Posts by AdsoYo

1) Message boards : Questions and problems : Decoding my computer's utilization patterns (Message 106805)
Posted 18 Jan 2022 by AdsoYo
Post:
Good info thanks guys!

How do I check GPU tasks? I searched the manager high and low and couldn't figure that out.

I'll have to read up on running concurrent tasks. I'm sure my computers can handle it.
2) Message boards : Questions and problems : Decoding my computer's utilization patterns (Message 106786)
Posted 16 Jan 2022 by AdsoYo
Post:
I'm wondering if productivity is being left on the table here. I run Einstein and Milky Way on both my computers. One has a Ryzen 5800x, Radeon 6800XT, custom water cooled. The other is a Ryzen 3700x, GeForce 980ti, custom water cooled and overclocked 20%. They both show similar temperature and utilization patterns on MSI Afterburner. CPU is always pegged at 100%, usually running nice and hot (although the 3700x runs much cooler than the 5800x), GPU shows either the sawtooth's or isn't being used at all. I was under the impression that BOINC projects would use the GPU as much as possible because it is so much more powerful than the CPU, especially in my computers. Is that not actually the case? Is there a way to tell BOINC to use the GPU more?


3) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 103477)
Posted 10 Mar 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
Can you tell me how to gather info about which type of task is running? When I open BOINC manager and look at the tasks tab, the only info I could imagine of being any use is the name of the task. For instance the top 2 Einstein tasks on my gaming PC are named LATeah1077F_1368.0_136524_0.0_0 and LATeah1077F_1368.0_250666_0.0_0. Farther down the list I have projects that say h1_0647.45_O2C02CI4ln0__O2MDFS3a_Spotlight_648.10Hz_680_1. Does that tell you what type of task is running?

I was recently able to get my hands on a Ryzen 5800x for the gaming PC and so I upgraded the living room PC to the old 3700x. So the old-old Q9650 is retired for now. I'm sure you're all aware of how bad the GPU market is so I had to keep the GTX 560 Ti in the living room PC. When trying to run BOINC with this new setup, the "BOINC screensaver loading" icon appears and the screen will flash like it's trying to load then go back to the "BOINC screensaver loading" icon and do that in a loop until I move the mouse. I'm also running a different video driver this time, 388.xx loaded by Windows 10 instead of 391.xx from nVidia's website. What I did just so it would work in some capacity again was I went into the Windows screen saver settings and set "Run project screensaver" and "switch between projects" to "never". Then set "run BOINC screensaver" to 1 hour. Now it runs the BOINC screensaver where the logo fades in and out with a list of all the projects that are active. I can hear the CPU and GPU fans ramped up and hwinfo shows them getting hot so at least they're doing work again this way. The gaming PC is still running the Einstein project screensaver just fine.
4) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 103137)
Posted 23 Feb 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
No I didn't mess with anything. I think it depends on the specific task because I will still rarely get stuck with the floating "BOINC screensaver loading". I even caught my gaming PC glitching out in an infinite loading loop where the screen would keep flashing white as if the Einstein screensaver was about to load but it wouldn't. You might just try deleting the task it was trying to load so it moves on to the next one.
5) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102789)
Posted 2 Feb 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
Wow good job Richard! I was going to say that the screensaver has been working perfectly since my last post and this is probably why. I didn't know that Einstein had CPU-only tasks. I was going to ask why even though the screensaver works every time, the GPU temperature still only increases by 5C at most. I think that answers my question. The CPU is getting as high as 63C from 30C at idle so that old silicone is definitely putting in some work. Thank you so much to everyone that posted in this thread!
6) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102735)
Posted 29 Jan 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
I've been keeping an eye on it the last few days and it's been loading the Einstein project screensaver with no issues. I didn't do any interventions though! Is it possible that it had a string of bad tasks? Even on the gaming rig, sometimes Einstein will cause the computer to lock up and I have to use the reset button. I always figured it was the particular task it was working on because it happens so rarely. Could a particular task have been preventing the project screen saver from loading and now that it's past the due date it's not trying to load it any more and now it's working?
7) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102711)
Posted 26 Jan 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
I checked the driver and it's 391.xx, downloaded and installed from nvidia website in June 2019. I left the computer and went to the kitchen to make some food. I can see the computer from the kitchen so I saw the screensaver start as usual with the drifting BOINC logo. Then after about 20 minutes, it actually started the Einstein project screen saver! I haven't seen that in months. It stayed on for a good hour until I left for work. I don't believe it's fixed but does this help narrow down what could be going on?
8) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102685)
Posted 25 Jan 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
Well I'm using an old nvidia driver, something like 390.0 because that's the latest driver that will work with the GTX 570. I checked the tasks and it looks like Milkyway is still working. There were 3 MW tasks with 2 100% complete and ready to transmit. There were 3 Einstein tasks and 2 of them are overdue with the 3rd coming up soon. It shows that they're still being worked on though, the progress bars were at 76%, 43%, and 40%.

As far as the screensaver display, it will show the BOINC logo drifting around for a length of time, not sure how long. It will also swap to what I assume is the "BOINC screensaver" as opposed to the project screensaver where it fades in a summary of the running projects, then fades out. Then fades in the progress bars for the projects then fades out.

Maybe I'll try subscribing to another project or two and see what happens.
9) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102680)
Posted 24 Jan 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
I checked my tasks regularly a couple weeks ago and it looked like they were expiring. I'll double check that though to make sure.

As far as screensavers for the remaining projects, Einstein@home project screensaver runs frequently on the gaming rig so I know that one's still active. Milkyway doesn't have a project screensaver but I still see tasks being completed when I check the manager.
10) Message boards : BOINC client : Stuck on "BOINC screensaver loading" (Message 102676)
Posted 24 Jan 2021 by AdsoYo
Post:
This started a couple months ago. Instead of loading the actual screensaver, the BOINC logo will drift around the screen with "BOINC screensaver loading" spelled out underneath and the screensaver will never load. It is finally bugging me enough that I made an account here to ask about it. The projects I'm subscribed to are SETI, Milkyway, and Einstein. My screensaver settings are:

Blank screensaver after: never
Run BOINC screensaver for: never
Run project screesavers for: 1 hour
Switch between project screensavers every: 1 hour

To be honest I'm not 100% sure what any of these actually mean but it's been working for years until a few months ago. I'm running Windows 10 with the latest updates and the latest version of BOINC. My PC specs are:

Intel Core2Quad Q9650 3.0GHz
8GB DDR3 1,333MHz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 570

I have hwinfo running at all times lately to see if maybe the hardware is being utilized even though the project screensavers aren't loading. What it shows is that the CPU temp is actually increasing on all cores by 10-15C although I vaguely remember it getting even hotter when the screensaver used to work. The GPU temperature isn't increasing at all, it stays at idle temps. Was there a change in the BOINC software that has rendered my old hardware incompatible or something?

I also run BOINC on my gaming PC which consists of an all water cooled Ryzen 7 3700x, GTX 980ti, and 32GB of RAM and it runs fine with the same settings.




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