Kernel time-keeping adjustments - how to tune?

[Kevin Kinsey]

John wrote:

>OK - on my FreeBSD 5.3-STABLE system, as I have documented (cf:
>message thread Re: ntpd problems since upgrading to 5.3), ntpd
>won't run, even with an identical configuation to the 5.2.1 system
>next to it.  Furthermore, when I run adjkerntz -a, it totally whacks
>the system's ability to keep time - it races forward at quite a
>high rate.  ntpdate runs, and sets the time correctly.
>
>At one point, something managed to get the timekeeping parameters
>pretty near normal - less than a second of drift per hour (much
>better than the 40% rate it is now - it gains about 24 seconds PER
>MINUTE).  Then I ran adjkerntz -a again, just to see if it really
>was the culprit.  It does seem that it is adjkerntz that is causing
>(or triggering) the problem, but now I can't get the system back
>to a decent time-keeping rate.  Whatever it was I stumbled across
>before, I'm not finding it again now.
>
>Now, it doesn't appear that adjkerntz itself has changed in YEARS,
>so it must be some change in the system call operation, parameters,
>or data structures that is causing this.
>
>So - since I don't seem to be able to stumble across what I did
>right before to get the timekeeping somewhat near normal, I am
>wondering if there's a manual way to reach them.
>  
>

I read through the cited thread, and don't see any replies;
nor do I see enough explanation to give you any magic
beans.  Of course, I'm no one's fairy godmother...


> the clock on my 5.3-STABLE system is RACING.
> It is going at almost twice as fast as real time.


Hmm, that might mean something.  What do you get from:

sysctl -a | grep timecounter

??

IANAE, but I wonder if ntpd is going to be able to sync
up until the local clock runs realistically....

Kevin Kinsey