Package: util-linux
Version: 2.13.1.1-1
Severity: important
On certain platforms with certain hardware clock chips, hwclock will
hang in a ~24 hour loop upon system startup (or later, when executed
manually). hwclock is always started, so for some users, it can be a
very unpleasant experience.
One of such chips is isl1208 - if it ever had a power failure (i.e., its
battery removed or not loaded), it will not tick again unless the clock
is set.
Unfortunately, hwclock will hang in a loop if the clock does not tick:
# strace hwclock --show:
(...)
ioctl(3, RTC_RD_TIME, {tm_sec=0, tm_min=0, tm_hour=0, tm_mday=0,
tm_mon=-1, tm_year=100, ...}) = 0
ioctl(3, RTC_RD_TIME, {tm_sec=0, tm_min=0, tm_hour=0, tm_mday=0,
tm_mon=-1, tm_year=100, ...}) = 0
ioctl(3, RTC_RD_TIME, {tm_sec=0, tm_min=0, tm_hour=0, tm_mday=0,
tm_mon=-1, tm_year=100, ...}) = 0
(...)
Repeated million times:
hwclock/rtc.c, busywait_for_rtc_clock_tick():
for (i = 0;
(rc = do_rtc_read_ioctl(rtc_fd, &nowtime)) == 0
&& start_time.tm_sec == nowtime.tm_sec;
i++)
if (i >= 1000000) {
fprintf(stderr, _("Timed out waiting for time change.\n"));
return 2;
}
This bug happens for current and all previous versions of hwclock
shipped with Debian; it would be nice if it was fixed at least for Lenny.
References:
1) Discussion on rtc-linux list:
http://groups.google.com/group/rtc-linux/browse_thread/thread/85ed7545e87bee47
2) Discussion on util-linux-ng list:
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.utilities.util-linux-ng/1710
3) Patch fixing the issue:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.utilities.util-linux-ng/1726
--
Tomasz Chmielewski
http://wpkg.org
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