Fixing Time Differences in Debian 12 with Dual Boot

If you're running Debian 12 and have it set up in a dual boot configuration with another operating system, you may have noticed that the system time is not consistent between the two. This can be a frustrating issue, but there's a simple command that can help resolve it.

Issue description

The problem often arises because different operating systems handle the system clock differently. Windows, for example, typically stores the time in the hardware clock as local time, while Linux distributions like Debian store it as UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). When you switch between the two, the system time can become out of sync.

The Fix

Fortunately, there's a command you can run in Debian 12 to fix this issue. Open a terminal and enter the following:

timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock


This command tells Debian to treat the hardware clock as local time, and it will automatically adjust the system clock accordingly.

Here's a breakdown of what the command does:timedatectl is the command-line tool for managing the system clock and time zone.

• set-local-rtc 1 tells Debian to treat the hardware clock as local time, rather than UTC.
• --adjust-system-clock instructs Debian to update the system clock to match the hardware clock.

After running this command, your Debian 12 system should now be in sync with the time displayed in your other operating system when dual booting.

It's worth noting that this solution may not work in all cases, as the time discrepancy can sometimes be caused by other factors. If you're still experiencing issues, you may need to explore additional troubleshooting steps, such as checking your BIOS settings or adjusting the time zone configuration.

In any case, the timedatectl set-local-rtc 1 --adjust-system-clock command is a great starting point for resolving time differences when running Debian 12 in a dual boot setup.

Comment below if this fix worked for you!!

Resolving Display and WiFi Issues on Debian 12(DELL 5550, Display driver and Intel wireless firmware)

Recently I installed Debian 12 bookworm for a change, I encountered a couple of frustrating issues with my system's display driver and Intel wireless WiFi adapter. My DELL laptop had the latest Intel Arc Graphics, but the live Debian version installed kernel version 6.1, which did not have the drivers.

naveenr@latitude5550:~$ lspci -k | grep -EA3 'VGA'
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P [Intel Arc Graphics] (rev 08)
Subsystem: Dell Meteor Lake-P [Intel Arc Graphics]
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915, xe

Symptoms:

• Very few display resolutions supported
• Display brightness not working
• Laptop special keys not working(like brightness increase and decrease )
• Bluetooth not working
• WiFi not working.

Fortunately, I was able to find a solution that got everything working properly.

Display Driver Problems

The recommended solution was to upgrade the Linux kernel and firmware packages to the versions available in the Debian "bookworm-backports" repository. To do this, I ran the following commands:

sudo apt -t bookworm-backports install linux-image-amd64

This updated my kernel to the latest version and all display issues got resolved(after debian reboot).

Resolving the WiFi Issue

In addition to the display problems, I was also having trouble connecting to my wireless network. My Intel WiFi adapter was not being recognized properly, and I couldn't get an internet connection. Again, I turned to the Debian forums and found that this was a common issue with Debian 12 and Intel wireless adapters. The solution was to install the firmware-iwlwifi package from the "bookworm-backports" repository, which I did using the command above.

sudo apt install firmware-iwlwifi/bookworm-backports



After running these commands, my display issues were resolved, and my wireless adapter started working correctly(after debian reboot). I was able to get back to using my Debian 12 system without any further problems.

Comment if you found this blog helpful.