clock goes into a loop

[NPD USER]

I have a netserver LPR with Redhat 8.0 installed. For some reason, every now and then the clock goes into a loop. The seconds will get stuck in a 5 second loop.
ex: 5,6,7,8,9,10,5,6,7,8,9,10
We would then reboot the server to resolve the issue. Does anyone know why this would happen?

Thanks,
Scott

[Steven E. Protter]

Most likely this is a BIOS or clock battery problem. Have the battery replaced and then check and possibly update the bios.

The Clocks on computers are scandalously inaccurate, but this is ridiculous.

SEP

[Ian Hillier]

I don't think it's a problem with the bios or the battery, or it would re-manifest quite quickly after a reboot.

I have the same issue on an LP1000r running kernel 2.4.18-19.7 but it only happens when the time changes because of daylight savings starting and ending. I've checked all the timezone settings and all seems to be correct.

I don't mind rebooting a linux server only twice a year and it's not worth my time to figure it out. However, if anyone knows a definite solution, I'd be happy to implement it.

Regards,

John

[Mark Grant]

Changing the time into the past can cause all sorts of problems. If someone is doing that, if only by a few minutes, you might see this kind of problem.

Just a thought.

[Ragu_1]

Even if the hardware clock skews due to a bad battery, there is no need to reboot. The trick here is to sync your system clock first and then sync the hardware clock. If you are connected to the Internet, setting the system clock is easily done by installing the package `chrony'. Edit the file /etc/chrony/chrony.conf and fill in the IP of a time server near your location. Restart the chrony daemon and very soon it will correct the system clock. By typing `date' you can check the correctness of your local system time. Next, type `hwclock --systohc' and your motherboard RTC gets set. Oh, btw, my suggestions are for a Debian system, it is almost similar on your Redhat box.

[Nick Gushlow]

Scott,

I'm currently having the exact same problem on a TC4100 using WhiteBox Linux (RHEL for Free).

Did you ever find a solution to this?

Nick.

[NPD USER]

Nick,

We installed the latest version of the kernel and NTP. Ever since then we haven't received the problem anymore. Hope this helps.

Scott

[Nick Gushlow]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for replying; so are you running a 2.6 kernel?

Nick.

[NPD USER]

I should correct myself, we updated the kernel to 2.4.20-28.8 and ntp to 4.1.1a-9. Sorry about that..

Scott

[Nick Gushlow]

hmmm strange ... I have the problem yet I am running kernel 2.4.21-15.0.3.ELsmp and NTP 4.1.2.

[NPD USER]

that is strange.. I don't know what else it could be. Is your server patched to date?

[Nick Gushlow]

Not sure what you mean by patched to date .... ? Server/bios patches or patches to the kernel?

[NPD USER]

I meant server patches.

[Nick Gushlow]

ah, then yes. I've got all the latest updates.

It's all very confusing. :(