My laptop is probably running out of CMOS battery, I know I have to fix it soon, but until then, this very annoying issue keeps me from using it.
Scenario: My system clock is reset to 15/12/08 11:00 AM every time I turn on my computer. This has all sorts of side-effects, one of the more annoying being that I can't log into my gmail.
At first I just waited for a time sync to happen, as I have that activated and all. It never happened. I googled and didn't find any way of enforcing a time sync, which I found very strange. Is there really none?
Setting the time and date by hand is also a problem. For my 12.10 installation, the time & date settings are bugged. I remember it being for my last, older installation as well, though. Of course the easiest way should be to just manually edit the date and time fields by entering a new date. This is possible in theory, but the changes are reverted as soon as the text boxes loose focus. The other way to do it is to click the +-buttons for a long, long time. The first time I did that, the changes weren't stored either. I found out that afterwards I have to switch from manual to internet-sync mode and wait ~5 seconds until the in the top left corner of my system the new time is shown, or otherwise it won't have effect.
So a nice solution would be one of the following: Setting the time/date by hand, maybe via terminal, so I can just enter the right values. Or, a command that would enforce an immediate time sync, that I can run after booting. I know I have to change the batteries soon, but this is seriously keeping me from working…
Best Answer
You can set the hardware clock with the command (for example)
You then need to syncronise the system clock to the hardware clock:
Reference: $ man hwclock