GW app for MacOS fails after upgrading to Big Sur

lazer01
lazer01
Joined: 11 Feb 07
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RAC: 1308
Topic 224027

Hello, I did a search for the problem I'm having, but didn't find what I was looking for. I recently updated my MacBook Pro to the Big Sur operating system. Since then, Enstein@Home keeps showing me "Computation error" messages. I took a couple of screen shots over the course of a few days. It looks like one task is failing. I don't see a way to attach the screenshots to this post. Is there a way to do that? I don't usually get computation error messages, so I'm not sure what to do. Where do I start to troubleshoot this problem? Thank you for your help! 

archae86
archae86
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lazer01 wrote: I don't see a

lazer01 wrote:
 I don't see a way to attach the screenshots to this post. Is there a way to do that? 

You do not embed them or attach them here at Einstein, but you can point to them.

The usual method is to post them somewhere public, then cite the URL to that "somewhere" in your post.

There are plenty of services out there which make a business of hosting user images, and many offer a level of that service for free.  I, personally, use Imgur for that purpose.

Once you have it posted, and know a URL, you'll find it helpful to consult the BBCODE help, which you can view by clicking the handy reference below the text box you type your reply into.  You probably will wish to use an IMG tag.

Good luck, and I hope someone comes along who can make suggestions on your actual problem.

Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
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lazer01 wrote:.... I recently

lazer01 wrote:
.... I recently updated my MacBook Pro to the Big Sur operating system. Since then, Enstein@Home keeps showing me "Computation error" messages.

When you get a computation error like this, the first thing to look at are the error messages that are contained in the data sent back with the failed result.

If you look at your computers on the website and click the tasks link for the computer having the problem, you will see this page.  Pick any of the failed tasks you like and click the task ID link for that task and you will see a page like this.  It was the 2nd failed task in your list when I looked.

You need to scroll down below the "Stderr output" heading for actual error messages - not just warnings.  The first occurrence contains this line (truncated for clarity):-

... Reading input data ... Failed to open SFT ...Operation timed out

In the block of messages that follow, you see things like :-

Failed to open locator ... Check failed: ... Internal function call failed ... ABORT: Failure in an XLAL routine

Have a look for yourself at the bits I've left out - mainly long path strings and line numbers in specific routines.  I'm not a programmer and I know nothing about MacOS but I would guess that new versions of libraries in the latest MacOS are incompatible with the older versions that the Einstein app was built against.  After all, earlier in the above output the app in use was listed as:-

Start of BOINC application 'einstein_O2MD1_2.09_x86_64-apple-darwin__Lion'.

and I seem to recall that "Lion" was an OS version that existed a very long time ago.  I guess that the "Big Sur" you referred to is the latest incarnation, so older apps failing to work anymore is not that surprising.  If that is the case, there may well be other Mac users who run into this problem.  This is why I've posted a lot of detail for the benefit of all who may be in a similar situation.

If my guesses are correct, a solution might be for a version of the app to be built for Big Sur - something that Bernd would need to be involved it.  I strongly suggest that you change the title of your thread to read something like "GW app for MacOS fails after upgrading to Big Sur" so that if other MacOS users see the same problem after upgrading, they can more easily find your thread and add "me too" messages.  If you can't edit it yourself, I could do it for you if you wish.

In the meantime, the gamma-ray pulsar (GRP) app seems to be running OK on your machine so I suggest you temporarily change preferences to exclude the GW app and use the GRP app for the time being.  If other MacOS Big Sur users are seeing the same problem, I'll make sure Bernd gets to hear about it.

Cheers,
Gary.

lazer01
lazer01
Joined: 11 Feb 07
Posts: 3
Credit: 4494663
RAC: 1308

Okay, that's good to know.

Okay, that's good to know. I'll do that when I need to show a screenshot. Thank you for explaining! 

lazer01
lazer01
Joined: 11 Feb 07
Posts: 3
Credit: 4494663
RAC: 1308

This helps a lot. I wasn't

This helps a lot. I wasn't sure where to look for detailed information on the error messages. Yes, Big Sur is the latest macOS, so I'm guessing this error has something to do with it. I'll go ahead and change preferences to exclude the GW app and I'll change the title of this thread as well. Thank you! 

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