StealthNet
   |
Posted - 2003.11.30 23:35:00 -
[1]
Hi there / Lickspittle,
I would like to report some things.
There are lots of ways of getting a crazy clock, and I would like to sumarize some of them here, it might help you guys at CCP.
You mentioned that an out of sync clock might cause this. Well, Windows, by default, since 2K, will do that every hour, if the station is added to a domain.
Windows XP also has a config to sync the clock every now and then with an atomic clock, and lots of third party software will also try to sync the clock with a time source via Internet.
This matter, by itself, should not cause any harm, except if you have a fauly hardware that is being unable to keep the clock running as it should. There are lots of things that can cause this, like a dead cmos battery, faulty frequency / internal clocking module, and what is common, overclocking (yes, some motherboards will end up with a crazy internal clock when overclocked).
I had one motherboard that got zipped by I faulty power supply. Funny, I lost 1 COM port, and the USB, but the mobo seemed to be working ok.
But I was being kept from logging into Half-Life servers. They were thinking that I was using a change speed hack / cheat. This cheat alters the internal timing / clocking so you can actually run faster, fire faster etc. (some code is based on the internal timing, and goes wacko when it is being accelerated). This kind of cheat is also used in Ultima Online, and many other games.
Back then, I had to buy another mobo because with time, lots of problems started to pop, like a crazy clock (out of sync every 10 minutes) etc. I found that the mobo was the culprit because I was getting about 10 to 30 seconds of miscync every 10 or 20 minutes.
I don't know if you are currently overclocking your PC, but it would be nice to test without overclocking. Also, I suppose you are not using such a hack. Check if you have any software running in the background that might be syncing your clock every now and then. If so, close it and see if the cap bug remains. You can also download a time sync software (there are hundreds available for free, personally, I like Authomacron). Force a sync, and then, 10 to 20 minutes later, sync again, and watch for a big bias (difference between your clock and the atomic clock). If your clock is getting out of sync (like a couple of seconds every ten to twenty minutes) you potentially have a problem in your hands.
If the bias is some millisecs every 20 minutes, than everything should be fine.
I hope this helps.
_______________________________________________
|