Bug#517732: adjtimex >= 1.21-1 shows strong, sawtooth-like drift on ASUS M3A78-T and maybe others

Marc-Jano Knopp

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Mar 1, 2009, 1:10:07 PM3/1/09

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Package: adjtimex
Version: 1.20-7
Severity: important

Up to version 1.20-7, adjtimex works as expected. From version 1.21-1 (tried
a few later versions), it shows strong, sawtooth-like(!) drift for the system
clock, and calculates absolutely improper tick values:

----- snip -----
pc12:/tmp# adjtimex -i2 -c50
--- current --- -- suggested --
cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq
1234811803 0.518396
1234811804 0.641081 61342.7 10024 32768000
1234811805 0.764311 61614.8 10024 32768000 9412 5586825
1234811807 -0.112458 -438384.5 10024 32768000 14412 5539950
1234811808 0.010774 61616.2 10024 32768000 9412 5493075
1234811809 0.134000 61612.8 10024 32768000 9412 5711825
1234811810 0.257215 61607.7 10024 32768000 9412 6047763
1234811811 0.380466 61625.7 10024 32768000 9412 4868075
1234811812 0.503698 61615.7 10024 32768000 9412 5524325
1234811813 0.626934 61618.2 10024 32768000 9412 5360263
1234811814 0.750148 61606.8 10024 32768000 9412 6110263
1234811815 0.873390 61621.2 10024 32768000 9412 5164950
1234811817 -0.003383 -438386.4 10024 32768000 14412 5664950
1234811818 0.119853 61617.9 10024 32768000 9412 5383700
1234811819 0.243083 61615.1 10024 32768000 9412 5563388
1234811820 0.366311 61613.7 10024 32768000 9412 5657138
1234811821 0.489546 61617.9 10024 32768000 9412 5383700
1234811822 0.612776 61614.6 10024 32768000 9412 5594638
1234811823 0.736014 61619.4 10024 32768000 9412 5282138
1234811824 0.859237 61611.2 10024 32768000 9412 5821200
1234811826 -0.017533 -438385.0 10024 32768000 14412 5571200
1234811827 0.105701 61617.1 10024 32768000 9412 5430575
1234811828 0.228924 61611.3 10024 32768000 9412 5813388
1234811829 0.352159 61617.7 10024 32768000 9412 5391513
1234811830 0.475394 61617.3 10024 32768000 9412 5422763
1234811831 0.598623 61614.8 10024 32768000 9412 5586825
1234811832 0.721845 61611.2 10024 32768000 9412 5821200
1234811833 0.845078 61616.3 10024 32768000 9412 5485263
1234811835 -0.031686 -438382.0 10024 32768000 14412 5375888
1234811836 0.091548 61617.3 10024 32768000 9412 5422763
1234811837 0.214782 61616.8 10024 32768000 9412 5454013
1234811838 0.338010 61614.2 10024 32768000 9412 5625888
1234811839 0.461240 61614.8 10024 32768000 9412 5586825
1234811840 0.584471 61615.8 10024 32768000 9412 5516513
1234811841 0.707704 61616.2 10024 32768000 9412 5493075
1234811842 0.830936 61616.3 10024 32768000 9412 5485263
1234811844 -0.045837 -438386.7 10024 32768000 14412 5680575
1234811845 0.077397 61616.8 10024 32768000 9412 5454013
1234811846 0.200624 61613.7 10024 32768000 9412 5657138
1234811847 0.323858 61616.9 10024 32768000 9412 5446200
1234811848 0.447089 61615.7 10024 32768000 9412 5524325
1234811849 0.570319 61614.8 10024 32768000 9412 5586825
1234811850 0.693556 61618.7 10024 32768000 9412 5329013
1234811851 0.816777 61610.2 10024 32768000 9412 5883700
1234811853 -0.059988 -438382.0 10024 32768000 14412 5375888
1234811854 0.063242 61614.8 10024 32768000 9412 5586825
1234811855 0.186476 61617.3 10024 32768000 9412 5422763
1234811856 0.309693 61608.3 10024 32768000 9412 6008700
1234811857 0.432938 61622.6 10024 32768000 9412 5071200
1234811858 0.556167 61614.3 10024 32768000 9412 5618075
pc12:/tmp#
----- snip -----

Older versions (<= 1.20-7) look like this:

----- snip -----
pc12:~# adjtimex -i2 -c50 --utc
--- current --- -- suggested --
cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq
1235929353 0.054190
1235929355 0.054206 7.7 10024 5550166
1235929357 0.054231 12.6 10024 5550166 10024 4722041
1235929359 0.054260 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929361 0.054288 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929363 0.054314 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929365 0.054342 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929367 0.054369 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929369 0.054397 14.1 10024 5550166 10024 4628291
1235929371 0.054423 12.8 10024 5550166 10024 4714229
1235929373 0.054452 14.7 10024 5550166 10024 4589229
1235929375 0.054478 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929377 0.054505 13.6 10024 5550166 10024 4659541
1235929379 0.054532 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929381 0.054561 14.8 10024 5550166 10024 4581416
1235929383 0.054588 13.6 10024 5550166 10024 4659541
1235929385 0.054615 13.2 10024 5550166 10024 4682979
1235929387 0.054641 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929389 0.054669 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929391 0.054697 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929393 0.054725 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929395 0.054751 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929397 0.054781 14.7 10024 5550166 10024 4589229
1235929399 0.054806 12.8 10024 5550166 10024 4714229
1235929401 0.054833 13.6 10024 5550166 10024 4659541
1235929403 0.054861 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929405 0.054888 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929407 0.054917 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929409 0.054945 14.1 10024 5550166 10024 4628291
1235929411 0.054971 13.2 10024 5550166 10024 4682979
1235929413 0.054997 13.0 10024 5550166 10024 4698604
1235929415 0.055025 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929417 0.055059 17.2 10024 5550166 10024 4425166
1235929419 0.055081 11.2 10024 5550166 10024 4815791
1235929421 0.055107 12.6 10024 5550166 10024 4722041
1235929423 0.055134 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
1235929425 0.055162 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929427 0.055191 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929429 0.055217 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929431 0.055243 13.2 10024 5550166 10024 4682979
1235929433 0.055272 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929435 0.055299 13.6 10024 5550166 10024 4659541
1235929437 0.055328 14.7 10024 5550166 10024 4589229
1235929439 0.055355 13.2 10024 5550166 10024 4682979
1235929441 0.055383 14.2 10024 5550166 10024 4620479
1235929443 0.055413 14.7 10024 5550166 10024 4589229
1235929445 0.055439 13.1 10024 5550166 10024 4690791
1235929447 0.055464 12.8 10024 5550166 10024 4714229
1235929449 0.055491 13.5 10024 5550166 10024 4667354
1235929451 0.055519 13.7 10024 5550166 10024 4651729
----- snip -----

This symptom shows on my ASUS M3A78-T, which has an AMD 790GX chipset
(and SB750 southbridge) with the latest two BIOS revisions (0802 and
the one before). On the web, there are other reports about this
board series (ASUS M3xxx) having a high drift, but I don't know if
adjtimex behaves the same on their boards, for example:

* <http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=835288>

* <http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=13-131-289&SortField=2&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=50&SelectedRating=-1&PurchaseMark=&VideoOnlyMark=False>
(Search for "adjtimex")

On an ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe (nVidia nForce 570 SLI chipset), adjtimex behaves
fine, even in the latest (Lenny) version (1.26-1).

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 5.0
APT prefers testing
APT policy: (500, 'testing')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.26-1-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.ISO-8859-15, LC_CTYPE=en_US.ISO-8859-15 (charmap=ISO-8859-15)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash

Versions of packages adjtimex depends on:
ii debconf [debconf-2.0] 1.5.24 Debian configuration management sy
ii libc6 2.7-18 GNU C Library: Shared libraries

adjtimex recommends no packages.

Versions of packages adjtimex suggests:
pn ntpdate <none> (no description available)

-- debconf information:
* adjtimex/run_daemon: true
* adjtimex/compare_rtc: true

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James R. Van Zandt

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Mar 2, 2009, 10:30:14 PM3/2/09

to

Herr Knopp -

Could you please report the results of these:

adjtimex -c=2 -V

adjtimex -c=22 -d

adjtimex -c=22 -n

Thanks!

- Jim Van Zandt

Marc-Jano Knopp

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Mar 5, 2009, 5:40:08 PM3/5/09

to

On Tue, 3 Mar 2009, at 04:12:53 (+0100), James R. Van Zandt wrote:

> Could you please report the results of these:

Note: I appended "-u" to all calls of adjtimex, because my hardware
clock is set to UTC.

> adjtimex -c=2 -V

adjtimex 1.20-7: n/a

| --- current --- -- suggested --
| cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq

| 1236291117 0.855819
| CMOS time Thu Mar 5 22:12:06 2009
| (assuming UTC) = 1236291126
| 1236291126 0.975872 12005.3 10024 5353242
|
`----

| --- current --- -- suggested --
| cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq

| 1236292342 0.956155
| waiting for CMOS update-ended interrupt
| CMOS time Thu Mar 5 22:32:31 2009
| (assuming UTC) = 1236292351
| 1236292351 1.079694 12353.9 10024 4335599
|
`----

> adjtimex -c=22 -d

adjtimex 1.20-7: n/a

adjtimex 1.21-1: n/a

,----[ adjtimex 1.26-2 ]---
|
| # adjtimex -c=22 -d -u

| --- current --- -- suggested --
| cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq

| 1236291454 0.365577
| 1236291464 0.365443 -13.4 10024 4335599
| 1236291474 0.365320 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5140286
| 1236291484 0.365197 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5141849
| 1236291494 0.365075 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5138724
| 1236291504 0.364950 -12.5 10024 4335599 10024 5152786
| 1236291514 0.364828 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5135599
| 1236291524 0.364703 -12.5 10024 4335599 10024 5152786
| 1236291534 0.364580 -12.4 10024 4335599 10024 5146536
| 1236291544 0.364458 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5134036
| 1236291554 0.364334 -12.4 10024 4335599 10024 5146536
| 1236291564 0.364212 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5134036
| 1236291574 0.364088 -12.4 10024 4335599 10024 5148099
| 1236291584 0.363966 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5138724
| 1236291594 0.363844 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5135599
| 1236291604 0.363721 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5140286
| 1236291614 0.363598 -12.3 10024 4335599 10024 5138724
| 1236291624 0.363473 -12.5 10024 4335599 10024 5154349
| 1236291634 0.363352 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5134036
| 1236291644 0.363230 -12.2 10024 4335599 10024 5132474
| 1236291654 0.363106 -12.4 10024 4335599 10024 5148099
| 1236291664 0.362981 -12.5 10024 4335599 10024 5152786
|
`----

> adjtimex -c=22 -n

adjtimex 1.20-7: n/a

adjtimex 1.21-1: n/a

,----[ adjtimex 1.26-2 ]---
|
| # adjtimex -c=22 -n -u

| --- current --- -- suggested --
| cmos time system-cmos error_ppm tick freq tick freq

| 1236291930 0.379703
| 1236291940 0.379559 -14.4 10024 4335599
| 1236291950 0.379473 -8.6 10024 4335599 10024 4896536
| 1236291960 0.379332 -14.1 10024 4335599 10024 5260599
| 1236291970 0.379202 -13.1 10024 4335599 10024 5191849
| 1236291980 0.379078 -12.4 10024 4335599 10024 5146536
| 1236291990 0.378950 -12.8 10024 4335599 10024 5173099
| 1236292000 0.378843 -10.7 10024 4335599 10024 5035599
| 1236292010 0.378893 4.9 10024 4335599 10024 4012162
| 1236292020 0.378595 -29.8 10024 4335599 10024 6288724
| 1236292030 0.378455 -14.0 10024 4335599 10024 5251224
| 1236292040 0.378347 -10.8 10024 4335599 10024 5043411
| 1236292050 0.378295 -5.2 10024 4335599 10024 4674661
| 1236292060 0.378743 44.8 10024 4335599 10024 1398099
| 1236292070 0.378795 5.1 10024 4335599 10024 3999662
| 1236292080 0.377848 -94.7 10024 4335599 10025 3986687
| 1236292090 0.377715 -13.3 10024 4335599 10024 5205911
| 1236292100 0.378430 71.5 10024 4335599 10023 6203261
| 1236292110 0.377480 -95.1 10024 4335599 10025 4011687
| 1236292120 0.377359 -12.1 10024 4335599 10024 5127786
| 1236292130 0.377254 -10.5 10024 4335599 10024 5023099
| 1236292140 0.377112 -14.2 10024 4335599 10024 5263724
|
`----

Regards

Marc-Jano