REsolved?: [ale] Clock problems with two SuSE setups

Alex LeDonne aledonne.listmail at gmail.com
Wed Sep 12 17:58:49 EDT 2007


On 9/12/07, John Mills <johnmills at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> ALErs -
>
> In response to my clock-challenged laptops:
>
> On Mon, 4 Jun 2007, Jeff Lightner wrote:
>
> > It could be a clock/CMOS battery issue if both systems were
> > approximately the same age.  You're "about the same time" suggests they
> > didn't both start having issues at exactly the same time.
> >
> > I gather these are laptops?  If so it could be the main battery.  Heck
> > it could even be the AC you're plugging into when they're up.   Do you
> > have a UPS for that?  Have you tried them on different circuits?  Have
> > you compared what they do running on AC then being rebooted as opposed
> > to running on internal battery then being rebooted?
>
> I may have stumbled to a conclusion here.
>
> I finally isolated the symptom on one laptop to loss of time when the unit
> was stopped and restarted without the AC adapter connected, but kept time
> properly through the same cycle with the adapter. My first reaction was,
> "Yup, I have to replace a clock battery," but I couldn't find one. By
> coincidence I noticed the time setting was retained over a 24+ shutdown
> _after_ the unit had charged its running battery overnight. My working
> hypothesis (supported by some hazy wording in the manual): there is a
> clock battery, it is recharged by the adapter, and it discharges
> independently of the main battery.
>
> We'll see how that concept holds up.
>
> Thanks for the suggestions.
>
>  - Mills

That is actually documented behavior for old Toshiba laptops, so it
wouldn't surprise me. :)

-A



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