On 8/26/07, Steven Stern <subscribed-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > On 08/26/2007 05:46 PM, Lonni J Friedman wrote: > > On 8/26/07, Karl Larsen <k5di@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> Lonni J Friedman wrote: > >>> I've got a Fedora 7 (x86) system that started exhibiting truly bizarre > >>> behavior about a week ago. Basically, the clock stopped working. If > >>> I run 'date' it shows the date/time from a few days earlier, and it > >>> *never* changes. If I touch a file, it has the date/timestamp from > >>> the time/date in date output. The odd thing is that this behavior > >>> only happens when the system sits relatively idle for a long chunk of > >>> time (at least 24 hours). If i'm actively using it every day, then > >>> its fine. If I reboot, then the problem goes away (and the system has > >>> the correct time after rebooting). > >>> > >>> The first time that this happened was last weekend (Aug 18), and I had > >>> to reboot it last Monday (Aug 20) to fix the problem. Its now > >>> happened again. At this moment in time, date claims that its Sat Aug > >>> 25, even though its actually Sun Aug 26 right now. > >>> > >>> To make matters worse, the system behaves oddly when this problem > >>> occurs. I suspect its because anything that relies on getting an > >>> accurate (or changing) clock is failing. If I attempt to reboot > >>> cleanly, it just never happens. The system acts frozen in time. > >>> > >>> I've checked dmesg & messages, and there's nothing there. messages > >>> just stops logging anything around the time that the clock appears to > >>> have frozen. > >>> > >>> Anyone ever seen this bizarre behavior, or have any ideas what might > >>> be going on? > >>> > >>> > >> There is a battery on your motherboard and it has a clock that needs > >> the battery. Linux checks the computer battery every so often so check > >> that battery and replace if needed. I can cause all your problems. > > > > If it was the CMOS battery, why would it be working fine for days, > > stop working, then start working again after a reboot? > > > > Also, I've never heard of Linux being capable of checking the CMOS > > battery. What specifically is doing this check? > > > > Additionally, the CMOS battery is only needed when the system is > > powered down and/or doesn't have external power. It certainly isn't > > used to keep the system clock running while the system is running on > > external power. > > > > I appreciate your feedback, but what you're saying really doesn't make > > any sense. > > > > Does your system go into a suspended mode when not being actively used > for some time? No, it doesn't. I should note that I've been using this same system for nearly a year now, and its been rock solid stable until last weekend. > > (The real test for the CMOS is to see what the time is on boot in BIOS. > When Fedora boots, it will synch with a time server if ntpd is enabled. > However, I agree this is not likely to be a battery issue.) The time is accurate when the system POSTs (and in the SBIOS), so I'm pretty confident that this isn't the CMOS battery dying.
