NOTE: I cannot find an address to send this e-mail too so I am placing it here on the SETI help desk hoping someone there will see it. This letter contains more than one PROBLEM.
Sent: 2005-05-09 10:57 AM CDST

To: BOINC Design Team. Also Climate, Einstein, and SETI team. (Especially SETI)


Dear Team \ Team's


First I want to say that I enjoy being a part of such worthwhile projects, such as Climate, Einstein, and SETI.
I also want to let you know that I have installed (ThreadMaster 1.12build128) software to slow down the processor and keep it from over heating. I personally do not believe in running a processor at 100% 24/7 with out some kind of very reliable cooling system. Normal PC's do not have such a system in my opinion.
Now the main reasons for my sending this letter. Unfortunately I have a few problems I hope you can work out of the BOINC software.
My first (very minor) problem is with Climate. Why does the work (chunk) have to be something that takes over a YEAR to complete? Can’t the Climate chunks be divided up into smaller chunks? Maybe a week, or a month, like SETI, or Einstein?
That’s a minor concern, but I would really like smaller (chunks) so I know my computer is keeping up and completing projects. (I recently had one for SETI that was still running and it was past its due date!
That is my second concern, and please let me know, but do I still get credit and do you still need the INFO after the due date? If you do let me know. If you do NOT and I do not get credit, Please re-write BOINC to delete expired files and start a new one. Also to keep a better log and if too many projects don’t get finished on time to let the operator (me) know because if my computer is not completing projects on time and not getting credit for them then it is not worth running the computer for them.
This next problem is getting to be a MAJOR ANNOIANCE and may irritate me enough to delete BOINC and quit all 3 of my projects.
As I said I run Climate, Einstein, and SETI and share the time equally between all 3. I haven’t timed it but about once an hour (or more often it seems) BOINC changes projects. That’s not the problem, but if you changed the switch to once a day that would clear up this MAJOR ANNOIANCE. The problem is that Every time it switches it locks up (very, very slow) the computer for approx 30-seconds. Using Task manager I can see the new project that starts after the switch uses nearly100% of the processor for this 30-second time period.
This is VERY ANNOYING! Because most programs stop responding and even my word processor stops responding to my typing. All programs so far, continue ok after this 15-30 seconds but the word processor may drop some words while I was typing or voice dictating and this is VERY annoying. At the very least I lose my train of thought. Having this happen every minute when your server is down is my biggest pet peeve! (See next paragraph) If this switch (annoyance) between projects only occurred once a day it might be tolerable.
NOW for the REALLY ANNOYING PROBLEM! When a project gets done it TRYS to report and transfer to your server. This also locks up the computer for 30-seconds. Again this would be tolerable if it only did it when transferring a project, BUT! It seems like 99% of the time your server (SETI) is not working, busy, or something and the project retries in a minute, then again, in a minute, then again a few minutes later, then again a few minutes after that, then again ad nausea. (You get the idea.) THIS IS VERY ANNOYING AND MAY CAUSE ME TO DELEAT THE ENTIRE BOINC LIST OF PROJECTS (starting with SETI)!! If a project can’t get to your server make it wait at least 1-hour before trying again. Or get it to do this in THE BACKGROUND, UNNOTICEABLE TO THE USER. (ME)
The other problem I am having is the software to keep BOINC from running at 100% processor speed. This software (I believe) is also keeping some of my other programs from running at 100% processor speed WHEN THEY USE TO BEFORE!
BOINC currently runs in the background (EXCEPT for the above mentioned problems) It normally runs at around13-28% processor speed. I wish your software had some way to turn that up slightly. Sometimes I would even turn it up to 100%, or leave it at 50% processor speed, other times I would like it to turn off and it should turn off Automatically when another program that I am running requires full use of the processor. That’s another problem, when I am running some photographic software I want MY PROGRAMS to run at its previous 100% rate and for BOINC to relinquish its13-28% while MY PROGRAM IS RUNNING! When MY PROGRAM is finished BOINC could go back to its previous level, SET BY ME! Not its default level of 13-27%.
I have attached a sample of my BOINC Log to show you what I'm sure you already know. Your server is down and each one of these RETYIES interrupts my computer.
I was trying to write this letter while all these INTERUPTION'S occurred. I almost deleted everything then, but thought I would give you a chance to fix your software. So here’s hoping you can. And I'll wait a while hoping the next version of software (BOINC) will correct these problems.

Thank You
Michael C. Shada

Enclosed: Log file copied & pasted directly from BOINC Messages.

END

START OF SAMPLE LOG

--- - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Starting BOINC client version 4.19 for windows_intelx86
climateprediction.net - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Project prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
Einstein@Home - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Project prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Project prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
climateprediction.net - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Host ID is 122723
Einstein@Home - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Host ID is 35602
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - Host ID is 616347
--- - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - General prefs: from Einstein@Home (last modified 2005-02-22 13:11:40)
--- - 2005-05-07 18:09:58 - General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
climateprediction.net - 2005-05-07 18:09:59 - Deferring computation for result 1rt7_300103545_1
Einstein@Home - 2005-05-07 18:09:59 - Deferring computation for result H1_1299.4__1299.5_0.1_T15_Run2_3
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:09:59 - Resuming computation for result 24ja05ab.6649.19746.592332.208_3 using setiathome version 4.09
--- - 2005-05-07 18:10:04 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:10:04 - Requesting 4142 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:10:04 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:10:25 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:10:25 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 18:10:25 - Deferring communication with project for 1 hours, 42 minutes, and 26 seconds
Einstein@Home - 2005-05-07 19:10:00 - Restarting result H1_1299.4__1299.5_0.1_T15_Run2_3 using einstein version 4.79
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:10:00 - Pausing result 24ja05ab.6649.19746.592332.208_3 (removed from memory)
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:10:25 - Deferring communication with project for 42 minutes and 26 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 19:52:52 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:52:53 - Requesting 4990 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:52:53 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:53:14 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:53:14 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 19:53:14 - Deferring communication with project for 1 hours, 22 minutes, and 51 seconds
climateprediction.net - 2005-05-07 20:10:03 - Restarting result 1rt7_300103545_1 using hadsm3 version 4.12
Einstein@Home - 2005-05-07 20:10:03 - Pausing result H1_1299.4__1299.5_0.1_T15_Run2_3 (removed from memory)
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 20:53:14 - Deferring communication with project for 22 minutes and 51 seconds
climateprediction.net - 2005-05-07 21:10:07 - Pausing result 1rt7_300103545_1 (removed from memory)
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:10:07 - Restarting result 24ja05ab.6649.19746.592332.208_3 using setiathome version 4.09
--- - 2005-05-07 21:16:06 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:16:06 - Requesting 5086 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:16:06 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:16:27 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:16:27 -
No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:16:27 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 0 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:17:30 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:17:30 - Requesting 5097 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:17:30 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:17:51 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:17:51 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:17:51 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 0 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:18:52 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:18:52 - Requesting 5108 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:18:52 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:19:14 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:19:14 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:19:14 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 0 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:20:15 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:20:15 - Requesting 5121 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:20:15 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:20:37 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:20:37 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:20:37 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 0 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:21:38 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:21:38 - Requesting 5133 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:21:38 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:21:59 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:21:59 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:21:59 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 0 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:23:00 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:23:00 - Requesting 5145 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:23:00 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:23:21 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:23:21 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:23:21 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 22 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:24:44 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:24:44 - Requesting 5161 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:24:44 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:25:05 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:25:05 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:25:05 - Deferring communication with project for 2 minutes and 35 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:27:41 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:27:41 - Requesting 5191 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:27:41 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:28:03 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:28:03 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:28:03 - Deferring communication with project for 1 minutes and 17 seconds
--- - 2005-05-07 21:29:21 - May run out of work in 0.10 days; requesting more
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:29:21 -
Requesting 5209 seconds of work
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:29:21 - Sending request to scheduler: http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:29:43 - Scheduler RPC to http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi failed
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:29:43 - No schedulers responded
SETI@home - 2005-05-07 21:29:43 - Deferring communication with project for 29 minutes and 34 seconds

END OF SAMPLE LOG

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Hello all. My name is Keith (Kokomo, IN). I too have this & other probs.
I saw no way to add to this thread, so I elected to 'respond' to it. If the
S.@H. team leader doesn't get someone assigned to respond to all of the myriad questions, then this project will inevitably suffer a serious setback.
Since installing this BOINC crap, I have expended many unjustifiable hours searching for answers to several issues. All I have discovered, is numerous questions by others. Nearly NO-ONE is responding!!! I saw a few replies--but the quantity is terribly insufficient! What is the deal S.@H.??? It is patently offensive & immoral (etc,etc) for such a well respected organization to release a program/project with so many bugs & inadequacies.
I would love to be involved, yet there are numerous issues which need be addressed. I will be forced to remove said program, if someone doesn't begin assisting people with these probs. There are too many issues raised about/in this program, by numerous individuals, to continue to be ignored by this agency!!!! I mean--come-on now! Throw us a bone here.
I will not be listing my various probs with BOINC, until I see some responses by someone 'in the know'. I hope someone reads these posts--I won't hold my breath. ...& also; I want my "credit" for W.U.s completed. Why? Because they are the proverbial carrot which has been dangled.

For the movie buff out there--"You asked me. I didn't ask you"

Thanks, KBR (Keith B. Rigsby)

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All the answers are there if you look and you must take some responsibility for you own work. BOINC is in it's baby period give it time, all this is volunteer if you no like bye bye, no one is forcing you to stay and getting nasty towards BOINC does not help your cause......I am a cranky oldman with no patience for people with no patience...lololololol


Participate

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Computation credit

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Semper Eadem
So long Paul, it has been a hell of a ride.

Park your ego's, fire up the computers, Science YES, Credits No.