hey e2fsprogs folks-- debian bug 557636 does *not* just affect virtualized environments and machines doing wacky things like setting their hardware clocks in localtime.
It also affects (read: cripples) installations on hardware with no CMOS battery (or with dead CMOS batteries), or the equivalent. This means that, say, an old laptop is effectively unbootable once it has been powered down, unless i do something odd like set the clock from the BIOS (or bootloader; thanks GRUB2!) before the kernel is launched. Not all machinery with batteries have replaceable batteries (some are soldered in), so when that battery dies, this bug causes an effective lockout. Other affected hardware includes certain models of ALIX (http://pcengines.ch/) boards, which ship with no battery, and apparently expect runtime to set the clock some other way. I'm sure there are more devices that i don't know about. I know that correct clock values are important, and i do what i can to make sure my machines are all properly synced. But it would really suck to be unable to boot a battery-less machine just because the machine's root filesystem uses ext{2,3}. Is there a preferred workaround for this scenario? --dkg
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