Is it possible to disable screensaver/full screen graphics?

Hello! I have a problem.

I'd like to use relatively low-CPU cost programs while running Seti@home/Boinc.

If a project is running, even if I set the screensaver to "None", the Seti screensaver always comes up as if it's set to activate after 0 seconds. Maybe its not the screensaver, maybe it's some sort of full screen graphics.

I've tried seti@home preferences, but it only allows me to customize graphics, not disable them.

When you set the screen saver in Windows from BOINC to None, then do Apply and OK on it, that should stop the screen saver from coming up. If that doesn't work on your system, it's some quirk of Windows, or you didn't acknowledge the change to Windows.

Unless you confuse it to running a graphics window from BOINC Manager->Show Graphics? That's not the screen saver, that's just a graphics window. As long as you don't click "Show graphics" on a running task, it won't do so.
____________
Jord

- BOINC FAQ Service
- BOINC User Wiki

Real is just a matter of perception.

I even unticked the option to set my screensaver to Boinc when I installed it. I tried setting the Boinc screensaver so that at least if I must have the screensaver at least when I'm using the PC it won't come up. Didn't work. (I know how to apply the screensaver. Even if I go to Personalization I can see it is set to None. I have Windows 7.)

If I click the show graphics what pops up a windowed version of the graphics. Still, if I have a running project and I don't pause/snooze it then the "screensaver" automatically pops up. Even with the windowed graphics on.

But I'm starting to doubt its a Windows screensaver. When I'm using two monitors only one (the main one) gets the graphics, the other still shows the desktop. Whereas when I use the screensaver the other screen is blank. Can't it be that Boinc by itself is initiating some sort of full screen window?

Have you checked in Windows Task Manager whether or not a boinc.scr process is still running? This can happen when you previewed the screen saver at one point and haven't rebooted in the mean time. If there is/are boinc.scr process(es) running, kill it/them first to make sure they aren't diluting the debugging.

I've seen Windows be confused at one time over whether the screen saver was set to None or not. I also had the BOINC screen saver cvome on, even while the screen saver was set to None. Fixed that by setting it to BOINC, Applying, then immediately setting it to None, Applying and OK.

What do you see?
The Seti screen saver, like this (but then in 3D)?
The BOINC screen saver, showing the BOINC logo and which projects are attached/how many credits you got for those?

The Seti screen saver uses OpenGL 1.1, which by default can't be used on dual monitors, unless you use two separate videocards to power each monitor, or your videocard has two RAMDACs, one powering each VGA-out.
That the second monitor is blank is caused by the fact that OpenGL 1.1 can only draw the video-overlay out to one monitor at a time, thus one monitor shows the graphics, the other nothing.
____________
Jord

- BOINC FAQ Service
- BOINC User Wiki

Real is just a matter of perception.

Hm... Looks like the process killing solved the problem. However when I tried the set/unset screensaver it launched 2 boinc.scr-s.

When the project was running and the unavoidable screensaver showed up, I saw the seti screensaver on the main screen and the desktop on the secondary.

When I tested the screensaver while projects where paused, main screen showed the boinc logo, the other was blank.

When I tried the screensaver while the project is running, the screensaver tried to show up and blank the secondary screen but then something cancelled it out and then it tried to come back again. Basically the secondary screen was flashing, and the animation on the 3d seti graphics became choppy.

But as I've said, killing those processes solved my problem. Thank you!

The developers finally had time to look at this, and put in a fix. It will be fixed in BOINC 7.0.34