Bios clock running like crazy

[carmen617]

Really weird problem (I think) and I'm not sure if I can fix it. Have a late model Asus laptop in, for upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10. Client said the date and time keeps going wrong as well.

Reset date and time, upgraded to Windows 10, everything worked fine. Turned system off, turned it on again - Date and time was a week ahead. Did some more checking, noticed that the date and time kept going forward. Checked Asus site, found a bios update, updated bios, reset date and time. Turned system off and on, date and time was a few days forward. So I decided to boot into the bios and reset it there. Well, the time in the bios is running forward like crazy. I can see it sprinting ahead, adding about 5 minutes a second. In the time its taken for me to write this post, the computer has gone from July 1st to July 4th.

Any ideas here?

 

[BlackLabTechs]

I'd love to have that laptop. My day would be over before i knew it.

 

[HCHTech]

That sounds like a faulty RTC. You could try replacing the CMOS battery and resetting the BIOS, but somehow I don't think you can fix this one. You can setup Windows to sync the time to an NTP server I guess, but you can't make it check once per minute. I think that would just be rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic anyway. I'll bet you'll need a new motherboard to really fix this.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Yep, not seen one do that in 20 years. Used to be common in 386 days.

 

[coffee]

Replacing the battery will not do anything to fix this. The battery is there only for when the computer is turned off and only keeps the bios settings intact.

Get the RTC chip part number and take some readings off it with a meter. If you have a solder station you can replace the chip if it turns out to be the case or could be some supporting circuitry like a cap or resistor that has gone bad or bad solder joint.

In the end, The easy fix is replace the MB but a bit of work on the old board might solve the problem.

 

[carmen617]

Great, well thanks. I don't do work at the level of tinkering with soldering chips on motherboards, so will have to send the client elsewhere.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Great, well thanks. I don't do work at the level of tinkering with soldering chips on motherboards, so will have to send the client elsewhere.

You can't replace the motherboard?

 

[Larry Sabo]

Sounds like it could be a faulty clock generator. CPU-Z will confirm, I think, but am not at all sure. In any case, I suspect it's a MB issue.

 

[Moltuae]

If the clock only goes wrong after the laptop has been powered off, I'd replace the CMOS battery. An RTC circuit should either just work or not work so I think a fault is unlikely. However, the RTC oscillator can become erratic if the supply it's getting is out-of-spec. I've had a few PCs/laptops with similar symptoms caused by low BIOS battery voltage.

Failing that, you could set Windows to sync its time more often (not sure if this still works in 10). Or you could try installing a time sync utility such as these:
http://www.timesynctool.com/
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/

 

[carmen617]

If the clock only goes wrong after the laptop has been powered off, I'd replace the CMOS battery. An RTC circuit should either just work or not work so I think a fault is unlikely. However, the RTC oscillator can become erratic if the supply it's getting is out-of-spec. I've had a few PCs/laptops with similar symptoms caused by low BIOS battery voltage.

Failing that, you could set Windows to sync its time more often (not sure if this still works in 10). Or you could try installing a time sync utility such as these:
http://www.timesynctool.com/
http://www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/

Thanks - the clock goes wrong with the system on or off. I know these clients and they are VERY cheap - if there is a workaround that will save them money they will prefer to go that way. Have installed the atomic clock utility and set it to sync the time every 5 minutes, will see if that helps.

 

[Altster]

I'd love to have that laptop. My day would be over before i knew it.

Don't you know it!

 

[phaZed]

The RTC usually gets it's clock signal from an external Crystal Oscillator - sounds like the crystal is out of spec. Some RTC's have an internal crystal.

 

[coffee]

The RTC usually gets it's clock signal from an external Crystal Oscillator - sounds like the crystal is out of spec. Some RTC's have an internal crystal.

I was thinking the same thing. However, I didnt check on it because I dont know what model MB we are talking about here. I would think this is fixable by doing a bit of research on the RTC chip. But I would probably still pop in a new motherboard. I doubt its the battery.