Message history lost after relinking

[shesek]

Using a supported version?

• [X] I have searched searched open and closed issues for duplicates.
• [X] I am using Signal-Desktop as provided by the Signal team, not a 3rd-party package.

Overall summary

All message history was lost after Signal Desktop forced a relink due to switching phones.

Steps to reproduce

1. I transferred Signal on Android to a new device (I had access to my old device and completed the migration successfully, with all history available on the new mobile device).
2. This prompted Signal Desktop require a re-link to the mobile app. I obliged, scanned the QR and got the point of picking a name for the device. Then it failed, saying that I have to update Signal Desktop for the re-link to work.
3. I updated Signal Desktop and tried again. This time relinking worked -- but all message history on desktop was lost. :<

~/.config/Signal/sql/db.sqlite still weights 257MB -- does this mean the messages are still somewhere in there?

Expected result

The message history to remain available.

Actual result

All message history was lost.

Screenshots

No response

Signal version

Currently 6.42.1, was 6.36.0 before updating

Operating system

Ubuntu

Version of Signal on your phone

6.41.3

Link to debug log

I did not think to use View->Debug Log immediately after it happened and restarted Signal since.

However I believe I found the relevant logs in ~/.config/Signal/logs/app.log. Is it safe to post this here?

[ayumi-signal]

Hey, I'm so sorry this happened to you!

The logs would be really helpful to know what's happening. Indeed ~/.config/Signal/logs/app.log is the right log, and if you still have it i'd like to look at it. It's redacted so safe to post here. It might have been too long and it's possible the original log lines are lost but if you haven't opened it in a while it could still be there.

Regarding how you did the android device migration: Do you remember the exact steps taken, and for example if your phone number was changed during that process?

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[janvlug]

Today someone told me that all history was lost on Signal Desktop on an Apple laptop after that they were prompt to update Signal Desktop in a red banner. After the update Signal Desktop had to be linked again to the iPhone. After this all history was lost.

[trevor-signal]

@janvlug I'd suggest you put the user in touch with Signal Support at https://support.signal.org/hc/requests/new and we can try to debug further.