BOINC Manager won't come up in Linux Mint

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AJ

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Message 99148 - Posted: 6 Jun 2020, 1:33:55 UTC

Been running BOINC for years, been running it on Linux Mint for >1 year and now I can't get it to bring up the Manager. Tried restarting, tried a couple of simple command line things (sudo service boinc-client restart), quick searched the message boards.

I'm no pro at Linux; anyone have any advice for what to try next?
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MarkJ
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Message 99150 - Posted: 6 Jun 2020, 6:00:06 UTC - in response to Message 99148.  
Last modified: 6 Jun 2020, 6:01:20 UTC

Been running BOINC for years, been running it on Linux Mint for >1 year and now I can't get it to bring up the Manager. Tried restarting, tried a couple of simple command line things (sudo service boinc-client restart), quick searched the message boards.

I'm no pro at Linux; anyone have any advice for what to try next?

There was a similar message from David Pickett. He ran a strace on it and it would look like there is a desktop file that might be causing the issue. See this message

That suggests that in your home folder there will be a file called BOINC Manager-xxx that probably stores information about where to position it on your desktop.
MarkJ
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 99157 - Posted: 6 Jun 2020, 22:56:03 UTC - in response to Message 99150.  

Correct. This is the Manager lockfile. Try deleting it and restarting the host to recreate it.
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AJ

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Message 99160 - Posted: 7 Jun 2020, 3:45:14 UTC - in response to Message 99157.  

That did it.

For anyone else who has this problem:

Go to your home directory, and then the user directory.

rm BOINC\ Manager-xxxx

where "xxxx" = the suffix at the end of your manager file.

Thanks, all.
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ProDigit

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Message 99162 - Posted: 7 Jun 2020, 16:16:46 UTC
Last modified: 7 Jun 2020, 16:17:16 UTC

You can also start htop:
sudo htop


Press the 'F4' key, and type 'mgr' or 'boinc'.
'boinc' is less recommended, because it'll show your active WUs and the client as well, which can show a lot of lines if you have a lot of CPU cores.

You'll see if a Boinc manager is still running, and how many instances are opened.
You can kill the process by pressing 'F9'.
then restart Boinc manager.
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 99174 - Posted: 7 Jun 2020, 23:54:39 UTC

An extra Manager doesn't necessarily have to be running to cause the issue. All it takes is for the Manager lockfile to be corrupted or left behind and it will prevent the Manager from starting. Deleting the left behind lockfile will always work and allow a new instance of the Manager to start.
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Profile Dave
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Message 99175 - Posted: 8 Jun 2020, 6:18:51 UTC - in response to Message 99174.  

An extra Manager doesn't necessarily have to be running to cause the issue. All it takes is for the Manager lockfile to be corrupted or left behind and it will prevent the Manager from starting. Deleting the left behind lockfile will always work and allow a new instance of the Manager to start.


Indeed, I have noticed that some programs e.g. browsers allow more than one instance to run at the same time but a left behind corrupted lockfile stops one from opening even if none is currently running.
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ProDigit

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Message 99177 - Posted: 8 Jun 2020, 16:03:48 UTC

in my case, I just always F9 all the boinc entries.
It'll just restart fine
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Profile Keith Myers
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Message 99185 - Posted: 8 Jun 2020, 22:52:31 UTC - in response to Message 99177.  

Again, no Manager or BOINC processes need to be running to prevent the Manager from starting. Do this experiment. While the Manager is running, find the BOINC Manager-{username} file in BOINC directory or /home location and mark it non-deleteable by running this command:
sudo chattr +i -V BOINC Manager-{username}

Now exit BOINC. Now try and restart the Manager. You won't be able, because the lockfile prevents it. You will need to remove the chattr immutable flag with this command:
sudo chattr -i -V BOINC Manager-{username}

to get the Manager to restart.
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Bryn Mawr
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Message 99357 - Posted: 18 Jun 2020, 18:28:29 UTC

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

That intermittent problem has been bugging me since I started - I know what to do now :-)
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Message boards : Questions and problems : BOINC Manager won't come up in Linux Mint

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