Clock issue on Noble
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Volla Quintus received with 20.04/OTA-8 and upgraded to 24.04-1.3.
The system clock / date is correctly set only when the phone connects on a WiFi network (via NTP, I suppose). Maybe it would also synch over mobile data, but I can't confirm that.
When the phone is power-cycled and restarted in offline mode (i.e. both SIMs "logged in" in VoLTE mode but no WiFi and no mobile data), the clock is off by several weeks.
So it looks as if, during shutdown, the kernel fails to save the system clock to the hardware clock.
Has anyone else noticed that behaviour?
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I had seen the same thing when I was connected to a wifi network that blocked everything but http/https, as NTP was not useful my phone was not at the correct date.
I remember dimly that someone on this forum had explained to me that it was to be expected.
I am not sure if this problem is a limitation of the software or if it was working at some time and there was a regression.
Anyway this has happened on my FP5 so it's not a port specific problem.
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@gpatel-fr Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'm glad to know it's not specific to the Quintus.
The only thing I can tell is that I never had the same issue on my Pixel running Focal. It only connects on the Wifi at home, and occasionally uses mobile data, but it always keeps a reasonably accurate clock.
I wonder whether this could not be linked as well to the new support for VoLTE: could it be that the Pixel is able to get its time from the traditional GSM network, whereas VoLTE on Noble doesn't support that feature yet?
In any case, that's a bit problematic if you want to use your phone as alarm clock when you travel...
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the Pixel is able to get its time from the traditional GSM networ
My memory is a bit dim on the subject and it's all hearsay anyway, however I remember I was said otherwise.
Sorry to not be more precise however my meter says that I posted 563 posts in 9 months, so I finding precise details in the answers I got in all theses threads is not an attractive proposition.
It could be that the Pixel is able to save clock and this ability was lost on more recent phones.
use your phone as alarm clock when you travel
not sure it's a huge priority - there is an obvious workaround: do not stop your phone during the night.
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the Pixel is able to get its time from the traditional GSM network
My memory is a bit dim on the subject and it's all hearsay anyway, however I remember I was said otherwise.
After investigating the issue further (see below), I believe you're right. I just assumed it would be possible because my old Nokia N900 running Maemo used to do it (silly me
).It could be that the Pixel is able to save clock and this ability was lost on more recent phones.
Yes and no... Looking inside 'journal' on the Pixel, I found the following:
Jun 07 22:05:10 hatshepsut systemd[1]: Starting Timekeeper is a utility to keep/restore RTC offset for Qualcomm devices... Jun 08 08:18:54 hatshepsut systemd[1]: Finished Timekeeper is a utility to keep/restore RTC offset for Qualcomm devices.Meaning that RTC support seems to be linked to the Qualcomm chipset. The Quintus starts the same service, but as it uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7050 chipset, I guess retrieving the HW clock just (silently) fails.
Further down in 'journal' on the Quintus, I see the following entry that seems to confirm it:
May 21 14:28:02 ubuntu-phablet systemd-timesyncd[1401]: System clock time unset or jumped backwards, restored from recorded timestamp: Thu 2026-05-21 14:28:02 CESTWhat I don't understand is that you said you had the same problem on your FP5, even though that one does have a Qualcomm chipset (a more recent one than the Pixel, obviously).
use your phone as alarm clock when you travel
not sure it's a huge priority - there is an obvious workaround: do not stop your phone during the night.
Right, yes, I agree -- probably not a huge priority. Still, it bothers me because it also means my log timestamps are untrustworthy most of the time, as are the time-related EXIF data fields of my pictures, etc. Accurate timekeeping on anything computer-like is one of the fundamentals in my book
So I guess I'll report it to Volla nonetheless and see where it leads...
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