Netgate Discussion Forum
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Search
    • Register
    • Login

    NTP is wrong by almost 3 minutes.

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
    30 Posts 10 Posters 7.3k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • P
      pfBasic Banned
      last edited by

      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

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • johnpozJ
        johnpoz LAYER 8 Global Moderator
        last edited by

        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??

        An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools
        If you get confused: Listen to the Music Play
        Please don't Chat/PM me for help, unless mod related
        SG-4860 24.11 | Lab VMs 2.8, 24.11

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • P
          pfBasic Banned
          last edited by

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

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • KOMK
            KOM
            last edited by

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

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • P
              pfBasic Banned
              last edited by

              I dont know, how could I check that?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • KOMK
                KOM
                last edited by

                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.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • dennypageD
                  dennypage
                  last edited by

                  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?

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • w0wW
                    w0w
                    last edited by

                    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

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • P
                      pfBasic Banned
                      last edited by

                      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.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • A
                        AR15USR
                        last edited by

                        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


                        2.6.0-RELEASE

                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • A
                          AR15USR
                          last edited by

                          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


                          2.6.0-RELEASE

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • A
                            AR15USR
                            last edited by

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


                            2.6.0-RELEASE

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • P
                              pfBasic Banned
                              last edited by

                              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?

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • A
                                AR15USR
                                last edited by

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


                                2.6.0-RELEASE

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • P
                                  pfBasic Banned
                                  last edited by

                                  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.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • w0wW
                                    w0w
                                    last edited by

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

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      shinzo
                                      last edited by

                                      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.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • stan-qazS
                                        stan-qaz
                                        last edited by

                                        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.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • dennypageD
                                          dennypage
                                          last edited by

                                          I finally got around to having a look at the code for the NTP widget. The "Server Time" field is created using some cute dynamic update code that plays games between the http server (aka pfSense) time and the http client browser time. The approach was likely state of the art… in 2003 when it was last updated. Seriously, the code lists compatibility as IE 4.x/5.0, Netscape 4.x/6.0, and Mozilla 1.0.

                                          The short version is that this code is badly need of replacing, and until it is replaced the Server Time field in the NTP widget should simply be ignored.

                                          One more "as time permits" activity. :)

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • P
                                            pfBasic Banned
                                            last edited by

                                            @dennypage:

                                            I finally got around to having a look at the code for the NTP widget. The "Server Time" field is created using some cute dynamic update code that plays games between the http server (aka pfSense) time and the http client browser time. The approach was likely state of the art… in 2003 when it was last updated. Seriously, the code lists compatibility as IE 4.x/5.0, Netscape 4.x/6.0, and Mozilla 1.0.

                                            The short version is that this code is badly need of replacing, and until it is replaced the Server Time field in the NTP widget should simply be ignored.

                                            One more "as time permits" activity. :)

                                            Wow, thank you so much for looking into this! I'm glad that this could resolve into something that will eventually be an improvement to pfSense!

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                            • First post
                                              Last post
                                            Copyright 2025 Rubicon Communications LLC (Netgate). All rights reserved.