Update Checker (Pac-Man Widget)

Pac-Man themed system update checker for Noctalia on pacman-based Linux distributions.

Displays update availability directly in the bar using an animated Pac-Man indicator, with configurable idle behavior and refresh timing.

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Features

• Animated Pac-Man update indicator
• Idle animation when system is up to date
• Optional themed idle icon color
• Optional idle pellet display
• Native Noctalia settings panel
• Configurable refresh timing
• Configurable animation timing
• Right-click context menu actions
• Tooltip status reporting
• Panel view of pending updates
• Automatic refresh after pacman transactions
• Uses safe checkupdates backend (no root required)

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Requirements

• Noctalia >= 3.6.0
• pacman-based distribution (Arch / CachyOS / EndeavourOS / etc.)
• pacman-contrib installed

Install dependency if needed:

sudo pacman -S pacman-contrib

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Installation

Clone or copy the plugin into:

~/.config/noctalia/plugins/update-checker

Example:

git clone https://github.com/OhNoIBrokeIt/noctalia-update-checker ~/.config/noctalia/plugins/update-checker

Restart Noctalia:

killall qs
qs -c noctalia-shell

Then add Update Checker from the bar widget picker.

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Settings

The plugin currently supports:

• Check interval
• Initial animation duration
• Idle chomp interval
• Use themed idle icon color
• Show idle pellet

Settings are available via:

Right-click widget → Plugin settings

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Behavior

When updates are available:

• Pac-Man animates
• Update count is displayed
• Hover restarts animation
• Clicking opens update panel

When the system is up to date:

• Pac-Man enters idle animation mode
• Optional pellet indicator shown
• Optional themed icon coloring applied

Right-click opens:

• Check now
• Open updates panel
• Plugin settings

The widget refreshes automatically after pacman transactions.

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Backend Design

This plugin uses:

checkupdates

from:

pacman-contrib

Advantages:

• Does not require root
• Does not lock pacman database
• Safe for periodic polling
• Recommended Arch update-checking method

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File Structure

update-checker/
├── manifest.json
├── Main.qml
├── BarWidget.qml
├── Panel.qml
├── Settings.qml
├── settings.json
├── en.json
├── updates-check.sh
└── README.md

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Troubleshooting

No updates detected

Verify dependency:

checkupdates

If command fails:

sudo pacman -S pacman-contrib

Widget not visible

Restart Noctalia:

killall qs
qs -c noctalia-shell

Then re-add widget from bar settings.

Script not executable

Fix:

chmod +x updates-check.sh

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Screenshots

Placeolder for screenshot

Example path:

docs/screenshot.png

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License

MIT

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Author

Created by ohnoibrokeit

Contributions welcome.