I *think* I read that GR doesn't support processing on the graphics chip/GPU, and I do notice that climateprediction keeps asking for GPU work and doesnt receive any. Is this correct, or is there something I can do to get the spiffy new 1Gb GPU I have working?...
Yeah, yeah - it's a "feature" of multiprocessors under windows as far as I am aware - take all of one processor and you're stuck, even if you have another.
Right now GR/BOINC is behaving very nicely - I have it running while I am using the computer for the first time in 2-3 years.
I have about 8 computers on the list from various places and times and different hard drives etc. How do I delete one that has no usage (and never will)?
When I saw this behaviour in the past it might have been a previous SP. It's running quite politely now as I type - so that's good.
Exce still does that thing - gets lost on a huge sheet or some other terminal loop and there's barely enough cycles left to open Task Manager and kill it - even though it's only maxing one processor.
I have little idea what I am running. I downloaded the latest BOINC from their site. It says I am using GR as account manager and I just signed up for PTP on Facebook. What that means I am "using" I don't know!
I've noticed with Excel (eg) if it gets stuck and takes all of one processor then the whole computer becomes almost unusable. I have 2 cores Core 2 Duo T7500.
I believe it is (or WAS) the same with BOINC - limit to one core and 25%, but it bounces to 100% of that core for 25% of the time and during that time the computer stops. WIll update if I'm still seeing this.
Oh yeah - the 10% CPU sawtooth thing. Doesn't seem to be causing the issues it used to - will check in if it does. And (for Intel) it does seem that if one processor maxes out you are slowed WAY down, rather than still having more computer power than the top end machine 4 years ago still available in your other processor or core....
I first did PTP using a test fb account. Long story short - I've now deleted that FB account, deleted and reinstalled PTP on my real account, followed your advice and all is working (also recommended to a bunch of friends), both here and on FB,
I *love* what you are doing with the user interface and wall of photos (I had the exact same vision as a TV ad years ago!!) and posint updates and milestones.
Got it on the power - that was me being lazy and not realizing how my power setting were configured. A feature, not a bug as you say.
Last point - I can't read yopur posts while I'm writing this, which means I have to try to remember what you said, but I think I got it all.
I don't *think* BOINC take over is still happening, but ayear ago I would allow 10% of processor while busy, only one processor etc, and I would find my computer at a standstill, and a CTRL-ALT-DEL would show BOINC continually jumping from 5% to 50% and back again and nothing else gettting a chance (on 2 processors I find if one is maxed then you're out of luck).
Power setting was just me not paying attention - I let it run overnight, but my power settings would suspend or hibernate or whatever.
I've tried your fix for my current situation - I wasn't linked on my real facebook account - and I am currently running on at least 4 different ciomputers, and have run it on more than a dozen since when BOINC first launched SETI, so I may be in a mess all over the place. I have now linked my real Facebook and will wait for it to propagate -my "ID" very interesting what is possible on that ap.
My facebook email isn't my BOINC email, but somehow it knew who I was - as it got all the right project, just no state. It looked on my HDD, I guess.
Thanks - I was being alittle provocative with the set top box thing, but do you want to take a bet on when a Cable box has the power to do BOINC and CPDN? 2 years? 5 years? and how many people will have desktop computers by then - a smaller % than have a set top box, I'd guess. So when does the computing power in a household shift from desktop plus laptop to multiple laptops plus....other devices?
There are 100 million US households alone, and it's getting those people added to the 50,000 BOINC CPDN users which seems to be the challenge, rather than getting the 50,000 slightly happier.
I applaud the removal of unsupported hardware - but if you go further and consider the absolute newbie who is learning about this stuff via facebook on the brand-new laptop they got for their college course in Comparative History, just seeing a website that talks about Linux is enough to have them say "not for me". The dedicated can have all that stuff - but I'd hide it well away from the millions of people you are trying to attract.
A 1% greater uptake amongst 10,000,000 people is far more important than a 25% performance boost for every one of the existing 50,000......
In my mind this is no longer *mainly* a technical issue - it is a communications issue. There are plenty of technical issues and always will be, but you can simply ignore 50% of them and spend that time and money on communications / user interface and have a greater positive effect on the total number of cycles dedicated to life-changing research, IM(very)HO.
For example: - You got a Mac - sorry. - You got a non-Intel processor - sorry (and no I don't work for Intel, and I don't like anti-competitive practices, but is the point to spend time on being even-handed or on getting computer cycles?) - You are on anything other than Windows version X - sorry (I know this is heresy, but consider what you're actually trying to achieve here - zetaflops, right?) - Meanwhile, since you have the type of system we support it is all very simple ...click this button, say "Yes" to that security question, pick your projects, choose "low overhead" or "high overhead", link with your Facebook account - and you're saving the world!!! If you want help - here is the ONE place you go to, and it is all very simple and hierarchical - no more than 8 or 9 choices on each page (human brain starts starts processing with 60% of the efficiency if the list goes over 9.....)
Consider the above for a minute - could this increase the total number of cycles dedicated to these projects? Could you also do that other stuff (linux, GPU processing, Athlon, etc etc) - later, and under the hood? If so why not do it?
Thanks for listening - again, I thing this is a truly incredible technical achievement, and I really like the new website. Maybe GridRepublic and Progress Thru Processors actually IS the answer I'm talking about and where I am right now IS the "under the hood" I'm talking about. If so - send everyone there with a footnote that if they are technically ambitous you'd love to see them on this site?
To come full circle and also to partially disagree with myself - working on the technology will get the increasing % of installed-based computing power in set-top boxes and cellphones etc doing this stuff, and it's the relentless pursuit of the user-experience that will get the *millions* of vaguely-interested computer users signing up for this stuff. In summary I believe everything should work backwards from the question.
"Why isn't 50% of the idle computer power in the world running BOINC projects? "
Just getting back in to all this I had found a while ago that BOINC would take over my computer whether I told it to or not - so I'd stopped it completely apart from at night, and then it seemed that power setting or something was killing it.....
ANYWAY
Now I'm back doing it I see that my chart on the GR homepage doesn't have any data (though BOINC desktop shows progress on my desktop ap). I did "synchronize with GR" from the desktop.
BTW - the new facebook page with charts etc looks great - I didn't realize that it would now do more than just say "Quentin is doing stuff for free" every two weeks, but "Here is a milestone that QP has reached etc" - awesome!
