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Doofy · Dec 19, 2005, 08:36 AM

I'm having problems with the system clock in 10.4.3 - essentially it's gaining about 15 minutes per day, despite being set to get time from an NTP server. After a visit to System Prefs to uncheck and then recheck "set date and time automatically" it picks up the time from the remote server. I can only assume that it's not doing it by itself on a regular basis (or is set to do it once a decade or something).

Any ideas what I should be tinkering with to get it working properly? I could do with it picking up the time from NTP once an hour.

Thanks guys.

JKT · Dec 19, 2005, 07:20 PM

What happens if you just set the time and don't use the server? Try this and report back. If it stops happening then we know it is something to do with the NTP server (or use thereof). If it continues happening then we know it is something to do with your OS or hardware and not the server.

Doofy · Dec 20, 2005, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by JKT

What happens if you just set the time and don't use the server? Try this and report back. If it stops happening then we know it is something to do with the NTP server (or use thereof). If it continues happening then we know it is something to do with your OS or hardware and not the server.

OK, will do.

In the meantime, a little more info...
The server is Apple's Euro server, so if it's the server I guess you'd be seeing the same thing. Everything was fine until I installed Tiger so I'm not sure it's the hardware.

Doofy · Dec 21, 2005, 10:49 AM

16 hour later and it's gained about 6 minutes (with the NTP switched off).

JKT · Dec 21, 2005, 02:20 PM

Try resetting the PRAM. This will reset the parameters that are stored in PRAM such as your date and time amongst other things... which is why I suggest doing it. Maybe the PRAM has become corrupted somehow and a reset will clear up the problem.

If that doesn't work try resetting the PMU (power management unit). You will need to search Apple's support to find out how to do that for your particular make Mac as it differs for each.

Doofy · Dec 22, 2005, 07:19 AM

OK, thanks JKT - I'll try that.

ghporter · Dec 22, 2005, 09:24 AM

How often is your computer checking the time? I don't have access to my wife's Mac right now (she's busy with it) so I can't check what the options are, but I'd see what happens with a more frequent update.

ALL computer clocks are off to some extent; the clock and computer timing just don't match properly. But 15 minutes per day is wierd... I think JKT's advice is going to be more helpful than mine.

Doofy · Dec 23, 2005, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

How often is your computer checking the time? I don't have access to my wife's Mac right now (she's busy with it) so I can't check what the options are, but I'd see what happens with a more frequent update.

I've no idea. Point is, 10.4 doesn't let me specify the frequency. I'm not sure it's doing it at all except when I manually uncheck and check the setting.