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Beware of Unwatched Computers

Beware of Unwatched Computers

Message boards : Number crunching : Beware of Unwatched Computers
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Profile Purple Rabbit
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Message 36556 - Posted: 29 Mar 2009, 19:57:09 UTC
Last modified: 29 Mar 2009, 20:18:13 UTC

Poor Pumpkin* (P4, 3.2 GHz) was banished to the basement last year when I bought a more capable sibling (Potato*) as my main computer. I have several computers in the basement that run for weeks without intervention unless one of them raises their hand (crashes or aborts a task) and says it has a problem.

Pumpkin seemed to be doing fine. It does multiple projects and everything was (seemed to be) going fine, but, alas, this was not the case for CPDN. It was stuck, although BOINC was alternating it with the other projects as expected. All the other projects were happy though.

I just noticed this afternoon that Pumpkin hadn\'t trickled since 20 March. No trickle files pending. Hmmm, ice world? I couldn\'t tell because Pumpkin is headless (no graphics).

I had my hand on the abort button, but a quick check showed others had finished the WU. OK, I\'ll give it another chance. I stopped BOINC and rebooted. Ah ha, progress resumes! I wish I had seen this 9 days ago.

I know I\'m being Mr. Obvious here (besides I already knew this!), but sometimes the simple things are overlooked by even the best of us (plus me). I\'m sure the FAQs say this many times over, but the shock of having a computer spinning its wheels for nine days doesn\'t always lead one to search out a FAQ to be reminded of a basic tenet of CPDN participation--proper care and feeding is important.

Moral of the story: Do the simple things first before assuming the worst.

Rick

* Yes, they are vegetables. I\'m a wabbit with a garden.
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Profile mo.v
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Message 36559 - Posted: 29 Mar 2009, 21:03:46 UTC

I wish everybody kept an occasional eye on the behaviour of their models and dared to post when things go wrong. We know that some people have iceworlds that have been stuck for months.

I like the \'cut short\' pun in your profile!
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Message 36560 - Posted: 29 Mar 2009, 21:16:38 UTC
Last modified: 29 Mar 2009, 22:02:58 UTC

Thanks Mo,

I think you\'re the first one who has ever read my profile :)

I just thought that I\'d tell a story on myself to show how easy it is to make a simple problem very complex. I\'ve been around CPDN for a while. I\'ve killed my share of tasks due to: CPDN errors, hardware problems, and operator head-space problems. I try to limit the latter.

Rick
Wabbits Wule (and they taste like chicken)!

PS: I hope the idiom \"telling a story on myself\" translates beyond Midwest USA. It\'s like it sounds although the story is usually an embarrassing one for the writer. I offered mine for the good of the community :)
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Message 36562 - Posted: 29 Mar 2009, 22:00:33 UTC
Last modified: 29 Mar 2009, 22:00:50 UTC

A Spanish lady I know once barbecued cuarenta y cinco conejos for a single meal....
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Message 36565 - Posted: 29 Mar 2009, 22:18:25 UTC
Last modified: 29 Mar 2009, 22:23:45 UTC

A Spanish lady I know once barbecued cuarenta y cinco conejos for a single meal....


Well, she was quite a glutton. While I don\'t condone cannibalism among wabbits, two would be quite sufficient.

Wabbits Wule (and we pretend to be chickens)!

PS: This is getting silly :)
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Message boards : Number crunching : Beware of Unwatched Computers

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