I experience exactly the same symptoms as the bug report description has. After some time nm-applet stops reacting to user input and submenu entries do not populate. This is with latest 12.10 packages.
I noticed that the indicator tries to get the menu but it fails - dbus-monitor output below: method call sender=:1.12 -> dest=:1.67 serial=14296 path=/com/canonical/Unity/Panel/Service; interface=com.canonical.Unity.Panel.Service; member=ShowEntry string "0x26ef470" uint32 0 int32 1147 int32 24 uint32 1 uint32 1356027813 method return sender=:1.67 -> dest=:1.12 reply_serial=14296 method call sender=:1.67 -> dest=:1.14 serial=107621 path=/org/ayatana/NotificationItem/nm_applet/Menu; interface=com.canonical.dbusmenu; member=AboutToShowGroup array [ int32 80799 ] error sender=:1.14 -> dest=:1.67 error_name=org.gtk.GDBus.UnmappedGError.Quark._LIBDBUSMENU_2dGLIB.Code0 reply_serial=107621 string "The IDs supplied '[80799]' do not refer to any menu items we have" When some item is clicked (e.g. disconnect for current wifi AP) the following happens: signal sender=:1.67 -> dest=(null destination) serial=107704 path=/com/canonical/Unity/Panel/Service; interface=com.canonical.Unity.Panel.Service; member=EntryActivated string "" struct { int32 0 int32 0 uint32 0 uint32 0 } method call sender=:1.67 -> dest=:1.14 serial=107705 path=/org/ayatana/NotificationItem/nm_applet/Menu; interface=com.canonical.dbusmenu; member=EventGroup array [ struct { int32 80846 string "clicked" variant int32 0 uint32 106251172 } ] error sender=:1.14 -> dest=:1.67 error_name=org.gtk.GDBus.UnmappedGError.Quark._LIBDBUSMENU_2dGLIB.Code0 reply_serial=107705 string "The IDs supplied '[80846]' do not refer to any menu items we have" So this looks like like dbus menu is losing the IDs or nm-applet is using the ids that are no longer valid. ** Changed in: network-manager-applet (Ubuntu Quantal) Status: Incomplete => New -- 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/780602 Title: nm-applet leaks memory and stops functioning after a while Status in OEM Priority Project: Fix Committed Status in OEM Priority Project precise series: In Progress Status in OEM Priority Project quantal series: Fix Committed Status in “network-manager-applet” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released Status in “network-manager-applet” source package in Precise: Fix Committed Status in “network-manager-applet” source package in Quantal: Confirmed Bug description: [Impact] This issue affects most and any users of nm-applet, especially in environments (such as offices) where the detected wireless networks change a lot, and where roaming can occur frequently. [Test Case] Run nm-applet for multiple hours: - Observe that the VPN Connections submenu still opens and lists connections (if VPN connections are configured) - Observe that the "More networks" submenu for additional detected wireless networks still opens and lists networks. A common failure case is where such a submenu will open but show an empty list (a piece of menu a few milimeters long). [Regression Potential] Minimal, the fixes have been available for a while in the development release (and in other recent releases) with no regressions; furthermore, this corrects "obviously" wrong memory handling without changing the effective behavior of the application. Possible issues could be introducing new memory leaks with the changes however, and although the risk is minimal, this could cause the same failure behavior as listed above under [Test Case]. -- nm-applet leaks memory in a fresh install of Natty, increasing to over 200 Mb in 6-8 hours. In addition the nm-applet embedded in the task bar becomes unresponsive after several hours. Clicking on the applet will still show the popup menu, but none of the menu entries respond to mouse clicks. When this happens, the "VPN connections" and "Other networks" menus also show up completely empty (only a small menu stub is displayed). ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04 Package: network-manager-gnome 0.8.4~git.20110318t152954.9c4c9a0-0ubuntu1 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-9.43-generic-pae 2.6.38.4 Uname: Linux 2.6.38-9-generic-pae i686 NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia Architecture: i386 CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory Date: Tue May 10 11:53:09 2011 EcryptfsInUse: Yes IfupdownConfig: auto lo iface lo inet loopback InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Beta i386 (20110413) IpRoute: 192.168.2.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.2.12 metric 1 169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0 scope link metric 1000 default via 192.168.2.1 dev eth0 proto static Keyfiles: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory NetworkManager.state: [main] NetworkingEnabled=true WirelessEnabled=true WWANEnabled=true ProcEnviron: LANGUAGE=en_CA:en PATH=(custom, user) LANG=en_CA.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: network-manager-applet UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/oem-priority/+bug/780602/+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