Hello

I joined up yesterday and have been having some issues regarding getting jobs and sending them back, i do hope i'm not causing the issue.

I've suspended my VM and Boinc task for now. Hopefully the issue can be resolved.

Hi
I have just joined into this project after having read about it on Google news.I am excited ,can't wait any longer for the service to start back.I hope it gets resolved soon.

Could it be that some people have set a large number of days work to cache?

Could it be that some people have set a large number of days work to cache?

Could it be that some people have set a large number of days work to cache?

All ur tsks are belong to uz. No retrn by dedlyne. Free Julienne Masange. Lulz.


Joking of course.

Could it be that some people have set a large number of days work to cache?

Anyway it's not the BOINC tasks they're running out of, it's the CERN jobs downloaded by BOINC_VM. BOINC tasks and CERN jobs... two very different things.

I had to trash one job (Reset VM as instructed) due to the want_getJob issue, i wonder if the two known problems are related.

Anyway, waiting patiently here until the issue can be resolved :)

Anyway it's not the BOINC tasks they're running out of, it's the CERN jobs downloaded by BOINC_VM. BOINC tasks and CERN jobs... two very different things.

I was checking through some tasks this afternoon to find a comparison for a task Bill & Patsy ran, but 50 tasks down, plus 50 tasks up from the one he pointed out, all were computational errors. There's a lot of trashing going on around here.

Plus a lot of people new to BOINC and Virtual Box, who don't (yet) know how to deal with shutting down these programs correctly. Or who find that VBox continues running after they close BOINC down and then manually end the process in task manager, which will give their task an immediate computational error on the next BOINC restart, or it'll give a BOINC_VM error that they don't know how to handle.

The BBC article may have been a bit too much.

When I first started running this project.... things were just going compute error on Windows at first.

The first time the VM runs, the pops a bunch of dialogs warning you of things like the guest isn't optimal, or that its not properly taking the mouse, or that its about to grab the keyboard away. And, needing me to check the box to stop doing that.

Otherwise, the VM doesn't respond and the wrapper aborts and returns the unit in error and asks for another one.

The problem is that I only have BOINC running when my windows computer is idle...so I didn't know that I needed to interact with the BOINC_VM initially...or that I needed to disable the idle only to go through the dialogs before the VM would run correctly.

But after a day of lots of failed units, I suspended things until a co-worker reported that he had successfully completed a unit on his Windows box. So, I resumed work fetch thinking that there were just early bad units.

Wasn't until later I saw a glimpse of the VM with dialog after my screensaver stopped and before boinc had unloaded everything.

But, before I caught on to that...I had tried running this project on my Linux box...where I left boinc run all the time.....but its normally headless...I only start gdm by hand when I need it for something. I have a cron job that checks if boinc is running each hour and starts it if necessary (I only run the command line version on Unix/Linux...and enable remote-gui so I can manage things from Windows...)

So, I was going to work units pretty fast on Linux until I figured out that it wanted a display....

I'm sure as more and more people join they are going to run into these issues in the beginning as well....and some may not give up sucking jobs down thinking that things being beta...things will start working on their own eventually.

I know I certainly thought that when I first joined. And, if I hadn't just happened to see the VM 'stuck' that one time...I wouldn't have known to babysit the first run.

Once I knew this, adding two more hosts to this project went a lot smoother...

The Dreamer.

This wouldn't be the first project to be a victim of its own popularity.

I've noticed all the trashing going on here too, at the BOINC task level. They need to turn on/configure the option in BOINC server to limit how many BOINC tasks a host can receive in a day. A limit of 20 seems reasonable. Whatever, it shouldn't be left unlimited as it seems to be now. They need a similar limit at the CERN job level too.

(thanks to Ageless)

i agree that 20 tasks per day should be more than enough...i can't imagine needing to trash more than a task or two per day, whether intentionally or accidentally. and once i resolve my bug, there should be no wasting of tasks.

I was hoping this would be back to work faster than it is going right now.

I usually have my 4 running here 24/7 and now I have one down and 3 to send one in in the next few hours.

I guess they can run all cores on Einstein until we are up and running here again.

I did have mine all set up so the task reports were at times when I can check them since I have already spent hundreds of hours here at 4am.

Be nice if this is running in the next 5 hours or less

i agree that 20 tasks per day should be more than enough...i can't imagine needing to trash more than a task or two per day, whether intentionally or accidentally. and once i resolve my bug, there should be no wasting of tasks.

G'day,

I hope it wasn't me. I only just joined up 2 days ago. I set boinc to have 10gig of hdd space and you guys sent me 1.23 gig of data? however I still only have 1 task in boinc.

Not to brag but my systems pretty awesome and you're getting access to some serious hardware.

But i'm a team player. so keep the messages concise with instructions for us none science types and I will do what I can from this end.

Started yesterday but had to shut down my computer for a while... so I suspended my task and wanted to start it today... but then I got an error and had to abort my task... :(

Now when I'm trying to get a new one I keep getting the message "communication deferred" and nothing happens...

How can I fix this ?? or do I just have to wait ?

Dear Dave,

Today there were some problems with job supply for this project [1].
If you look in BOINC Manager in the Messages tab you should see the messages:

Test4Theory@Home Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
Test4Theory@Home Message from server: Project has no tasks available

people are working on this. stay tuned! :)

[1] http://boinc01.cern.ch/node/56

If you look in BOINC Manager in the Messages tab you should see the messages:...

How do you properly shut it down? I was wondering, because my Windows machine did updates and I restarted but couldn't figure out how to properly shut down the program.

BOINC Manager->Advanced view->File->Exit->Check "Stop running science applications on Manager exit?" if it's unchecked and click OK. This will stop BOINC, which in turn will close down the VirtualBox application with grace.
____________
Jord

-BOINC FAQ Service

Real is just a matter of perception.

Thanks! Also what's credit/RAC mean? Below our names on this message board?
"Credit: 854
RAC: 45"

Thanks! Also what's credit/RAC mean? Below our names on this message board?
"Credit: 854
RAC: 45"

Thank you Crystal!

And Sunny!

Do you recommend shutting it down this way every time you switch of your computer? For example I put mine to sleep every night - if I just put the machine to sleep will that damage the jobs my machine is working on?

Do you recommend shutting it down this way every time you switch of your computer? For example I put mine to sleep every night - if I just put the machine to sleep will that damage the jobs my machine is working on?

Thanks Ageless,

I also installed version 6.12.33 under Windows and I see what you mean.

When you use the sleep, or hibernation option, use the "Suspend work if no mouse/keyboard activity in last X minutes" option in your preferences. Make sure to set it to at least one minute, perhaps more, before your hibernation kicks in, to allow BOINC to gracefully shut down all projects and files. This is assuming you do not have "Leave tasks in memory while suspended?" set to Yes, as that will leave applications in memory.

Using these preferences will require that boinctray.exe is running when you use Windows 7 or Vista. Check so in Windows Task Manager. When you do not see it running, please navigate to your BOINC Programs directory (C:\Program Files\BOINC\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\BOINC\) and double-click on boinctray.exe
Boinctray.exe is the BOINC idle detection program. It only starts when Windows boots.

BOINC Manager->Advanced view->File->Exit->Check "Stop running science applications on Manager exit?" if it's unchecked and click OK. This will stop BOINC, which in turn will close down the VirtualBox application with grace.

Have you shut down BOINC before, and did you perhaps check both options, including the one to not be bothered with this exit dialog the next time?

You can check that in BOINC Manager->Advanced view->Tools (from menu bar)->Display and network options->Is "Enable Manager exit dialog?" checked? If not, check it.

Then do File->Exit again and it'll be back.
____________
Jord

-BOINC FAQ Service

Real is just a matter of perception.

Just a little anecdote that might be worth mentioning ... or not, but regardless here we go.

Way back in ye olde days when I was crunching for United Devices there were a number of issues (yes I'm going to get more specific) with people returning bad work units. In particular there were people returning HUGE numbers of bad work units and sucking the servers dry. It turned out that they weren't having processing errors as such but rather since credit was based on the number of units returned, valid or otherwise, people had worked out how to kill the process and return the units after only a minute or so. This meant they could get through a very large number of units in a short period of time and get substantial numbers added to their stats that they could never have achieved otherwise ie. honestly. Since then I have always been a little leery when people with nothing special hardware start claiming huge amounts of credit (or returned results) in very little time. Given some of the things I've seen people do since (that I won't go in to) I wouldn't be exactly surprised if someone tried to do that sort of thing again, particularly on a new project. Making sure the throttling systems that I believe are already in place are quite strict, or even a little harsh, could help protect the project from both those who would try things on as well as others who may inadvertently miss-configure their systems or not understand the technical requirements. While the latter may mean no harm at all, if the regulating systems aren't working properly they could just as easily bring the servers to their knees again by accident.

This may have happened here. Go to Number Crunching and see the thread "I hope to get a few of these tasks" and read it carefully.
Tullio

Thank you, Crystal Pellet and Ageless.

Due to the errors encountered (and I'm glad to say that my credits are still zero as of today 13 Aug -- so no cheating or racking up points the sneaky way), I have decided to re-install the LHC 2.0 project and the Oracle VirtualBox. I am just waiting for the download to complete and begin first execution. After which, I will try both your suggestions to see which fits my setup better.

tnx guuys for your quick fix of this problem, it is great to help you guys

yeah, i was burning through them last night too...but of course when i woke up this morning, both the problem with uploading successful results and the problem with downloading new work were back...

I know that we have experienced a pause in the supply of tasks from CERN. But, don't be dismayed.

On the original LHC@home project there was precious little work for a cruncher. So, a lot of people quit the project. Crunchers want credits. Many of them have little knowledge of or interest in the projects running on BOINC software. Some even just use the projects to "race" their machines, with credits as the markers. If you look at my signature bloc, you will be able to compare my credits at LHC@home and LHC@home 2.0. There is little similarity, and I have been on the original project for years. On six machines.

So, lots of people just quit LHC@home. There was never any reason to quit, if one has signed up for a number of projects, they will most likely always have enough work to keep their machines busy.

The LHC is the largest and most important scientific experimental machine ever built. MASS. We are looking for MASS. To complete the Standard Model. Many people think it will be found with the Higgs boson. That will be cool But, maybe not. That will also be cool. Maybe we will move on to the string theorists at CERN.

If you have reasonably modern equipment, maybe you have hyper threaded dual cores or quads, or even a hyper threaded six core machine. It does not cost you anything to stay with the project even if it gets work sporadically. Just pick out some other projects at BOINC, or hey, World Community Grid which also runs on BOINC software.

You will have work, and you will remain a part of the greatest series of basic science research experiments ever mounted.
____________
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http://sciencesprings.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/sciencesprings

If anybody is wondering why the job supply is slow right now please read this post from Ben. The recovery is taking a while but I am confident they are doing it properly. In a few more days there will be plenty of work for everybody.

well if the supply line hasn't already recovered, it at least has for the time being - i just grabbed CERN tasks for VMs on 3 different hosts for the first time all day. hopefully they'll keep coming once these tasks finish...


*EDIT* - just finished a CERN task on one of my hosts. it uploaded just about instantaneously, and the VM fetched another task without a problem...so i'm crunching away on another one now. keep 'em coming CERN :-)

Hello all,

No new task has been sent to me since 15 Aug 2011 22:44:01 UTC.
Anything wrong with the supply line ?

Thanks.

Hello all,

No new task has been sent to me since 15 Aug 2011 22:44:01 UTC.
Anything wrong with the supply line ?

Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback.

Oy Vey....as I watch 2 of my tasks finish the last 2 minutes I see the status page go from 60+ to zero.

So now my other 2 machines will be finished in about 1 hour....hope new tasks appear by then....at least 4

(see that worked...I just got 2 new tasks)

Oy Vey....as I watch 2 of my tasks finish the last 2 minutes I see the status page go from 60+ to zero.

So now my other 2 machines will be finished in about 1 hour....hope new tasks appear by then....at least 4

(see that worked...I just got 2 new tasks)

RANT
In my opinion, one of the major issues with not being able to get jobs is because some Project participants have started to view T4T as a PRODUCTION Project where it is important to crunch as many jobs on as many machines as possible.

Obviously, if you have multiple machines of various configurations then there is value to crunching Tasks on all machines because different environments may (will) have different results/errors/crashes. However, if all machines are the same then maybe one is enough so that others have a chance to grab a Task to run on their system. Alternatively, you could modulate how hard you hit the Server queue by "Allowing new Tasks" on one machine at a time (or some variation of this).

One of the most discouraging things to participants on the old LHC@Home was that when Tasks would trickle out they simply disappeared unless you were constantly hammering the server for Tasks 24x7. This is especially true when the Task queue has been dry for a period of time and, like a bunch of starving wolves, everybody's machines are just waiting for that first scent of blood.

Once the Tasks queue from CERN is sorted out then this situation will likely go away but during this early start up phase (Beta Test) it is my opinion that a lot more is gained from the maximum number of variations of computer configurations running T4T Tasks.

END OF RANT[/b]

point taken...

the configurations of my 3 hosts (OS, hardware, etc.) probably don't differ enough to from one another to warrant running this project on all of them. i hadn't thought about it that way until now, so i'll set 2 of them to "no new tasks." this way, when all hosts finish their current T4T@H tasks, only one of my hosts will ask for new tasks from here on out (or at least until beta testing is complete).

First, I think things are getting better. Four of my six machines have tasks now.

But, that is not the issue. We are on this project to serve CERN. The only thing to get out of joint about is if the project scientists and administrators do something to screw things up. So far, everything they have done has made the herky jerky alpha smooth out in the beta. 1955 people or machines, I guess machines, have credit. That is way way up.

I had a terrible time getting started and all these guys, Ben, Daniel, Jord, Magic, jujube, all they did was give me unending help to get to 4.1 and 6.03.

If one is looking for credits when a machine is not getting tasks here, why not pick out one or two other very worthwhile projects running on BOINC software? I have one machine getting no T4T work. It is just a dujal core, so I attached to Rosetta, one of the oldest and most important projects in the BOINC list. Most of my machines are hyper threaded quads, so, of course they are on other projects (not Einstein). Four of them got T4T tasks, so, it's no big deal.

There is no reason to try and squeeze something out of CERN. Those guys want this to work. I think that they were never behind the earlier project. But, look at the press release they did for us. They want this to be a go. Our job is to serve CERN.
____________
Please visit my blog
http://sciencesprings.wordpress.com
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I forgot to mention Toni D. He got me over my last hurdle with a machine stuck on 4.0.8. This was huge.
____________
Please visit my blog
http://sciencesprings.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/sciencesprings

I haven't had a new task in over a week. Any suggestions?

Robert, there is nothing you can do except wait until they increase the flow of work. It should be back to normal in a few days, I hope.

Hi Forum,

If you're keen to make use of those CPU cycles, you can head over to BOINCstatsBAM to help out on a wide range of projects.

I first started with LNC a couple of weeks ago, got a couple of jobs and then it all dried up (perfectly understandable under the circumstances).

So, instead of waiting around, I signed up with BOINCstatsBAM and have been running projects for the past few days - good experience.

As soon as LNC is dishing out the work again, I'll be back.

semper-linux

Robert, there is nothing you can do except wait until they increase the flow of work. It should be back to normal in a few days, I hope.

Hi Forum,

If you're keen to make use of those CPU cycles, you can head over to BOINCstatsBAM to help out on a wide range of projects.

I first started with LNC a couple of weeks ago, got a couple of jobs and then it all dried up (perfectly understandable under the circumstances).

So, instead of waiting around, I signed up with BOINCstatsBAM and have been running projects for the past few days - good experience.

As soon as LNC is dishing out the work again, I'll be back.

semper-linux

I'm resurrecting this old thread because it seems at present there's the problem againg. I reset my stuck VM today morning and since then it's doing nothing except repeating the "Asking...for an address of the job manager"



I'll also add an observation - stuck VM (after a long job or after a long pause) does not seem to repeat the message. I know it's a different "Asking" (for place where to store the result or something like that) but it's always just one such message there staying for a long time - the longest I saw was over four hours.

Same here.
Tullio

Me three.

Count me in as well..
P.S. I have noticed that time is also wrong - it's one hour earlier than the actual time:

[Mon Aug 29 11:12:51 2011] [info] Asking jmboinc-lb@cernvm-messaging.cern.ch for an adress of the job manager

while local time is 12:12:51

I've done a reset, got a job (herwig),executed and uploaded. Got a new one.
Tullio

yes, CERN tasks are now available again for our BOINC_VM's to download. i'd say the unavailability of CERN tasks lasted ~24 hours for me, and ended only a few hours ago...