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I want to buy an RPi and I need a real time clock (RTC). I've found many fine RTCs but it's not so straightforward.
RasClock seems nice but requires a custom module and their instructions assume Raspbian. Other RTCs don't require any custom modules but I'm still not sure if another dristro than Raspbian can handle them. Some RTCs add a physical challenge: they might require soldering (which I don't want to do), or they might add physical volume to the RPi and thus make the use of a plastic case a challenge.
So I need to hear a success story from someone who has actually done this.
There is a nice howto for ChronoDot but ChronoDot falls in the the 'physical challenge' category of RTCs. Now, I have a hope that the i2c tools used in the howto can make RasClock work. But I'm not sure.
So, what RTC have you had working on an RPi running Slackware?
RasClock supports either a deb package or the kernel module. There's no assumption you have to use Raspbian.
I've found that this RTC works pretty well https://learn.adafruit.com/adding-a-...ry-pi?view=all mainly because the Dallas Semiconductor chips seem to be more supported by systems as defaults. Doesn't mean that the NXP chips aren't also (one the RasClock uses) I just have no experience with that one.
I would read that second link to determine if the clock is visible to your I2C. Likely if you're running a distribution which supports the Pi, it should have drivers to see I2C devices and a real time clock module, then it becomes a question of configuring it to work. For that I think the Adafruit reference may be helpful. The RasClock is good because it's all set up to plug right into the Pi.
RasClock supports either a deb package or the kernel module.
So... if I just find the source for modules i2c-bcm2708 and rtc-pcf2127a and compile them in Slackware, I'll be okay?
On the side of this, I downloaded and extracted the kernel RasClock provides for Raspbian, linux-image-3.6.11-atsw-rtc_1.1_armhf.deb, and I found the two modules inside:
Code:
$ find -type f | grep i2c-bcm2708
./lib/modules/3.6.11-atsw-rtc+/kernel/drivers/i2c/busses/i2c-bcm2708.ko
$ find -type f | grep rtc-pcf2127a
./lib/modules/3.6.11-atsw-rtc+/kernel/drivers/rtc/rtc-pcf2127a.ko
But I understand that I can't use .ko files with Slackware. They're compiled against different headers.
Haven't had to locate the source myself, I either had the modules already there or was able to use the DEB package, this blog appears to have a link in git hub, but I'm not so sure it looks like a lot more than just module sources to me. It does say the words "Currently the module requires the installation of a driver that is not in the standard Raspbian distribution." Sorry, best to perform a web search and see what you can find, I also didn't read that blog entry tediously, just happened to do a quick search.
Actually if you go down their tree into drivers/rtc, you see that there are files for the pcf clock, as well as a number of other ones.
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