ntpMerlin ntpMerlin v3.4.10 [2025-Aug-03] - NTP Time Server for AsusWRT Merlin

[Martinski]

Release Notes for ntpMerlin v3.4.9 production version now available
[2025-Jul-21]

1) FIXED: Missing symbolic link for /opt/ etc /passwd was causing the chronyd process to fail, resulting in an infinite loop trying to restart the process every 5 seconds.
[Thanks to GitHub user @trisk for reporting the problem and providing a fix.]

2) Miscellaneous code improvements.

NOTE: In the file path /opt/ etc /passwd the blank spaces are necessary for the string to be allowed in this post.


** The fork from @Jack Yaz's ntpMerlin add-on is now hosted on the AMTM-OSR GitHub repo:

GitHub - AMTM-OSR/ntpMerlin: ntpMerlin implements an NTP time server for AsusWRT Merlin with charts for daily, weekly and monthly summaries of performance. A choice between ntpd and chrony is available.

ntpMerlin implements an NTP time server for AsusWRT Merlin with charts for daily, weekly and monthly summaries of performance. A choice between ntpd and chrony is available. - AMTM-OSR/ntpMerlin

github.com

 

[Martinski]

Release Notes for ntpMerlin v3.4.10 production version now available
[2025-Aug-03]

1) IMPROVED: Added code to double-check and make sure only one NTP server process (either ntpd or chronyd) is running after toggling the time server selection, and every time the corresponding service script is executed (started or restarted).

2) IMPROVED: Added code to double-check and make sure that the correct time server script that's installed by ntpMerlin (for ntpd or chronyd) is found and executed, and to verify that it has not been overwritten or modified (e.g. via Entware package updates). These checks are performed at startup following a reboot, every time the NTP server is restarted, and every 10 minutes via the pre-existing cron job that generates time server stats.

3) Miscellaneous code improvements.


NOTE:
Thanks to @JGrana for reporting and bringing to the forefront the problem WRT multiple time servers running simultaneously. AFAICT, this problem has existed for a long time (probably since the beginning), and it was most likely to happen *after* an Entware update was performed, which installs its own set of service scripts, effectively overwriting the custom version installed by ntpMerlin.


** The fork from @Jack Yaz's ntpMerlin add-on is now hosted on the AMTM-OSR GitHub repo:

GitHub - AMTM-OSR/ntpMerlin: ntpMerlin implements an NTP time server for AsusWRT Merlin with charts for daily, weekly and monthly summaries of performance. A choice between ntpd and chrony is available.

ntpMerlin implements an NTP time server for AsusWRT Merlin with charts for daily, weekly and monthly summaries of performance. A choice between ntpd and chrony is available. - AMTM-OSR/ntpMerlin

github.com

 

[maghuro]

As soon as I updated, and changed to Chrony (wasn't installed, PKG installed via script), my log is full of those messages every couple of seconds:

Aug  3 09:20:48 timeserverd_[7134]: chronyd dead, restarting...
Aug  3 09:20:48 timeserverd_[7134]: chronyd was restarted
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 8542 Comm: chronyd Tainted: P           O      4.19.183 #1
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: Hardware name: GTAX6000_50991 (DT)
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: pstate: 80000000 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO)
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: pc : 0000007f89e2f760
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: lr : 0000007f89eae93c
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: sp : 0000007fe81de7b0
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x29: 0000007fe81de7b0 x28: 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x27: 0000007fe81de920 x26: 0000007fe81de910
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x25: 0000007fe81de950 x24: 0000007fe81de978
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000004
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x21: 000000000f41f530 x20: 0000007fe81de910
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x19: 0000000000000004 x18: 00000000000000ff
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x17: 0000000000000000 x16: a619ef0cfc9e83a1
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x15: bdf8ec9b39d1bdfb x14: 2a8ff29ed92acd21
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x13: 166a9e32a1c7b930 x12: a500546ed2a64514
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x11: ffffffff00000001 x10: 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x9 : 00000000ffffffff x8 : ffffffffffffffff
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x7 : ffffffffffffffff x6 : 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x5 : 166a9e31a1c7b931 x4 : 000000000f420290
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x3 : 0000007f89eae910 x2 : 0000007f89e2f760
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x1 : 0000000000000004 x0 : 0000007fe81de910

Solution is to switch back to ntpd

 

[Martinski]

As soon as I updated, and changed to Chrony (wasn't installed, PKG installed via script), my log is full of those messages every couple of seconds:

Aug  3 09:20:48 timeserverd_[7134]: chronyd dead, restarting...
Aug  3 09:20:48 timeserverd_[7134]: chronyd was restarted
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 8542 Comm: chronyd Tainted: P           O      4.19.183 #1
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: Hardware name: GTAX6000_50991 (DT)
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: pstate: 80000000 (Nzcv daif -PAN -UAO)
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: pc : 0000007f89e2f760
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: lr : 0000007f89eae93c
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: sp : 0000007fe81de7b0
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x29: 0000007fe81de7b0 x28: 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x27: 0000007fe81de920 x26: 0000007fe81de910
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x25: 0000007fe81de950 x24: 0000007fe81de978
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000000000000004
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x21: 000000000f41f530 x20: 0000007fe81de910
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x19: 0000000000000004 x18: 00000000000000ff
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x17: 0000000000000000 x16: a619ef0cfc9e83a1
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x15: bdf8ec9b39d1bdfb x14: 2a8ff29ed92acd21
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x13: 166a9e32a1c7b930 x12: a500546ed2a64514
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x11: ffffffff00000001 x10: 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x9 : 00000000ffffffff x8 : ffffffffffffffff
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x7 : ffffffffffffffff x6 : 0000000000000000
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x5 : 166a9e31a1c7b931 x4 : 000000000f420290
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x3 : 0000007f89eae910 x2 : 0000007f89e2f760
Aug  3 09:20:49 kernel: x1 : 0000000000000004 x0 : 0000007fe81de910

Solution is to switch back to ntpd

It looks like you got a "bad" Entware package installation.
I suggest removing any existing chrony package(s):

opkg remove chrony chrony-nts --force-removal-of-dependent-packages

Then, try again to reinstall chrony via the ntpMerlin script.

If you continue to see the same problem, perhaps the current Entware package binary being installed is, for some reason, incompatible with your platform.