Dolphin: Devices section missing from left panel

The Devices section is missing from Dolphins left panel on my laptop (Plasma Wayland session). All other categories appear just fine: Places, Remote, Recent, Search For… Devices comes after but on that device this section is now gone. I checked and made sure it’s not hidden, I hid other entries there and chose to show all to reveal them but the drive list remains absent.

In addition I also don’t have the Root entry under Places though others like Trash are fine. Wonder if this could be a missing desktop file? What are settings for this sort of thing I can try to mess with?

From Menu > Show Panels > check Unlock Panel.
In Show Panel > checked Show Hidden Places.

Double-checked and yes: Show Hidden Places is grayed out as I don’t have any sections hidden. The section isn’t conventionally hidden, the way you can right-click on an entry and can pick Hide Section: It seems to no longer be showing up for a different reason.

I have in Wayland section “Devices” and “External Devices”, so this is something on your system. I can see that you can hide the section. I remember that I hid one in the past and had issues bringing it back, eventually I did, and it wasn’t so hard, but it was not intuitive. I can’t for a life remember what I did to bring it back thou, since it was so long ago :(.

Try right-clicking on the area, and maybe it will show the option to restore hidden sections.

Have you tried this approach?

For the Root entry I manually added its icon back for now, though even that is technically a hack as it should be showing up on its own. For the drives it won’t work this way as they represent partitions and have the bars showing their free space and such. This is the part that’s missing on my laptop:

Screenshot_20230729_021343

At first I thought it might be a permission issue. But even when I log in as root and use Dolphin there they aren’t present. I’m thinking some entries must have broken during an update.

Have you tried to toggle the settings in ~/.local/share/user-places.xbel file?
You can check if ur group is hidden, and if it has been deleted accidentally.

Thanks, that’s the file I was looking for. I checked it out and the missing entries were simply not included and had disappeared from it, temporarily removing the file to generate a new one wouldn’t cause them to appear either. I copied the drive entry from my desktop and added it in, checked everything but for some reason it still doesn’t want to show… my root drive on the laptop is sda1 so this should work:

 <separator href="file:///">
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/sda1</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>false</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="drive-harddisk-root"/>
   </metadata>
  </info>
  <title>Manjaro</title>
 </separator>

if you delete the file, I dun think it will be generated back with default settings.

Perhaps this would help u:

 <info>
  <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
   <kde_places_version>4</kde_places_version>
   <GroupState-Places-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Places-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>
   <withRecentlyUsed>true</withRecentlyUsed>
   <GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>true</GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>
   <withBaloo>true</withBaloo>
   <GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>false</GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>
  </metadata>
 </info>

I tried patching the entry with that but still nothing. Am I doing this right?

...
 </bookmark>
 <separator href="file:///">
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/sda1</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>false</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="drive-harddisk-root"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <kde_places_version>4</kde_places_version>
    <GroupState-Places-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Places-IsHidden>
    <GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>
    <GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>
    <GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>
    <GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>
    <withRecentlyUsed>true</withRecentlyUsed>
    <GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>true</GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>
    <withBaloo>true</withBaloo>
    <GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>false</GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
  <title>Manjaro</title>
 </separator>
</xbel>

I think section

<kde_places_version>4</kde_places_version>

should be placed on top of the list.
The whole file should be like this:
(Replace **** with your user name)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE xbel>
<xbel xmlns:kdepriv="http://www.kde.org/kdepriv" xmlns:mime="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info" xmlns:bookmark="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/desktop-bookmarks">
 <info>
  <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
   <kde_places_version>4</kde_places_version>
   <GroupState-Places-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Places-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Remote-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Devices-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>false</GroupState-RemovableDevices-IsHidden>
   <GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>false</GroupState-Tags-IsHidden>
   <withRecentlyUsed>false</withRecentlyUsed>
   <GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>false</GroupState-RecentlySaved-IsHidden>
   <withBaloo>true</withBaloo>
   <GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>false</GroupState-SearchFor-IsHidden>
  </metadata>
 </info>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/">
  <title>Home</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="user-home"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/0</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Desktop">
  <title>Desktop</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="user-desktop"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/1</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Documents">
  <title>Documents</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-documents"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/2</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Desktop">
  <title>Desktop</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-downloads"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/3</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Music">
  <title>Music</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-music"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/6</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Pictures">
  <title>Pictures</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-pictures"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/7</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="file:///home/*****/Videos">
  <title>Videos</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-videos"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/8</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="remote:/">
  <title>Network</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-network"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/4</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="trash:/">
  <title>Trash</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="user-trash"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/5</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
    <IsHidden>true</IsHidden>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="recentlyused:/files">
  <title>Recent Files</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="document-open-recent"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/9</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <bookmark href="recentlyused:/locations">
  <title>Recent Locations</title>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://freedesktop.org">
    <bookmark:icon name="folder-open-recent"/>
   </metadata>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <ID>1672629757/10</ID>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </bookmark>
 <separator>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/nvme0n1p3</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </separator>
 <separator>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/nvme0n1p4</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </separator>
 <separator>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/sda1</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </separator>
 <separator>
  <info>
   <metadata owner="http://www.kde.org">
    <UDI>/org/freedesktop/UDisks2/block_devices/sdb1</UDI>
    <isSystemItem>true</isSystemItem>
   </metadata>
  </info>
 </separator>
</xbel>

Essentially, this is a truncated version of my own xbel file.
So this won’t show your own devices in your setup, but should enable those section missing in your panel.

You can copy and paste the content to your own xbel, adjust the device name according to yours. eg. nvme0n1p3, nvme0n1p4, sda1, sdb1.

If you are not familiar with how to adjust the device name, u can also drag and drop your own device/folder to the panel, for it to add back to panel.

1 Like

Tried that as well as a test, will not work either. For some reason it doesn’t want to show any disk drives even when the entry is clearly correct. It will however show removable drives like my USB stick, though an entry isn’t stored there permanently for them.

  1. Your disk drives can show up in Dolphin correctly, just that not showing up in Panel?

  2. Now that your xbel file is refreshed, have you tried to add the devices to Panel via the “Add Entry” function in Panel? Likewise, you can also drag a device and drop to Panel.

  3. If still not working, try:

  • power off setup
  • remove the power cable to your affected disks (but leave your OS drive connected)
  • boot into Manjaro and launch Dolphin
  • verify the affected disks not present in Dolphin
  • power off setup again
  • connect back the power cable to your affected disks.
  • boot into Manjaro.

See if (3) can give a kick to wake up your Dolphin.

How can I drag a device into the panel? If I drag the mounting point directory, it would create a directory entry rather than a drive reference. This is a laptop so I can’t disconnect the drive, there should be no need to as it’s accessed just fine (root, ext4) it’s just an issue with Dolphin not showing it in the panel.

Hi Mircea,
Im using Manjaro KDE since 3 years and also had a few Partitions and other sections on hidden and temporary switching to show up again, but without problems at all and i was playing alot with that feature.

Maybe checking your disks with KDE Partition Manager if there is really everything working as intended?

Are this devices automounted or mounted with fstab?

Did you created a snapshot bevor this error showed up?

Maybe you can compare this files and edit them or even roll back your system and update again?

Btw. Im not using Wayland, i have no idea if this could lead to this issue.

I can really recommend to always use Timeshift and create snapshots befor you update your system, it helps alot.

Could you please check in Show Panels if the selection is proper (Places are required)

1 Like

A normal drag to the Panel and drop, would do.

Drag and drop would create a bookmark link, filed under “Places”.
I just tested, and this would apply to both devices and folders, ie. even if u drag a device to Panel, the bookmark created is filed under Places.

I’m confused - what is not showing up in Panel?
Your external drive?
Or your internal disk?
If it is your internal disk, why would u wanna disconnect it physically? Or rather, do u disconnect ur internal disk regularly?

This is a screenshot from the device. I marked with red what is missing: Everyone should see a Devices section with the drives present there, for some reason I’m not.

This is the root drive which is my only internal drive on the machine: I can’t find any way to drag it into the panel. Even if I could it would probably appear as a directory not as a drive.

You suggested removing the power cable from the drive earlier. The drive works fine so I shouldn’t need to do that, doing so would require opening the laptop anyway which would be very dangerous.

You only have 1 internal drive, so this step is not useful to u.

How many partitions you have?
Is your \Home located in different partition than \ partition?
And I suppose you dun use RAID?

An immediate solution, is to add the partition via this method:
image

Your partition should be mounted either in:
/run/media/*****/ or
/mnt

So entering the location in the Add Places Entry, will put a bookmark there for your easy use.

Alternatively, if all approaches fail, install another file manager, like Nemo to use if same problem persists.

Just tried with an USB stick: The entry in Removable Devices (which does show) can’t be modified nor is ever stored in ~/.local/share/user-places.xbel, any attempt to add it manually puts a directory shortcut there not a second drive entry.

I only have one root partition on the internal drive, other than SWAP that’s about it. I wonder if this could be Dolphin having been updated to hide the entry if there’s only one partition to show on the entire system? Just a possibility, I just presumed it must have been some sort of bug.