From: jack@handsome.com   
      
   On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 10:12:27 -0800, Mike Easter wrote:   
      
   > Mike Easter wrote:   
   >> Then, as to the qx of 'what went wrong' for the past year that you   
   >> didn't have an operational NTP process, perhaps it was b0rken from the   
   >> gitgo somehow during the install, otherwise something must've b0rked it   
   >> along the way.   
   >   
   > Aha!  Here's a data point.   
   >   
   > I booted a live LM XFCE 20.3. Its native configuration is NOT the same   
   > as the current (including your 21.3 and 22 XFCE & Cinn).   
   >   
   > It uses the older ntp system as described at my earlier msg LM forum:   
   > https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=378554   
   >   
   > So, if I'm trying to figger out how something went wrong in your system,   
   > maybe it started w/ an earlier xfce like 20.3 to graduate/upgrade to 21   
      
   Yes, it did.   
      
   > and something went wrong in the transition from the older ntp:   
   >   
   >> I see /etc/ntp.conf on my LM 18.3 partition (incidentally Xfce) based   
   >> on Ubuntu 16.04. Ubuntu started replaced ntpdate and ntp with   
   >> timedatectl and timesyncd since 16.04. No /etc/ntp.conf present on my   
   >> LM 19.3 Cinnamon partition. I'm not sure that it's Xfce related,   
   >> more like systemd implementation   
   >   
   > On that live 20.3 xfce, if I status:   
   >   
   > systemctl status systemd-timesyncd   
   >   
   > ...  now I get loaded masked and inactive dead because that isn't how   
   > the ntp is handled on the older xfce.   
   >   
   > If I continue to explore what is my problem, I find that while the   
   > system is *supposed to* get the NTP, it fails because it is trying to   
   > use a now 'bad' NTP at freedesktop.   
      
   My log of the 20.3 upgrade contains the lines:   
   "Installing new version of config file /etc/init.d/ntp ...   
   ntp-systemd-netif.service is a disabled or a static unit not running, not   
   starting it."   
   Perhaps that is related.   
      
   >   
   > So on an old xfce 20.3, it is necessary for the user to manually fix the   
   > errant NTP, either by installing the systemd service or fixing the name   
   > of the time server.   
      
   LM is never going to be a mass-market product while new users are faced   
   with this sort of thing. They'll just give up and go back to Windows.   
      
   Thanks for your analysis.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)