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    Time always slow 2.4.5

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Problems Installing or Upgrading pfSense Software
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    • F
      funktified
      last edited by

      My location is Melbourne Australia and therefore I had set the NTP as:
      0.au.pool.ntp.org ==> Australia/Melbourne

      Updated the date via Shell Console to crrect time ==> date yyyymmddhhmm

      Time updates correctly for the System but the ticks are just so much slower.

      Ill see if I can screen record and will upload what I mean.

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      • F
        funktified
        last edited by

        Here is a 1 minute grab showing what I have tried.

        https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1t7Eo1ykHaHKNLUUI75EqOCHVot1FqAMd?usp=sharing

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        • F
          funktified
          last edited by

          Installed 2.4.4 and still no good. This issue occurs whether the system is connected to LAN/WAN or not it doesnt make any difference.

          Tried changing the battery - argh, its been spot welded! Pry welds off battery and attach to fresh CR2032 - ok.. now I've just screwed the battery argh!!!

          TBC

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          • F
            funktified
            last edited by

            Ok, got a new battery - unplugged power cord several times and BIOS is definitely keeping time (ie. the same as before) and even let the NUC sit for 5 minutes with BIOS keeping time correctly.

            Booted pfSense 2.4.4 and tested time - still persistently slow whereby the system time progressed 3 seconds for every 10 seconds in real life or approx.

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            • F
              funktified
              last edited by

              I have found that the time resyncs correctly after a reboot and then immediately slows even after I let the time fall behind about 10 minutes!

              What could cause the system time to fall behind after booting?

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              • T
                three
                last edited by three

                Hey funktified. This is a strange one indeed.

                Are you able to boot the maschine from another linux Live-DVD/USB? Just to check behaviour under different OS and to rule out a hardware issue. Have you changed any bios setting? I have no clue though, which one could cause such symtoms :)

                Cheers

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                • F
                  funktified
                  last edited by

                  I have reset the BIOS and have installed Windows 10 and sync the time with Windows and it syncs without issue. I disconnected the LAN to test and the time is definitely working as expected. When Windows was originally installed before Internet sync, it was slower by 2 minutes and even then the seconds moved inline with normal time.

                  Just to be sure, I downloaded Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop and run in Live mode from USB and sure enough, time ticks normally despite being 14 hours slow. Sync via Internet to correct time and disconnected and tested for 10 minutes - time is in sync to the second.

                  It seems to only be in pfSense / FreeBSD no matter which version.

                  I am also trying to source the latest BIOS for the unit.

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                  • T
                    three
                    last edited by

                    Phew ... that's weird. The only thing that remains a potential root cause accordign to my feeling indeed is aforementioned timezone settings, maybe a variance in OS and bios and ... running out of ideas too.

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                    • F
                      funktified
                      last edited by

                      This is really annoying...

                      I downloaded FreeBSD 12.1 and did a Live mode and time was similar to Ubuntu being 14 hours behind (probably because it was UTC time), but once I set the date and measured every 10 seconds it does the same as before and slows.

                      Confirming this is only on FreeBSD platform.

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                      • T
                        three
                        last edited by

                        Which nuc are you using?

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                        • F
                          funktified
                          last edited by

                          Its a custom Leader SN4-PLUS NUC sourced in Australia and I cannot identify what the board is. This is the second unit and I know with the first unit I did not have any time issues whatsoever. That is, exactly the same hardware bought within a few days of each other (so same batch I would assume).

                          Sorry, I cannot point you to a page as there is none that I can find, however the specs are:

                          • Intel Celeron N3350
                          • 4GB
                          • 64GB Storage
                          • Windows 10 Professional
                          • 4x Serial RS232
                          • 2x RJ45
                          • HDMI, Mini DP
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                          • T
                            three
                            last edited by three

                            Mh. I just watched the video. The only thing I saw was that you were not having a WAN connection. Does it also show these symptoms if you have a connection to internet?

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                            • F
                              funktified
                              last edited by funktified

                              It doesnt matter whether its connected or not - whether ports re0 or re1 is connected on any platform it will always run slow. I even run pfSense 2.4.5 for a week, I think date only moved 2 hours according to the system!

                              😭 😭 😭

                              Correction: it will always run slow on any version of FreeBSD it appears - not any other platforms

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                              • T
                                three
                                last edited by

                                If I understand you correctly, you got two devices. One of which works flawlessly and one of which shows this strange behaviour. Since NUCs are not too hard to deal with if it comes to swapping ssd, I'd swap the one installed in the bad one to the good one, boot it up and check the goods ones behaviour under the very same circumstances. If it still works OK I'd go back to the reseller and request a replacement.

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                                • F
                                  funktified
                                  last edited by

                                  Good idea, however have 2 issues with that unfortuantely:

                                  1. The other NUC is in production
                                  2. the eMMC I think is Soldered

                                  EItherways, its not easy for me to remove the one in production and I dont have a spare M.2 as it has a spare slot. Maybe Ill try converting this M2 to a SATA and try to install on that.

                                  Be back once installed

                                  BTW @three thanks for your time in bouncing ideas 👍

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                                  • DaddyGoD
                                    DaddyGo
                                    last edited by

                                    That's what I mean:

                                    https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/connectivity/real-time-clocks.html
                                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_clock

                                    on the MOBO

                                    Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                    (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

                                    F 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • F
                                      funktified @DaddyGo
                                      last edited by

                                      @DaddyGo Sorry - did I miss a comment? RTC seems like the clock module, however how can I utilise that as the NUC is still under warranty and I dont want to change any parts during its warranty?

                                      @three I had configured a SATA drive and installed 2.4.5 and the time is still off unfortunately

                                      provelsP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • provelsP
                                        provels @funktified
                                        last edited by provels

                                        @funktified I think you have a hardware issue with the RTC module, bad part. I'd return. That's what your battery feeds when the unit is off and between updates. But if you've already broken the old battery off, I think you're SOL.

                                        Peder

                                        MAIN - pfSense+ 24.11-RELEASE - Adlink MXE-5401, i7, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD. 500 GB HDD for SyslogNG
                                        BACKUP - pfSense+ 23.01-RELEASE - Hyper-V Virtual Machine, Gen 1, 2 v-CPUs, 3 GB RAM, 8GB VHDX (Dynamic)

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                                        • DaddyGoD
                                          DaddyGo
                                          last edited by DaddyGo

                                          The RTC includes a crystal oscillator (in fact, it is the clock of the synchronous base) that keeps the time, when there is no NTP update.........
                                          Well, it could be faulty on the motherboard.

                                          like this:

                                          https://handsontec.com/index.php/product/32-768khz-quartz-crystal/

                                          There are many forms, you can’t fix it, so submit an RMA request.

                                          Cats bury it so they can't see it!
                                          (You know what I mean if you have a cat)

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                                          • F
                                            funktified
                                            last edited by funktified

                                            @provels said in Time always slow 2.4.5:

                                            But if you've already broken the old battery off, I think you're SOL.

                                            Yup... I think I definitely have wacked the original OEM battery!

                                            @DaddyGo said in Time always slow 2.4.5:

                                            There are many forms, you can’t fix it, so submit an RMA request.

                                            I will try this approach as to what provels suggested and see if I can get an RMA.

                                            Thank you everyone for the help and will update if there is a solution apart from RMA/paper wight.

                                            Just in case it could be of use in the future, I had created this thread on FreeBSD forum: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/time-slow-on-minipc.75602/

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