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Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

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Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#151

Post by einr »

orbital-decay wrote: post #45
jstanley wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Computers do do this. The problem is that some computers are quite old and the battery that keeps the real-time clock running has gone flat. That means if the computer is powered off it forgets what time it is. If your quartz watch battery goes flat you replace it straight away because a watch with a flat battery is 100% useless. But if the battery on your motherboard goes flat you don't even notice, so why would you…

Timepieces last a decade on a shirt button sized battery. Surely you can afford a bit larger battery on a motherboard, probably even a rechargeable one, make the clock sufficiently autonomous from the rest of the system, and make the motherboard not boot when it doesn't have the battery, so you can leave it unattended for a while.

The CR2032 on a PC motherboard does usually last for about a decade, and the BIOS (or, well, UEFI) will scream about the CMOS battery being dead when you boot it. It will not refuse to boot, but it will tell you that the battery is dead and/or that its settings are corrupt and alert you to change it.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#152

Post by Symbiote »

mschuster91 wrote: post #87
jmuguy wrote: post #12

Windows Time bullshit was one of the most annoying things I dealt with during my years as an IT guy. Registering and unregistering w32time, trying different NTP servers. Trying to figure out why domain systems werent getting their time from the DC. It always felt so... stupid. Surely having the correct time on a device isnt that complicated. Turns out, its not, unless you're on Windows. Somewhat ironic that these day…

Windows isn't the only thing with issues. Both ntpd and systemd-timesyncd can be very annoying if upstream servers send a bad stratum value, and the maintainence team of upstream is a bunch of morons taking weeks to fix it. You can't say "forcibly use IP w.x.y.z no matter what" to either of them.

I had this recently when one of the time servers I use was accidentally reset (somehow) and ended up on the previous GPS era, i.e. 20 years wrong.

  /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf
  NTP=w.x.y.z
Or

  /etc/ntp.conf
  server w.x.y.z iburst
with unaffected servers fixed it.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#153

Post by justinclift »

mschuster91 wrote: post #87
jmuguy wrote: post #12

Windows Time bullshit was one of the most annoying things I dealt with during my years as an IT guy. Registering and unregistering w32time, trying different NTP servers. Trying to figure out why domain systems werent getting their time from the DC. It always felt so... stupid. Surely having the correct time on a device isnt that complicated. Turns out, its not, unless you're on Windows. Somewhat ironic that these day…

Windows isn't the only thing with issues. Both ntpd and systemd-timesyncd can be very annoying if upstream servers send a bad stratum value, and the maintainence team of upstream is a bunch of morons taking weeks to fix it. You can't say "forcibly use IP w.x.y.z no matter what" to either of them.

> You can't say "forcibly use IP w.x.y.z no matter what" to either of them.

That doesn't sound right. Are you using some kind of externally controlled list of round-robin servers?

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#154

Post by gerdesj »

nullindividual wrote: post #139
gerdesj wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My work Windows server VM boxen started off life largely as 2008 R2, one was 2008. They are all now mostly 2022 and converted to EFI with secure boot - some of them put up quite a fight. Not a large setup - three DCs - one in my home attic for DR, a File n Print n NPS n CA box, a Trellix (Nee McAfee) ePO and a few more bits n pieces. sfc /scannow can fix issues but it is not a panacea and certainly not the first thin…

Fiddler w/ SSL decryption is the way to go to help diagnose connectivity issues with Exchange.

I use wireshark instead - https://wiki.wireshark.org/TLS

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#155

Post by agentgumshoe »

Moomoomoo309 wrote: post #115
agentgumshoe wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I decided a while ago that I was willing to sacrifice a few (and it's very few now - mostly just some anti-cheat using ones) games to just go Linux full time. I don't miss Windows one bit (well except Photoshop I guess :/) and I game a lot.

Photopea is probably your best photoshop alternative that runs in Linux.

I use the art side more, which Krita is ok for and Darktable for bulk processing. It's mainly that most online guides, utils and demos are done in PS so harder to follow.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#156

Post by franga2000 »

agentgumshoe wrote: post #110
jmuguy wrote: post #12

Windows Time bullshit was one of the most annoying things I dealt with during my years as an IT guy. Registering and unregistering w32time, trying different NTP servers. Trying to figure out why domain systems werent getting their time from the DC. It always felt so... stupid. Surely having the correct time on a device isnt that complicated. Turns out, its not, unless you're on Windows. Somewhat ironic that these day…

I decided a while ago that I was willing to sacrifice a few (and it's very few now - mostly just some anti-cheat using ones) games to just go Linux full time. I don't miss Windows one bit (well except Photoshop I guess :/) and I game a lot.

Unless you need the newest features, Photoshop runs surprisingly well under Wine - and I don't mean this in the usual "oh yea, Wine totally works" way where it's a huge pain to set up and is 90% luck, it actually runs with barely more glitches than on Windows (not zero, but it's Adobe software, so you can't expect much).

This is the installer I used to use: https://github.com/Gictorbit/photoshopCClinux

This one is newer and looks even more promising: https://github.com/LinSoftWin/Photoshop-CC2022-Linux

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#157

Post by franga2000 »

agentgumshoe wrote: post #155
Moomoomoo309 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Photopea is probably your best photoshop alternative that runs in Linux.

I use the art side more, which Krita is ok for and Darktable for bulk processing. It's mainly that most online guides, utils and demos are done in PS so harder to follow.

Unfortunately, for photography, Darktable really doesn't get close to Lightroom. Most of the tools are more clunky, the performance is worse (and Lightroom is already painfully slow) and most critically, the quality of the edits is significantly worse. Taking the same significantly under-exposed photo into both and boosting the exposure to roughly the same brightness produces results that are so wildly different in noise level and artefacts that you wouldn't believe they had the same input.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#158

Post by nullindividual »

gerdesj wrote: post #154
nullindividual wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fiddler w/ SSL decryption is the way to go to help diagnose connectivity issues with Exchange.

I use wireshark instead - https://wiki.wireshark.org/TLS

They're not comparable tools. I wouldn't use Wireshark to debug HTTP. And Fiddler simply can't intercept other protocols.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#159

Post by ragebol »

orf wrote: post #52
ragebol wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not let the user at least give an estimate for the current time & date. Should be close enough for certificate validation. Yes, that gets annoying fast for said user, but a good incentive to eg fix the bios battery.

Imagine there is no user, and there are thousands of machines

Fair point. Another reason I don't want to manage thousands of Windows machines. Or even one for that matter.

Re: Windows feature that resets system clocks based on random data is wreaking havoc

#160

Post by taylodl »

pixl97 wrote: post #102
taylodl wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your dollar-store quartz watch isn't on a worldwide network communicating with other watches where there needs to be an agreement on what time it is. The watch also expects you to notice when the time drifts and for you to correct it. That includes DST adjustments, leap second adjustments, and physically moving to different timezones. Even when using an NTP server to set your time, network latencies have to be taken…

I mean for SSL purposes, no that's not really needed that much. Micro seconds don't matter as certs typically expire on a monthly to yearly basis. And those that expire closer to monthly are typically updated on a regular basis. If you have a critical need for leap second time you're typically using your own means of NTP and not Microsofts broken ass bullshit.

> If you have a critical need for leap second time you're typically using your own means of NTP and not Microsofts broken ass bullshit.

I love that statement! It reflects my 40 years experience in software - if you're doing something serious then don't use Microsoft's broken ass bullshit. I smile and remember Microsoft's origins as a gaming company. To this day that's what they're best for!

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