I ran Boinc 6.10.43 on XP SP3 for a few weeks, but because it doesn't install as a service by default, I attempted to uninstall/reinstall with PAE checked.

During initial reinstalls, PAE was unchecked by default; only when I deleted each and every dir before reinstalling, PAE was checked by default.

Now, when installed, it seems the service terminates immediately with 'Error 1067: The process terminated unexpectedly". The manager runs, but cannot connect to the service (obviously).

I also did an install with log option -v something.
A few things seem to be bugs, or at least abnormal in the log:

1. - in some rare places, I see references to the D: drive. My Windows dir is G:, so Boinc has nothing to do in the D: drive. TARGETDIR = D:\ or PrimaryVolumePath = D:\ or GlobalAssemblyCache = D:\. Indeed, D: exists and is a W7 partition, but it's not the one I run Boinc from. Probably a bug?

2. - It also seems that in a few cases, the path gets truncated. Examples: TempFolder = G:\DOCUME~1\FRANCO~1.PC-\LOCALS~1\Temp\ or Property(C): DATABASE = G:\DOCUME~1\FRANCO~1.PC-\LOCALS~1\Temp\9b663.msi
The name of my system is PC-OFFICE. The OFFICE after the dash is truncated - this also looks like a bug. Note that in many other instances the path is correct indeed (not truncated).

Are these two a reason why the service does not start? I didn't see a way to have the service create a log file, though.

I will meanwhile reinstall without PAE. That worked so far. It cannot be the idea to run Boinc otherwise than as a service tough.

Any ideas?

1. - in some rare places, I see references to the D: drive. My Windows dir is G:, so Boinc has nothing to do in the D: drive. TARGETDIR = D:\ or PrimaryVolumePath = D:\ or GlobalAssemblyCache = D:\. Indeed, D: exists and is a W7 partition, but it's not the one I run Boinc from. Probably a bug?

More likely remnants out of the registry. Did you clear that too?

2. - It also seems that in a few cases, the path gets truncated. Examples: TempFolder = G:\DOCUME~1\FRANCO~1.PC-\LOCALS~1\Temp\ or Property(C): DATABASE = G:\DOCUME~1\FRANCO~1.PC-\LOCALS~1\Temp\9b663.msi
The name of my system is PC-OFFICE. The OFFICE after the dash is truncated - this also looks like a bug. Note that in many other instances the path is correct indeed (not truncated).

Those are the DOS-compatible (8.3) filenames generated by windows. You can see them also when you type
dir/x
in a dosprompt (cmd) window.

I didn't see a way to have the service create a log file, though.

Look for the files stdoutdae.txt and stderrdae.txt in the BOINC data directory. That directory is usually hidden by windows.

Gruß,
Gundolf
[edit]Did you reboot after installing BOINC?[/edit]

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Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)

Gundolf,

You are correct in many points!

I didn't clear the registry as it takes more time to find everything Boinc related (and sometimes it's even not so obvious, as e.g. the user tht Boinc creates, creates registry entries that do not necessarily contain boinc-something). But I'll try tomorrow and will let you know.

I didn't realize that the directory Francois.PC-OFFICE would truncated such that the second part reduces to 3 chars. It's obvious when I see it tough (and given that I used DOS for many years - and still do... no excuse :)

As for the logs, I do not have these any more - I reinstalled Boinc-w/o-service back with its own directories, deleting everything relating to the failed PAE attempts. I also read there is no way to change from not-PAE to PAE without toasting all currently running tasks (i.e. deleting the data dir etc.).

Computer sind nicht alles im Leben.

Hmmm... I'll have to ponder about that... ;-)

... I also read there is no way to change from not-PAE to PAE without toasting all currently running tasks (i.e. deleting the data dir etc.). ...

I'm fairly sure that when I installed 6.10.43 on one of my machines a few months ago, the service/non-service part was just another option in about screen 3. (Click the Advanced button.)

And for years, cpdn has been telling people to BACKUP THEIR DATA PART before making changes so that the work in progress can be restored if something goes wrong.
I don't see why this doesn't apply to what you're doing.
Or why just changing from service to non-service (and back again), will "toast all currently running tasks".
I tested this (while also installing to several different locations), with version 6.2.18 soon after it was released.

I also read there is no way to change from not-PAE to PAE without toasting all currently running tasks (i.e. deleting the data dir etc.).

Not sure where you read this, but it's wrong.

You do need to uninstall BOINC and reinstall it (or upgrade to a newer version), but then in the installer, 3rd screen in you're at:



Clicking the Advanced button gets you at:



For the full run-down, see this FAQ.

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Okay, I didn't come back to this - I had some other unrelated system issues.

I'm not trying to switch PAE-not PAE back and forth; just trying to do it once, as it didn't install intially with PAE. One possibity may be that I turned it off at initial install, because Protected something doesn't refer to 'Run as a Service' in an obvious way. Maybe.

I tried it several ways, but found none allowing me to keep the work in progress.
- Just uninstalling/deleting everything looses the work (obvious);
- Reinstalling over the existing install doesn't allow to modify the PAE setting (even by clicking advanced, I understood that, tnx though). If I remember correctly, the PAE option remains dimmed, unchangeable in that case
- Reinstalling, then copying over the data directories: Boinc apparently ignores these and starts anew anyway.

Also, possibly specific to me, even reinstalling after deleting everything (except purging the registry), results in the service terminating immediately with an error (see below).

So unless you guys can suggest another way, I will delete everything Boinc related, including scanning the registry for anything Boinc related, and reinstall from there.

- Reinstalling, then copying over the data directories: Boinc apparently ignores these and starts anew anyway.

Wrong way around! First restore the data directory (if deleted, there's only one), then reinstall pointing the installer to the data.

Gruß,
Gundolf

... Protected something doesn't refer to 'Run as a Service' in an obvious way ...

That's MicroSoft. They used to call it Service mode. With Vista they started calling it Protected mode.

... Just uninstalling/deleting everything looses the work (obvious) ...

Which is why you DON'T delete everything.
It's NOT necessary to delete the science applications and the work units, only BOINC.
And you do this by using the Windows Install/Uninstall program.

First un-install the existing BOINC.
Then install BOINC. (Same version, different options.)

- Reinstalling over the existing install doesn't allow to modify the PAE setting (even by clicking advanced, I understood that, tnx though). If I remember correctly, the PAE option remains dimmed, unchangeable in that case

That's normal. Reinstalling the same version over itself is like a repair installation. It keeps the same settings as before. If however you either upgrade to a newer version, or uninstall the present version and then reinstall it, you'll get the PAE option available under Advanced.

So unless you guys can suggest another way, I will delete everything Boinc related, including scanning the registry for anything Boinc related, and reinstall from there.

No need to scan far.
BOINC keeps the installation data in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley
And it keeps user information in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley

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Thank you for all the suggestions. Still no running service.
Here's exactly what I did:

- Stop BOINC Manager;
- Copy n:\Documents & Settings\<UserName>\Application Data\BOINC as a backup;
- Copy n:\Documents & Settings\boinc_master as a backup;
- Copy n:\Program Files\BOINC as a Backup;
- Control Panel/Add Remove Programs: BOINC: Remove
- Install other version 6.10.18; I understand 6.10.43 is not recommended
- In BOINC Configuration, during setup: Advanced:
- Checked PAE
- Uncheck screensaver (better crunch than burn CPU cycles on screen saver)
- Launch Manager.

The manager shows no projects and no services; shows dialog "BOINC Manager is not able to connect to a client (all is on this machine). The service is installed, but does not run. When I issue a start on the service manually, it says: Error 1067: The project terminates unexpectedly, and doesn't run.

Why this is I do not know. I assume it's a local issue, so I'll wait for a few long tasks (like Aqua@home) to finish, then delete also the registry and retry and maybe double check the service with the sc utility. I that still fails, I'm doomed to run it interactively, until I switch to W7... ;-)

Ok, might be corrupt files. Make a backup of the BOINC Data directory, then uninstall BOINC & delete the BOINC Data folder.

Now reinstall BOINC fresh. (You can use 6.10.56, from here).
Uncheck Start BOINC Manager.

Open your backup of the BOINC Data directory and find the account_*.xml file(s), copy them and put them in the new BOINC Data directory.

From a command line window, or from Start->Run, type: net start boinc (enter)
Restart Boinc Manager.

Does that fix things?

If that doesn't fix things, remove only client_state.xml ... leave client_state_prev.xml intact! Then start BOINC.

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Okay, I did a few more tries, but there seemed no way to have the service run for more than a few seconds. In the process, something went wrong, so I couldn't reinstall boinc with the existing task...

So I decided to purge my whole system, do a search for any file anywhere, also purged the registry from all Boinc related stuff; then reinstalled, readed projects - with a service running.

That said, PAE was not checked by default, as opposed to what I read somewhere.

Les, I can agree that in normal circumstances, 'toasting' everything is not needed, but for some reason, in this case, it seemed required - or at the very least, it did the trick indeed.

Ageless: I saw your reply just now. I'll see if I can recover more.

Update: I did more tries to recover tasks, but that didn't work. At least, copying those xml files brings back the projects automatically.
Crunching again - thanks folks!

Tnx for your support

That said, PAE was not checked by default, as opposed to what I read somewhere.

Since BOINC 6.6 the protected application execution option is no longer set by default. You will have to set it yourself if you want to install BOINC as a service.

This is done because under Windows Vista and Windows 7, when installing as a service and people want to use the GPU for crunching, the GPU isn't detected. And that's caused by a Microsoft security feature, where it stops your user account from running in the same session as your drivers and services are run from.

If it has to be fixed, it will have to come from Microsoft, or the GPU driver manufacturers have to find a way to run their drivers without using them as a service installation.

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Well I'm at a loss... same problem that was originally reported here... the 1067 error, can't start service.

I have:

1) Done a repair re-install of WinXP 64
2) uninstalled BOINC
3) deleted data directory
4) deleted program folder
5) deleted user folder Boinc_master
6) deleted keys in registry (per ageless's note)
7) reinstalled 10.6.57 (had also tried 10.6.56 earlier) (64b version) using Advanced button, no screen saver, run protected, allow anyone options.

From run "services.msc" I saw that the service had reported as "started" during the install. When I refresh (F5) that window it shows blank (not running). Right click / start returns the 1067 error, can't start service error.

Any thoughts on how to determine what it's issue is?

The ONLY think I can think that might somehow factor here (but don't know why) is I do have Catalyst / CCC installed on this machine but the ATI card is NOT in it right now (power supply died, which is what led to this whole mess) waiting on new PSU to arrive (running it off of a spare 460w w/o vid card in). I'm using the onboard video from the mobo (standard windows VGA driver) till the new PSU arrives (tomorrow night).

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- da shu @ HeliOS,
"A child's exposure to technology should never be predicated on an ability to afford it."

That's a possibility, that BOINC finds the graphics library, thinks there's a GPU to be found and crashes on that. What does it say in stderrdae.txt?

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I probably didn't do much more than what you listed. When cleaning the registry, I deleted all keys containing Boinc (except things like MRU - most recently used and such). If you're not used to cleaning the registry this (manual) way, be careful. I also checked to delete sometimes not only the key itself, but also the container (or folder or whatever it's called) containing those keys. I delete the container when it's obvious that all of the container pertains to boinc. It's typically some intuition there. Also, be sure to delete the service in the registry, so all of HKLM\system\CurrentControlSet\Services\Boinc.

But again, remember that deleting too much can have unpredictable results. Litterally. ;-)

That's possibly what Ageless suggested already.
There's also some command line allowing to unregister a service, but normally the uninstall should do that.

Besides, if you didn't keep a copy before you deleted it all, be aware that you loose the history, the graphs etc. In my case, I managed to do a merge of the projects into my reinstalled Boinc in such a way that the history was nicely kept.

Beyond that, I'd also join Ageless and yourself in thinking that your traces of ATI card-not-there may be an issue.[/i]