gnome-shell spams the journal with `Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value` multiple times every second for users using the lt_LT , ru_RU, Indonesian (id) and maybe other locales

[Marius Gedminas]

Impact
------
The systemd journal gets a lot of warnings about an incorrect translation for the default Ubuntu Desktop when used with certain languages including Georgian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, and Russian.

This issue is much worse if someone has enabled the show Seconds option in the top bar clock.

This issue is being fixed by packaging the new bugfix release of gsettings-desktop-schemas 46.1. There were only translation updates in this release.

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gsettings-desktop-schemas/-/compare/46.0...46.1

Test Case
---------
1. Open a terminal and run sudo apt install language-pack-gnome-lt
2. Close the terminal
3. Open the Settings app (gnome-control-center)
4. In the side bar, click System, then Date & Time. Turn on Seconds.
5. Close the Settings app.
6. Open the Language Support app.
You can click Remind me later if you see a warning that says "The language support is not installed completely."
7. Drag Lietuvių to the top of the list.
8. Log out
9. Log back in.
10. Open a terminal and run journalctl -f. You should not see any of the clock-format warnings mentioned in the Original Bug Report below.

What Could Go Wrong
-------------------
As a component of GNOME core, there is a micro-release exception for gsettings-desktop-schemas.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates/GNOME

Other Info
----------
Because gsettings-desktop-schemas is included in Ubuntu language packs, this issue is actually only fixed with a language pack update. Ubuntu currently only updates language packs shortly before Ubuntu LTS point releases.

Therefore, we will need to push this update without being able to verify the Test Case first.

Original Bug Report
-------------------
After upgrading to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS I ran journalctl -f and noticed that gnome-shell was spamming errors at the rate of 12 lines every second:

geg. 02 18:29:19 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:19 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Failed to parse translated string '„24h“' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
geg. 02 18:29:20 blynas gnome-shell[3980]: Using untranslated default instead.

My locale is lt_LT.UTF-8, but this issue appears also in ru_RU, id (Indonesian) and maybe other locales.

This is caused by a mistaken translation of the quote characters in "'24h'" which is used as the default value for a particular gsettings key. Specifically, this translation: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/+pots/gsettings-desktop-schemas/lt/232/+translate
https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/+pots/gsettings-desktop-schemas/ru/232/+translate
https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/+pots/gsettings-desktop-schemas/id/232/+translate

Since I'm a member of the Lithuanian translators team, I've fixed the translation error for Lithuanian language in translations.launchpad.net, but I can't fix for other languages, also gnome-shell will continue to spam multiple errors every second until an updated language-pack-gnome-lt-base (and for other languages) is released.

(I've also submitted a fixed Lithuanian translation upstream to l10n.gnome.org , but not for other languages)

Workaround: run dconf-editor, find /org/gnome/desktop/interface/clock-format, uncheck Use default value, click Apply.
System-wide workaround for Lithuanian language:
msgunfmt /usr/share/locale-langpack/lt/LC_MESSAGES/gsettings-desktop-schemas.mo -o /tmp/gsettings-desktop-schemas.po && sed -i "s/„24h“/'24h'/g" /tmp/gsettings-desktop-schemas.po && msgfmt gsettings-desktop-schemas.po -o /usr/share/locale-langpack/lt/LC_MESSAGES/gsettings-desktop-schemas.mo

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04
Package: gnome-shell 46.0-0ubuntu5
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.8.0-31.31-generic 6.8.1
Uname: Linux 6.8.0-31-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Thu May 2 18:25:59 2024
DisplayManager: gdm3
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
InstallationDate: Installed on 2019-06-12 (1786 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.04 "Disco Dingo" - Release amd64 (20190416)
RelatedPackageVersions: mutter-common 46.0-1ubuntu9
SourcePackage: gnome-shell
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to noble on 2024-05-02 (0 days ago)

[bl (blagopoluchie)]

Ubuntu 24.04

$ journalctl /usr/bin/gnome-shell

июн 03 18:22:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:22:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:23:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:23:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:23:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:24:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:24:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:24:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:25:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:25:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:25:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:26:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:26:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:26:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:27:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:27:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:27:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:28:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:28:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:28:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface' is outside of valid range
июн 03 18:29:00 pc gnome-shell[9118]: Translated default ''24h'' for ke...

[Mantas Kriaučiūnas (mantas)]

It would be nice if weekly language packs builds in ppa:ubuntu-langpack/ppa would be available for Ubuntu Jammy and Noble (24.04), see https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-langpack/+archive/ubuntu/ppa

Then we could test if this bug is fixed. I've reported separate issue for missing weekly language packs , see https://launchpad.net/langpack-o-matic/+bug/2068501

[Mantas Kriaučiūnas (mantas)]

@mgedmin I think this is not only translation issue - system log should't be spammed with lots of messages if someone incorrectly translated some string, maybe we should report this issue to GNOME upstream?

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

Yeah, that makes sense.

(Of course constant spamming is more likely to result in a translation fix ;)

[bl (blagopoluchie)]

My locale is ru_RU.UTF-8. Could you also correct it and change the title.

[Mantas Kriaučiūnas (mantas)]

@bl @igor.zubarev
I can't fix this issue for Russian translation because I'm not a member of Russian Ubuntu translators (https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-l10n-ru )

Everyone from Russian translators team can fix this issue by simply changing translation to '24h' at
https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/+pots/gsettings-desktop-schemas/ru/232/+translate

See for example German translation: https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/+pots/gsettings-desktop-schemas/de/232/+translate

[Dmitry Shachnev (mitya57)]

Updated Russian translation.

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

> Everyone from Russian translators team can fix this issue by simply changing translation to '24h' at https://translations.launchpad.net/

It would also be a good idea to fix the upstream translations as well, at https://l10n.gnome.org/.

(I've done so for the Lithuanian translation.)

[Konstantin (hi-angel-y)]

Hello, could please someone clarify, what exactly file needs the changes? I see `clock-format` is declared in `org.gnome.desktop.interface.gschema.xml`, but the changes I presume needs to be done in some translation file. But what is this translation file exactly?

I'll send it upstream if necessary, but either way I want to at least have the fix for my local system.

[Konstantin (hi-angel-y)]

Anyway, FTR, I dug for a bit into it and created an upstream report https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gsettings-desktop-schemas/-/issues/62

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gsettings-desktop-schemas - 47~alpha-2ubuntu1

---------------
gsettings-desktop-schemas (47~alpha-2ubuntu1) oracular; urgency=medium

  * Merge with Debian. Remaining change:
    - Add ubuntu_lock-on-suspend.patch

gsettings-desktop-schemas (47~alpha-2) unstable; urgency=medium

  * Cherry-pick translation fixes for clock-format log spam (LP: #2064656)

gsettings-desktop-schemas (47~alpha-1) unstable; urgency=medium

  * New upstream release
  * Cherry-pick patch to switch default font from Cantarell to Inter

 -- Jeremy Bícha <email address hidden> Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:56:19 -0600

[Robie Basak (racb)]

From #ubuntu-release, Jeremy suggested that this needs doing before the language packs are generated for 24.04.1.

[Timo Aaltonen (tjaalton)]

Hello Marius, or anyone else affected,

Accepted gsettings-desktop-schemas into noble-proposed. The package will build now and be available at https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/46.1-0ubuntu1 in a few hours, and then in the -proposed repository.

Please help us by testing this new package. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation on how to enable and use -proposed. Your feedback will aid us getting this update out to other Ubuntu users.

If this package fixes the bug for you, please add a comment to this bug, mentioning the version of the package you tested, what testing has been performed on the package and change the tag from verification-needed-noble to verification-done-noble. If it does not fix the bug for you, please add a comment stating that, and change the tag to verification-failed-noble. In either case, without details of your testing we will not be able to proceed.

Further information regarding the verification process can be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/PerformingSRUVerification . Thank you in advance for helping!

N.B. The updated package will be released to -updates after the bug(s) fixed by this package have been verified and the package has been in -proposed for a minimum of 7 days.

[Ubuntu SRU Bot (ubuntu-sru-bot)]

All autopkgtests for the newly accepted gsettings-desktop-schemas (46.1-0ubuntu1) for noble have finished running.
The following regressions have been reported in tests triggered by the package:

at-spi2-core/unknown (arm64)
glib2.0/2.80.0-6ubuntu3.1 (arm64)
notify-osd/0.9.35+20.04.20191129-0ubuntu4 (armhf)

Please visit the excuses page listed below and investigate the failures, proceeding afterwards as per the StableReleaseUpdates policy regarding autopkgtest regressions [1].

https://people.canonical.com/~ubuntu-archive/proposed-migration/noble/update_excuses.html#gsettings-desktop-schemas

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates#Autopkgtest_Regressions

Thank you!

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

All autopkgtests have passed on retry

[Alessandro Astone (aleasto)]

Verified the Test Case in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS by installing package "gsettings-desktop-schemas:amd64" version "46.1-0ubuntu1" and manually updating the language files from https://translations.launchpad.net/ubuntu/noble/+source/gsettings-desktop-schemas/

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package gsettings-desktop-schemas - 46.1-0ubuntu1

---------------
gsettings-desktop-schemas (46.1-0ubuntu1) noble; urgency=medium

  * New upstream release
    - Fixes systemd journal log spam in some languages once
      the language packs are updated (LP: #2064656)

 -- Jeremy Bícha <email address hidden> Wed, 07 Aug 2024 09:58:50 -0400

[Łukasz Zemczak (sil2100)]

The verification of the Stable Release Update for gsettings-desktop-schemas has completed successfully and the package is now being released to -updates. Subsequently, the Ubuntu Stable Release Updates Team is being unsubscribed and will not receive messages about this bug report. In the event that you encounter a regression using the package from -updates please report a new bug using ubuntu-bug and tag the bug report regression-update so we can easily find any regressions.

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

This bug won't be fully fixed until the language pack update is published in a few days.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-translators/2024-August/007927.html

But no additional work is needed in gsettings-desktop-schemas so we'll keep this bug marked as Fix Released.

[Tiago Neiva (tneiva)]

I'm using version 25.04 with Portuguese regional settings and have the same issue:

jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Failed to parse translated string '‘24h’' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Using untranslated default instead.
jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Failed to parse translated string '‘24h’' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Using untranslated default instead.
jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Failed to parse translated string '‘24h’' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
jun 07 12:14:35 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Using untranslated default instead.
jun 07 12:14:36 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Failed to parse translated string '‘24h’' for key 'clock-format' in schema 'org.gnome.desktop.interface': 0:expected value
jun 07 12:14:36 velho-i7 gnome-shell[3330]: Using untranslated default instead.

I did fix it my changing the translation manually like the lt translator suggested. but this should be fixed at another level.