Another copy of BOINC is already running

Questions and Answers : Unix/Linux : Another copy of BOINC is already running
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Ralph

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Message 600 - Posted: 23 Jun 2004, 10:16:32 UTC

Just downloaded and unzipped boinc_3.18_i686-pc-linux-gnu.

When starting, only the message:

Another copy of BOINC is already running

is printed, and the program terminates.

What's wrong?

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Profile Charles Dennett

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Message 650 - Posted: 23 Jun 2004, 13:40:56 UTC
Last modified: 23 Jun 2004, 13:41:25 UTC

If you are sure there really is no other boinc or SAH process running, simply cd to the directory where you run boinc and remove the file called "lockfile".

The boinc code client creates this file when it runs to signal it is running. It should remove it when it terminates normally. However, if it does not terminate normally, it may leave it hanging around.


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Darren
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Message 787 - Posted: 23 Jun 2004, 20:49:17 UTC - in response to Message 650.  

> If you are sure there really is no other boinc or SAH process running, simply
> cd to the directory where you run boinc and remove the file called
> "lockfile".

I've gotten the same message a couple times and removing the lockfile wouldn't clear it. In checking ps -e, I would find that even though the seti process had been terminated properly, on those occassions for some reason the boinc process didn't terminate. Killing the boinc PID allowed me to restart it with no problems.


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Ralph

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Message 1105 - Posted: 24 Jun 2004, 12:04:02 UTC - in response to Message 787.  

Thank you for your help.

> If you are sure there really is no other boinc or SAH process running,

Sorry, I should have mentioned this in my post:

boinc_3.18_i686-pc-linux-gnu is the _only_ file in this folder.
and no other boinc is running, of course. Even killing s@h didn't help.

But: I've just moved boinc to my seti folder, and it works!

I thought, that boinc would start from scratch, as setiathome did in its first run. Did I miss something in the installation instructions?
BTW, I wonder, how a new user can run boinc without having a s@h client installed.


Ralph
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Profile Charles Dennett

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Message 1164 - Posted: 24 Jun 2004, 13:44:32 UTC - in response to Message 1105.  
Last modified: 24 Jun 2004, 13:47:08 UTC

> Thank you for your help.
>
> > If you are sure there really is no other boinc or SAH process running,
>
> Sorry, I should have mentioned this in my post:
>
> boinc_3.18_i686-pc-linux-gnu is the _only_ file in this folder.
> and no other boinc is running, of course. Even killing s@h didn't help.
>
> But: I've just moved boinc to my seti folder, and it works!
>
> I thought, that boinc would start from scratch, as setiathome did in its first
> run. Did I miss something in the installation instructions?
> BTW, I wonder, how a new user can run boinc without having a s@h client
> installed.


The only way you can tell is the process is really running would be to use the ps command (I like to use "ps -ef" on my system). When boinc is running, you should see the boinc process and the client process for whatever project you are running at the time.

For the linux install all you get is the boinc executable. When I get the latest from Berkeley, I keep it in a directory where I keep all previous versions. Then I copy it to /usr/local/bin and name it simply "boinc". Since /usr/local/bin is in my path, entering the command "boinc" kicks it off.

For a new user, that by itself will not do any real work. The user must register at the particular project's web site. The user will receive an email with the project's URL and an account id. Then to get boinc to know about that project, the user must enter the command "boinc -attach_project". It will ask for the URL and account id that was sent in the email. Once those are entered, boinc will contact the project, download the project's executable (the s@h client you ask about above) and a set of workunits and start crunching. The user does not download the client manually. The boinc framework takes care of that based on what the workunits need.

BTW, I suggest creating a directory where you run boinc. I created one called Boinc in my home directory and run it there. That way I keep all the files and directories boinc creates separate. I also redirect stdout and stderr to files and run boinc in the background. In fact, I wrote a script suitable for use as a boot time script (but can be run anytime) that will stop/start/restart boinc. I mentioned it in another posting. Feel free to snarf a copy from http://www.dennett.org/boincctl. Instructions for configuring are in the script. You should know how boot time scripts work on your system. I have RedHat 9 (and have extensive experience with Solaris) and know it will work with those two flavors. As for others, your're on your own (although I've had a report that it worked fine with gentoo after a tweak or two.)
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jkmobrien

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Message 1205 - Posted: 24 Jun 2004, 15:11:14 UTC

I had this problem and it was caused by not having read/write permissions for the directory I had copied the executable to. chown or chmod will fix that.

John
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Ralph

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Message 2525 - Posted: 29 Jun 2004, 7:34:14 UTC - in response to Message 1205.  

> it was caused by not having read/write permissions

Yes, that fixed my problem -- though I'd prefer more sophisticated reasons for my troubles.

After searching for almost four years, E.T. has sent a "Hello World" to me last week -- but I missed it, because I had no write permission. Aaaargh!
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Questions and Answers : Unix/Linux : Another copy of BOINC is already running


 
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