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Community ▶ Questions ▶ hwclock failed | No usable clock interface found
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hwclock failed | No usable clock interface found

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Just set up Ubuntu 9.04 on my linode and while installing and setting up Webmin/Virtualmin, I went into System Information > Time on Server. There it reads, "This form is for changing the system's current time, which is used by all running processes. On operating systems that have a separate hardware clock, it can be used to set that too." At the bottom, it gives the error "hwclock failed :". If I click the tabs "Change timezone" or "Time server sync" it's completely blank. Since the time is incorrect, I try to change the hour yet it doesn't change. I have to assume this is related to the hwclock issue.

So, I decide to go root into SSH via Putty. Here are the commands I've tried:

#hwclock --show
Cannot access the Hardware Clock via any known method.
Use the --debug option to see the details of our search for an access method.

# hwclock --debug
hwclock from util-linux-ng 2.14.2
hwclock: Open of /dev/rtc failed, errno=2: No such file or directory.
No usable clock interface found.
Cannot access the Hardware Clock via any known method.

Is there some way to fix this hwclock issue?

6 Replies

First of all, you don't want to play with the hardware clock in any case, so there is no concern about that. Second, you'll want to make sure that ntpd is installed and running. If it is not, you can type:

sudo ntpdate time.nist.gov

at a shell prompt to get the current time correct, then install ntpd.

I've been able to set the timezone on my Linode several times, running Debian 5.0, but should be very similar in Ubuntu:

https://www.linode.com/wiki/index.php/C … e_Timezone">https://www.linode.com/wiki/index.php/Configure_Timezone

@ Yaakov,

I ran this command:

# apt-get install ntpd
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package ntpd
root@li101-14:~# apt-get install ntp
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Suggested packages:
  ntp-doc
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  ntp
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 8 not upgraded.
Need to get 443kB of archives.
After this operation, 1106kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com jaunty-security/main ntp 1:4.2.4p4+dfsg-7ubuntu5.1 [443kB]
Fetched 443kB in 0s (538kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package ntp.
(Reading database ... 31489 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking ntp (from .../ntp_1%3a4.2.4p4+dfsg-7ubuntu5.1_i386.deb) ...
Setting up ntp (1:4.2.4p4+dfsg-7ubuntu5.1) ...
 * Starting NTP server ntpd

Is that what you mean?

–--------------------------------------------------

@waldo,

I ran this command:

dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Yes, I was able to set time zone, thank you.

It still shows hwclock failed and the tabs for Change Timezone and Time Server Sync are blank.

~~![](<URL url=)http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb75 … 04_124.jpg">http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb75/Iamagogetter/Virtualmin3703gplUbuntuLinux904_124.jpg" />

![](http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb75 … 904_-1.jpg">http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb75/Iamagogetter/Virtualmin3703gplUbuntuLinux904_-1.jpg" />~~

Yes, ntp is now running and your clock will be kept in sync with time servers. You don't need to make any manual adjustments to it. If it is currently far off, you can stop the ntpd and then use the ntpdate command I mentioned above, then restart ntpd.

On a Xen VPS, the time is usually set and synchronized by the host node.

If you want to take control of time synchronization for your VPS you can install and run ntpd, but you also need to make a config change within your VPS.

At a root command prompt do:

echo 1 > /proc/sys/xen/independent_wallclock

To make the change persistent over a reboot, add the following to /etc/sysctl.conf

xen.independent_wallclock = 1

I haven't found a need to run ntpd on my Linodes as the time from the host node is quite precise. If you're on a node where the clock is off you might drop a note to support.

Thanks guys, great help!

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