Re: i386/RTC: old problem, new solution?

Richard Gooch (rgooch@atnf.csiro.au)
Sat, 22 May 1999 08:49:33 +1000

Riley Williams writes:
> Hi Richard.
> > In fact, there already is a patch in the kernel:
> > CONFIG_APM_RTC_IS_GMT, but it's a temporary hack, until a better
> > scheme is implemented. The reason is that the kernel needs to
> > know the timezone the RTC is stored in when restoring the system
> > clock after a suspend/resume cycle. Automatically computing the
> > difference has its problems.
>
> I have to admit that I wasn't aware of that patch, and by the sounds
> of it, it could do with being extended to cover the boot scenario
> where the kernel currently has to wait until `hwclock --hctosys` or
> `hwclock --utc --hctosys` is run to discover what timezone to use.

Check Rafael's recent message. He's now agreeing with me that for the
purposes of fsck timestamps for the root FS, you don't need kernel
help. You simply run hwclock before you check the root FS. If this
doesn't happen it's a distribution bug. It's not the kernel's problem.

Responding to your other message about timestamps for race conditions:
yes, if you're going to use them, you need sub-microsecond resolution.
If you have a TSC, you may as well use that.

Nevertheless, I'm still not convinced that this is worth the
effort. However, if you feel strongly, write a patch and submit
it. Just make sure it's a config option (most of us don't want to know
which nanosecond a message was generated).

Regards,

Richard....

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