[PATCH 1/2] selftests: timers: count what tick is worth in the drift estimate
From: Eva Kurchatova
Date: Wed Sep 16 2026 - 21:53:21 EST
raw_skew measures the drift between CLOCK_MONOTONIC and
CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW and compares it against the adjustment adjtimex()
reports, but for the latter it reads only tx.freq. The kernel takes
the tick value into the adjustment as well, worth a microsecond of the
tick length per unit, a hundred ppm each, and a time synchronisation
daemon does put the coarse part of its correction there. Where it
does, the two numbers cannot meet:
# Estimating clock drift: -51.724(est) 48.277(act) [FAILED]
On the machine measured, chronyd held freq at 48.278 ppm with tick at
9999, so the correction really applied is -51.722 ppm, which is what
the clocks show. The skip for an externally adjusted clock does not
catch this: the clock is steady, the offset is zero, and neither freq
nor tick moves during the run.
Count what tick is worth alongside freq. On the same machine:
# Estimating clock drift: -51.724(est) -51.723(act) [OK]
Signed-off-by: Eva Kurchatova <eva.kurchatova@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/testing/selftests/timers/raw_skew.c | 12 ++++++++++++
1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/timers/raw_skew.c b/tools/testing/selftests/timers/raw_skew.c
index 0c87a8fb0d7f..dfca3e2d50d2 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/timers/raw_skew.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/timers/raw_skew.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
struct timespec mon, raw, start, end;
long long delta1, delta2, interval, eppm, ppm;
+ long tick_nom;
struct timex tx1, tx2;
setbuf(stdout, NULL);
@@ -129,6 +130,17 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
/* Avg the two actual freq samples adjtimex gave us */
ppm = (long long)(tx1.freq + tx2.freq) * 1000 / 2;
ppm = shift_right(ppm, 16);
+
+ /*
+ * The tick value holds the coarse part of the adjustment, a
+ * microsecond of the tick length per unit, and time sync daemons
+ * do put part of their correction there. What it is worth has to
+ * be counted in as well, or a clock disciplined through it looks
+ * off by a hundred ppm a unit against what the two clocks show.
+ */
+ tick_nom = USEC_PER_SEC / sysconf(_SC_CLK_TCK);
+ ppm += (long long)(tx1.tick + tx2.tick - 2 * tick_nom) *
+ (USEC_PER_SEC / tick_nom) * 1000 / 2;
printf(" %lld.%i(act)", ppm/1000, abs((int)(ppm%1000)));
if (llabs(eppm - ppm) > 1000) {
--
2.55.0