Bug 800807

Summary:	Missing pre-install step in ch. 6, determining the hardware clock time
Product:	[Fedora] Fedora Documentation	Reporter:	Wayne Pollock <pollock>
Component:	install-guide	Assignee:	Petr Bokoc <pbokoc>
Status:	CLOSED CURRENTRELEASE	QA Contact:	Ruediger Landmann <rlandman+disabled>
Severity:	unspecified	Docs Contact:
Priority:	unspecified
Version:	devel	CC:	pbokoc, rlandman, zach
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Last Closed:	2013-07-29 17:48:02 UTC	Type:	---
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Description Wayne Pollock 2012-03-07 10:16:47 UTC

Description of problem:

Chapter 6 omits an important pre-install step, namely determining if the
hardware clock uses local time or UTC.  If Windows ME and older, it is local
time.  I believe Window7 and Vista use UTC.  On Linux, you can look
at the last line of /etc/adjtime, which is where this choice is recorded.  (It is either the streing "UTC" or "LOCAL".)

(Also, the "!" box in chapter 9.6 musty be updated; it says Windows uses local
time, but that depends on the version of Windows used.)

This step is especially important on dual-boot systems, the more so since Anaconda doesn't display the time from the hardware clock during the install.

Comment 1 Jack Reed 2012-04-26 04:56:56 UTC

Thanks, Wayne.

I've added a point to the System Specifications List explaining that users installing Fedora as an additional operating system should check how their hardware clock is set. I've mentioned /etc/adjtime.

However, my research indicates that Windows continues to natively use local time. Windows 7, however, can be configured to run the clock according to UTC.

Among other sources, see: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/does-windows-7-use-utc/e722ad92-a65b-4c0a-8c05-b8a84fb155d1

I've amended the warning in section 9.6 to note this.

These changes can be found in commit 135af08a5e4c89529dd81450069dce82f5a225bf and the draft version of the F17 Installation Guide, which should be available later today.