Every time I turn off my computer, my work unit resets to 0% complete and starts over from 0% the next time the computer is turned on. Messages from curent session are as follows:

6/29/2008 8:05:09 AM||Starting BOINC client version 5.10.45 for windows_intelx86
6/29/2008 8:05:09 AM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops
6/29/2008 8:05:09 AM||Libraries: libcurl/7.18.0 OpenSSL/0.9.8e zlib/1.2.3
6/29/2008 8:05:09 AM||Data directory: C:\Program Files\BOINC
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||Processor: 2 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz [x86 Family 15 Model 3 Stepping 3]
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||Processor features: fpu tsc sse sse2 mmx
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||OS: Microsoft Windows XP: Home Edition, Service Pack 3, (05.01.2600.00)
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||Memory: 1007.48 MB physical, 1.62 GB virtual
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||Disk: 149.05 GB total, 117.60 GB free
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM||Local time is UTC -6 hours
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM|rosetta@home|URL: http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/; Computer ID: 172634; location: (none); project prefs: default
6/29/2008 8:05:11 AM|SETI@home|URL: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID: 123022; location: (none); project prefs: default
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||General prefs: from rosetta@home (last modified 19-Sep-2006 20:03:26)
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Host location: none
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||General prefs: using your defaults
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Reading preferences override file
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 503.74MB
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 906.73MB
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Preferences limit disk usage to 74.52GB
6/29/2008 8:05:12 AM||Suspending network activity - user is active
6/29/2008 8:05:45 AM||Resuming network activity
6/29/2008 8:05:45 AM|SETI@home|Restarting task 17ap08ab.15034.5389.16.8.96_0 using setiathome_enhanced version 527
6/29/2008 8:09:58 AM||Suspending computation - user is active
6/29/2008 8:09:58 AM||Suspending network activity - user is active
6/29/2008 8:27:44 AM||Resuming computation
6/29/2008 8:27:44 AM||Resuming network activity
6/29/2008 8:40:00 AM||Suspending network activity - user is active
6/29/2008 8:42:11 AM||Resuming computation
6/29/2008 8:42:11 AM||Resuming network activity
6/29/2008 11:02:25 AM|SETI@home|Restarting task 17ap08ab.15034.5389.16.8.96_0 using setiathome_enhanced version 527
6/29/2008 11:17:23 AM||Suspending computation - user is active
6/29/2008 11:17:23 AM||Suspending network activity - user is active

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The "restarting task" messages is actually misleading in that it is resuming computation from the last checkpoint saved to disk. While reloading the task, it recalculates the % complete progress indicator, starting from zero. It should resume after the recalculation.

If it does not, then something is preventing BOINC from saving the checkpoint to disk. This can happen if you are running Windows Vista with BOINC installed to C:\Program Files (which is a protected folder in Vista) or if you are running BOINC on a user account with limited privileges, which means the user account doesn't have sufficient permission to write to certain areas of the disk. I see you're using Windows XP SP3, so no Vista, but are you running as a limited user account? I've also read reports the XP SP3 protects the \Program Files folder like Vista does, so moving your BOINC installation may be necessary.

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The "restarting task" messages is actually misleading in that it is resuming computation from the last checkpoint saved to disk. While reloading the task, it recalculates the % complete progress indicator, starting from zero. It should resume after the recalculation.

If it does not, then something is preventing BOINC from saving the checkpoint to disk. This can happen if you are running Windows Vista with BOINC installed to C:\Program Files (which is a protected folder in Vista) or if you are running BOINC on a user account with limited privileges, which means the user account doesn't have sufficient permission to write to certain areas of the disk. I see you're using Windows XP SP3, so no Vista, but are you running as a limited user account? I've also read reports the XP SP3 protects the \Program Files folder like Vista does, so moving your BOINC installation may be necessary.

I understand that, but under the Tasks tab in my BOINC Manager window, the Progress column reverts to 0% every time I turn off the computer, and the work unit starts over.

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@'Berta: You should use the ACCOUNT link on top of this page and go to Change email address | password | other account info. There remove the single quote(s) from your user name. I suspect it to garble the display of this thread in a way to make it unreadable (at least in IE6).

Gruß,
Gundolf

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Computer sind nicht alles im Leben. (Kleiner Scherz)

SETI@home classic workunits 3,758
SETI@home classic CPU time 66,520 hours

@'Berta: You should use the ACCOUNT link on top of this page and go to Change email address | password | other account info. There remove the single quote(s) from your user name. I suspect it to garble the display of this thread in a way to make it unreadable (at least in IE6).

Gruß,
Gundolf

Done! It's part of my name, but oh well!

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[quote]The "restarting task" messages is actually misleading in that it is resuming computation from the last checkpoint saved to disk. While reloading the task, it recalculates the % complete progress indicator, starting from zero. It should resume after the recalculation.

If it does not, then something is preventing BOINC from saving the checkpoint to disk. This can happen if you are running Windows Vista with BOINC installed to C:\Program Files (which is a protected folder in Vista) or if you are running BOINC on a user account with limited privileges, which means the user account doesn't have sufficient permission to write to certain areas of the disk. I see you're using Windows XP SP3, so no Vista, but are you running as a limited user account? I've also read reports the XP SP3 protects the \Program Files folder like Vista does, so moving your BOINC installation may be necessary.

Not running with limited privileges. Might be the SP3 issue. I have installed other programs in the Program Files folder (computer is several years old), but maybe none since getting SP3. Crazy that MS would make that a protected folder after making it the default folder for program installations.

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Done! It's part of my name, but oh well!

I thought so, but now without it, I can read your messages too. Formerly, I only saw the answers, and they were in the Author column.

Thanks,
Gundolf

[quote]The "restarting task" messages is actually misleading in that it is resuming computation from the last checkpoint saved to disk. While reloading the task, it recalculates the % complete progress indicator, starting from zero. It should resume after the recalculation.

If it does not, then something is preventing BOINC from saving the checkpoint to disk. This can happen if you are running Windows Vista with BOINC installed to C:\Program Files (which is a protected folder in Vista) or if you are running BOINC on a user account with limited privileges, which means the user account doesn't have sufficient permission to write to certain areas of the disk. I see you're using Windows XP SP3, so no Vista, but are you running as a limited user account? I've also read reports the XP SP3 protects the \Program Files folder like Vista does, so moving your BOINC installation may be necessary.

Not running with limited privileges. Might be the SP3 issue. I have installed other programs in the Program Files folder (computer is several years old), but maybe none since getting SP3. Crazy that MS would make that a protected folder after making it the default folder for program installations.

It is the default installation folder, but according to Microsoft "best practices" that they encourage all software developers to adhere to, you're not supposed to run within \Program Files and store all your data in there too. This is why Vista has created a separate "\User" folder where applications can store their data per user account.

Done! It's part of my name, but oh well!

I thought so, but now without it, I can read your messages too. Formerly, I only saw the answers, and they were in the Author column.

Thanks,
Gundolf

Same here.

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[quote]The "restarting task" messages is actually misleading in that it is resuming computation from the last checkpoint saved to disk. While reloading the task, it recalculates the % complete progress indicator, starting from zero. It should resume after the recalculation.

If it does not, then something is preventing BOINC from saving the checkpoint to disk. This can happen if you are running Windows Vista with BOINC installed to C:\Program Files (which is a protected folder in Vista) or if you are running BOINC on a user account with limited privileges, which means the user account doesn't have sufficient permission to write to certain areas of the disk. I see you're using Windows XP SP3, so no Vista, but are you running as a limited user account? I've also read reports the XP SP3 protects the \Program Files folder like Vista does, so moving your BOINC installation may be necessary.

Not running with limited privileges. Might be the SP3 issue. I have installed other programs in the Program Files folder (computer is several years old), but maybe none since getting SP3. Crazy that MS would make that a protected folder after making it the default folder for program installations.

It is the default installation folder, but according to Microsoft "best practices" that they encourage all software developers to adhere to, you're not supposed to run within \Program Files and store all your data in there too. This is why Vista has created a separate "\User" folder where applications can store their data per user account.

BOINC V6 does separate the core executables and puts them in c:\Program Files\BOINC from everything else (including the project executables) and puts them in c:\programdata\BOINC on Vista.

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BOINC WIKI

Okay, so I uninstalled BOINC and reinstalled it in a different folder, got new work units, and let SETI run on my computer all day. No reboots, no shut downs. At one point, my work unit was more than 50% complete. However, it restarted from 0% twice after that and is now just under 3% complete.

Any ideas?

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FYI for anyone else with this problem:

In your preferences, do you have set xx in Use at most xx percent of cpu time to less than 100%? If so, reset it to 100%. The "cpu throttling" is known to cause restarting of tasks on some machines. If you get heat or response time problems when running on full load, set On multiprocessors, use at most xx processors to 1 in your preferences. That results in an over all usage of 50% for BOINC tasks and should prevent your computer from overheating.

Gruß,
Gundolf

So far, this fix has worked for me. Still waiting to see if the overheating problem comes back at this setting.

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