--- rc.sysinit.orig	2006-12-17 03:02:31.000000000 +0200
+++ rc.sysinit	2006-12-17 03:22:44.000000000 +0200
@@ -128,6 +128,16 @@
 
 status "Mounting Root Read-only" /bin/mount -n -o remount,ro /
 
+# Initial clock configuration
+# Note that /usr and /var may not be available yet, so
+# /etc/localtime has to be a copy rather than a symlink to /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TIMEZONE
+# we skip reading /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime
+if [ "$HARDWARECLOCK" = "UTC" ]; then
+	/sbin/hwclock --noadjfile --directisa --utc --hctosys
+else
+	/sbin/hwclock --noadjfile --directisa --localtime --hctosys
+fi
+
 FORCEFSCK=
 [ -f /forcefsck ] && FORCEFSCK="-- -f"
 NETFS="nonfs,nosmbfs,nocifs,nocodafs,noncpfs,nosysfs,nousbfs,noshfs,nofuse"
@@ -178,18 +188,20 @@
 
 status "Activating Swap" /sbin/swapon -a
 
+# Configure the clock again
+# this is only done to take /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime into account now that it's available
+# you can avoid this if you are willing to move it to /etc/adjtime (we only need read access)
+# or you may skip it altogether
+# also /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime was initialized after it was read
 stat_busy "Configuring System Clock"
-if [ "$TIMEZONE" != "" ]; then
-	/bin/ln -sf /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TIMEZONE /etc/localtime
+if [ ! -f /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime ]; then
+	echo "0.0 0 0.0" > /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime
 fi
 if [ "$HARDWARECLOCK" = "UTC" ]; then
 	/sbin/hwclock --directisa --utc --hctosys
 else
 	/sbin/hwclock --directisa --localtime --hctosys
 fi
-if [ ! -f /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime ]; then
-	echo "0.0 0 0.0" > /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime
-fi
 stat_done
 
 if [ -f /var/run/random-seed ]; then
--- rc.shutdown.orig	2006-12-17 03:02:37.000000000 +0200
+++ rc.shutdown	2006-12-17 03:29:50.000000000 +0200
@@ -55,6 +55,13 @@
 stat_done
 
 stat_busy "Saving System Clock"
+if [ "$TIMEZONE" != "" ]; then
+  # remove any existing symlink to avoid surprises
+	/bin/rm -f /etc/localtime
+	/bin/cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/$TIMEZONE /etc/localtime
+fi
+# /var/lib/hwclock/adjtime is written here
+# if you decide to disable the use of adjtime, add --noadjfile here as well
 if [ "$HARDWARECLOCK" = "UTC" ]; then
 	/sbin/hwclock --directisa --utc --systohc
 else
@@ -62,6 +69,7 @@
 fi
 stat_done
 
+
 # removing psmouse module to fix some reboot issues on newer laptops
 modprobe -r psmouse >/dev/null 2>&1