Posts by Andrew Hingston

41) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Defaults for installation (Message 1444)
Posted 2 Dec 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
I agree with Xavi. It is irritating to have to go through these things each time, and easy to make a mistake. A lot of people do struggle with these things. The installation folder issue is another case where the default is not the optimal choice. Although there is no alternative to offering the system drive in the initial install defaults, once people have been encouraged to install BOINC on a different drive the prompt should be to keep it there.
42) Message boards : BOINC Manager : "Product Not Installed" (Message 1336)
Posted 30 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
Are you saying that BOINC is telling you that you are not attached to a project? If so, you should read this page of the BOINC-Wiki.
43) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Project URL servername (Message 1257)
Posted 28 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
You may find it helpful to read this page in the BOINC-Wiki. There is a lot more help there as well.
44) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Having trouble getting old seti transfered to Boinc (Message 1246)
Posted 28 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
Hi, I've been tring to get my account info from classic seti to Bionc.

It's best to ask this sort of question on the new SETI@Home boards, X_Tinman. There are more people around to help, and you should find the answer already if you do a search. This board is really for queries on BOINC itself, which is multi-project. The same thing applies with any other projects you join.
45) Message boards : BOINC Manager : 5.2.12 Connection faliure (Message 1238)
Posted 28 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
In defence of the Devs (I'm just a humble user) it should be said that the upgrade to v5 of BOINC had been under development and testing for some months, and was launched some weeks ago. A revised version fixed some minor flaws that had been uncovered, and it is unfortunate that it coincided with the classic SETI turnoff which meant many new users were exposed to fresh problems. The response was quick, which is why we are now in v 5.2.12, which seems much better.

Documentation has been a BOINC weakness, but the BOINC-Wiki has been a great step forward even though it is struggling to keep up with the changes in BOINC. Those of us running BOINC for a while would hate to go back to the old ways, and though it does seem complicated this is largely in response to user demand for it to be customisable.

As for your particular problem, I'm no techie, but I gather from what you say that the program does not fail only at boot/starting Windows. BOINC Manager starts, but you get a message 'cannot conect to localhost'? Can you confirm what is happening in your case? This one has proved elusive, I suspect because there can be several different reasons for it and they tend to be system specific. Every time one fix is found, somebody finds another cause.

46) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Statistics (Message 1235)
Posted 28 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
CPDN is slow enough that it could be several days longer than that.


The CPDN (climateprediction) site stats run is every 12 hours, so credits will often show more quickly than for SETI. And the trickle-up (on which credit is awarded) is shown under your account on the website more or less immediately. But with every project actual experience may vary. SETI classic veterans will be familiar with that.
47) Message boards : BOINC client : Scheduler bug with aborted wu's (Message 1209)
Posted 27 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
I can't see how a high switching time can be too long. So I'll stick with 180 minutes.


I agree that this should not cause any problems. Long switching times are pretty well essential for those opting not to leave apps in memory when preempted.
48) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Defaults for installation (Message 1186)
Posted 27 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
I take a different position on the question of defaulting to starting BOINC on boot. Yes, of course people should make a decision on that and be aware what they are doing. But defaults are also used as a guide to the 'normal' thing to do. Launching BOINC manually every time we start Windows, or whatever, just isn't convenient for users or easy to remember, and the solution to instances where it is a system hog lies elsewhere.

Having BOINC as the default screensaver, on the other hand, is a different matter. It is tiresome in the extreme to have to continually explain to users of climateprediction, for instance, that default setting notwithstanding, it is not a good idea. There is enough confusion around anyway arising from the lingering description of these projects as screensaver applications, when we know they are nothing of the sort.
49) Message boards : BOINC Manager : old VS new (Message 1167)
Posted 26 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
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Have you downloaded and installed the latest version?
50) Message boards : BOINC Manager : connection always fails (Message 1148)
Posted 26 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
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Ah. Comms :-)

Don't ask me, but if you are brave you could look at this page. Seriously, though, if you look in the messages tab there should be a message giving you a bit of information on what is going wrong. Copy and paste the relevant bit here and somebody will be able to make a suggestion.
51) Message boards : BOINC client : Need to change drive (Message 1115)
Posted 25 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
Move the entire BOINC folder to the new drive and then install BOINC again into that folder. BOINC should then restart where you left off. Remember, though, that you may need to alter your general preferences (in 'Your account' on the project site) to tell BOINC how much space you can spare.
52) Message boards : BOINC Manager : can't attach to project (Message 1106)
Posted 25 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
It's probably just that the servers are very busy at the moment with everyone converting to BOINC. Try again at other times. Or you could join another project to see if is any better.
53) Message boards : BOINC Manager : I give in... my hands held high... BOINC wins... (Message 1104)
Posted 25 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
Sorry about that. There are still a few classic applications around - climateprediction has one - but you have a much better range of choices and ultimately more control over what your machines are doing, if you can get BOINC to work. At this stage I'd suggest choosing one project and concentrate on getting that running across your network. After that everything should be child's play. As you have had a problem with one project, though, it might be worth trying another just in case there is something about the application that is causing problems.

The thing that is going wrong is probably quite simple. If you go to the questions and answers section of your chosen project (there are usually more people around on those boards) then ask people to talk you through the process. Quote any messages in BOINC Manager so that people know where you are up to. You'll get there in the end.
54) Message boards : BOINC Manager : New user completely confused (Message 1099)
Posted 25 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
After shutting down and running boincmgr.exe manually, all it asks for is the URL, connects and then asks for my name and password. It is almost as if I ran 2 completely different programs. Can anyone explain this.


It was probably just that the server was busy the first time you tried, and less busy the second. Yes, it is confusing, even to old hands because it is something that has only started with the latest version of BOINC, which is why it is not in the instructions yet.

Now, I can run BOING Manager if I amnually start it. But that seems to be a lot of extra work. Is there a way to correct THIS.


It should start by itself when you boot your computer, so it is difficult to give you sound advice without being clear what went wrong before. When you installed BOINC, you will have seen a screen with three choices, asking you whether you wanted BOINC to run whenever you (single-user) were using the computer, when anyone was using it, or as a service. Let's say you chose the first. Then if you go to your Documents and Settings folder and look inside your personal folder you should find one called Start Menu and inside that one called Programs, inside that one called Startup. That should have an icon which is a shortcut to the BOINC program. If you chose the all user option it would be in the equivalent place in the All users folder of Documents and settings. If it isn't in either place, you can place it yourself by dragging the BOINC icon from the worktop (screen) and dropping it into one of the appropriatee folders. If you had opted for BOINC to run as a service there is a differnt method of getting BOINC to run, but it is unlikely that you did so. All this assumes Win XP - different OS may vary.
55) Message boards : BOINC client : Ranting about SETi Classic-> SETI/BOINC transfer (Message 1091)
Posted 25 Nov 2005 by Profile Andrew Hingston
Post:
I totally agree with Arnaud on this. Usability, and user documentation, have never been a strong point of BOINC, and experiences such as the close of SETI classic have exposed this weakness. The very fact that BOINC-Wiki grew out of a private and unofficial initiative by Paul Buck, to whom we all owe an enormous debt, speaks volumes. Changes in something as basic as the procedure for attaching to projects are non-trivial, and need to be clearly flagged in advance not just to project core teams, but also on project help boards, so that people like Arnaud, who carries an enormous load in supporting the francophone BOINC community, can ensure that ordinary users get the help they need (and indeed, can give feedback before the event on where the BOINC and project sites need tweaking).

There have been too many instances of newbies over the last few days saying 'BOINC is too difficult for me', and remember that most such people won't have posted.


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