RedXII1234
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join:2001-02-26
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| [XP Pro] Time running fast (randomly) (long)
Asus A7N8X-X rev2 (latest BIOS)
Athlon XP 3200+ @ 2.2GHz
2GB Corsair PC3200
GeForce FX 6800XT 256MB DDR AGP
Onboard nForce2 Ethernet
A DVD±RW (Lite-On SHW-160P6S) drive and a CD-Rewritable (52x24x52) (Lite-On SOHR 5239S)
120GB (WD) and 160GB (WD) hard drive.
Device drivers:
- nForce chipset driver v5.11 (latest)
- nForce audio driver v4.62 (latest)
- Currently running Forceware 94.24, upgrading that has no effect (and used this driver before the problem appeared as well)
- Logitech MX300 (USB).. latest driver available
I may never ever get an answer because when I need help, it is usually when no one has no idea at all. I am asking here first in MS Help, because I believe I have ruled out the hardware. Clearing CMOS did not help, there are no visible cap busting, latest BIOS..
Since around December 2007, my clock has been running really fast. I noticed at after I installed a December 2007 cumulative time zone update (KB942763), I was unsure how an update that tells Windows when to "spring forward" and "fall back" could be making it run fast.
Sometimes it will run fast, not that while Windows is running it will randomly decide to run fast, but a random boot. That means right now it isn't running fast, but the next time I reboot, it might. If it does, I can keep rebooting until I can get a "good boot" where it doesn't run fast.
What I know so far:
- The clock is corrected when the machine reboots. When going into Setup, the clock is on the correct time and does not run fast, ever.
- On a "bad boot", the clock appears to start running fast only after Windows is loaded.
- On a "bad boot", the speed at which the clock goes seems to correlate with CPU usage. The higher the CPU usage (like playing a game), the faster the time. So after playing a game, it can be almost an hour ahead.
- Does not appear to happen in Linux (custom compiled kernel).
- Reading around, it appears it is a flaw with nForce2 chipsets with APIC enable. This still does not explain why it used to run fine and with APIC, and have no intention of disabling APIC.
I tried upgrading all possible programs with drivers, like upgrading PerfectDisk, Virtualbox, Alcohol 52% (SPTD driver). |
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AB
Premium
join:2006-04-04
Leesburg, VA
| Oftentimes this issue is due to the motherboard battery needing replacing.
But since you say it started with that time update, and there were never any problems before, that might tend to narrow down the list of suspects, don't you think?
Why not uninstall the update and see if the issue remains? |
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RedXII1234
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join:2001-02-26
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| I would agree about the battery if it were losing the date and time, settings, and producing checksum/mismatch errors but in fact the BIOS/CMOS keeps excellent time while powered down, it is Windows that is running fast.
The time zone update wasn't the actual cause, it just started around that time. |
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dave
Premium,MVM
join:2000-05-04
not in ohio
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to RedXII1234
Essentially, the OS tracks time by counting interrupts from external timer hardware. So in a first guess, if time is moving too quickly, you may be getting more interrupts than you think you should be getting.
There's an interval timer in the APIC, I don't know if that's the interval timer Windows uses.
Did you perhaps get a HAL or chipset update that may have introduced the problem?
This doesn't really help you fix it, I understand. |
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RedXII1234
Premium,Mod
join:2001-02-26
localhost | There were no chipset driver updates; the latest hal*.dll is 5.1.2600.2562 and that was released in Nov '06. The ntoskrnl file is 5.1.2600.3239. |
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Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to RedXII1234
Do you have an image file from before the December 2007 activities that you could restore to and run a while to see if the problem disappears? (Of course, you'd want to image the current drive as well before going back in time...).
--
If God wanted us to work with electrons, He'd make them big enough to see... |
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RedXII1234
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join:2001-02-26
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| reply to RedXII1234
I did a clean install, it happens after the nforce driver (minus audio, separate newer installer) is installed. I am running cpuburn for K7 and while it is running, the time starts pacing really fast. No other drivers including the display driver is installed.
I am using RyanVM update pack 2.2.1, which is bleeding edge qfe updates and there might be a kernel or other update causing it. I have it on my laptop w/ nforce 430 and gf 6150 and it doesn't have the problem. |
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RedXII1234
Premium,Mod
join:2001-02-26
localhost | reply to RedXII1234
Problem fixed by buying a new power supply and w/ more watts; had a generic 300W, installed an Antec 380W. Not only does the clock not run fast anymore but one of my CD drives thought to be going out now works fine. |
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mark5019
join:2002-03-30
doraville ga | reply to RedXII1234
when that hapened to my dell it was the motherboard |
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SoonerAl
Old Enough To Know Better
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-23
Norman, OK
|  reply to RedXII1234
said by RedXII1234  :Problem fixed by buying a new power supply and w/ more watts; had a generic 300W, installed an Antec 380W. Not only does the clock not run fast anymore but one of my CD drives thought to be going out now works fine. Tim the Toolman would be proud...
More POWER....argg....
--
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HRM
God Bless America
Premium,MVM
join:2002-02-03
Darien, CT
clubs:  
 ·Vonage
| reply to RedXII1234
said by RedXII1234 :Problem fixed by buying a new power supply and w/ more watts; had a generic 300W, installed an Antec 380W. Not only does the clock not run fast anymore but one of my CD drives thought to be going out now works fine. THis is an excellent example of how a bad PSU will cause very strange things to happen. I was thinking a clean install ruled out software, but the PSU was going to be low on the list of possible causes. |
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