Here are my notes on dealing with the clock.  It may or may not answer your
question, but it should give some details on how the hardware clock and the
system time interact.


ON SYSTEM STARTUP:

/etc/sysconfig/clock:
UTC=true  # Indicates that the HW clock is kept in Coordinated Universal Time
ARC=false # not used :)

first run:	hwclock --adjust
-uses /etc/adjtime to adjust for hardware clock drift

second run:	hwclock --hctosys --utc
-sets system time from hardware clock
-hardware clock is stored in UTC (if UTC=true set as above)
-also sets the kernel timezone value based on TZ environment variable
or from the /etc/localtime symlink


READING:

read system time:
	date -R

read hardware clock:
	hwclock --show        # do not adjust for UTC--show actual stored value
	hwclock --show --utc  # adjust for UTC, should show same thing as date

if things don't look right, check that TZ variable is set to the same
thing that /etc/localtime symlink points to.  (or TZ variable is not set)


ADJUSTING:

set system time to localtime + timezone offset, i.e.
	date --set="Thu, 10 Aug 2000 11:18:32 -0700"

set hardware clock from system time, adjusting for UTC:
	hwclock --systohc --utc


-duncan