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Date:      Sun, 27 Apr 1997 10:44:53 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
To:        Peter Wemm <peter@spinner.dialix.com>
Cc:        current@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: cvs commit: src/etc rc rc.network 
Message-ID:  <199704271444.KAA08965@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <199704271347.VAA07550@spinner.DIALix.COM>
References:  <199704271230.WAA07923@godzilla.zeta.org.au> <199704271347.VAA07550@spinner.DIALix.COM>

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<<On Sun, 27 Apr 1997 21:47:34 +0800, Peter Wemm <peter@spinner.dialix.com> said:

> Apr 27 10:39:07 pasteur xntpd[171]: time reset (step) -0.418709 s
> Apr 27 10:45:01 pasteur xntpd[171]: time reset (step) 0.561284 s

>      remote           local      st poll reach  delay   offset    disp
> =======================================================================
> *tictoc.dap.CSIR 203.12.3.8       1  256  377 0.05458 -0.061465 0.03783

You don't really give enough information here...  There are two
possibilities:

1) If that is your only server, then it's clear, you have substantial
jitter on the link to it which is causing NTP to step all over the
place.  This is a flaw in xntpd, but it can't be fixed without having
either a super-stable local clock, or at least a model of how the
local oscillator behaves.  If I were at work, I've give you the title
of a Ph.D. thesis which explores these issues.

2) If you have multiple servers (as my ntpq seems to suggest), then
the problem is also clear: you have different jitter on the links to
those different servers, and the difference is enough, and varies
enough, to cause xntpd to clock-hop.  (You should be able to confirm
this theory by examining which servers are considered synchronization
sources before and after a step.)  If I were at work, I'd give you the
title of a Ph.D. thesis which explores these issues.

> It seems to go through wild oscillations quite regularly.  What worrys me
> is that xntpd seems to call adjtime() very frequently, about every second
> or so..  Does it have it's own PLL inside xntpd?

Yes, it does.

>  Does having a PLL driving
> a PLL work?

The kernel PLL doesn't ever come into play, since xntpd doesn't think
the time is stable enough to start using it.  It would be calling
adjtimex() if it were.

-GAWollman

--
Garrett A. Wollman   | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same
wollman@lcs.mit.edu  | O Siem / The fires of freedom 
Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame
MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA|                     - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick



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