[ntp:questions] Re: Problem on WinXP Pro laptop with Palisade driver

Christopher J. Burian cburian at ll.mit.edu
Mon Dec 15 00:49:42 UTC 2003


> Maarten Wiltink wrote:
> >>[...] The ntp.conf file has just two lines,
> >>server 127.127.29.1 prefer
> >>fudge 127.127.29.1 refid CMDA
> >
> > Are you sure "CMDA" is right? Google seems to suggest it's a typo.
> 
> Probably should be CDMA. But the refid is only a string, AFAIK, so it
> shouldn't matter one way or the other.

Yes, thanks, I just transposed the letters when typing my email,
and they are simply a text field irrelevant to operation anyway.  
Since posting, I've read some info suggesting that WinXP is a great 
deal different from Win2K under the hood, taking a lot more resources.

One other experiment that I need to try besides recording the exact
timecode= message on the WinXP machine is to hook my Acutime 2000
to the offending laptop and see if it causes the same behavior as
the Praecis.  I have plenty of equipment, but not a lot of time to
troubleshoot problems.  

Incidentally, my Win2K laptop (which has no problems with the Praecis)
when configured to use the Praecis on COM1 as a server and a RH9 Linux 
box having an Acutime 2000 as another server shows the two clocks 
agreeing to under 200 us, e.g. reporting offsets like 0.990 and 0.870, 
respectively.  I didn't realize sub-millisecond timing was possible
in Windows at all.  Not bad.

Off topic: I've also had problems with Digi brand serial drivers
working fine on Win2K Dell laptop and WinXP Dell desktop, but failing
on WinXP Dell laptop.  Conclusion: use Win2K?  Works in the short
term, but M$ will stop supporting it someday.  Alternate conclusion:
don't trust Dell laptops?  Less likely to be the problem, I think.

Thanks for any hints.

Best regards,
Chris Burian



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