[Zgemma H7] Time Not Up-dating from versions 5.4.004/005/006

[lespat]

Vix 5.4.003 has worked perfectly in respect of time being correct on start-up from deep standby. I have added 5.4.004 and 005 & 006 to the other vacant slots and each time I try to use either of them, they will only start up on the last time they were closed on (deep standby) and will carry on from there. I have tried "everything", fresh flash with restore, restore from .003. Flash online, and usb flash. Nothing seems to work. Have been using all earlier versions for the last couple of years. All setting appear to correct. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 

[ccs]

What have you got in menu/setup/time

Is the box networked all the time?

 

[lespat]

Thanks for the reply. Set up is:
Europe
London
Transponder Time
pool.ntp.org

Incidently, when I tried first this morning, the time was all wrong and the internet was switched off (phone hot spot), and when I just tried again, the internet was on and the time was correct. Was wondering if the transponder time is not working but the pool.ntp.org is finding the time? The 5.4.003 works perfectly regardless of internet status? Something amiss since the changes above 5.4.003?

 

[ccs]

That means you're using a transponder to get the time, what service does your box normally boot up to? If it's inactive, you probably won't get a time sync.

 

[lespat]

It is not networked all the time!
Just been doing a test, and yes I am using the transponder to get the time and that works fine with 5.4.003 on the service it auto starts up on (same for all slots with 004, 005 & 006). But what I discovered that the later versions will only get the time with internet connected, so not getting the transponder time. Is this a bug that no one else has noticed?

 

[adm]

On both my boxes a cron timer has been set up. I don't ever recall having set this myself myself so maybe something that has been added to the image recently.
The cron timer seems to go to the internet at 30 minutes after midnight to get a ntp time fetch. I wonder if at this time the Internet is disconnected that the time gets set incorrectly?



However, I'm aware that these boxes have no real time clock and the time during deep standby is maintained in somewhat of an inaccurate way and when switching the box back on there may be a slight delay in fetching the transponder time.

 

[lespat]

Thanks adm. You are right that in deep standby the time is frozen until next restart and in 5.4.003 the time starts up at the last time seen i.e. when last switched off and then almost instantly updates to the current transponder time regardless of internet availability. I've just discovered that the later vix versions will only update time through internet connection. Something got lost I think on the later updates?

 

[abu baniaz]

Just to reword issue:
Time on box is incorrect if I have no Internet connection at startup.

There is a bug thread for this.Just needs looking at

 

[ccs]

The ntp cron job runs every 30 minutes.

 

[Joe_90]

Yes - that 00.30 in the cron timer means run at 30 minutes past the hour, every hour. Actually, I don't know why it's there, because the Time menu has a separate setting which will run an NTP sync (if selected) every 30 minutes as well. This timer starts at the first sync and triggers every 30 minutes after that. Assuming you start the box at (say) 08:05, there will be a sync at 08:30 (cron) and then at 08:35 and again at 09:05 etc. etc.

 

[lespat]

Thanks fat-tony, I understand what you are saying, but does this cron timer not require continuous internet connection? Pre 5.4.004 this works fine just using transponder time. Would it work if I was to somehow disable the pool.ntp.org

 

[Joe_90]

Yes it would. I don't know why it's there (the cron job setting) if you opt to maintain time by transponder setting, which I believe is the default.

 

[lespat]

Abu - "Just to reword issue:
Time on box is incorrect if I have no Internet connection at startup.

There is a bug thread for this.Just needs looking at" looked for this but can only find something going back to 2015 - 2018. Could you please direct me?

 

[adm]

Thanks fat-tony, I understand what you are saying, but does this cron timer not require continuous internet connection? Pre 5.4.004 this works fine just using transponder time. Would it work if I was to somehow disable the pool.ntp.org

Do you have the same cron timer as mine?

 

[adm]

Thanks adm. You are right that in deep standby the time is frozen until next restart and in 5.4.003 the time starts up at the last time seen i.e. when last switched off and then almost instantly updates to the current transponder time regardless of internet availability. I've just discovered that the later vix versions will only update time through internet connection. Something got lost I think on the later updates?

Although in deep standby the time cannot be updated by the transponder and there is no real time function on the box there is an (inaccurate) software timer to allow the box to wake up from deep standby in order to record. This timer often runs a bit fast and not ideal if the box is left,say, for a week in deep standby. To test that the box is working as expected find a program that is one tonight at a time you normally have yor box in deep standby - and set a timer to record it. Check tomorrow morning that the program has recorded. While recording you box will hav ebeen able to get the transponder time so you can also check that this is the time your are seeing when you first switch on the box.

 

[lespat]

Although in deep standby the time cannot be updated by the transponder and there is no real time function on the box there is an (inaccurate) software timer to allow the box to wake up from deep standby in order to record. This timer often runs a bit fast and not ideal if the box is left,say, for a week in deep standby. To test that the box is working as expected find a program that is one tonight at a time you normally have yor box in deep standby - and set a timer to record it. Check tomorrow morning that the program has recorded. While recording you box will hav ebeen able to get the transponder time so you can also check that this is the time your are seeing when you first switch on the box.

Thanks, a useful test that I will try tonight, otherwise I will have to stay with 5.4.003 on this box. Might try an update on my Edision Nino Pro to see if that behaves correctly. Thanks again.

 

[adm]

Yes - that 00.30 in the cron timer means run at 30 minutes past the hour, every hour. Actually, I don't know why it's there, because the Time menu has a separate setting which will run an NTP sync (if selected) every 30 minutes as well. This timer starts at the first sync and triggers every 30 minutes after that. Assuming you start the box at (say) 08:05, there will be a sync at 08:30 (cron) and then at 08:35 and again at 09:05 etc. etc.

Just to clarify....
I assume cron timers are inactive if the box is in deep standby, or does the box wake up to action the cron timer?

 

[ccs]

I've got the same ntp cron job setup in cron manager, the box never wakes up from deep standby to process it.

 

[Joe_90]

The box processor is completely asleep in deep standby. Only the "ticker" in the front panel is active. This counts down to the next boot time for a recording or a PowerTimer and activates the box. I have found the front panel countdown timer to be generally very accurate on my GB, HD51 or AX61 boxes. I had an issue with my Miraclebox unit, where it started going slow after a firmware update. Some boxes have real time clocks (RTC). I don't think any are battery backed, though. Would make life a lot simpler if they had proper clocks, though.

 

[adm]

I've got the same ntp cron job setup in cron manager, the box never wakes up from deep standby to process it.

I've now deleted this cron timer BUT if the time option is set to transponder and the cron timer for ntp which is taking precedence? And, in the case of the lespat, if there is no internet connection could the (long?) delay he is seeing in fetching the transponder time be because the box is waiting for minutes before timing outon not finding a network connection.
Perhaps lespat needs to delete the cron timer and then see if the transponder time immediately corrects itself on the next power up.
It may be the correct operation (or always the behaviour) that the time reported on switch on from deep standby is first the time the box was switched off. In earlier Vix versions the time update from transponder may have been almost instant but now there is a delay in updating????