Older AMD computer can't seem to handle Einstein@Home.

It shut down shortly after running its first Einstein task. Additional attempts resulted in shut-downs.

The machine shuts down spontaneously once or twice per week, but not within a half-hour of starting a task, multiple times.

AMD A6-6400 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 3.90 GHz, 8GB RAM, Windows 7, 64-bit OS, 1 TB HD

It doesn't like Virtual Box, nor Milky Way N-Body Simulation tasks, but runs Milky Way@Home Separation tasks, as well as Universe, Rosetta and WCG just fine.

Any help?

S. Gaber

Older AMD computer can't seem to handle Einstein@Home.

It shut down shortly after running its first Einstein task. Additional attempts resulted in shut-downs.

The machine shuts down spontaneously once or twice per week, but not within a half-hour of starting a task, multiple times.
... [snip]

It doesn't like Virtual Box, nor Milky Way N-Body Simulation tasks, but runs Milky Way@Home Separation tasks, as well as Universe, Rosetta and WCG just fine.

Any help?

S. Gaber

Possibly overheating/thermal overload.

When was the last time the computer had a good cleaning, removing the grime dust, etc that builds up inside on heat sink, CPU, GPU, fans, et ?

Older AMD computer can't seem to handle Einstein@Home.

It shut down shortly after running its first Einstein task. Additional attempts resulted in shut-downs.

The machine shuts down spontaneously once or twice per week, but not within a half-hour of starting a task, multiple times.
... [snip]

It doesn't like Virtual Box, nor Milky Way N-Body Simulation tasks, but runs Milky Way@Home Separation tasks, as well as Universe, Rosetta and WCG just fine.

Any help?

S. Gaber

Possibly overheating/thermal overload.

When was the last time the computer had a good cleaning, removing the grime dust, etc that builds up inside on heat sink, CPU, GPU, fans, et ?

Thanks for your reply.

I vacuum it regularly to remove dust and cat hair. I thought it might be overheating, so I drilled two grids of small holes in the case sides and added two large fans to help with cooling.
Also, I have CoreTemp, a utility which shows the operating temperature of the CPU. It usually runs between 154F to168F. The max temperature rating is 176F.

Right now, it's fluctuating from 155 to at 164F while crunching Universe and WCG..
I've had the case side open all day, with no change in temperature readings.

So maybe it it overheating, but just doesn't show it?

I dunno.

S. Gaber

Perhaps a seating / thermal paste issue?

And if not overheating, possibly a load problem with the PSU.
How old is the PSU? What make and model? Checked all the cables, that they're still seated correctly? No breaks in the cables or loose ends?

And if not overheating, possibly a load problem with the PSU.
How old is the PSU? What make and model? Checked all the cables, that they're still seated correctly? No breaks in the cables or loose ends?

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

This computer is about almost ten years old. It has been crunching BOINC tasks 24/7/365 for most of that time. I put it together as a bare bones kit with parts from Tiger Direct.
I am certainly no computer expert, but it wasn't difficult. At the time, I knew it wasn't the fastest or most powerful computer, but at 3.9MHz, it was a lot faster than my previous BOINC machines. I thought it would be sufficient. It has held up fairly well until now. But after ten years, maybe it's just tired.
.
AuthenticAMD AMD A6-6400K APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics [Family 21 Model 19 Stepping 1]
(2 processors) AMD AMD Radeon HD 7400/7500/8300/8400 series (Scrapper) (768MB) driver: 1.4.1848 OpenCL: 1.2 8MB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive, Microsoft Windows 7
Home Premium x64 Edition, Service Pack 1, (06.01.7601.00)

Currently running WCG and Universe at 156 degrees F.

I checked the cables and connectors when I installed the new fans six months ago. All looked secure with no breaks.

[quote]Perhaps a seating / thermal paste issue?[quote]
I had not considered the issue the CPU seating or thermal paste. But if that were the case, wouldn't it cause other projects to shut down right away? It does shut down spontaneously about twice per week. Einstein shut it down within a half-hour multiple times. I will check the CPU and apply more thermal paste.

Thank for your thoughtful and helpful suggestions.

Obviously, it is time to consider purchasing a newer, more up-to-date computer. But I doubt I would obtain permission from my CEO/CFO for such a purchase during this period of financial instability. She is money- stressed already. Perhaps in six months she will be more inclined to approve it.

Cheers.
S. Gaber

...apply more thermal paste

More does not mean better.
If you apply too much thermal paste it could increase the CPU temp.

If you touch this part of your computer, thoroughly remove the old thermal paste, then apply a thin layer of fresh thermal paste evenly.
The sense of thermal paste is to close those very small gaps between the CPU and the cooler.

...apply more thermal paste

More does not mean better.
If you apply too much thermal paste it could increase the CPU temp.

If you touch this part of your computer, thoroughly remove the old thermal paste, then apply a thin layer of fresh thermal paste evenly.
The sense of thermal paste is to close those very small gaps between the CPU and the cooler.

Right. I knew that. Shoulda said I would remove the old paste.

Thanks for that reminder.
S. Gaber

You all know that I am a computer moron.

At the risk of looking even more moronic. I am going to ask a possibly stupid question:

In Windows 7 or elsewhere, is there a hidden program or utility that calls for the computer to update, then shut down?

I can't think of anything else that would make this machine shut down of its own accord.

Is that a stupid question? If so, I apologize.

S. Gaber

You all know that I am a computer moron.

At the risk of looking even more moronic. I am going to ask a possibly stupid question:

In Windows 7 or elsewhere, is there a hidden program or utility that calls for the computer to update, then shut down?

I can't think of anything else that would make this machine shut down of its own accord.

Is that a stupid question? If so, I apologize.

S. Gaber

Well, it is not a stupid question. Windows (7 and newer versions as well) do have an auto-update software running in the background. But they don't just shutdown the computer, they reboot it after installing the updates. Furthermore Windows 7 is so old that it does not get anymore operating system updates. But it does get updates for the Windows inbuilt antivirus software and a monthly update and run of Malicious Software Removal Tool. Those updates don't require a reboot or shutdown, so this not a likely reason for your reboots. Anyway you can control how Windows 7 update works and handles updates via Control Panel / Windows Update.

You can check in Task Scheduler if there's something there that shuts down the computer.

You can check in Task Scheduler if there's something there that shuts down the computer.

Thank you. I did check the Task Scheduler, but found nothing to indicate anything that would order a shut-sown.


[quote] Windows (7 and newer versions as well) do have an auto-update software running in the background. But they don't just shutdown the computer, they reboot it after installing the updates. Furthermore Windows 7 is so old that it does not get anymore operating system updates. But it does get updates for the Windows inbuilt antivirus software and a monthly update and run of Malicious Software Removal Tool. [quote]

Yes. Microsoft abandoned us users of Windows 7. Now, those bastards even plan to do away with Windows 10 in favor of Windows 11. Windows 7 does updates every few days for Windows Security Essentials and Malicious Software Removal. I also scan regularly with Malwarebytes, but almost never find anything malicious.

Today I did an experiment. I suspended all projects except Einstein. I resumed the two Einstein tasks that I suspended earlier, a Gamma-ray pulsar binary search and a Binary Radio pulsar search. The computer shut down in 35 minutes.

Thinking that two Einstein tasks overwhelmed the computer, I suspended the Gamma-ray pulsar binary search and resumed the Binary Radio pulsar search, which indicated 9.04% progress, 01:43:00 elapsed and estimated 1d:10:18:35 remaining. The compute shut down shortly thereafter.

After restarting and logging into BOINC Manager, I suspended the Binary Radio pulsar search and resumed the Gamma-ray pulsar binary search. The computer has been running for about 90 minutes, showing 34,633% progress, 01:50:45 elapsed and 03:27:38 remaining.

Next, I will let the Gamma-ray pulsar binary search task run to completion (if it goes that far), download the next one and resume either the suspended Universe task or World Community Grid and see if the machine shuts down.

Results of this experiment will be announced later.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

S. Gaber

One other thing you could do is check on CPU usage. Do the tasks that make it shut down have CPU running at 90% plus? If it is a heat issue, You will almost certainly find the ones that make it shut down have a significantly higher usage.

The BRP7 tasks use a lot of virtual memory. So check your storage devices that are supplying your swapfile. Check your memory also with memcheck86.

You could be dumping the computer if you are hitting an invalid memory address or a bad calculation points to an invalid memory address.

---

This bad address can be caused by a dirty or poorly seated memory strip, try easing each memory strip in and out a couple of times, them make sure the locks are properly seated.