Posts by steveplanetary

1) Message boards : Number crunching : Increase the report deadline (Message 34497) Posted 13 Dec 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Sometimes you just don't have the hardware to run a particular project. I know my old P4 is now limited in what it can feasibly run. This is true. On my 2002 laptop I had to upgrade from 512 - 1024 MB RAM just so I could run Cosmology.
2) Message boards : Number crunching : Unexpected App of Unknown Origin (Message 34496) Posted 13 Dec 2009 by steveplanetary Post: I shutdown BOINC and edited my app_info.xml file. When I restarted BOINC the client deleted the WU I had been working on, but when it downloaded a new WU BOINC Manager showed the app to be milkyway 0.20. Strange bug, that. One would think the client would identify the fastest app and go with that.
3) Message boards : Number crunching : Unexpected App of Unknown Origin (Message 34495) Posted 13 Dec 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Thanks for the info, Conan. I'll try that, and see what happens. Steve
4) Message boards : Number crunching : Unexpected App of Unknown Origin (Message 34470) Posted 11 Dec 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Because of a couple of issues it was necessary for me to detach from and reattach to MW. I had been using the SSE opti app although, after some time, the name changed from astronomy 0.20 to milkyway 0.20. So after I reattached I again downloaded the SSE version of the opti app. What follows is the app_info.xml file: <app_info> <app> <name>milkyway</name> </app> <file_info> <name>astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe</name> <executable/> </file_info> <app_version> <app_name>milkyway</app_name> <version_num>19</version_num> <file_ref> <file_name>astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe</file_name> <main_program/> </file_ref> </app_version> <app_version> <app_name>milkyway</app_name> <version_num>20</version_num> <file_ref> <file_name>astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe</file_name> <main_program/> </file_ref> </app_version> </app_info> When I downloaded a WU the app was named milkyway 0.19. The first time this happened the app had downloaded with the WU, since milkyway 0.19 had appeared in the ...projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway subdirectory. So I deleted milkyway 0.19 from the subdirectory, aborted the WU, and downloaded another WU. This time the app named in BOINC Manager again was milkyway 0.19 (the complete name was milkyway_0.19_windows_intelx86.exe), but the app didn't show up in ...projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway. Interestingly, when I downloaded the most recent WU, the file astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe asked permission from my AV software to connect to the internet. Given the contents of app_info.xml it looks to me that astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe will play nice with either v0.19 or v0.20 WUs, and it looks to me like the stock app is crunching the WU, although I can't explain why the app is not listed in ...projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway. Can anybody explain what's goin on? Steve
5) Message boards : Number crunching : Posting restrictions (Message 33785) Posted 27 Nov 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Dave! Whaa? I here present my total credits and RAC for the three projects I've been crunching for: Milkyway 19,578 15.25 Cosmology 12,180 85.71 Einstein 9,069 44.15 While I can't contribute a lot because of my computer's age, I am crunching for science. That's what we give you. What you give us in return are credits. You get what you want, I get what I don't care about. And now you're placing restrictions on me? It makes me feel like you don't want my contribution.
6) Message boards : Number crunching : Strange things happen (credit) (Message 33133) Posted 7 Nov 2009 by steveplanetary Post: The database crashed so some work is going to be lost. There's really nothing we can do about that -- the database needs to be restored to the last good version we had of it. We keep updates of it every day, so that's about as good as things can be. Keeping updates of the database every day sounds like a backup is made every day. May I suggest a RAID array, so there is always a duplicate.
7) Message boards : Number crunching : Longer CPU WU Times (Message 32537) Posted 18 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Thanks for the reply, Ice. I also meant to mention that I'm using astronomy_0.20_SSE. I read somewhere in the forum that that might be ~10% faster than the stock 0.19 app. And while I'd like to hear from an Admin, I'd be pleased to hear from anybody, but especially you and Cluster Physic. But anybody, really. BTW I haven't noticed any increase in credits to accompany the longer WUs. Edit: I meant Cluster Physik, no offense intended.
8) Message boards : Number crunching : Longer CPU WU Times (Message 32533) Posted 18 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: I know this has been addressed in passing in other threads,including those regarding credit lowering, but I'd like a clear answer. I have an older machine with an Athlon-XP-M 2400+ CPU. My WUs used to take 1.5-4.5 hours, now they take 9-10 hours. What's up with that? Besides, I'm crunching for science, not credits (everybody has their thing), and I also crunch for Einstein and Cosmology. Of the three projects I personally view MW as the least worthy of my CPU cycles. So I'd like an Admin to make a case for me to stick with MW.
9) Message boards : Number crunching : 3rd.in - optimized apps (Message 32023) Posted 6 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Looking forward to v0.20 SSSE3. Any ETA? But if you really want SSE3 for Win32 it's available at www.zslip.com.
10) Message boards : Number crunching : v0.18/v0.19 issues here (Message 31962) Posted 4 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Cluster, I really appreciate the in-depth answer to my question. I wasn't hoping for Yes or No since, as a computer nerd since the '90s, when I built my own computers, I always like to learn. It was also nice to hear it all in one post. Thanks again. You add a lot to this Message Board. Steve
11) Message boards : Number crunching : v0.18/v0.19 issues here (Message 31936) Posted 4 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: On a P3 1233 Mhz with Win2000 the new stock app v0.19 with 55-57 min is faster than the previous optimized win32 app v0.16SSE with 1:15h. Nice work Travis - Thanks ;) As stated before, there are no improvements in the codebase of the relabeled v0.19 opti app beside the additional logging. So SSE optimized app v0.16 and v0.19 for windows should give the same runtimes. Does this mean the stockapp is better for old PCs with only SSE? The x87 and SSE versions are created using different compilers. So it is perfectly possible that the x87 version is faster than the SSE one, as SSE cannot be used for the time consuming stuff here at MW requiring double precision. Also be aware there are WUs with different length floating around. One should compare only the times of similar ones. Now I'm really confused, since I recently installed a Windows v0.20 Microsoft compiled opti app for SSE from zslip. I haven't been using it long enough to judge the results for myself, but I would be interested in hearing from people 'in the know' about using this app with a mobile Athlon-XP 2400+ with Windows XP Pro. For one thing the discussion seems to be centered around v0.16 and v0.19 opti apps. What about v0.20? I'm especially curious to know, since it has been stated that SSE doesn't support double precision, how does an app that's optimized for SSE handle that problem? Does the CPU switch between SSE and x86 instructions to achieve double precision FP results, or does it return single precision results? I don't know how single precision results could be acceptable. I just wanted to increase my throughput so as to make as great a contribution as possible. And ultimately I will have to judge for myself, but that will be difficult, since my DCF isn't quite where it should be. Credits don't mean anything to me. I just like to see a constant, steep slope on the graph. Answers to my questions and advice, especially from you developers/programmers would be greatly appreciated. Steveplanetary
12) Message boards : Number crunching : 3rd.in - optimized apps (Message 31909) Posted 3 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Nuadormrac, before I replaced the 0.19 stock version with the 0.20 version downloaded from zslip.com I looked for an app_info.xml file, but couldn't find one. So I put the 0.20 app_info file in the ...Boinc/projects/milkway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway folder. When the first MW WU downloaded after I upgraded, BOINC Manager listed the application as milkyway 0.20. I doen't think the server has strictly 0.19 WUs that require the 0.19 app. I think the server downloads the same WUs regardless of which app you're using. It sounds like you have both apps in the ...Boinc/projects/milkway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway folder. If so, I would at least move the 0.19 app to another folder. The server (or the Boinc client) may see it as the default. Like you, I used CPU-Z to learn the most advanced instruction set my CPU is capable of. when I went to parse together the 2 app_info.xml files to include entries for both one listing followed by the other; things seemed to not exactly go well together (the run times were suggestive of it going back to a stock client). Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. :) Cheers, Steve
13) Message boards : Number crunching : 3rd.in - optimized apps (Message 31834) Posted 2 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: I guess I felt hopeless when things got so slow after I installed the 2005 runtime environment, but things are looking up. When I launched BOINC all the projects were at a standstill. The running app's elapsed time wasn't changing. But about a minute later the manager communicated with the client, and the app started to run. Cosmo lost it's output file for reasons unknown, and I had to reset the project. At this point I had suspended new work for MW in Projects, and aborted the MW WU. Then, in My Computer, I copied the five files in the .../Projects/Milkyway subfolder to a newly created Old Milkyway Files subfolder under the Projects subfolder, then copied the three newly downloaded files: the .exe, App_Info.xml, and readme.txt, to the recently vacated .../Projects/Milkyway subfolder. After launching BOINC and clicking on Allow new tasks for MW, the BOINC client contacted the server to request new tasks. Unfortunately, the server is down for maintenance. Nevertheless, four needed replacement files immediately downloaded: three .txt files plus stars222F5. I've played mp3s, sent web-based email, and tried several other apps while running BOINC. No problem with multitasking. The OS is XP Pro, by the way. I'm anxious to get a new MW WU to see how that goes, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The only app that is slow is typing into this Message Board. This post was created in Notepad, then copied to the Message Board. I'll keep everybody posted, so to speak. Cheers, Steveplanetary (I don't know how that Steveplanetry slipped in :))
14) Message boards : Number crunching : 3rd.in - optimized apps (Message 31812) Posted 1 Oct 2009 by steveplanetary Post: I'm sure this has been asked before, but this is a very long thread that I can't possibly read through. Sorry about that. I just downloaded win_0.20_Win32_SSE from www.zslip.com, but I don't know what to do with it. The files extracted are: astronomy_0.20_SSE.exe, app_info.xml and readme.txt. The readme file stated that MS Visual C++ 2005 runtime package was required. I have already installed that, but that may have been a mistake. The CPU seems to be caught in an infinite loop. It is taking forever just to type this message. Internet Explorer is taking 99% of the CPU cycles, and all it is doing is accepting input from the keyboard. When the text finally appeared, McAfee had updated itself, using mcupdmgr & mcinsupd.exe. The BOINC projects already took 99% of CPU cycles, but weren't exclusive abought it. Now it looks like multitasking may not be possible. I hope somebody can suggest what I should do about it. Oh, I run an Athlon-XP-M @ 1.799 GHz. While waiting for a reply I guess I'll launch BOINC and let the apps take the 99% they were already taking. I sure need help. Thanks in advance. Steve
15) Message boards : Number crunching : Confusing Messages (Message 28661) Posted 31 Jul 2009 by steveplanetary Post: Nevermind. For reasons unknown to me a MW WU downloaded while I was reading posts to the message boards. Steve
16) Message boards : Number crunching : Confusing Messages (Message 28657) Posted 31 Jul 2009 by steveplanetary Post: I participate in Einstein@home and Cosmolgy@home in addition to Milkyway@home. All my wus have been completed in time, valid and successful. But after finishing my last wu and BOINC requested another task, I got these weird messages. 7/30/2009 10:23:38 PM Milkyway@home Message from server: No work sent 7/30/2009 10:23:38 PM Milkyway@home Message from server: (won't finish in time) BOINC runs 97.6% of time, computation enabled 99.9% of that What gives? Steve