[time-nuts] M$-Vi$ta-compliant PC RTC clock card?

[Robert Atkinson]

Hi,
Being a hardware kind of guy, my approach would be a little different.
Why not remove the 32.768kHz crystal and feed the existing RTC with
32.768kHz divided down from a decent oscillator?
Hey, I just thought, maybe there is a market here.

Robert G8RPI.

-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of James Maynard
Sent: 20 September 2007 01:03
To: time-nuts at febo.com
Cc: support at beaglesoft.com; rick at cnssys.com
Subject: [time-nuts] M$-Vi$ta-compliant PC RTC clock card?

); SAEximRunCond expanded to false
Errors-To: time-nuts-bounces+robert.atkinson=genetix.com at febo.com RETRY

I have been assembling my own PC, using an Intel motherboard and MS
Vista
operating system. I want to use it in my local time-nuts hobby of
comparing
comparing the performance of various oscillators and clocks.

I have installed Rick Hambly's TAC32+ software. That software tells me
that my
motherboard's own Real Time Clock (RTC) is truly horrible: it drifts at
a rate
of about 5000 microseconds per second and is unstable, too. I want a
better
RTC than that (I don't really need it, but being a time-nut, I *want*
it.)

Okay, my previous Windows XP machine had a PCI RTC clock with a
temperature-compensated oscilator (TCXO), sold to me by Beagle Software
of
Minneapolis. It worked under XP, and Vista is supposed to be a
replacemtn for
XP, so I thought that I could just plug it in and install its software,
right?

Wrong. In order for the PCI RTC clock card to replace the motherboard's
RTC, I
have to first stop or disable the Windows RTC service. This is something
that
Windows Vista does not permit me to do, even though I am the
Administrator of
my own computer. In at least the first release of Vista, only software
which
has been signed by the manufacturer can replace the motherboard's RTC
service.

I talked to Beagle software, who referred me to the manufacturer. The
manufacturer told me that getting the software signed as really
originating
from him, especially if it was to be certified as being compatible with
MS
Vista, was a hassle, and too expensive for his little business. He had
no
plans to qualify his RTC clock card for use with Vista.

I hope that some future Vista service pack might support the same clock
card
that I was able to use in Windows XP and, as administrator of my XP
machine,
okay as a replacement for the motherboard's RTC service. But I don't
know how
to make that happen.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer of an TCXO RTC clock card (for PCI
bus or
PCIespress x1 bus) that is planning to certify it for use with Windows
Vista?

(I know that some on this list will say, "You nitwit, you should be
another OS
than M$ Vista." Such replies will not be helpful to me.)

James Maynard, K7KK
Salem, Oregon, USA



_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to
https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
and follow the instructions there.


--------------------------------------------------------




Genetix Limited - Queensway, New Milton, Hampshire, BH25 5NN  Registered in England No. 2660050   www.genetix.com 
Any opinions expressed in this email are those of the individual and not necessarily Genetix Ltd (Genetix) or any company associated with it. This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering to the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify Genetix by telephone on +44 (0)1425 624600.
The unauthorised use, disclosure, copying or alteration of this message is strictly forbidden. This mail and any attachments have been scanned for viruses prior to leaving Genetix network. Genetix will not be liable for direct, special, indirect or consequential damages as a result of any virus being passed on, or arising from alteration of the contents of this message by a third party.
--------------------------------------------------------