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Why does my iMac clock always run 5 min fast?

The iMac in my office at work always runs 5 minutes and 10 seconds fast. It doesn't gain time, it's just always the same amount of fast. The "Set date and time automatically" option is on in Date & Time but the **** machine runs fast. I've zapped the PRAM a few times over the years but it never seems to make any difference.


Any ideas?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion

Posted on May 13, 2013 8:59 PM

Reply
5 replies

May 14, 2013 12:11 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for your question. It's getting on a bit… about 5 years old I think.


It doesn't forget the time, or drift, it insists the time is 5 minutes sooner than reality. If I switch off "set date and time automatically" and manually set the time correctly as soon as I turn that setting back on it resets it's clock to 5 mins in the future. It's very consistent.


Maybe I should just switch off automatic time setting but it just seems kind of weird.

May 14, 2013 7:55 PM in response to LowLuster

Thanks, LowLuster. I searched for a local time server and entered the following into the "Set date and time automatically" field:

0.au.pool.ntp.org 1.au.pool.ntp.org 2.au.pool.ntp.org 3.au.pool.ntp.org

These are Australian servers and my clock now matches the time on my iPhone and iPad. Hurrah! 🙂


Strangley I continue to use the time.asia.apple.com server on my other Macs without problem. 😕


Thanks for the help.

Why does my iMac clock always run 5 min fast?

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