Posts by mikey

1) Message boards : News : New Separation Runs (Message 68834) Posted 12 days ago by mikey Post: If you look at the previous BOINC client major release transitions, the highest .x release we had was for the 6 series at 6.12. We are already past that point release for the 7 series. DA might in the same camp as Linus Torvalds of Linux fame, that says point releases only go up as high as how many fingers and toes he can count on. :-> I never thought or heard of that but that works for me.
2) Message boards : News : New Separation Runs (Message 68830) Posted 13 days ago by mikey Post: My best hunch is that there won't be a 7.16.0 release. The BOINC 8.0 Manager/Client milestone looks just as developed with more commits going into it than the 7.16.0 milestone. No expected date on it either. I think the 7.16.0 is actually going to be released as 8.0 as a hunch. But that is just my musings and guesses. That might be cool!!
3) Message boards : News : New Separation Runs (Message 68827) Posted 14 days ago by mikey Post: I believe the true solution would be to upgrade to the latest 7.15.0 master which has an improved work fetch to prevent idle cores, fetching work when work is returned and not requesting work over excessive scheduler backoff intervals. How long before you release 7.15 for testing to the test group? I haven't seen it there yet so am guessing you are still working on it, or I missed it. I don't know. I'm not privy to the information. All I can say is to watch the Milestone tab for 7.16.0. They don't set any calendar date for release. They just make a group decision whether a client is ready for release. I think DA is the final arbiter of when to release but he gets input from all the project administrators and developers. The 7.16.0 milestone progress is here. https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/projects/14 Says 10 done, 3 in progress. Thank you.
4) Message boards : News : New Separation Runs (Message 68824) Posted 14 days ago by mikey Post: I believe the true solution would be to upgrade to the latest 7.15.0 master which has an improved work fetch to prevent idle cores, fetching work when work is returned and not requesting work over excessive scheduler backoff intervals. How long before you release 7.15 for testing to the test group? I haven't seen it there yet so am guessing you are still working on it, or I missed it.
5) Message boards : News : New Separation Runs (Message 68810) Posted 15 days ago by mikey Post: Hello Hurr1cane, This problem has been discussed in greater detail here: https://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=4434 It's an issue with the BOINC client as far as we know, what happens is that your computer won't automatically download more WU's until your job queue is complete, which can sometimes include validation of previous WU's. Sorry for the inconvenience, and know that we're looking into a solution for the future. So you are saying that the problem is your software can't differentiate between batches of wu's so it can't download multiple batches of wu's? That seems silly and a programming problem.
6) Message boards : Number crunching : Collected list of badges available? (Message 68801) Posted 16 days ago by mikey Post: i look so little compared with those big badges.. i dont even know what im doing, if its worth or not... i just have 2 vps working on it, a 6 core windows and 4 core linux, working constantly at 80% just cpu. from 13 May till now, 50k credits... as can see from my profile is that good? Bill is right, EVERY task is important, I think of it this way...I may crunch thru 100 tasks today while you may do 35 tasks today, but we EACH have an equal chance of finding something scientifically important!! And finding that a workunit is NOT important is JUST as important as finding that a workunit IS important!! There's alot of weeds to get thru before we can find exactly what they are looking for and it takes all kinds of crunchers to do that. Also believe me when I say that MOST large crunchers started where you are, they just had the resources to keep adding computers until they are where they are today. Not everyone can do that, add more and more and more computers but some can and it becomes a hobby. I got some of my computers from EBAY, then modified them so they can contribute. Other computers and parts I got from the side of the road on trash day, one mans junk is another mans treasure and sometimes even just a computer case is worth the trouble. People throw away perfectly good crunchers all the time, I've gotten some very nice quad core pc's on trash days!! I've also gotten some heaps that all I kept was the screws and cheap video cards as they work great for installing the Operating Software on a new machine. I personally also go thru every computer store I come across, you never know what they have on sale that I need or could use. Good luck and keep on crunching, no one got to a million credits over night, it takes one credit at a time to get there!!
7) Message boards : Number crunching : Updated GPU Requirements (Message 68787) Posted 20 days ago by mikey Post: Will AMD Radeon Vega 8 work? Probably not as it's not a dedicated gpu but one built into the cpu, some Intel ones will work but it says they have no tasks for them.
8) Message boards : Number crunching : Collected list of badges available? (Message 68748) Posted 28 days ago by mikey Post: AND they were supposed to add some more badges for those with more than 10 years as well.
9) Message boards : Number crunching : warnings & errors (Message 68722) Posted 12 May 2019 by mikey Post: Looking at the task output I'm seeing some errors & warnings and don't know how to address them. <search_application> milkyway_separation 1.46 Windows x86 double OpenCL </search_application> Reading preferences ended prematurely BOINC GPU type suggests using OpenCL vendor 'Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.' Error loading Lua script 'astronomy_parameters.txt': [string "number_parameters: 4..."]:1: '<name>' expected near '4' Switching to Parameter File 'astronomy_parameters.txt' <number_WUs> 4 </number_WUs> <number_params_per_WU> 26 </number_params_per_WU> This error is in all my valid work units visible. You can ignore it. C:\Users\jnedd\AppData\Local\Temp\\OCL8644T1.cl:183:72: warning: unknown attribute 'max_constant_size' ignored __constant real* _ap_consts __attribute__((max_constant_size(18 * sizeof(real)))), ^ C:\Users\jnedd\AppData\Local\Temp\\OCL8644T1.cl:185:62: warning: unknown attribute 'max_constant_size' ignored __constant SC* sc __attribute__((max_constant_size(NSTREAM * sizeof(SC)))), ^ C:\Users\jnedd\AppData\Local\Temp\\OCL8644T1.cl:186:67: warning: unknown attribute 'max_constant_size' ignored __constant real* sg_dx __attribute__((max_constant_size(256 * sizeof(real)))), ^ 3 warnings generated. I've seen the warnings before too, asked about them and told they can be ignored. <cmdline>--nthreads4.0</cmdline> Is this syntax giving you 4 threads? Always seen this as integer input: <cmdline>--nthreads 4</cmdline> Also, looking in the project directory I no longer see the GPU configuration xml file for milkyway_1.46_windows_x86_64__opencl_ati_101. Is this not supported? This, I do not know the answer to and would like to see the response. This is how the app_config.xml file is syntaxed: <app_config> [<app> <name>Application_Name</name> <max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent> [<report_results_immediately/>] [<fraction_done_exact/>] <gpu_versions> <gpu_usage>.5</gpu_usage> <cpu_usage>.4</cpu_usage> </gpu_versions> </app>] ... [<app_version> <app_name>Application_Name</app_name> [<plan_class>mt</plan_class>] [<avg_ncpus>x</avg_ncpus>] [<ngpus>x</ngpus>] [<cmdline>--nthreads 7</cmdline>] </app_version>] ... [<project_max_concurrent>N</project_max_concurrent>] [<report_results_immediately/>] </app_config> I have no clue what these lines do: <cmdline>--nthreads4.0</cmdline> https://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration AND it may be the NEXT set of wu's you get that it applies to not the current set, some projects do it right away while others wait until you get a new set of wu's. To try it out suspend MW, click inside the Boinc Manager to read the config files, then click to resume crunching MW.
10) Message boards : Number crunching : So no way to select project campaigns anymore on the new server code (Message 68707) Posted 8 May 2019 by mikey Post: MW used to have a mt N-body application in earlier times. GPUGrid.net currently uses an mt application called QC Chemistry that heavily uses multiple cores with default of <cmdline>--nthreads 4</cmdline>. When the application first was developed it defaulted to using all cpu cores until users complained and it was knocked down to something more sensible. Primegrid has a ton of cpu apps and MOST can be multi-threaded like that, so can the ones at RakeSearch, SRBase, I think Universe and others I don't remember right now. The easiest thing is to try it and see if it works, you have the basics now just change the app name which is listed under apps on most projects and put the app_config.xml file it in that projects folder. Thanks! I'm assuming if it doesn't support it it simply won't work and will resort to a single thread per WU? It may error some units out, I really don't remember.
11) Message boards : Number crunching : So no way to select project campaigns anymore on the new server code (Message 68699) Posted 6 May 2019 by mikey Post: MW used to have a mt N-body application in earlier times. GPUGrid.net currently uses an mt application called QC Chemistry that heavily uses multiple cores with default of <cmdline>--nthreads 4</cmdline>. When the application first was developed it defaulted to using all cpu cores until users complained and it was knocked down to something more sensible. Primegrid has a ton of cpu apps and MOST can be multi-threaded like that, so can the ones at RakeSearch, SRBase, I think Universe and others I don't remember right now. The easiest thing is to try it and see if it works, you have the basics now just change the app name which is listed under apps on most projects and put the app_config.xml file it in that projects folder.
12) Questions and Answers : Unix/Linux : Attempting to run CPU tasks but get the following. Not requesting tasks: don't need (CPU: ; NVIDIA GPU: job cache full) (Message 68687) Posted 4 May 2019 by mikey Post: Okay, this is a strange issue. I decided to enable CPU tasks in prime grid project settings. And what do you know, that machine is getting tasks like crazy on the CPU side of things. Should I try resetting MWH? I have little experience in doing this so not sure if I should outright remove or reset project. I'm assuming make sure there are no tasks left before doing either one. Interesting and a little frustrating, but hopefully I can figure this out. Resettting will wipe out every workunit from MW you have on your pc in the process. Are you sure you have the allow cpu tasks checkbox checked for MW? Were you running cpu wu's from other projects prior to allowing them from PG? What is your resource share set too?
13) Message boards : Number crunching : Lenovo x1 extreme arriving next week! Best crunching practices? (Message 68686) Posted 4 May 2019 by mikey Post: First off, I'm sorry for all the recent threads here lately. I'm taking possession of a Lenovo x1 extreme sometime next week and I'm just curious on recommendations to crunch with it? i7-8750H, gtx 1050ti. I think one stick of 16 gb ram which I plan on adding another to (so it has more ram than my desktop...go figure). That gpu should be pretty solid though I think? Is there any way to not use all of the gpu, for instance? Since that would still be tons more powerful than CPU only. I'll be getting a decent laptop cooler and will probably end up repasting and undervolting the processor to help with keeping it cool. This will be my first beast of a laptop in a thin and light chassis. I'm pretty excited. This GPU crunching is all new to me. That being said, Any hints appreciated so I don't end up swelling the battery or something in a year or two. I definitely don't have the physical space for another desktop. I'll help with the battery first, just remove the battery and run it off the wall like a desktop, no more battery problems. As for not using all of the gpu it depends on the OS you will put on it, if it's Windows then you can use something like MSI Afterburner to change the settings to slow it down a bit. I have no clue what program in Linux will do the same.
14) Message boards : Number crunching : So no way to select project campaigns anymore on the new server code (Message 68662) Posted 3 May 2019 by mikey Post: Well I was just about to ask about multithreaded CPU applications. Looks like I no longer have to since they've apparently been phased out. An app_config.xml file will let you do it manually if you want too, most cpu apps can be done that way but not all.
15) Message boards : News : Leaving MilkyWay@home (Message 68635) Posted 1 May 2019 by mikey Post: Jake I hope you enjoy your next adventure I know this one has had both it's challenges and wonderful moments, I hope the next one has many more wonderful moments in it!! You have always treated people here with respect and patience, something we haven't always showed you, you are one of the good ones and I know the new place is very lucky to have you!! We will miss you!!! mikey
16) Message boards : News : 30 Workunit Limit Per Request - Fix Implemented (Message 68592) Posted 25 Apr 2019 by mikey Post: I have the same problem on both S9000 (2 boards, 4 concurrent tasks) and RX-570 (3 boards, 1 task) systems. I can have 100s of WU queued up and anywhere from 4-5 complete at a time and are reported but "got 0 new tasks" shows up. Eventually, system is idle, I notice the problem and a manual update fixes it. Then anywhere from 200 - 400 get downloaded instantly. My log is not as detailed as the ones I read here. There must be some diagnostic setting I am not using. I looked at BoincTasks to see if its "rules" support making an auto update but there is no 'Work Units Remaining" Type in the rule selection. Expedient workaround would be to use boinccmd.exe to do an update every x minutes but it would have to go on each of my systems and would be a PITA Question: Is this a problem that fixes itself after some time passes? If so, about how many minutes maximum of idle time? I have been playing with a wattmeter and the S9000 outperforms the RX570 5 to 2 (credits per sec) with only slightly more wattage. I will probably add risers for additional S9000 and switch the RX570 to Einstein which consumes far less watts then milkyway No it seems to be more of a Server side setting as EVERYONE, or almost everyone, is seeing the exact same thing. MW just switched to the latest version of the Boinc Server software so there is probably something obscure causing the problem. Other Admins at other projects have that said some of the settings are not where you think they might be as it's all interconnected.
17) Message boards : Number crunching : WUs not downloaded in time - rig is idling - doing no work ... (Message 68557) Posted 17 Apr 2019 by mikey Post: Yes, for some reason new work is assigned ONLY when the current queue is completely empty - all tasks must be completed AND reported. After that, server will assign new work upon next contact, but for a few minutes the client is idle. I have a backup BOINC project which kicks in during that period, but would prefer to crunch only Milkyway (if the queue was maintained). Perhaps it's necessary from a scientific standpoint i.e. new tasks are created according to results from previous tasks? Obviously, if that's the case, all previous tasks must be sorted out first. Nope it's not that as there are currently 10976 tasks in the queue ready to send out. I am seeing the same thing....it looks like they are sending out wu's in batches that use some kind of 'master file' and until you finish all those tasks you don't get any new wu's, then you get a new 'master file' and a batch of wu's to go with it.
18) Message boards : Number crunching : Updated GPU Requirements (Message 68531) Posted 14 Apr 2019 by mikey Post: Thanks for that explanation. And I will compare those keeping in mind the results you found. Regarding the GPUs with passive cooling, I saw where people remove the shroud and zip tie a couple case fans on the heat sink. I do that with the wires running everywhere too, I don't have any passive cooling stuff but still zip tie all the wires to a part of the case so they don't get in the way of any airflow. Since my pc's are in their own room I also leave the case sides off too, that means better airflow too.
19) Message boards : News : New MilkyWay@home Scientist (Message 68530) Posted 14 Apr 2019 by mikey Post: Welcome Tom!!!
20) Message boards : News : New Workunit Generation Pause (Message 68489) Posted 7 Apr 2019 by mikey Post: Hello, I noticed that I don't have any tasks at this time, or work units. Is this related to the server migration? I am new to this, so I am not quite sure how it works. ~ Iuliana No the transition to the new server is complete.

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