Is the thread on switching apps mid result out of date? ...
If you're referring to Bernd's sticky thread then ... yes! If you look at the date of the original message you will see that it's quite old.
If you are switching from an older app to the latest beta and the checkpoint file format is "compatible", all you need to do is:-
* Download the beta package and unpack the files it contains
* If you are cautious, browse the app_info.xml file to check that there is code covering the transition from "old" version to "new" version of the app
* When satisfied, completely stop boinc and confirm stopped
* Copy all new files from the package into your einstein project folder,
allowing any previous app_info.xml to be overwritten
* Restart boinc and continue on from where the previous app left off.
NOTES:
* If the checkpoint file format has changed, the author of the app_info.xml should have taken care of that for you.
* Do not proceed if you can't see code in app_info.xml that covers the version transition you want to do.
* Do not delete or modify any old versions of any files in your einstein project folder. The app_info.xml mechanism will take care of that for you.
* There is no need to run down your cache of tasks.
* Tasks "branded" with the old version will appear to be crunched with the old app (if you look at the message log) but
they will actually all be crunched with the new version if you check with task manager.
I think I now have running
Windows 4.15 on AMD X2 4800 @2.4GHz taking between 41,100 to 50,000 seconds;
Windows 4.15 on AMD Opteron 285 @2.6GHZ was taking 40,000 seconds plus;
You will get around 10% speed increase by going to 4.26 on these
Quote:
Linux 4.14 on AMD Opteron 275 @2.2GHZ taking between 37,600 and 50,000 seconds;
Linux 4.14 on AMD Opteron 285 @2.6GHZ taking between 32,000 and 46,000 seconds;
You should get a speedup here too but it seems to vary with platform and old app version. For example 4.14 -> 4.27 on Tualatin PIII gives around 16% increase whereas 4.21 -> 4.27 on an AMD64 seems to be giving around 6% speedup.
I really need to collect more data to be sure of these figures.
Testing this on BOINC 6.1.7 (official alpha).
I especially went for it to see what it did with the "graphics in a separate program ("BOINC APIv6")" part. The graphics are showing up all right, even when I didn't set the service to interact with the desktop on the local system account.
But that's all it does. The separate graphics thread takes up 100% of the CPU cycles. No progress is made in the actual task. Where it would checkpoint every minute or so without graphics on, it has now been doing nothing for the past 15 minutes that I have the graphics window open.
Close the graphics window and the 'normal' application takes over in full force.
The graphics application lives on Normal priority, whereas the cruncher application lives on Low. So that has to change.
Testing this on BOINC 6.1.7 (official alpha).
I especially went for it to see what it did with the "graphics in a separate program ("BOINC APIv6")" part.
Well, is it BOINC or is it the graphics app? I admit I don't understand the whole APIv6 deal, so bear with me. If I do a Show Graphics, I get the new exe coming up, but it does not have normal priority. Both the science executable and the graphics executable are at low priority. Of course, this is with BOINC 5.8.16, which is admittedly "old" (although it works fine for me!)... I'm assuming that since I don't have BOINC 6, it is behaving differently...
I'm running XP 32 Home on a humdrum 2.4 Celeron. Just finished a WU entirely under 4.26. There's around 7-8% reduction (maybe more, I was doing some concurrent heavy number crunching for a couple of hours) in cpu secs compared with WUs from the same family under 4.15 with graphics disabled. Definitely worthwhile.
BOINC 6 compliant applications are compatible with the previous versions of BOINC.
The separate thread should take care of the graphics. If you can see them (as a service, you still need interaction with the desktop on older BOINC versions).
It's when you run older applications on BOINC 6 that it is possible you don't see graphics. The other way around should always work.
BOINC 6 compliant applications are compatible with the previous versions of BOINC.
..
As for what sets the priority, I don't know. All I can do is report what I see. :)
Then it would seem, to me, to be a BOINC bug, which happened quite a bit post-5.8.16...which is why I still use it.
Also, it would be easier to see everything going on in Task Manager if you showed the Base Priority column... ;-) That way you can instantly see what the priority is without having to right-click...
Also, it would be easier to see everything going on in Task Manager if you showed the Base Priority column... ;-) That way you can instantly see what the priority is without having to right-click...
BOINC 6 compliant applications are compatible with the previous versions of BOINC.
..
As for what sets the priority, I don't know. All I can do is report what I see. :)
Then it would seem, to me, to be a BOINC bug, which happened quite a bit post-5.8.16...which is why I still use it.
Also, it would be easier to see everything going on in Task Manager if you showed the Base Priority column... ;-) That way you can instantly see what the priority is without having to right-click...
Graphics thread still running at Low in 5.10.38.
But it does take up an ungodly amount of CPU.
With the graphics window at the default size, it takes 25-30% and with it maximized 45-50%. It's Windows and a dual core, so double those figures.
5.10.38
Service that can interact with the desktop
Samsung laptop
Intel Core 2 Duo @2.0
ATI onboard graphics (but I don't know which one)
XP Pro SP2
RE: Is the thread on
)
If you're referring to Bernd's sticky thread then ... yes! If you look at the date of the original message you will see that it's quite old.
If you are switching from an older app to the latest beta and the checkpoint file format is "compatible", all you need to do is:-
* If you are cautious, browse the app_info.xml file to check that there is code covering the transition from "old" version to "new" version of the app
* When satisfied, completely stop boinc and confirm stopped
* Copy all new files from the package into your einstein project folder,
allowing any previous app_info.xml to be overwritten
* Restart boinc and continue on from where the previous app left off.
NOTES:
* Do not proceed if you can't see code in app_info.xml that covers the version transition you want to do.
* Do not delete or modify any old versions of any files in your einstein project folder. The app_info.xml mechanism will take care of that for you.
* There is no need to run down your cache of tasks.
* Tasks "branded" with the old version will appear to be crunched with the old app (if you look at the message log) but
they will actually all be crunched with the new version if you check with task manager.
Hope this covers everything :).
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: I think I now have
)
You will get around 10% speed increase by going to 4.26 on these
You should get a speedup here too but it seems to vary with platform and old app version. For example 4.14 -> 4.27 on Tualatin PIII gives around 16% increase whereas 4.21 -> 4.27 on an AMD64 seems to be giving around 6% speedup.
I really need to collect more data to be sure of these figures.
Cheers,
Gary.
RE: RE: Is the thread on
)
In that case, can the thread be unstickied and replaced with the current correct info?
Testing this on BOINC 6.1.7
)
Testing this on BOINC 6.1.7 (official alpha).
I especially went for it to see what it did with the "graphics in a separate program ("BOINC APIv6")" part. The graphics are showing up all right, even when I didn't set the service to interact with the desktop on the local system account.
But that's all it does. The separate graphics thread takes up 100% of the CPU cycles. No progress is made in the actual task. Where it would checkpoint every minute or so without graphics on, it has now been doing nothing for the past 15 minutes that I have the graphics window open.
Close the graphics window and the 'normal' application takes over in full force.
The graphics application lives on Normal priority, whereas the cruncher application lives on Low. So that has to change.
RE: Testing this on BOINC
)
Well, is it BOINC or is it the graphics app? I admit I don't understand the whole APIv6 deal, so bear with me. If I do a Show Graphics, I get the new exe coming up, but it does not have normal priority. Both the science executable and the graphics executable are at low priority. Of course, this is with BOINC 5.8.16, which is admittedly "old" (although it works fine for me!)... I'm assuming that since I don't have BOINC 6, it is behaving differently...
I'm running XP 32 Home on a
)
I'm running XP 32 Home on a humdrum 2.4 Celeron. Just finished a WU entirely under 4.26. There's around 7-8% reduction (maybe more, I was doing some concurrent heavy number crunching for a couple of hours) in cpu secs compared with WUs from the same family under 4.15 with graphics disabled. Definitely worthwhile.
Mike
BOINC 6 compliant
)
BOINC 6 compliant applications are compatible with the previous versions of BOINC.
The separate thread should take care of the graphics. If you can see them (as a service, you still need interaction with the desktop on older BOINC versions).
It's when you run older applications on BOINC 6 that it is possible you don't see graphics. The other way around should always work.
As for what sets the priority, I don't know. All I can do is report what I see. :)
picture of priority on the graphics app.
RE: BOINC 6 compliant
)
Then it would seem, to me, to be a BOINC bug, which happened quite a bit post-5.8.16...which is why I still use it.
Also, it would be easier to see everything going on in Task Manager if you showed the Base Priority column... ;-) That way you can instantly see what the priority is without having to right-click...
RE: Also, it would be
)
there you go. Happy now? ;-)
I'll go slap Rom around with a bit of very old fish.
RE: RE: BOINC 6 compliant
)
Graphics thread still running at Low in 5.10.38.
But it does take up an ungodly amount of CPU.
With the graphics window at the default size, it takes 25-30% and with it maximized 45-50%. It's Windows and a dual core, so double those figures.
5.10.38
Service that can interact with the desktop
Samsung laptop
Intel Core 2 Duo @2.0
ATI onboard graphics (but I don't know which one)
XP Pro SP2
Kathryn :o)
Einstein@Home Moderator