With BOINC installed on a couple vista machines, BOINC seems to be ignoring preference to suspend projects when user is active.

I thought this might be a problem with BAM, but after detaching from BAM the issue continues to occur. Machines running Win XP & Win 2k using the same preferences run fine.

Any suggestions?

With BOINC installed on a couple vista machines, BOINC seems to be ignoring preference to suspend projects when user is active.

I thought this might be a problem with BAM, but after detaching from BAM the issue continues to occur. Machines running Win XP & Win 2k using the same preferences run fine.

Any suggestions?

What version of BOINC? How is it installed (single/shared/service)?

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Kathryn :o)

Details, Details, Details ...

BOINC 5.8.16 running SETI, Einstein & Rosetta. Currently installed as a service, but I've tried shared also.

Can you confirm that BOINC is set to run based on preferences in the activity menu?

I'm looking over my alpha testing notes (only started on Vista in the last few 5.9.x versions, but there haven't been any code changes to that functionality) and it passed for me in a single user install (definitely) and a shared install (I'm pretty sure).

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Kathryn :o)

Yes, both machines are set for "Run based on preferences."

Also... I had this problem on a Win XP machine. However, after I "Stop[ped] using BOINCstats BAM!" to let BOINC talk with the projects the old fashioned way, the problem cleared up on the XP machine. Hence, the reason I thought BAM was at fault. I've since reattached the XP machine to BAM and its been working fine. This procedure did not clear-up the problem on either Vista machine.

FYI... I'm trying a clean install (uninstall and delete folders) of BOINC without using BAM. I'll report back ASAP.

The clean install didn't solve the problem. BOINC still runs unabated.

There is a "global_prefs.xml" in the BOINC folder. This is after a clean install.

I won't be able to check-in for a day or two. If you have any further questions, I respond ASAP.

<idle_time_to_run>3</idle_time_to_run>

There isn't an entry for <run_if_user_active>, nor do I see anything similar.

Activity has been & is set for "Run based on preferences".

Having this issue as well using versions 5.8.16 and 5.10.6 (Windows x64) on Vista x64.

Having this issue as well using versions 5.8.16 and 5.10.6 (Windows x64) on Vista x64.

I've seen stranger things happen so....

Check your general preferences on one of your projects. Make sure the "Do work while the computer is in use" is set to no. Even if it is, change it to yes and then back to no. Once it's set back to no, update that project through the manager to get your general preferences downloaded again.

Also make sure the host is set to the same location (home/work/school) as you're using to manager your preferences.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

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Kathryn :o)

Having this issue as well using versions 5.8.16 and 5.10.6 (Windows x64) on Vista x64.

I've seen stranger things happen so....

Check your general preferences on one of your projects. Make sure the "Do work while the computer is in use" is set to no. Even if it is, change it to yes and then back to no. Once it's set back to no, update that project through the manager to get your general preferences downloaded again.

Also make sure the host is set to the same location (home/work/school) as you're using to manager your preferences.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Used SETI@home for the above.

"Do work while computer is in use?" was set to 'no', so I set it to 'yes' and clicked 'update preferences'. In Boinc Manager I clicked the SETI project and clicked 'update'. This is what got printed in the messages:

17/06/2007 14:05:08|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user
17/06/2007 14:05:08|SETI@home|(not requesting new work or reporting completed tasks)
17/06/2007 14:05:13|SETI@home|Scheduler RPC succeeded [server version 509]
17/06/2007 14:05:13||General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 2007-06-17 14:04:35)
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Host location: home
17/06/2007 14:05:13||General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Reading preferences override file
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 511.38MB
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 920.48MB
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit disk usage to 9.31GB

Changing "Do work while computer is in use?" back to 'no' and updating gives similar output. Despite 'Activity->Run based on preferences' ticked, Boinc keeps processing my wus.

Having this issue as well using versions 5.8.16 and 5.10.6 (Windows x64) on Vista x64.

I've seen stranger things happen so....

Check your general preferences on one of your projects. Make sure the "Do work while the computer is in use" is set to no. Even if it is, change it to yes and then back to no. Once it's set back to no, update that project through the manager to get your general preferences downloaded again.

Also make sure the host is set to the same location (home/work/school) as you're using to manager your preferences.

Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

Used SETI@home for the above.

"Do work while computer is in use?" was set to 'no', so I set it to 'yes' and clicked 'update preferences'. In Boinc Manager I clicked the SETI project and clicked 'update'. This is what got printed in the messages:

17/06/2007 14:05:08|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user
17/06/2007 14:05:08|SETI@home|(not requesting new work or reporting completed tasks)
17/06/2007 14:05:13|SETI@home|Scheduler RPC succeeded [server version 509]
17/06/2007 14:05:13||General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 2007-06-17 14:04:35)
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Host location: home
17/06/2007 14:05:13||General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Reading preferences override file
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 511.38MB
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 920.48MB
17/06/2007 14:05:13||Preferences limit disk usage to 9.31GB

Changing "Do work while computer is in use?" back to 'no' and updating gives similar output. Despite 'Activity->Run based on preferences' ticked, Boinc keeps processing my wus.

This is for a 5.10.x client. In the advanced view, under the advanced drop down menu, choose preferences. Edit those preferences to your heart's content.

Or you can just nuke them from orbit. There's a button in the upper right hander corner called "clear". This will get rid of that preference override file. Or if you're using an 5.8.x client, just shut down BOINC and delete global_prefs_override.xml (I'm doing this from memory, but the name should be similar if it's not exactly that) from your BOINC directory and then restart.

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Kathryn :o)

Removing the preference override file by the use of the 'clear' button didn't help sadly. Neither did setting up local settings afterwards telling Boinc to suspend while user is active. Computation continues happily unaware that I'm trying to choke it.

I noticed a slight glitch with the preferences window as well. There is no way to scroll down to change the settings at the bottom. This goes for all three tabs.

Thank you for all the help so far.

Edit: Oh btw I failed to mention that I'm running Boinc as a service.

Removing the preference override file by the use of the 'clear' button didn't help sadly. Neither did setting up local settings afterwards telling Boinc to suspend while user is active. Computation continues happily unaware that I'm trying to choke it.

I noticed a slight glitch with the preferences window as well. There is no way to scroll down to change the settings at the bottom. This goes for all three tabs.

Thank you for all the help so far.

Edit: Oh btw I failed to mention that I'm running Boinc as a service.

As an experiment can you reinstall as either single or shared user? That would help rule out a service install as the problem. Although... I haven't seen any reports of problems with this on the alpha list.

Maybe sign up for it and post what's going on? You'll definitely get better help than I can give you, as I've never installed as a service before.

And now there's another person reporting the same behavior.

Are you logging in as an administrator or as a standard, non-privileged user?

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Kathryn :o)

5.10.7 has fixed the issue with Boinc not suspending tasks in both shared and service installs.

Thanks a lot for the help and thank you dev's for fixing this.

5.10.7 has fixed the issue with Boinc not suspending tasks in both shared and service installs.

Thanks a lot for the help and thank you dev's for fixing this.

I'm glad it working for you now.

I'm a bit puzzled as to why, because I'm not seeing how either of the changes would have affected that part of the code.

But hey. I'm just an English teacher. What do I know.

:)

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Kathryn :o)

It seems I were too quick to declare the issue gone. I noticed after a while that Boinc was again running when it shouldn't. Being busy at the time I just turned the service off. When I later wanted to resume computation I ran the manager and it was again able to start and stop as it was supposed to. Curious about this I checked the services and noticed the manager had not started it which I then did. After this Boinc again did not work.

The conclusion is that as long as the service is not running, the manager is able to suspend and resume as it should. If the service is running it cannot. This might have been the case with the earlier version as well. It probably was if the update didn't have anything to do with this as mentioned. What got me confused was that it seemed to work just after installing the new version. I'm unsure about why that was the case.

Hope this helps.

Tinface...

Can you sign up for the alpha email list and report your problem there.

You're the most familiar with your setup and with what you've tried. And I'm not at all familiar with running BOINC as a service, so I'm also not the best one to help.

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Kathryn :o)

Tried version 5.10.8, but still having this problem also. Has the alpha list provided any suggestions?

Tried version 5.10.8, but still having this problem also. Has the alpha list provided any suggestions?

Nope. Sorry.

My only advice is to sign up for the list and post a message. There are many people who are more knowledgeable than I am (including the developers) who read and post to the list regularly. They'll be able to ask you more targeted (and probably better) questions to help figure it out.

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Kathryn :o)

BUMP.

There are others, like me, out there who are having the same issue (Boinc Service not suspending when user active under Vista) and are lurking for resolution.

Work around of "Improved Windows Vista compatibility" by running all Boinc components as priviliged administrator makes me a bit nervous ... not for my PCs, but for other non-technical-folk's PCs who are remote from me and I've convinced to contribute CPU cycles when their PC is idle.

Public beta version appears to be 5.10.13 w/improved Vista compatibility.
But for remote machines, I really feel better staying away from Beta versions.