10.2.4/DP Power Macs Date and Time Bug?


Apple's Power Mac discussion boards are awash with a reported 10.2.4/date bug, which resets the date to 1970. Or, in some cases, Wednesday 7:00pm , December 31, 1969.

The bug reportedly occurs following installation of the recently-released OS X 10.2.4 update. However, iMacs may also be affected. One user argues that it is not a PRAM battery issue (a new battery is in the Mac), and it may be a serious bug, given that the date resets every time the Mac reboots. [Ed note: Older Mac's reset their date to Aug 27th, 1956 in the event of a PRAM reset on newest machines. As a point of trivia, this is apparently the birth date of Ray Montagne, who, as legend goes, designed the CUDA controller, which if reset, clears out the PRAM. The default date was later changed to January 1, 1904, but may have been changed again to the above date. If not, then it would seem that this is not a PRAM issue. -mdf]

Not only are 'date modified/created' settings affected, but also iCal dates/appointments and alarm clock reminders. Email dates are also a considerable problem.

Analysis: We do not wish to be alarmist about this. It's yet to be determined by Apple whether a major software bug is present, but should this problem not be isolated to only a few Machines, Apple will need to address this very quickly. But it's worthwhile bearing in mind that some users (often quite a few) encounter problems all the time. Whether it's repeatable (and therefore generalized and a problem with a specific software release] more or less infinitely is another issue altogether.

Remember the OS 8.5 disappearing hard drive data release? So bad that Apple released 8.5.1., known internally as the 'Ric Ford Release,' designed to appease Ric Ford of Macintouch, who (correctly) complained long and hard about it.

We're more inclined to think this isn't a bug - it's a feature. The last day of the Sixties. If you've ever seen the cult film Withnail and I [with Richard E. Grant, if that jogs your memory], you'll know the significance of the day. And what happened in 1970? We can't recall whether Woodstock took place in '69 or '70. It's all a purple haze...