Unable to archive certain conversations

[janvlug]

• [X] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

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Bug Description

I have a few conversations that are immediately unarchived after archiving. These conversation seem to have in common that the contact isn't using Signal (anymore).

Steps to Reproduce

1. Archive a certain conversation.

Actual Result:

The conversation is for less than a few seconds archived (I see the archived conversations count increase with 1), but the conversation comes back in the regular conversations.

Expected Result:

The conversations stays archived.

Platform Info

Signal Version: v5.3.0

Operating System: Fedora 34 Linux, installed as flatpak

Linked Device Version: Android 5.11.5

Link to Debug Log

https://debuglogs.org/594c27bdd327ba7fb5b2673859462712a3f55d66d7c01fad2bf201c3a1430f95

Additional information

On my other Signal Desktop, I see the same behavior. But on my Android phone they are archived correctly.

[indutny-signal]

Thank you for the information. We'll look into it!

[josh-signal]

@janvlug can you also post your android debug logs?

[janvlug]

I thought: let me look up the archived conversations on my Android phone and unarchive them and archive them again on Android to have a useful debuglog. But I noticed that the conversations that cannot be archived on the Desktop do not exist in Android. I actually tried to archive empty conversations on the Desktop. Because of the fact that contacts in the Desktop are in the left side panel, you could also argue that these are not really conversations, but just contacts without a conversation. Maybe that is the reason why they cannot be archived.

Nevertheless, here is an Android debug log: https://debuglogs.org/01d532ebb2a06134dffaed1640d385f8e3f8aaf0f5890b251213e61517233a0b

If you would like another debug log, just after that I did some actions, let me know!

[janvlug]

After my last comment, I tried to archive a few contacts on the desktop again. For two this worked now. One of them had no messages in the conversation the other had. But still several contacts/conversations cannot be archived:

Debug log after archiving the two contacts and some failed attempts to archive other contacts: https://debuglogs.org/069a8d7425cf5a427a919ac98d0f1824ada5446c2d926712a748748c46d7143a

[dobonpalik]

I'm running Signal Desktop v5.15.0 that still is exhibiting the same behavior. In my case the conversation appearing in Desktop has been deleted from the linked Android phone.

Desktop OS: PureOS 9, which is based on Debian 9 Buster (oldstable). Desktop Environment: GNOME 3.30.2 Signal Desktop installed from Signal repository. Contents of /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list :

deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main

Android Version: 10 Signal Android Version: 5.21.6

Signal Desktop Debug Log attached: 2021,0902@2308_SignalDesktopDebugLog_UnableToArchive.txt

[hiqua]

@dobonpalik can you submit the full debug log from view -> debug log?

[dobonpalik]

@hiqua Just updated to Signal Desktop 5.16.0, then tried to archive the same "zombie" conversation, then it returned. Immediately grabbed the debug log and attached below. Thanks! 2021,0904@0345_SignalDesktop5.16.0_DebugLog_UnableToArchive.txt

[Go-rom]

Hello, i'm encountering the same issue. Debug log after fresh start then archiving some conversations which came back https://debuglogs.org/5f29a0295618bdae270d46877960ecd4681a9d2690ec90f382f9c645aeaf6c41.gz

Signal Desktop for linux 5.27.1 OS : Linux Mint 20.1 up to date

Thank you

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@Go-rom What happens if you archive those conversations on your mobile device? Do they even show up there?

[Go-rom]

@scottnonnenberg They were archived several days ago on my mobile device, i wasn't aware of the sync feature with archived conversations

[protist]

I'm not sure what this sync feature is @Go-rom , but @scottnonnenberg-signal I've previously archived these conversations on my mobile device and they have subsequently disappeared. To be clear:

1. Archive "conversations" on mobile and desktop. These "conversations" are empty, as I have never communicated with the contacts on Signal nor vice versa.
2. Presumably, from comments above, these contacts have stopped using Signal.
3. The "conversations" have totally disappeared from mobile, but continue to reappear on desktop within seconds of re-archiving.

In one case, the contact has even been fully removed from my phone, but desktop Signal still lists their actual name somehow. This is particularly aggravating, because I don't want to be constantly reminded of this particular person; that's why I wiped their details from my phone in the first place.

[indutny-signal]

@protist sorry it took us awhile to get back to you. Does this still happen to you on the latest Desktop? If yes - could you send us a fresh debug log after reproducing it?

[protist]

No worries @indutny-signal. Yes, it still happens to me on the latest Signal desktop 5.30.0. FWIW it looks like it might have something to do with syncing to the (Android) phone.

The first time I tried to test, I archived the two conversations, and they stayed archived for 19 minutes (!). I then opened Signal on my phone, and they almost immediately un-archived.

I then left Signal active on my phone, and tested again. The archiving reverted in a couple of seconds. I then closed Signal on my phone (presumably it was still active in the background), and tested again. Again, the archiving reverted in a couple of seconds.

I created a log, replicated this issue, then created another log. I removed all of the information that was already present in the first log (apart from the headers) and attached it here.

[indutny-signal]

@protist we have made a few fixes that should hopefully help with the issue. Sorry to bother you, but you could check if it still the same on 5.33.0 or 5.34.0-beta and send a debug log if you can reproduce it?

Thank you for your patience!

[protist]

@indutny-signal Sorry, I don't think I can troubleshoot any more. I got too aggravated from continually seeing this particular person, and I deleted the conversation instead of archiving it. It hasn't reappeared since.

[indutny-signal]

@protist I totally understand. Thanks for submitting the report still, it helped us dig into some of the related issues!

[NorfairKing]

I'm still bothered by this. My workaround has been to delete ~/.config/Signal.

[stephen-huan]

@indutny-signal I can confirm this still happens on recent signal-desktop (7.13.0) on linux (nixos). I can't check whether it works on my phone, because my phone is newer than my computer and doesn't have the conversation.

https://debuglogs.org/desktop/7.13.0/f1dcbcc9e51ba1a25ee714b7f59da93e187d2fff3d4ed7ba3f51066fb3d11e7a.gz