Incorrect Computer Time Causes Websites To Spit The Dummy. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 06:47:49 am
content: This might in fact be normal but it is the first time I have ever experienced a problem whereby a web page will present a clock or time error message warning the user that their PC time is out of whack which then results in the inability to open certain websites. I haven't changed the CMOS battery in this PC for years and will do so immediately but in this instance for some reason I wasn't able to set the time manually and the synchronize with internet time feature wouldn't work either.I have been experiencing a few odd power outages recently where the mains goes out for a minute or so and then returns to normal, due to these annoying and inconsistent outages I have connected a UPS to this computer again but tend to shut that down as well due to the constant hum which I find quite annoying. This has then resulted in the computers clock being reset probably due to a flat CMOS or RTC battery which wasn't a problem until I connected up the UPS.

author: JVR
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 08:23:10 am
content: I have the same think on an old i3 laptop that runs my CNC machine, lightning took out half the motherboard, including the RTC. Most websites want to use https, and knowing the time, helps with the security there.Win10 is damn hard to force a time into, don't quite know why they made it that hard though.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 08:46:15 am
content: Quote from: Muttley Snickers on October 31, 2018, 06:47:49 amThat is very normal. The crux of the problem is your web browser is checking the certificate from the web site, and if you examine the certificate you'll find the valid *from* date is well after the date your computer *thinks* it is, so it'll grumble about invalid certificates.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 12:02:51 pm
content: Well, yeah, most modern encryption/authenticaton systems rely of computer time being accurate within a set limit.

author: Ranayna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 08:48:24 pm
content: Lol, that is not just a little bit behindHave you not set up internet time on your box? Then it should automatically pull the correct time after bootup.The background behind that message is that HTTPS connections are vaildated by certificates. As a security measure, those Certificates are only valid for a pre-determined time window. Common are two years, but for example the free Let's Encrypt certificates are only valid for up to 90 days. Something like this is even more critical in a Windows Domain. If the time of the Domain Controller and a Workstation are more than about 5 minutes different, you will not be ablte to use aa domain account to log in to that workstation.That Chrome message is actually really helpful in that it actually states what the problem is. Many other browser just say that the certificate is invalid, and you need to find out the reason yourself.

author: tsman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 09:17:40 pm
content: Quote from: Ranayna on October 31, 2018, 08:48:24 pmIt may refuse to sync if the time difference between the local clock and the internet clock is too big. NTP will refuse to sync if it is greater than 1000s difference as it assumes something is badly wrong and the administrator will need to fix it manually. I'm not sure what Windows Time Sync does.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 31, 2018, 09:28:38 pm
content: Seems like bad design to code stuff that relies on the client time. Should use server side time for whatever it is it's doing. I've seen this a lot with alarm reporting systems which is a pain, a new alarm comes in but the time is way off. Should use server side time not device time. I don't care what the time is on the device when it went down I want to know what the time on the server (ideally set correctly) is. Even if it's not set correctly at least all the alarms will be consistent.As a side note, Windows time sync sucks. I've never gotten that to work properly. All my Linux VMs sync fine to my local NTP but the windows ones always drift. Have to do it manually a couple times then it goes through. I've seen lot of issues on domain setups too. Fun times messing with w32time in login scripts etc to try to get it to work properly.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 01, 2018, 06:33:13 pm
content: Its good that it tells you what the problem is. I got called out a while back to help someone who couldn't browse on his laptop, but could on his iPod. Turned out the laptop CMOS battery was dead.Is there some kind of 'Ignore' function? So perhaps if you aren't concerned about the encryption working, or can't set your clock, you could just ignore the error and proceed anyway?

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 01, 2018, 10:09:47 pm
content: You can set up a scheduled task or run an application that will sync NTP on startup. I do the same thing with my old CNC machine where the CMOS battery is hidden far too deep inside.Might have been this onehttp://www.timesynctool.com/