[nfbcs] Computer Clock

Fri Mar 2 14:13:19 UTC 2012

Yeah, I still say its probably a bad clock chip.  Steve's suggestion of 
replacing the motherboard battery may be worth while though.  A weak battery 
is a far more common problem than a bad clock chip but  a weak battery 
doesn't usually give these symptoms. On the other hand, replacing the 
battery is an easy thing to do and doesn't cost much.

There is one particular battery that is used in the vast majority of 
motherboards.   Its about the size and shape of a quarter. Last time I 
replaced a battery, I just popped it out with a fingernail, took it to a 
hardware store, and asked for the same battery. It was about $15. You could 
probably find it on-line for half that. And then you just push the 
replacement in. It could hardly be easier.  Just unplug your PC, ground 
yourself, and then feel around for it. Or if you're not comfortable doing 
that, get someone to find it for you. You don't need any tech savvy just to 
locate the battery so anyone could help you with that.

Otherwise, that program Mike suggested sounds good to me. I haven't actually 
tried it yet but it is probably a Network Time Protocol program. Linux 
machines have programs like that built in. They check in with time servers 
continuously and adjust the clock accordingly. Linux machines even take into 
account how long it takes to get the time data from the time server and 
average it out. So that can be extraordinarily accurate. But you need a 
network connection for it to work. If your machine isn't on the net most of 
the time its not going to work as well.

We actually had a linux server with a bad clock chip a few months ago. I set 
up the time sync to be done every minute. It ran tlike that for a couple of 
months before we replaced it. So if you have a network connection all the 
time it would probably work indefinately for you.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sahar Husseini" <sahar at inebraska.com>
To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 8:55 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock

>I found out that the computer synchronizes once a week.  It would be ideal 
>if it synchronized twice a day or something.  I wonder if there are 
>programs out there to make that happen.  When I synchronize manually, the 
>time is correct.  No, alas, restarting the computer didn't really solve the 
>problem.  Oh, it was, indeed, wishful thinking.  *smile*
>
> Warm regards,
> Sahar Husseini
> For hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry, please visit my Website at
> www.saharscreations.com
> Find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saharscreations
> And remember, "Obstacles don't have to stop you.
> If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
> Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
> Michael Jordan
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
> To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 8:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock
>
>
> Some computers sync up their clocks with networks, but I've never found 
> computer clocks to be
> particularly more accurate than other clocks.  Being five minutes fast 
> over time doesn't seem like it
> means a hardware problem, and the possibility of synchronizing to a 
> network that is fast also seems like
> a possibility.  I would think resetting the time through the operating 
> system and observing whether the
> time stays accurate for a while or becomes inaccurate at a specific point 
> would make sense.  I also
> don't know that a low battery always means that the time will be slow. 
> Lowering the voltage does not
> always mean that an oscillator's frequency will drop, they can be 
> inversely proportional depending upon
> the circuit.  If the computer is old, like several years or more, 
> replacing the battery is probably
> worth trying if this is a recurring problem even if the clock is fast. 
> There are also some programs out
> there that will synchronize time to various sources and this might be a 
> workaround even if the clock is
> somewhat defective.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Jacobson
>
> On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:23:16 -0600, John Heim wrote:
>
>>Most likely this is a hardware failure and cannot be fixed by anything 
>>short
>>of buying a new computer. Its almost certainly a failure of the real time
>>clock chip (RTC).  If your clock was slow, it might be a dead RTC battery.
>>But given that its gaining time, its probably a bad RTC.
>
>>It may be possible to configure the Windows time app to synchronize every
>>few minutes. But the automatic synchronization protocol cannot work if the
>>time is too far off. Assuming Microsoft abides by the standard protocol, 
>>if
>>the clock is off by more than a few minutes, you would have to go in and
>>manually tell it to resynchronize itself.  And it wouldn't work at all 
>>when
>>you don't have a network connection.
>
>>If the Windows time app doesn't allow you to configure all that, you can
>>probably find some freeware that will do it. You'd have to set it up to
>>synchronize when you connect to the internet even if the clock is way off
>>and to keep on synchronizing every few minutes or hours.
>
>>But the only real solution is probably to have the PC repaired or 
>>replaced.
>>You cannot replace the clock chip. You'd have to replace the motherboard 
>>or
>>the whole PC.
>
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: "Sahar Husseini" <sahar at inebraska.com>
>>To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 6:00 AM
>>Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock
>
>
>>> No, that doesn't work.  That is the first thing I tried, and the clock
>>> still keeps going ahead five minutes in less than a day.
>>>
>>> Warm regards,
>>> Sahar Husseini
>>> For hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry, please visit my Website at
>>> www.saharscreations.com
>>> Find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saharscreations
>>> And remember, "Obstacles don't have to stop you.
>>> If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
>>> Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
>>> Michael Jordan
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Lea williams" <leanicole1988 at gmail.com>
>>> To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 1:30 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Computer Clock
>>>
>>>
>>> go to the control pannal
>>> then to
>>> date and time
>>> and change it there.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps
>>>
>>> On 2/23/12, Sahar Husseini <sahar at inebraska.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I had not had this happen since the 90's when I had a Toshiba laptop. 
>>>> My
>>>> desktop clock is five minutes too fast.  I restarted the computer, and 
>>>> I
>>>> even stopped the service, unregistered it, re-registered it again, and
>>>> restarted it.  That didn't fix the problem.  Any ideas?  Thanks very
>>>> much.
>>>>
>>>> Warm regards,
>>>> Sahar Husseini
>>>> For hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry, please visit my Website at
>>>> www.saharscreations.com
>>>> Find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/saharscreations
>>>> And remember, "Obstacles don't have to stop you.
>>>> If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
>>>> Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
>>>> Michael Jordan
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>>
>>> Lea Williams
>>>
>>> Phone;
>>> 704-732-4470
>>> Skipe;
>>> Lea.williams738
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>
>
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