Synaptic: history missing even though I have history selected [Solved]

[sps7]

I've updated/upgraded and installed various packages but when I look at Synaptic history, only a single date from last month (Oct. 2023) shows up-- I installed various packages new to me today. Under Synaptic preferences, I do have history selected so I wonder why there's really no history for me to inspect.

What could cause this absence of Synaptic history entries?


My QSI:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.5.10-1-liquorix-amd64 [6.5-12~mx23ahs] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 parameters: audit=0
    intel_pstate=disable hpet=disable rcupdate.rcu_expedited=1
    BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.5.10-1-liquorix-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.1_KDE_x64 Libretto
    July 31 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: LENOVO product: 10B00013US v: ThinkCentre M73 serial: <superuser required>
    Chassis: type: 3 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: N/A v: SDK0E50510 WIN serial: <superuser required> BIOS: LENOVO
    v: FCKT72AUS date: 08/04/2015
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-4590 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Haswell gen: core 4 level: v3
    note: check built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3C (60) stepping: 3
    microcode: 0x28
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB
    L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1995 high: 1996 min/max: 800/3301 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1996 2: 1995 3: 1995 4: 1995 bogomips: 26339
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: disabled, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Lenovo ThinkCentre E73 driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7.5 process: Intel 22nm
    built: 2013 ports: active: VGA-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0412
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1280x1024 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 338x270mm (13.31x10.63") s-diag: 433mm (17.03")
  Monitor-1: VGA-1 model: Dell 1905FP serial: <filter> built: 2005 res: 1280x1024 hz: 60 dpi: 86
    gamma: 1.2 size: 376x301mm (14.8x11.85") diag: 490mm (19.3") ratio: 5:4 modes: max: 1280x1024
    min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.1.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0 chip-ID: 8086:0c0c class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo 8
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.5.10-1-liquorix-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo ThinkCentre E73
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 194.4 GiB (41.7%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Toshiba model: DT01ACA050 size: 465.76 GiB block-size:
    physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: A7C0
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 23.23 GiB size: 22.69 GiB (97.71%) used: 13.71 GiB (60.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 7.67 GiB size: 7.46 GiB (97.17%) used: 1.01 GiB (13.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sda6 maj-min: 8:6
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 10 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda5
    maj-min: 8:5
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 37.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2777 libs: 1477 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-earth-pro.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/earth/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/meganz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://mega.nz/linux/repo/Debian_12/ ./
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list
    1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
Info:
  Processes: 222 Uptime: 4h 9m wakeups: 1 Memory: 7.68 GiB used: 3.51 GiB (45.7%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

[dolphin_oracle]

you used synaptic to install the packages?

[fehlix]

I've updated/upgraded and installed various packages but when I look at Synaptic history, only a single date from last month (Oct. 2023) shows up-- I installed various packages new to me today. Under Synaptic preferences, I do have history selected so I wonder why there's really no history for me to inspect.

What could cause this absence of Synaptic history entries?

synaptic keeps it's own history about installed, removed or upgraded software packages,
located within the directroy /root/.synaptic/log
A more complete history can be found with the apt history log files listed within the tool QSI (Quick System Info), where also synaptic installed packages are listed.

[sps7]

you used synaptic to install the packages?

Yes, I did. What should I have done? What should I have used instead? You imply that no one else is using synaptic to install packages. Yes?

By doing what I did, did that cause the loss of synaptic history? If using synaptic didn't cause this absence of synaptic history, what did?

[dolphin_oracle]

you used synaptic to install the packages?

Yes, I did. What should I have done? What should I have used instead? You imply that no one else is using synaptic to install packages. Yes?

By doing what I did, did that cause the loss of synaptic history? If using synaptic didn't cause this absence of synaptic history, what did?

no synaptic is perfectly fine tool to use. I was getting to what fehlix said that synaptic history only works for synaptic history. so "apt" from the commandline or from mx-packageinstaller would not be included.

I'm not sure what would lose the history, other than the history log files missing from /root/.synaptic/log. I suppose if /root/.synaptic were unwrite-able for some reason that would do it too. potentially a full root partition would do it, but then other things might not work as well.

even if those logs are missing, the apt-history in quick-system-info should give a complete picture, if not synaptic-specific. it acts on the dpkg logs, which includes everything.