Netware 5.1 Some clients 1 hour slow after old DST

[rjmccorkle]

We have 2 Netware 5.1 servers. I thought I had remarked out the DST setup lines in AUTOEXEC.NCF months ago and had relatively few problems 3 weeks ago at the new start of DST. Monday (4/2/07; the day after the "old" Dailight Savings Time start) some of our clients were an hour fast, others had the correct time, all set to get the time from our primary server. After downloading and running the DSTSHIFT.NLM, shutting down the primary server then restarting it, the computers that had the correct time before the DSTSHIFT.NLM config change are now an hour slow and the ones that had been an hour fast have the correct time. I happen to have 2 computers in my room and one is correct and one an hour slow; both have the same time zone settings (EST, do not adjust for DST, don't get time from internet) and SET STATION TIME = ON in Novell Client, Properties, Advanced Settings. All the other settings that I have found appear to be the same on each computer. I read that the time-synch in Novell uses the server time then applies local settings from the client. Anybody have any ideas where to check for differences between the two client machines? Thanks.

 

[marvhuffaker]

The main thing you need to do is identify if its a server or workstation problem. Start with the server, check the Time on the console, see what it says. If it's off, fix it first. Make sure its synching correctly to an external source. Make sure your DST zone string is correct.. Then once you have that good, worry about the workstations.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[rjmccorkle]

I think I have the server configured correctly. I used the Novell dstshift.nlm to set the DST parameters in AUTOEXEC.NCF and they appear to be correct now. We had problems with the server time-synching to an external source (about 4 years ago; I don't remember any of the symptoms, just that it was easier to set the server back 5 minutes by hand once a year and that a CNE couldn't get it to work correctly). The server reports the correct time, time zone, DST settings when I do TIME at the console. So I think it is a workstation issue. We have about 75 workstations on the network, I don't know the exact numbers but some of them are showing an hour slow after logging on, one of the 2 in my office being in the "slow" group. I used my username and password on both in my office so I don't think it is a user login-script issue. I don't know where else to look for workstation time setting parameters.

 

[marvhuffaker]

There was a patch that was also required for Windows Workstations - do you know if that got applied?


Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[rjmccorkle]

Not on purpose; neither one of my machines has Automatic Windows updates if it is a MicroSoft patch. I compared the registry TZI key referenced in some search results on the Novell site and they were the same on both machines. I searched the MS site and found KB931836, installed that on the 1 hour behind machine, rebooted, still slow, set the Automatically Adjust for DST in the Windows clock and it got the correct time. Then I moved to the machine that had the correct time, turned Adjust for DST on, applied, no time change, unchecked it, applied and it went back an hour. I checked the TZI key in both machines registries and the one that I ran KB931836 on was changed. So, I still don't know why some machines are working correctly and some are not, but I'll try the shotgun approach and deploy the KB931836 on all of them and set DST on and see what that gets me. Thanks for the Workstation patch clue.

 

[marvhuffaker]

Just remember that the Novell server gives out the time based on Global time, not your local time zone. It's up to your workstation to get the time and interpret it for your local time zone.

Marvin Huffaker, MCNE

http://www.redjuju.com

 

[rjmccorkle]

That was one of the things I discovered in my research and why it had me scratching my head: I couldn't figure out (and still don't know) what was different between my 2 machines causing the different results after they got the Global time from the server. Well, now they are both working (or messed up) in the same way so I can go fix (or mess up) the rest of our workstations and I'll at least have some consistency. Thanks for your help.