I have an autostart.sh script that starts picom, Network Manager applet, etc. when I log in to Qtile. Everything starts fine except volumeicon. When I log in after boot, the icon shows up for a fraction of a second with a red line through it, before it disappears. Using ps, I can see that it’s gone.
If I log out of Qtile and then log back in, it starts as it should and keeps running.
My guess is that it tries to start before the sound device or service is up and running.