Help Problem with the clock! / Time Keeps Changing Despite Settings

[johnnysuperhero7]

Just purchased two of these phones from Walmart.com and have activated on Straight Talk. These are my first smartphones to be used for actual service. I've had them before as MP3 and Wifi devices though. Anywho...I'm having the same problem on both phones! It seems to be ocurring on my wife's more often though for some reason. I installed the ClockSync app, but am afraid to actually root it because of the voided warranty. I've tried a ton of things like battery pull and turning off/on, but it keeps coming back. Next step is factory reset I guess...which is likely what ST customer service will tell me. Sent them an email asking for help and they asked that I called directly. Pain.

 

[johnnysuperhero7]

Having the same problem off and on with my two phones. Bought one for myself and one for my wife after leaving Verizon. Not sure why this continues to plague us after shutting off the automatic updates. Is this only for people in Central time zone? Our's keeps trying to put us in Mountain time even though we are securely in Iowa...in the middle of CST/CDT town. WTF? Ditto on the 6-hour difference also. Although I think I've seen mine actually jump a back further than that also. Tried everything short of a factory reset. Taking off the cover and the back of the phone is such a PITA!!! Sent Straight Talk and Samsung both emails. ST replied asking me to call their help desk. Ugh!

 

[Corpsecrank]

I had this problem also and the way I fixed it was to turn off all the time sync stuff and just manually set the time and date. Once you turn all the auto settings it should be fine.

I have 2 of these phones one had this problem the other did not it's kind of weird like that.

 

[johnnysuperhero7]

I had this problem also and the way I fixed it was to turn off all the time sync stuff and just manually set the time and date. Once you turn all the auto settings it should be fine.

I have 2 of these phones one had this problem the other did not it's kind of weird like that.

If only it was that easy! Mine just lost 6 hours twice today after being good for about a week on manual settings. Might return it to see if I can get a new one that actually f'ing works!

 

[johnnysuperhero7]

Happened to me twice again today. Once was early in the morning and then again around 7 pm CST. Lost 6 hours both times. Anyone else?

 

[chieffangrande]

I found that my global clock settings in my calander app were set to a time zone in Australia. I corrected that setting in the calander app and so far so good the clock is keeping the correct time. I will reply back and update this thread if this "fix" fails to solve the problem.

 

[SteveCampsOut]

There's a fix I found in this thread. This app from Google Play will fix the lost time issues with the Centura. ClockSync

 

[SteveCampsOut]

Thanks for the ClockSync Solution.

 

[samhamforash]

Anyone else having problems with clock sync? I get a msg saying can get ntp offset. Ugh was working fine.

 

[redfield88]

There is no way to fix this without clocksync at the moment. Factory reset will not solve your issue. This is a software issue with the phone. A lot of cheap Samsung phones have annoying bugs like this.

 

[SteveCampsOut]

Anyone else having problems with clock sync? I get a msg saying can get ntp offset. Ugh was working fine.

Did you look into the ClockSync settings and give it permission to use the 3G data connection?

 

[evertking]

I had problems with clock sync.. or could of been the thrkottle st put on me. Anyway, i use an app called smart time sync and it checks and correcrs the time using gps and have not had that problem anymore.. heck now im at work early. Lol

 

[johnnysuperhero7]

There's a fix I found in this thread. This app from Google Play will fix the lost time issues with the Centura. ClockSync

The problem with that "fix" is that you have to root the phone to get it to work automatically. This will void all warranties on the phone. There is an app that shows you what the time should be, but you have to manually correct it yourself. What a pain for such a standard feature that even the most basic phones easily handle.

As a side note, I now have gibberish appearing on my locked main screen. In the area where it shows the % charging when plugged in, it says "llllplllmlmmllml" when not plugged in. I pulled the battery and it still remains. Makes no sense!

 

[tjdoren]

My earlier post with a CatLog discovery proved to be fruitless. I captured about 5 more time change events on CatLog, and none of them showed any consistent pattern of anything related to the time change. I started working with StraightTalk's customer service on their online forum, and they weren't helpful at all. Eventually, I called the StraightTalk customer service hotline, and they insisted I attempt a factory reset before they would exchange my phone. So I reluctantly did the reset, and I left my phone in nearly factory condition for a day, without installing my apps. Sure enough, my time changed again later that same day. So I think this rules out any interaction with apps.
After all that, they agreed to exchange my phone. But the frustrating thing is that I had to mail it in, and they won't send the replacement until they receive my old phone. So I am phone-less for a few days...Grrrrrr! Hopefully my next phone is better.
My advice to everyone fighting this issue....bite the bullet and push on StraightTalk for an exchange. If they start getting a few of these back, maybe they'll try harder to come up with a solution.

 

[bccric]

I also have the same problem but since i am in arizona my time backs up 7 hours. I have custom rom am rooted , use clocksync and still have the problem. I have unrooted gone back to stock factory reset, tried all the tricks. Still have the problem and as i type it is happening again.
As an after thought i wonder if your offset will change with the end of dst. Az does not use dst.

 

[acasinofriend]

I found that my global clock settings in my calander app were set to a time zone in Australia. I corrected that setting in the calander app and so far so good the clock is keeping the correct time. I will reply back and update this thread if this "fix" fails to solve the problem.

Awesome... I hope this resolves the problem. I even called tech support and they reset my phone, but eventually the clock messed up again.

 

[acasinofriend]

Nope, my clock jumped back six hours even with the calendar trick...

 

[jmcook79]

I have had my phone for almost a month and this problem finally happened to me today! In my case it set the clock back 5 hours. I went into time settings and unchecked the auto setting and then checked it back and it corrected it. If it continues to happen I will try the app that uses the GPS but does GPS always need to be on for it to work or does it turn it on as needed?

 

[nana98]

Mine has been jumping 6 hours for a month I get to change back by turning off / on my alarms. Not fix because it happens every day.

 

[jmcook79]

It's only happened once with me and all I did to fix it was un-select "set time and date automatically" and check it back. The time immediately jumped back to the right time. It's really strange how some people have the problem every day, some much less often and some never.

 

[nana98]

Thanks, I did that seems to have worked

 

[jmcook79]

I'm glad it worked!

 

[jmcook79]

Wow, it's strange that some devices are affected more than others and even stranger that what works for one phone doesn't work for another. My wife has had her Centura for a few months now and hers has only had it happen one time. She said it corrected itself about 10 minutes later. Next time it happens to me I'm going to leave it alone and see what happens.

I'm just glad neither of us ever use our phones as alarms.

P.S. I just did a Google search for "android losing time" and this seems to be happening with a wide variety of devices. In most other cases it's a matter of minutes though. I'm going to start looking for fixes for other phones, maybe it will turn up some useful info.

 

[kpearsonxyz]

Okay, let me muddy up the waters a bit.

I have an old T-Mobile 3g Slide (OS v2.2.1) and mine started doing this yesterday. Mine changes from MST to PST, so it's off by an hour. Yes, only an hour. I've read of many having their phone revert (not the right word) to GMT (UTC) and some without the time zone setting on the phone changing (mine does).

[For me this is a very serious issue because I use my phone as a medicine
alarm at the suggestion of my neurologist. The meds I take are very high doses
of nerve pain control, and time-release morphine. Having an alarm be an hour
late on a couple doses during the past 2 days since this started is excruciating.
Taking maintenance medications on a set schedule is crucial for pain management,
as I'm sure some of you know. It's not life threatening, but it is definitely not good
on the attitude and desire to keep living. Yes, the pain is that bad, and it takes 2
days to recover from missing a dose.]

I've read about 100 posts on 3 different forums tonight and guess what? There isn't a "fix" that has worked, including:

- factory reset
- rooting
- new ROM installation
lesser attempts:
- remove battery while running
- remove sim card (ATT/T-Mobile)
- remove SD card
- leave all out for up to 30 minutes

yada yada yada

I'm at the point of believing the NSA is doing it to mess with us. Yeah, call me a conspiracy theorist, but anyone who doesn't believe in conspiracies either doesn't understand evil, whose only purpose is to destroy good which is a conspiracy, or is just silly and a bit foolish. No offense intended. Please don't take any (such a waste of good emotional energy to let little people like me get to you, right?). Besides, I'm just venting my frustration right now.

So, if anyone gets an incredible idea of either how to block this, or solve it without disabling some of the most important features, please let us know, because I'm all ears right now...

 

[jmcook79]

I believe is some conspiracies but I don't believe in evil. That's another topic for another time lol. I do admit if you use your alarm, especially in cases like yours, it becomes a serious problem. Fortunately, I just use it as a clock so in the worst case I know mine sets back 5 hours so If it happens again I'll just add 5 hours and I'll know what time it is. Then I'll wait and see if it corrects itself before going into the settings.

I guess this is one of the tradeoffs of not having a "flagship" phone.