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Fixing network time drift
If you've had a problem keeping your clock accurate using network time, this tip may help out, especially if you see the clock drifting even though the "Set Time Now" button seems to work. (Network time is controlled from the System Preferences, Date & Time pane, Network Time tab.) OS X has a confusing "feature" that makes diagnosing the problem difficult: after enabling the "Use a network time server" checkbox, OS X attempts to synchronize the time using a different method than when you press the "Set Time Now" button. After enabling "Use a network time server," OS X sends Network Time Protocol (NTP) messages using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) from port 123 of your machine to port 123 of the specified NTP Server. The server replies from port 123 to port 123 of your machine. After pressing the "Set Time Now" button, OS X sends NTP messages from a very high port number (above 49152) of your machine to port 123 of the NTP Server. The server replies from port 123 to the same high port number of your machine. Diagnosing NTP To see if you have a problem, enable the "Use a network time server" checkbox and press the "Set Time Now" button. Open the terminal and type: ntpq -p If If If the remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter ===================================================================== [server] 0.0.0.0 16 u - 68m 0 0.000 0.000 4000.00 Where If the remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter ===================================================================== [server] [something] 2 u 48 68m 1 141.594 14.361 0.004 Fixing NTP NTP problems are often caused by a firewall between you and the NTP server, either a software firewall on your machine or a hardware firewall at your Internet connection. Check to see if you have a software firewall installed, such as Brickhouse or have the Jaguar built-in firewall enabled in the System Preferences, Sharing pane, Firewall tab. If you have no control over the firewall, the problem will be unsolvable, at least until Apple makes changes to OS X. Otherwise, you will want to reduce the firewall security by the smallest amount necessary to solve the problem. Note that traffic from the NTP server always:
At minimum, the firewall should be modified to only allow additional messages with the first three characteristics above. In Brickhouse and most other software firewalls, the appropriate filter lines are usually: add [number1] allow udp from any 123 to any 123 via en0 add [number2] allow udp from any 123 to any 49152-65535 via en0 Where sudo ipfw list Other firewalls may have a different syntax; reading your firewall manual is required.
Fixing network time drift
My ntpq checks out ok, and my firewall is turned off completely. My clock seems to run at least a half hour fast per week, and I have to open the date & time panel to get auto time setting to work. Seems like there is a snag other than what you mention here. I'm trying the NIST time server for a while to see if that interacts better with the automatic setting... |
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