I'm running BOINC 4.13 on XP with AMD Athlon 64 with an Abit mobo. During some of the processing (normally towards the 95% to 100% complete in some work units and then there is a mental beeping performance during the first minute of the next work unit) the computer beeps a whole lot (beep....beep beep......beep) etc. This happens even with the speakers off (ie the beeps are like MB warning beeps). I don't get these otherwise and if I stop BOINC they stop. I've checked the PC and it's not showing any problems.

I used to get these also in classic SETI as well. I don’t get beeping on my other PC at all (AMD athlon 32 with Abit mobo) which is still running classic in the background as a service.

Does anyone have any ideas? These are very annoying now and I guess eventually I'll uninstall BOINC before I go completely insane.

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<img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/seti2/stats.php?userID=1830&amp;trans=off">

What is the rate of the beeping?
It's most liking a warning that the CPU is overly hot.

If it only occurs while doing processing then it indicates an overheating problem- Seti, Prime95 etc are all applicaitons that will show problems in a marginal system.

Pull the side off of the computer case, use a small fan to blow cool air into it. If that fixes the problem, then you know it's a heat problem & you need to check the CPU fan & heatsink to make sure they're clean, heatsink to make sure it's mounted correctly, the fan to make sure it's not running slow etc, etc.

You could also use a system monitoring programme, but the reading they get can easily be changed by upgrading your BIOS.

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Grant
Darwin NT

The only time I've ever heard a beeping like that was from the onboard virus alarm, which can be disabled via the CMOS. This idea may not even be close, since I'm in the novice club in terms of computers. Just thought I'd suggest it.
Hope you find the problem.
Robert

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I do many thing with my PC, SETI processing being only moderately difficult for it, in comparison. Nothing else make it beep, it beeps in roughly the same place in each work unit (alternating) regardless of how long / hot the PC is.

The beeps start wide spaced, then get grouped a bit with the odd solo then (in the next unit) the beeping is almost constant and then it stops suddenly and all is quiet.

There is, I repeat, no sign that anything is wrong with the PC, and it is not overheating ('cos if it was it'd stop, etc etc). There is no lack of performance in BOINC or other apps during the beeping, but it's not conducive to work / sleep / happy relations so it must be stopped.

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<img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/seti2/stats.php?userID=1830&amp;trans=off">

> I'm running BOINC 4.13 on XP with AMD Athlon 64 with an Abit mobo. During some
> of the processing (normally towards the 95% to 100% complete in some work
> units and then there is a mental beeping performance during the first minute
> of the next work unit) the computer beeps a whole lot (beep....beep
> beep......beep) etc. This happens even with the speakers off (ie the beeps are
> like MB warning beeps). I don't get these otherwise and if I stop BOINC they
> stop. I've checked the PC and it's not showing any problems.
>

This definitely sounds as an overheating issue. Look into the bios settings of your computer. Likely there is a cpu temperature alert function. Maybe it's set a little too cautious.

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Aloha, Uli

Whilst I agree overheating is a cause of beeping, I don't think so in this case, because

a) uGuru hardware monitoring from Abit says that my CPU is at a comfy 46 degrees C and my alarm is set to 80 degrees C and I doubt that some calculations in BONIC are so CPU intensive as to raise the temperature 34 degrees C during a short period and irregularly at that. I'd expect BOINC to raise temperature in a linear fashion ending with a high temperature representative of CPU effort, which could be at the point of alarm thus pushing the reading over in sometimes - but this would be regular (because monitoring is regular) and in any case unlikely with a 36 degree C margin.

b) It happens in the same place (and has roughly the same pattern of beeps) across a defined set of work units and appears to be cyclic. Ie. Some units produce no beeps, then one will start the beeps at around 95% and continue to the end of the unit, then the next unit will cause very many beeps in the first 1% then beeps stop for the rest of the unit. This cycle is repeated, with occasional odd beep. This isn't representative of overheating but sometime related more directly to the data and the way it is processed (perhaps by the 64bit processor)

c) BOINC doesn't tax my PC especially when compared to other work it does, and so you'd expect this work to heat the CPU more, only it doesn't.

and

d) It used to happen with Classic as well is just the same way, but more predicatively in each work unit, but only if SETI was running in the foreground, ie I had the graphics shown or the screensaver was running. It would stop immediately the graphics was hidden (ie behind another application) but yet still processing the work. This was rarer and easily fixed, but with BONIC it happens even without graphics being shown.

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<img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/seti2/stats.php?userID=1830&amp;trans=off">

Look in your manual or on the Abit web site for the 'beep' codes. The number of beeps or sequence will indicate what the system is indicating. Each motherboard mfg bios is a little different as to what the beep sequence is telling you.

Just another thought:

Could it be that in the very computing intense start and end phases of a workunit the cpu drains so much current, that a voltage is dropping below the lower limit set in the bios? Maybe it's not a temperature but a voltage warning?

[edit]
Especially as i read that beeping also occurs with seti classic if you turn on graphics. With graphics on your overall current will raise, cause the graphics card increases it's current usage from power supply resulting in a voltage drop.
[/edit]

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Aloha, Uli

Low voltage is an interesting thought. I've installed a monitor to check for this so that next time a wave of beeping takes over I can immediately check it. I've joined the climate prediction project (no beeping so far) so it may be a little while before it starts again, but I'll report back.

Thanks.

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<img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/seti2/stats.php?userID=1830&amp;trans=off">

> Low voltage is an interesting thought. I've installed a monitor to check for
> this so that next time a wave of beeping takes over I can immediately check
> it. I've joined the climate prediction project (no beeping so far) so it may
> be a little while before it starts again, but I'll report back.
>
> Thanks.


Do you have the cruncher graphics running when it happens? I've had a system beeping at me because a video card has over heating.

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