I set up a fresh boinc installation in a headless server and got started, but all my tasks have been stuck in "downloading" state for over four hours, and

htop

doesn't show any boinc compute tasks running.

I am running SRGrid, ClimatePrediction.net, and World Community Grid projects.

This is on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS , just updated completely and restarted today.

$ boinc --version
7.2.42 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu

What is odd is that so little network transfer has taken place, even though this server has no problem downloading and uploading:

$ boinccmd --get_daily_xfer_history
07-Jul-2017: 43916 bytes uploaded, 277996 bytes downloaded

Here is a representative task that shows itself in "downloading" state:

$ boinccmd --get_state
...
======== Tasks ========
1) -----------
   name: OET1_0004824_x3MWP_rig_36551_0
   WU name: OET1_0004824_x3MWP_rig_36551
   project URL: https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
   report deadline: Tue Jul 18 16:31:25 2017
   ready to report: no
   got server ack: no
   final CPU time: 0.000000
   state: downloading
   scheduler state: uninitialized
   exit_status: 0
   signal: 0
   suspended via GUI: no
   active_task_state: UNINITIALIZED
   app version num: 0
   checkpoint CPU time: 0.000000
   current CPU time: 0.000000
   fraction done: 0.000000
   swap size: 0.000000
   working set size: 0.000000
   estimated CPU time remaining: 5340.614933

The machine is:

$ uname -a
Linux cb-01 3.13.0-123-generic #172-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jun 26 18:04:35 UTC 2017 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Here is some extra detail that might help:

$ boinccmd --get_state
...
======== Time stats ========
  now: 1499576006.617083
  on_frac: 0.999956
  connected_frac: 0.000000
  cpu_and_network_available_frac: 0.976835
  active_frac: 0.976835
  gpu_active_frac: 0.976835
  client_start_time: 1499556619.556248
  previous_uptime: 19387.060835

I used 'https' instead of 'http' for the World Community Grid project url, and while a log from that project recommends re-adding the project (message in log below), that doesn't exhibit any different behavior than the other two projects.

$ boinccmd --get_messages
1: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Starting BOINC client version 7.2.42 for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu
2: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
3: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Libraries: libcurl/7.35.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1f zlib/1.2.8 libidn/1.28 librtmp/2.3
4: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Data directory: /var/lib/boinc-client
5: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] No usable GPUs found
6: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Host name: cb-01
7: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Processor: 8 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU           L5420  @ 2.50GHz [Family 6 Model 23 Stepping 10]
8: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl aperfmperf pni tm2 ssse3 lahf_lm dtherm
9: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] OS: Linux: 3.13.0-123-generic
10: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Memory: 15.67 GB physical, 1.91 GB virtual
11: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Disk: 452.66 GB total, 354.11 GB free
12: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Local time is UTC -7 hours
13: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] VirtualBox version: WARNING: The vboxdrv kernel module is not loaded. Either there is no module
14: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Config: GUI RPCs allowed from:
15: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/] URL https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/; Computer ID not assigned yet; resource share 100
16: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/] URL http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/; Computer ID not assigned yet; resource share 100
17: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] No general preferences found - using defaults
18: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Reading preferences override file
19: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Preferences:
20: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] max memory usage when active: 1604.84MB
21: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] max memory usage when idle: 7221.77MB
22: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] max disk usage: 10.00GB
23: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] max CPUs used: 6
24: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] don't compute while active
25: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] don't use GPU while active
26: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] suspend work if non-BOINC CPU load exceeds 50%
27: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
28: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] gui_rpc_auth.cfg is empty - no GUI RPC password protection
29: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Not using a proxy
30: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:21 (low) [] Running CPU benchmarks
31: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:21 (low) [] Suspending computation - CPU benchmarks in progress
32: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:21 (low) [] Suspending network activity - computer is in use
33: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:53 (low) [] Benchmark results:
34: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:53 (low) [] Number of CPUs: 6
35: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:53 (low) [] 2511 floating point MIPS (Whetstone) per CPU
36: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:53 (low) [] 13198 integer MIPS (Dhrystone) per CPU
37: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:13 (low) [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/] update requested by user
38: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:13 (low) [http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/] update requested by user
39: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:17 (low) [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/] Master file download succeeded
40: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:22 (low) [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
41: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:22 (low) [https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/] Requesting new tasks for CPU
42: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [World Community Grid] Scheduler request completed: got 8 new tasks
43: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [World Community Grid] You used the wrong URL for this project.  When convenient, remove this project, then add http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
44: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [World Community Grid] General prefs: from World Community Grid (last modified 24-Jun-2017 11:01:56)
45: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [World Community Grid] Host location: none
46: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [World Community Grid] General prefs: using your defaults
47: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] Reading preferences override file
48: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] Preferences:
49: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] max memory usage when active: 1604.84MB
50: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] max memory usage when idle: 7221.77MB
51: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] max disk usage: 10.00GB
52: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] max CPUs used: 6
53: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] don't compute while active
54: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] don't use GPU while active
55: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] suspend work if non-BOINC CPU load exceeds 50%
56: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:25 (low) [] (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
57: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:33 (low) [http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/] Master file download succeeded
58: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:39 (low) [http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
59: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:39 (low) [http://srbase.my-firewall.org/sr5/] Requesting new tasks for CPU
60: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:41 (low) [SRBase] Scheduler request completed: got 10 new tasks
61: 08-Jul-2017 16:31:41 (low) [SRBase] New computer location: home
62: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:28 (low) [http://climateprediction.net/] update requested by user
63: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:28 (low) [SRBase] update requested by user
64: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:28 (low) [World Community Grid] update requested by user
65: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:35 (low) [http://climateprediction.net/] Master file download succeeded
66: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:40 (low) [http://climateprediction.net/] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
67: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:40 (low) [http://climateprediction.net/] Requesting new tasks for CPU
68: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:43 (low) [climateprediction.net] Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
69: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:43 (low) [climateprediction.net] Project has no tasks available
70: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:43 (low) [climateprediction.net] New computer location: home
71: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:46 (low) [climateprediction.net] update requested by user
72: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:46 (low) [SRBase] update requested by user
73: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:46 (low) [World Community Grid] update requested by user
74: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:49 (low) [climateprediction.net] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
75: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:49 (low) [climateprediction.net] Requesting new tasks for CPU
76: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:51 (low) [climateprediction.net] Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
77: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:51 (low) [climateprediction.net] Project has no tasks available
78: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:57 (low) [SRBase] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
79: 08-Jul-2017 16:35:57 (low) [SRBase] Requesting new tasks for CPU
80: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:00 (low) [SRBase] Scheduler request completed: got 10 new tasks
81: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:06 (low) [World Community Grid] Sending scheduler request: Requested by user.
82: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:06 (low) [World Community Grid] Requesting new tasks for CPU
83: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
84: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] You used the wrong URL for this project.  When convenient, remove this project, then add http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
85: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks sent
86: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for Smash Childhood Cancer
87: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for OpenZika
88: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for Help Stop TB
89: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for FightAIDS@Home - Phase 2
90: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for Outsmart Ebola Together
91: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for Mapping Cancer Markers
92: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] No tasks are available for FightAIDS@Home - Vina
93: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] This computer has reached a limit on tasks in progress
94: 08-Jul-2017 16:36:09 (low) [World Community Grid] Project has no tasks available
christopherbalz@cb-01:/var/lib/boinc-client$ 

Try boinccmd --get_cc_status to see the network status.

Upon a user activated project update, the client will contact the project and even request work, but will not download any workunit files if the network is set to never.

1: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] Starting BOINC client version 7.2.42 for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu

24: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:19 (low) [] don't compute while active

32: 08-Jul-2017 16:30:21 (low) [] Suspending network activity - computer is in use

I don't remember for sure, but that version probably has broken idle detection, it always thinks the computer is in use.

You seem to be using local preferences. You can change the setting either by connecting Manager to the server or by editing global_preferences_override.xml file and telling the client to re-read the preferences with "boinccmd --read_global_prefs_override". In the XML file the setting is called <run_if_user_active>.

@Juha, you are correct: The idle detection in that version appears to be broken and it seems to think that the machine is always in use. Hopefully the package maintainers can see their way clear to an update soon!

Using the cpu usage limit works for me though for turning off boinc when the server needs to do other tasks. Thank you.

I wonder if the gpu's are also turned off based on the cpu usage limit. Is that documented somewhere, and if so, where?

@Juha, you are correct: The idle detection in that version appears to be broken and it seems to think that the machine is always in use. Hopefully the package maintainers can see their way clear to an update soon!

Don't know if they will update for 14.04, but you could always try LocutusOfBorg's builds:

https://launchpad.net/~costamagnagianfranco/+archive/ubuntu/boinc

I have used his builds without any problems.

I wonder if the gpu's are also turned off based on the cpu usage limit. Is that documented somewhere, and if so, where?

I don't think it's documented. I would expect that if non-BOINC CPU usage exceed limit then all computing is suspended. GPU tasks require some amount of support from CPU, some tasks more than others.

"I would expect that if non-BOINC CPU usage exceed limit then all computing is suspended."

Yes, I as well.