Posts by UncleVom

1) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom (Message 9540) Posted 2 Feb 2009 by UncleVom Post: I have an Atom 230, the RAC is ~170 running the stock Linux MW app. It is an email/surfing/chat machine the runs 24/7 with Boinc in the background. Not exactly a rocket sled, but it kicks Timex/Sinclair 1000 butt without breaking a sweat. UncleVom
2) Message boards : Number crunching : credit comparison to other projects (Message 7460) Posted 4 Dec 2008 by UncleVom Post: On my Q6600 @ 3342 with reasonably efficient DDR2 timings. Running Debian Sid AMD64: Seti using the AK V8 SSSE3 app I seem to vary between about 53 to 64 credits per hour depending on the AR. With the new MilkyWay app I have been getting around the 58 credits per hour. This to me makes the credit look pretty fair and reasonable at least on this Box. IMHO all somewhat attentive S@h enthusiasts use the optimized clients so I think it is fair comparison. I would imagine this portion of the S@h users more correctly reflects the MW@h user base than the average S@h user with the forgotten older P4 running the stock client. I think Dr. David P. Anderson's dream of cross project parity is misguided and creates more problems between projects than it is worth. Comparisons should relate merely to other contributors within a particular project and a project should live or die on the value of its contribution to science and enjoyment of its participants rather than who is giving the best cross project reward for this week. That said I am a big fan of the work of Dr. Anderson and his role in the creation of distributed computing as we know it. UncleVom
3) Message boards : Number crunching : Computer missing from Top Computers based on RAC (Message 5214) Posted 12 Sep 2008 by UncleVom Post: Yes I have noticed that myself occasionally. When your ranking is near the start or end of a webpage (multiple of 20) and the ranking has altered you may disappear or appear on two different pages for some time until the webpages are updated. Your computer has currently reappeared at RAC ranking 22. :) Thanks I guess I'm not the only one then, now I'm hoping to catch it sometime when I'm two places at once. :-) I've had spreadsheets do this kind of thing to me, but then it usually indicates I'm burned out and should step away from the computer. UncleVom
4) Message boards : Number crunching : Computer missing from Top Computers based on RAC (Message 5211) Posted 12 Sep 2008 by UncleVom Post: My computer http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/show_host_detail.php?hostid=24177 has gone missing it normally is around the the high teens or low twenties, but is not showing up. In overall based on total credit it shows up currently in 83rd spot which appears right. Not a major thing and I'm not too worried as it seems to still be accumulating credit and not spitting out errors. UncleVom
5) Message boards : Number crunching : Linux x86 32bit 1.22 Compute Errors (Message 5136) Posted 31 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: I have been using Slamd64 12.0 and Bluewhite64 12.1, all working with 1.23. Both are based on Slackware 12.0 and 12.1. I don't think a 64 bit distro is going to be much use with this AMD K6-2 box and I swore off Slack over a decade ago, but thanks. :-) Anyway I've kinda solved the problem for now I have switched the box to s@h and moved my other quad which was split 50/50 between s@h and mw@h fully over to mw. Given s@h's problems it suits the purpose, they get the same cruncher I started with back in 1999 and it keeps me running a box on that project. UncleVom
6) Message boards : Number crunching : Linux x86 32bit 1.22 Compute Errors (Message 5129) Posted 31 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: Hmmm... Well it's been awhile since I tried, but my K6-2/500 gagged when I tried to install RH8. IIRC it swallowed RH7 without too much complaining. That's when I decided it would be a lot happier on 2K and left it at that! ;-) Alinator Both the distros I tried don't seem to have any problems with the ancient hardware and boinc works fine, it's just the 1.22 app itself. I think it is the same problem that occurs with the newer 64 bit distros, the stock app is built linked to older library versions that don't exist in the newer distros. Crunch3rs 1.24 build fixes that with statically linked libraries for 64 bit. I just need pointing to a distro version that supports i486 and has the correct older libraries that will run the 1.22 version. It may be a lost cause. UncleVom
7) Message boards : Number crunching : Linux x86 32bit 1.22 Compute Errors (Message 5127) Posted 31 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: I know that the current version of the app is pretty much EoL so I wouldn't expect a fix, but can somebody point me in the direction of the distro and version it was built for or at least a compatible one. I have my AMD K6-2 ready to rock, and I've tried Debian lenny beta2 and sid, but it seems they are too new and error out. I really don't want to have to dig out my Win98 cd. Thanks for any help. UncleVom
8) Message boards : Number crunching : Question about Data Units (Message 5111) Posted 30 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: It looks like the K6/300 will blow the deadline by about 18 hours. However, I've been watching the new wingman, and it'll be close but I think the old timer will still get it back before the wingman reports. ;-) My K6-2/500's and K6-3/450 run the long ones with around 24 hours to spare. They may be old, but they take a lickin' and keep on tickin'! :-) Alinator Thanks I'll give it a shot then and see what happens. This one is on an old FIC VA503+ motherboard, the beast with the all the jumpers. When the cold weather comes I'll probably fire up a few Athlons too, in the winter I can justify it as heating. :-) UncleVom
9) Message boards : Number crunching : Question about Data Units (Message 5108) Posted 30 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: I have a K6/300 which is overrunning the deadline for a long one, but should be able to make it for the others. Alinator Just wondering how close the K6 comes to completion on the long work units. I have a k6-2 300 oc to 350mhz I retired it from s@h about 6 months ago where it was managing a RAC of about 13 running 24/7. It was running s@h for over 8 years on and off and it might be fun to fire it up again if it has a chance to complete the long work units. UncleVom PS It either works or it doesn't, I don't think the project should be modified to accommodate such historic artifacts. ;-)
10) Message boards : Number crunching : WU Credits (Message 4876) Posted 21 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: Additionally, the project really isn't in a phase where optimization is really all that helpful. We're still examining how our searches run with a very heterogeneous variety of hosts, and getting the application to be doing everything it should be correctly. The rate we're getting results at currently is good enough for what we're trying to do. This is still an alpha project, with good reason. Once we get a good application that is crunching over very large portions of the sky with complicated models (and have it fully debugged) -- then optimization is going to be a lot more important for the science. Right now it's a happy community, getting results back and a reasonable rate, and being able to debug our application on a wide range of platforms. Thanks Travis, those last paragraphs put it into better perspective. UncleVom
11) Message boards : Number crunching : I've had enough !!! (Message 4806) Posted 19 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: Yes, Crunch3r is one of the good guys and people involved in several projects benefit from his expertise. When it comes to releasing code to the unwashed masses and possible official incorporation in to the project there really is not much incentive credit wise to do so. With the more or less forced cross-project credit equality farce, any improvement effort is effectively nullified credit wise if it becomes widespread within the project. Keeping things at the status quo and in step with the imaginary SETI median machine is important to the Ruler and Credit Enforcers. It seems not to matter that the median machine on SETI is probably slower than the median machine on other projects and in many cases the mature of the work is different. Oh dear I find myself heading off into my canned anti-cross-project comparison rant, I'll stop now. If someone crunches the work unit and it verified they should get the same credit for that work unit as anybody else would. It doesn't really matter how it was done as long as it's correct. UncleVom --Vaguely remembers being on strike from Seti@Home once before.
12) Message boards : Number crunching : I've had enough !!! (Message 4766) Posted 17 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: An easy solution I have adopted is to compare my rankings in the project against the the #2 position, not so difficult. My guess is that Crunch3r's display is more to do with pointing out the futility of cross project comparisons and the fanatical drive of some to "level the playing field" across projects while indirectly encouraging the use of unofficial optimized apps in their own project which are twice as productive as the stock "level playing field" app. As for cheating, given the above, that would be kinda dumb. But then again I could be wrong and only justifying actions based on my own beliefs that the cross project comparison is a waste of time and resources, and creates more ill will than good. Projects should stand on their own merits, not the amount of credit they grant in comparison to others. Now where can I download the source code, so I can compile my own app and manage to turn this reasonably fast box into the equivalent of four bumbling i386SX? ;-) UncleVom
13) Message boards : Number crunching : application v1.21/v1.22 errors/memory leaks/crashes here (Message 4746) Posted 16 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: Give Crunch3rs statically linked version a try it worked for me with Debian Sid AMD64 on an Intel Atom and a couple of Q6600s. http://calbe.dw70.de/milkyway/astronomy_1.24_x86_64-pc-linux-gnu.tar.bz2 HTH UncleVom
14) Message boards : Number crunching : application v1.21/v1.22 errors/memory leaks/crashes here (Message 4690) Posted 14 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: And being I have the XP x64 sp2 OS(4GB pc2-8500 ram), Thunderbird(x64 version 2.0.0.12) and 1.22 don't get along too well, If I shut down 1.22 I can then send and receive email(Didn't have any problems under Seti of course), If I run 1.22 I have problems with getting Thunderbird to respond more than once. Also 1.22 will not request new tasks under XP x64 until 1.22 gets down to zero.... Then It asks and the server will send 8 more, 4 of which are started immediately, Clicking on Update to get more work does nothing outside of get No more work.... Until the problems I've stated are ironed out I have no choice but to revert back yo Seti on PC1 for a while. :( I had a similar problem recently not getting new work until all 8 were completed but on a Linux box. I think it started after updating to Boinc 6.2, I don't normally use Boinc Manager but somehow something was screwed up in client preferences and KBoincSpy doesn't give me access to them. So I fired up the Boinc Manager and found the client preferences were checked although AFAIK I didn't set them, nothing looked wrong with the choices, but I disabled the client preferences and reverted to web based preferences and the problem went away. Give it a try it might work in your case. UncleVom
15) Message boards : Number crunching : Compute error on linux amd64 (Message 4663) Posted 9 Aug 2008 by UncleVom Post: Hi I saw that all WUs sent to my computers (they run under GNU/Debian amd64) are returned with "Compute error" I have installed ia32-libs package but there is still errors. MilkyWay@Home needs some librairies to run ? Check out this message and link: http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=347&nowrap=true#3954 It has static linked libraries. It worked for me with Debian sid AMD64 Thanks to Crunch3r. UncleVom
16) Message boards : Number crunching : 8 Workunit limit (Message 4560) Posted 30 Jul 2008 by UncleVom Post: Hi all, I think I may have been the cause of this clamp down. Yesterday a couple of my computers using the stock 1.23 Linux client, one of them quite fast, smoked through a heap of work units in almost no time generating trash and getting more. By the time I caught the error the fast machine had reached its daily max. Crunch3r has since put me on the right track with his 1.24 client with statically linked libs and AFAIK they are behaving. There obviously has to be someway to choke off a runaway machine and perhaps this limitation is a stop gap measure until a suitable control solution is found. UncleVom
17) Message boards : Number crunching : 8 Workunit limit (Message 4559) Posted 30 Jul 2008 by UncleVom Post: duplicate message
18) Message boards : Number crunching : Peer Review...Seti vs. Boinc (Message 4537) Posted 30 Jul 2008 by UncleVom Post: Recently responding to Eric Korpela regarding recent s@h changes on the s@h "Number Crunching" community message board I wrote: "I think BOINC should merely be a common interface between projects, forget the inter-project comparisons and let the projects stand on their own merits with credit competition merely within each project. I see a lot of sideways looks at so called "credit whores" chasing the best credit paying across projects, but BOINC created the animal and the "problem". The multi-project teams could still exist, with standing within each project being the measure of comparison." To me this seems to provide a simple solution, I can't see it happening without a large uprising amongst the various BOINC projects. I think David P. Anderson (BTW a man I admire for his great contributions) has to rethink the merits of BOINC combined scores and weightings versus the hostility it is creating. UncleVom
19) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Ooops! (Message 4534) Posted 30 Jul 2008 by UncleVom Post: Hi Crunch3r, Thanks that seems to have settled things down and also explains why one of my Q6600's also on Debian sid didn't seem to be getting any work, it had blown through it's daily quota in the blink of an eye. :-( Hopefully tomorrow I can put in an honest day's work for the project. I'll also switch my Kubuntu box to your 1.24, so it doesn't go on a rampage after an upgrade. Thanks again, UncleVom
20) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Ooops! (Message 4529) Posted 29 Jul 2008 by UncleVom Post: Instant bad science. I attached my Intel D945GCLF with it's Intel Atom 230 CPU running Astronomy version 1.23 on Debian sid AMD64 just to see how long it would take and if it was a viable cruncher. It was blowing through workunits about 1 per second so I suspended it, I guess it's unsupported :-( Sorry for any mess it made. FWIW it works on s@h with the AK ssse3 linux client, but I'd rather not waste the 40watts/hr there right now. UncleVom

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