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I am new to Linux and need a little help. Everytime I try to boot, no matter what distro (slackware, redhat, mandrake, knoppix, college linux, yellowdog) it hangs on the command to set the system time from the hardware clock. I was given the advice to escape out of the command with "Ctrl-C", and I was able to boot Linux (I am currently running slackware 9.1, as it was the only distro to actually boot fully). When I give the command to reboot or halt the system, it also hangs on setting the hardware clock from the system time and never fully shuts down.
The box I am having troubles with is a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop with the following:
- 256MB RAM
- Intel Pentium III 850MHz processor
- 8MB ATI 128 Mobility video card
- 10GB HD
- CD-RW drive
- ESS Maestro sound card
- some kind of network/modem card (also inoperable at this point)
- touchpad (works great!)
- 1024x768 XVGA LCD screen
When I bypass the time setting command on boot, everything else loads and seems to work fine except for when I attempt to set the time from within KDE (I'm new, so many other things could still be wrong that I just don't know about yet ).
Basically, when I first started setting clocks via the net, I liked clock.psu.edu for some reason...so I've stuck with it. Basically, I check to see if you're root, if not, break out. If you are, use ntpdate from the server to set the regular clock, then I issue hwclock --systohc which syncs the hardware clock with the system clock...because I had a really annoying computer once that when I rebooted it, it would reset the date/time ... etc.
Anyway, hope it helps...I'm rambling now at 3 in the morning.
What you can try and do is upgrade the BIOS, and set the time in the bios. Dells have always been a little funny... and the BIOS upgrade may fix your problem, for some wierd un-explainable reason.
I can't find the /etc/init.d file on my system to remove ntpd from. Could it be called something different because I'm using slackware 9.1 instead of something else?
I did a little digging and found the hwclock command. When I try to run this command it hangs just it does at boot time. When I run it with the --debug option I get this output:
[COLOR=blue]
hwclock from util-linux-2.12
Using /dev/rtc interface to clock.
Assuming hardware clock is kept in local time.
Waiting for clock tick...
<blinking cursor>
[COLOR=black]
I tried updating the BIOS, but I already have the most up to date version from Dell and it still doesn't work.
i also agree with flashing your BIOS...i actually had to do this the other day on one of my machines cause of a very very similiar clock problem, and that was my solution..
i think its a hardware problem... every distro that i tried hung on the command to access the clock. any ideas on how i would go about troubleshooting further and fixing the problem.
I never had a problem with Windows concerning the system time, and my dell's more than 3 years old so no calling tech support... maybe i'll just get a new laptop after Christmas. Any suggestions?
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