After reading this entire post, and finding nothing useful. The only useful posting was the one about updating (searching for the poster, crashed my FireFox) so I am not sure if this will help anyone.
[My System] Ubuntu 10.04.3 (server) - updated to generic-pae - running Xubuntu-Desktop Linux acer 2.6.32-38-generic-pae #83-Ubuntu SMP Wed Jan 4 12:11:13 UTC 2012 i686 GNU/Linux -------- The steps I took to fix the problem Applications->Accessories->Terminal $ sudo su - $ aptitude search network I looked for all that was installed, and what I thought would be needed to maintain the network through apps instead of directly through the /etc/network/interfaces file I found and installed the below apps $ sudo apt-get install network-manager network-config network-manager-gnome gnome-network-admin --reinstall The gui informed me after this install I needed to reboot, so I rebooted. Once I rebooted, the notification icon didn't appear, and FireFox along with other applications did start correctly, (ie NOT in "Offline" Mode) -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Desktop Bugs, which is subscribed to the bug report. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/191889 Title: [MASTER] [WORKAROUND] "Offline Mode" feature fails to detect proper online state for networks that are managed outside of network manager. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/firefox/+bug/191889/+subscriptions -- desktop-bugs mailing list desktop-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/desktop-bugs