[Grml] timezone chaos

Sat Apr 22 06:43:40 CEST 2006

lDear Friends,

I have a near perfect grml setup - all hardware actually works, without
exception on my dell laptop.

However, and this is a problem deep enough to render the system useless
in the long run, there is no way to get the time to read correctly.

I have tried editing the plethora of timezone files, and
even /etc/sysconfig/grml until my fingers hurt, but here is the
description of the malaise:

BIOS clock(hwclock) set to local, as it is in most dual boot machines,
for the obvious reason.

PC boots, fly by statement is that the system clock is set to localtime,
and this is always correct.

gdm starts and the time is seen as six hours earlier, i e, if udt is
ten, clock reads four.

Setting the /etc/sysconfig/grml file as follows created yet more
difference, dropping about four hours from the time!

Current file:

LANG="en_US.iso885915"
COUNTRY="us"
LANGUAGE="us"
CHARSET="iso8859-1"
KEYTABLE="us"
XKEYBOARD="us"
KDEKEYBOARD="us"
KDEKEYBOARDS="de,fr"
DESKTOP=""
TZ="America/New_York"

Note the following interesting things:

x log:

X Window System Version 6.9.0 (Debian 6.9.0.dfsg.1-6 20060403233528
David Nusinow <dnusinow at debian.org>)
Release Date: 21 December 2005
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0, Release 6.9
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.12-1-686 i686 [ELF] 
Current Operating System: Linux deblap1 2.6.16-grml #1 PREEMPT Tue Mar
28 11:47:55 CEST 2006 i686
Build Date: 04 April 2006
	Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.X.Org
	to make sure that you have the latest version.
Module Loader present
OS Kernel: Linux version 2.6.16-grml (mika at grml) (gcc version 4.0.3
(Debian 4.0.3-1)) #1 PREEMPT Tue Mar 28 11:47:55 CEST 2006 T
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Fri Apr 21 17:30:32 2006
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
Could not init font path element /usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic, removing
from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo, removing
from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/truetype, removing
from list!
AUDIT: Fri Apr 21 17:35:41 2006: 3784 X: client 24 rejected from local
host
AUDIT: Fri Apr 21 17:35:43 2006: 3784 X: client 24 rejected from local
host
AUDIT: Fri Apr 21 17:35:44 2006: 3784 X: client 24 rejected from local
host
AUDIT: Fri Apr 21 17:35:44 2006: 3784 X: client 24 rejected from local
host

Note  please, the time...

Now, look at last log and observe, please:

Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] free  LFB = 104280064
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] max   LFB = 104280064
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] free  Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] max   Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total TIM = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total FB  = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total PCIe = 16384
Apr 21 17:30:45 deblap1 gdm[3779]:
gdm_auth_user_add: /home/yazdzik/.Xauthority is writable by group.
Apr 21 23:31:39 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper version 1.8 loaded
(preempt=yes,smp=no)
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5
(Broadcom,11/27/2004, 3.100.35.0) loaded
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:03:03.0[A] ->
GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 209
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper: using irq 209
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: vendor: ''
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device
00:0b:7d:28:9b:63 using driver bcmwl5, 14E4:4324:1028:0003.5.conf
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP;
TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
Apr 21 17:31:48 deblap1 dhclient: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP
Client V3.0.3
Apr 21 17:31:48 deblap1 dhclient: Copyright 2004-2005 Internet Systems
Consortium.
Apr 21 17:31:48 deblap1 dhclient: All rights reserved.
Apr 21 17:31:48 deblap1 dhclient: For info, please visit
http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP
Apr 21 17:31:48 deblap1 dhclient: 
Apr 21 23:31:49 deblap1 kernel: NET: Registered protocol family 17
Apr 21 17:31:49 deblap1 dhclient: Listening on
LPF/wlan0/00:0b:7d:28:9b:63
Apr 21 17:31:49 deblap1 dhclient: Sending on
LPF/wlan0/00:0b:7d:28:9b:63
Apr 21 17:31:49 deblap1 dhclient: Sending on   Socket/fallback
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to
255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 dhclient: DHCPOFFER from 192.168.1.254
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 dhclient: DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to
255.255.255.255 port 67
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 dhclient: DHCPACK from 192.168.1.254
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 dhclient: bound to 192.168.1.1 -- renewal in
108852 seconds.
Apr 21 17:31:53 deblap1 postfix/master[3372]: reload
configuration /etc/postfix
Apr 21 23:31:58 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

Note that gdm, and then the dhclient, postfix, in other words, the
userland stuff are all at five thirty-ish, while the kernel level stuff
is all at the correct time.

A look at kernlog sustains this.

pr 21 23:30:33 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] module loaded - fglrx 8.23.7 [Mar
6 2006] on minor 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] free  PCIe = 54804480
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] max   PCIe = 54804480
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] free  LFB = 104280064
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] max   LFB = 104280064
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] free  Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] max   Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total Inv = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total TIM = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total FB  = 0
Apr 21 23:30:35 deblap1 kernel: [fglrx] total PCIe = 16384
Apr 21 23:31:39 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper version 1.8 loaded
(preempt=yes,smp=no)
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5
(Broadcom,11/27/2004, 3.100.35.0) loaded
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:03:03.0[A] ->
GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 209
Apr 21 23:31:40 deblap1 kernel: ndiswrapper: using irq 209
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: vendor: ''
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device
00:0b:7d:28:9b:63 using driver bcmwl5, 14E4:4324:1028:0003.5.conf
Apr 21 23:31:41 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP;
TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
Apr 21 23:31:49 deblap1 kernel: NET: Registered protocol family 17
Apr 21 23:31:58 deblap1 kernel: wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

There are no references to a bad time...

Now, somehow, the laptop is convinced that the localtime that I have in
BIOS is the time in Wien, romantic but impractical.

I am missing a symlink or something somewhere, and the google stuff is
all the old redhat clock stuff.

At some point, when installing grml to hdd, I must have missed a step,
as I needed to make sure that grml knew that the machine was in the us,
the hwclock is set to local time, and my local time is america/newyork.
But why does this only affect life after x is started?

I am happy to re-install completely, and do everything over again if
need be, but there has to be an easier fix, or there has to be a way
during the hdd install to make sure that the config files read the bios
clock as localtime and we can always adjust from there.

I apologise for the length, but this is a thorny issue.

Regards to all,

Martin
"...children and young people feel instinctively the difference between
those who genuinely wish them well and those who regard them merely as
raw material for some scheme." --Russell
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