Posts by robsmith

1) Message boards : BOINC Manager : new HD error (Message 113627)
Posted 15 Feb 2024 by robsmith
Post:
Its the first three lines in RED that concerns me

The answer is "it depends"
- are the projects you've selected running?
- are the right number of cores, amount of memory etc. being used?

This line tells us that at least part of cc_config.xml is correct
2/14/2024 9:36:25 AM | | Config: use all coprocessors


So, what's not working how you want it to?
If nothing then you can generally leave it alone until you have the time to work through the whole of a file that can be difficult to read and spot the error.
2) Message boards : BOINC Manager : new HD error (Message 113625)
Posted 15 Feb 2024 by robsmith
Post:
Somewhere in the <options > section of your cc_config.xml there is a missing </ word> tag.
These can a real pain to find.....
So, first, what operating system are you using? Knowing this will help people tell you where to find cc_config.xml
[edit to add ] -which version of Windows?


Once you've found the file you need to open it using a text editor (not an editor which tries to understand xml files), slowly work through it and make sure that each < word> has a matching < /word> - noting that there may be more than one (I've got that tee-shirt).
3) Message boards : The Lounge : The Seti is Slumbering Cafe (Message 113473)
Posted 27 Jan 2024 by robsmith
Post:
Quo at their finest :-)
4) Message boards : The Lounge : Grumbles, Glory and All Your Off Topic Discussions (Message 113310)
Posted 23 Dec 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Google does this every now and then, particularly to organisations with what it consoders to be large numbers of recipients. A real pain but the only way round this is to get the senfing organisation to prod Google to get de-black listed (again).
5) Message boards : The Lounge : Let's talk politics (Message 113094)
Posted 13 Nov 2023 by robsmith
Post:
That's today's best bit of news.
6) Message boards : Questions and problems : What is "BOINC Central" project ? (Message 112943)
Posted 16 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
It's meant to be a wrapper to enable (small) projects to run without a BOINC server, but appears to few, if any, projects actually doing anything.
7) Message boards : Questions and problems : Milkyway Tasks Keep Stopping (Message 112894)
Posted 12 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
A couple of questions
By Settings: "Processors - 100%, 50% Usage, 50% Memory" do you mean "use all 6 cores for 50% of the time" or "use 50% of the cores 100% of the time"?
Are you running any other projects, if so which, and are they displaying the same pattern of behaviour?

For now I'll assume the former is the correct interpretation.
You may find by allowing BOINC to run on 5 or the 6 cores will actually be faster (more tasks per hour) and les intrusive on the operating system than using all 6. This can be done by setting "use at most xx% of cores to 83%.
Also it is generally better to run the cores 100% of the time instead of a fraction of the time, this is particularly true on AMD Phenom chips which could stutter badly during the repeated start/stop cycles.

Task and project swapping can be rather random, indeed I can't remember the last I saw actually happen - BOINC appears to prefer to complete a running task than swap tasks & projects.
8) Message boards : Questions and problems : 7.24.1 fails to adhere to suspend settings (Message 112875)
Posted 10 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
One quick check is that under the activity menu option you have "run based on preferences" selected.
9) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112864)
Posted 9 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
It is very hard to predict the effects of this current debate on the recruitment of additional resources. Even one more person joining the team would be a large improvement in team size.

A source code review? This might satisfy the purist, but in terms of practical impact? Consider the fact that much of the code structure is about 2 decades old, and even if to then contemporary standards it would probably fall below today's. Once the code review has been completed, who is going to perform the re-write that such a review will inevitably require? But will a review actually have a positive impact on the users' perception?

Go ahead, and do the code review, perform the re-write that will be required, but don't expect anyone to notice any positive improvement. How long will tat whole process take? Certainly more than a few days, maybe a year by the time the testing has been undertaken. In my opinion it can often be a waste of time doing this type of activity on "heritage" software that is basically "functioning as required".

In the meantime the core functionality may have features added, and you will have to introduce those into your scope of work.
10) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112860)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
I am unsure how much items can be influenced in related software areas.

Each project is responsible for its own applications, and they are the place where the biggest improvements in performance can be gained or lost.
As Dave & Richard have said, the BOINC client and manager use very little resource -currently running a CPDN task the BOINC client is using 7.2 MB and the manager 7.9 MB, and neither is reporting any CPU use to speak of. This compares with the CPDN task using 270MB, and about 1.5 cpu cores (and will hopefully run for another 6 days).

The basic function of BOINC is to provide a set of interfaces between the application, the user, and the project's servers and NOT do any of the computation for the project. So for a typical task this will mean calling for work from the project(s), scheduling the running of the tasks, then returning the results to the project servers. On top of this is the "heartbeat" activity of collecting and displaying the progress of tasks, how often this happens, depends on the application being run - again this is a trivial amount of work, reflected by the very low reported CPU use (below the threshold of the Windows 10 task manager).

So where do you think there is any substantial improvement in the BOINC manager and client that will improve the user experience and not impinge on the basic functions - while the old SETI screen saver was fun to watch it could be a drain on the resources on a low computing power device and so caused problems for the task scheduler.
11) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112853)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Now get those three files submitted to the development team with a carefully worded request for them to test when they get a chance - it's no good having them sitting on your computer.
I don't know the configuration of their test bench, Richard may (indeed he may be part of the test team associated with the development team).
Do not forget they will be interested in there being no degradation in compliance with the API, and the "user experience". Any deviation in either of these will be considered to be a "test failure", and may result in the mods being thrown out, or a request to resolve the identified issues. Testing can be a very unpleasant experience for the unwary
12) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112849)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
My understanding of the changes you propose is sufficient to see what you are talking about, and see that there several possible ways to resolve and implement them. But I don't want to as they don't affect how BOINC works for the average user.
As yet you have only described the changes you want to see, you have singularly failed to present your modifications to the source code, incorporated into the source code module it resides in.

As was explained to you in (at least) one of the discussion the reason behind the reluctance for the development team spending time on these "none essential" changes - the lack of developer resources. The BOINC development team are all volunteers, and as far as I know most have full-time jobs, so little time available for working on BOINC. Now if you want to have a "none essential" change implemented the way forward is to submit it for testing.

Finally for now, the performance of BOINC is not only about speed of execution which is, in the main "fit for purpose". But also the actual functionality and compliance with the API. Thus testing with some of the advanced performance tools as you suggest is not really required.
13) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112847)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
In one of your earlier posts you stated:
I occasionally adjusted some implementation details.

This indicates that you have a possible modification that may be of use to the whole community.
In the same post you stated:
It is just challenging to integrate further development ideas so that more users can benefit also from corresponding software evolution.

Yes, it can be a challenge to integrate a "small" change in the source code into the whole project. There are two ways to get the modification integrated into the project. First is the "private" approach, you work out how to compile and link the whole body of source code into a working programme, this can be very time consuming, and may be testable across a range of hardware etc. The second is to submit the modified module (as source code) to the project for formal incorporation into a test build and then be subject to a bank of test to confirm that everything works as it should, having both the "improved" functionality and no degradation in other required functions.
14) Message boards : Questions and problems : Improving implementation of components associated with the function “RPC_CLIENT::get_reply” (Message 112841)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Of course, if the current design and implementation of BOINC causes you such great upset, there's nothing stopping you from re-writing it to your satisfaction. There is one major proviso - your implementation of BOINC complies with the API for the project applications and thus your version of BOINC will run any project out there in the public domain. Also your version of BOINC would have to be covered by the same license as the normally available version (GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0) if you were to distribute it for use by others.
15) Message boards : The Lounge : Grumbles, Glory and All Your Off Topic Discussions (Message 112840)
Posted 8 Oct 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Or the bean counters have realised that it cost money to store goods in warehouses while they await their deliver date and have thus increase d the price of the slow delivery warehousing.
16) Message boards : Projects : Anything and Everything to do with (WCG) World Community Grid (Message 112674)
Posted 12 Sep 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Well.....
On their Face Plant page the headlines are:
The WCG website is currently down as the datacentre where our servers reside must perform an emergency reboot. This reboot only impacts the website, and will last about 30 minutes.

This was posted three hours ago (as I type), and that's a lot more than 30 minutes.........
17) Message boards : The Lounge : Massive questions about Einstein@home I was a member there for 12 years now I am a target (Message 112470)
Posted 6 Aug 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Well, that's one heck of a rant.
As a moderator on another forum (not one you've posted to in recent days) can I offer a bit of advise when wanting to start a discussion, or make a statement - don't dive in with a long rambling monologue, as this will attract moderators to it your discussion, and that may cause them to over-react and hide the post. So, introduce the subject in just a few lines and invite others to join in the discussion, and be put off by those that want to disagree with you, or that no one else wants to discuss with you. As things progress you can then bring in the rest of your monologue, one part at a time, giving people a chance to read and take in what you've said in the first part before introducing the second part, and so on. Keep these sections short, so people can read an understand them, and be prepared to answer questions about what you've said, don't just brush of questions.
Also avoid, early in the discussion, mention of subjects that are illegal in a lot of places - you mention one plant that is a trigger for moderators to hit on. And when you do introduce such subjects do so in a manner that is based on facts, and not just a wiki page.

On the subject of your post being hidden very soon after its posting, that can happen if a moderator just happens to be passing the forum and sees a long ramble, I don't think any BOINC based forum has an auto-hide feature. When a post is hidden the correct way to find out why is to read the hide notice, and if that doesn't help then there's normally an email address to get through to the forum admins or moderators, use that, be brief polite for obvious reasons (contrary to popular belief both admins and moderators are human....).
18) Message boards : Projects : Anything and Everything to do with (WCG) World Community Grid (Message 112388)
Posted 27 Jul 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Working OK this morning - getting transfers in both directions (for now).
19) Message boards : Questions and problems : Requesting work more often (Message 112316)
Posted 20 Jul 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Looking at the Gerasim project preferences page there is a setting for the maximum number of task (work units) one can get in a day the default is 20. It might be worth increasing this and see what happens.
20) Message boards : Questions and problems : No longer crunching (Message 112240)
Posted 4 Jul 2023 by robsmith
Post:
Glad to hear that progress is being made and your CPU is now acting as a room heater.
Many applications only update the time & progress indicators at somewhat extended intervals or at key points in the job, which can be very frustrating so don't worry too much about that.
Two things to look at, first how long has the task been running, and second what is the expected task duration as not all tasks have the same run time. For example CPDN is famed for its very long durations, so very low progress rate.
Generally if a task-CPU combination is wrong the task will fail with an error in the first few seconds of execution, not after some time, and from what you've said these tasks are no failing with an error, only taking a long time to show progress.


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