As the clock on my computer (Slack 9.1) runs slow, I was trying to make it syncronize with a ntp server.

When I execute the command "ntpdate nameOfServer" I get the following error:
where nameOfServer is a ntp server such as time.esec.com.au, or ntp.adelaide.edu.au.

This error occurs whether the ntp daemon is running of not, I am running as root, and I have an internet connection.

How do I get the ntpdate command to work correctly, as once it is working I can syncronize the clock at boot time.

Any help would be appreciated
--Ian

If I'm not mistaken, ntp is intended for network and permanent internet connection, such as DSL, etc. For intermittent (dialup) connection, I use chrony. It's easy to install and setup, with instructions on how to use the /etc/ppp/ip-up and ip-down scripts to automate the time sync.

ntpd -g is effectively the same as ntpdate. Find the bootscript that launches ntpd and add -g after the command. That way it will reset the time every time you boot even if it is more than 1000 seconds out. However, your error message says that it can't connect to the time server. Do the servers you have listed in /etc/ntp.conf work?

Thanks for your help.

After playing with it some more, it turns out that my firewall was blocking ntp. Opening my firewall for ntp solved the problem

--Ian