Mind you, I have no official standing, but if you look at the beta download web page, it suggests you are least at risk of trouble if you don't switch from 4.11 to 4.13 in the middle of processing a result.
If you'd like to do this sooner rather than later, but pretty safely, here is my suggestion (remember what you paid for it).
(being verbosely explicit here)
1. set the project to "no new tasks"
2. Suspend any results already downloaded but not started
3. wait for in-process work to complete and upload
4. once the completed result has uploaded, do a project update to report it.
5. stop BOINC
6. copy the contents of the 4.13 download to the einstein project directory
7. restart BOINC
8. do a "reset project" on Einstein
9. set the project to "allow new tasks"
Comments: The reset project step will cause a bit of extra server activity, but not much, and means the results you had previously downloaded won't get misleadingly labeled as having been process by 4.11. It may also be a little safer otherwise.
(end of verbosity)
Here it is again in a more verbose form: I have two tasks running under 4.11. Should I (1) abort them or (2) let them run to completion before I change to 4.13?
Note that I do not propose changing the app in the middle of the run, although that is an option. That is what is warned against, the way I read the beta download page.
Thus I could also state the question as: Is the 4.11 app so buggy that it is recommended to abort any running tasks?
Bernd, nor anyone else, has not answered that question, at least so I could understand it.
If you'd like to do this sooner rather than later, but pretty safely, here is my suggestion (remember what you paid for it).
....
This procedure is fine but still requires a bit of management on the part of the user - particularly if you are managing more than one computer. It would be a bit irksome to be keeping track of several computers and waiting for their queues to drain.
There is really no additional risk to allowing the new beta app to resume where the old beta app left off, knowing that the app_info.xml file declares that it is appropriate to do this in this particular case. It is important that beta testers do know how to interpret the app_info.xml file so I'll write a guide and post it shortly. In the meantime, googloo should just do the following:-
* Download and unpack the new beta package - three files
* Stop boinc (and hence the old beta app) and confirm stopped (Taskmanager)
* Copy the three new files to the einstein project folder, allowing the old app_info.xml to be overwritten by the new one
* Restart boinc
That's all you need to do, apart from security issues like checking MD5 sums and making backup copies of the entire boinc folder and unplugging network cables in case disaster strikes during the restart - in which case you can revert to the backup without losing anything or having any errors communicated to the project :). Seriously, if you do exactly what is listed above there is essentially zero prospect of anything bad happening.
I've done this literally hundreds of times without issue. To me, the most important thing is to look at the contents of the new app_info.xml and really make sure it is appropriate for your circumstances. In my case, at the moment, this file is not fully appropriate for my circumstances so I always modify it. A person just wanting to participate in the beta test will (usually) not need to make any changes. If you want more information about the app_info.xml mechanism, look for a detailed post about it shortly. I'll link to it here later on when I finish it and it's posted.
EDIT: It has been posted here so please have a look if you are interested.
I have two tasks running under 4.11. Should I (1) abort them or (2) let them run to completion before I change to 4.13?
Do not abort any currently running tasks - it's simply not necessary. You could allow them to run to completion or you could allow the new beta to finish them - your choice.
Allowing the new beta to finish them is appropriate this time (the app_info.xml file declares that) so why not take advantage of that. It's your best option because the new beta is supposed to correct known faults in the old one. There is not much point in allowing a program with known faults to continue running, even if those faults may have little prospect of affecting you.
Quote:
Note that I do not propose changing the app in the middle of the run, although that is an option. That is what is warned against, the way I read the beta download page.
Unfortunately, the instructions on the beta download page try to be conservative and do not fully cover all possible safe actions. In this case it is quite safe to switch apps.
Quote:
Thus I could also state the question as: Is the 4.11 app so buggy that it is recommended to abort any running tasks?
Here it is again in a more verbose form: I have two tasks running under 4.11. Should I (1) abort them or (2) let them run to completion before I change to 4.13?
I'm sorry you did not see it as an answer to your question.
Quote:
Quote:
3. wait for in-process work to complete and upload
was a means to accomplish your option 2, to let them run to completion before change to 4.13.
Note that Gary's answer differs, and is neither of your two proposed options.
I, also, usually have done it Gary's way, but I plan to continue using the project reset method in the future, so as to mark my returned results properly with the actual application version that ran them.
Gary, on one point you misconstrued my suggestion: it does not call for waiting for the queue to drain, only for in-process results to complete.
More on ap_info will be very welcome. The documentation I've come across for it is woefully incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. I was pleased and a bit surprised that the one I wrote to handle both S5R2 and S5R3 with continuation of in-process results actually worked. Thanks in advance.
Gary, on one point you misconstrued my suggestion: it does not call for waiting for the queue to drain, only for in-process results to complete.
Yes, I'm sorry I was in too much of a hurry and didn't read carefully enough. Also I didn't make it clear enough that I was fully supporting your method as safe and reliable and that I wasn't intending any suggestion to the contrary. I guess I was obsessed with the notion that since the app_info.xml declares it to be safe to process 4.07 and 4.11 results with 4.13, we should just do it.
Quote:
More on ap_info will be very welcome. The documentation I've come across for it is woefully incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. I was pleased and a bit surprised that the one I wrote to handle both S5R2 and S5R3 with continuation of in-process results actually worked. Thanks in advance.
My commentary on the app_info.xml file is posted now and hopefully people will constructively criticise it so I can improve it where needed. I will fix errors and modify for clarity as needed.
What should we do with tasks
)
What should we do with tasks running on 4.11?
RE: What should we do with
)
Mind you, I have no official standing, but if you look at the beta download web page, it suggests you are least at risk of trouble if you don't switch from 4.11 to 4.13 in the middle of processing a result.
If you'd like to do this sooner rather than later, but pretty safely, here is my suggestion (remember what you paid for it).
(being verbosely explicit here)
1. set the project to "no new tasks"
2. Suspend any results already downloaded but not started
3. wait for in-process work to complete and upload
4. once the completed result has uploaded, do a project update to report it.
5. stop BOINC
6. copy the contents of the 4.13 download to the einstein project directory
7. restart BOINC
8. do a "reset project" on Einstein
9. set the project to "allow new tasks"
Comments: The reset project step will cause a bit of extra server activity, but not much, and means the results you had previously downloaded won't get misleadingly labeled as having been process by 4.11. It may also be a little safer otherwise.
(end of verbosity)
Thank you, but that doesn't
)
Thank you, but that doesn't answer my question.
Here it is again in a more verbose form: I have two tasks running under 4.11. Should I (1) abort them or (2) let them run to completion before I change to 4.13?
Note that I do not propose changing the app in the middle of the run, although that is an option. That is what is warned against, the way I read the beta download page.
Thus I could also state the question as: Is the 4.11 app so buggy that it is recommended to abort any running tasks?
Bernd, nor anyone else, has not answered that question, at least so I could understand it.
RE: RE: What should we do
)
This procedure is fine but still requires a bit of management on the part of the user - particularly if you are managing more than one computer. It would be a bit irksome to be keeping track of several computers and waiting for their queues to drain.
There is really no additional risk to allowing the new beta app to resume where the old beta app left off, knowing that the app_info.xml file declares that it is appropriate to do this in this particular case. It is important that beta testers do know how to interpret the app_info.xml file so I'll write a guide and post it shortly. In the meantime, googloo should just do the following:-
* Stop boinc (and hence the old beta app) and confirm stopped (Taskmanager)
* Copy the three new files to the einstein project folder, allowing the old app_info.xml to be overwritten by the new one
* Restart boinc
That's all you need to do, apart from security issues like checking MD5 sums and making backup copies of the entire boinc folder and unplugging network cables in case disaster strikes during the restart - in which case you can revert to the backup without losing anything or having any errors communicated to the project :). Seriously, if you do exactly what is listed above there is essentially zero prospect of anything bad happening.
I've done this literally hundreds of times without issue. To me, the most important thing is to look at the contents of the new app_info.xml and really make sure it is appropriate for your circumstances. In my case, at the moment, this file is not fully appropriate for my circumstances so I always modify it. A person just wanting to participate in the beta test will (usually) not need to make any changes. If you want more information about the app_info.xml mechanism, look for a detailed post about it shortly. I'll link to it here later on when I finish it and it's posted.
EDIT: It has been posted here so please have a look if you are interested.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: I have two tasks
)
Do not abort any currently running tasks - it's simply not necessary. You could allow them to run to completion or you could allow the new beta to finish them - your choice.
Allowing the new beta to finish them is appropriate this time (the app_info.xml file declares that) so why not take advantage of that. It's your best option because the new beta is supposed to correct known faults in the old one. There is not much point in allowing a program with known faults to continue running, even if those faults may have little prospect of affecting you.
Unfortunately, the instructions on the beta download page try to be conservative and do not fully cover all possible safe actions. In this case it is quite safe to switch apps.
No.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: Thank you, but that
)
I'm sorry you did not see it as an answer to your question.
was a means to accomplish your option 2, to let them run to completion before change to 4.13.
Note that Gary's answer differs, and is neither of your two proposed options.
I, also, usually have done it Gary's way, but I plan to continue using the project reset method in the future, so as to mark my returned results properly with the actual application version that ran them.
Gary, on one point you misconstrued my suggestion: it does not call for waiting for the queue to drain, only for in-process results to complete.
More on ap_info will be very welcome. The documentation I've come across for it is woefully incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. I was pleased and a bit surprised that the one I wrote to handle both S5R2 and S5R3 with continuation of in-process results actually worked. Thanks in advance.
RE: Gary, on one point you
)
Yes, I'm sorry I was in too much of a hurry and didn't read carefully enough. Also I didn't make it clear enough that I was fully supporting your method as safe and reliable and that I wasn't intending any suggestion to the contrary. I guess I was obsessed with the notion that since the app_info.xml declares it to be safe to process 4.07 and 4.11 results with 4.13, we should just do it.
My commentary on the app_info.xml file is posted now and hopefully people will constructively criticise it so I can improve it where needed. I will fix errors and modify for clarity as needed.
Cheers,
Gary.
Thank you all for your
)
Thank you all for your answers. I have now changed to 4.13, and will no longer post in this thread. We'll see how my two tasks do.