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Beemo

Member

Registered: 2024-12-20

Posts: 110

[SOLVED] Syncthing send only changed my files' metadata

I switched from rsync to Syncthing. Prior to setting up Syncthing I ran an rsync to make sure my offline backup was the same as the one on the server (which I'll sync with another server).
I have set the backup folder on the server as "Send only" in Syncthing.
But after Syncthing finished scanning, when I ran rsync again it says files are changed:

❯ rsync -aX --delete --itemize-changes /run/media/user/<UUID1>/BACKUP user@serv2.example.com:/run/media/user/<UUID2>/ --dry-run
*deleting   BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac
*deleting   BACKUP/Music/The Witcher 3 Score Collection (2014-2016) [FLAC]/4. The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (2016)/09. The Musty Scent of Fresh Pâté.flac
.d..t...... BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/
.d..t...... BACKUP/Music/The Witcher 3 Score Collection (2014-2016) [FLAC]/4. The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (2016)/
<f+++++++++ BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac
<f+++++++++ BACKUP/Music/The Witcher 3 Score Collection (2014-2016) [FLAC]/4. The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (2016)/09. The Musty Scent of Fresh Pâté.flac

diff and stat on those files shows that the dates metadata are different, but file hash are the same. I'm pretty sure I have not touched those files for ages so I didn't change them...

❯ stat "/run/media/user/<UUID1>/BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac"
  File: /run/media/user/<UUID1>/BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac
  Size: 134340698       Blocks: 262392     IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 0,69    Inode: 85916       Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: ( 1000/   user)   Gid: ( 1000/   user)
Access: 2026-08-07 18:08:21.846394774 +1000
Modify: 2026-04-17 19:28:48.158905552 +1000
Change: 2026-04-19 12:22:09.089426286 +1000
 Birth: 2026-04-19 12:22:08.986143774 +1000

❯ stat "/run/user/1000/gvfs/sftp:host=serv2.example.com,user=user/run/media/user/<UUID2>/BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac"
  File: /run/user/1000/gvfs/sftp:host=serv2.rinzler.pro,user=user/run/media/user/<UUID2>/BACKUP/Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/001-フリザゲイラ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac
  Size: 134340698       Blocks: 262385     IO Block: 4096   regular file
Device: 0,95    Inode: 175         Links: 1
Access: (0644/-rw-r--r--)  Uid: ( 1000/   user)   Gid: ( 1000/   user)
Access: 2026-08-07 05:08:31.000000000 +1000
Modify: 2026-04-17 19:28:48.000000000 +1000
Change: 2026-04-17 19:28:48.000000000 +1000
 Birth: -

I have bad connectivity to the other server serv1.example.com and botched an rsync attempt (serv1 already has an old copy of backup). Syncthing says all the files are different (out of sync, 0%)?? And it synced about 0.2% before (getting stuck and) I discovered that the files were modified.

But anyway, I'm really not expecting a "Send only" folder to be changed by Syncthing. What gives?

Last edited by Beemo (2026-08-07 09:17:45)

Beemo

Member

Registered: 2024-12-20

Posts: 110

Re: [SOLVED] Syncthing send only changed my files' metadata

It's simply scanning that modified the files.

2026-08-07 19:11:53 INF Normalized UTF8 encoding of file name (path="Music/2024 - [NINTENDO] The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom - Original Soundtrack/USB/002-ボルドゴーマ戦（前半） [96kHz24bit].flac" log.pkg=scanner)

Syncthing automatically normalizes file names. Those still don't know why it touches dates.

Last edited by Beemo (2026-08-07 09:30:38)