, it didn't spawn nm-applet but I saw /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dispatcher being invoked, not sure if that's relevant though. So at this point no nm-applet was showing up on its own so I started one manually. This time, no warning nor anything was shown on the console, nm-applet was just sitting there. Still no nm-applet icon though. ** Attachment added: "nm-debug.log" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/1568829/+attachment/4635603/+files/nm-debug.log -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to network-manager-applet in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1568829 Title: nm-applet icon not showing Status in network-manager-applet package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Since I upgraded to -proposed network-manager and network-manager-gnome versions, nm-applet no longer works. Manually starting it on a console give: $ nm-applet (nm-applet:6250): nm-applet-WARNING **: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.AgentManager.PermissionDenied: Unable to determine request sender and UID. (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_get_nm_running: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_get_state: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_networking_get_enabled: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_wireless_get_enabled: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_wireless_hardware_get_enabled: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_wwan_get_enabled: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_wwan_hardware_get_enabled: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed (nm-applet:6250): libnm-CRITICAL **: nm_client_get_devices: assertion 'NM_IS_CLIENT (client)' failed What's odd is the NM and NM-gnome base versions are not identical: $ apt-cache policy network-manager network-manager-gnome network-manager: Installed: 1.1.93-0ubuntu1 Candidate: 1.1.93-0ubuntu1 Version table: *** 1.1.93-0ubuntu1 500 500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-proposed/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 1.0.4-0ubuntu10 500 500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages network-manager-gnome: Installed: 1.1.93-1ubuntu1 Candidate: 1.1.93-1ubuntu1 Version table: *** 1.1.93-1ubuntu1 500 500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-proposed/main amd64 Packages 100 /var/lib/dpkg/status 1.0.10-1ubuntu1 500 500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04 Package: network-manager-gnome 1.1.93-1ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-18.34-generic 4.4.6 Uname: Linux 4.4.0-18-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: zfs zunicode zcommon znvpair zavl ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu1 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Mon Apr 11 08:16:59 2016 NetworkManager.state: [main] NetworkingEnabled=true WirelessEnabled=true WWANEnabled=true WimaxEnabled=true RfKill: 0: phy0: Wireless LAN Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: no SourcePackage: network-manager-applet UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) nmcli-con: Error: command ['nmcli', '-f', 'all', 'con'] failed with exit code 1: (process:7301): nmcli-CRITICAL **: Error: Could not create NMClient object: Unable to authenticate request.. nmcli-dev: Error: command ['nmcli', '-f', 'all', 'dev'] failed with exit code 1: (process:7297): nmcli-CRITICAL **: Error: Could not create NMClient object: Unable to authenticate request.. nmcli-nm: Error: command ['nmcli', '-f', 'all', 'nm'] failed with exit code 2: Error: Object 'nm' is unknown, try 'nmcli help'. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/1568829/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp