Time Slipping Problems

Articles and Tips: qna

01 Jan 2001

Dear Ab-end: The time keeps slipping on my tree. I've checked all the parameters that I know of. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm in the Twilight Zone. Can you help me?

Flying Like an Eagle in Millerton

Dear Flying: If your NDS time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future, or the past, or wherever, you probably have a glitch with your time synchronization in NDS. Here are a few things to check:

The BIOS. You might need to update the BIOS versions on your servers.

The Support Pack. If you're running NetWare 5, make certain you're running the latest Support Pack. If you're running NetWare 5.1, make certain you're running Service Pack 2. These service packs include fixes for time synchronization over IP for IP-only stack environments.

Obtain a new IDEATA.HAM. This file, which will be available with the next support packs, can help with drifting time. Those support packs will be SP3 for NetWare 5.1 and NWSP7 for NetWare 5.0. You'll want IDEATA.HAM version 3.10d, dated November 7, 2000 or later.

SLP Timesync. If you're running NDS 8 or later and relying on SLP to deliver your time synchronization, but your time is not synchronized, and the Timesync Debug screen says that it can't get time from SLP, try turning on configured sources and pointing to your reference server.

Network Cards. Believe it or not, a faulty network card, corrupt driver, or malfunctioning router can cause time synchronization problems. Make certain these components are all working. For example, you can see if network cards are working by pinging them or checking for dropped packets.

Debug Parameters. Don't forget to set timesync debug= 7 when you're troubleshooting. Setting it to 0 turns it back off. This can help you determine which issue you're having.

For additional drift problems, the new SERVER.EXE contained in CSP 6 and SP3 for NetWare 5.1 or SP 7 for NetWare 5.0 will also contains some fixes.

Time can drift for a number of reasons. In NetWare 5.1, the timer interrupts are supposed to trigger every 6.8 milliseconds (ms). If something is running on the server that stops the timer interrupts from firing, you could see time drift. (In NetWare 3 and 4, the trigger frequency was 55 ms, so device drivers could hold disabled interrupts longer without causing problems.) So, be sure to keep the latest BIOS and driver updates and service packs installed on your server.

You should also know that future versions of NetWare will integrate time synchronization with the Portal utility so that you will be able to get a warning from the server and receive an e-mail if the time is out of synchronization. Also, when you install future versions, you will be able to set up your time synchronization from a new advanced screen where you will be able to specify IP time sources, including the NTP, during installation instead of afterwards. (Answer supplied by LaMont Leavitt of Novell)

* Originally published in Novell AppNotes

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The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.