Unused computer's RTC seems to have kept going for 12 yrs w/o being plugged in.

[cdev]

I have an old mini-server machine that I used to use a lot but due to its power supply dying its been unplugged for 12 years, as shown by its network configuration which was from my old home on the opposite coast. So I finally got around to wiring a new plug for it and booted it up. Its RTC must have been running all this time because it had the date right and thought the time was around 17:00 UTC when it was in reality around 23:00 UTC..

It couldn't have gotten time from the network because it had not been connected to any network yet! (It has a serial port/console)

Wow..

[BradC]

Not at all impossible. You probably got a "wednesday" RTC & Battery.

[Halcyon]

Quite common with those older RTCs. The old Dallas RTC chips with the built-in battery were rated for 10 years and often lasted longer.

[Ampera]

Quite common with those older RTCs. The old Dallas RTC chips with the built-in battery were rated for 10 years and often lasted longer.

Those thing suck when you gotta replace them tho, as nobody bothered to socket them. I'd take a CR2032 any day.

[Halcyon]

Quite common with those older RTCs. The old Dallas RTC chips with the built-in battery were rated for 10 years and often lasted longer.

Those thing suck when you gotta replace them tho, as nobody bothered to socket them. I'd take a CR2032 any day.

Likewise, however I'd say at least half of those Dallas RTCs I've seen have been socketed, for example in the IBM PS/2 machines. It made replacement really easy and you can still buy new ones as drop-in replacements.

[Ampera]

How's the pinging program working?

[rdl]

Sat in a closet over 10 years and the clock was off by less than a minute. Modern computers, if not connected to a time server, you're lucky if they're with in a minute after a week

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/vintage-computing/what-was-the-very-first-computer-you-owned/msg1272450/#msg1272450

[Halcyon]

How's the pinging program working?

I tweaked it a bit but does the job. It seems as though my internet connection has been stable over the past 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed it stays that way!

[Ampera]

Sat in a closet over 10 years and the clock was off by less than a minute. Modern computers, if not connected to a time server, you're lucky if they're with in a minute after a week

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/vintage-computing/what-was-the-very-first-computer-you-owned/msg1272450/#msg1272450

My HP48G's RTC is really inaccurate. It can go off by hours if left for a month or so.