How do you earn credits?

Questions and Answers : Getting started : How do you earn credits?

Author	Message
TimTiffTimmy Send message Joined: 26 Feb 12 Posts: 1 Credit: 2,746 RAC: 0	Message 1200439 - Posted: 27 Feb 2012, 20:50:25 UTC
	I've been using seti at home for 2 days now and still haven't earned any credits. Also, the team I joined doesn't show up under the info section. Do I have to upload the work my pc does or does it automatically submit when it's done? Thanks!
	ID: 1200439 ·

red-ray Send message Joined: 24 Jun 99 Posts: 308 Credit: 9,024,991 RAC: 0	Message 1200443 - Posted: 27 Feb 2012, 21:02:39 UTC - in response to Message 1200439. Last modified: 27 Feb 2012, 21:03:54 UTC
	You don't get credited until the same result has been returned by two computers. At the moment the task stats are disabled and 'till they are back on it's hard to tell what is happening. Looking at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=6437980 and then http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/host_app_versions.php?hostid=6437980 you seem to have returned an AP WU. More than that I can't tell. When I started a month ago it took a while for things to start happening. We are all hoping the task stats will be enabled soon.
	ID: 1200443 ·

John McLeod VII Volunteer developer Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 22343 Credit: 439,209 RAC: 396	Message 1200495 - Posted: 27 Feb 2012, 23:52:59 UTC
	BOINC automatically reports work at the earliest of: 1) 24 hours until it is due to report. 2) "Maintain enough tasks to keep busy for at least" until it is due. 3) On completion if after #1 or #2. 4) 24 hours after it is uploaded. 5) On a work request. 6) On a server scheduled connect. 7) On a trickle up message. 8) On a trickle down message. 9) When the user pushes the "Update" button. (I think I am missing one). You have to occasionally allow BOINC to connect to the servers. It assumes it can connect at any time unless it is told otherwise. You might want to not let BOINC connect to the internet under some circumstances (e.g. dialup). ____________ BOINC WIKI
	ID: 1200495 ·

Ageless Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 11636 Credit: 2,001,413 RAC: 4,119	Message 1200601 - Posted: 28 Feb 2012, 11:58:55 UTC - in response to Message 1200495.
	(I think I am missing one). Or two. The old list was: 1) 24 hours before deadline 2) Connect Every X before deadline. 3) 24 hours after task completion. 4) Immediately if the upload completes later than either 1, 2, or 3 upon completion of the task. 5) On a trickle up message (CPDN only, I believe). 6) On a trickle down request. 7) On a server scheduled connection. Used, but I am not certain by which project. 8) On a request for new work. 9) When the user pushes the update button. 10) On a request from an account manager. 11) Report immediately every task, if "No new Task" is set. (6.12.33+) ____________ Jord - BOINC FAQ Service - BOINC User Wiki Real is just a matter of perception.
	ID: 1200601 ·

neweyes2 Send message Joined: 3 Mar 10 Posts: 1 Credit: 143,082 RAC: 56	Message 1206680 - Posted: 16 Mar 2012, 19:50:19 UTC
	I guess I don't understand credits......what are they used for if anything once they are earned?
	ID: 1206680 ·

Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 11987 Credit: 18,022,982 RAC: 54,146	Message 1206690 - Posted: 16 Mar 2012, 20:12:29 UTC - in response to Message 1206680.
	I guess I don't understand credits......what are they used for if anything once they are earned? Bragging rights and comparison to other crunchers. That's it.
	ID: 1206690 ·

John McLeod VII Volunteer developer Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 15 Jul 99 Posts: 22343 Credit: 439,209 RAC: 396	Message 1206729 - Posted: 16 Mar 2012, 22:40:08 UTC - in response to Message 1206690.
	I guess I don't understand credits......what are they used for if anything once they are earned? Bragging rights and comparison to other crunchers. That's it. And keeping track of your machines. ____________ BOINC WIKI
	ID: 1206729 ·

S@NL - Nick Succorso Send message Joined: 24 May 00 Posts: 15 Credit: 23,074,763 RAC: 2	Message 1240598 - Posted: 3 Jun 2012, 10:56:36 UTC
	As a long time cruncher I have never understood the difference between uploading and reporting in terms of getting credit for your work. The reason I ask is, that recently I am having problems with my main 'rig' (a Quad Core 9550 machine). It sometimes gets stuck during the night becasue it loses contact with the "local host. This is probably a hardware failure somewhere deep down in the system and will be corrected next week when I am upgrading the system. What annoyes me though ïs, that before losing contact with local host it may have uploaded several workunits, which were not reported yet. And therefore credits are not granted for work which has been done. So basically the question is, why do you only get credits for workunits after reporting and not after uploading? ____________
	ID: 1240598 ·

Ageless Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 11636 Credit: 2,001,413 RAC: 4,119	Message 1240628 - Posted: 3 Jun 2012, 13:04:33 UTC - in response to Message 1240598.
	Uploading is just transferring data from your hard drive to a hard drive at the server. Like moving an MP3 file from your drive to a USB stick. Same principle. Reporting uses the database. BOINC will send a message to the database that task such and so was either finished correctly, had an error, or that you aborted it and that the result file was uploaded correctly at an earlier time. It'll also state at which time (according to UTC) this all happened. Uploading uses no overhead whatsoever, only a bit of the bandwidth. Reporting uses a lot of overhead, on the database server. It's because of this overhead that projects also love to get multiple reports in one go, as multiple reports take about the same overhead as reporting one single task does. So it's more efficient to report multiple tasks in one go. The validator works only with the database, checking your result outcome against that of your wingman or wingmen, only then deciding if credit is due. Which is why the task needs to be reported before it can be validated. ____________ Jord - BOINC FAQ Service - BOINC User Wiki Real is just a matter of perception.
	ID: 1240628 ·

S@NL - Nick Succorso Send message Joined: 24 May 00 Posts: 15 Credit: 23,074,763 RAC: 2	Message 1240633 - Posted: 3 Jun 2012, 13:27:44 UTC - in response to Message 1240628.
	Thx Ageless, I understand the principles behind it. Still a pity that a night's worth of work for SETI@Home has gone down the drain.For that's what happens in a case I described? The uploaded workunits sit there and are never validated? Are they purged from the system on a regular basis, or what? ____________
	ID: 1240633 ·

Volunteer tester Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 11987 Credit: 18,022,982 RAC: 54,146	Message 1240640 - Posted: 3 Jun 2012, 14:11:51 UTC - in response to Message 1240633.
	BOINC losing contact with the local host simply means that BOINCMGR.EXE couldn't communicate via TCP port 31416 to BOINC.EXE. When this happens, no work is lost, you just can't see anything listed in BOINC Manager because it can't communicate with the Core Client. Since the details of the reporting process aren't lost, all that needs to happen is the Core Client (BOINC.EXE) communicates with the project again, it finishes the reporting process and you are given credit. This happens automatically once BOINC.EXE is able to communicate with the project over TCP port 80. Once the reporting process is completed, the work is then validated against a quorum partner to verify the results. If the results match closely enough, you are granted credit.
	ID: 1240640 ·

S@NL - Nick Succorso Send message Joined: 24 May 00 Posts: 15 Credit: 23,074,763 RAC: 2	Message 1240850 - Posted: 3 Jun 2012, 21:35:12 UTC - in response to Message 1240640.
	Aah, yes, that would be nice, however, therer is no way I am able to contact BOINC when it is in a state like this. It is dead as a ... whatever. It just sits there and since the behaviour of my system is very strange at such a time, I expect there is something wrong with either my hardware of with Windows (it's still XP, that I'm running). I am curious what will happen after the upgrade this (or next week) of the most vital parts of the computer and a clean installation of Windows7. ____________
	ID: 1240850 ·

Ageless Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 11636 Credit: 2,001,413 RAC: 4,119	Message 1241039 - Posted: 4 Jun 2012, 8:39:44 UTC - in response to Message 1240850.
	...however, therer is no way I am able to contact BOINC when it is in a state like this. There are ways. 1. Use the command line. Open a command line window, or do Start->Run->type cmd and click OK. In the command line window type boinccmd --get_messages and hit Enter. If you get messages here, your client is still running. If this doesn't work, then client is in a hung state. For more options on boinccmd commands, type boinccmd --help and hit Enter. Or see this FAQ. 2. Use a 3rd party Manager such as BOINCTasks: http://www.efmer.eu/boinc/boinc_tasks/ ____________ Jord - BOINC FAQ Service - BOINC User Wiki Real is just a matter of perception.
	ID: 1241039 ·

S@NL - Nick Succorso Send message Joined: 24 May 00 Posts: 15 Credit: 23,074,763 RAC: 2	Message 1241274 - Posted: 4 Jun 2012, 19:52:20 UTC - in response to Message 1241039.
	Thx again, Ageless, I have made a note on this. ____________
	ID: 1241274 ·

Questions and Answers : Getting started : How do you earn credits?