Hi, I just received my new mac pro with a 3.5 GHz 6-core CPU (and twin killer GPUs). However, on Seti@home I still only run 8 work units simultaneously. Does anyone know why? I should be running 12 (2 per core). Any thoughts/experience otherwise?

Thanks,

Mark

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If I were you, I'd forget about the CPUs until after you got those GPUs running the Mac ATI App. You can find most of what you need in this thread; Running APs on Mac ATIs. There is another thread here; Astropulse 6.07 for MacOS/X64 with NVIDIA and ATI/AMD GPUs released. The current Mac ATI App is ap_6.08r1874ae_sse3_clATI_OSX64 or astropulse_6.08_x86_64-apple-darwin__opencl_ati_100 at Beta. You will have to run as Anonymous platform, not 'stock'.

Yes, we are working on that. Expect an entirely compatible OpenCL Mac version of SETI later this summer.

So, in the mean time: how about those spare CPU cores not doing anything...? :)

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Don't know, my Mac doesn't support HT. Anything I suggested would be a guess. Do you have 'On multiprocessor systems, use at most _____ % of the processors' set to 100?

Yes at 100%, thank you

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Do you have a cc_config.xml file in your BOINC Data folder? If you do, try setting the number of CPUs to 12 with <ncpus>12</ncpus> in the options section, http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration#Options

<cc_config>
<log_flags>
<http_debug>0</http_debug>
</log_flags>
<options>
<dont_contact_ref_site>1</dont_contact_ref_site>
<use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus>
<ncpus>12</ncpus>
<max_file_xfers_per_project>8</max_file_xfers_per_project>
<save_stats_days>365</save_stats_days>
<no_priority_change>1</no_priority_change>
</options>
</cc_config>

So, in the mean time: how about those spare CPU cores not doing anything...? :)

In your computing preferences, set 'On multiprocessors, use at most' to 100% 'of the processors', you can also set 'On multiprocessors, use at most' to 12 'processors',
But it shouldn't be utilised unless 'On multiprocessors, use at most of the processors' has been set to zero,

If you're set the computing preferences in Boinc Manager before (local preferences override web preferences), you can change them by going 'Tools>Computing preferences' and change the 'On multiprocessors, use at most' setting there, Or press Clear to revert to web computing preferences.

Claggy

I looked, no such file...

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Yeah I've tried that. It is always set at "use 100% of processors".. still only 8 threads

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has anyone actually gotten more than 8 threads to run in parallel?

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Yeah I've tried that. It is always set at "use 100% of processors".. still only 8 threads

Where did you try it? Web or Local?

Claggy

I've seen a few running more than 8, but, they weren't Macs. Not sure about a Mac. You can make a cc_config.xml file using my above example. Easiest way would be to duplicate an existing .xml file, then change the name and replace the contents. You can delete the entries you don't want from the example. You could just run a couple GPU tasks to use the unused cores...that would work.

I've seen a few running more than 8, but, they weren't Macs. Not sure about a Mac. You can make a cc_config.xml file using my above example. Easiest way would be to duplicate an existing .xml file, then change the name and replace the contents. You can delete the entries you don't want from the example. You could just run a couple GPU tasks to use the unused cores...that would work.

Why wouldn't it work on a Mac?

As always, read the BOINC start-up messages.

10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] Processor: 4 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz [Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 7]
...
...
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [SETI@home] General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 07-Sep-2010 00:22:46)
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [SETI@home] Host location: none
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [SETI@home] General prefs: using your defaults
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] Reading preferences override file
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] Preferences:
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] max memory usage when active: 2047.23MB
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] max memory usage when idle: 2047.23MB
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] max disk usage: 37.26GB
10-May-2014 19:14:03 [---] max CPUs used: 3

Does BOINC see all cores?
Where are preferences being read from - local (as here), or from the web?
What is the web "On multiprocessors, use at most" value - the default is 8. That's one of the few which can't be over-ridden via a local GUI, and I'm guessing the OP doesn't want to get into the hassle of editing text config files.

Here you go Richard, http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=7285978
As you see, it says 12 CPUs.
And with that, I'm Outta here.
Have fun.

Here you go Richard, http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=7285978
As you see, it says 12 CPUs.
And with that, I'm Outta here.
Have fun.

All that says is that either Boinc is properly detecting his number of cores, either real or virtual, or that he has <ncpus>12</ncpus> set to 12, nothing more, if he has that set to say 6, then the computer details page will say it is a 6 processor Xeon E5-1650

Claggy

Here you go Richard, http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=7285978
As you see, it says 12 CPUs.
And with that, I'm Outta here.
Have fun.

All that says is that either Boinc is properly detecting his number of cores, either real or virtual, or that he has <ncpus>12</ncpus> set to 12, nothing more, if he has that set to say 6, then the computer details page will say it is a 6 processor Xeon E5-1650

Claggy

Well, he told us "no such file...", so I doubt he's got it deliberately configured that way.

So, I think we can take it that the first of my questions is answered - but the purpose of asking it was more to guide both the OP and his helpers to read the event log for the other goodies contained therein.

Hi Everyone. My web preferences are set to 12 CPUs, and my app preferences are set to 100% CPUs.

Here is the startup log from BOINC, and you'll note that it sees all 12 CPUs:

Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | cc_config.xml not found - using defaults
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Starting BOINC client version 7.2.42 for x86_64-apple-darwin
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Libraries: libcurl/7.26.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1e zlib/1.2.5 c-ares/1.9.1
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Data directory: /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD - FirePro D700 Compute Engine (driver version 1.2 (May 2 2014 23:41:17), device version OpenCL 1.2, 2048MB, 2048MB available, 2176 GFLOPS peak)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 1: AMD Radeon HD - FirePro D700 Compute Engine (driver version 1.2 (May 2 2014 23:41:17), device version OpenCL 1.2, 2048MB, 2048MB available, 384 GFLOPS peak)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1650 v2 @ 3.50GHz (OpenCL driver vendor: Apple, driver version 1.1, device version OpenCL 1.2)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Host name: Marks-Mac-Pro.local
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Processor: 12 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1650 v2 @ 3.50GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 62 Stepping 4]
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clfsh ds acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss htt tm pbe pni pclmulqdq dtes64 mon dscpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 tpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt aes pcid xsave osxsave tsctmr avx rdrand f16c
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OS: Mac OS X 10.9.3 (Darwin 13.2.0)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Memory: 64.00 GB physical, 894.83 GB virtual
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Disk: 931.04 GB total, 894.58 GB free
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Local time is UTC -7 hours
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | URL http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID 7285978; resource share 100
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 20-May-2014 02:04:05)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | Computer location: home
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Reading preferences override file
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Preferences:
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max memory usage when active: 58982.40MB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max memory usage when idle: 58982.40MB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max disk usage: 837.94GB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Not using a proxy
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Sending scheduler request: To fetch work.
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Reporting 1 completed tasks
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Requesting new tasks for CPU and ATI
Wed May 21 18:33:07 2014 | SETI@home | Scheduler request completed: got 1 new tasks
Wed May 21 18:33:09 2014 | SETI@home | Started download of 05dc08ag.4440.11115.438086664206.12.116
Wed May 21 18:33:10 2014 | SETI@home | Finished download of 05dc08ag.4440.11115.438086664206.12.116


Any thoughts? Thank you!

Mark

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Hi Everyone. My web preferences are set to 12 CPUs, and my app preferences are set to 100% CPUs.

Here is the startup log from BOINC, and you'll note that it sees all 12 CPUs:

Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | cc_config.xml not found - using defaults
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Starting BOINC client version 7.2.42 for x86_64-apple-darwin
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Libraries: libcurl/7.26.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1e zlib/1.2.5 c-ares/1.9.1
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Data directory: /Library/Application Support/BOINC Data
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD - FirePro D700 Compute Engine (driver version 1.2 (May 2 2014 23:41:17), device version OpenCL 1.2, 2048MB, 2048MB available, 2176 GFLOPS peak)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 1: AMD Radeon HD - FirePro D700 Compute Engine (driver version 1.2 (May 2 2014 23:41:17), device version OpenCL 1.2, 2048MB, 2048MB available, 384 GFLOPS peak)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OpenCL CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1650 v2 @ 3.50GHz (OpenCL driver vendor: Apple, driver version 1.1, device version OpenCL 1.2)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Host name: Marks-Mac-Pro.local
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Processor: 12 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-1650 v2 @ 3.50GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 62 Stepping 4]
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clfsh ds acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss htt tm pbe pni pclmulqdq dtes64 mon dscpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 tpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic popcnt aes pcid xsave osxsave tsctmr avx rdrand f16c
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | OS: Mac OS X 10.9.3 (Darwin 13.2.0)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Memory: 64.00 GB physical, 894.83 GB virtual
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Disk: 931.04 GB total, 894.58 GB free
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Local time is UTC -7 hours
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | URL http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID 7285978; resource share 100
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | General prefs: from SETI@home (last modified 20-May-2014 02:04:05)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | Computer location: home
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | SETI@home | General prefs: no separate prefs for home; using your defaults
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Reading preferences override file
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Preferences:
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max memory usage when active: 58982.40MB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max memory usage when idle: 58982.40MB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | max disk usage: 837.94GB
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | (to change preferences, visit a project web site or select Preferences in the Manager)
Wed May 21 18:33:05 2014 | | Not using a proxy
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Sending scheduler request: To fetch work.
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Reporting 1 completed tasks
Wed May 21 18:33:06 2014 | SETI@home | Requesting new tasks for CPU and ATI
Wed May 21 18:33:07 2014 | SETI@home | Scheduler request completed: got 1 new tasks
Wed May 21 18:33:09 2014 | SETI@home | Started download of 05dc08ag.4440.11115.438086664206.12.116
Wed May 21 18:33:10 2014 | SETI@home | Finished download of 05dc08ag.4440.11115.438086664206.12.116


Any thoughts? Thank you!

Mark

Do you have any processor limits set locally or over the project pages? Otherwise I'd think that you should be using all of them (except for any GPU work limitations).

Cheers.

No, as per all of my previous comments.

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Sorry I just checked that rig's details and noticed that you arn't using the GPU.

I don't usually like to suggest this, but have you tried the reset project option?

Cheers.