Newbie Not Sure What I'm Doing Yet...
28 Oct 2005 22:40:42 UTC
Topic 190081
(moderation:
Well, I'm back, up and running with a new system. Everything downloaded fine (5.2.2) and I attached to the project, no problem. However, I'm not quite sure what I'm doing yet and not sure what I am suppose to be seeing. Can someone get me going in the right direction? Thanks-Donna
Newbie Not Sure What I'm Doing Yet...
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Welcome back! I'm an AMD fan, so I'm glad to see you got an AMD 2800; mine is a 3700, my first PC other than some old piece of junk I bought my daughter years ago when her "Barbie" program wouldn't run on any of the four or five Macs in the house...
Well... under the "Work" tab in BOINC Manager, you should see one work unit (WU) "running". You can check on it periodically to see how it's going, but by tomorrow morning, that first WU should be finished and returned, and another downloaded and started. You are the first person to get this particular WU, so it may be a while before it has been compared with others, validated, and credit granted. You can check on the status of it by going from "Your Account" on the web site, to "View Results". Right now it says "In Process". When it says "Over - Success - Done", you'll see how much credit you've asked for, and once it's validated, you'll see how much you got. That credit will then show up in BOINC Manager, on your message board postings, on your account page, on the various stats sites, etc... When you've got a few WUs done, the "crunching" bug will bite, and pretty soon, you'll be like the rest of us, haunting the websites, micromanaging the Manager, joining many projects, buying computers just to crunch... :-)
I note that because you have no "history" with the project, your benchmarks are currently showing as 0/0, so the "To completion" time you'll see in the Work tab is basically meaningless. This will adjust itself as the project learns about your computer. If you'll go to the "Projects" tab, select Einstein, and hit "Update", your benchmark will be transmitted, and this process will start a little quicker - still too late to show anything useful for THIS work unit, but at least the next will be within 50% or so of the right time. (I haven't looked at anyone else who 'just attached'... the 0/0 looks strange to me, I'm not sure if it's supposed to be populated before that WU got downloaded or not - so I'd like you to hit "Update", and report back here that you've done so, just in case there IS a problem. We can catch it before it hurts anything. If that WU returns with the benchmark still saying 0/0, you'll either request no credit - but still get some - or you'll request some ridiculous amount of credit... like infinity...)
Once you do have a couple of days work done, and the credits start to flow, you really should join some other project. If none particularly interest you, pick the one that you dislike least or whatever - but give it a resource share of 5 (leave Einstein at 100) and that way, if the Einstein site is down, or no work is available, you'll roll over and do work for that project until Einstein is up again. As long as Einstein work is available, you'll do maybe one WU a week for the other project, just enough to beat the deadline, as the Manager will keep one WU on hand "just in case". (SETI is the 'normal' one I suppose, although Rosetta is rapidly becoming my personal favorite, and the SETI message boards are a zoo...) Or, if you find a project you like just as much as Einstein, you can give it a 100 resource share also and do it and Einstein "50/50".
That's also the time, if you have "the Einstein graphics bug" (which will mean you get no credit for the WUs you're doing...), to start using the beta Windows application. I'm still hoping they'll get that thing OUT of beta and actually download it to everyone "any day now", as it's been in beta forever, without problems - and because it's a pain to install, especially for a "newbie", although I suspect you'd manage it fine.
There is a WIKI that includes everything you ever wanted to know about all of the BOINC projects and the way they work, and more... if you have any problems or questions, that may be the quickest way to find out something. Although posting here works too, there's a lot of helpful friendly people hanging around ready to help you out.
RE: I note that because you
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Bill,
Thanks very much for taking the trouble to explain things to Donna. I'm very pleased too that she has chosen an AMD. They are great crunching boxes.
With regard to the 0/0 for benchmarks and other missing info on the website, there is no problem. What we are seeing is perfectly normal behaviour. The local BOINC has all the correct information but has simply not reported it to the server yet. If the default "connect to network" was used, the result will go to about 70-80% completed before BOINC decides to request more work and the server will get all the relevant information at that time. Yes, an update could be forced but it is only of cosmetic value for anyone looking at the details of the computer on the website. The local BOINC Manager work tab will show a value for "To completion" that is a bit too low in the early stages of crunching the first result but by the time the progress has reached 60% or more, the "To completion" estimate will be quite good. Over the next few days, BOINC will adjust upwards the somewhat low initial estimates for completion time that EAH units usually had on 4.xx BOINCs. So, in summary, there is no risk of abnormal credit claims - its just the way the very first result goes.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: So, in summary, there
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Thanks Gary - as I said, I never looked at the website before immediately after an attach... not even mine! I assumed the benchmarks had been run and not reported - but I would have expected them to report when the work was first downloaded, not wait until the next connect.
Learn something new every day if you're not careful! :-)
RE: ... I assumed the
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I think it's because the initial request for work on a new machine is made very early on before the benchmarks are done. At that stage there is no information about benchmarks, etc, to upload. The benchmark results will be uploaded the next time the client needs (or is directed manually) to contact the server.
I've only ever observed the process where the "connect to network" setting is default or a very low value. If one had "preset" the preferences to say a 3.0 day connect interval and then did the install it would be interesting to see what would happen. Under 4.xx BOINCs that I'm used to, there would be a very large number of results downloaded initially (an oversupply) and it might be quite some time before the client needed to contact the server again. Potentially, it might be possible to have a situation where completed results are being uploaded and validated where the server has 0/0 for the benchmarks. I've actually seen cases where there have been claims for 0.00 credits and maybe something like this is the reason why. I don't think this can happen in version 5 as I believe that this "oversupply" wont happen. I'm very interested to really find out how version 5 ticks now that I've personally bitten the bullet and decided to upgrade. I'm over half way through and will finish the remainder in the next day or so.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: Can someone get me
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Hi Donna,
I'm sorry that I turned your thread into some boring technobabble by carrying on a discussion with Bill.
Bill's advice is good and anyway you seem to have done an excellent job of getting going all by yourself. I thought I'd just ask a few things about your setup and then perhaps make a few suggestions for your consideration. Could you please tell us the following:-
* What are your intentions with regard to running hours, only when you need to use the computer or 24/7?
* Are you intending to run EAH only or do you like other projects as well?
* Are you comfortable with allowing BOINC to work in the background when you are also using the computer? Personally I have BOINC running at all times and I notice no slowdown effects at all.
* Are you happy to allow BOINC to handle everything for you or are you likely to want to "micromanage" things for yourself?
* Do you want to know what all the messages shown in BOINC Manager mean or are you happy to ignore that sort of thing if everything is going smoothly?
* Are there any areas in particular you would like information on?
Once you answer these, people could make suggestions about things you might like to explore or do.
As far as your machine is concerned, I've noticed that it has only 256MB of RAM. If your machine is brand new, you could probably ask your supplier to swap the 256MB module for a 512MB one as 256MB is really not enough these days and the extra cost at this point should be minimal. Don't let them just put in an extra 256MB stick as your motherboard may only have two RAM slots anyway. Ultimately a future upgrade may be to go from 512MB to 1GB and you may need that extra slot. If I were you I'd ask the supplier for a price to swap the 256MB module for a 512MB one. That price should be no more than about $20 - $30 and it would be well worth the extra bucks.
Cheers,
Gary.
I see that your first result
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I see that your first result has been returned, asking for 71.33 credits, and work has started on your second one. Your benchmarks have been filled in as well, so my worries there were for nothing. :-) Your first WU has been assigned to a second (but not yet a third) person, so your credits are still likely to be a couple of days away from arriving. This is normal when you first join a project - after a week or so, credit is being granted at about the same rate you are turning in work, so the delay becomes less of a factor.
I had missed the 256MB listing on your computer. It is an unfortunate fact that with everyone looking for the cheapest PC possible, manufacturers are cutting corners wherever they can, and the easiest seems to be by putting too little RAM in the boxes. Apple just learned their lesson on the Mac Mini, that originally shipped with 256MB (and only has _one_ RAM slot!), because too many people soon had complaints; so now it ships with 512MB. Windows can get by with a bit less memory than a Mac, so they aren't really "cheating" you by giving you 256MB - but frankly, you've got a nice "above-average" processor in that computer, which makes me suspect you didn't get it at Cheapie-Mart on the clearance table, so it's just annoying that they shipped it with what I would consider "marginal" memory. Especially since as Gary said, to give you a reasonable amount (512MB) would only have cost $20-30 more!
I'll disagree very slightly with Gary on one point - IF you only have two RAM slots, then yes, adding another 256MB to the currently empty one means that when you upgrade again in the future, you're going to be throwing away a RAM stick. But I'd bet you have four slots. Or if you don't, I'd bet that the vendor is going to balk at swapping your "used" RAM stick for a larger one anyway. (Which is stupid, but most computer vendors now know little or nothing about what they are selling.) So, as long as the price is low enough, I wouldn't worry too much about having 2 256's in there instead of 1 512, unless you think you'll be going to 1GB or more within the next few months.
Regardless, they should install it for free. If they won't do that, and won't swap sticks, and didn't discuss the whole RAM issue with you in the first place when you bought the computer, I'd just thank them, leave, buy more RAM online (or locally) from a reputable-but-different dealer, and install it yourself. It's not difficult, and if the new stick doesn't come with clear instructions, someone here can help you with it.
RE: I see that your first
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Thanks Gary and Bill for your advice and assistance...I've been busy loading programs and downloading security patches and anti-virus, so I haven't had much time to get into the project though I am most anxious to...
I think that I am in need of a tutorial on this porject, this is very new territory for me. Is such a thing available? Would someone be willing to spend a bit of time with me helping me to get acclimated?...
I'd be so appreciative... Cheers-Donna p.s. I am going to add another stick of RAM...
RE: I think that I am in
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Donna,
There is a Boinc Wiki that is very comprehensive and informative, a great place to start.
I will try to be of help, and I am certain that several others who worked with you on your previous problem will assist you.
Regards,
Michael
(edit) Just beware that I speak gibberish before my first cup o' coffee in the morning.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
Donna... As the newly
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Donna...
As the newly named "Unoffical Ambassador to the Unofficial BOINC Wiki" (thanks again Gary)
I would like to point you to the Einstein@Home FAQ
This should get you started. I'm a newbie too, but love crunching for all of my BOINC projects
Kathryn
Kathryn :o)
Einstein@Home Moderator
RE: Donna... As the newly
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Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Katherine... I'm getting into the swing of things, little by little. Cheers-Donna