On my Ubuntu computers, BOINC won't suspend work while computer is in use. I use BAM to manage preferences and have made sure local preferences are cleared. I've tried all possible ways setting this option, such as on the venue name, on the local computer, and at the project level. Nothing seems to stop it working.

I've checked the global_prefs.xml files and run_if_user_active is set to 0.

Some of the time, it's fine that BOINC continues running, but when running other applications, it really slows down my PC enough that it's a problem. I manually suspend work, when I need to, but I often forget to turn it back on for a few days and waste CPU time that could be working on projects.

I'm currently working Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid) and have had this problem with prior version as well. I've got a few old PCs still running Windows 2000, and they suspend fine.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Greg

Did you set "Run based on preferences" in the Activity menu of BOINC manager (advanced view)?

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

I changed this setting from always active to based on preferences, but this did not change the cpu usase. I'm not sure I understand why it would?

Greg

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Why should BOINC run based on preferences (e.g. "Suspend work while computer is in use") if it's not set to run based on preferences? :-)

In your case an additional problem might be that on linux computers, BOINC can't always recognise if the keyboard or the mouse have been used (the user was active). What type of mouse do you have (USB, PS/2,...)?

Gruß,
Gundolf
[edit]What's your preference setting of "'In use' means mouse/keyboard activity in last __ minutes"?[/edit]

Sorry, I had not drank my 2nd cup of coffee. and didn't make sense before. I normally set it to suspend when I'm using the machine and set it back to run based on preferences when I finished.

After getting your note, when I set it to run based on preferences, it immediately started running 4 tasks, because that PC has 2 dual core AMD K8 cpus. I changed it back and forth. I always stoped all work when I selected "Suspend". Selecting "Run Always", or "Run based on Preferences" both started tasks on all cores.

I have a USB Mouse and a PS2 keyboard. I first started using Ubuntu on its second version, which I can't remember the name, version, or date of. It used to work correctly, but has not on the last 3 versions.

If I can't get it to work otherwise, I was thinking of using the option of not running if the CPU is busy more than a selected percentage.

Thanks,
Greg

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I found somethings that seems to help with this problem. This alternative may be better than having BOINC suspend when any keyboard actively is noticed. I found a setting in the work preferences that says "Run only when CPU usage is less than XX%". I set this to 75%. BOINC tasks now seem to suspend themselves for a few minutes whenever my PC get busy, which is pretty much what I was looking for. If I'm reading a webpage, and the PC is not doing anything but scrolling the display down as I read, it's fine for it to continue working on BOINC, but when I'm playing a game or editing video, it now seems to get out of my way to let me use the CPU.

The BOINC tasks don't seem to start back as soon as CPU utilization goes down, so it seems to be using the "Only after computer has been idle" setting for number of minutes, which I have set for 5 minutes.

I set the option to leave BOINC project in memory while suspended. This lets Linux page the suspended tasks to the hard disk if RAM is needed for nother programs, rather than BOINC having to shuffle the stuff to and from disc unnecessarily. Linux paging is fairly fast and more efficient than Win2K's, which was the last Win-Doze I used before I escaped my brief dependence on Microsoft. I used OS/2 at work and home for several years, and then went to WinNT and Win2K for a few years until Ubuntu distribution of Linux came out in '04.

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