[techtalk] Computer clock way slow

[Laurel Fan]

Excerpts from linuxchix: 26-Jan-100 [techtalk] Computer clock w.. by
Britta Koch at rz.uni-osnab 
> As I said, my computer clock is way slow. Whenever I set it, it only
> takes a few days for it to get a few hours behind again. Do I just need
> to change the battery? My computer is only 10 months old - could it be
> that something else is amiss (the clock chip)? 

This started happening to me recently.  I figured it wasn't a battery
problem, since the battery was about 6mo old, and the last one had
lasted 3 years.  So I started running xntpd to sync it with an external
clock.  This also has the plus of being able to ignore any y2k
(non)compliance issues of the 6 year old hwclock...

It won't hurt to change the battery, but make sure you write down what
your BIOS settings are.[1]


[1] I had to fix a bios password on a family computer[2] by flicking the
battery out.  After that, it was weeks before I could complain about any
OS being user-unfriendly.

[2] Read 'fscked up computer'.  5 people who all have physical access to
the machine, who each feel deeply insulted when they don't have root,
feel free to 'fix' anything not exactly to their liking, and not tell
anyone when they've messed it up. 

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