Debian/Kali Linux KDE Connect Cannot Detect Any Devices on Network Not Working

Documenting the KDE Connect issues I recently encountered on Debian 12 testing and Kali Linux 2023.3. The specific symptoms were that KDE Connect could not detect any devices on the network and was not working.

Initially encountered on Kali Linux 2023.3, it can be solved through the following two methods:

1
1/nohup /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libexec/kdeconnectd &>/dev/null &

1
mv /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.kde.kdeconnect.service{.original,}

Later, the same problem appeared on Debian 12 and Debian testing. The solution is:

1
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=kdeconnect
2
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

The Kali Linux solution involves changing configuration, while the Debian solution involves changing firewall settings. The causes of the two problems are probably different, as Kali Linux doesn’t display the local computer name, while Debian does.

References:

[1] KDE connect doesn’t detect any devices on network - Debian User Forums
[2] 0008204: KDEConnect & Bluetooth Services does not start - Kali Linux Bug Tracker

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