NTP is wrong by almost 3 minutes.

johnpoz · Dec 21, 2016, 8:07 PM

is your ntp widget counting.. Or is it stuck there?

I just added the widget, and then called up that nist page in another window and put them side by side and they show exact same time

I assume that page is pulling time from the ntp server and pfsense time.. But its a browser thing - maybe its pulling time from your local machine? Clearly what you posted is that the time is insync with its source only off by a few ms..

Off the top not sure would could account for the difference other than browser stuck not refreshing, etc.?

If you want to do a live check to see if pfsense clock is off you could use ntpdate in test mode with the -d and point it to the IP of any ntp server you want to check it against

example


[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@pfsense.local.lan]/root: ntpdate -d 192.168.9.32
21 Dec 14:06:02 ntpdate[45505]: ntpdate 4.2.8p8@1.3265-o Fri Jun 10 15:40:54 UTC 2016 (1)
transmit(192.168.9.32)
receive(192.168.9.32)
transmit(192.168.9.32)
receive(192.168.9.32)
transmit(192.168.9.32)
receive(192.168.9.32)
transmit(192.168.9.32)
receive(192.168.9.32)
server 192.168.9.32, port 123
stratum 1, precision -20, leap 00, trust 000
refid [PPS], delay 0.02609, dispersion 0.00006
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time:    dc055f21.f87dc034  Wed, Dec 21 2016 14:05:53.970
originate timestamp: dc055f30.d2941d7d  Wed, Dec 21 2016 14:06:08.822
transmit timestamp:  dc055f30.d28388c7  Wed, Dec 21 2016 14:06:08.822
filter delay:  0.02675  0.02632  0.02617  0.02609
         0.00000  0.00000  0.00000  0.00000
filter offset: -0.00018 -0.00018 -0.00009 -0.00007
         0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 0.02609, dispersion 0.00006
offset -0.000070

21 Dec 14:06:08 ntpdate[45505]: adjust time server 192.168.9.32 offset -0.000070 sec
[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@pfsense.local.lan]/root:

21 Dec 14:06:08 ntpdate[45505]: adjust time server 192.168.9.32 offset -0.000070 sec

so you see there my pfsense says its off by 70 us from my ntp server..

pfBasic · Dec 21, 2016, 8:22 PM

ok thanks ill run that check, and no it isn't stuck, all three of the times pulled up in webpages on that screenshot were counting seconds.

pfBasic · Dec 21, 2016, 8:34 PM

I ran ti twice, here is the output, I noticed at the end of the first run, after it gives me the offset time it says "325 sec", whats taht about?

ntpdate -d time.nist.gov
21 Dec 12:27:10 ntpdate[90838]: ntpdate 4.2.8p8@1.3265-o Tue Jul 19 16:25:10 UTC                                                                                                                                                              2016 (1)
transmit(128.138.141.172)
receive(128.138.141.172)
transmit(128.138.141.172)
receive(128.138.141.172)
transmit(128.138.141.172)
receive(128.138.141.172)
transmit(128.138.141.172)
receive(128.138.141.172)
server 128.138.141.172, port 123
stratum 1, precision -29, leap 00, trust 000
refid [NIST], delay 0.09991, dispersion 0.00021
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time:    dc0563c9.00000000  Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:25:45.000
originate timestamp: dc056424.63b52a21  Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:27:16.389
transmit timestamp:  dc056424.5befb402  Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:27:16.359
filter delay:  0.09991  0.09993  0.10071  0.10135
         0.00000  0.00000  0.00000  0.00000
filter offset: -0.00832 -0.00838 -0.00796 -0.00751
         0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 0.09991, dispersion 0.00021
offset -0.008325

21 Dec 12:27:16 ntpdate[90838]: adjust time server 128.138.141.172 offset -0.008   sec  325 sec  
```

ntpdate -d time.nist.gov
21 Dec 12:32:39 ntpdate[16340]: ntpdate 4.2.8p8@1.3265-o Tue Jul 19 16:25:10 UTC 2016 (1)
transmit(129.6.15.30)
receive(129.6.15.30)
transmit(129.6.15.30)
transmit(129.6.15.30)
receive(129.6.15.30)
transmit(129.6.15.30)
transmit(129.6.15.30)
server 129.6.15.30, port 123
stratum 1, precision -29, leap 00, trust 000
refid [ACTS], delay 0.15990, dispersion 24.00020
transmitted 4, in filter 4
reference time: dc056561.1ebacc2a Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:32:33.120
originate timestamp: dc05656b.6a52fae8 Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:32:43.415
transmit timestamp: dc05656d.512dbb90 Wed, Dec 21 2016 12:32:45.317
filter delay: 0.15997 0.00000 0.15990 0.00000
0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000
filter offset: 0.030677 0.000000 0.031073 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
delay 0.15990, dispersion 24.00020
offset 0.031073

21 Dec 12:32:47 ntpdate[16340]: adjust time server 129.6.15.30 offset 0.031073 s ec

johnpoz · Dec 21, 2016, 8:45 PM

Not sure, don't think ever seen anything like that before.

You can see it sends 4 queries, and shows your offset from all 4 off them

filter offset: -0.00832 -0.00838 -0.00796 -0.00751

So not sure where that odd 325 display would come from??

pfBasic · Dec 22, 2016, 12:38 AM

Any guesses as to why I am seeing such a big difference?

KOM · Dec 22, 2016, 1:40 AM

Grasping at straws, but is the hardware clock on the unit itself correct?

pfBasic · Dec 22, 2016, 2:48 AM

I dont know, how could I check that?

KOM · Dec 22, 2016, 3:32 PM

If it's a PC of some type then I would look in the BIOS. If it's something else then I don't know.

dennypage · Dec 24, 2016, 3:53 AM

I hate to ask stupid questions, but there are some basics…

1. Ignoring the NTP widget for the moment, what is shown as the current date/time in the System Information widget? Does it agree or disagree with www.time.gov?

2. Have you cleared your browser's cache?

w0w · Dec 24, 2016, 8:17 AM

To eliminate all possible browser cache problems just go to Diagnostics ->Command Prompt
type "date" without quotes and wait for the answer.
Or do the same in shell…

I don't think it's related to any cache just because in logs we already have

"21 Dec 12:27:16 ntpdate[90838]: adjust time server 128.138.141.172 offset -0.008 sec 325 sec"

To check what hardware clocks you have run
dmesg | grep timer

and/or

sysctl kern.timecounter

You should see all possible timers and counters found and/or used by system. You can also change it to desired, tuning kern.timecounter.hardware.
Read https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/faq/troubleshoot.html

pfBasic · Dec 27, 2016, 4:23 PM

Thanks all, the System Information Widget was also wrong.

w0w's suggestion seems to have fixed system time.

: dmesg | grep Timecounter
Timecounter "i8254" frequency 1193182 Hz quality 0
Timecounter "HPET" frequency 14318180 Hz quality 950
Timecounter "ACPI-fast" frequency 3579545 Hz quality 900
Timecounters tick every 1.000 msec
Timecounter "TSC-low" frequency 1546529202 Hz quality 1000

: sysctl kern.timecounter.hardware=HPET
kern.timecounter.hardware: TSC-low -> HPET

So now System time matches time.gov, however NTP time remains the same although I don't know if this will fix itself given a little time? I restarted the service but the NTP offset remains the same.

AR15USR · Dec 28, 2016, 3:38 PM

I'm seeing the same issue with the NTP time being off by 5mins. Never noticed that till now. My system clock matches the NIST time though.

Running 'date' from the command prompt returns the system time which is correct to the NIST time. The NTP widget is 5 mins off

AR15USR · Dec 28, 2016, 3:49 PM

I just polled the ntp server pool I'm using (pool.ntp.org) and it is off by the same 5 mins.

sntp 0.pool.ntp.org

When I poll nist it shows the same 5 minute discrepancy

sntp 128.138.141.172

AR15USR · Dec 29, 2016, 3:43 PM

If anyone is interested I switched my ntp servers from ntp.org to the NIST servers and the discrepancy has resolved itself..

pfBasic · Dec 29, 2016, 5:31 PM

That is interesting.

I have been using time.nist.gov for a few days now and my NTP time is still off by a few minutes. System time now matches up but NTP has not resolved itself, I restarted the service over a day ago and it is still off by a few minutes.

Anyone know what the root problem is here, especially now that I am apparently not the only one seeing some issues with time?

AR15USR · Dec 29, 2016, 8:51 PM

I'm sure you do, but just to check you do have your machines set to use your pfsense as the ntp time server?

pfBasic · Dec 30, 2016, 6:42 AM

Some of them are and some aren't what I'm looking at is that the NTP time widget on my pfSense box is not syncing up with time.gov, even though it is using NIST for NTP. My system clock is synced up.

Also, my machines that are using pfsense for time match the incorrect pfsense time widget exactly.

My machines that are not using pfsense for time (cellphone, laptop) match time.gov exactly.

w0w · Dec 31, 2016, 8:06 AM

I just successfully tested time.nist.gov sync without any issue.
Please provide the output of
more /var/etc/ntpd.conf

shinzo · Jan 19, 2017, 6:42 AM

I was having the same problem, running on 2.4 i would select to run NTP on the Lan side and it would never sync. If i manually sync'ed then it would work.

stan-qaz · Jan 25, 2017, 6:17 AM

Some of the NTP tools included with pfSense can be a big help in figuring out what is going wrong. The place to start is likely ntpq:

[2.3.2-RELEASE][root@pfSense.home]/root: ntpq -p
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*pi-v1.home      .GPS0.           1 u   12   64  377    0.420   -0.034   0.008
+hp400.home      172.16.0.4       2 u   44   64  377    0.412    5.662   0.782
+ntp.cox.net     .GPS.            1 u   14   64  377   51.577    1.667   0.452

The above shows that I am syncing with my Pi while my hp server and Cox Cable NTP servers are available as fallbacks.

The first column is the sync status and is covered in the http://www.ntp.org/ documentation. If you are not selecting servers and syncing to one of them you have a starting place to look for your problem.

I'd go look at at least the quick start at ntp.org and select either a pool or at least three servers to sync to before going on to look for other issues.