Posts by old_user5642

1) Questions and Answers : Windows : benchmark problem (Message 18833) Posted 29 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: I experienced the EXACT same problem this morning, and came to this message board to report the problem. I have been running 5.2.13 for many weeks. I am running ONLY CP.net on my machine here at work. The ironic thing is that the benchmarks never ran because it \"Failed to stop applications; aborting CPU benchmarks\", but CP.net was shut down and didn\'t restart. I suspended BOINC and then resumed it and CP.net fired up right away. I will change my preference for \"Leave applications in memory while preempted?\" to YES and see if that fixes the problem in the future. Thx --- bt
2) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 18244) Posted 15 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: But since you have a one machine, one project, policy I imagine it\'s academic now. Exactly, but thx for your interest. --- bt
3) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 18237) Posted 15 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: I\'m afraid your view of how BOINC should work is a bit academic. I fully understand, even though I disagree with how the scheduler works. Anyway ... I have solved MY scheduling problems, for the most part. Each of my 7 computers now only runs ONE project at time. Every week, or so, I\'ll switch them all around - with the exception of CP.NET because it takes many months to finish a WU. Speaking of which, I only run CP.NET on one machine anyway. All of my other machines were giving \"-5\" errors. After 3 such errors on a machine, I simply dropped CP.NET from the machine. Interestingly, I have never had a \"-5\" error on this computer. It\'s a Pentium M 1.4 GHz laptop. All of my other machines are AMD (Athlon, Athlon XP, and Athlon 64). But that\'s another topic. --- bt
4) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 18206) Posted 14 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: BOINC Q&A is here. Thx. I didn\'t know this existed. Anyway, you can read my post over there if you like http://boinc.berkeley.edu/dev/forum_thread.php?id=268 I actually did get some meaningful discussion started with one guy (Bill Michael), but like I said earlier, within minutes I had a couple of unsympathetic clowns bashing me (JimK and Michael Roycraft). It\'s hardly worth the effort sometimes. --- bt
5) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 18158) Posted 13 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: ---[Apparently, if BOINC thinks there is a SETI WU on the way, it keeps waiting for it and ignores the other projects] BOINC is trying to be too smart for it\'s own good. The operative word here is \"trying\" because it is not succeeding, and the more they tinker with their complicated algorithm, the worse it gets, IMO. What I\'m now forced to do is have only one project on each machine. This fundamentally defeats the primary purpose of BOINC, but that\'s the way it goes, because BOINC can\'t divide the WORK up in a fair manner. Do you guys remember the SETI-QUEUE add-on for the classic SETI ? IMO, it was the prefect solution to most of the problems with classic SETI. CP.NET doesn\'t really have these problems because it has enough work queued up for many months. ---[On the BOINC site, which is where this matter should be aired...] Problem is, there isn\'t a Q&A on the BOINC site. You have to express your ideas on the SETI site instead, and there are a few unsympathetic \"characters\" who simply dismiss all constructive criticism as being \"anti-progress\" ... unlike the people who are responding on this site (thx). --- bt
6) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 18114) Posted 12 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: [The huge majority wanted deadlines to be honoured both for scientific reasons and to preserve credit.] I\'m not disputing that - although I would argue that it\'s probably the vast majority of people \"who complained\" wanted deadlines [grin]. I would like to have the option of going with simple time-slicing or the complicated scheduling. That would be as simple as a radio button on the preferences pages (and a new boinc manager) [The deadline is the most important item just after the science] Yikes. When did finding the next prime number BY TOMMORROW, become that important ? I will reiterate: the projects decide their own deadlines and the deadlines appear to be arbitrary. If my machine can\'t keep 7 projects happy (3.5 hours each per day) then I shouldn\'t be running 7 projects. What is now WORSE, is the fact that my machine is over comitted with 3 projects and refuses to even download a single WU from the other 4 projects. There\'s a problem with BOINC if it can\'t have at least one WU from each project (unless of course the project is down). BOINC should not download 15 WU\'s at a time for one project and then sit back and say \"gee, I have enough work for 3 days from this one project, so I won\'t even bother getting any more work from the others.\" The best I can do is manually abort WU\'s if I think there are too many for one project. That will hoepfully force BOINC to at least consider getting from the other projects. --- bt
7) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 17850) Posted 7 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: It will all work out in the long run, just wait and watch..... Perhaps it will, but that\'s not the point. The BOINC manager should not care about arbitrary deadlines set by the individual projects. It should time-slice the CPU on my computer as per my settings. It may have to do a little bit of juggling based on the percentages, but it\'s not hard to work out a simple algorithm. I should have this choice !! That\'s all I\'m asking. If one project has set really tight deadlines, the other projects should not have to be sacraficed. That is rewarding bad behaviour. I have 7 computers running 7 projects, in various configurations. What I may have to do is limit one project per machine so that one project cannot hijack all of my machines ... but that defeats one of the big advantages of BOINC, sharing, and sharing is what it\'s all about. --- bt
8) Questions and Answers : Getting started : Work file has been downloading for two days (Message 17810) Posted 6 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: My CP.NET disk usage is 2.03 GB (giga-bytes) This can take a long time to download if you have a slow connection. --- bt
9) Questions and Answers : Wish list : other projects hijacking my CPU (Message 17809) Posted 6 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: I have CP.NET configured to use 38.68% of the resource share on my computer. I also have 6 other projects each of which are set to 10-12%. I leave my computer \"on\" 24/7 and BOINC is set to \"run always\". I have BOINC configured to \"switch every 120 minutes\". PROBLEM: ------- CP.NET hasn\'t run on my computer in the past 4 days. PROBABLE REASON ? --------------- The new BOINC manager does not cycle through my projects and allocate time precisely and FAIRLY based on my settings. It factors in the DUE DATE of individual work units and give it\'s OWN priority to work untis that are closer to their due dates. My CP.NET due date is one year in the future. PRIME GRID due dates are typically a few days in the future. The other projects tend to more reasonable and are a few weeks in the future. But regardless, I don\'t care about the project\'s due date. When I say give CP.NET 38.68% of my computer I expect it to be running 38.68% of the time. I feel that the other projects can, and are, hijacking extra resource share by assigning short due dates. IMO, the BOINC manager is too smart for it\'s good. It should offer the option of ignoring due dates. If a project wants to ignore my results because I\'m a day late, then so be it. I\'ll simply drop the project. --- bt
10) Questions and Answers : Preferences : Other projects hijacking my CPU time (Message 17807) Posted 6 Dec 2005 by old_user5642 Post: I have CP.NET configured to use 38.68% of the resource share on my computer. I also have 6 other projects each of which are set to 10-12%. I leave my computer \"on\" 24/7 and BOINC is set to \"run always\". I have BOINC configured to \"switch every 120 minutes\". PROBLEM: ------- CP.NET hasn\'t run on my computer in the past 4 days. PROBABLE REASON ? --------------- The new BOINC manager does not cycle through my projects and allocate time precisely and FAIRLY based on my settings. It factors in the DUE DATE of individual work units and give it\'s OWN priority to work untis that are closer to their due dates. My CP.NET due date is one year in the future. PRIME GRID due dates are typically a few days in the future. The other projects tend to more reasonable and are a few weeks in the future. But regardless, I don\'t care about the project\'s due date. When I say give CP.NET 38.68% of my computer I expect it to be running 38.68% of the time. I feel that the other projects can, and are, hijacking extra resource share by assigning short due dates. IMO, the BOINC manager is too smart for it\'s good. It should offer the option of ignoring due dates. If a project wants to ignore my results because I\'m a day late, then so be it. I\'ll simply drop the project. --- bt
11) Questions and Answers : Windows : This is stupid, I'm pulling all my computers from this project. (Message 13098) Posted 3 Jun 2005 by old_user5642 Post: GoHack: Another solution is to join multiple BOINC projects. Odds are very good that at least one of the projects will be up-and-running at any point in time. Personally, I particate equally in all 5 of the current BOINC projects. If you consider CP.net to be the only worthwhile project, then you are the mercy of their technology and the logistics of the project. Hope this helps. --- bt
12) Questions and Answers : Wish list : drop deadline mode (started in BOINC 4.43) (Message 13059) Posted 2 Jun 2005 by old_user5642 Post: My "WISH LIST" item applied to the BOINC Manager, and since there is no BOINC forum, per se, I put my wish list item in all of the project forums (just to be sure). I have 7 computers and all of them are doing a mix-and-match of the 5 projects. CP crashed regularly on 2 of my machines and I have detached it from both of them. The upgraded from 4.25 to 4.43 killed my half-completed CP workunit on another machine. The upgrade also caused a loss of communication on another machine so I had to detach and re-attach all of my projects. I'm back to 4.25 on all machines. --- bt
13) Questions and Answers : Wish list : drop deadline mode (started in BOINC 4.43) (Message 13019) Posted 1 Jun 2005 by old_user5642 Post: Deadlines are a problem for the project, not for me, and not for BOINC. IMO, BOINC is solving the wrong problem, the wrong way, with "deadlines" and "debt". I run five projects on each of my host machines, all with equal resource sharing. That's 4.8 hours each day for each project. PP estimates 2:15 for each WU. It can therefore process two WU's every day. I have BOINC set to "connect every 3 days". PP therefore queues up 6 WU's on my machine to process over the 3 next days. PP would have to assign a really tight deadline for me to ever miss a deadline. Sorry, but NO project needs to have a result back in 3 days !! Some people only connect to the internet once a week. The expectations of the projects need to be "adjusted". I like the "keep it simple" approach: BOINC can give each project a 2 hour window of CPU time on my machine. When the 2 hours are up, hand the machine over to the next project. What the project does with the 2 hours is it's business. Hopefully it makes efficient use of the time, and processes the WU's in FIFO order to minimize missed deadlines. And just think ... deadlines only exist because the projects need to receive a quorum of results before it can hand out credits, which has nothing to do with "science". --- bt
14) Questions and Answers : Wish list : drop deadline mode (started in BOINC 4.43) (Message 13001) Posted 1 Jun 2005 by old_user5642 Post: Deadlines are assigned by the individual projects, not by BOINC. ClimatePrediction, for example, has a deadline of next year. ProteinPredictor has a deadline of this week. Under the new 4.43 \"deadline\" scheme, PP will always get priority - and it did. After I upgraded BOINC to 4.43, PP was taking over all of my machines. In the online preferences, I have assigned equal weight to all projects. I expect BOINC to honor MY decision, and automatically switch between projects every 2 hours, as I have instructed. This new \"deadline mode\" is too smart for it\'s own good, IMO. I have reverted back to 4.25 until BOINC drops \"deadline\" mode -or- better yet, gives me the option of using it or not. --- bt
15) Questions and Answers : Windows : Boinc stops (Message 11816) Posted 14 Apr 2005 by old_user5642 Post: Try this: - Right click on the BOINC icon in the system tray and select "Run Always". A project should start-up right away. Also, did you check your online (web) General Preferences ? Specifcally the option for "Do work while computer is in use?" If you have it set to "NO", BOINC will stop running as soon as you do any activity on the machine. I have this option set to "NO", and I override certain individual machines with "Run Always". BOINC 4.25 will remember this option, whereas previous versions did not, and you had to manually change it everytime your re-booted the machine. Hope this helps --- bt
16) Questions and Answers : Preferences : Home/School machine association won't stick (Message 4495) Posted 22 Sep 2004 by old_user5642 Post: You are not alone with this problem. Here's what I did to work around the problem ... The only difference I had between my "Work" and "Home" prefs was at home I wanted BOINC to be idle when I'm using the computer. At work it's OK for BOINC to be running all the time. If this is your ONLY requirement, this workaround works: Remove all of your home, work and school prefs. Your default prefs should be set to: "Do work while computer is in use: NO". On the individual BOINC client machines where you want it to run all the time, select the menu option "File > Always Run". On the others, select "File > Run based on prefs". This works fine if the ONLY option you want to change is "Do work while computer is in use". I hope it helps. --- bt
17) Questions and Answers : Preferences : My Preferences reset when i do a manual Update (Message 4494) Posted 22 Sep 2004 by old_user5642 Post: I have the same problem. Here's what I did to work around the problem ... The only difference I had between my "Work" and "Home" prefs was at home I wanted BOINC to be idle when I'm using the computer. At work it's OK for BOINC to be running all the time. If this is your ONLY requirement, this workaround works: Remove all of your home, work and school prefs. Your default prefs wshould be set to: "Do work while computer is in use: NO". On the individual BOINC client machines where you want it to run all the time, select the menu option "File > Always Run". On the others, select "File > Run based on prefs". This works fine if the ONLY option you want to change is "Do work while computer is in use". I hope it helps. --- bt
18) Questions and Answers : Preferences : General Prefs: CP has different options than SETI (!?!) (Message 4492) Posted 22 Sep 2004 by old_user5642 Post: CP has a \"General Prefs\" option that SETI does not have: - Keep enough work on disk to last between: [x and y days] To make matters worse, SETI has two options that CP does not have: - Switch between applications every: [x minutes] - Connect to network about every : [x days] I\'m not certain what the General prefs are for LHC. These are \"General\" prefs, therefore the BOINC client only uses the set that was updated most recently (SETI or CP). What happens to these \"other\" options from the other project(s) ? Shouldn\'t these \"other\" options be in the project-specific prefs ? Who manages the \"General prefs\" ? The BOINC people or the individual projects ? --- bt
19) Questions and Answers : Preferences : \"home/work\" preferences won\'t stay on the cp.net web site (Message 4488) Posted 22 Sep 2004 by old_user5642 Post: I\'m running BOINC 4.09 on 5 computers. CP is 75%, SETI is 25%. 4 of my computers are at home and one is at work. Every time I change the \"Location\" of my work computer to be \"Work\" on the cp.net web site, it gets put back to \"Home\" when I select \"Update\" in the BOINC client. The message I get in BOINC is: \"Project prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults\". I thought it was supposed to be the other way around: i.e., a change on the web site propagates to the client. It\'s certainly not working that way. How do I change my computer\'s \"Location\" inside the BOINC client ? or is this a bug ? My computer ID is 8397. I have the exact same problem with two of my home computers. They both think they are \"Work\". If I change their \"Location\" to he \"Home\" on the cp.net web site, they change back to \"Work\" when I update them in the BOINC client. --- bt