Message boards :
Number crunching :
How persistent is BOINC?
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
---|---|
Doc Send message Joined: 19 May 99 Posts: 8 Credit: 726,424 RAC: 0 |
Been running SETI/BOINC for many years now, but just found something disturbing. I'm also a ham radio operator, and in order to make room in memory for my ham applications, I turn BOINC off. Or thought I did. Got a small app named Game Booster that supposedly turns off unneccesary apps, including boincmgr.exe and boinctray.exe. It shows them turned off, yet I still see 100% CPU usage, same as when BOINC is running. Next I right-clicked on the icon in the system tray and exited BOINC. Still see 100% CPU suage! Lastly, using Task Manager, I ended the processes boincmgr.exe and boinctray.exe. That finally got BOINC to cease! I have BOINC set to go idle if there is any outside input to the PC (mouse, keyboard, etc.) and to turn back on after one minute of no input. It appears that even with the program shut down, it still runs!! Is this normal, or have I missed a setting somewhere? Thanks Dave |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
Its not entirely normal; its a bug with the new v6.6.20 client. There have been a handful of posts here in Number Crunching discussing the issue. You can try adding BOINC.EXE to the list of applications to kill if you want to stop BOINC from running. There's also another work-around discussed in one of those aforementioned threads here in NC. |
Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 19 Jul 00 Posts: 3898 Credit: 1,158,042 RAC: 0 |
Its not entirely normal; its a bug with the new v6.6.20 client. There have been a handful of posts here in Number Crunching discussing the issue. It is not a bug, it is a feature. |
1mp0£173 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 8423 Credit: 356,897 RAC: 0 |
Been running SETI/BOINC for many years now, but just found something disturbing. I'm also a ham radio operator, and in order to make room in memory for my ham applications, I turn BOINC off. Or thought I did. It is completely normal. You aren't shutting down BOINC, you're shutting down BOINC Manager. It's also normal to see 100% computer usage, because the science applications are at very low priority, and they only get whatever is left after other apps run. They should not affect applications running at higher priority -- I routinely run DIGIPAN with BOINC running on an Athlon XP 3000 without stopping BOINC. ... but if you want BOINC to stop processing, just right click on the BOINC Icon in the tray and pick "snooze." That tells BOINC to stop processing. 73 -- Ned |
John McLeod VII Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 24806 Credit: 790,712 RAC: 0 |
Been running SETI/BOINC for many years now, but just found something disturbing. I'm also a ham radio operator, and in order to make room in memory for my ham applications, I turn BOINC off. Or thought I did. [edit] I thought I had added this earlier. There is an option in cc_config.xml that allows you to automatically stop BOINC when a selected program is running. BOINC WIKI |
Rhe Send message Joined: 17 Dec 99 Posts: 50 Credit: 488,837 RAC: 0 |
In the BOINC manager you can also go to Advanced, Options, General, and check the box next to "enable manager exit dialog". The next time you click on exit to shut down BOINC from your comp tray an "exit confirmation" popup box will appear. Check the box next to "stop running science applications when exiting the manager" to stop BOINC from running in the background CPU usage. Team SETI.USA Forums Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. ~~Carl Sagan |
skildude Send message Joined: 4 Oct 00 Posts: 9541 Credit: 50,759,529 RAC: 60 |
If you have ample Ram to load aditional programs then you wont need to kill seti/BOINC. Remember that seti only runs on free CPU cycles. IF you are running other programs BOINC backs off. In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face. Diogenes Of Sinope |
ps2os2 Send message Joined: 12 May 00 Posts: 11 Credit: 351,945 RAC: 0 |
I have been running SETI for about 6 years now. Boinc about two or so (I do not remember for sure). In any case I do not seem to be getting any Boinc work. Is there something I did to stop this or is just BOINC not setting out any new work? If there is something I can do I certainly would like to un BOINC as well. I have traveled through the options and do not see anything obvious (to me). Can someone give me a pointer, please? |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
One thing that no one touched in this thread: Lastly, using Task Manager, I ended the processes boincmgr.exe and boinctray.exe. That finally got BOINC to cease! You stopped boinctray.exe Now contrary to its name, it does not put the BOINC Manager icon in the system tray. BOINC manager will put the icon in the system tray when you minimize it. Boinctray.exe is the idle detection program, it will constantly poll for keyboard taps and mouse movements. When you stop it from running, no more idle detection to check if you're busy and BOINC will run continuously. (I asked a long time ago if the developers could please change the name of this little app to boincidle.exe (or idletracker.exe) to make more sense. They chose to ignore the request. Perhaps that someone with more clout (JM7? ;-)) can try again). When BOINC is installed in protected application execution mode, it is installed as a Windows service (Start->Run, type services.msc, click OK; if BOINC is in the list, it's a service installation). This means that when you exit BOINC Manager, that the client & the science applications will happily continue to run. |
John McLeod VII Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 24806 Credit: 790,712 RAC: 0 |
One thing that no one touched in this thread: Um, I have clout? I do? Since when? BOINC WIKI |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
Um, I have clout? I do? Since when? I may have been misinformed, I thought you did. Oh well, perhaps that bribing works. |
MarkJ Send message Joined: 17 Feb 08 Posts: 1139 Credit: 80,854,192 RAC: 5 |
Um, I have clout? I do? Since when? Doesn't seem to work with Dr A. But then they don't listen to me either. I wonder who has "clout" with Dr A? Thats a rethorical question. I don't really want an answer. BOINC blog |
1mp0£173 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 8423 Credit: 356,897 RAC: 0 |
While I support the suggestion, this is one of those things that doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the grand scheme. It doesn't change the functionality, it is pretty cosmetic, and fairly deep. ... and it may add complexity to the installer, since updates would need to remove BOINCTRAY and add BOINCIDLE instead of just updating BOINCTRAY. The installer has to be pretty thoroughly tested. So, good suggestion, but likely to be way down the list of things to do, especially since it isn't "broken" per-se. |
1mp0£173 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 8423 Credit: 356,897 RAC: 0 |
I have BOINC set to go idle if there is any outside input to the PC (mouse, keyboard, etc.) and to turn back on after one minute of no input. It appears that even with the program shut down, it still runs!! Someone asked in another thread why people abandon BOINC, and I just wanted to point out that our friend DOC has not posted since this message, and may not have seen any of the answers.... I don't have a solution, but I did want to mention the problem. |
©2024 University of California
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.