Tks Florian, to my surprise, when I tried to debug it according to your instructions, it has decided to work!
When my internet was turned off, it now manages to start as "offline" and behaves nicely on the system tray; and when I go online, it springs up green and alive.
Not sure if if has anything to do with the PIN that I set up earlier. During debugging, the PIN somehow mysteriously disappears.
I will continue to monitor...