Manager connected remotely may show wrong information if clocks differ (Transfers tab)

[Nicolas]

1. Set the clock on computer A to one minute earlier than the clock on computer B.
2. Run the client on computer A.
3. Run the manager on computer B.
4. Wait for a file transfer to happen on computer A (for example, get more work).

The manager on computer B will say "retrying transfer in 00:00:59" (and counting down) even though the transfer is currently running with no problems.

Found the problem using BOINC 6.2.18 client, BOINC 5.10.45 manager; Windows XP on both.

The cause for this is that the client sends a Unix timestamp saying when the next attempt will be. I guess it's set to the current time if the transfer is currently running. If clocks differ, the manager may think the timestamp is in the future, so it shows the countdown.

I'm not sure how this could be fixed. Maybe the client could set it to a far-in-the-past timestamp instead of the present (but I'm not even sure how it currently works, so this is a wild guess). Ideally change the protocol so that there is an extra "show retry countdown" flag instead of using the timestamp for both purposes. Or maybe even try to compensate the clock offset by exchanging current clocks at the beginning.

[Nicolas]

BOINCView shows the same problem.