Why is it so difficult to install???

This is so disappointing. The old SETI was so simple, that was the beauty - expand it, click, and you're up an running, making your contribution to cutting edge science even if you don't know where to find Terminal on your computer, let alone what it does.

Now I'm stuck with a bunch of hard to find and hard to implelemt instructions to install something called BOINC and even if I do install it, I don't know where to get the Seti Software. I come to this part of the site to look for advice and I find several different ways to install it, none of them the same, and none of them matching what I found in the official text.

So, I'm on a powerbook running 10.3.7 and I'd really like to have Seti running, but I'm at a complete loss. Could anyone walk me through, step by step, downloading BOINC, expanding BOINC, putting BOINC in the right place, making BOINC run, finding Seti@home (if it needs to be downloaded seperately or if it comes with BOINC), and making Seti@home run.

I know that a lot of you have already spent time posting instructions, but I've tried and failed at making any of them work.

Thank you,

John Millhauser
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See this thread:

beadman
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Almost there...

1. The link to the thread wasn't there, but I did find some great instructions by clicking on your username.

2. If you put the stuffed version of boinc_4.13_ppcG4.sit in the folder with the unstuffed version, when you try to authorize it in Terminal, there's an error because it gets confused by the stuffed file, so you have to remove it from the folder.

So, I got all your instructions working, but now I'm wondering where the nice window with the graphic interface that shows me my progress and which lets me set up the screensaver is. I can still use Seti@home 3.08 - is that what I'm supposed to keep using or is there a newer version that goes with Boinc?

Thanks,

John


> See this thread:
>
> beadman
>
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Sorry folks...once again I messed up my links. The link to the thread I mentioned is here.

beadman
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> 2. If you put the stuffed version of boinc_4.13_ppcG4.sit in the folder with
> the unstuffed version, when you try to authorize it in Terminal, there's an
> error because it gets confused by the stuffed file, so you have to remove it
> from the folder.

Good point - the stuffed files can be placed back in the Downloads folder, but leave the unstuffed files in the Boinc folder.

> So, I got all your instructions working, but now I'm wondering where the nice
> window with the graphic interface that shows me my progress and which lets me
> set up the screensaver is. I can still use Seti@home 3.08 - is that what I'm
> supposed to keep using or is there a newer version that goes with Boinc?

As far as I know, there is on screensaver, yet, for BOINC/SETI in terminal mode on a Mac. The optimized versions I mention in the other thread<a> are the latest compiles for Mac and are optimized. One reason to not use a screensaver, is that the screensaver will steal computer clock cycles from processing data, and thus slow down your calculations. I set my PowerBook to just go to a blank screen after 5 minues - saves processing power and electrical power both...

C
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