Hi,
I have been reading a lot about using App_Config Or App_Info to control Seti@Home. What I don't understand what is the difference between them.
1. They are both XML Documents
2. They use a slightly different commands to do the same thing
I use App_Info should I change

Thanks MarkS

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Hi,
I have been reading a lot about using App_Config Or App_Info to control Seti@Home. What I don't understand what is the difference between them.
1. They are both XML Documents

Yes.

2. They use a slightly different commands to do the same thing

No. They do very different things.

I use App_Info should I change

Thanks MarkS

Most advanced users would probably use both in tandem, and you're welcome to join their ranks.

App_info first. This is incredibly powerful, incredibly complicated, and incredibly destructive if you get it wrong. Congratulations for using it. Most people get their app_info by running the 'Lunatics' installer package (not yet available for v8, but we're working on it). App_info controls exactly how SETI runs on your computer, most importantly which applications you use. We (Lunatics) supply the basic framework, but we can't do the fine tuning to suit everybody.

App_config provides the fine tuning for whatever you have already, whether that's controlled by app_info or by the project servers ('stock'). It avoids all that scary 'powerful, complicated, destructive' stuff. App_config can be your friend, but it'll never replace app_info.

The way I look at it is:

app_info is used to tell BOINC what specific application to run for task.

app_config is used to specify how to use your GPU's, more specific how many tasks to run and reserving cores. This can be done in app_info as well, but much easier (I find) in app_config.

And they are NOT xml files, they are plain text files with an XML extension (and format) ... use notepad to edit them.

EDIT: Darn it, I had names backward, now corrected.

Other way round, but basically right. App_info controls which application to use.

"Drawback" of App_Config is that you need to use new versions of BOINC. And I personally do not like the layout of BOINC > 6.

Hence, I am sticking with the old one and I can only use App_Info. A price to pay to feel at ease.

Sleepy

the 'Lunatics' installer package (not yet available for v8, but we're working on it).

Hi Richard, can I tempt you to hazard a guess when it might be ready??

You can tempt me, but I won't - can't - even guess. That depends on the developers being satisfied that all tests have been passed, and we're not there yet. I'll dig out a cautionary tale from this weeks edition of New Scientist, received this morning, and post it somewhere: I'm not falling into the public relations trap of "release on timetable, ready or not".

Richard,

I really appreciate your and rest of the team that does so much for SETI@home not holding to any artificial schedule. In my career I was faced with this type of challenge and standing up to the marketers was always a real pain in my moral neck.

Thanks for your strong ethic in this regard!

John

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Richard, Thank you for your stand of NOT releasing on a time table, but releasing when it is READY. I wish I had worked for someone like you. Most of my career it was always put together a plan with timelines. Then you are stuck with it. A plan is nothing more than an educated guess and does not trump reality.

Herb

"Drawback" of App_Config is that you need to use new versions of BOINC. And I personally do not like the layout of BOINC > 6.

Hence, I am sticking with the old one and I can only use App_Info. A price to pay to feel at ease.

Sleepy

I don't like the GUI of BOINC 7.x either. While is why I still use boincmgr.exe v6.10.48. You can update to the newest version of BOINC & retain the old GUI if you backup the program directory, install the new version, & then copy boincmgr.exe over the v7 one. You may also need to copy a few other files depending on your OS. For Windows 7 I think there was only 1 .dll required to support the older manager GUI. Windows XP required several other files as I recall.

This will allow you to have the latest version of BOINC & retain the GUI you are accustom to using. This will also not give you access to some of the new GUI options. So another solution is to rename the v7 boincmgr.exe, I used boincmgrv7.exe, before copying the v6 boincmgr.exe into your program directory.

They can have my messages tab when they pry it from my cold dead hands!

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

Is it correct to say that neither of these two files is created/installed by the stock app? They are created by the end user, or added by 3rd party installers (ie Lunatics).

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Is it correct to say that neither of these two files is created/installed by the stock app? They are created by the end user, or added by 3rd party installers (ie Lunatics).

Correct on both counts. They are both optional - it doesn't matter if either or both of them don't exist.

If you try one of them out, and decide you don't need it, you should finish all current work, report it, delete the file(s), restart BOINC, and reset the project before requesting new work. They're persistent little b****rs.

It is my assumption that that statement would be correct.

Thanks, guys - especially mr.mac52 and Herb Smith - for your kind words about holding on until the apps are properly ready. We've been very busy behind the scenes today, and it looks as if one of the problems has cracked tonight under the onslaught - though probably all that will do is reveal the headlight of the next oncoming train in the tunnel. They'll be ready when they're ready.

There are also possible signs that the external pressure on Eric to meet a release deadline may mean that some revision may be needed to the stock apps too - too early to tell.

The odd thing is that there's no sign yet of any publicity initiative of the kind I was expecting to see at one or all of the related websites:

http://seti.berkeley.edu/SETIProjects (SETI at Berkeley)
http://www.seti.org/ (SETI Institute)
http://www.breakthroughinitiatives.org/Initiative/1 (Breakthrough Listen)

Recently I've been testing SETi@home BETAs...so I've also wanted to configure SETi@home to use 1/2 of my Quadro2000 card...here is the code of app_config.xml :

<app_config>
    <app>
      <name>setiathome_v7</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>1.0</gpu_usage>        
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>opencl_intel_gpu_sah</plan_class>
       <ngpus>1.0</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
    <app>
      <name>setiathome_v7</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>0.5</gpu_usage>
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>cuda50</plan_class>
       <ngpus>0.5</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>cuda42</plan_class>
       <ngpus>0.5</ngpus>
    </app_version>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>cuda32</plan_class>
       <ngpus>0.5</ngpus>
    </app_version>
    <app>
      <name>astropulse_v7</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>1.0</gpu_usage>
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>astropulse_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>opencl_intel_gpu_102</plan_class>
       <avg_ncpus>0.2</avg_ncpus>
       <ngpus>1.0</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
    <app>
      <name>astropulse_v7</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>1.0</gpu_usage>
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>astropulse_v7</app_name>
       <plan_class>opencl_nvidia_100</plan_class>
       <avg_ncpus>0.2</avg_ncpus>
       <ngpus>1.0</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
    <app>
      <name>setiathome_v8</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>1.0</gpu_usage>        
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v8</app_name>
       <plan_class>opencl_intel_gpu_sah</plan_class>
       <ngpus>1.0</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
    <app>
      <name>setiathome_v8</name>
      <gpu_versions>
          <gpu_usage>0.5</gpu_usage>
      </gpu_versions>
    </app>
    <app_version>
       <app_name>setiathome_v8</app_name>
       <plan_class>opencl_nvidia_sah</plan_class>
       <ngpus>0.5</ngpus>
       <cmdline></cmdline>
    </app_version>
</app_config>

got this message on BOINC log:

1/8/2016 11:06:39 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Sending scheduler request: To fetch work.
1/8/2016 11:06:39 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Requesting new tasks for NVIDIA
1/8/2016 11:06:41 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Scheduler request completed: got 0 new tasks
[color=red]1/8/2016 11:06:41 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Entry in app_config.xml for app 'setiathome_v8', plan class 'cuda50' doesn't match any app versions
1/8/2016 11:06:41 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Entry in app_config.xml for app 'setiathome_v8', plan class 'cuda42' doesn't match any app versions
1/8/2016 11:06:41 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Entry in app_config.xml for app 'setiathome_v8', plan class 'cuda32' doesn't match any app versions
1/8/2016 11:06:41 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Entry in app_config.xml for app 'astropulse_v7', plan class 'opencl_intel_gpu_102' doesn't match any app versions[/color]
1/8/2016 11:06:52 AM | SETI@home Beta Test | Finished download of 06ap11ag.29643.8247.8.42.148

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non-profit org. Play4Life in Zagreb, Croatia, EU

Which is to be expected. You can't configure something you haven't got.