Raspberry Pi System Time Tool

The Offline Challenge

Standard Raspberry Pi models lack a built-in battery-backed Real-Time Clock (RTC). Without an internet connection, they cannot synchronize with NTP servers, leading to incorrect system timestamps.

The Solution: This tool allows you to manually set the system clock through a guided interface, ensuring your projects and logs stay accurate even when disconnected.

Installation & Permissions

After downloading, decompress the file and grant execution permissions:

gunzip set-system-time-tool.gz

chmod +x set-system-time-tool

Launch the tool with root privileges:

sudo ./set-system-time-tool

Download Tool

This software is provided free of charge and may be used freely for any project.

Download .gz package (Free) Architecture: Linux 64-bit (AArch64) Showcase: A compact FreePascal binary. Purely standalone with no external dependencies.

Usage Example

The following example demonstrates the user-friendly interface and input validation. Just fill in the fields to set the system time; the tool also automatically detects and updates your hardware RTC module if present.

peva@rasp1:~ $ sudo ./set-system-time-tool ======================================== RASPBERRY PI SYSTEM TIME TOOL - 2026 Developed by: Peter Vangsgaard peva@pvangsgaard.com ======================================== Current system time: 21-1-26 20:19:53 ---------------------------------------- Year (2026-2099): 2026 Month (1-12): 1 Day (1-31): 21 Hour (0-23): 20 Minute (0-59): 25 Second (0-59): 10 Set time to 2026-01-21 20:25:10? (y/n): y Wed Jan 21 08:25:10 PM CET 2026 Success! System clock updated. Note: System updated, but no hardware clock (RTC) found. Press Enter to exit...

P. Vangsgaard