[ntp:questions] losing time fast

Dave Hart hart at ntp.org
Mon Jul 9 19:05:55 UTC 2012


On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 18:14 UTC, Fritz Wuehler wrote:
> I noticed the clock on my main desktop was off by 28 minutes today and it
> increased to 45 minutes. I resync'd with ntpdate manually and it has drifted
> behind again about 7 minutes in the last few hours.
>
> I am using ntp version 4.2.4p7 which was installed with Slackware on Linux
> kernel 2.6.29.6. Until today the clock on this system has always matched the
> clocks of the other machines on my network. The system has been running for
> several years essentially unchanged.
>
> The only thing that changed (that I know of) is I added a new machine to my
> network recently. Its clock matches all the other clocks. I don't see any
> unusual messages from ntpd in my log or messages files on the system with
> the problem. One system has problems, all others appear to be fine and have
> synchronized clocks.
>
> I realize this isn't much information but I don't know what to look for. Can
> anyone tell me how to troubleshoot this? Thank you.

Stop ntpd using whatever means is normal for your OS.  Find the path
to the drift file (which preserves an estimate of your system's clock
rate error):

$ fgrep drift /etc/ntp.conf
driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift

Then remove it and restart ntpd.  It will synchronize once then spend
1024 seconds (17m) measuring the clock rate error.  With any luck it
will be an accurate-enough estimate that ntpd will then converge on
its own.

Note to regulars:  I'm going to have sporadic internet access for the
rest of July, so I won't be as responsive.  Your help is welcome.

Cheers,
Dave Hart


More information about the questions mailing list