Re: Easiest way to do VGA to Text

["Martin McCormick" <martin.m@suddenlink.net>]

rhkramer@gmail.com writes:
> I know this is off point (because you are not the original poster, who, 
> iirc,
> is blind or partially blind), but, if the only reason to reconfigure the 
> BIOS
> is to set the correct date and time, an alternate would be to boot with 
> the
> wrong time, then use, set the (software) clock to the correct time 
> (possibly
> using the utility that syncs to the atomic clocks in Colorado or 
> wherever, and
> then using  that other utility that lets you set the hardware clock from 
> the
> software clock.

	Raspberry Pi's do exactly what you are describing when
they run Linux.  They have no running internal clock so when they
power up, they can only reference seconds that start from 0 in
their timer register.  Instead of a big bang, we are talking
about a little pop.

	At some point, the Pi gets a network connection going and
goes out to pool.ntp.org where there are thousands of unix boxes
all over the world that can give you UTC or coordinated universal
time to within a second or so if you use a pool near where you
live.  Search for pool.ntp.org.

	Very briefly, servers connected to actual atomic clocks
are Stratum 1 servers.  You can even become one of those by
having your own atomic clock or by using a receiver that can sync
to the atomic clocks carried by such systems as GPS.  These are
incredibly accurate.

	For the rest of us, not trying to crowd source a radio
telescope or do some other task that requires accuracy to umteen
decimal places, ntpd can get you there to within a second when
configured correctly.

	Ntpd even has routines that check your clock against all
the others and add or delete fractions of seconds so the longer
your clock runs, the more accurate it gets to a certain point.

	If you do have a hardware clock, Linux automatically
updates it.  If you look at system shutdown messages, that's one
of  them as processes are being shut off.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ