Why when I'm not doing anything on the computer does it suspend computation? I keep trying to set the preferences so that it runs all the time.

This is what I keep getting in the messages.

10/24/2008 9:50:28 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 9:51:18 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 9:57:55 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 9:57:59 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:04:29 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:15:35 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 10:15:52 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:17:25 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 10:17:33 PM||Resuming computation

The only reason that the time break between suspensions is not the same is that I keep using the pc to keep the program working.

Any suggestions?

Advanced view - Activity menu - Run always.

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Boinc V7.2.42
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB, GTX470

That's the setting I already have set.

Anything else?

Why when I'm not doing anything on the computer does it suspend computation? I keep trying to set the preferences so that it runs all the time.

This is what I keep getting in the messages.

10/24/2008 9:50:28 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 9:51:18 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 9:57:55 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 9:57:59 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:04:29 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:15:35 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 10:15:52 PM||Resuming computation
10/24/2008 10:17:25 PM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/24/2008 10:17:33 PM||Resuming computation

The only reason that the time break between suspensions is not the same is that I keep using the pc to keep the program working.

Any suggestions?

There are two settings. One for starting computation after X minutes of inactivity, and the other for suspending computation after Y minutes of inactivity. The second one is getting you into trouble. It is designed such that you can suspend computation a couple of minutes before the computer hibernates.

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BOINC WIKI

So what setting should I set it at if I want to let it run for hours at a time?

So what setting should I set it at if I want to let it run for hours at a time?

Go to your preferences and look for the option "Suspend work if no keyboard/mouse activity in the last" X minutes and change it to zero, meaning work will always be allowed when inactive. This will prevent your system from going into hibernate/standby. Don't forget to save your preferences. The next time BOINC contacts the SETI servers, it will download the new preferences.

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Using the web-based preferences, go here, click Edit preferences, then change the setting called "Suspend work if no mouse/keyboard activity in last" to 0 (zero). Then click Update preferences.

To make sure you're using the web-based preferences, go to the BOINC manager Advanced menu and click Preferences. Click the Clear button, then click Yes. Then go to the Projects tab and click Update. It will download the preferences you just set, and will compute whether you're at the keyboard or not.

Note: this is just an elaboration of what OzzFan said...

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Cruiser
Gateway GT5692 L-f-S Edition
-Phenom X4 9650 CPU
-4GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM
-500GB SATA HD
-Vista x64 SP1
-BOINC 6.2.19 32-bit client
-SSE3 optimized 32-bit apps

It sounds like the computer is set to hibernate when there is no user activity. If this is the case it is normal that computation will stop. Allowing the computer to go into hibernation will stop all active CPU usage including Boinc.

Hibernation is not set on the pc and it's still stopping after about 1 minute of idle time.

These are the settings I have set at this time.

Suspend work while computer is on battery power? - no
Suspend work while computer is in use? - no
'In use' means mouse/keyboard activity in last - 3 minutes
Suspend work if no mouse/keyboard activity in last --- minutes
Do work only between the hours of (no restriction)

If there is no keyboard or mouse activity though, it suspends any work after about 1 minute.
Now, this is on my 2nd pc which basically I don't do much on, so I might have it running but not doing anything on other than having this program run.

It really doesn't make any sense to me why it will only run for 1 minute without any activity and why I can't figure out the problem.
By the way, thanks for all the help you all have tried to give.

Just to make sure you are using the online preferences, go:
BOINC Manager->Advanced view->Advanced->Preferences->Clear.
BOINC Manager->Projects tab->click Seti@Home->Click Update.

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I did exactly as you said, but it is still suspending the work.

I do get a communication deferred message whenever I do the update. Is that a problem?

Could you post the last 20 or so messages that you got?

And the contents from your global_prefs.xml file? You can find that one in your BOINC Data directory (default at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\).

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Could you post the last 20 or so messages that you got?

10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 26-Sep-2008 07:27:46)
10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||Host location: none
10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||General prefs: using your defaults
10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 1022.99MB
10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 1841.39MB
10/25/2008 7:25:53 AM||Preferences limit disk usage to 18.63GB
10/25/2008 7:43:34 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 7:51:36 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 7:51:55 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:00:06 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:01:00 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:02:04 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:02:28 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:04:44 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:06:07 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:06:09 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:08:58 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:09:00 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:11:59 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:14:27 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:15:38 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:16:55 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:20:38 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:22:34 AM||Suspending computation - no recent user activity
10/25/2008 8:23:52 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 26-Sep-2008 07:27:46)
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||Host location: none
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||General prefs: using your defaults
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 1022.99MB
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 1841.39MB
10/25/2008 8:25:43 AM||Preferences limit disk usage to 18.63GB
10/25/2008 8:25:59 AM|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user. Requesting 0 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
10/25/2008 8:26:04 AM|SETI@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
10/25/2008 8:28:15 AM||Resuming computation
10/25/2008 8:28:19 AM|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user. Requesting 0 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
10/25/2008 8:28:24 AM|SETI@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks

- <global_preferences>
<source_project>http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/</source_project>
<source_scheduler>http://setiboinc.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_cgi/cgi</source_scheduler>
<mod_time>1222428466</mod_time>
<idle_time_to_run>3</idle_time_to_run>
<suspend_if_no_recent_input>1</suspend_if_no_recent_input>
<cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>60</cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>
<work_buf_min_days>1</work_buf_min_days>
<work_buf_additional_days>0.25</work_buf_additional_days>
<max_cpus>16</max_cpus>
<max_ncpus_pct>100</max_ncpus_pct>
<cpu_usage_limit>80</cpu_usage_limit>
<disk_interval>60</disk_interval>
<disk_max_used_gb>25</disk_max_used_gb>
<disk_max_used_pct>25</disk_max_used_pct>
<disk_min_free_gb>0.001</disk_min_free_gb>
<vm_max_used_pct>75</vm_max_used_pct>
<ram_max_used_busy_pct>50</ram_max_used_busy_pct>
<ram_max_used_idle_pct>90</ram_max_used_idle_pct>
<max_bytes_sec_down>0</max_bytes_sec_down>
<max_bytes_sec_up>0</max_bytes_sec_up>
</global_preferences>

<suspend_if_no_recent_input>1</suspend_if_no_recent_input>

This one should be zero if it's not used. So go back to your general preferences, edit them and make sure you've got it set to these settings:

Suspend work while computer is in use? no
'In use' means mouse/keyboard activity in last 3 minutes
Suspend work if no mouse/keyboard activity in last
(Needed to enter low-power mode on some computers)
Enforced by version 5.10.14+ --- minutes
Do work only between the hours of (no restriction)

Save the changes to the web site, then go back to BOINC Manager->Projects tab->click Seti@Home->Click Update.

The messages should tell you that you got a newer update of the preferences in, dated the 25th of October 2008. (not the 28th of September)

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My settings are as you instructed. It's like the program is not communicating with the online preferences.

10/25/2008 8:59:37 AM||General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 26-Sep-2008 07:27:46)

I am still getting the "communication deferred" message whenever I do the update.

Something I just noticed... you're posting with another account. Have you been doing all the changes on that account, or on the original BJ account?

As you will need to do the changes on the original BJ account, as that's the one your computers are attached to.

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To log in on the other account, in case you forgot your password:
Go to Your account and Log Out.
Immediately load that link to Your account again and you'll be asked to log in again, now take the little blue link to "Forgot password?".

You're going to log in with your account key. To find your account key, open the account_setiathome.berkeley.edu.xml file in your BOINC (Data) directory (*). By just clicking on the file, it usually opens up in your web browser. Else use Notepad or another text editor to edit the file.

(*) For BOINC 5.10 and below this file is found in your BOINC directory, by default at C:\Program Files\BOINC
For BOINC 6.1 and above this file is found in your BOINC Data directory, by default at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\ (Windows 2000/XP) or C:\ProgramData\BOINC (Vista).

Look for a 32 character key string in between the <authenticator></authenticator> tags.
Copy this key. Close account_.xml (do NOT save it when you opened it in a text editor! Just close it).

Go to the Project web page that is still open on the Forgot your password link. Paste the 32 character key string into the option "log in with account key" and press the Log in with account key button.

This now allows you to get to your account where you can change your password (click password, type a new password twice and press the Change password button). Do not forget it again. ;-)

Now change your computing preferences and save them to the web site, then update BOINC as I've shown you before.

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Thanks so much for all your help. I didn't realize I had two accounts. I corrected the problem.

Again, THANKS!

You're welcome. :-)

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@Ageless

Good catch on the duplicate accounts......

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Boinc V7.2.42
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB, GTX470