4

Since yesterday my clock is showing a wrong time.

It is two hours behind on the local time. (This wrong time is UTC, don't know if this is coincidence).

I do have a dual boot with windows, but I don't think that is the problem, because in my config file /etc/default/rcS the entry for UTC is already set to no.

Anyone have an idea?

hwclock from util-linux 2.20.1
Using /dev interface to clock.
Last drift adjustment done at 1396258906 seconds after 1969
Last calibration done at 1396258906 seconds after 1969
Hardware clock is on UTC time
Assuming hardware clock is kept in UTC time.
Waiting for clock tick...
...got clock tick
Time read from Hardware Clock: 2015/07/02 09:10:34
Hw clock time : 2015/07/02 09:10:34 = 1435828234 seconds since 1969
Thu 02 Jul 2015 11:10:34 CEST  -0.516481 seconds
4
  • 1
    Please add the output of sudo hwclock --debug to your question. This may show several assumptions your system is making about the clock.
    – Jos
    Jul 2, 2015 at 10:33
  • I've added the output in the comment. Strangely is saying the hardware clock is in UTC... But then also the UTC time is incorrect. And as local time it would also be incorrect, as I am in CET which should be UTC+2 and it is UTC-2...
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 11:16
  • Try tzselect and configure the time according to your location Jul 2, 2015 at 11:25
  • My time zone is correct. So that can't be the problem
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 12:52

4 Answers 4

2

Hardware clock is on UTC time

If your hardware clock is using UTC time, the system needs to know it! Change the UTC configuration of the clock in the /etc/default/rcS file to yes. The system will presume your clock is UTC and apply offset accordingly. Of course, your clock should also have the correct time. Once this is set, with hwclock --set --date="02/07/2015 10:21:00" (--date should be provided with the local time, even if the hardware clock use UTC) your system should use the correct time. Now you can use ntp daemon, for example to keep your clock on time.

8
  • Doesn't seem to change anything. Moreover, seems like the offset is always been done correctly, but the hardware clock is wrong. It is saying it is now 11:15:13 in UT...
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:15
  • @LuKas just correct the time in your hardware clock with sudo hwclock --set --date="7/02/2015 09:20:05", for example for your local time.
    – Braiam
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:19
  • It doesn't stay. When I do this the hardware clock is changed to the correct (UTC) time. But when I restart, somehow it is back to the two hours earlier...
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:42
  • @LuKas include in your question the output of date.
    – Braiam
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:44
  • you mean this: "Thu Jul 2 13:59:13 CEST 2015"?
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:59
1

Try sudo ntpdate -u time.nist.gov. ntpd is probably running already on that port so it needs to use a different one. Windows assumes clock is in local time when it updates the clock from ntp. Your Linux is assuming it's in UTC.

11
  • ntpdate doesn't seem to find a suitable synchronization: "2 Jul 12:57:53 ntpdate[3289]: no server suitable for synchronization found"
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 12:59
  • 1
    See askubuntu.com/questions/429306/… It might be your ISP has just started blocking NTP packets. Have you dual-booted before without problems? If so, your NTPD was previously correcting the clock at boot before you could see it, but cannot now. Jul 2, 2015 at 13:33
  • hmm, strange, it always used to work without problems here.
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:58
  • One other possibility. Have you changed any firewall settings on your computer or router? Can you show me the output from sudo ntpdate -d time.nist.gov Jul 2, 2015 at 14:02
  • 2 Jul 14:16:10 ntpdate[3443]: ntpdate [email protected] Mon Apr 13 13:39:47 UTC 2015 (1) Looking for host time.nist.gov and service ntp host found : utcnist2.colorado.edu transmit(128.138.141.172) transmit(128.138.141.172) transmit(128.138.141.172) transmit(128.138.141.172) transmit(128.138.141.172) 128.138.141.172: Server dropped: no data server 128.138.141.172, port 123 stratum 0, precision 0, leap 00, trust 000 refid [128.138.141.172], delay 0.00000, dispersion 64.00000 transmitted 4, in filter 4
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 14:18
0

Ok, for future reference, here is the final solution (with some help from the other answers).

The problem was that the hardware clock was wrong, and that apparently due to firewall issues the ubuntu clock can't update automatically. The time of the hardware clock can be changed, either manually by doing

sudo hwclock --set --date="02/07/2015 10:21:00"

for example (with date in local time), or by connecting to time keeping servers online (which didn't work for me because of the firewall issues)

sudo ntpdate -u time.nist.gov

Then the System Time of the Ubuntu kernel still has to be updated to this new time, otherwise the time shown will still be wrong, and, more importantly, Ubuntu will overwrite the new hardware time again. This is easily done with

sudo hwclock -s
-1

First check you have corretc time zone, run the command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

if tzdata is not installed:

sudo apt-get install tzdata

You can now sync and correct your time settings with command ntpdate:

sudo ntpdate time.nist.gov

here you can find a list of time servers around world : http://www.pool.ntp.org/

Check this answer https://askubuntu.com/a/641160/150504 for more information

3
  • I have the correct timezone, but when I do the ntpdate command, I get the message that the NTPsocket is in use... "2 Jul 11:21:18 ntpdate[5342]: the NTP socket is in use, exiting"
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 11:22
  • So why downvoting?
    – Maythux
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:06
  • Don't know, wasn't me...
    – Lu Kas
    Jul 2, 2015 at 13:15

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .