system clock vs. CMOS clock
 

Hi,

I have searched linuxquestions.org for threads regarding my problem, but unsuccessfully. So I have to start a new one. Please have a look and try to help me.

I installed Linux (Mangrake 9.1) two months ago on Acer TravelMate 432LC. Since the time I have had no real problem, only minor issues. But there is one thing that annoys me - system clock is running 'too fast'. To be accurate, system clock is 1.66 time faster than CMOS clock (hardware clock). Just to imagine: when hardware clock pass 36 minutes, system clock will pass incredible 60 minutes.

I tried to evaluate the difference using ADJTIMEX command and here is the result:
Notice the non-equal difference between measurements and suggested TICK values, the minimal allowed value for TICK is 9000.

Additional notes. It seems that this 'phenomenon' appears only when KDE (3.1) environment is active (even when I switch into text console the system clock is running normally). Furthermore, when I open 'Adjust Date & Time' dialog I can see second hand changing its speed when I move a mouse concurrently.

Thanks a lot for any helpful advice.

Dusan

PS: Clock configuration:
# cat /etc/adjtime
2954.408558 1061497603 0.000000
1061497603
LOCAL

# cat /etc/sysconfig/clock
UTC=false
ARC=false
ZONE=Europe/Bratislava

I get the same problem. Below are my results of adjtimex --compare. Have you solved your issue?

Erik

# adjtimex --compare
--- current --- -- suggested --
cmos time system-cmos 2nd diff tick freq tick freq
1068434280 -432976.893846 -432976.893846 10000 0
1068445392 -444078.852775 -11101.958929 10000 0
1068456504 -455180.811673 -11101.958897 10000 0 11111959 -673322
1068467616 -466282.770566 -11101.958893 10000 0 11111959 -699536
1068478728 -477384.729463 -11101.958897 10000 0 11111959 -673322
1068490951 -489596.884249 -12212.154786 10000 0 12222155 -1401257
1068502063 -500698.843143 -11101.958893 10000 0 11111959 -699536
1068513175 -511800.802038 -11101.958895 10000 0 11111959 -686429

No I haven't. I tried almost everything that came to my mind or I read in man pages - without avail. Now I depend on forum memebers advice. Maybe it is related to KDE, do you use KDE too?

Dusan

Yeah, I mainly use KDE. I think I will try Gnome and see if the problem is there as well. I should also check in windows. It was also recommended to me to try to leave the system running and see if there will be a time lag or the reverse.

Erik

I have already tested Windows (XP), no problem. Please, try Gnome and let me know. If I had left my system running for example for 3 hours, system time would have been 2 hours in advance of real time (so it would have passed >5< hours) ;).

Dusan

So, this is getting more bizare all the time. I logged into Gnome, still was ahead by 5 YEARS and bumped back several hours. I rebooted and went to my CMOS, the tiem and date were just a screwrie. I fixed the time/date and let teh machien restart. My SuSE 8.0 boot-up stalled at "Setting up the CMOS clock" I hit control-D and boot-up continued. Well, I'm back to 17:01, November 2005, when it is actually 22:01, November 5, 2003!

I will have to research if it is my mobo battery or what???

Erik

Hi again,

I've found something interesting. Experimenting with ACPI and suspend on my MDK9.1 I noticed that time was right and run correctly.

To allow ACPI I had to remove "apm=off" from kernel option in lilo.conf, since then my system time is running correctly.

The only question is, wheter the problem was that the ACPI WAS NOT active, or that the APM WAS active. Who konws. I will test it.

Dusan

Hi Dusan,

So I'm getting close myself as well. I've put all my ACPI settign back to default. Though I was still getting messed tiem settings. The clock woudl reset in the CMOS a number of years ahead. I have then told the CMOS that I do not have an ACPI compatible OS. Now the date stays stable, but the time is slow. I remember reading else of this similar problem. I'll keep you posted.

Erik