DSM-G600, DNS-3xx and NSA-220 Hack Forum

Actually the option "NTP Server" on the web interface is a one time only sync with a NTP server on the network. I believe that it uses ntpdate to set the time once when you click "Set Time". It doesn't use the ntpd daemon for syncing periodically.
That means that the time on your NAS will differ from the real time increasingly over time (the internal clock of the unit is quite bad). There was also a bug which set the time 1 hour off during night when "Daylight Saving Time" was set to something other than "None". I don't know if this is fixed in version 1.06 of the firmware.

Basically you have two options to keep your time in sync with a time server.

1. Use ntpd from the ntp package which you can download from Fonz' download page for funplug. -> http://www.inreto.de/dns323/fun-plug/0.5/packages/
Of course you will have to install and configure it to your needs.

I used the ntpd for some time but ntpd seems to cause trouble with custom made fan scripts which enable turning the fans off completely. You can read about that here.
That's why I switched to option 2.


2. Use ntpdate to set the time with the help of the cron scheduler. Add another entry to cron telling it to run ntpdate at whatever interval you want. This is also described at the above mentioned thread in this post for example.

It has been discussed on this forum quite extensively.

As long as you force the ntpd to use slow skew it is not going to interfere with the fan script.

I have it running on both DNS-323 FW1.06 and the drift seem to have settled down:

     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*timeserver    134.226.81.3     2 u   68 1024  377   10.039   -9.172   0.236
LOCAL(0)        .LOCL.          10 l    8   64  377    0.000    0.000   0.004

     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
*timeserver    134.226.81.3     2 u  783 1024  377    0.460    7.642   6.058
LOCAL(0)        .LOCL.          10 l   59   64  377    0.000    0.000   0.004


While the fancontrol interface is still working:

temperature g 0
Temperature type : Centigrade
<temperaturertc>: get temperature = 44

It actually seems that my NAS did not change the time (wrongly) overnight. Yesterday I unchecked the 'use NTP server' option in the TIME setup in the Web GUI. Together with setting the correct /etc/TZ at boot and removing the default cron jobs and adding my own sntp job seems to work now. Will let it run for a couple of days to see if it is really fixed now.

For completeness and maybe for someone else who is looking for a solution: this is what my current configuration is:

My current crontab looks like this:

32 2 * * * /usr/sbin/rtc -w
2  * * * * /usr/sbin/sntp -r -P no pool.ntp.org &

my /etc/TZ (this is for the Netherlands: GMT+1)

CET-1CEST-2,M3.5.0/02:00:00,M10.5.0/03:00:00

I have the following editcron.sh script run at boot to setup the crontab:

#!/bin/sh

CRONTXT=/mnt/HD_a2/tmp/crontab.txt

# start with existing crontab
/bin/crontab -l > $CRONTXT

# add a job to sync RTC with system time once per day
# and add a job that sets system time using SNTP hourly
/bin/echo "32 2 * * * /usr/sbin/rtc -w" >> $CRONTXT
/bin/echo "2  * * * * /usr/sbin/sntp -r -P no pool.ntp.org &" >> $CRONTXT

# install the new crontab
/bin/crontab $CRONTXT

# clean up
/bin/rm $CRONTXT

and the following fun_plug.local:

#!/ffp/bin/sh

BINDIR=/ffp/bin
LOGFILE=/mnt/HD_a2/ffp.log
ETCDIR=/etc

#SET the TZ for CET
TZ=CET-1CEST-2,M3.5.0/02:00:00,M10.5.0/03:00:00
export TZ
echo ${TZ} >${ETCDIR}/TZ

# remove the default 'rtc -c', 'rtc -s' and 'daylight' jobs from the crontab
crontab -l |sed -e '/rtc\ -c/d' -e '/daylight/d' -e '/rtc\ -s/d' |crontab -

# executing the time protocol every boot to set correct time during boot up process
/usr/sbin/sntp -r -P no pool.ntp.org 1>>${LOGFILE} 2>&1 &

I could put in the adjtimex call in fun_plug.local, but since time is set by NTP every hour I do not see a reason to do so...

Last edited by faethon (2009-04-21 10:04:55)

jespo,

for those of us who are just getting started with fp, where would i put that script and how do i invoke it? i just installed funplug today, so forgive me if this is a dumb question.

Last edited by drick (2009-05-02 05:03:26)

When is fun_plug.local meant to run, on startup?

This is my ffp/etc/examples/fun_plug.local

#!/ffp/bin/sh

PATH=/ffp/sbin:/ffp/bin
BINDIR=/ffp/bin
LOGFILE=/mnt/HD_a2/ffp.log
ETCDIR=/etc

# Adjust clock speed to reduce drift
# See 'adjtimex -h' for available options.
# 9965 works for my DNS-323, ymmv.
# adjtimex -t 9965


# Set local timezone
# For a list of timezone strings see:
# http://www.nas-tweaks.net/CH3SNAS:Tutor … ne_Strings

# Europe/Berlin
# echo 'CET-1CEST-2,M3.5.0/02:00:00,M10.5.0/03:00:00' >/etc/TZ

# Australia - Melbourne, Camberra, Sydney
TZ=AEST-10AEDT-11,M10.5.0/02:00:00,M4.1.0/03:00:00
export TZ
echo ${TZ} >${ETCDIR}/TZ

# This removes firmware cronjobs that interfere with ntpd.
# crontab -l | grep -vw '/usr/sbin/daylight' | grep -vw '/usr/sbin/rtc' | crontab -
crontab -l |sed -e '/rtc\ -c/d' -e '/daylight/d' -e '/rtc\ -s/d' | crontab -

# executing the time protocol every boot to set correct time during boot up process
/usr/sbin/sntp -r -P no au.pool.ntp/org 1>>${LOGFILE} 2>&1 &

# Clear root password for convenient login (won't work with ssh)
#usermod -p '' root


# You might want to ensure that sshd is started.
#chmod a+x /ffp/start/sshd.sh

and after rebooting, the cron jobs aren't removed, nor is the TZ file edited, which is leading me to assume the fun_plug.local isn't running.
I can put it in a script and run it on start instead, but am tryign to follow Faethon's example.

cheers,
- Klaus

wow, retard moment there, editing the wrong file.

cheers again fonz,
- Klaus