Chrono-ghost in the machine?

[Dreamstalker]

This is a weird one...my computer is due for a total rebuild anyway, so the issue might be hardware-related.

I have a dual-boot Win7 and Ubuntu. If I'm not paying attention on boot (or mom is using my computer and freaks out at seeing the bootloader) and boot into Ubuntu by mistake, when I reboot into Windows the clock is off by about 4 hours. It's an easy fix, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen and what's going on.

[EricKei]

That is odd. My first thought is that either the CMOS battery needs replacing (in which case BOTH clocks would be off) or else that Windows' region setting somehow got changed to a different timezone. I don't know of any way that dual-booting would force such a change o_O

[Deserted]

Linux thinks the system clock is set to UTC and corrects for that by adding/subtracting the amount of hours specified by your time zone. It's probably checking an ntp server on the internet and "correcting" the clock using that info, therefore giving you the offset you're seeing. I have no idea how to change that; it's a setting in the initial OS install process for all systems I've ever used. There's probably something under /etc that holds whatever setting needs changing.

[Dreamstalker]

If it was the CMOS (my first thought) it would be happening most of the time to both OSes, no? A weird one for sure; like I said this stupid thing is overdue for a rebuild so I haven't been putting that much attention into the Linux install recently.

My Win10 laptop is also wigging out about timezones; when moving between zones (commonly Mountain to Eastern and vice versa), it does not detect timezones automatically and usually takes a couple reboots and cycles of toggling between manual detection for things to finally work out. Loads of fun when I'm using Zoom or another site that relies on timezone settings to work correctly.

[Deserted]

If it was the CMOS (my first thought) it would be happening most of the time to both OSes, no?

Not necessarily. Both systems know how to correct the time using ntp (network time protocol) servers; it's a case of, is either one set to do so? Stuff like thing this is one of the reasons I no longer multi-boot *nix systems with non-*nix systems; the incompatibilities can drive you nuts. (Plus, you know, emulation is a thing.)

A weird one for sure; like I said this stupid thing is overdue for a rebuild so I haven't been putting that much attention into the Linux install recently.

My long-time Win7 workstation took a dump on me about a year ago, give or take a few months, and while there's now a theoretically-working Win10 install on that hard drive, I actually swapped the boot drive out for another storage drive and just run the thing from a Linux livecd, specifically an older version of SystemRescue/SystemRescueCD. The nice thing about doing it this way is, if I want to restart the system, I just manually unmount my drives and then just hit the reset switch; no need to wait for the shutdown process to run since nothing's permanent.

My Win10 laptop is also wigging out about timezones; when moving between zones (commonly Mountain to Eastern and vice versa), it does not detect timezones automatically and usually takes a couple reboots and cycles of toggling between manual detection for things to finally work out. Loads of fun when I'm using Zoom or another site that relies on timezone settings to work correctly.

Does your laptop have GPS? Or is it getting your location strictly by IP address?

Back on the subject of wacky time changes, while I don't have that happening (since I always tell the machine during install that it's using local time, not UTC, if it asks), I do notice that my files' timestamps get offset by 7 hours when transferring from one system to another (specifically from my wife's old MacBook to the workstation, or vice-versa). Since Desert Hell's timezone is MST (-7), it kinda makes sense to me. (I don't have the slightest idea how to determine what the Mac does re: timezones and such; this is a BSD-ish system and I know veeeeeeery little about those under the hood. I don't even want to guess /etc, since Macs have a tendency to ignore such things anyway.)

[Argus]

(I don't have the slightest idea how to determine what the Mac does re: timezones and such; this is a BSD-ish system and I know veeeeeeery little about those under the hood. I don't even want to guess /etc, since Macs have a tendency to ignore such things anyway.)

BSD, Linux, and all other versions of Unix are the same here. Times are handled as UTC internally, with timezone conversion for any user interaction. Inter-machine time setting (e.g., ntp) generally assumes that both ends are doing this, so that no machine needs to care about the details of any other machine's local timezone (e.g., Newfoundland).

[Argus]

Hypothesis about the original problem:

Win boot set to treat the system clock as local time and not to use something like ntp.

Ubuntu boot treats the system clock as UTC and uses ntp to set clock.

Then Ubuntu booting when UTC is noon would adjust the clock from 8AM "UTC" to noon "UTC". The next reboot in Win would interpret that as noon local time.

[Dreamstalker]

Does your laptop have GPS? Or is it getting your location strictly by IP address?

I think my laptop might have GPS, though I can't be certain. I'll get a "Allow [site] to access your location?" query from some websites, but that doesn't seem to affect NTP (Leafly still thinks I'm in metro Portland OR when the system clock has been on Eastern Time for three months).

[EricKei]

The location thing is based on your IP, AFAIK. Even without a GPS, it'll just figure out your location via wi-fi (unless you're obscuring it with a VPN).

[dalesys]

The location thing is based on your IP, AFAIK. Even without a GPS, it'll just figure out your location via wi-fi (unless you're obscuring it with a VPN).

We get tagged as in Heber City, the location of our ISP offices, 35 miles away over the Wasatch Mountains. This ritzy area (acre+ lots) has no DSL and no cable. We are on a wireless link... (marginally cheaper than satellite or cellular)

[Deserted]

When I'm using my phone, everything that geolocates via IP address always thinks I'm in California, usually the SF bay area.