Since a couple of months ago, I've seen problems with ntpd.  All my
Intel boxes running NetBSD-current now look like their clocks are too
poor for ntpd to maintain them -- but until a couple of months ago,
they all worked just fine.  One machine looks like this:

Jun  5 20:14:14 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +0.592628 s
Jun  5 22:01:32 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +1.718502 s
Jun  5 22:01:32 dejah ntpd[629]: frequency error 512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM
Jun  5 22:08:03 dejah ntpd[629]: frequency error 512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM
Jun  6 00:40:08 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +0.868202 s
Jun  6 01:12:16 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset -0.310416 s
Jun  6 01:31:27 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +0.219826 s
Jun  6 01:40:04 dejah ntpd[629]: frequency error 512 PPM exceeds tolerance 500 PPM
Jun  6 01:58:22 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset -0.477778 s
Jun  6 09:41:56 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +0.213080 s
Jun  6 19:22:15 dejah ntpd[629]: time reset +0.877390 s

Another looks like this:

Jun  6 03:14:29 athene ntpd[342]: time reset -0.224197 s
Jun  6 03:18:46 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 03:38:02 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=3
Jun  6 03:38:03 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 05:46:33 athene ntpd[342]: time reset -0.285887 s
Jun  6 05:50:48 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 05:59:27 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=4
Jun  6 05:59:28 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 158.38.0.168, stratum=2
Jun  6 07:10:13 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=3
Jun  6 07:10:22 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.20, stratum=2
Jun  6 07:12:21 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=3
Jun  6 07:12:31 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 12:49:55 athene ntpd[342]: time reset -0.179919 s
Jun  6 12:54:11 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 14:41:06 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=3
Jun  6 14:41:08 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.20, stratum=2
Jun  6 15:10:17 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 129.240.12.4, stratum=3
Jun  6 15:11:00 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 158.38.0.168, stratum=2
Jun  6 15:11:00 athene ntpd[342]: time reset +0.373938 s
Jun  6 15:15:15 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.10, stratum=2
Jun  6 16:51:48 athene ntpd[342]: time reset -0.408639 s
Jun  6 16:56:05 athene ntpd[342]: synchronized to 193.71.1.20, stratum=2

Both of these are configured with several known good ntp servers.
Note that the resets go both ways, which doesn't rhyme with a poorly
adjusted clock.

Any hints as to how to configure these boxes to have more stable clocks?

-tih
-- 
Tom Ivar Helbekkmo, Senior System Administrator, EUnet Norway
www.eunet.no  T: +47-22092958 M: +47-93013940 F: +47-22092901