Posts by l008com

21) Message boards : Questions and problems : "Waiting for shared memory" on MacOS. (Message 95820)
Posted 12 Feb 2020 by l008com
Post:
It could be you need to configure more shared memory. Some years ago, when CPDN still worked on Macs, I came across a link to this page, which may help:

http://www.spy-hill.net/myers/help/apple/SharedMemory.html


Unfortunately that web page is written for Mac OS 10.3, circa 2005. The entire memory management system in current MacOS is completely different. Also the sysctl stuff is changed too. So that link doesn't really help. I found a bunch of links like that while searching for this problem, but they were all horribly outdated.

Also that page still doesn't make it clear what the actual issue is. Why are yoyo@home work units running in to this problem but no other projects do?

That said, I wonder if enabling performance mode will help this problem. I'll enable it and check back.

Update: Turns out performance server mode doesn't exist on high sierra. But the sysctl.conf file does still work. SO the 2005 solution worked and now I have 12 yoyo work units running at once. I still don't understand what exactly this means, or why only this one project is affected by it. The only change I made was to the shared memory segments, going from 8 to 32 or something like that.
22) Message boards : Questions and problems : "Waiting for shared memory" on MacOS. (Message 95815)
Posted 12 Feb 2020 by l008com
Post:
Well, for what it's worth, this machine appears to have 256KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of total L3 cache.
23) Message boards : Questions and problems : "Waiting for shared memory" on MacOS. (Message 95813)
Posted 12 Feb 2020 by l008com
Post:
I'm running a 12 virtual core Mac Pro running macOS High Sierra 10.13

I've been running BOINC for many years and never had this particular problem. But just recently, I started running yoyo@home. And with that project, I only seem to be able to run 8 yoyo work units at a time, with all other work units showing the "Waiting for shared memory" message.

What does this mean? My system has 7 GB of RAM, which isn't a TON for sure, but also the memory pressure is green on this system and really low. Show maybe around 25%, which is very low. BOINC client itself is configured to use 90% of my RAM.

So what exactly is going on here? It seems weird. I've been running projects like LHD, Einstein, Rosetta etc 12 at a time for years. What is it about yoyo@home that seems to limit it to 8 at a time.

My suspicion is it's either some kind of bug, or some kind of unintentionally misleading error message, as there seems to be plenty of RAM available on this system.
24) Message boards : BOINC client : Edit Resource Share per Computer? (Message 89148)
Posted 9 Dec 2018 by l008com
Post:
I see that the way you set Resource Share is not in the BOINC client but on each project's web site. But that means the settings are global. But say I have one computer I want to give high priority to Project A and low to Project B, so B essentially runs when there's no A work. But on a different computer I want to do normal use of Project B? Is this something you can do easily?
25) Message boards : GPUs : No GPU Units, Did I Turn Them Off? (Message 83919)
Posted 17 Dec 2017 by l008com
Post:
Update:

The event log was showing NO gpus! That makes no sense.
I downloaded the latest AMD driver. Then I ran it. I ran that horrible, ridiculous, embarrassing excuse for an installer.
I don't know if I upgraded or downgraded the drivers, I honestly couldn't tell. It was not clear at all.

BUT whatever I did, BOINC immediately started getting GPU units again! So problem solved!

One more related question. Is there an 'easy' way to turn of the GPU for all projects, at once? Rather than disabling it project by project?
26) Message boards : GPUs : No GPU Units, Did I Turn Them Off? (Message 83918)
Posted 17 Dec 2017 by l008com
Post:
I am unable to get any GPU units and I cannot figure out why.

Some background: I'm running a Mac Pro but booted natively on windows 7. It has a very low power nVidia 7300GT card, and then a very powerful AMD card. I forget the exact model, but it is a high end, 4 year old model.

I run many projects at once. I used to get GPU units. Collatz and Seti would send them, plus at least one other project I run. I'm not sure which one but I'm thinking Milkyway?

Here's a full list of all projects I'm running:
    Collatz
    Einstein
    Seti
    Asteroids
    Climateprediction(disabled)
    Milyway
    NFS
    pogs
    LHC
    Cosmology
    Rosetta



As I said, I used to get GPU units. I only run this machine in the winter, for extra heat :) It's very possible that I disabled GPU units somehow, because that was using too much power, and creating too much heat? It was so long ago, I just don't recall. But I'm not sure how. I've been running just CPU for a few months but now I need to be able to do more work. I've gone into the settings on all three accounts and made sure AMD GPU use was enabled. Is there some other way to disable GPU?
I know it's always possible some projects won't have work, but collatz is just a math problem, it should always have work! And it used to burn through GPU units 10x faster than any other project. But now I can't get anything at all.

27) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60980)
Posted 15 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
Turns out it wasn't VNC that was crashing the machine, it was BOINC. It can only run for a few minutes, maybe half hour at most with BOINC running before it freezes solid. Without BOINC running, its perfectly stable. :-/
28) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60943)
Posted 14 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
What a pain in the ass this is turning into.
So the VNC server worked when it worked, but it kept freezing up the machine solid.
So then I switched back to MS remote desktop, uninstalled the VNC server. No more system freezes and I can connect better. But now I'm getting on GPU work. When I disconnect from remote desktop, the machine never starts doing any GPU work. I can tell this because I have the box on a watt meter and I can clearly see when it's doing work just on the CPU, on CPU and one GPU and on CPU and both GPUs. It stays not doing any GPU work with MS remote desktop just enabled. I really want to find aliens but I guess it's not going to happen.
29) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60914)
Posted 13 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
So my tight vnc server isn't working so well. I lose contact after a few minutes. So just to be clear, if I connect with windows remote desktop... as soon as I disconnect from that screen sharing, the computer will automatically switch back over to the "accelerated" graphics drivers, and BOINC will automatically start doing GPU work again? So I'll never be able to SEE it doing GPU work, but it will be any time I'm not looking? Windows remote desktop was very reliable, this VNC stuff is torture on this particular machine.
30) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60867)
Posted 12 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
Success! Connected via VNC, and I turned off remote desktop in some system setting for good measure, and now I have GPU work units running!
31) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60866)
Posted 12 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
I do use windows remote desktop. This is a headless former-coin miner. I'll see if I can get VNC going. Would I have to do anything to 'disable' the windows remote desktop, and activate the normal GPU drivers? Once I get VNC going, that is?
32) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60861)
Posted 11 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
3/11/2015 5:01:49 PM | | cc_config.xml not found - using defaults
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Starting BOINC client version 7.4.36 for windows_x86_64
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Libraries: libcurl/7.39.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1j zlib/1.2.8
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Data directory: C:\ProgramData\BOINC
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Running under account johnm
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | CAL: ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD 7850/7870 series (Pitcairn) (CAL version 1.4.1848, 2048MB, 2008MB available, 6240 GFLOPS peak)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | CAL: ATI GPU 1: AMD Radeon HD 7850/7870 series (Pitcairn) (CAL version 1.4.1848, 2048MB, 2008MB available, 6240 GFLOPS peak)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD 7850/7870 series (Pitcairn) (driver version 1642.5 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.2 AMD-APP (1642.5), 2048MB, 2008MB available, 6240 GFLOPS peak)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 1: AMD Radeon HD 7850/7870 series (Pitcairn) (driver version 1642.5 (VM), device version OpenCL 1.2 AMD-APP (1642.5), 2048MB, 2008MB available, 6240 GFLOPS peak)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | OpenCL CPU: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU G540 @ 2.50GHz (OpenCL driver vendor: Intel(R) Corporation, driver version 1.1, device version OpenCL 1.1 (Build 37149.37214))
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | OpenCL CPU: Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU G540 @ 2.50GHz (OpenCL driver vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., driver version 1642.5 (sse2), device version OpenCL 1.2 AMD-APP (1642.5))
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Host name: Coin-Miner-1
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Processor: 2 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU G540 @ 2.50GHz [Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7]
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | 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 htt tm pni ssse3 cx16 sse4_1 sse4_2 popcnt syscall nx lm vmx tm2 pbe
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | OS: Microsoft Windows 7: Ultimate x64 Edition, Service Pack 1, (06.01.7601.00)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Memory: 3.70 GB physical, 7.39 GB virtual
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Disk: 111.69 GB total, 80.81 GB free
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Local time is UTC -4 hours
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | Collatz Conjecture | URL http://boinc.thesonntags.com/collatz/; Computer ID 180341; resource share 100
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | Milkyway@Home | URL http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/; Computer ID 606817; resource share 100
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | SETI@home | URL http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID 7482970; resource share 100
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | SETI@home | General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 21-Apr-2007 22:42:54)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | SETI@home | Computer location: home
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | SETI@home | General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Reading preferences override file
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Preferences:
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | max memory usage when active: 1893.46MB
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | max memory usage when idle: 3408.22MB
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | max disk usage: 80.75GB
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
3/11/2015 5:01:51 PM | | Not using a proxy
3/11/2015 5:02:17 PM | | Remote desktop in use; disabling GPU tasks
3/11/2015 5:02:17 PM | Collatz Conjecture | Sending scheduler request: To report completed tasks.
3/11/2015 5:02:17 PM | Collatz Conjecture | Reporting 1 completed tasks
3/11/2015 5:02:17 PM | Collatz Conjecture | Requesting new tasks for CPU
3/11/2015 5:02:20 PM | Collatz Conjecture | Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
3/11/2015 5:02:20 PM | Collatz Conjecture | Server error: feeder not running


Two AMD R9 270s with 2GB of DDR5 each
The latest drivers which I believe are 14.2, downloaded from AMD's site
BOINC is installed as a regular GUI application.
The projects are up and do have work. I have GPU tasks downoaded and ready to go, but they all give the "GPU missing" message in the Tasks tab, under status.
In preferences, I have it set to use GPU all the time without limitations.
33) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60839)
Posted 11 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
Updating to the newest AMD drivers had no effect.
34) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60838)
Posted 11 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
And I just chcked the event log. It does seem to see both of my GPUs in there. The AMD ones, not the integrated (which is fine). But why am I still getting "GPU Missing" errors from Milkyway@Home and Collatz?

I am running AMD driver updates right now just in case that is the problem. But somehow, I doubt it. And for what it's worth, my litecoin miner had no problems using both GPUs for a year.
35) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60837)
Posted 11 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
7.4.36 BOINC Manager running on Windows 7, btw.
36) Message boards : GPUs : GPUs Working? (Message 60836)
Posted 11 Mar 2015 by l008com
Post:
I have a question that is very basic. How can I tell if BOINC is even seeing my GPUs? So far, I'm not seeing any GPU work units. I am repurposing an old bitcoin mining rig. It has some lame built in graphics, and then two very nice AMD GPUs. I have enabled GPU use all the time, but how do I know it's working? And if I do see GPU work units, how do I know which GPUs are being used? I'd like to be able to specifically tell it use both AMDs, and don't use the integrated.
37) Message boards : Questions and problems : GPU Work Units Only (Message 47080)
Posted 6 Jan 2013 by l008com
Post:
The error seems to be with <ncpus>0</ncpus>
I am getting GPU units just fine, but I'm still getting CPU units.

Since my cc_config.xml file is tiny, here's it's full text:
<cc_config>
   <options>
		<ncpus>0</ncpus>
   </options>
</cc_config>


This file is located at /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data/cc_config.xml[/code]
38) Message boards : Questions and problems : GPU Work Units Only (Message 46952)
Posted 31 Dec 2012 by l008com
Post:
Oh and the machine in question is a Mac mini, 10.6.8, with BOINC 7.0.31.
39) Message boards : Questions and problems : GPU Work Units Only (Message 46951)
Posted 31 Dec 2012 by l008com
Post:
I'm trying to set up a client on my home server, to use GPU only. It has a 9400m GPU, and no monitor attached. So if BOINC uses the GPU, it should be able to do some fast processing, while the CPUs remain unused for me to use, doing server-y things.

I googled around and found that making a cc_config.xml file and putting the following data in there is supposed to make it work. But I did this, restarted my BOINC manager, but its still requesting and processing CPU work units.

<cc_config>
	<options>
		<ncpus>0</ncpus>
 	</options>
</cc_config>


Am I doing something wrong? Is there something else I need to do to make this work properly. Right now I have one GPU Collatz work unit going on my GPU, and a SETI work unit going on my CPU. Booo.
40) Message boards : Questions and problems : (Don't) Switch Between Applications (Message 32127)
Posted 12 Apr 2010 by l008com
Post:
Right, but most of the time I run BOINC, I run it as a stress test for Macs I've fixed. On my own machine, I do not run it religiously. So all these partially done work units either expire, or disappear all together when I reboot (netbooting is read-only, nothing survives a reboot). I've wasted so much work because BOINC decides it will do a little bit of everything, rather than trying to get as many units done as it can.


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