Mutliple Einstein screensavers running
28 Feb 2008 6:09:06 UTC
Topic 193537
(moderation:
Recently I've noticed that when Einstien is running (mostly when it is in screensaver) that there is anywhere from 5 to20+ screensavers running in my taskbar! Is this a prob with the workunit or something else? I haven't had this problem before and i find it a tab wierd. I'm not sure if the fact that its "running, high priority" has anything to do with it either.
Any comments/opinions/advice would be welcome. Thanks
Mutliple Einstein screensavers running
)
The screen saver doesn't run in the task bar. It runs as a whole screen without a window on the main screen.
Are you sure you didn't press "Show graphics" in BOINC Manager and just forgot to close it all the time? You can show multiple graphics windows, one for every task running. Especially when you keep applications in memory when they're switched can these be kept open.
When a task is running in high priority BOINC thinks it won't make it before the deadline. BOINC will then only let that task run until it is reasonably sure it does make it before the deadline is up. Any other work from other projects will be stalled during this time.
While you are using the screen saver, or viewing the graphics, valuable CPU cycles go to showing the graphics. They're not used to crunch the actual data with. Especially on systems that use an on-the-motherboard video chip, as the CPU is still the main piece of hardware doing all the calculations for the graphics at that moment.
No its not the show graphics
)
No its not the show graphics at all. It is the screensaver part that is screwing up. But the screensaver DOES have its own box in the taskbar and when it screws up it groups all the Einstein screensavers into one. I'm hoping to finish this workunit and see if its just this one, because I have never had a problem with it before.
You are right about the CPU cycles being wasted on the screensaver though, most off them have "0.00" for their RA values and whatnot, and only the first actual screensaver would have been doing the crunching...but when multiple ones are open it "stalls".
If this continues I'll unfortunately have to detach from Einstein project..since its the only one causing me problems and freezing my system sometimes. I'll let it finish the workunit (hopefully on time) and see if the problem is resolved. Thanks for the input though.
Hi! RE: You are
)
Hi!
It's important that the screensavers are not doing the crunching. The scientific computations are done in a separate, "invisible" process that only once in a while tells the screensaver what it is doing (progress-wise).
If the screensaver bothers you, why not just pick another one (e.g. the one that just blacks out the screen). You will even be able to finish more units in the same time because the screensaver will consume less CPU cycles than the default E@H screensaver.
Bikeman
I have suspended the E@H
)
I have suspended the E@H project on my system as well since it started running 150+ copies of its self when it executed as a screensaver. This caused my system to slow to glacial speeds when I tried to log back on to it (I have teen-aged daughters who don't need access to my computer). These copies showed up on my task bar as separate executables as well as extra processes in task manager.
Rocky
I see both of you are using
)
I see both of you are using BOINC 5.10.20
Have you tried a newer version of BOINC lately? The recommended version is 5.10.30, there's even a 64bit version out for that (for you Rocky). Or you could try the latest beta, 5.10.44 if you're adventurous. (BOINC download site)
Thanks for the input guys...
)
Thanks for the input guys... I've just downloaded the 5.10.30 version of BOINC..so i'll see if that works. If not i'll try bikemans idea about switching the screensaver ......though I'll miss the pretty colours and patterns. Thanks again guys...heres hoping it'll work.
I'm having a similar issue.
)
I'm having a similar issue. I've suspended all my other projects to try and exacerbate the problem. After running all night, einstein had 55 processes running and 5 instances of the screen saver. (They do run in the task bar with the graphics over everything, they just usually disappear from it before the screen is refreshed. I can't be the only one who has awakened the computer to find a "Screen Saver" task that disappeared when clicked.)
Each instance of einstein_S5R3_4.26_graphics_windows_intelx86.exe used from 5 to 6 Mb of RAM and a process called einstein_S5R3_4.26_windows_intelx86.exe uses about 52 Meg. I'm going to try letting it run all day today without the screen saver to see if it makes a difference.
P.s. As for just changing the screen saver if it "bothers you"... this is a bug report. The screen saver is doing something it shouldn't.
I too am having this issue on
)
I too am having this issue on multiple systems. Seems to make everything else grind to a halt. Has anybody had any luck upgrading to boinc 5.10.30? I too am on 5.10.20.
I upgraded to 5.10.30 when I
)
I upgraded to 5.10.30 when I read this post. No change.
However, after running all morning and most of the afternoon with the "Blank" screen saver, all problems have disappeared. The computation programs unloads gracefully when the user is active and only starts two processes (I have a dual core).
So it looks like you will either need to change screen savers or suspend your einstien projects until they get the bugs worked out. From the "screensaver doesn't work" sticky it looks like we may have to wait for the next major release (i.e. 6.0) before things work properly.
RE: From the "screensaver
)
I have the feeling it's to do with the new screen saver being in a separate application. The graphics thread runs separately for BOINC 6. So perhaps that something spawns these extra windows in all BOINC 5 versions.
At least the BOINC developers know about it through Trac ticket [trac]#571[/trac].
(edit, Trac tickets can apparently only be read by people with a registered account, who are logged in there. If you get an error, then that's why.)