Problem with no disk space for SETI@home

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Ulysse Keller

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Message 57512 - Posted: 10 Nov 2014, 8:43:52 UTC

I get a message in the BOINC interface for SETI@home = one of my BOINC projects, the other one being Einstein@home, I also had before installing recent BOINC due to an older message that I should do so: Rosetta@home (I don't know why not now) and intend to add project PrimeGrid (among other resons because it includes the Riesel search which had its own project - that disappeared due to manager having quit - and which I also had as a project). I can't see anymore the exact message, it says about that: it needs 32 MB disk space (if not 32 GB even) but it seems to have currently only 3.82 MB. So where can I change this? In my preferences (or options, if you prefer, I have these things in German) I found nowhere to set this!
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Profile Jord
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Message 57513 - Posted: 10 Nov 2014, 8:59:16 UTC - in response to Message 57512.  

Tools->Computing preferences->Disk and memory usage.

Assistenten->Einstellungen->Nutzung vond Festplatte und Speicher.
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Ulysse Keller

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Message 57514 - Posted: 10 Nov 2014, 10:19:25 UTC - in response to Message 57513.  

Thank you. I was in there (already before I got your answer) but don't see what I must change. It says (I'm translating from German, so the texts in the engl. vers. might be a bit different)
Use at most 15 GB
Keep free at least 30 GB
Use at most 40% of total disk space
(the other contents of the [sub-] page seem to play no role)

This I get independently of the project that is highlighted, so it may be global BOINC-preferences or just defaults for all projects (that I did not change) or I might have (long ago) copied preferences from one project to others (may-be due to good results with the first). Other indications that might be useful: in the stat's-page of the BOINC manager it says: 510.89 MB occupied by BOINC, and 28.30 GB free, and 63.40 GB occupied by other things. Concerning my C: - drive (my HD has C: and D:) Windows expl. says total 92.2 GB, free 28.3 GB (same value), occupied 63.9 GB (= total - free, of course); by subtracting from these the 63.4 GB one gets ~ a half GB which is supposed to be occupied by BOINC. (D: which has a total of 45.1 GB, is apparently not accessible to BOINC.) Now, of the ~ 511 MB occ.'d by BOINC 502.29 are given to Einstein@h., leaving only less than 9 MB for other BOINC projects, which is < 32, so anyway not enough for SETI. But SETI does not even use all that, the rest is shown blank in the stat's picture of disk use, I guess because it is "owned" by the "invisible" project Rosetta@h. which may still be somewhere around. So, where can I pull down the (posthume) "greed" (in disk space) of the genius of relativity? If I manage to do this, will it solve my problem with the extraterrestrials (still hidden or may-be not existent in this universe)? Another thing is that the 30 GB to be left free seem to be too much, this I can change in the "page" you mention, may-be that alone helps (if Einstein does not "steal" all new available space ;-) )
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Message 57515 - Posted: 10 Nov 2014, 10:59:49 UTC - in response to Message 57514.  

How big is the hard drive that the C: and D: partitions are on? The "Use at most 40% of total disk space" value is calculated over the whole hard drive, not just the partition BOINC its data directory is on.
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BJM

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Message 57556 - Posted: 11 Nov 2014, 19:36:38 UTC

My situation is similar to Ulysse's: Why is BOINC using less than 1% of what I have allocated to it?

Total disk usage used by BOINC 1.05 GB
free, available to BOINC 225.00 GB
free not available to BOINC 146.32 GB
used by other programs 79.73 GB

Disk & Memory Preferences set as:
use at most 300 GB
leave at least 100 GB free
use at most 50% total
use at most 50% page file

Memory
use at most 50% when in use
use at most 100% when idle

Leave apps in memory suspended IS checked
Also checked Computing allowed & Use GPU while computer in use

I don't understand why (0 means no restriction) for: While processor usage is less than 0% ?? So I have it set to 0 & tasks are running but it seems slow.

Also don't understand why (0 means ignore this setting) for: On multiprocessor systems, use at most... I have it set to 75% on a quad core intel win8.1 Also have set use at most 75% cpu time.

So many tasks Waiting & Ready to Run, so much disk space to give them ...
TIA for any helpful answers!
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Claggy

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Message 57557 - Posted: 11 Nov 2014, 19:59:32 UTC - in response to Message 57556.  
Last modified: 11 Nov 2014, 20:12:54 UTC

Is this using Web or Local Preferences?

If you think you're using Web preferences, does anything change when you Clear the local preferences?

Can you post the actual message from the Event log too please.

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Message 57561 - Posted: 11 Nov 2014, 20:13:51 UTC - in response to Message 57556.  

Total disk usage used by BOINC 1.05 GB
free, available to BOINC 225.00 GB
free not available to BOINC 146.32 GB
used by other programs 79.73 GB

Disk & Memory Preferences set as:
use at most 300 GB
leave at least 100 GB free
use at most 50% total
use at most 50% page file

Same question here, what size hard drive do you use?

Given the above figures, (1.05+225+146.32+79.73)= 452.1 GB
If 452.1Gb is total hard drive space, your setting of use 50% already maxes things out, as weirdly enough exactly half of that figure is already used by other things (free not available to BOINC 146.32 GB + used by other programs 79.73 GB) = 226.05GB

That leaves out the leave 100GB free requirement.
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Ulysse Keller

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Message 57576 - Posted: 11 Nov 2014, 21:13:55 UTC - in response to Message 57515.  

How big is the hard drive that the C: and D: partitions are on? The "Use at most 40% of total disk space" value is calculated over the whole hard drive, not just the partition BOINC its data directory is on.


As I said, C: has 92.2 GB and D: has 45.1 GB. Together that's 137.3 GB which must be the size of the hard disk drive, because I believe that I did not install any other partition - too difficult with newer Windows versions (I have Vista), one needs special software that is either expensive or does not work with the OS installed ... I did such a thing on my laptop that I seldom use these days, because I wanted to work with Linux - so please ignore the very improbable possibility. 40 % of 137.3 is ~ 55 GB, which is anyway more than the limit of 15 GB and BOINC seems to use only ~ a half GB ... I guess that this is enough for Einstein@home. It must have been taken over from the old BOINC version - remember the problem began after updating my BOINC ! Where do the 511 GB come from? (BTW is there a place in Windows that shows the total size of hard disk?)

So I ask again, should I reduce the space that must be left free? (now 30 GB, which are not even reached because the free space on C: is a bit smaller) or force Einstein@h. to use less (how can I do this?) or may-be both? or change something else?
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Ulysse Keller

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Message 57768 - Posted: 17 Nov 2014, 15:15:15 UTC

Why no more answer? Should I just do what I wrote in my last post to this theme? (In one part I do not know how)
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Message 57776 - Posted: 17 Nov 2014, 16:50:48 UTC - in response to Message 57768.  

Sorry, I'm only human and fallible to disease just as anyone else is. I developed a jaw infection which started late at night the 11th of November, which hurt so much I couldn't think, only hurt. So I gave up on things like remembering who I helped that same day or the day before. Pretty much gave up on a lot of the forums for days.

is there a place in Windows that shows the total size of hard disk?

Start->Search->Type computer management (will be the same in German, I think)->(Double)Click on the Computer Management program Windows finds->Storage->Disk Management. Through this same utility you can set up a hard drive, shrink volumes, extend volumes, delete volumes, format the whole drive etc.

because I wanted to work with Linux

But then an easier thing is to install a virtual machine, such as VirtualBox. Then install Linux in that.

As for needing space for Seti, since Seti is down and will probably be down for the next days, I'm wondering if there's much hurry behind this. But the easiest setting to change is the Use at most N% total disk space. Try setting it to 100%. It'll never use that, but that gets problems like this out of the way the easiest, without having to figure out where those 32 MB are needed.
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Message 57802 - Posted: 17 Nov 2014, 19:11:33 UTC - in response to Message 57776.  

As for needing space for Seti, since Seti is down and will probably be down for the next days, I'm wondering if there's much hurry behind this. But the easiest setting to change is the Use at most N% total disk space. Try setting it to 100%. It'll never use that, but that gets problems like this out of the way the easiest, without having to figure out where those 32 MB are needed.

Rethinking...

Keep free at least 30 GB

You have 28.30 GB free.

Of course, 28.3GB is already less than the 30GB you want kept free.

63.40 GB occupied by other things
Use at most 40% of total disk space

137.3 x 0.4 = 54.92
137.3 - (0.512 + 54.92) - 63.40 = 18.46 GB

Urgh, best just play around with the numbers. Or you can give Use at most high numbers, leave at least very low and the percentage at 100%.
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