[mpancha]

I have my laptop set to sync time with the apple servers, however, for the last 2 weeks the time only syncs if I open up system preferences -> date/time. Otherwise it just won't sync.

This is affecting my iCal alarm alerts and more importantly, my email sent dates are getting butchered.

How can I fix this?

[Dork.]

How far off does it get? Even with only synchronizing every few weeks, your system ought to keep time pretty well.

[JKT]

Could it be a firewall issue?

[mpancha]

It usually is off by a few hours. Usually what happens is if I put the laptop to sleep (close the lid) and come back the time remains at the time it was when I put the laptop to sleep. As time goes on, it runs based on that old time, not by refreshing its own time.

If this was a PC I'd suspect the CMOS battery being dead, thus the internal clock not keeping up.... but this is a fairly new machine, I just got it back in April of this year.

For the firewall I'm using the apple firewall, but I also have lil snitch running. I haven't setup any rules that would prevent os x from syncing with apple's time servers.

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by mpancha 

It usually is off by a few hours. Usually what happens is if I put the laptop to sleep (close the lid) and come back the time remains at the time it was when I put the laptop to sleep. As time goes on, it runs based on that old time, not by refreshing its own time.

If this was a PC I'd suspect the CMOS battery being dead, thus the internal clock not keeping up.... but this is a fairly new machine, I just got it back in April of this year.

Remember, new Macs are essentially PC's, just without all the legacy PC platform junk. They are supposed to keep track of the time while sleeping, go get it fixed under warranty!

[amazing]

Disable Little Snitch, see if that makes a difference.

[mpancha]

amazing >> I've tried disabling Lil' Snitch and the OS X firewall. It sill occurs.

Dork >> yea, I plan to. Its just right now its a nuisance, but not as big as what a nuisance it would be if I had to hand over my MBP for longer than an hour to have repaired.

[amazing]

Before sending it off to Applecare, I'd definitely try out an archive and install.

[ginoledesma]

You can also try setting the time server to pool.ntp.org, which is a pool of time servers. If that still doesn't work, it definitely sounds like there may be a network connection issue on your Mac preventing it from syncing. As for your Mac unable to keep track of time, you could try zapping the PRAM first (Command-Option-P-R while starting up) and then see if the issue recurs.

[amazing]

Try this first, because it's very simple: Create a second, plain-vanilla Admin user. Do NOT install anything like Little Snitch. Login as the plain-vanilla Admin and see if your problem persists. If the problem goes away then the original user has something installed that interferes. If the problem persists, then something in the MacOS has broken.

In any case, there's no physical reason for the time-sync not to work, something in your system is preventing it. Something in the MacOS is hosed or disabled.

That's why I suggested archive-and-install, but be sure NOT to preserve user settings--especially if the second Admin does not have the time-sync problem. You don't want to transfer the problem to a new archive-and-install.

[mpancha]

amazing >> i've tried a complete format, and with only 10.4 installed I have the same issuer (before even doing a software update)

ginoledesma >> i dont think its a connectivity issue, as soon as i notice the problem, if i go into system prefs, disable "set date.time automatically" and re-enable it, time syncs instantly.

I'll give zapping the pram a shot tonight, hopefully that does the trick, b/c honestly im not looking forward to yet another format.

*pardon any typos im typing with 1 hand while i babysit our 3 month old, and he keeps smacking the keyboard*

[amazing]

wow, complex problem!

can't imagine the repairing permissions would help, but have you tried that?

do report back if the PRAM reset works--and be sure to let it go thru at least 4 chimes.

[seanc]

Are you booting WIndows on that machine?
Whenever I switch between Windows or Ubuntu on my PC the clock has shifted +/- 1 hr. Quite annoying when I work out that it's 4am in the morning.

[mpancha]

seanc >> yes, I have boot camp installed with XP, and I use VMWare Fusion within OS X. VMWare handles the time issue by syncing with the OS X install on the laptop rather than syncing externally.

I can understand if it shifted +/- an hour, but not stopping the time altogether when in sleep, and then not syncing upon wakeup.

[ghporter]

The Boot Camp time issue is simply that under Windows, the machine's internal clock is set to local time, while OS X expects it to be UTM (also known as GMT). And that does NOT have any impact on timekeeping during sleep. Head to the Apple Store, mpancha. You have a sick Mac.

[amazing]

Well, I still can't see how it could be anything motherboard-wise, because you'd expect a whole bunch more to be broken.

But, since you've already done a complete reinstall, what else could it be?

[nerd]

I had the same problem with a Mini that I had at a remote site. Check out this Apple Bulletin.

Mac OS X 10.4: Network Time clients lose synchronization

[Curiosity]

You are allowing Network Time thru the firewall, right?

[mpancha]

this problem stopped for me for awhile, and just started up again when I formatted my boot camp partition and installed Vista.

amazing >> PRAM reset did not help
nerd >> I'll try ou thte Bulletin post you posted.\
Curiosity >> yup, I have Network Time allowed through the firewall.

[ghporter]

Windows OSs set the hardware clock to local time-is the problem not fixed by updating the time in OS X?