Message boards :
Number crunching :
A cautionary (mouse) tail.
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Author | Message |
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Dorsai Send message Joined: 7 Sep 04 Posts: 474 Credit: 4,504,838 RAC: 0 |
Hi, Posted as a FYI type thing. I do not check Seti or Boinc that often. It runs in the background, does its own thing, and can normally be left to its own devices quite successfully. I checked about 12 hours ago, and noticed that I had not gained any credit for about a day. Thought to my self "Pending credit" and did other things. looked again just now, still no gains, so checked, and the the WUs I had that were pending credit had all been submitted over 24 hours ago. In other-words I had not got any credit because I had not done anything to get credit for. I opened Boinc, and everything looked normal, so I waited a minute, and nothing started processing, and it should have. So I opened the "Event log".. Suspending computation - computer is in use (at 3am, when I was asleep) Resuming computation (one hour later) Suspending computation - computer is in use (3 seconds later) Resuming computation (15 minutes later) Suspending computation - computer is in use (4 seconds later) and so on, along the same lines, for the last 24 hours+. Boinc was thinking the computer was being used almost all the time, when it was not! SO I sat and watched it. Nothing happened, not even the screen saver came on. So I looked into this setting, that setting, CPU temps, drive temps, ran a Virus scan, an on-line scan, Rebooted, un-installed a newly installed Wi-Fi dongle driver and swapped the dongle back to the old one & I got quite worried as to who was using my PC remotely. I sat back, and pondered, everything came up clean, I had undone recent changes, and it would not crunch..... Then I SAW IT. The mouse pointer moved ONE pixel. About 5 mins later it moved another pixel. I turned my optical mouse over, and it had a hair in the sensor. The hair was being moved by the exhaust from my pc's case fan as it blows over my desk past the mouse. Moved just enough to keep the PC "active" but not enough to make the pointer move a lot, as the gap between mouse and desk is very small. To make sure I was right I removed the hair, and moved the mouse. 1 Minute later Seti started up, and ran quite happily for 15 mins. Moral: If your PC wont crunch make sure your optical mouse is crud free. It might save you a lot of time...... ;) |
trader Send message Joined: 25 Jun 00 Posts: 126 Credit: 4,968,173 RAC: 0 |
moral..... don't shed near your mouse. Good catch! |
James Sotherden Send message Joined: 16 May 99 Posts: 10436 Credit: 110,373,059 RAC: 54 |
In prefferances under processor usage you could have checked no for suspend work while computer is in use. That would have prevented that problem. [/quote] Old James |
HAL9000 Send message Joined: 11 Sep 99 Posts: 6534 Credit: 196,805,888 RAC: 57 |
I have to admit that made me laugh. As a keeper of things small and furry I learned some time ago about keeping the optical mouse clean of the fuzzies. SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[ |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51469 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
I have noticed a similar thing once in a while with my mouse. It sits on the arm of my sofa, and once in a while, if it is sitting just right, the cord hanging down with move just enough from the breeze from the computer cooling fans that it will register, thus keeping the monitor from powering down. I don't lock out my rigs from crunching whilst in use, so it has never stopped my Seti work. Just get up in the morning once in a while and find the monitor has never gone to sleep. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
About three weeks ago I went from a sensor Logitech mouse (red light) to a laser Logitech mouse (no light). Uninstalled the old drivers, installed the new ones. Plugged in the Unity plug in a front USB port. Since the first day my computer refused to go into hibernation at 7am, as it had always done without problems with the sensor mouse. Well, it would go into hibernation and then anywhere between 30 seconds and an hour restart. I found out that it was due to the new mouse. Apparently the minutest of vibrations will translate into this mouse as movement. So I set everything around the mouse and USB ports in device manager to not be able to power up or wake up my computer. Moving the mouse still wakes my computer... Luckily, there's a switch at the underside of the mouse, with which you can turn the thing off. So that's the thing I need to remember to do before I leave for bed. And of course, the next day when I start using the PC again, remember to turn the switch back on, as else it's 'why doesn't the mouse pointer move'. ;-) |
kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51469 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
About three weeks ago I went from a sensor Logitech mouse (red light) to a laser Logitech mouse (no light). Uninstalled the old drivers, installed the new ones. Plugged in the Unity plug in a front USB port. I just had to replace the batteries in my monitor's remote control, and have to remember to manually power down the monitor when I go to bed. "Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
I just had to replace the batteries in my monitor's remote control, and have to remember to manually power down the monitor when I go to bed. The batteries in the mouse are brand-spanking new and will last 3 years. That's a good thing, as before with the sensor mouse I would have to replace the batteries every 4 weeks. |
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