My computer is Windows 7 64-bit. I'd been using an older version of BOINC (can't remember which one but I think it was 7.0.64) for a while now. Then, all of a sudden, I noticed the BOINC icon was no longer in my system tray. I found the PROGRAM FILES directory for BOINC. And double-clicking on every ".exe" file in the directory, I got nowhere.

So, I went to the BOINC site and downloaded 7.2.28 (64-bit) and attempted to install it. I got an error message on the screen saying the boinc.msi file was not valid - giving me the option of choosing a different boinc.msi file in a different directory. I found one in two other directories. And attempting to use them garnered the same response.

Then, I uninstalled BOINC through CONTROL PANEL and deleted every file and directory reference to BOINC. After that, I removed every registry reference to BOINC. I rebooted and attempted to install the software again. This time, I got "error 1714" telling me that the older version couldn't be removed and to contact support.

Here I am (grin).

BTW, before coming here, I also attempted to install every other 64-bit and 32-bit version listed on this page:

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download_all.php

Error 1714 again ... every time. And every time, I removed any file, directory, or registry setting relative to BOINC. All in all, I've spent the last 3 hours trying to get "some" version of BOINC to work - and reading any other forum post (the ones I could find, even on older versions) related to this problem. And all I've done is hit multiple stone walls. Any suggestions on what to do at this point would be appreciated.

Have a read of this FAQ:

Windows Installer Error 1706: Setup cannot find the required files / 1714: older version cannot be removed / BOINC.msi cannot be found / The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable / Error 1325. is not a valid short name

Claggy

It was one of the first places I checked. I tried the methods suggested (except install version 5.?.?). No installation of BOINC was found on my system. But, I still get error 1714.

OK, I tried the "boinc_5.10.45_windows_intelx86" 32-bit suggestion. And, by golly, IT worked. So, I'm back to crunching numbers with an ancient version of BOINC. Nothing else seemed to work. But, from now on, if it ain't broke, I won't fix it.

P.S. to my last. I noticed that my prior version was 7.0.64 (64-bit) when I visited my BOINC personal page. But oddly (or maybe not), the 5.10.45 (32-bit) version seems to be crunching numbers faster. Again, if it ain't broke, I won't fix it.

I have an issue with 7.2.28.

One of my PC's is on Ubuntu Linux 12.0.4, 32-Bit, and Ubuntu Software Center only shows BOINC 7.0.27 and 7.0.65. Through Software Center, I successfully installed 7.0.65 and it has been running fine for months.

Since I am NOT well versed in Linux, while I know that I could use command line interface to force an install of 7.2.28, my knowledge of how to do that is NON existent.

I would GREATLY prefer to utilize the Ubuntu Software Center instead. When will Berkeley be updating BOINC information to Ubuntu/Ubuntu Software Center so that I can update BOINC to 7.2.28?

Years ago, when I tried to manually install BOINC on a much earlier version of Ubuntu, a friend was helping me to get BOINC Manager installed to go with BOINC Client; as they were installed separately. While we got the Client successfully installed, we could not get Manager installed. After much searching, my friend found a command line and used it. It wiped out the newer Client and did install a MUCH older client and with it, Manager. It also wiped out all WU's that the Client downloaded to work on.

I don't want to go through that scenario, again, on my current working system. Hence my wanting to only use Ubuntu Software Center this time.

Thank you for your patience and assistance.

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When will Berkeley be updating BOINC information to Ubuntu/Ubuntu Software Center so that I can update BOINC to 7.2.28?

It's up to the package maintainers of every distro to update their BOINC packages, Berkeley can't do anything about that.

If you want to use Ubuntu Software Center you can either wait for the next version to appear (you may need to wait for the next version of Ubuntu to be released) or you may use one of the maintainer's personal package archive. Although I don't know if the PPA contains only release versions of BOINC or alpha versions as well.

When will Berkeley be updating BOINC information to Ubuntu/Ubuntu Software Center so that I can update BOINC to 7.2.28?

It's up to the package maintainers of every distro to update their BOINC packages, Berkeley can't do anything about that.

If you want to use Ubuntu Software Center you can either wait for the next version to appear (you may need to wait for the next version of Ubuntu to be released) or you may use one of the maintainer's personal package archive. Although I don't know if the PPA contains only release versions of BOINC or alpha versions as well.

So, you're telling me that Command Line is the ONLY way to go to get 7.2.28 installed, right? I know how to successfully download 7.2.28 and get it to the Downloads Folder; but, what do I do in Command Line to successfully overwrite 7.0.65 and NOT kill the WU's I have being worked on?

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So, you're telling me that Command Line is the ONLY way to go to get 7.2.28 installed, right?

Here is the PPA I was talking about. Using that PPA avoids converting to Berkeley version. But I must stress, I don't know if that PPA will contain alpha (=possibly broken) versions in any time in future.

You may also wait for a while to see if 7.2.28 gets uploaded to the normal repository.

I know how to successfully download 7.2.28 and get it to the Downloads Folder; but, what do I do in Command Line to successfully overwrite 7.0.65 and NOT kill the WU's I have being worked on?

I've never converted distro version to Berkeley version before. It's already past midnight here so I'm not going to do that right now (getting the damn details right takes time.)

So, you're telling me that Command Line is the ONLY way to go to get 7.2.28 installed, right?

Here is the PPA I was talking about. Using that PPA avoids converting to Berkeley version. But I must stress, I don't know if that PPA will contain alpha (=possibly broken) versions in any time in future.

You may also wait for a while to see if 7.2.28 gets uploaded to the normal repository.

I know how to successfully download 7.2.28 and get it to the Downloads Folder; but, what do I do in Command Line to successfully overwrite 7.0.65 and NOT kill the WU's I have being worked on?

I've never converted distro version to Berkeley version before. It's already past midnight here so I'm not going to do that right now (getting the damn details right takes time.)

I don't think I'll try the PPA route; because when I tried it for Wine, when the Updater did come up stating there were updates, it refused to install those updates because they were "third party" and were "Untrusted and NOT Authenticated sources"... I'm afraid the same error message will hit when I add the BOINC PPA to the repository for updates.

Thus; until such time as the Ubuntu Software Center is updated, I'm afraid that command line is the ONLY way to force 7.2.28 to install over 7.0.65, and as stated before, my Linux Command Line knowledge is next to ZERO.

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Well, I managed to successfully download BOINC 7.2.28 from SETI@home. It now sits in the "Downloads" Folder.

How do I successfully install it, (using Terminal), so that it updates 7.0.65 to 7.2.28 without removing the BOINC Manager, and without killing WU's being worked on???

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Sorry this is taking long. I'm fighting with lousy virtual machine software, whatever Canonical did to Ubuntu to make it so slow in VM and that unbelievably stupid Ubuntu Software Center that's designed to install only Canonical approved software and resist as best as it can to do anything else.

Well, I managed to successfully download BOINC 7.2.28 from SETI@home. It now sits in the "Downloads" Folder.

How do I successfully install it, (using Terminal), so that it updates 7.0.65 to 7.2.28 without removing the BOINC Manager, and without killing WU's being worked on???

Ok, start a Terminal and navigate to the Downloads directory. Unpack the 7.2.28 file by entering:

.sh boinc_7.2.28_x86_64-pc-linux-gnu.sh

This should create a directory called BOINC in the Downloads directory. CD into the BOINC directory and use ldd to check library dependencies:

cd BOINC
ldd boinc

If no libraries are missing in the output, then you can do the following to rename the old 7.0 binary in case you need to restore it and then copy in the new 7.2 version. I am doing this from memory as my machine has the executables installed elsewhere, so prior to doing this make sure the executable is in /usr/bin

sudo service boinc-client stop
sudo mv /usr/bin/boinc boinc_7.0.65
sudo cp boinc /usr/bin/boinc
sudo service boinc-client start

You can run the ldd command on boincmgr and boinccmd as well if you wish and if no libraries are missing, you can do the mv and cp commands on those, just changing the command to reflect the appropriate filenames. You don't need to stop the client to update the boincmgr and boinccmd executables.

Well, I managed to successfully download BOINC 7.2.28 from SETI@home. It now sits in the "Downloads" Folder.

How do I successfully install it, (using Terminal), so that it updates 7.0.65 to 7.2.28 without removing the BOINC Manager, and without killing WU's being worked on???

Ok, start a Terminal and navigate to the Downloads directory. Unpack the 7.2.28 file by entering:

.sh boinc_7.2.28_x86_64-pc-linux-gnu.sh

This should create a directory called BOINC in the Downloads directory. CD into the BOINC directory and use ldd to check library dependencies:

cd BOINC
ldd boinc

If no libraries are missing in the output, then you can do the following to rename the old 7.0 binary in case you need to restore it and then copy in the new 7.2 version. I am doing this from memory as my machine has the executables installed elsewhere, so prior to doing this make sure the executable is in /usr/bin

sudo service boinc-client stop
sudo mv /usr/bin/boinc boinc_7.0.65
sudo cp boinc /usr/bin/boinc
sudo service boinc-client start

You can run the ldd command on boincmgr and boinccmd as well if you wish and if no libraries are missing, you can do the mv and cp commands on those, just changing the command to reflect the appropriate filenames. You don't need to stop the client to update the boincmgr and boinccmd executables.

Thank you very much BobCat13. Keep in mind, that I originally installed BOINC 7.0.65 from Ubuntu Software Center. So, I'm not sure where 7.0.65 was written to and stored. Would it still be /usr/bin ??? Or, would it be somewhere else??? ...and, how do I make sure that I get the 7.2.28 from Downloads to /usr/bin ???

God WINDOWS IS SUPERIOR!!! Double Click and be done with it, already!!! Who says Linux is superior is DAFT!!! This command line stuff is maddening! GUI is the future! Or, it's supposed to be! Drag and Drop, Cut and Paste, Double Click to install, ALL Perfectly wonderful, why can't Linux do this???

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Thank you very much BobCat13. Keep in mind, that I originally installed BOINC 7.0.65 from Ubuntu Software Center. So, I'm not sure where 7.0.65 was written to and stored. Would it still be /usr/bin ??? Or, would it be somewhere else??? ...and, how do I make sure that I get the 7.2.28 from Downloads to /usr/bin ???

Since 7.0.65 was installed from the Software Center, the executables will be in /usr/bin and the 4 commands will stop the client, rename the old 7.0.65 version, move 7.2.28 to usr/bin and finally start the client again. Just be sure to use the ldd command to make sure all libraries are installed, or when you start the new version it will fail to run.

Also, I made a mistake on the command to unpack the 7.2.28 download. You have the 32 bit version, so the command to unpack should be:

sh boinc_7.2.28_i686-pc-linux-gnu.sh

God WINDOWS IS SUPERIOR!!! Double Click and be done with it, already!!! Who says Linux is superior is DAFT!!! This command line stuff is maddening! GUI is the future! Or, it's supposed to be! Drag and Drop, Cut and Paste, Double Click to install, ALL Perfectly wonderful, why can't Linux do this???

If the Software Center was updated, it would be a lot easier but since it hasn't been updated, this is the way to install a newer version. As an alpha tester, I have been upgrading versions like this for several years without a problem.

God WINDOWS IS SUPERIOR!!! Double Click and be done with it, already!!! Who says Linux is superior is DAFT!!! This command line stuff is maddening! GUI is the future! Or, it's supposed to be! Drag and Drop, Cut and Paste, Double Click to install, ALL Perfectly wonderful, why can't Linux do this???

I guess you already got it working with BobCat13's instructions. Since you said you'd prefer to stay away from command line I looked into how to install 7.2.28 from GUI, keeping the package manager in the loop and using files from PPA without actually adding the PPA to the list of repositories. I'll post my instructions here so you can compare which one is worse in this case, command line or GUI :)

(I can't absolutely guarantee that these instructions don't trash any/all of the work you have on board.)

1. Fire up Ubuntu Software Center (SC). Click Installed icon and type "boinc" into the search box. Click Show technical items. You should see packages like boinc-client and boinc-manager listed.

2. Keep SC in background and start a web browser. Go to the package list of LocutusOfBorg's boinc development release PPA to download package files.

3. The page lists several source packages, each one once for every supported Ubuntu release. The first files to download are under the boinc source package. Expand the one matching your Ubuntu release. Next scroll to the list of files.

The files that have "i386" in their name are for 32-bit releases and the files that have "amd64" in their name are for 64-bit releases. If the file name has "all" in it it is for both 32-bit and 64-bit releases. Each file should have your Ubuntu release's version number in their name, e.g. "12.04". If not you picked the wrong release.

From the PPA you'll need to download the package files for at least the following packages: boinc, boinc-client, boinc-manager and libboinc7. Package files end in ".deb". You won't need the other files.

4. Keep the web browser open and go back to SC. If SC lists any other packages than the ones you just downloaded you need go to the web page and download a new version of every one of those packages. The other packages may be under different source packages. Make sure that any package that you download matches your processor architecture and your Ubuntu release.

If SC lists any boinc-app-* packages download also libboinc-app7 package.

(SC is brain-dead so we need to do the rest the wrong way.)

5. If you downloaded boinc-app-seti or boinc-app-milkyway and have work from Seti or Milkyway tell BOINC to hurry up with those. Any work from those will quote likely get trashed in the following steps. If you didn't download those packages you can ignore this step.

6. Once you have downloaded everything go back to SC. Next you need to uninstall each one of the listed packages. Starting from boinc-manager package seems to result in most of the other packages to be uninstalled at the same time. Keep uninstalling until no packages remain.

If SC asks to remove any of the listed packages say yes.
If SC asks to remove any package that wasn't listed but contains "boinc" in it's name say yes.
If SC asks to remove any other package say no.
If SC asks to purge any package or remove /var/lib/boinc-client directory say no.

7. Start installing the packages you just downloaded in the following order: libboinc7, boinc-client, boinc-manager and boinc. After these install remaining packages, if any, in any order you like.

The packages are installed by double-clicking or selecting right click -> Open with SC for each of the .deb files you downloaded. SC changes to display the package's details with an Install button. Click the Install button.

If SC tells you should only install the package if you trust the source you can ignore the warning. The files you downloaded are packaged by the same person who also works for the BOINC Ubuntu packages, the packages are compiled by the same machines that compile the BOINC Ubuntu packages and the files are downloaded from Canonical's servers.

8. Done.

9. If something goes wrong and you only get some of the packages to install you can get back to the repository version by repeating steps 1 and 6 and then installing BOINC with SC the way you normally would.


With the exception of typing your password once or a few times I think you should get away with these instructions without touching your keyboard at all. :P

IMHO the too many steps and performing manually the work of a package manager isn't all that much better than using command line.

I think there's one step missing from BobCat13's instructions: Don't uninstall BOINC from package manager. If you uninstall it BOINC won't anymore start at boot time, you'll lose menu icon for BOINC Manager and you'll lose the boinc special user, which may make BOINC's data directory inaccessible to anyone but root.

Fixing those requires reinstalling BOINC. Or working more with command line :)

If the Software Center was updated, it would be a lot easier but since it hasn't been updated, this is the way to install a newer version. As an alpha tester, I have been upgrading versions like this for several years without a problem.

Do you have BOINC installed from the repository at the same time? Does the package manager ever complain about the binaries being something other than what the packages had? Or does the package manager ever replace the binaries to whatever it thinks are the correct ones?

If the Software Center was updated, it would be a lot easier but since it hasn't been updated, this is the way to install a newer version. As an alpha tester, I have been upgrading versions like this for several years without a problem.

Do you have BOINC installed from the repository at the same time? Does the package manager ever complain about the binaries being something other than what the packages had? Or does the package manager ever replace the binaries to whatever it thinks are the correct ones?

No, it was not installed from the repository. I created a partition named /boinc and that partition contains two directories, /executable and /data. After unpacking the Berkeley sh file, I just rename the old executables and copy the newest ones into the /executable directory. The client is started as a daemon by the init.d script and the /etc/default/boinc-client file points to /boinc/executable/boinc for the client and /boinc/data/ for the data directory.

@ Juha,

I went back several posts to your suggestion of using Update Manager and installing PPAs. So, I followed the instructions verbatim to install the PPAs into Update Manager, told Update Manager to check for updates, it found the BOINC updates, BUT REFUSES TO INSTALL THEM; just like when I tried this for Wine...

"Requires installation of untrusted packages

The action would require the installation of packages from not authenticated sources"

@ Juha and BobCat13,

I DEFINITELY want to keep BOINC Manager GUI operational. So; BobCat13, if I follow your instructions, will that happen??? Or, as Juha suggests, will I need more command line instructions?

Many thanks to you both.

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@ Juha,

I went back several posts to your suggestion of using Update Manager and installing PPAs. So, I followed the instructions verbatim to install the PPAs into Update Manager, told Update Manager to check for updates, it found the BOINC updates, BUT REFUSES TO INSTALL THEM; just like when I tried this for Wine...

"Requires installation of untrusted packages

The action would require the installation of packages from not authenticated sources"

What instructions did you follow? I wonder if you didn't install the signing key.

Here's how I did it:

Start Software Center.
Start Software Sources from Edit-menu.
Select Other Software -tab.
Click Add-button.
Type "ppa:costamagnagianfranco/boinc".
Click Add Source.
(I couldn't find a way to refresh the package list from SC so I had to do it from command line. I didn't know I had Update Manager available (running this from Live CD).)
Then I went back to SC and installed 7.2.33.

Looks like you can get to the Software Sources from Update Manager as well (Settings-button).

@ Juha and BobCat13,

I DEFINITELY want to keep BOINC Manager GUI operational. So; BobCat13, if I follow your instructions, will that happen??? Or, as Juha suggests, will I need more command line instructions?

I'd rather not try to answer this because I don't know for sure what happens.