Comments on: Macbook Air loses time when battery runs flat

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:41:01 +0000

Did anyone have time to try out the code that Manarth submitted, looks promising. Is there a way of fixing the proxy settings that get wiped as well? Not such a bad problem on a small scale but on a larger scale, horrendous.

By: Scoopz

Scoopz — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:50:36 +0000

@Manarth – I’m not sure why the code got stripped out of your test comment, I’ll have to look into that. Thanks for taking the time to post you comment though and put the code on pastebin. I’ve copied the code from pastebin into your comment above for people to see.

Scoopz (Admin)

By: Manarth

Manarth — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:06:04 +0000

Well, I had a potential solution, but the system won’t let me post the script. Guess it’s some kind of antivirus/anti-XSS system, but it’s pretty poor because:
1. It can’t tell the difference between sample bash code and an attack,
and 2. It returns you to the blog page without any error message or notification, so first of all you lose the comment that you just wrote, and secondly you have no indication why it’s not posted properly.

Ah well, it’s on http://pastebin.com/inE7nv2r if anyone cares.
————code start—————–
#!/bin/bash

me=”$(basename “$(test -L “$0″ && readlink “$0″ || echo “$0″)”)”
now=`date +%s`
filetime=`stat -f %m $me`

if [ "$now" -lt "$filetime" ]; then
echo “System time is too old. Updating system time.”
date -f %s $filetime
else
# Touch the file to update the mtime.
touch $me
fi
————code end—————–

By: DVG

DVG — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:43:23 +0000

Workaround: I’ve found that if I plug in to ethernet (DHCP enabled) & reboot, time comes back to normal and WiFi is restored since the time server is able to sync over the wired connection.

Bad news is I have 3000 machines to manage and not everyone has access to a patch cable. Actual solutions (not workarounds) would be a lifesaver at this point…yes Apple “Geniuses”, I’m talking to you.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:18:53 +0000

I have the same problem, but the last time the computer died, before setting back the date and time, I opened Evernote and it crashed. I set the time and date correctly thinking this might be the issue, but now, everytime I try to reopen it, it crashes. Haven’t been able to use it since then, uninstalled it, downloaded it again, but still keeps crashing…

Anyone got a clue what this might be?

Thanks,
Carmen

By: Michael C

Michael C — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:25:11 +0000

Its not actually a problem. Happens on my Air as well. The workaround I do is as follows-

as soon as the nonsense starts, change the date manually [any date 2011 is ok] and plug in. You must put 3% on the battery. Have a coffeebreak.

restart the computer. the wifi should be ok now.

go back into date/time & select auto.

continue.

By: Scoopz

Scoopz — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:04:00 +0000

@Charles – Nobody has posted a fix because there is no simple fix. It’s not a software related issue it’s a hardware related issue i.e. your onboard CMOS/clock battery (not actually a battery but a capacitor I believe) has bitten the dust and is no longer able to hold charge for a reasonable amount of time.

As pointed out in the article, I had my MacBook Air sent off for repair and they replaced the board that contains the clock battery in 2009 and that fixed the problem for a few years but now the problem is back. Nothing much I can do other than remember to go into system settings and tell it to check for the network date and time again. Annoying but there’s no way I’m paying for an out of warranty repair for this issue. You could always write a small shell script that runs whenever the computer resumes from sleep that automatically checks the NNTP servers, that may be the easiest solution assuming you are connected to the internet when you resume from sleep.

Scoopz (Admin)

By: Charles

Charles — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:08:56 +0000

Why do you all keep complaining of the issue and no one here can clearly explain the fix. We know what the issue is – does any one have a resolution? If anyone here has had the problem resolved let it be known. Do not expound on what you think the issue is or this may be the issue. Simply put who has solved this issue and what did it take. Now, can I hear some responses.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:22:17 +0000

Similar problem with my Macbook Pro. Battery died and even after resetting the date/time, all my e-mails show the date/time when the battery died. My warranty has expired so any ideas will be appreciated.

By: Jaime

Jaime — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 06:08:14 +0000

Same problem here too with a Macbook Pro. Wifi password lost and clock reset :/ It’s out of warranty which is a bummer.