using a 2 CPU system

Lionel Silva
Lionel Silva
Joined: 30 Oct 05
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Topic 190086

I have an AMD 3800+ which acts as 2 CPUs. I'm using Win XP (not 64 bit). Boinc only uses one of the 2 CPUs. I have Einstein and Seti set up. Can I get it to use both CPUs for maximum contribution to these projects?

KSMarksPsych
KSMarksPsych
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using a 2 CPU system

Quote:
I have an AMD 3800+ which acts as 2 CPUs. I'm using Win XP (not 64 bit). Boinc only uses one of the 2 CPUs. I have Einstein and Seti set up. Can I get it to use both CPUs for maximum contribution to these projects?

umm.. let me give this a try. you can try this...

click on the link "your account" go to general preferences and then edit them to change "processor" usage to use at most 2 processor.

.............

hmmmm now that i look at your computer view, i see it is showing up as 2 processors (but i don't know if it's actually using both, so you may want to check those preferences as stated above.

and i also noticed that you have your first wu errored out.

there is a "graphics bug" that may be to blame. as far as i know there are two fixes. 1. don't use the screensaver or try to view the graphics. and 2. download the beta science app.

from what i've read on the boards the beta app is quite stable and unless you want view the graphic displays, you'll keep trashing wu's and what's the point of that?

hope this is clear and on target. this is my first shot at trying help a newbie (as i'm a newbie myself)

Kathryn :o)

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Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
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RE: I have an AMD 3800+

Quote:
I have an AMD 3800+ which acts as 2 CPUs. I'm using Win XP (not 64 bit). Boinc only uses one of the 2 CPUs. I have Einstein and Seti set up. Can I get it to use both CPUs for maximum contribution to these projects?

Hi Lionel,

Welcome to the Einstein@Home project.

In your general preferences on the website, for the preference on how many processors to use does it say 1 or 2? If it already says 2 then the problem must be something different.

I don't have a box like yours so I'm only guessing that maybe there is a BIOS setup option for enabling the dual cpu functionality. BOINC seems to recognise that you have dual cpu capability and I imagine BOINC would be using both if it were allowed to. For that reason I'm guessing it's either a Windows configuration or a BIOS configuration that needs to be changed. I'm sure someone who owns a similar box will give us the answer shortly.

Are you on dialup? The "Client error" that Kathryn was commenting on is not due to the graphics bug she was mentioning but rather due to:-

Quote:
WU download error: couldn't get input files:

You can see these messages for yourself either under the messages tab of BOINC Manager, or in text files "stderrdae.txt" in your BOINC folder, or by going to your account page on the website and clicking on "Computers" -> "Results" -> "ResultID" for the result showing the client error. If you see an error you don't understand you can always look it up in the Unofficial BOINC Wiki. On the main page of the Wiki, you could type in or cut and paste the keywords quoted above. There is a Google search function (top box) or the builtin search function. In this cae I used the second one and got two "Article Title" matches with the first one being the best match. If you click on that first match you will see examples (fully explained) of the sort of circumstances where this error message occurs. Actually the second example shows the error code -200 so it is exactly like your error. The Wiki then shows you a line by line explanation of the full error message that would have appeared in your Boinc Manager window at the time. There is also a link to the "Error Codes" so you can look up exactly what -200 means.

To me, the error message and code is suggesting that there was a break in the downloading of the large data file and this is most likely to occur on dialup where that transfer could take quite a while. The fact that you have a second result depending on the same large data file means that the transfer was eventually completed successfully and you should expect no further -200 Client errors.

Cheers,
Gary.

KSMarksPsych
KSMarksPsych
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Thanks for jumping in here

Message 18821 in response to message 18820

Thanks for jumping in here Gary. I thought I'd take a shot at helping. Just trying to give back.

:)

Kathryn :o)

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Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
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No problem, it's a very good

No problem, it's a very good way to learn yourself by trying to help others.

I see in another thread that you showed using the search function in the Wiki to find out about CPU efficiency. That's an excellent way to find out yourself and show people how they can find out for themselves. People just don't seem to realise that it actually takes them longer to formulate and post a question than it would to find a correct and comprehensive answer in the Wiki in the first place.

You are hereby appointed as Unofficial Ambassador to the Unofficial BOINC Wiki :). Your job is to keep directing people to the relevant page in the Wiki just as you did with CPU efficiency. Well done!! :).

Edit: Your next assignment is to learn how to use the BBCode tags {url=xxxx} and {/url} to set up clickable links to the page in the Wiki. That really encourages people to go look for themselves. Click here to see examples of what you can do with BBCode. (Note: replace curly braces with square braces to actually use those tags.)

Cheers,
Gary.

KSMarksPsych
KSMarksPsych
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::blush:: never been an

Message 18823 in response to message 18822

::blush::

never been an ambassador (official or unofficial).

i'm slowly learning the bbcode. my blog site uses it.

let me try with that link...

Kathryn's Korea Adventures

[edit]woo hoo! it works!!![/edit]

Kathryn :o)

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Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
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There you go!! See how easy

There you go!! See how easy that was :).

Cheers,
Gary.

faeshn
faeshn
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RE: I have an AMD 3800+

Quote:
I have an AMD 3800+ which acts as 2 CPUs. I'm using Win XP (not 64 bit). Boinc only uses one of the 2 CPUs. I have Einstein and Seti set up. Can I get it to use both CPUs for maximum contribution to these projects?

Hi Lionel, I'm using same CPU. Computer profile shows you always 2 processors because there are 2 processors, even when you allow only 1 processor crunching.

Your account:
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/home.php

View or edit general preferences:
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/prefs.php?subset=global

There you can read:
On multiprocessors, use at most 1 processors

Scroll down to bottom:
Edit preferences
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/prefs_edit_form.php?subset=global

Set: On multiprocessors, use at most 2 processors

Scroll down for update.
Update prefences.

Then you have to update in the boinc client manager.

hth faeshn

At least you should join a team, e.g.
http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/team_join_form.php?id=524

Lionel Silva
Lionel Silva
Joined: 30 Oct 05
Posts: 5
Credit: 239735
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Thanks for the advise. I

Thanks for the advise. I changed processors to 2 in my profile. I'll have to wait until other long running apps are done to see if both processors get used. I hadn't joined a team yet (I'm with Planetary Society on SETI) so I joined the one suggested by hth faeshn (what a name!).

faeshn
faeshn
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RE: ... so I joined the one

Message 18827 in response to message 18826

Quote:
... so I joined the one suggested by hth faeshn (what a name!).

You are welcome. hth is an acronym http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?String=exact&Acronym=hth&Find=Find and faeshn is my nick in internet. My family came centuries ago from south France over Switzerland to Germany. My surname is pronounced (english/american) like "fashion", I looked for a an unique nickname.

faeshn

Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
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RE: .... I'll have to wait

Message 18828 in response to message 18826

Quote:
.... I'll have to wait until other long running apps are done to see if both processors get used.

Just do an "Update" from your Boinc Manager window for the project on whose website you made the preference change. That should make the 2nd cpu start crunching immediately.

Cheers,
Gary.

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