diff --git a/webtools/tinderbox2/src/bin/processmail_builds b/webtools/tinderbox2/src/bin/processmail_builds
index 6857f7495e3..cbf295431b9 100755
--- a/webtools/tinderbox2/src/bin/processmail_builds
+++ b/webtools/tinderbox2/src/bin/processmail_builds
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@
 # server.  No locks are used by the mail processes, data is passed to
 # the tinderbox server in a maildir like format.
 
-# $Revision: 1.11 $ 
-# $Date: 2002-02-25 19:34:41 $ 
+# $Revision: 1.12 $ 
+# $Date: 2002-04-24 03:27:35 $ 
 # $Author: kestes%walrus.com $ 
 # $Source: /home/jrmuizel/cvs-mirror/mozilla/webtools/tinderbox2/src/bin/processmail_builds,v $ 
 # $Name:  $ 
@@ -506,7 +506,7 @@ sub check_required_vars {
     $err_string .= "Variable: 'timenow' not set.\n";
   } else {
     
-    if( abs($TINDERBOX{'timenow'} - $TIME) < ($main::SECONDS_PER_HOUR*10) ){
+    if( main::is_time_in_sync($TINDERBOX{'timenow'}) ){
       $timenow = $TINDERBOX{'timenow'};
     } else {
       $err_string .= (
@@ -529,20 +529,16 @@ sub check_required_vars {
   if( $TINDERBOX{'starttime'} eq ''){
     $err_string .= "Variable: 'tinderbox: starttime' not set.\n";
   } else {
-    if( abs($TINDERBOX{'starttime'} - $TIME) < ($main::SECONDS_PER_HOUR*10) ){
+    if( $TINDERBOX{'starttime'} <= $TINDERBOX{'timenow'} ){
       $starttime = $TINDERBOX{'starttime'};
     } else {
       $err_string .= (
                       "Variable: 'tinderbox: starttime:',".
-                      " is not of the form ".
-                      "MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS, or unix date, ".
-                      "or your clock is set incorrectly, ".
-                      "or the mail was delayed for a long time.\n".
-                      "starttime: $TINDERBOX{'starttime'}, timenow: $TIME, (".
-                      ( ($TINDERBOX{'starttime'}-$TIME) / 
-                        $main::SECONDS_PER_MINUTE ).
-                      " minutes)\n".
-                     "");
+                      " is grater then the tinderbox: timenow.\n".
+                      "starttime: $TINDERBOX{'starttime'}, ".
+                      "timenow: $TINDERBOX{'timenow'}".
+                      "\n".
+                      "");
     }
     
   }
diff --git a/webtools/tinderbox2/src/lib/Utils.pm b/webtools/tinderbox2/src/lib/Utils.pm
index 839163d4d98..46774ed058e 100755
--- a/webtools/tinderbox2/src/lib/Utils.pm
+++ b/webtools/tinderbox2/src/lib/Utils.pm
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 # Utils.pm - General purpose utility functions.  Every project needs a
 # kludge bucket for common access.
 
-# $Revision: 1.26 $ 
-# $Date: 2001-12-14 20:13:01 $ 
+# $Revision: 1.27 $ 
+# $Date: 2002-04-24 03:27:31 $ 
 # $Author: kestes%walrus.com $ 
 # $Source: /home/jrmuizel/cvs-mirror/mozilla/webtools/tinderbox2/src/lib/Utils.pm,v $ 
 # $Name:  $ 
@@ -127,6 +127,12 @@ sub set_static_vars {
                     (60 * 15)
                   );
 
+  $SECONDS_AGO_ACCEPTABLE = $TinderConfig::SECONDS_AGO_ACCEPTABLE ||
+      ($SECONDS_PER_HOUR*10);
+
+  $SECONDS_FROM_NOW_ACCEPTABLE = $TinderConfig::SECONDS_FROM_NOW_ACCEPTABLE ||
+      ($SECONDS_PER_MINUTE*10);
+
   @ORIG_ARGV = @ARGV;
 
   # set a minimal path.  All the commands we run should have explicit
@@ -543,6 +549,24 @@ sub is_time_valid {
 }
 
 
+# return true iff the argument is a time which is a reasonable time to
+# recive data about (it should not be in the future, or too far in the
+# past).
+
+sub is_time_in_sync {
+  my ($time) = @_;
+  
+  $valid = (
+
+            ( ($TIME - $time) <= ($SECONDS_AGO_ACCEPTABLE) ) &&
+            ( ($TIME + $time) >= ($SECONDS_FROM_NOW_ACCEPTABLE) )
+
+           );
+
+  return $valid;
+}
+
+
 # Convert dates in form "MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS" to unix date, there
 # are better modules in CPAN to do this kind of conversion but we
 # do not wish to create additional dependencies if they are not