# does anyone know what this means? NTPD

## Diceman

i am getting this in my ntp.log and i am not getting an ntp.drift. i have tried changing the permissions to 644, no go, i made the owner to root:root, root:ntp, root:wheel, ntp:ntp. does anyone else have any ideas? also what do the "frequency error -512 PPM" lines mean?

```

Jun 27 23:38:28 gentoo ntpd[11010]: ntpd 4.2.0@1.1161-r Wed Jun 16 13:35:52 UTC 2004 (1)

Jun 27 23:38:28 gentoo ntpd[11010]: precision = 1.000 usec

Jun 27 23:38:28 gentoo ntpd[11010]: no IPv6 interfaces found

Jun 27 23:38:28 gentoo ntpd[11010]: kernel time sync status 0040

Jun 27 23:38:29 gentoo ntpd[11010]: Frequency format error in /var/log/ntp.drift

27 Jun 23:42:44 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.201, stratum=2

27 Jun 23:48:02 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.204, stratum=2

27 Jun 23:56:39 ntpd[11010]: kernel time sync enabled 0001

27 Jun 23:56:39 ntpd[11010]: frequency error -512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM

27 Jun 23:57:43 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.201, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:00:57 ntpd[11010]: frequency error -512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM

28 Jun 00:02:00 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.204, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:05:14 ntpd[11010]: frequency error -500 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM

28 Jun 00:05:14 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.201, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:11:41 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.204, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:19:13 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.203, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:26:46 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.202, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:26:47 ntpd[11010]: time reset +0.711241 s

28 Jun 00:32:07 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.203, stratum=2

28 Jun 00:38:31 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 00:40:45 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.204, stratum=2

28 Jun 01:38:34 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 02:38:36 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 03:38:39 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 03:45:57 ntpd[11010]: time reset -0.132638 s

28 Jun 03:51:17 ntpd[11010]: synchronized to 198.82.1.203, stratum=2

28 Jun 04:38:42 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 05:38:45 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 06:38:48 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 07:38:51 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 08:38:53 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 09:38:56 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 10:38:59 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 11:39:02 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 12:39:05 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 13:39:08 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

28 Jun 14:39:11 ntpd[11010]: can't open /var/log/ntp.drift.TEMP: Permission denied

```

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## rinacabj

I don't know about ntpd but ntpdate <servername> works fine for me

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## Diceman

it works fine for me, but i would rather use the daemon. anyone else?

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## think4urs11

about the error message:

 *Quote:*   

> frequency error ? exceeds tolerance 500 PPM
> 
>     The hardware clock frequency error exceeds the rate the kernel can correct. This could be a hardware or a kernel problem. 
> 
> 

 

why is your drift file in /var/log?

Mine is (pretty default installation) located in /tmp

HTH

T.

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## Diceman

i put it in there so it could be with the other logs. the default location was /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift i believe.

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## Diceman

bump, anyone?

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## nobspangle

I think the frequency error suggests your clock is loosing (or gaining) too much time for ntp to adjust it.

My drift file is owned by ntp:ntp and lives in /var/state the /var/state directory is r-x for all users (apart from root).

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## Souperman

FYI, the drift file isn't a log, it has no business in /var/log.

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## hanj

Hello All

I'm also experiencing the -512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM message. I'm not receiving the permission denied though.

```
Jul  1 09:43:30 comp ntpd[31959]: time reset -1.934655 s

Jul  1 09:43:30 comp ntpd[31959]: frequency error -512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM

Jul  1 09:51:04 comp ntpd[31959]: synchronized to 212.68.213.7, stratum 2

Jul  1 09:59:38 comp ntpd[31959]: time reset -0.758294 s

Jul  1 09:59:38 comp ntpd[31959]: frequency error -512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM

Jul  1 10:08:11 comp ntpd[31959]: synchronized to 212.68.213.7, stratum 2
```

```
comp date:    Sat Jul  1 10:10:57 MDT 2006

correct date:    Sat Jul  1 10:10:45 MDT 2006
```

Not sure what this means? Is it having trouble synching? This server is a vmware-server client. It was a having a really hard time keeping date. It had a tendency to rapidly increase time towards the future. So, I decided to get ntpd rollin' on it. Is there a way to control the tolerance, or increase how often ntpd checks time?

My drift file is located: /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift

```
Perms: -rw-r--r--  1 ntp  ntp    9 Jul  1 10:02 ntp.drift
```

This is all I have in my ntp.conf file (excluding comments)

```
server pool.ntp.org

driftfile       /var/lib/ntp/ntp.drift

```

Thanks!

hanji

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## think4urs11

keeping VMWare Clients (and Microsoft VirtualPC clients too) in sync is often a bit tricky; some are too slow, some too fast, some vary depending on Host load...

try this: http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1420

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## hanj

 *Think4UrS11 wrote:*   

> keeping VMWare Clients (and Microsoft VirtualPC clients too) in sync is often a bit tricky; some are too slow, some too fast, some vary depending on Host load...
> 
> try this: http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1420

 

Wow.. great link! Thanks much.

hanji

----------

