[NBLUG/talk] Curious Clock Drift

[E Frank Ball]

On Thu, Oct 23, 2003 at 04:43:08PM -0700, Robert Hayes wrote:
} I'm running Debian installed from a Knoppix 3.2 dist on a 4 month old Dell 
} (don't tell me that's the problem...)
} 
} My root cron file includes:
} 
} rdate -s time.nist.gov
} hwclock --systohc
} 
} to run daily.
} 
} A week or so ago I noticed the clock was about 8 minutes behind the one 
} embedded in my coffee mug.
} 
} I ran rdate manually, and all was well.
} 
} Same thing yesterday.
} 
} TODAY, the computer is 20 MINUTES slow. 
} 
} Any ideas? The onboard MB battery should just die, right, not result in a slow 
} clock? And besides, could it lose 20 minutes in 24 hours?


I've seen some computers with pretty horrible clocks.  Pretty
disappointing considering a $6 watch can keep pretty good time.

Load "adjtimex", run "adjtimex --compare" and see what the output is,
it will show how far off your clock is, then you can configure adjtimex
to compensate for the drift.

Then get "ntp" and configure that.

-- 

   E Frank Ball                frankb at efball.com