NTP, I'm stuck.

[shykitten55]

I have a Pi set up on my network as an NTP server.  Or so I thought.

Recently when I turning my NAS drive on/off it is giving weird stuff back.
Weird, as in more weird than the ZERO DATE it usually gives.

My PI is checked now and then and seems to be keeping time.   But of course it raises the question:
What time is it anyway?

Now, in the "ideal" situation, all clocks are equal and it doesn't really matter.  But they aren't and it somehow seems to.

On my LOCAL network, if I am not connected to the "real world" the time my NTP server says it is, is good enough for me.
The time I turned the NAS on, off, and that sort of thing.

Now and then the NAS is on and I am connected to the "real world".   That seems to really confuse the workings of the NTP program.

I can also query the time from this PI, and I get this kind of messge:

pi@PIFACE:~/Mine $ sudo ntpdate -d 192.168.0.99
14 Sep 15:30:47 ntpdate[2908]: ntpdate 4.2...@1.2349-o Mon Jul 25 22:35:35 UTC 2016 (1)
transmit(192.168.0.99)
receive(192.168.0.99)
transmit(192.168.0.99)
receive(192.168.0.99)
transmit(192.168.0.99)
receive(192.168.0.99)
transmit(192.168.0.99)
receive(192.168.0.99)
192.168.0.99: Server dropped: strata too high
server 192.168.0.99, port 123
stratum 16, precision -20, leap 11, trust 000
refid [192.168.0.99], delay 0.02621, dispersion 0.00002
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time:    00000000.00000000  Thu, Feb  7 2036 17:28:16.000
originate timestamp: db835f0e.0c747df4  Wed, Sep 14 2016 15:30:54.048
transmit timestamp:  db835f0e.0bf0b597  Wed, Sep 14 2016 15:30:54.046
filter delay:  0.02667  0.02621  0.02625  0.02623
         0.00000  0.00000  0.00000  0.00000
filter offset: 0.001234 0.001454 0.001456 0.001445
         0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 0.02621, dispersion 0.00002
offset 0.001454

14 Sep 15:30:54 ntpdate[2908]: no server suitable for synchronization found
pi@PIFACE:~/Mine $

The important line - or so I believe - is this one:
STRATA TOO HIGH.

Too high.  That's interesting.

Reading on the net, people are saying it should be between 1 and 16.

Now, if it is set to 16 and that is too high, then which way should it go?
Depending on how you think, 16 is higher than 1.

But the architecture of the clocks:  1 is THE clock, and 2 - onward - are sub-level clocks.
I can also get that.

But "TOO HIGH" means nothing, as it isn't referenced to a datum.

What I am wanting to do is have the NTP machine (RPI) running.  Keeping time.
Every now and then I will go in and force a re-sync.  But other than that, all things being good, I am "happy enough" to let things be.
It has a battery, it is connected to a device which supplied it enough power, and said device isn't turned off.

If it drifts - and it will - and I am connected to the net, I don't want/need the complication that it is "unreliable".  The time it says is good enough.
I know that really goes against a lot of things and it does for me too, but given its use, this "error" is acceptable.

Alas making it that is a whole other story.

Could someone help me - please?

[Jason Ball]

Run now -p on the rpi.   It looks like it's not yet authoritative.

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[Jason Ball]

ntpq -p

[Cat]

Thanks Jason.

(Alas) I turned off my switch and it has this awful trait that once it is warm and turned off, it won't turn back on for a while.

I may have to bring it there one day and see if anyone has any ideas what is wrong with it.

I'm guessing the supply.

I shall do that soon/when next I have the switch on and post the results.

ntpq -p

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[Matt Joyce]

There are so many public NTP servers, is there a reason you don't simple use au.pool.ntp.org as your source?

Most ADSL/cable modems will provide time too.

Running your own ntp server for fun, is a totally legitimate reason though.

[Jason Ball]

Usually you would only run your own for a stratum 1 time source, GPS for example.   For example I often use a Trimble GPD reference as it doubles as a reliable frequency source for test equipment.

An NTP server on a board with a somewhat unreliable clock as a time source... good for learning I guess.

Cheers

Jason.

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[Madox]

Yeah I was about to ask the same question on why actually...

Does your Trimble provide a 1PPS pulse for trimming too? That was the only thing I can think for a use case...

[Jason Ball]

The Trimble provides a 10MHz locked frequency reference, useful to drive all sorts of test equipment, accurate to a few nanoseconds.    Its reliable enough for most purposes.

Cheers

Jason.

On Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 6:04 PM, Madox <mado...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yeah I was about to ask the same question on why actually...

Does your Trimble provide a 1PPS pulse for trimming too? That was the only thing I can think for a use case...

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[Cat]

pi@NTP-pi ~ $ ntpq -p
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
 tic.ntp.telstra 203.35.83.242    2 u  221  128    1   18.332  -46.571   0.001
 192.168.0.255   .XFAC.          16 u    -   64    0    0.000    0.000   0.001
pi@NTP-pi ~ $

On 14 September 2016 at 15:50, Jason Ball <ballm...@gmail.com> wrote:

ntpq -p

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[Cat]

Matt,

I use tic.ntp.telstra.com

Yes, maybe the modem can, but if I am connected to the modem, then I am connected to the net and thus negates the need for my LOCAL NTP server.

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