Using Boinc And Other Tweaks Thread

[Adywebb]

Guys and Gals, this thread is to introduce you to other Crunching Software out there that may help you get the best out of your machines rather than using the standard WCG Grid Agent.

I will be posting a proper guide here soon, but in the meantime here is a copy of the post I listed earlier today in the Stats to start you off:

Fortunately Boinc for Windows is a lot more user friendly than Boinc for Linux, but still takes a bit more effort to set it up correctly.

As it seems we are all chomping at the bit here to boost are scores, rather than waiting for me to get out a thread of all the options/tweaks - I will recommend now that all Crunchers with machines running Windows regardless of CPU size should immediately go over to the Boinc for Windows Client.

There is a good guide to downloading/installing HERE together with some FAQs, which although Unofficial, has been written by one of the WCG Community Admins.

There is another useful guide HERE.

For those who want to optimise further, there is a site HERE that produces optimised versions for use with certain processors/OS (Be careful, and don't do it if you don't know what your doing!)

You do not need to uninstall the old WCG Agent, but you must not run it at the same time - i.e stop it and delete it from your startup folder.
However if you are going to commit yourself, I would remove it personally - just make sure you wait until the current WU has finished!

If you are not confident in your ability to make the changes, then don't - stick with the WCG Grid Agent Edit: or PM me and I will help

The default profile for Boinc has Multi-Processor usage activated - if you do not have a Real Dual Core CPU such as a AMD64 X2 or Pentium D then go to My Grid>Device Manager>Device Profiles at your WCG page and adjust the default boinc profile under MultiProcessor to 1 - it will then update your program on the next upload. In the meantime if you are using Pentium HTT Processors for your first WU you may have to manually suspend one of the processes in Task Manager.

Remember - If you're not confident in your abilities to make changes - then PM me and I will help you set it up

 

[muckshifter]

Thank you Ady.

Made this a stickie.

 

[V_R]

Good stuff, lots of good info there Ady. Nice one!

 

[muckshifter]

The MJW PC is converted & enhanced ... time dropped from 2h 40 somthin down to 1h 34mins

We will see what it can do now.

 

[ChristopherP]

11/01/2006 23:04:27||Running CPU benchmarks
11/01/2006 23:04:30||Running CPU benchmarks
11/01/2006 23:05:29||Benchmark results:
11/01/2006 23:05:29|| Number of CPUs: 2
11/01/2006 23:05:29|| 2007 double precision MIPS (Whetstone) per CPU
11/01/2006 23:05:29|| 2223 integer MIPS (Dhrystone) per CPU
11/01/2006 23:05:29||Finished CPU benchmarks
11/01/2006 23:05:30||Resuming computation and network activity
11/01/2006 23:05:30||request_reschedule_cpus: Resuming activities

Whatever that means

 

[muckshifter]

ah, now then, I just remembered ... Boinc does not do Aids ... it only does the Human Proteome Folding.

 

[ChristopherP]

Dosent bother me...

ANOTHER of my family friends was diagnosed with cancer yesterday... now what are the chances of that. Two girls from the same family friendship crowd. Sucks.

 

[Adywebb]

ah, now then, I just remembered ... Boinc does not do Aids ... it only does the Human Proteome Folding.

True - but they are working on it now, and should happen very soon....

 

[Adywebb]

Whatever that means

This will all be in the full guide soon, but for those who can't wait - have a look HERE at the benchmark explanations...

 

[V_R]

BOINC is now up and running on my rig! I let The other agent finish the job yesterday and changed over last night.

So far all is well!

Thankyou Ady for all the info.

 

[Me__2001]

will have a play with this later, got an exam later that im revising for

 

[ChristopherP]

Also http://boinc.truxoft.com/

 

[Me__2001]

it seems to be up and running, just have to wait for the device profile to update

 

[ChristopherP]

I have configured the tweaked version of BOINC to run as a service... so if my computer reboots itself in the night or something, then it will automatically continue. If it crashes it also reloads itself instantaneously.

Is there any advantage to setting the WCG process to a "REALTIME" priority say... overnight when thats the only thing its going to do? Would that increase output?

Chris

 

[Adywebb]

I have configured the tweaked version of BOINC to run as a service... so if my computer reboots itself in the night or something, then it will automatically continue. If it crashes it also reloads itself instantaneously.

Is there any advantage to setting the WCG process to a "REALTIME" priority say... overnight when thats the only thing its going to do? Would that increase output?

Chris

Its better and more stable if you leave it in the default Idle priority:

"The priority 5 (REALTIME) will most likely virtually freeze your computer. Generally, use the process priority option with caution and verify first if it has any impact on the project performance at all - it is not always the case; sometimes it may be contraproductive."

 

[Me__2001]

what the hell is this thing doing ? its now lined up 4 jobs for me to do i've paused 2 and finished 1, but it hasn't been sent in yet ?

 

[muckshifter]

what the hell is this thing doing ? its now lined up 4 jobs for me to do i've paused 2 and finished 1, but it hasn't been sent in yet ?

Don't pause anything ... leave it alone it will connect when ready.


Chris ... DO NOT USE "REALTIME" ...

 

[muckshifter]

I told you ALL I hated this bloody fecking Boinc crap program ...

Install if you have to ... THEN FORGET IT ... go and play a game or something.

 

[Me__2001]

I told you ALL I hated this bloody fecking Boinc crap program ...

Install if you have to ... THEN FORGET IT ... go and play a game or something.

will do

 

[Adywebb]

what the hell is this thing doing ? its now lined up 4 jobs for me to do i've paused 2 and finished 1, but it hasn't been sent in yet ?

Make sure in your boinc default profile (WCG/My Grid/Device Manager)that Multiprocessors is set to 1 (unless you have a dual core CPU) and that it Connects to the Network every 0.1 days...

"I have a result that the BOINC Manager reports as being "Ready to Report." What does that mean?
The BOINC client returns a completed work unit to the server in a two-step process. The first step is the uploading of the calculated data (called the result file). The second step is for the BOINC client to contact the server and report that the work unit is complete and to provide additional information, including how long it took to process the work unit. The BOINC Manager will report a work unit’s status as 'Uploading' as soon as the work unit has completed. Once the file has been uploaded, then the BOINC Manager will report the work unit as 'Ready to Report'. "

Please read the help pages I have listed, it will give you all the info you need - that is where I get mine from