On my Ubuntu20.10 box, if I restart after running an update that includes the kernel, I can see boincmgr is running when I run top but can not seem to find a way to switch to it. If I use kill processnumber I can then restart the manager and all works normally.

Pretty sure there is a simple explanation for this and a simple solution but for the life of me I can't see it.

BOINC version 7.17.0 compiled locally.

Not sure I understand the symptom. Running the Manager so you must be running the Desktop GUI. The Manager process is running as seen by top or by the System Monitor.
And you can't see the Manager window when you hit the Command key?
Or able to cycle through to the Manager window with Alt-TAB?

That's right I can't cycle through to see the manager window or see it by hitting the command key though the manager process is running.

It might also help to explain the context in which the self-compiled programs run.

For example, I'm happy to compile my own apps, or swap in test versions compiled by others. But the initial context remains the same: Gianfranco's PPA. So, after a restart (any restart) the current client runs as a service, and the current manager is idle - waiting for me to start it manually when I need it. Mostly that works fine, but after an update the client may start before the graphics drivers are ready - no GPUs.

How similar it that to your planned start-up context?

Client runs as a service and is running on reboot.
I have gone to settings, session and startup and under the general tab enabled automatically save session on logout and now manager isn't running when I restart and clicking on it it runs normally.

Your question prompted me to look under that heading though still not sure I completely understand.

Yes, please explain how you are starting the Manager. Is it a Startup application? Do you start it manually?
Do you have a desktop file for the application?

In most cases doing this will turn off Boinc:

sudo service boinc-client stop

If you mean that the manager is opened, but you can't see it on the GUI, I also get occasional errors like this.
It's not common, but it does happen from time to time.
The only way is to kill the process ID in htop, top, or your OS' task manager, wait for it a bit to finish (like 20 seconds or so), and restart the GUI.

Occasionally also this doesn't help.
Then doing the above (stopping the service), and killing the PID is the only alternative.
Personally I use htop in terminal for it, so I search for 'boinc' using (F4).
Sometimes it's not the manager but another process linked to Boinc that prevents the manager from properly booting up.

It's a bug that happens occasionally. It's certainly not the way the program goes.

Yes, please explain how you are starting the Manager. Is it a Startup application? Do you start it manually?
Do you have a desktop file for the application?

Not a start up application. Started via applications menu.

In most cases doing this will turn off Boinc:

sudo service boinc-client stop

If you mean that the manager is opened, but you can't see it on the GUI, I also get occasional errors like this.
It's not common, but it does happen from time to time.
The only way is to kill the process ID in htop, top, or your OS' task manager, wait for it a bit to finish (like 20 seconds or so), and restart the GUI.

Occasionally also this doesn't help.
Then doing the above (stopping the service), and killing the PID is the only alternative.
Personally I use htop in terminal for it, so I search for 'boinc' using (F4).
Sometimes it's not the manager but another process linked to Boinc that prevents the manager from properly booting up.

It's a bug that happens occasionally. It's certainly not the way the program goes.

Yes I mean manager is opened but I can't see it on the GUI and yes, I found the only way was to kill the process ID. It was happening every time I did a restart but after enabling automatically save session on logout, it didn't happen. I will wait to see if that is a permanent fix.

Look for a file in /home/{username} called BOINC Manager-{username} and delete it. This is the lockfile for the Manager. It should be created every time the Manager is launched and deleted every time the Manager is quit. If it doesn't get deleted, the Manager will complain usually about not being able to be launched.

Could have some other symptom of making the Manager process invisible.

Stopping the client will leave the manager visible, but empty of content.
Having a stray lockfile will prevent the manager running, so shouldn't be visible in top.

Neither matches Dave's description.

Having been using BOINC for some years and on several different computers running Flavours of Linux from Slack, Mandrake and then Mandriva before a few years ago making the switch to XUbuntu which I have stuck to since my assumption is having never seen this behaviour before (unless in my early days I didn't realise what was going on!) that the most likely explanation is yours Richard of the manager starting before the graphics driver is ready. I still don't understand why it doesn't show once the graphics are up and running properly though. When my current tasks are finished I will uncheck the automatically save session when logging out and see if the problem resumes. I am unwilling to do more testing of this while I have work running as occasionally I lose CPDN tasks by restarting.

You could use the <start_delay>nseconds</start_delay> in the cc_config.xml to pause running the applications to allow sufficient time for the video drivers to load and settle.
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration#Application_configuration

Thanks all,
I expected this to go to no more than a couple of posts. I will probably opt for starting the manager manually, this being the machine I do other work on as well as using it for BOINC. I may well play with different options on my laptop but it may well be that running on the built in drivers that get installed automagically it will never show the problem.

You could use the <start_delay>nseconds</start_delay> in the cc_config.xml to pause running the applications to allow sufficient time for the video drivers to load and settle.
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration#Application_configuration

Won't help. 'Start delay' applies to science apps - but these problems are in BOINC itself. Mine are in the client - if GPUs aren't detected in the initial startup, they are never available in the succeeding run. Dave's problems are with the manager - he's uncovered a similar problem there.

One thing i noticed on my manager, is that it more often crashes when:
A- I've tried starting multiple instances at once
B- I closed down the manager, and started a new one without waiting for it to fully close down
C- I closed down the manager while other operations are in progress, like, a project or account manager is being added or removed, and in the process the gui window is closed. This includes the next step:
D- I close the manager, when the client (not manager, but client) is still in the process of starting, or shutting down.

My recommendation, open only 1 instance. Wait for it to be fully loaded. Once it's loaded and all progress bars are properly showing, you can close it, and it usually goes without issues.

My recommendation, open only 1 instance.

Without specific manual configuration, only one instance can run at once. Any additional instance will find the first, and close itself.

One instance can have multiple viewports, connected to different clients.