SCOUG-HELP Mailing List Archives

<< Previous Message << >> Next Message >>

Date:	Wed, 1 Oct 2003 10:01:12 PDT7
From:	Peter Skye <pskye@peterskye.com >
Reply-To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
To:	scoug-help@scoug.com
Subject:	SCOUG-Help: time accuracy

Content Type: text/plain

=====================================================
If you are responding to someone asking for help who
may not be a member of this list, be sure to use the
REPLY TO ALL feature of your email program.
=====================================================

Steve Carter wrote:
>
> What is the significance of using startup.cmd
> as opposed to the startup folder, aside from
> running earlier in the boot-up process?

Excellent question. And you have the right answer -- startup.cmd does
run before the contents of the Startup Folder are opened/started.

Here's why you want to use startup.cmd: If something in the Startup
Folder requires a "proper" time and the clock set (NTP) program is also
in the Startup Folder then there's a good chance the clock will not have
been sync'd yet when the other program starts. After all, any programs
in the Startup Folder are started essentially at the same time, and one
of the first things a program might do is get its starting time whereas
the clock set program has to first request the time from a time server,
wait for the response, and then set the clock.

By putting the clock set program in startup.cmd it's much more likely
that your system clock will be sync'd before anything in Startup Folder
is started.

But running the clock set from CONFIG.SYS is the best choice.
Startup.cmd is started before the Startup Folder is opened but that
doesn't mean that startup.cmd *ends* before the Startup Folder opens.
It doesn't. Once the OS/2 boot process starts startup.cmd the boot
process keeps going with startup.cmd running in parallel. So if you
have other programs in your startup.cmd you should put the clock set
program in *front* of the other programs. (My clock set program checks
about 10 different time servers, and this takes several seconds so using
the Startup Folder in my case is simply not an option.)

Running the clock set program from CONFIG.SYS guarantees that it will
run and complete before the bootup processes startup.cmd and the Startup
Folder.

- Peter

=====================================================

To unsubscribe from this list, send an email message
to "steward@scoug.com". In the body of the message,
put the command "unsubscribe scoug-help".

For problems, contact the list owner at
"rollin@scoug.com".

=====================================================

Return to [ 01 | October | 2003 ]

SCOUG, Warp Expo West, and Warpfest are trademarks of the Southern California OS/2 User Group. OS/2, Workplace Shell, and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.