Most likely. Either the power failed in a bad way, upsetting the hardware in your computer along the way, or your CMOS battery may be running low, and this failure happened coincidentally.
If you often leave your computer switched off for many hours and your clock is fine, then the battery is probably okay.
well, I don't leave it switched off for many hours. It is largely idle, no long jobs overnite, but it is on 24x7. I know nothing about CMOS battery. This is an old system # uname -rsvp Linux 3.8.12-100.fc17.i686.PAE #1 SMP Wed May 8 15:43:53 UTC 2013 i686
I am mostly a hardware ninny. I could take the computer to my old vendor to check CMOS, which I will do as last resort, if I can't fix it.
Unless you're running a CLI-only system, it seems like you've gone to an awful amount of trouble to set the time and date, instead of just using the system settings GUI that lets you set the clock.
I am running xfce the only GUI i can find that might do this is
Administration, Add/remove Software, System-Config-Date but clicking on that is unresponsive
The first thing that springs to mind is that you shouldn't have to manually set the clock, I thought that Fedora set its clock from a time server, by default, these days.
I think you are correct, but I don't so far see how to check on this.
And the second thing that springs to mind regards the clock being way off from what you expect: Have you correctly set your computer's timezone? And since you've specified that you set the clock to UTC with the -u flag, was 16:22 the actual UTC time at the time you set the clock?
right now I don't recall just how I came up with that 16:22: I think it was wrong, as per following, from google: "Time zone offset: UTC - 7 hours PDT is 7 hours behind of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Note that PDT is a daylight saving time/summer time zone. It is generally only used during the summer in the places listed below, during the winter PST is used instead " So, i redid the two date commands one for date, one for time as corrected for that 7hrs. it is looking stable no funny time in panel.
But personally, I'd just use the system settings GUI for the clock, pick the timezone, and let the computer manage the clock setting for me over the internet. I dare say that just about all public NTP servers are going to be more accurate than manually setting the time, and it automatically takes care of any time errors that crop up from time to time.
I would like to, but as per above, the one menu item that looks appropriate is unresponsive
thanks for response Jack
# uname -rsvp Linux 3.8.12-100.fc17.i686.PAE #1 SMP Wed May 8 15:43:53 UTC 2013 i686
If it keeps resetting to the same wrong date, chances are the power failure caused your machine's hardware clock to be set to the wrong time. Try first getting your OS system clock set properly (as you have done already), and then use "hwclock" to sync the hardware clock to the system clock. I have occasionally had to do this in the past.
--Greg
Tim:
If you often leave your computer switched off for many hours and your clock is fine, then the battery is probably okay.
jackson byers:
well, I don't leave it switched off for many hours. It is largely idle, no long jobs overnite, but it is on 24x7.
I mention it more as a test, than anything else. But if yours is always on, it's hard to do such a test.
I know nothing about CMOS battery. This is an old system
It's a small battery somewhere on the motherboard, often a coin sized battery that can be easily replaced. Sometimes it's more specialised.
Some computers will work fine with a dead battery, other than losing BIOS settings when powered down. Others will do strange things even when they're up and running from the mains power. It rather depends on whether the BIOS/CMOS is solely powered from the battery, or if the battery only takes over when the main supply is off.
Power brownouts and spikes can randomise BIOS settings, and the clock. So, if your clock has gone wonky, you may want to check other BIOS settings are sane. Maybe even for a manufacturer's defaults reset, then customise everything, to ensure there's nothing lurking to bug you in another way.
Usually, the batteries last a few years. Some last a surprisingly long time.
I doubt you'd have to take it to a specialist, unless its really well hidden, or unusual. Do an internet search for CMOS, or BIOS, battery pictures, and you should find enough examples to help you find it.
I am running xfce the only GUI i can find that might do this is
Administration, Add/remove Software, System-Config-Date but clicking on that is unresponsive
Sounds like there may be another problem, then. So far your "internet isn't working" descriptions seemed to only mention the web browser not liking a SSL certificate with a radically different date than your computer. The add/remove software may have a similar problem.
I'm still using Fedora 17, and "system-config-date" brings up the older style control configurator for what I'm talking about. Which still should to the job, it shouldn't depend on Gnome, or particular desktops. The "date and time" configurator in the "system settings" control panels probably does, since it's a part of the "gnome-control-center" program.
But in what way is it unresponsive? Perhaps a simple "yum install system-config-date" command line approach might be more effective.
And the second thing that springs to mind regards the clock being way off from what you expect: Have you correctly set your computer's timezone? And since you've specified that you set the clock to UTC with the -u flag, was 16:22 the actual UTC time at the time you set the clock?
right now I don't recall just how I came up with that 16:22: I think it was wrong, as per following, from google: "Time zone offset: UTC - 7 hours PDT is 7 hours behind of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) Note that PDT is a daylight saving time/summer time zone. It is generally only used during the summer in the places listed below, during the winter PST is used instead " So, i redid the two date commands one for date, one for time as corrected for that 7hrs. it is looking stable no funny time in panel.
If I were manually setting the time, I'd enter it in local time, taken from a locally trusted time source. Let the computer use the timezone setting to work out the UTC/GMT time difference. It's the calculator, not me. Conversely, if I were going to manually set it to GMT, I'd like to observe something telling me the time in GMT.
You may find that once your clock is within a reasonable range from the correct time, that NTP is able to keep it running precisely. Large changes often force a need for manual intervention.
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Greg Woods -
Jackson Byers -
Tim