You have selected to receive work from other applications if no work is available for the applications you selected

Richard Haselgrove
Richard Haselgrove
Joined: 10 Dec 05
Posts: 2143
Credit: 2976727742
RAC: 785010

The application

The application selection/preference controls have now been added to users' account pages at SETI@home and SETI Beta. I assume (but have no knowledge) that the code to make them operational also exists. Existing SETI accounts have been defaulted to accept all current applications, and not to allow alternatives - that seems to be to opposite way round from the (presumed, invisible) default account settings here.

SETI is still having work generation problems, so it'll be extremely difficult to test that everything is working to design specification, but I'll let you know when we have any hard news.

Edit - Code seems a bit counter-intuitive, but the controls appear to work. The default display is "(all applications)". In edit mode, there are two checkboxes, both ticked. If you untick both, it reverts - without explanation - to "(all applications)" and both boxes ticked - so you can't (deliberately or inadvertently) reject all work by this route. But if you then save your preferences again (without making any changes), the display changes to:

SETI@home Enhanced: yes
Astropulse: yes


No sign at SETI of the BOINC Manager error messages reported here, though I haven't actually got any work since yesterday's maintenance outage (which is when the code was installed, I suspect).

MarkJ
MarkJ
Joined: 28 Feb 08
Posts: 437
Credit: 139002861
RAC: 0

RE: RE: Yes, this is

Message 84242 in response to message 84239

Quote:
Quote:

Yes, this is could be the ignore the message because it's bogus scenario. Still his last comment doesn't fit the pattern though. :-?

I assume, Alinator, you are referring to the comment from MarkJ
Quote:
It says its giving 1 new task but it doesn't download it.

But, MarkJ, all four of your hosts show multiple new tasks sent on 12 August.

Most new task allocations in Einstein don't involve actual file downloads--but the transmission of a few bits telling your host to use files it already has downloaded slightly differently. This does not create the same logging imprint seen on SETI downloads, for example. Checking whether you "really" got fresh work is better done from the task list on the web site or in BOINCMgr than from the log.

These messages are indeed a bit distressing, and plenty of us have misconstrued their import to our hosts at first sight. I still think you are OK.

All 4 of my hosts get the same, but then they are all the same machines/setup. I am getting plenty of S5R4's, but haven't seen any S5R3's since the cut-over. I do have S5R3_4.36 exe/pdb's and S5R4_R6.04.exe's in my projects\einstein.phys.uwm.edu folder. I could ignore it and let it crunch S5R4's only, saves a bit on downloads and the S5R3's should run out fairly soon.

gaz
gaz
Joined: 11 Oct 05
Posts: 650
Credit: 1902306
RAC: 0

hi geting the same redmesage

hi
geting the same redmesage after receveing a new task
the new task to completion is 49:28:04
h1_1188.05_S5R3_255_S5R3b_2

49hrs is a long time is it not
any idear on this one

Byron S Goodgame
Byron S Goodgame
Joined: 16 Jan 06
Posts: 187
Credit: 56581
RAC: 0

RE: hi geting the same

Message 84244 in response to message 84243

Quote:

hi
geting the same redmesage after receveing a new task
the new task to completion is 49:28:04
h1_1188.05_S5R3_255_S5R3b_2

49hrs is a long time is it not
any idear on this one

Even for a S5R4 that's a long time, but for a S5R3....wow, that's almost like one of the AP WU's over at SETI

Winterknight
Winterknight
Joined: 4 Jun 05
Posts: 1478
Credit: 383302424
RAC: 387492

RE: hi geting the same

Message 84245 in response to message 84243

Quote:

hi
geting the same redmesage after receveing a new task
the new task to completion is 49:28:04
h1_1188.05_S5R3_255_S5R3b_2

49hrs is a long time is it not
any idear on this one


They have adjusted the est_flops for S5R4 in an attempt to move our DCF's to ~1.0. But they have overshot a little and many are reporting DCF of 1.4.
My DCF before this and using Power app on S5R3 was below 0.3.
So if yours was similar and have completed and reported a S5R4 task, the estimate for a S5R3 could be ~5 * actual processing time.

gaz
gaz
Joined: 11 Oct 05
Posts: 650
Credit: 1902306
RAC: 0

i have done 9 S5R4 now back

i have done 9 S5R4 now back on S5R3
1 RUNNING 1 REDDY TO RUN
29hrs -------- 49hrs

Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
Moderator
Joined: 9 Feb 05
Posts: 5874
Credit: 118228539860
RAC: 24452916

RE: geting the same

Message 84247 in response to message 84243

Quote:
geting the same redmesage after receveing a new task

You can ignore these messages. The bug causing them will be fixed in due course. You do get tasks - the line immediately before the annoying messages tells you how many you got.

Quote:

the new task to completion is 49:28:04
h1_1188.05_S5R3_255_S5R3b_2

49hrs is a long time is it not
any idear on this one

The estimate is wrong. Your S5R3 resend task will take what it always used to take and not what the estimate is predicting. BOINC is just having trouble coping with the two different science runs which have widely different DCFs.

If you want a full detailed explanation, try digesting this message.

There are preceding and followup messages as well which may help.

Cheers,
Gary.

gaz
gaz
Joined: 11 Oct 05
Posts: 650
Credit: 1902306
RAC: 0

thanks Gary read the lot need

thanks Gary
read the lot need to go for a lay down got head ake
garry

Gary Roberts
Gary Roberts
Moderator
Joined: 9 Feb 05
Posts: 5874
Credit: 118228539860
RAC: 24452916

RE: thanks Gary read the

Message 84249 in response to message 84248

Quote:
thanks Gary
read the lot need to go for a lay down got head ake
garry

Well, I did warn you that it was full and detailed and I hinted that you might possibly suffer indigestion as a direct consequence :-).

That message sought to explain some quite accurate observations made by archae86. At first glance those observations seemed quite contradictory. However they turned out to be quite explainable.

Here is a hopefully simpler, hypothetical example. Each task that is sent out has an estimate built into it. Lets assume that a task sent to computer X is estimated to be 20 hours. You never see this estimate - it's for BOINCs eyes only. What you see is a revised estimate after BOINC has applied the DCF. If the DCF is around 0.25 (as it was for many hosts running optimised apps at the end of R3) BOINC will show you the estimate of 0.25x20 = 5 hours. If the task actually takes 5 hours, everything will be perfect. We can say that BOINC (through its adjustment to the DCF) has "learned" how to refine the project supplied estimate of 20 hours that we never did see anyway.

So along comes a new R4 task. The project estimate is 8 hours (just an example number I picked). Because BOINC has a DCF of 0.25, BOINC will be forced to tell you that the estimate is 0.25x8 = 2 hours. There is no way that BOINC can avoid giving you this estimate which will be way too low. However R4 tasks are actually taking longer than the project supplied estimate suggests. In this example, let's assume that the actual crunch time was 12 hours. When BOINC sees this, it will have a fit and in one big move it will bump the DCF from 0.25 to 1.5 because the real time divided by the estimated time (12/8) is now = 1.5.

So every other task in your cache will immediately have a big increase in its estimated crunch time. Any remaining R3 tasks will have the estimate go from 5 hours to 30 hours and any further R4 tasks will have their estimates go from 2 hours to 12 hours. So now the R4 tasks are being correctly estimated and the R3 tasks are being way over-estimated. When a further R3 task is crunched, it will still only take 5 hours as the estimate of 30 hours is simply wrong.

Isn't this exactly the sort of behaviour you are seeing?

Cheers,
Gary.

Odd-Rod
Odd-Rod
Joined: 15 Mar 05
Posts: 38
Credit: 19747686
RAC: 71227

Hi Gary Nice example! I

Hi Gary

Nice example! I wonder if you could continue your example and use those figures to show what would happen to the DCF when an R3 is crunched again after an R4. I believe that 10% comes into the adjustment, but I'm not sure how.

Thanks
Rod

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