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Groups > comp.os.linux.misc > #12493

Re: time problem

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On 2014-10-26, JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> wrote:
> Rich <rich@example.invalid> wrote:
>> JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> wrote:
>>> Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> wrote:
>>> > Bill Cunningham <nospam@nspam.invalid> wrote:
>>> >> "philo " <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message 
>>> >>>
>>> >>>  Set to local time if it's on UTC (which I think is the default)
>>> >>
>>> >> I try hwclock with the -w and -s switch. They don't seem to do
>>> >> anything. The old Linux's used an ntp server to get the time.
>>> > 
>>> > The new linux distributions use ntp to get the time. The hardware
>>> > clock and NTP are two different issues (I think this was posted
>>> > recently).
>>> > 
>>> > As many many people have suggested in this thread, either tell your
>>> > Windows box to use UTC (preferred if possible) or tell your linux
>>> > to use localtime. keith
>> 
>>> I've been having pretty much the same problem with slackware 14.1,
>>> and am not running windows in any way, shape, or form on this box.
>>> Every couple of days, some app seems to reset the hwclock to UTC. But
>>> date show blah-blah EDT 2014, and there's no...
>>>  diff /etc/localtime /usr/share/zoneinfo/US/Eastern
>>> ...differences. I set the date, clock -w it, and it
>
>> Which "it"?  Output from 'date' or the HWclock contents?
> Thanks for followup and info, Rich. "It" is from 'date'.
> Now that, thanks to your remarks, I'm researching
> it (the problem) better, I realize that 'date' isn't
> sufficient info.
>
>>> remains edt for a few days, then suddenly I notice it's utc.
>> Which "it"?  Output from 'date' or the HWclock contents?
> As above, 'date'.
>
>>> What could be causing that?
>> Do you reboot between the time you set the HWclock,
>> and the instant you find UTC showing up somewhere?
> Well, yes, but "find" is the operative word there.
> I'm not sure when it "actually happens" (during boot or
> otherwise) because I don't often notice the date.
> Mostly when I'm doing something like ls -alt|less
> to double-check what I've been working on, and
> notice it's screwy.
>
>> If so, what is the contents of your /etc/hardwareclock file?
> That's  localtime  (and some #comments).
>
>> Since you say you are not running windows, then quit trying to store
>> the hardware clock as localtime, have it set to UTC, and everything
>> will be fine.  You'll still see localtime everywhere anyway.
> Okay, thanks.
>
>> If /etc/hardwareclock already say UTC, leave it alone.  If not, change
>> "localtime" to UTC in the file, and quit trying to have the HWclock be
>> local.
> Okay, done.
> Note: I ran timeconfig to make the change (as suggested by
> those #comments), and it says about localtime that
> "this is how most PCs are set up". But I nevertheless
> changed /etc/hardwareclock to UTC as you suggested.

They are using "PC" to mean "Windows". Whoever set up that timeconfig 
program was an idiot. 
You might want to set a bugreport to your distro, because that certainly
is a bug. 

>
>> Then, set the system time if/when you need to adjust things (use the
>> date command, it also "sets/changes" the time).  And then save the
>> result into the hardware clock with:
>>     hwclock --utc --systohc
> Okay, done, but 'date' and 'hwclock -r' both still say the same
> numerical time, and both say EDT. I'm guessing I have to kill -HUP
> something, but I couldn't guess which pid from ps ax. I'll have to
> try a reboot (but that's tough to do in the middle of a reply:).

Nope. They read the /etc/localtime and translate the readings from those
clocks to whatever that file says you want your time to be. 

If date says UTC, that means that either /etc/localtime has disappeared
or has been corrupted, or was not there on boot. Is /etc/localtime a
link or a copy of the file from zoneinfo? If it is a link, instead make
it a copy
rm /etc/localtime
cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/EST5EDT /etc/localtime
or whatever you are using for you zoneinfo file. 

It can be that at bootup, /usr/share is not available, and the time then
defaults to UTC.

>
>> Or, setup an ntp client to keep your clocks synced with the ntp system
>> on the internet, and just let the Slackware 14.1 rc.d scripts save the
>> system time to the hardware clock when you do shutdown.
> Didn't want to do that, but looked at those scripts for some
> clue about the process mentioned above. But all I could find was
> your preceding instructions  hwclock --utc --systohc  in rc.0 .

hwclock has nothing to do with the timezone issues. 

>
>> Just always give the 'hwclock' command the --utc flag and it will
>> translate the time from the hwclock into your local time for you when
>> you want to view/reset the hwclock.
> Okay, as above, doesn't seem to be doing exactly that now,
> but I'll try a reboot and see if some process or other
> initializes itself with the new /etc/hardwareclock contents.
> Thanks for the help,

??? No, using --utc tells the program that your hardware clock is in
utc, and this is the default for that program. 
hwclock will read the hardware (not system) clock and use /etc/localtime
to translate that to local time. 

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Thread

time problem "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-10-25 18:24 -0400
  Re: time problem Grant <omg@grrr.id.au> - 2014-10-26 11:02 +1100
    Re: time problem "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-10-25 20:30 -0400
  Re: time problem Baho Utot <baho-utot@columbus.rr.com> - 2014-10-25 20:06 -0400
  Re: time problem philo  <philo@privacy.net> - 2014-10-25 19:53 -0500
    Re: time problem "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-10-25 21:02 -0400
      Re: time problem Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> - 2014-10-25 18:20 -0700
        Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-26 03:31 +0000
          Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-26 05:36 +0000
            Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-26 07:11 +0000
              Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-26 15:43 +0000
                Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-27 04:35 +0000
                Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-27 10:22 +0000
                Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-27 12:03 +0000
                Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-27 12:21 +0000
                Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-27 13:54 +0000
                Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-27 05:01 +0000
                Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-27 10:23 +0000
                Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-27 12:11 +0000
                Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-27 12:30 +0000
                Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-27 13:58 +0000
                Re: time problem Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2014-10-27 18:04 +0000
              Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-26 16:13 +0000
                Re: time problem Chick Tower <c.tower@deadspam.com> - 2014-10-31 03:30 +0000
          Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-26 16:02 +0000
            Re: time problem Andreas Kohlbach <oct14.5.ankman@spamgourmet.com> - 2014-10-26 17:48 -0400
              Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-26 21:58 +0000
              Re: time problem "Nuno J. Silva (aka njsg)" <njsg@invalid.invalid> - 2014-10-27 08:47 +0000
                Re: time problem Andreas Kohlbach <oct14.5.ankman@spamgourmet.com> - 2014-10-27 17:20 -0400
            Re: time problem JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-10-27 04:45 +0000
    Re: time problem "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-10-25 21:08 -0400
      Re: time problem philo  <philo@privacy.net> - 2014-10-26 07:15 -0500
  Re: time problem Balwinder S Dheeman <bdheeman.SANSPAM@outlook.com> - 2014-10-26 14:08 +0530
    Re: time problem Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2014-10-27 03:15 +0000
  Re: time problem William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-26 15:53 +0000
  Re: time problem James Moe <jimoeDESPAM@sohnen-moe.com> - 2014-10-26 14:01 -0700
    Re: time problem Michael Baeuerle <michael.baeuerle@stz-e.de> - 2014-10-27 07:59 +0000
      Re: time problem Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2014-10-27 13:31 +0100
        "iburst" option of ntpd (was: time problem) Michael Baeuerle <michael.baeuerle@stz-e.de> - 2014-10-28 08:23 +0000
          Re: "iburst" option of ntpd (was: time problem) Marc Haber <mh+usenetspam1118@zugschl.us> - 2014-10-28 10:14 +0100
            Re: "iburst" option of ntpd (was: time problem) William Unruh <unruh@invalid.ca> - 2014-10-28 21:10 +0000
          Re: "iburst" option of ntpd Chris Davies <chris-usenet@roaima.co.uk> - 2014-10-28 14:24 +0000

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