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PC Standards project | CC BY 4.0 | ROCK 5 ITX only 1
ROCK 5 ITX RTC Battery: Installation and Verification
An original board-specific checklist for the Radxa ROCK 5 ITX Mini-ITX motherboard | 15 September 2026
Scope: a supporting RTC setup and retention test. This is not a full motherboard user manual and is not interchangeable with
ROCK 5B or other boards.
1. Prepare the hardware
Shut down, remove board power, and use normal electrostatic-discharge precautions. Locate the RTC battery interface using
the official ROCK 5 ITX RTC page. Fit a suitable battery/lead in the documented orientation; do not force the connector or
improvise a polarity reversal. Inspect the seating and cable routing before powering the board again.
2. Confirm that Linux found the clock
On a supported Linux boot, look for the RTC registration message and check that the device is present as /dev/rtc0. The
official example is an hym8563 device registered as rtc0. If the device is absent, stop and review board revision, image
support, and connector fit before relying on battery-backed time.
Read the clock with hwclock -r -f /dev/rtc0. If it differs from a trusted current time, first set the operating-system time
using the system administrator's normal procedure, then write it to the RTC with hwclock -w -f /dev/rtc0. Read it again
and record the observed value.
3. Verify retention, not merely registration
Disconnect the network and power off the board for ten minutes. Restore power and compare the RTC-derived time with a
trusted clock before network time synchronization can mask a retention failure. Allow for normal elapsed time and small
startup differences. A large reset or stale date calls for battery, polarity, or connector investigation.
Acceptance record
Record: board revision; battery type and installation date; /dev/rtc0 registration; initial and corrected hwclock reads; start/end
of the ten-minute network-isolated power-off interval; and the observed post-boot drift. Keep personal hostnames, account
details, and network identifiers out of any shared record.
Attribution and redistribution
Technical reference: Radxa Documentation, ROCK 5 ITX - RTC, https://docs.radxa.com/en/rock5/rock5itx/getting-started/interface-usage/rtc. License
notice: https://docs.radxa.com/en/license. Adapted and reformatted from those CC BY 4.0 instructions, with newly authored precautions and
acceptance steps. No Radxa figures, logos, or third-party content are reproduced.
The original checklist and prose are released by the PC Standards project under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Attribute
as: "PC Standards project, ROCK 5 ITX RTC Battery Installation and Verification Guide, 2026, CC BY 4.0." No personal or confidential data are
included.
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