Console app "All Messages" goes silent

Question

On my iMac G5 running 10.5.3, the "All Messages" display of the Console application has gone blank. Or rather, it doesn't show history, only messages from the moment I start the app. I can find messages in several of the contributing logs, such as system.log (using the app), but "All Messages" only shows messages logged while the app is up.
Is this the new "how it's supposed to work"? Is there some setting that makes it do this that I can unset?

Answer 1

It might be that your asl.db database is corrupt. That's a database used by the ASL framework, which is Apple's logging infrastructure and includes things like syslogd.
That database is located in /var/log, so you could try to delete it and have the system recreate it. Here are some command line steps that would do that:
1. sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
2. sudo rm -f /var/log/asl.db
3. sudo launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.syslogd.plist
4. Restart your computer
The first command stops syslogd, which is one of the main processes responsible for logging. The second command removes the (possibly) corrupt database. The third command restarts syslogd. Step #4 might not be strictly necessary for things to start working again in your Console app, but upon boot up, your system will recreate the asl.db database.
Please note: always be careful when removing files from system directories, and take what you read in these discussion boards with a grain of salt. If you don't feel comfortable in the Terminal, for example, it's better to ask for alternate solutions than to perform tasks that you are not accustomed to.