Is it worth it getting a RTC?

[Longtime4321]

Given that the MiSTer can just internet to generate time for games with RTC support, is it even worth investing money into a RTC module? The only games that come to mind with RTC support are pokemon. The only time I can ever imagine an RTC module being useful is if internet goes out, but unless you live in an area with poor internet access (in which case how did you even buy the components to assemble a MiSTer and obtain roms) or have frequent outages, I don't see an RTC being useful

I should note that this topic isn't to help me decide, but rather for discussion and to help others decide. Feel free to leave your 2 cents

Edit: haha wrong board pretend this is on General Discussion

[LamerDeluxe]

Like you say, it is only useful in situations where you are not connected to the internet. For instance if you bring it with you to friends or an event and can't be bothered to connect it to WiFi there.

A number of computer cores use a clock, but usually not for games. And I suppose it helps for correct time stamps in files that the Linux system writes.

For me personally, it came with the set of MiSTer boards I ordered, it is cheap and I like not having to think about the clock being correct when I bring the MiSTer with me.

[ntt]

An RTC board came some years ago with the other boards of my self-assembled first MiSTer, but so far I've felt no need to install it.
To be completely honest I'd have a hard time telling in which of the long forgotten drawers the RTC board is today...
So for me that board is not needed, especially considering that a MiSTer without internet access would probably lose most of its appeal.
My 2c

PS the idea of opening the mister case for replacing the RTC battery is reason enough for not recommending that board at all

[AfterBurnett]

I have one. There is no battery in it

[mister_fan]

PS the idea of opening the mister case for replacing the RTC battery is reason enough for not recommending that board at all

Ok, agreed that is annoying but you have to do that like once every 7 years or something right? I'm assuming its like a motherboard. Anyone know how long the coin cell lasts in MiSTer? Anybody have to replace theirs yet? Curious.

[LamerDeluxe]

PS the idea of opening the mister case for replacing the RTC battery is reason enough for not recommending that board at all

Ok, agreed that is annoying but you have to do that like once every 7 years or something right? I'm assuming its like a motherboard. Anyone know how long the coin cell lasts in MiSTer? Anybody have to replace theirs yet? Curious.

Over 3.5 years now here, just checked and it is still working fine.

[Malor]

One of the benefits of the RTC is that you have the correct date and time instantly on boot, rather than needing to wait for an NTP sync. If you're running cores that care about the time, it means you can launch them faster. And, of course, you maintain correct local time no matter what the Internet is doing.

There are not, however, very many cores that understand date and time. Minimig and AO486 are two of them, and I'd expect the ST, Mac, and Archimedes cores to also take time settings from the Mister, but I haven't actually checked. There might be a few consoles that use absolute time, but I think most of the ones that do this in the real world are also too powerful for the Mister to emulate.

Overall, it's not a big thing, but the RTC is pretty cheap. The most expensive part is taking the time to figure out how the stack of little plastic pieces goes together. I was pretty mystified until I found online directions. I like having it, and I think it was worth $15, but your opinion will probably be different.

edit, a day later: you need to set the RTC once. It doesn't start out with the correct time. There's a script in the main Mister repository. Or, once you've got correct time set from the Internet, you can drop to a command prompt and type:

Code: Select all

hwclock --systohc

You can also manually set the date from the command line if you can't get Internet at all, but I'd have to look up how to do that.