diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/processor.c b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/processor.c
index 0dd7500a5..609195bf2 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/processor.c
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/processor.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 extern void isrsyscall(void);
 
 cpu_info_t cpu_info = { 0, 0, 0, 0};
-static uint32_t cpu_freq = 0;
+extern uint32_t cpu_freq;
 
 static void default_mb(void)
 {
diff --git a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/timer.c b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/timer.c
index 76c2fb9ae..250cff5ca 100644
--- a/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/timer.c
+++ b/hermit/arch/x86/kernel/timer.c
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
  * has been running for 
  */
 static volatile uint64_t timer_ticks = 0;
+extern uint32_t cpu_freq;
 
 uint64_t get_clock_tick(void)
 {
@@ -54,6 +55,14 @@ static void timer_handler(struct state *s)
 {
 	/* Increment our 'tick counter' */
 	timer_ticks++;
+
+	/*
+	 * Every TIMER_FREQ clocks (approximately 1 second), we will
+	 * display a message on the screen
+	 */
+	if (timer_ticks % TIMER_FREQ == 0) {
+		kputs("One second has passed\n");
+	}
 }
 
 #define LATCH(f)	((CLOCK_TICK_RATE + f/2) / f)
@@ -74,6 +83,9 @@ int timer_init(void)
 	irq_install_handler(32, timer_handler);
 	irq_install_handler(123, timer_handler);
 
+	if (cpu_freq) // do we need to configure the timer?
+		return 0;
+
 	/*
 	 * Port 0x43 is for initializing the PIT:
 	 *