manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

ginahoy · 2026-01-12 16:08:59

I recently installed Mint 22.2 Xfce and noticed a problem with the "Time and Date" GUI. First, there's no Unlock button, which is fine by me (Time & Date required authentication in v18.2). I normally have it set to 'synchronize with servers' but when I set Configuration to manual, the GUI not only fails to hold onto any date change, the newly selected date jumps to a random month and day about a second after I make my selection. Strange.

I tried opening the GUI from the terminal, with and without sudo. Either way, this is the output when I set Configuration to to Manual and I change the date:

david@david-desktop:~$ sudo time-admin
[sudo] password for david:       

(time-admin:3774): GLib-CRITICAL **: 20:36:50.342: g_date_time_to_unix: assertion 'datetime != NULL' failed

** (time-admin:3774): CRITICAL **: 20:36:50.353: Set time failed: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs: Invalid absolute time

(time-admin:3774): GLib-CRITICAL **: 20:36:50.353: g_date_time_unref: assertion 'datetime != NULL' failed

Is this possibly a bug, or is something else going on?

eriefisher · 2026-01-12 17:40:11

What id the bios time and date set to? Is it correct?

hwclock

ginahoy · 2026-01-12 19:16:50

Thanks. When I enter that command, I just get the current time and date:

david@linux-desktop ~ $ sudo hwclock
[sudo] password for david:
Mon 12 Jan 2026 11:57:20 AM MST .592191 seconds

Not sure what you mean by "what id the bios time and date set to"... how do I check that?

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-01-13 01:24:54)

eriefisher · 2026-01-12 20:06:21

Sorry, typo. is not id.
hwclock reads the hardware clock in the bios. But you say the time is correct. It is possible the hardware clock is set to local time and the system clock is setting the time +/- GMT. This is of course dependent on your location in the world.
You could try setting the bios clock to GMT then set the system time appropriately. GMT +/-.

ginahoy · 2026-01-13 02:10:59

I'm not sure how the bios clock (timezone) could impact functionality of Manual config for system clock GUI. In any case, I just checked and my hardware clock is already set to UTC.

BTW, just noticed the time/date format of the hwclock command output is different now than when I posted its output previously:

david@david-desktop:~$ sudo hwclock
[sudo] password for david:       
2026-01-12 19:05:06.082088-07:00

Then I remembered I was booted into my previous OS (Mint Xfce 18.2) when I ran that command roll

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-01-13 02:11:45)

gogogadget · 2026-01-13 06:45:56

ginahoy wrote:

I recently installed Mint 22.2 Xfce and noticed a problem with the "Time and Date" GUI.
Is this possibly a bug, or is something else going on?

Your time-admin application is not provided by Xfce, but your distribution, maybe Mint have some docs about it that could help you.
I guess Mint use systemd, you can have some info with timedatectl.

It should look like this (RTC for real time clock is the hardware clock) :

$ timedatectl status
               Local time: mar. 2026-01-13 07:38:13 CET
           Universal time: mar. 2026-01-13 06:38:13 UTC
                 RTC time: mar. 2026-01-13 06:38:13
                Time zone: Europe/Paris (CET, +0100)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System_time

Last edited by gogogadget (2026-01-13 06:48:09)

eriefisher · 2026-01-13 11:14:48

I just looked up your time-admin application, it's part of gnome-system-tools. I'm not sure it will even work in Xfce4, at least not without a tonne Gnome junk.
I would switch to timedatectl as mentioned above.

ginahoy · 2026-01-14 01:21:49

I appreciate the responses. Now that I understand what to look for, I found a slew of online traffic re: issues with time-admin beginning with Mint 21.3 (Xfce and Mate). Doesn't look like anyone (Gnome) is working on it.

I already know how to use timedatectl's date command to reset system clock from the terminal. What I really want is a functional clock/calendar GUI that supports time/date adjustments.

I spent a fair amount of time searching my repository -- lots of hits on clock, time and/or date, most without ratings (I avoid software without some sort of recommendation). My repo has a handful of time/date GUI packages with positive ratings but the descriptions don't mention changing system clock. That's exactly what time-admin provided, before it broke. Suggestions would be appreciated smile

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-01-14 01:56:31)

oldrust · 2026-01-15 19:48:24

This works for me

https://github.com/kraj/xfce4-datetime-setter/

(A fork of (early) gnome-control-center datetime panel for XFCE. It is based upon
GTK3 and embedds into recent xfce4-settings.)

ginahoy · 2026-01-17 16:45:03

oldrust wrote:

This works for me
https://github.com/kraj/xfce4-datetime-setter/

Thanks for that tip! I'm not familiar with how to install code without instructions. Assistance would be appreciated!

peido · 2026-07-06 21:03:54

ginahoy wrote:

I recently installed Mint 22.2 Xfce and noticed a problem with the "Time and Date" GUI. First, there's no Unlock button, which is fine by me (Time & Date required authentication in v18.2). I normally have it set to 'synchronize with servers' but when I set Configuration to manual, the GUI not only fails to hold onto any date change, the newly selected date jumps to a random month and day about a second after I make my selection. Strange.

I'm facing the exact same problem. I sometimes have to change the computer date to process some documents on a certain date.
I've noticed that the newly selected date doesn't jump to a random month and day, it always jump to the same day but 2 months prior to the one I selected.
I can't remember when did I started to face this bug, but it is not new.

oldrust wrote:

This works for me
https://github.com/kraj/xfce4-datetime-setter/
(A fork of (early) gnome-control-center datetime panel for XFCE. It is based upon
GTK3 and embedds into recent xfce4-settings.)

I'm also not familiar on how to install "code" sad

Last edited by peido (2026-07-06 21:06:10)

eriefisher · 2026-07-06 21:35:45

Most of that code hasn't been touched in 7 years. I wouldn't touch it myself.

A couple things to check is what is your hardware clock set to(bios clock). There are also tools to manipulate time and time zone.

See:
timedatectl
systemd-timesyncd
hwclock

ginahoy · 2026-07-07 01:28:22

peido wrote:

I'm facing the exact same problem.

Thanks for confirming! Which version of Mint are you running? I'm curious if this issue was fixed with v22.3

...I've noticed that the newly selected date doesn't jump to a random month and day, it always jump to the same day but 2 months prior to the one I selected.

Same here. The random jumps occur, at least for me, when I try to trick the GUI by selecting a date 2 months in the future of the desired date.

For now, I just change the date with the date or timedatectl command from the terminal when I need to override (requires disabling ntp first).

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-07-07 01:36:10)

daffyduck · 2026-07-07 15:26:14

ginahoy wrote:

peido wrote:
I'm facing the exact same problem.
Thanks for confirming! Which version of Mint are you running? I'm curious if this issue was fixed with v22.3
...I've noticed that the newly selected date doesn't jump to a random month and day, it always jump to the same day but 2 months prior to the one I selected.
Same here. The random jumps occur, at least for me, when I try to trick the GUI by selecting a date 2 months in the future of the desired date.
For now, I just change the date with the date or timedatectl command from the terminal when I need to override (requires disabling ntp first).

Mint uses systemd service named "timesyncd" to synchronize time with NTP servers.
To be able to set manual time, you have to disable that service. After stopping and disabling that service, you can also mask it and hold it to make it hard to re-enable it back by accident.

If timesyncd is enabled, it will just override whatever time you have set manually.

To check status in Mint:
timedatectl status
timedatectl timesync-status #i think this shows the status of the service

By the way: timesyncd is also a security / fingerprinting downside: it is set to get the time from Ubuntu's NTP servers, which they use to collect data about usage of Ubuntu derivatives. And, they don't share that data with anyone.

So, if you want to use NTP time sync, then better change the time servers to something else (like one of the world NTP pools, or similar).

Last edited by daffyduck (2026-07-07 15:29:23)

ginahoy · 2026-07-07 16:15:29

daffyduck wrote:

Mint uses systemd service named "timesyncd" to synchronize time with NTP servers... If timesyncd is enabled, it will just override whatever time you have set manually...

None of that relates to the issue with the Time & Date GUI when NTP is properly disabled.

daffyduck · 2026-07-07 16:20:25

ginahoy wrote:

daffyduck wrote:
Mint uses systemd service named "timesyncd" to synchronize time with NTP servers... If timesyncd is enabled, it will just override whatever time you have set manually...
None of that relates to the issue with the Time & Date GUI when NTP is properly disabled.

Possibly, yes.
If you properly disabled NTP, then it might be an XFCE bug. But, you have to definitively disable NTP first. Remember to reset the computer, just to be certain.
In the meantime, you can use the terminal to set the manual time.

Last edited by daffyduck (2026-07-07 16:47:38)

ginahoy · 2026-07-07 16:33:10

daffyduck wrote:

Possibly, yes. If you properly disabled NTP, then it might be an XFCE bug. But, you have to definitively disable NTP first. Remember to reset the computer, just to be certain.

Thanks. No need to restart the computer... it's obvious from the GUI that NTP is disabled.

It occurred that the bug might be with disabling NTP from the GUI. To test, I disabled NTP from the terminal first, but I get the same result: when I select a new date from the GUI, it jumps to the date 2 months prior to current date, as noted in the OP. In any case, if NTP were still enabled, the date wouldn't change at all.

daffyduck · 2026-07-07 16:49:17

ginahoy wrote:

daffyduck wrote:
Possibly, yes. If you properly disabled NTP, then it might be an XFCE bug. But, you have to definitively disable NTP first. Remember to reset the computer, just to be certain.
Thanks. No need to restart the computer... it's obvious from the GUI that NTP is disabled.
It occurred that the bug might be with disabling NTP from the GUI. To test, I disabled NTP from the terminal first, but I get the same result: when I select a new date from the GUI, it jumps to the date 2 months prior to current date, as noted in the OP. In any case, if NTP were still enabled, the date wouldn't change at all.

There is no simple and certain way to disable NTP, especially not via GUI, because ANY running NTP daemon acts as a NTP enabler.

Ah, i just remembered. Perhaps you upgraded your computer from much older Mint during the last few years?
Older Linux Mint didn't use timesyncd. It used another service, from another APT package. Theoretically, that package should be uninstalled or disabled by now.
But, that's just the theory.

Use apt to search for packages that have "ntp" in their name:
apt list --installed "*ntp*"

what were the names of those packages .. I think "ntp" and "ntpdate". If those are still installed, they might be interferring with time changes. They may be using cron / anacron to start intermittently, and those are still enabled on a modern Mint.

====================
Also, please ascertain that timesyncd is not running:

sudo systemctl status systemd-timesyncd

Last edited by daffyduck (2026-07-07 16:59:19)

ginahoy · 2026-07-07 17:36:14

daffyduck wrote:

There is no simple and certain way to disable NTP, especially not via GUI, because ANY running NTP daemon acts as a NTP enabler.

The Time & Date GUI has a Configuration dropdown to select "Manual" or "Keep synchronized with internet servers" and that part definitely works. To wit, the command timedatectl timesync-status returns an error (service not found) if the GUI is set to Manual, proving that time sync is indeed disabled. In case there's a misunderstanding of terminology... note that I'm using 'NTP' to generically refer to network time synchronization in general.

Ah, i just remembered. Perhaps you upgraded your computer from much older Mint during the last few years?

OK, I can see how left-over processes might cause this kind of issue. However, I jumped from Mint 18, so I had to install Mint 22 from scratch. Moreover, the same bug exists when I load Mint 22 live. What I gathered from my research on this is bug that it began with Mint 21, and that the developers left a previous process process related to NTP in the Mint 21 package that conflicts with the time-admin GUI (apparently added in Mint 21), but the details were beyond my understanding. i.e., fixing is not simply a matter of disabling a process.

Bottom line, additional advice on resolving this issue without fixing the bug is pointless.

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-07-07 17:53:29)

daffyduck · 2026-07-07 17:54:45

ginahoy wrote:

The Time & Date GUI has a Configuration dropdown to select "Manual" or "Keep synchronized with internet servers" and that part definitely works. To wit, the command timedatectl timesync-status returns an error (service not found) if the GUI is set to Manual, proving that time sync is indeed disabled. In case there's a misunderstanding of terminology... note that I'm using 'NTP' to generically refer to network time synchronization in general.

Those do not prove anything, because there might be a bug in timedatectl.
The only reliable proof is both:

apt list --installed "*ntp*"
sudo systemctl status systemd-timesyncd

OK, I can see how left-over processes might cause this kind of issue. However, I jumped from Mint 18, so I had to install Mint 22 from scratch. Moreover, the same bug exists when I load Mint 22 live. What I gathered from my research on this is bug that it began with Mint 21, and that the developers left a previous process process related to NTP in the Mint 21 package that conflicts with the time-admin GUI (apparently added in Mint 21), but the details were beyond my understanding. i.e., fixing is not simply a matter of disabling a process.
Bottom line, additional advice on resolving this issue without fixing the bug is pointless.

Likely, yes.
But you were skipping important steps to determine the system’s state. That’s never the right approach.
It’s not hard to copy and paste a few terminal commands to increase confidence in the system’s status.

ginahoy · 2026-07-08 02:01:08

For my sins...

david@david-desktop:~$ apt   list   --installed "*ntp*"
Listing... Done
david@david-desktop:~$ 
david@david-desktop:~$ sudo  systemctl  status  systemd-timesyncd
● systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2026-07-07 10:06:57 MST; 8h ago
       Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)
   Main PID: 58609 (systemd-timesyn)
     Status: "Contacted time server [2620:2d:4000:1::40]:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com)."
      Tasks: 2 (limit: 37861)
     Memory: 1.3M (peak: 2.1M)
        CPU: 104ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/systemd-timesyncd.service
             └─58609 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-timesyncd

Jul 07 10:06:56 david-desktop systemd[1]: Starting systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization...
Jul 07 10:06:57 david-desktop systemd[1]: Started systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization.
Jul 07 10:06:57 david-desktop systemd-timesyncd[58609]: Contacted time server [2620:2d:4000:1::40]:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com).
Jul 07 10:06:57 david-desktop systemd-timesyncd[58609]: Initial clock synchronization to Tue 2026-07-07 10:06:57.263923 MST.

daffyduck · 2026-07-08 02:28:10

Well... just disable that service, and if you are still experiencing issues afterwards, then you can report a bug if you want.
Your system real-time clock is probably accurate to about 10 seconds error per month. Good old CMOS.

ginahoy · 2026-07-08 03:36:35

daffyduck wrote:

Well... just disable that service, and if you are still experiencing issues afterwards, then you can report a bug if you want.

Just disable the service? What do you think I've been doing?! It is literally impossible to override the system clock if time sync service is running. The GUI provided by time-admin doesn't even show the calendar or time entry fields if the time sync service is running. And if a command is submitted via the terminal to override date & time, the sync service instantly restores network time.

Bottom line... the bug can only present itself when the time sync service is disabled.

Here's the terminal output for the status command you provided when I disable the time sync service from the time-admin GUI, or from the terminal as shown in this case.

david@david-desktop:~$ timedatectl set-ntp false
david@david-desktop:~$ sudo  systemctl  status  systemd-timesyncd
[sudo] password for david:       
○ systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/systemd-timesyncd.service; disabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: inactive (dead)
       Docs: man:systemd-timesyncd.service(8)

Jul 07 20:11:33 david-desktop systemd[1]: Stopping systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization...
Jul 07 20:11:33 david-desktop systemd[1]: systemd-timesyncd.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jul 07 20:11:33 david-desktop systemd[1]: Stopped systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization.
Jul 07 20:32:32 david-desktop systemd[1]: Starting systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization...
Jul 07 20:32:32 david-desktop systemd[1]: Started systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization.
Jul 07 20:32:33 david-desktop systemd-timesyncd[73808]: Contacted time server [2620:2d:4000:1::41]:123 (ntp.ubuntu.com).
Jul 07 20:32:33 david-desktop systemd-timesyncd[73808]: Initial clock synchronization to Tue 2026-07-07 20:32:33.136981 MST.
Jul 07 20:33:20 david-desktop systemd[1]: Stopping systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization...
Jul 07 20:33:20 david-desktop systemd[1]: systemd-timesyncd.service: Deactivated successfully.
Jul 07 20:33:20 david-desktop systemd[1]: Stopped systemd-timesyncd.service - Network Time Synchronization.

Last edited by ginahoy (2026-07-08 15:06:53)

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#1 2026-01-12 16:08:59

manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#2 2026-01-12 17:40:11

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#3 2026-01-12 19:16:50

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#4 2026-01-12 20:06:21

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#5 2026-01-13 02:10:59

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#6 2026-01-13 06:45:56

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#7 2026-01-13 11:14:48

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#8 2026-01-14 01:21:49

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#9 2026-01-15 19:48:24

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#10 2026-01-17 16:45:03

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#11 2026-07-06 21:03:54

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#12 2026-07-06 21:35:45

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#13 2026-07-07 01:28:22

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#14 2026-07-07 15:26:14

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#15 2026-07-07 16:15:29

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#16 2026-07-07 16:20:25

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#17 2026-07-07 16:33:10

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#18 2026-07-07 16:49:17

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#19 2026-07-07 17:36:14

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#20 2026-07-07 17:54:45

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#21 2026-07-08 02:01:08

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#22 2026-07-08 02:28:10

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

#23 2026-07-08 03:36:35

Re: manual Time and Date adjustments don't work for me

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