Does this explain the relatively slow processing or is there something else I could try?
John,
I think there may be BIOS settings or other tweaks you can do to get the time down a bit. Unfortunately I know nothing about A64 - I can still get almost as good performance from Athlon XP so I haven't bothered to "upgrade". Can you list here the major specs for your box like mobo, RAM, BIOS version, etc. Do you run your machine 24/7? If not, can you run it overnight once and see if there is any difference when you are not using it yourself. Shut down any processes not really needed.
There are a number of people running A64s who may very well read what you write here and may be able to give you worthwhile suggestions.
...Out of interest, I just went and found an A64 3200+ in the top computers list. So as not to get any inflated figures I headed down towards the lower half of the list and found this one. 22,200 seconds sounds about right to me. Add on 10% for the 0.18 beta app and 24,500 seconds should be the number to aim for. John B should be able to save about an hour of crunch time per result.
Yes, I agree that looks about right, very similar benches, whereas.....
Quote:
Purely by chance I've just run into this Athlon 64 3200+ where the owner is having some "Client error" problems. The times are around 18,200 seconds so I'm guessing that the machine must be rather overclocked to be doing results that fast.
...this machine is benching nearly 23% higher, same 5.2.7 client. Must be really O/C ed, I've read that A64s don't have quite the headroom. Most mobos with good clocking options in BIOS include one for unlocking the PCI and AGP busses from the FSB, to prevent exactly the problem you mentioned.
(edit) I think that other apps also running in the background can impact processing time (not just wallclock time) when they don't entirely preempt Einstein. For example, I've noticed a 4-5% increase when I left MSN Messenger running all night a couple of months ago.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
I'll reply to your suggestions when I've had time to collect the data.
At the moment,it is shutdown overnight and in Standby when not being used during the day. Diagnostically, it seems a good idea to run the machine overnight with all other processes killed to see what happens. To get meaningful data I would need to run a complete WU overnight. How do I set this up? I've already seen the problem of suspending Einstein WUs in the Work tab! I have two WUs on the PC; one is Running and the other is Ready to Run.
... and in Standby when not being used during the day.
Is your machine a laptop? By "standby" do you mean the computer is still running but in some sort of reduced clock speed or power saving mode? If so, that would probably explain the slow speeds and there's nothing to worry about.
It would be interesting to allow the machine to blank the screen but otherwise continue running normally during the day. That would soon show the true crunching time for a result. You can start and stop your machine normally at the beginning and end of each day as usual. After a few days like this just look at the crunching time for each result and see if it's a lot less than what it is currently.
What sort of internet connection do you have? If you were going to run overnight you wouldn't have to do anything special as BOINC will upload results and download new work quite automatically as long as it can establish a connection.
Just had a thought. Many laptops have a slow-down mode that kicks in on 2 conditions - 1)when battery power is low(not applicable when running on AC adaptor), and 2)when CPU temp rises above a predefined point. Could very well be the second case. Try placing your laptop on top of a couple of books, spread apart so that there is plenty of ventilation underneath. Leave it like that overnight, and see if processing time drops.
Also, as Gary said, disable standby mode. Right-click on empty part of screen, select Properties. On the screensaver tab, click on the Power button at the bottom. On the Power schemes tab, select "Never" for System Standby and for Turn off hard disks, and whatever you want for Turn off monitor. Save the new scheme as "Crunching" or something, click Apply and OK.
Michael
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
I am a new user, with name "shoe4bob". But the running jobs identify me as "bob", and the Boinc run times are listed on the manager as Boinc default, rather than the ones I put in in getting the account under the shoe4bob name. I had some trouble getting going, and did more than one download before I thought things were straightened out, but that apparantly is not the case. Also the manager as "browned out" the option to suspend, so I can't stop a run during my working hours.
I am a new user, with name "shoe4bob". But the running jobs identify me as "bob"
Welcome to Einstein!! We'll try to help you get things sorted out.
My guess is you created an account on the website under the name "Shoe4bob" and this is what you are using to post this message. I've just checked and there are no computers registered under this name. If you indeed have BOINC running on your computer, you must have registered yourself as "bob" during the install. I just had a quick look and there are close to 100 "bob"s in the user profiles so I'm not even going to try to wade through that lot :).
If you would like to look at the messages under the message tab in BOINC Manager when you start up, it actually lists your computer ID. If you report that CPUID here, at least I'll be able to find you easily.
To solve your problem, you will need to be very sure about the email address and password that you used to attach your computer to EAH during the install of BOINC. You should be able to login to the website using the credentials associated with "bob" that you seem to have used during the install. Please report back if you can login as "bob" and see your computer details. Logout as "shoe4bob" first.
Quote:
... and the Boinc run times are listed on the manager as Boinc default, rather than the ones I put in in getting the account under the shoe4bob name.
If you mean "time of day when the science app is allowed to run", then the "shoe4bob" settings can't be honoured because your computer must be registered under the name "bob". It would appear for the moment that you probably have a "split personality" :). If this doesn't answer your question you will have to rephrase since I don't really understand what you mean.
Quote:
I had some trouble getting going, and did more than one download before I thought things were straightened out, but that apparantly is not the case. Also the manager as "browned out" the option to suspend, so I can't stop a run during my working hours.
You need to "select" the project before certain functions become activated. Please be aware though that you shouldn't need to do this if you get your userID and preferences sorted out.
You can stop BOINC at any time (if you used the normal single user install) by exiting BOINC Manager. You can also set preferences to make BOINC stop while you are working on your machine if you wish. You can also rely on the fact that the science application runs at very low priority and it wont really interfere with your normal work. The science application releases your cpu to your normal tasks when they wish to run.
If you can reply with answers and any other details about exactly what you did, we should be able to give you directions about sorting things out.
I am a new user, with name "shoe4bob". But the running jobs identify me as "bob"
Welcome to Einstein!! We'll try to help you get things sorted out.
My guess is you created an account on the website under the name "Shoe4bob" and this is what you are using to post this message. I've just checked and there are no computers registered under this name. If you indeed have BOINC running on your computer, you must have registered yourself as "bob" during the install. I just had a quick look and there are close to 100 "bob"s in the user profiles so I'm not even going to try to wade through that lot :).
If you would like to look at the messages under the message tab in BOINC Manager when you start up, it actually lists your computer ID. If you report that CPUID here, at least I'll be able to find you easily.
To solve your problem, you will need to be very sure about the email address and password that you used to attach your computer to EAH during the install of BOINC. You should be able to login to the website using the credentials associated with "bob" that you seem to have used during the install. Please report back if you can login as "bob" and see your computer details. Logout as "shoe4bob" first.
Quote:
... and the Boinc run times are listed on the manager as Boinc default, rather than the ones I put in in getting the account under the shoe4bob name.
If you mean "time of day when the science app is allowed to run", then the "shoe4bob" settings can't be honoured because your computer must be registered under the name "bob". It would appear for the moment that you probably have a "split personality" :). If this doesn't answer your question you will have to rephrase since I don't really understand what you mean.
Quote:
I had some trouble getting going, and did more than one download before I thought things were straightened out, but that apparantly is not the case. Also the manager as "browned out" the option to suspend, so I can't stop a run during my working hours.
You need to "select" the project before certain functions become activated. Please be aware though that you shouldn't need to do this if you get your userID and preferences sorted out.
You can stop BOINC at any time (if you used the normal single user install) by exiting BOINC Manager. You can also set preferences to make BOINC stop while you are working on your machine if you wish. You can also rely on the fact that the science application runs at very low priority and it wont really interfere with your normal work. The science application releases your cpu to your normal tasks when they wish to run.
If you can reply with answers and any other details about exactly what you did, we should be able to give you directions about sorting things out.
I don't find a computer id under messages in the manager. I do indeed have two account keys. (That was going to be my next question!). Apparantly the key that is associated with "shoe4bob" actually works: I use it to sign on, and my computer happily grinds away at a job. That key is a8edddb4ca6e5b6032114d07c3441018. The key other key that I have allows me apparantly to sign on as "bob". It is e61506c7c50bcaf3761ef6329aacdcf0. The problem I have is, I think, that the signon instructions are not completely transparant to dummies, of whom I am apparantly one. I was not aware that the computation stops if I exit the manager, although I won't be surprised if you tell me that it is clearly stated someplace.
This is from the log on one of my machines. The bit in bold is the CPUID that I'm looking for.
Quote:
I do indeed have two account keys. (That was going to be my next question!). Apparantly the key that is associated with "shoe4bob" actually works: I use it to sign on, and my computer happily grinds away at a job. That key is a8edddb4ca6e5b6032114d07c3441018. The key other key that I have allows me apparantly to sign on as "bob". It is e61506c7c50bcaf3761ef6329aacdcf0.
Please don't post account keys. You should go change your passwords otherwise people can stuff around with your accounts. Your computer is not associated with either the "shoe4bob" or "bob schumacher" accounts so you must have more than two accounts. Just post the CPUID thanks.
Quote:
The problem I have is, I think, that the signon instructions are not completely transparant to dummies, of whom I am apparantly one. I was not aware that the computation stops if I exit the manager, although I won't be surprised if you tell me that it is clearly stated someplace.
Nobody is calling you a dummy - least of all me. I'm just trying to help.
BOINC Manager (the GUI) does no work itself. It's the front end user interface and it simply starts another program, boinc.exe, which does the real work of scheduling jobs, contacting the servers, uploading, downloading, etc, and managing the science applications which do the number crunching. You don't really need to worry about the details. However you do need to find and manage the user account under which you are currently crunching and that why I'd like you to look at the messages in BOINC Manager and find that CPUID, thanks.
This is from the log on one of my machines. The bit in bold is the CPUID that I'm looking for.
Quote:
I do indeed have two account keys. (That was going to be my next question!). Apparantly the key that is associated with "shoe4bob" actually works: I use it to sign on, and my computer happily grinds away at a job. That key is a8edddb4ca6e5b6032114d07c3441018. The key other key that I have allows me apparantly to sign on as "bob". It is e61506c7c50bcaf3761ef6329aacdcf0.
Please don't post account keys. You should go change your passwords otherwise people can stuff around with your accounts. Your computer is not associated with either the "shoe4bob" or "bob schumacher" accounts so you must have more than two accounts. Just post the CPUID thanks.
Quote:
The problem I have is, I think, that the signon instructions are not completely transparant to dummies, of whom I am apparantly one. I was not aware that the computation stops if I exit the manager, although I won't be surprised if you tell me that it is clearly stated someplace.
Nobody is calling you a dummy - least of all me. I'm just trying to help.
BOINC Manager (the GUI) does no work itself. It's the front end user interface and it simply starts another program, boinc.exe, which does the real work of scheduling jobs, contacting the servers, uploading, downloading, etc, and managing the science applications which do the number crunching. You don't really need to worry about the details. However you do need to find and manage the user account under which you are currently crunching and that why I'd like you to look at the messages in BOINC Manager and find that CPUID, thanks.
RE: Does this explain the
)
John,
I think there may be BIOS settings or other tweaks you can do to get the time down a bit. Unfortunately I know nothing about A64 - I can still get almost as good performance from Athlon XP so I haven't bothered to "upgrade". Can you list here the major specs for your box like mobo, RAM, BIOS version, etc. Do you run your machine 24/7? If not, can you run it overnight once and see if there is any difference when you are not using it yourself. Shut down any processes not really needed.
There are a number of people running A64s who may very well read what you write here and may be able to give you worthwhile suggestions.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: ...Out of interest, I
)
Yes, I agree that looks about right, very similar benches, whereas.....
...this machine is benching nearly 23% higher, same 5.2.7 client. Must be really O/C ed, I've read that A64s don't have quite the headroom. Most mobos with good clocking options in BIOS include one for unlocking the PCI and AGP busses from the FSB, to prevent exactly the problem you mentioned.
(edit) I think that other apps also running in the background can impact processing time (not just wallclock time) when they don't entirely preempt Einstein. For example, I've noticed a 4-5% increase when I left MSN Messenger running all night a couple of months ago.
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
Gary, I'll reply to your
)
Gary,
I'll reply to your suggestions when I've had time to collect the data.
At the moment,it is shutdown overnight and in Standby when not being used during the day. Diagnostically, it seems a good idea to run the machine overnight with all other processes killed to see what happens. To get meaningful data I would need to run a complete WU overnight. How do I set this up? I've already seen the problem of suspending Einstein WUs in the Work tab! I have two WUs on the PC; one is Running and the other is Ready to Run.
Cheers,
John
RE: ... and in Standby when
)
Is your machine a laptop? By "standby" do you mean the computer is still running but in some sort of reduced clock speed or power saving mode? If so, that would probably explain the slow speeds and there's nothing to worry about.
It would be interesting to allow the machine to blank the screen but otherwise continue running normally during the day. That would soon show the true crunching time for a result. You can start and stop your machine normally at the beginning and end of each day as usual. After a few days like this just look at the crunching time for each result and see if it's a lot less than what it is currently.
What sort of internet connection do you have? If you were going to run overnight you wouldn't have to do anything special as BOINC will upload results and download new work quite automatically as long as it can establish a connection.
Cheers,
Gary.
John, Just had a thought.
)
John,
Just had a thought. Many laptops have a slow-down mode that kicks in on 2 conditions - 1)when battery power is low(not applicable when running on AC adaptor), and 2)when CPU temp rises above a predefined point. Could very well be the second case. Try placing your laptop on top of a couple of books, spread apart so that there is plenty of ventilation underneath. Leave it like that overnight, and see if processing time drops.
Also, as Gary said, disable standby mode. Right-click on empty part of screen, select Properties. On the screensaver tab, click on the Power button at the bottom. On the Power schemes tab, select "Never" for System Standby and for Turn off hard disks, and whatever you want for Turn off monitor. Save the new scheme as "Crunching" or something, click Apply and OK.
Michael
microcraft
"The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice" - MLK
I am a new user, with name
)
I am a new user, with name "shoe4bob". But the running jobs identify me as "bob", and the Boinc run times are listed on the manager as Boinc default, rather than the ones I put in in getting the account under the shoe4bob name. I had some trouble getting going, and did more than one download before I thought things were straightened out, but that apparantly is not the case. Also the manager as "browned out" the option to suspend, so I can't stop a run during my working hours.
RE: I am a new user, with
)
Welcome to Einstein!! We'll try to help you get things sorted out.
My guess is you created an account on the website under the name "Shoe4bob" and this is what you are using to post this message. I've just checked and there are no computers registered under this name. If you indeed have BOINC running on your computer, you must have registered yourself as "bob" during the install. I just had a quick look and there are close to 100 "bob"s in the user profiles so I'm not even going to try to wade through that lot :).
If you would like to look at the messages under the message tab in BOINC Manager when you start up, it actually lists your computer ID. If you report that CPUID here, at least I'll be able to find you easily.
To solve your problem, you will need to be very sure about the email address and password that you used to attach your computer to EAH during the install of BOINC. You should be able to login to the website using the credentials associated with "bob" that you seem to have used during the install. Please report back if you can login as "bob" and see your computer details. Logout as "shoe4bob" first.
If you mean "time of day when the science app is allowed to run", then the "shoe4bob" settings can't be honoured because your computer must be registered under the name "bob". It would appear for the moment that you probably have a "split personality" :). If this doesn't answer your question you will have to rephrase since I don't really understand what you mean.
You need to "select" the project before certain functions become activated. Please be aware though that you shouldn't need to do this if you get your userID and preferences sorted out.
You can stop BOINC at any time (if you used the normal single user install) by exiting BOINC Manager. You can also set preferences to make BOINC stop while you are working on your machine if you wish. You can also rely on the fact that the science application runs at very low priority and it wont really interfere with your normal work. The science application releases your cpu to your normal tasks when they wish to run.
If you can reply with answers and any other details about exactly what you did, we should be able to give you directions about sorting things out.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: RE: I am a new user,
)
I don't find a computer id under messages in the manager. I do indeed have two account keys. (That was going to be my next question!). Apparantly the key that is associated with "shoe4bob" actually works: I use it to sign on, and my computer happily grinds away at a job. That key is a8edddb4ca6e5b6032114d07c3441018. The key other key that I have allows me apparantly to sign on as "bob". It is e61506c7c50bcaf3761ef6329aacdcf0. The problem I have is, I think, that the signon instructions are not completely transparant to dummies, of whom I am apparantly one. I was not aware that the computation stops if I exit the manager, although I won't be surprised if you tell me that it is clearly stated someplace.
RE: I don't find a computer
)
When you first start BOINC Manager, you will get messages just like these:
This is from the log on one of my machines. The bit in bold is the CPUID that I'm looking for.
Please don't post account keys. You should go change your passwords otherwise people can stuff around with your accounts. Your computer is not associated with either the "shoe4bob" or "bob schumacher" accounts so you must have more than two accounts. Just post the CPUID thanks.
Nobody is calling you a dummy - least of all me. I'm just trying to help.
BOINC Manager (the GUI) does no work itself. It's the front end user interface and it simply starts another program, boinc.exe, which does the real work of scheduling jobs, contacting the servers, uploading, downloading, etc, and managing the science applications which do the number crunching. You don't really need to worry about the details. However you do need to find and manage the user account under which you are currently crunching and that why I'd like you to look at the messages in BOINC Manager and find that CPUID, thanks.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: RE: RE: I don't
)
How about 443235?