Steve is correct, you should replace the battery or replace the hardware. An improper time at boot can cause any number of “wonky” things, but also opens up some VERY nasty security attacks that revolve around timing. It is difficult and time consuming to get a system out of time with NTP running (which it should be by default on most Linux distros) when the boot time is “correct (within a few hundred milliseconds to 2 seconds)”. It is very easy to keep a system off time and continuously lie to it when relying on a plaintext software protocol alone.
If you don’t want to replace the battery, you should look at replacing the board.
Mac
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> On Thursday, Dec 23, 2021 at 2:16 PM, Steve Litt via PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org (mailto:plug-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org)> wrote:
> Michael via PLUG-discuss said on Thu, 23 Dec 2021 12:03:19 -0500
>
> > How does one set it up so that arch doesn't need a cmos battery. Mine
> > is going belly-up and I don't want to replace it. I was thinking I
> > shouldn't need to with NTP. What do you think?
>
> https://lmgtfy.app/#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=how%20to%20set%20up%20ntp%20in%20linux
>
> Not that the preceding link will help you. The time jumps involved
> in going from 1970 or whatever to the current time, on every cold boot,
> mess with all sorts of programs and processes. Plus the fact that a low
> battery could mess with the rest of your non-time settings. It's not
> inconceivable that wrong settings could cause filesystem damage (are
> you thoroughly and currently backed up?) and even hardware damage.
>
> A coin battery is available for about five bucks at any drug store. If
> you live 100 miles from a drug store, consider
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/132704000819?epid=22021694267
>
> WARNING: My computer uses a CR2032 battery, I think most computers do,
> but your computer might be different. To find out, remove necessary
> screws to get to the motherboard, taking photos at each stage so you
> know how to put it back together. Before removing the old battery, take
> a photo of the battery mounted on the motherboard. See
> https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm for info how to remove
> the battery. If the preceding URL doesn't give you the necessary info,
> perform a web search on the following words:
>
> how to remove the cmos battery from a motherboard
>
> Search the preceding words.
>
> SteveT
>
> Steve Litt
> Spring 2021 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful
> Technologist http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
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