Bug 206127

After repeatedly running 'ntpstat' as root for about 10 minutes, it finally shows:
[root@achiles ~]# ntpstat
synchronised to NTP server (192.245.169.15) at stratum 2
   time correct to within 11 ms
   polling server every 64 s

Why does it not synchronise automatically, immediately after WiFi connection is
established?

Can you post the output from "/usr/sbin/ntpq -pn" corresponding to the ntpstat 
unsynchronised and synchronised state?

In the unsynchronized state:

[root@achiles ~]# /usr/sbin/ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
 127.127.1.0     LOCAL(0)        10 l   51   64    7    0.000    0.000   0.002
[root@achiles ~]# ntpstat
unsynchronised
  time server re-starting
   polling server every 64 s
[root@achiles ~]#

In the synchronized state:

[root@achiles ~]# ntpstat
synchronised to local net at stratum 11
   time correct to within 449 ms
   polling server every 64 s
[root@achiles ~]# /usr/sbin/ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*127.127.1.0     LOCAL(0)        10 l   35   64   37    0.000    0.000   0.002
[root@achiles ~]#

The ntpq output doesn't show any ntp server. Looks like the network interface
was enabled after ntpd has started. Unfortunately ntpd version that is in FC5
can't handle this situation. Upstream has fixed it in development version, will
be in ntp-4.2.4.

The workaround is to not use NetworkManager or restart the ntp service manually
when the interface is ready.

That does indeed seem to be the problem - there are many other little things
that do not work with NetworkManager/WiFi without manual intervention. The Gnome
Weather applet is one such little thing.

Anyway, my problem was a little to do with the fact that ntpd doesn't seem to
handle a late network start (a-la NetworkManager/WiFi) and the fact that the
hardware clock keeps drifting because of 191458 - which I hear is fixed in FC6
as well.

This seems to be happening on a desktop connected to a wired LAN!!!! See
attached screenshot - my desktop is almost 7 minutes off!!!!

Created attachment 145979 [details]
NTP not working

This is a screenshot on a Dell desktop with a dual core Intel processor, 1GB
RAM and a WIRED connection to the internet.

Can you post the output from "/usr/sbin/ntpq -pn" command?

I can't believe this is not working!! It works on my second Windows(!?!?!?!)
desktop and it doesn't on FC6 - I've updated it this morning.

How can this million-year-old utility work on Windows and not work on
GNU/Linux?!?!?!?!

[root@ ~]# ntpstat
synchronised to local net at stratum 11 
   time correct to within 11 ms
   polling server every 1024 s
[root@ ~]# 
[root@ ~]# 
[root@ ~]# ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*127.127.1.0     .LOCL.          10 l   55   64  377    0.000    0.000   0.001
 80.239.2.146    .INIT.          16 -    - 1024    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
 80.51.167.97    .INIT.          16 -    - 1024    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
 84.16.227.218   .INIT.          16 -    - 1024    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
[root@ ~]# 

Ok, it doesn't work because ntpd couldn't reach any of the configured servers.

Are you using NetworkManager? If yes, this may be the same problem as with wifi
connection, the ntpd daemon is started earlier than the connection.

Yes... but I was under the impression that this was fixed in FC6? Am disabling
NetworkManager on my desktop for now. Can't do so on my laptop for obvious
reasons. It would be nice if ntpd could be dependent on NetworkManager and
therefore, started after NetworkManager.

Well, it should work with ntp-4.2.4-1.fc6. The package is in the updates-testing
repository for a few days.

If you have already the package installed, please send me output of
grep ntpd /var/log/messages*

Ok. I currently have ntp-4.2.2p4-2.fc6 from stable. In any case, it doesn't seem
to be related to NetworkManager. I've just restarted my machine with
NetworkManager turned off and the time is still 6 minutes off!

======================================================================
[root@ ~]# ntpstat
synchronised to local net at stratum 11 
   time correct to within 448 ms
   polling server every 64 s
[root@ ~]# ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
 81.210.192.102  .INIT.          16 u    -   64    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
 66.33.216.11    .INIT.          16 u    -   64    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
 63.111.165.21   .INIT.          16 u    -   64    0    0.000    0.000   0.000
*127.127.1.0     .LOCL.          10 l   35   64   37    0.000    0.000   0.001

Attaching another screenshot with NetworkManager turned off and after a restart
of the machine.

Created attachment 145982 [details]
With NM turned off after restarting the machine

Screenshot with NetworkManager turned off and the machine restarted.

Then it's a network problem. Try pinging the servers and
/usr/sbin/ntpdate -q 81.210.192.102

Yes, you're right.

[root@ ~]# ntpdate -q 81.210.192.102
server 81.210.192.102, stratum 0, offset 0.000000, delay 0.00000
19 Jan 14:06:06 ntpdate[3487]: no server suitable for synchronization found

I'll have to work with my corporate network to resolve this. Sorry for the
bother and thanks for the help.

Quick update:
I have NetworkManager running again. NetworkManager doesn't seem to be
interfering as ntpd seems to remain unsynchronized a significant bit after I'm
logged in. Something in the range of 5-8 minutes. Since ntpd synchronizes so
late, I'm guessing NetworkManager has nothing to do with its state.

The problem (in my case) was of course that ntp traffic was blocked by the
corporate firewall. There was however and in-house ntp server that I've
configured now and all's well - even with NetworkManager running.

ntp-4.2.4 is in FC6 updates.