How to set the current date on a Macintosh SE ?

[pat665]

Hi guys,

It might be a dummy question but it has been puzzling me for quite long. When using the "Date and Time" application (Date et Heure en français) it's impossible to set the year to 2022. It falls back to 1922.

Those using the vMac emulator will not see the problem, because the date is set from the host machine automatically.
But I'm using Hypercard on a real Mac SE and not having the correct date can be a problem. Strangely there is no Hypertalk command to set the system date. I have a solution, but maybe be I'm missing a simple one.

My solution was to build an Hypercard stack that mimics the "Date & Time" application. As Hypercard has no built-in way to set the date, I've made an XCMD using CompileIt! that is calling the Toolbox. I've learned a lot during the process and it's not a waste of time for me. But again I could be missing the obvious ...



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Merci pour vos avis et conseils
Patrick

 

[splorp]

I love when you can use HyperCard to solve a problem.

Reminds me of the batch file renaming stack I wrote when I couldn’t find any non-commercial (read: expensive) software to do the same thing.

What version of system are you running?

There’s also Rob Braun’s SetDate for System 6 and 7.

http://www.synack.net/~bbraun/macapps.html

 

[pat665]

Thank you !

I did not know this page. I'm keeping it in my bookmarks for later exploration.

I'm using System 6.0.7 (never been able to get the 6.0.8 in French) with vMac, and System 7.1 French on the Mac SE (on a real SCSI drive!).

This setdate works on both systems. On system 7, it's working directly when clicking on it. On system 6, one has to add it to the control panel.



The source in C is provided too. Quite long though and most of the code is for handling the interface. It might prove useful to study it. I prefer Pascal though. This is where Hypercard and CompileIt! shine. Much more easy.



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Bonne journée et meilleurs voeux pour cette année 2022
Patrick

 

[splorp]

I’m glad I was able to provide another option for you.

 

[rollmastr]

What worked for me was to set the date to 31.12.2020 23:59 and let the mac do the rollover to 2021. Then correct the day, month and time but leave the year. Repeat for 2021 -> 2022.

 

[splorp]

What worked for me was to set the date to 31.12.2020 23:59 and let the mac do the rollover to 2021.
Then correct the day, month and time but leave the year. Repeat for 2021 -> 2022.

This is a brilliantly simple solution, too. Love it.

 

[pat665]

Tested and working. It's indeed a good trick.

Thank you

 

[davewongillies]

Just thought I'd throw in two more solutions for this problem for others searching for solutions in the future. This worked for me on a Quadra 700 I built this week on System 7.6.1

• Install the Network Time control panel and sync your systems time using NTP
• Install the 2020Patch extension

 

[pat665]

The system 7.1 works beautifully on my french system.
The General334patch does not unfortunately. I don't have a 6.0.8 french system. Mine is a 6.0.7. I've never been able to get a 6.0.8 french.

Using the down arrow to move from 22 to 21 then up to 22, the date resulting was 1945.
A second attempt leads me to 1922.



Anyway it's nice to have several ways to fix the problem.

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Merci à tous

 

[rollmastr]

You cannot enter a year later than 2020 directly or through the arrows which is why I wrote you have to let the mac do the year change.

Enter 31.12.2020 23:59 and wait for the mac to jump to 2021. Repeat for 2021->2022. Worked fine on a German 6.0.7. I believe 6.0.8 only came in English.

 

[pat665]

Sorry I wasn't clear enough. I have installed the patch, as suggested by davewonggillies. It's supposed to let one use the arrows and it's true for System 7.1.


Install the 2020Patch extension

Your solution works too.

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Désolé pour le flou
Patrick

 

[rdmark]

Another option for your consideration is to run the Timelord time server that is included with Netatalk on a Linux/*BSD system, and then use the Tardis extension on your Mac to sync the system time on bootup. This bypasses entirely the need to bother with the control panel's date picker. As an added boon, you don't have to keep a leaky PRAM battery in your machine to have it keep the time.

See this recent thread about my Netatalk 2.2.x fork for pointers on how to set up Netatalk and Timelord!

Screenshot for illustration. Once you 'Set Time' here Tardis will remember the server and sync with it on boot.