[CentOS] Strange issue with system time being off

[Craig White]

On Aug 9, 2012, at 12:33 PM, Russell Jones wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I am having an issue with some older CentOS 5.3 servers. Every time
> the server boots, it gives the error "Cannot access the hardware clock
> by any known method", and then promptly sets the time 5 hours behind
> the hardware clock, down to the second.
> 
> After the system is up. "hwclock" works fine. hwclock --debug does not
> show any error at all.
> 
> The hardware clock is configured in local time. /etc/sysconfig/clock
> is set to UTC=false and ZONE="America/Chicago". /etc/localtime is a
> copy of Chicago's zone file. /etc/adjtime is configured with "LOCAL"
> as the third row. I am at a loss as to what is causing this.
> 
> Any assistance is appreciated! Thanks!
----
Chicago is GMT +5 if I recall correctly so it would seem that perhaps a previous install used UTC=true to set the hwclock

after you get the time set (date -s "08/09/2012 14:54:00" or whatever) then set the hwclock to system time

hwclock --systohc

Craig