Time setting

[LateJunction]

Why does MX insist on displaying the wrong time for my location? It's always an hour ahead - no matter how many times I set it to the correct time in MX Date and Time Settings, as soon as I click 'Apply', the time is changed by MX to the wrong time. Why is this ?

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System:
  Kernel: 6.9.12-2-liquorix-amd64 [6.9-12~mx23ahs] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0 parameters: audit=0
    intel_pstate=disable BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.9.12-2-liquorix-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro
    quiet iommu=off splash init=/lib/systemd/systemd
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto October 15  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Gigabyte model: H81M-S2H v: x.x serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: F2 date: 08/11/2015
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-4790 bits: 64 type: MT 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 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1985 high: 3894 min/max: 800/3601 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 3894 2: 3894 3: 3892 4: 1000 5: 800 6: 800
    7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 57471
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  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: conditional; RSB
    filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050] vendor: ZOTAC driver: nvidia v: 535.247.01
    non-free: 530.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm
    built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1c81
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 509x286mm (20.04x11.26") s-diag: 584mm (22.99")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-0 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 26 size: 1872x1053mm (73.7x41.46")
    diag: 2148mm (84.56") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.247.01 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte 8
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: ZOTAC driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.9.12-2-liquorix-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 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: Gigabyte driver: r8169
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.47 TiB used: 587.27 GiB (38.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-75ZF5A0 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0A80
    scheme: MBR
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST3500312CS size: 465.76 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 1.5 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5900 serial: <filter> rev: SC13
    scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: SanDisk model: SDSSDA120G size: 111.79 GiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 00RL scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 83.66 GiB size: 81.79 GiB (97.77%) used: 33.05 GiB (40.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sdc3 maj-min: 8:35
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 7.62 GiB size: 7.6 GiB (99.80%) used: 288 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 465.76 GiB size: 457.38 GiB (98.20%) used: 224.01 GiB (49.0%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 20.51 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdc2
    maj-min: 8:34
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 36.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 33 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 46%
Repos:
  Packages: 3491 pm: dpkg pkgs: 3456 libs: 2005 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 35
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  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
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics:darktable.list
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/graphics:darktable:master.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb https://mirrors.ukfast.co.uk/sites/MX_antiX_packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/qgis.sources
    1: deb deb-src [arch=amd64] https://qgis.org/debian bookworm main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq-bookworm.sources
    1: deb [arch=amd64 i386] https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/debian bookworm main
Info:
  Processes: 343 Uptime: 16h 9m wakeups: 1 Memory: 15.65 GiB used: 1.98 GiB (12.6%) Init: systemd
  v: 252 target: graphical (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: UEFI

[Eadwine Rose]

According to the forum rules (please read): Please provide full Quick System Info from the menu, use copy for forum button, no edits.

LiveUSB version is OK if needed.

[LateJunction]

According to the forum rules (please read): Please provide full Quick System Info from the menu, use copy for forum button, no edits.

LiveUSB version is OK if needed.

Yes, of course; brain fade. Original post updated

[DukeComposed]

Why does MX insist on displaying the wrong time for my location? It's always an hour ahead - no matter how many times I set it to the correct time in MX Date and Time Settings, as soon as I click 'Apply', the time is changed by MX to the wrong time. Why is this ?

Check what your system is saying versus what the accurate time is. Each of the following commands should return valid output.

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date
date -u
ls -la /etc | grep localtime
timedatectl status

[LateJunction]

Code: Select all

tony@mx:~
$ date
Wed  6 Aug 15:56:27 BST 2025
tony@mx:~
$ date -u
Wed  6 Aug 14:56:41 UTC 2025
tony@mx:~
$ ls -la /etc | grep localtime
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root        33 Jan 24  2024 localtime -> /usr/share/zoneinfo/Europe/London
tony@mx:~
$ timedatectl status
               Local time: Wed 2025-08-06 15:57:53 BST
           Universal time: Wed 2025-08-06 14:57:53 UTC
                 RTC time: Wed 2025-08-06 15:57:52
                Time zone: Europe/London (BST, +0100)
System clock synchronized: no
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: yes

Warning: The system is configured to read the RTC time in the local time zone.
         This mode cannot be fully supported. It will create various problems
         with time zone changes and daylight saving time adjustments. The RTC
         time is never updated, it relies on external facilities to maintain it.
         If at all possible, use RTC in UTC by calling
         'timedatectl set-local-rtc 0'.
tony@mx:~
$

[Eadwine Rose]

Please post code like this: [code]code output here[/code]

Or you can select the code and tick the </> button (it's next to the quote)

Thanks. :)

[BV206]

Any decent clock or calendar program should be able to change the time and date format without messing with locales or systemwide settings.

For example the Xfce panel Clock and DateTime plugins and Conky use strftime format that you can easily change.

To find the strftime syntax format you can run in a terminal:

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man strftime

or

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date --help

There are also several web sites like https://strftime.net that can write strings for you.

[LateJunction]

Any decent clock or calendar program should be able to change the time and date format without messing with locales or systemwide settings.

For example the Xfce panel Clock and DateTime plugins and Conky use strftime format that you can easily change.

To find the strftime syntax format you can run in a terminal:

Code: Select all

man strftime

or

Code: Select all

date --help

There are also several web sites like https://strftime.net that can write strings for you.

Seriously, are you saying that I have to create a text string using a command with something of the order of 40 data fields and some pages of definition, written by experts in a style suitable for consumption only by experts (who, by definition, don't need it), then some how (at this point unknown) add it to some plugins in MX just to be able to see the correct time? By my definition this would amount to a defect ("failure to understand the needs of the intended audience by the widest imaginable margin") in MX. That's a shame. No other OS I'm using on my home collection of PCs (Linux Mint, Debian 12, Zorin OS, Windows 7, Windows 10, require me to mentally adjust the time shown by the OS's clock.

[CharlesV]

If you run MX Date & Time, on the first tab check your locale. Change it there if needed.

On the Second tab ( Hardware Clock, verify your on the UTC or Local time zone. (I usually leave this as UTC), and then click on System Clock to Hardware Clock. (Click on Help to read about which button does what, or hover over the buttons.)

And last, verify where your Network time is - AND then make sure your "automatically update the system clock" is checked and then click on update now.

Your system should update to the correct time and remain in that time synch. if it is off by an hour or more, then the locale is incorrect. if it immediately switches back to your hardware clock settings, then your sync to network time is turned off.