Arch Linux

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Strange Clock Issue!

My computer clock is running way too fast! It completes a minute in less than 60-seconds. If I sync my wallclock and computer clock now, in 30 minutes the computer clock will be several minutes (5-7) ahead of the wallclock. I've never seen anything like this before. This problem has been bothering me for about a week now and is driving me crazy. Could a bad mobo battery cause this?

---

Athlon XP-M 2500+ @ 2.3 Ghz
768MB PC2100 DDR
Epox 8RDA+ nForce2 Mobo
Powered by Arch Linux

cactus

Taco Eater

From: t͈̫̹ͨa͖͕͎̱͈ͨ͆ć̥̖̝o̫̫̼s͈̭̱̞͍̃!̰

Registered: 2004-05-25

Posts: 4,622

Website

Re: Strange Clock Issue!

that would be my first guess..
I would then recommend replacing the battery, and running ntp. If your clock is fast, it will regularly correct by small increments..as apposed to ntpupdate which does it all at once.

---

"Be conservative in what you send; be liberal in what you accept." -- Postel's Law
"tacos" -- Cactus' Law
"t̥͍͎̪̪͗a̴̻̩͈͚ͨc̠o̩̙͈ͫͅs͙͎̙͊ ͔͇̫̜t͎̳̀a̜̞̗ͩc̗͍͚o̲̯̿s̖̣̤̙͌ ̖̜̈ț̰̫͓ạ̪͖̳c̲͎͕̰̯̃̈o͉ͅs̪ͪ ̜̻̖̜͕" -- -̖͚̫̙̓-̺̠͇ͤ̃ ̜̪̜ͯZ͔̗̭̞ͪA̝͈̙͖̩L͉̠̺͓G̙̞̦͖O̳̗͍

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Strange Clock Issue!

so I can just install ntp via pacman and add ntpd to rc.conf?

cactus

Taco Eater

From: t͈̫̹ͨa͖͕͎̱͈ͨ͆ć̥̖̝o̫̫̼s͈̭̱̞͍̃!̰

Registered: 2004-05-25

Posts: 4,622

Website

Re: Strange Clock Issue!

you need to edit the conf file..and do some other stuff...
It has been a long time since i did any ntp work.
I think there is an example in the forum..something about NOT using the top level time domains..and setting your drift properly..
*scratches head*

---

"Be conservative in what you send; be liberal in what you accept." -- Postel's Law
"tacos" -- Cactus' Law
"t̥͍͎̪̪͗a̴̻̩͈͚ͨc̠o̩̙͈ͫͅs͙͎̙͊ ͔͇̫̜t͎̳̀a̜̞̗ͩc̗͍͚o̲̯̿s̖̣̤̙͌ ̖̜̈ț̰̫͓ạ̪͖̳c̲͎͕̰̯̃̈o͉ͅs̪ͪ ̜̻̖̜͕" -- -̖͚̫̙̓-̺̠͇ͤ̃ ̜̪̜ͯZ͔̗̭̞ͪA̝͈̙͖̩L͉̠̺͓G̙̞̦͖O̳̗͍

soloport

Member

Registered: 2005-03-01

Posts: 442

Re: Strange Clock Issue!

Since we're on the topic, I have a minor question.  Recently, I was able to install ntpd and get things to work.  Here's what you should see when you get to that point:

# ntpq -c pe
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
+ensb.cpsc.ucalg 18.26.4.105      2 u  116 1024  377  105.047   14.208   3.866
*wxo-svr2.cmc.ec 18.145.0.30      2 u   70 1024  377  124.669   25.654   0.073
+time1.chu.nrc.c 209.87.233.52    2 u   67 1024  377  136.227   17.556   6.904
+time.nrc.ca     132.246.168.2    2 u  712 1024  377  146.790   18.475   0.941

First, I created a ntpd.conf file (path: /etc/ntpd.conf):

restrict 127.0.0.1 nomodify
# DSL router accepts these servers (port 123)
server ntp.cpsc.ucalgary.ca
server ntp2.cmc.ec.gc.ca
server time.chu.nrc.ca
server time.nrc.ca
driftfile /etc/ntp.drift
logfile /var/log/ntp.log

Note: The servers are appropriate for my area YMMV.  Also, openned port 123 on my DSL router (i.e. don't forget that step; same goes for iptables).

Ok, so I was wondering about the installation itself: It seems ntpd doesn't acknowledge any default configuration file.  I tried naming mine /etc/ntp.conf and /etc/ntpd.conf, but no go.  The ntpd daemon just wouldn't acknowledge it.

I finally settled on /etc/ntpd.conf and changed the following line in /etc/rc.d/ntpd:

# before
    if [ -z "$PID" ]; then
       /usr/bin/ntpd &
    fi

# after
    if [ -z "$PID" ]; then
       /usr/bin/ntpd -c /etc/ntpd.conf &
    fi

To me, this means I can't just install ntpd, clean out of the box.  I can see having to create a config file.  But having to hack the startup config seems... er...  just wrong    Is there an 'env' variable I'm missing?  Should the installation have produced different results?

Thanks, Jon