Posts by Richard Haselgrove

1) Message boards : Questions and problems : project list doesn't populate & URL entry does not work for addition of 1st project new machine (Message 94152)
Posted 31 minutes ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
NO NO NO - https://boinc.berkeley.edu/dl/boinc_7.14.2_windows_intelx86.exe
2) Message boards : Questions and problems : project list doesn't populate & URL entry does not work for addition of 1st project new machine (Message 94148)
Posted 40 minutes ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Thanks goodness the Alzheimer's hasn't kicked in yet. Have a look at message 85887.
3) Message boards : Questions and problems : project list doesn't populate & URL entry does not work for addition of 1st project new machine (Message 94146)
Posted 53 minutes ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Might be worth a try with a 32-bit BOINC while we look up 'Celeron(R) N4000 CPU'.
4) Message boards : Questions and problems : project list doesn't populate & URL entry does not work for addition of 1st project new machine (Message 94144)
Posted 1 hour ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
No local host connection = no boinc.exe running (at least as far as I can tell).
Yup, that's a good takeaway. Conversely, boinc.exe has to be running in order for connection to be made.

10-Dec-2019 04:47:11 [---] Starting BOINC client version 7.14.2 for windows_x86_64
10-Dec-2019 04:47:16 Initialization completed
10-Dec-2019 04:47:16 [---] Suspending GPU computation - computer is in use
...
10-Dec-2019 04:49:23 [---] cc_config.xml not found - using defaults
10-Dec-2019 04:49:23 [---] Starting BOINC client version 7.14.2 for windows_x86_64
So boinc has run, for just over two minutes. That behaviour can happen if the cooling system is completely broken (enough time to reach shutdown temperature), but it's unlikely in this case - (a) overheating usually crashes the whole computer, not just one app, and (b) with no science apps, there's not really much heat generated - not even benchmarks.

@other helpers - didn't we have a problem with one of those low-power Intel chips failing to run 64-bit SSL routines? Might be worth a try with a 32-bit BOINC while we look up 'Celeron(R) N4000 CPU'.
5) Message boards : Questions and problems : project list doesn't populate & URL entry does not work for addition of 1st project new machine (Message 94139)
Posted 4 hours ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
If boinc.exe is now running, you will be able to access the Event Log. Copy the first 30 lines or so, including all the startup and identification lines, and paste them here - we can take a look.
6) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Einstein@home results not showing in BAM (Message 94103)
Posted 1 day ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
There is an explicit

Do you consent to exporting your data to BOINC statistics aggregation Web sites?
on https://einsteinathome.org/account/prefs/privacy when logged in.
7) Message boards : BOINC Manager : 10x average points per day?? (Message 94102)
Posted 1 day ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Yes. there are some projects (which shall remain nameless) which give away points like candy - completely disregarding the formal definition of a Cobblestone (see section labelled Claimed and granted credit). That horse bolted a long time ago.

More significantly, points are not awarded immediately upon the return of completed work. Sometimes they are, but at most projects you have to wait for 'validation' - where your work is compared for accuracy against another user. If you're unlucky, this can take weeks, or even months.
8) Message boards : BOINC Manager : Einstein@home results not showing in BAM (Message 94097)
Posted 1 day ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
It is normal, if you haven't given explicit GDPR permission for the project to export your stats. Visit Einstein's preferences page.
9) Message boards : GPUs : Cuda or OpenCL? (Message 94096)
Posted 1 day ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
It depends on the project. Some write their applications in CUDA, some write them in Open CL, some write them in both (different applications, obviously).

BOINC handles both, so you'd be safest installing both. But I believe there's some doubt about OpenCL compatibility for some drivers at some projects...
10) Message boards : Questions and problems : BOINC not seeing 3rd GPU (Message 94092)
Posted 1 day ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Make sure that your cc_config.xml file is called exactly that. Windows has a habit of calling it a text file, named cc_config.xml.txt, but with the final three letters hidden.

Make sure that the file is described as an XML Document in File Explorer.

Edit - or put it in the data directory :-)
11) Message boards : GPUs : GPU 0 suspended and GPU 1 always computing (Message 94085)
Posted 2 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
The 4 files in /etc/boinc-client/ are sym linked to the ones in /var/lib/boinc-client/ so while it appears you have one in each folder they are the same files. You can edit it in either folder.
Bear with me - I'm still a newbie in Linux.

Since I wrote that, I found that I can go through the symlink from /var/lib/boinc-client/ and edit the file as myself. If I edit the 'real' file in etc/boinc-client/, I have to use sudo.

Given that cc_config.xml is an optional file, does anyone happen to know whether the file and the symlink are created 'empty' by the installer, or whether they appear after first use?
12) Message boards : GPUs : GPU 0 suspended and GPU 1 always computing (Message 94068)
Posted 3 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
I prefer the old method, as it's the same as Folding@Home.
You are free to use whatever method you want, provided you check that it actually works the way you want it to.
13) Message boards : GPUs : Can't start GPU 0 to compute after cc_config.xml modification (Message 94056)
Posted 3 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
I've written it up as "Linux client: the OOBE for volunteers" - #3396
14) Message boards : GPUs : Can't start GPU 0 to compute after cc_config.xml modification (Message 94038)
Posted 4 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
I originally got my v7.16.3 from LocutusOfBorg PPA, although I'm now experimenting with a bespoke version. The PPA installs the new version as a systemd service - hence my alternative stop|start commands - but otherwise you'll be familiar with it.

Be aware that v7.16.3 is still officially an alpha test version. I think it works OK, but the debian package maintainers have decided to make their own changes from the central BOINC code. In particular, they are packaging for a specific target audience - workers in a secured, controlled, corporate environment, where the decision to deploy BOINC has been made at a corporate level. In particular, they assume that the user doesn't have either sudo or administrative rights to control the service - so if they stop it, they cannot restart it. Thus, they've removed the GUI control for shutting down the connected client, and a few others. That doesn't match my use case, and I suspect not yours either - I'm fighting behind the scenes towards a ensuring there will still be a distribution available with full controls for owner-users. It's a slow process.

My primary knowledge is for Windows, and I've only started fiddling with Linux in the last 6 months - I haven't reached scripting yet. But I might give it a try. In return, if you don't mind, I'm thinking of writing up your case as an example of a perfectly reasonable set of user preferences which can't be accommodated in the current schema.
15) Message boards : News : BOINC roadmap / wish list (Message 94034)
Posted 4 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
It takes a certain amount of power to calculate a certain amount of work.
No, it takes a certain amount of energy - which is the product of power and time. We can reduce the power by increasing the time - slowing the clock, using fewer components, pausing at intervals. If we want to accommodate users who want a quiet life (less fan noise), we have to tone down the 'need for speed'.
16) Message boards : GPUs : Can't start GPU 0 to compute after cc_config.xml modification (Message 94030)
Posted 4 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
OK, I've just tried it on my Ubuntu Mint / BOINC v7.16.3 box, which also has two NVidia GPUs. Using the cc_config.xml option we discussed this morning, adding the "ignore" line prevented one of the GPUs from running, and - more significantly - removing it allowed both GPUs to run again.

I did it manually (stop client - edit and save file - start client), but it should be possible to script that.
17) Message boards : GPUs : Can't start GPU 0 to compute after cc_config.xml modification (Message 94029)
Posted 4 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Sadly, what's wrong is the underlying design of this particular part of the BOINC configuration process.

I'm not surprised that 'read config files' didn't clear the setting (that's part of the poor underlying design), but I am surprised that restarting the BOINC client didn't either. I need to have a think, and maybe do some reading and testing, about that one.

Unless anyone else can chime in?

Assuming we can clear this hurdle, I think the ultimate solution - at this stage of BOINC client configuration - will be a script (possibly under cron control, or launched manually - your choice), to

stop the client
swap between two different cc_config.xml files
restart the client

Again, unless somebody else knows better.
18) Message boards : News : BOINC roadmap / wish list (Message 94028)
Posted 4 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Trixx, EVGA and MSI are all examples of what I was meaning by 'controlled externally'. I don't see how they could, even hypothetically, be integrated into a future BOINC client and controlled through a unified BOINC GUI.
19) Message boards : GPUs : GPU 0 suspended and GPU 1 always computing (Message 94024)
Posted 5 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
That's good - happy to help.

Be aware that when BOINC v7.16.x is finally, fully, released, the restart command will change to

sudo systemctl start boinc-client
20) Message boards : GPUs : GPU 0 suspended and GPU 1 always computing (Message 94021)
Posted 5 days ago by Richard Haselgrove
Post:
Refer to the User Manual.

Create, or if you have one already, edit, a file called 'cc_config.xml'. The easiest way is probably to edit the logging options from BOINC Manager (Ctrl+Shift+F), which will create a complete template file for you to work from. You'll probable need an administrator/sudo editor to make changes.

Then, add a block to the 'Options' section, as shown in the manual. Something like

<ignore_nvidia_dev>N</ignore_nvidia_dev>
Ignore (don't use) a specific NVIDIA GPU. You can ignore more than one. Replaces <ignore_cuda_dev/>. Requires a client restart.
Example: <ignore_nvidia_dev>0</ignore_nvidia_dev> will ignore the first NVIDIA GPU in the system.
I need to edit go downstairs to remind myself of the likely location of the new cc_config.xml file - I'll edit it in.

The file on my Ubuntu system with BOINC v7.16.3 is in

/etc/boinc-client


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