On Fri, 2011-07-15 at 12:45 -0400, Anton Aylward wrote:
What you are saying is that the hardware clock is out. That is a hardware problem. As long as you shut down properly the hwclock program will write the system time to the hardware clock.
Not at all! The hardware clock is working fine. The hardware comes up with the same (and correct) UTC time every time. Let's leave the hardware. I know what a bad clock (e.g., dead battery, odd drift) looks like. This is not what is happening here.
Try running 'hwclock -r' to read it.
I am on a laptop that exhibits the problem. hwclock -r is showing the correct UTC time that I expect. The network is up via NetworkManager when I logged in graphically. The ntp that started when I booted is still running. But, alas, the time is incorrect. It can sit like this for hours, and the time will NEVER be corrected. Ever. Consistently. All I have to do now is run 'rcntp restart', and time will be corrected. This happens on any computer I set up with ntp starting at boot (the supplied rc script unmodified) and a network that starts some time after that outside the ifup/rc script environment. I suspect it is that the ntp rc script is assuming that since it is set to start after networking, it can assume that access to time servers is available when it starts. Alas, when a network device starts some time afterward, this assumption is faulty. This would not be a huge problem if ntp checked again if a server becomes available. If it is trying this, it is not working. The server is now available. But until I do 'rcntp restart', the time will never be corrected.
just as an experiment, try setting it, wait a bit, then red back
On your computer: 1. Is your BIOS in UTC time? 2. Do you live in a timezone other than UTC, and have your Linux set to use that timezone? 3. Are any networks (other than loopback) brought up in the rc startup scripts? 4. Is the only network you have started only after you log in (e.g., NetworkManager)? Unless you answer 1=YES 2=YES 3=NO 4=YES, you are not using the system as I am. So any conclusions you draw do not apply. Try the above setup and tell me how it works. In this configuration, when the system does have correct time when the system is shutdown (I have restarted ntp), shouldn't the time come up correct when the system is rebooted? It would if the claim that ntp kept a record of the drift and used that when it first starts. Alas, the time is always the BIOS time. Which is always the expected two hours off. The hardware clock is working. ntp is just not adjusting it when the config above is used.
It sounds like you have some hardware issues.
Roger, I suspect you need to decide if debugging the openSUSE bootup / time control is what you should be doing vs.moving to Chrony.
I agree.
I am flexible. I just need it to work reliably all over the world, no matter what silly things the users may try.
I personally suspect Chrony won't help.
I agree.
I cannot say that you are wrong. I will see when I get things set up. To be honest, I would prefer that I use ntp as it is part of the standard install.
Instead, I suspect the problem is in the order of how the init scrips are called.
Almost certainly!
Nope! The init scripts CANNOT make my wireless connection available to ntp. They have no connection to networks brought up outside the traditional ifup method. Like KDE/GNOME Network Manager-type initialization.
That is the bios clock is clearly used in the early boot phases and if you start depending on the time prior to NTP / Chrony coming to life, you get bogus data.
In my case, NTP uses the Internet sites for time but it seems to be invoked before the network is up,
Ah! Perhaps 'systemd' will be able to cure that :-)
Nope. See my comment above. -- Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems / Ramböll RST Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 SHAW'S PRINCIPAL Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org