Hi everyone,

Rev-2.2B of the KWSN/Lunatics.at optimized apps have been released.

One issue was fixed in the science app and the Auto-Installer each, and two new features were introduced in the Auto Installer tool.

Fixed Issue #1 - in rare cases, correctly crunched WUs would not validate.
Fixed Issue #2 - the Auto-Installer would not overwrite files.

The Auto-Installer tool now stops the BOINC service and manager before starting the benchmarks. It also starts them again afterwards. The second new feature is that it now tries to determine the correct path to BOINC via the registry before searching likely places on the hard disk(s). This should make non-default install locations work in most cases, as well.

The download links from the previous posts still work, I've just updated the files they point to.

All released versions (with or without graphics and both Auto-Installer packs) are superseded by these; please update.

Regards,
Simon.

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Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

Hi folks,

it's been a long time coming: new optimized Linux science apps based on the same R-2.2B code as the Windows ones have been released.

The Linux Port was done by Crunch3r, Hans Dorn and myself, the 2.2B code is by Ben Herndon, Josef W. Segur and Alex Kan with some compatibility edits by me.

MMX - Intel P1MMX/P2, AMD Athlon
SSE - Intel P3, Athlon XP
SSE2-generic - AMD Athlon64/X2
SSE2-P4 - Intel P4 (Willamette & Northwood)
SSE2-PM - Intel Pentium M/Banias/Core Solo or Duo (NOT Core 2 Duo!)
SSE3-P4 - Intel P4 (Prescott) and Pentium D
SSE3-C2 - Intel Core 2 Duo & Quad

Please unpack the app of your choice ("tar xfvj KWSN-R2.2B--SSE.tar.bz2") and read Instructions.txt inside the folder it creates.

Should you be unsure about which version to use, please type:

"cat /proc/cpuinfo"

This should show you what CPU you have, whether it's an AMD or an Intel one and what its name is. Should be helpful in choosing; if you're still unsure, please check out the previous posts for the Windows versions. If that still didn't help, please post at lunatics.at about it.

Happy Linux crunching!
Simon.

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Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

Hi,

due to some problems with different distros, we've compiled new apps based on the Rev-2.2B Linux code.

Also, the initially released SSE3-P4 app has some accuracy problems; if you're running it, this is a required upgrade - you'll produce invalid results and lose credit otherwise.

The download links remain the same, they just contain two different versions of each app now: one for Kernel-2.4.x and one for Kernel-2.6.x.

These are dynamically linked apps; the statified ones did not resolve the problems - these apps seem to work on more systems.

Should you still experience trouble on your platform, please post about it at lunatics.at.

Regards,
Simon.

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Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

Hi,

shortly after the 32-Bit Linux app release, here are some 64-bit science apps based on the same code.

They were ported to 64-bit Linux by Crunch3r and have produced reliable and accurate results in all tests.

Performance is better than the equivalent 32-bit apps on Intel systems, on AMD systems it's not as clear; some assembly may be required.

Nota bene - Requirements

• 64-bit Linux 2.6.x - sorry, no 2.4 supported.
  
• glibc 2.3.4 or newer - find out what version yours is by typing "/lib/libc.so.6" on a new line - as if you were trying to execute the library itself, that will show you details about your installed glibc version.
  
• 64-bit BOINC client - caution: this will limit your choice of other project to participate in at the same time, because not a lot of them offer 64-bit science apps yet.
  

64-bit Linux science apps:

SSE2-generic
SSE3-Intel-P4/PD
SSE3-Intel-Core 2

Double the bits, double the fun ;o)
Simon.

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Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

Hi,

Here are some new optimized apps for alternative platforms based on the 2.3A source tree of the "chicken app".

They were ported to 64-bit Linux by me and have produced reliable and accurate results in all tests.

Performance is far better than any 64-bit app on IA64 and Alpha.
Improvements are in the range of 30 to 60%.

The IA64 app beat's the one from stefan urbat by allmost 50% and the alpha app is 50% faster than a build from the 5.17 source tree.

for Alpha EV67 runing Linux (EV6) This one runs on EV67 cpus and might run on EV6,but it's untested.

for Intel ITANIUM running Linux This one runs on any Itanium CPU.

Both downloads include a text file about the host it was build on and the library dependencies. Make sure you have a look at it first !

P.S.

Next one will be SPARC64 running linux.

---

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Hi,

Here are some new optimized apps for FreeBSD based on the 2.3A source tree of the "chicken app".

They were ported to 32-bit FreeBSD 6.2, all compiled with ICC 9.1, FFT is FFTW3 3.1.2 Alpha.

Here are the links:

FreeBSD SSE

FreeBSD SSE2

FreeBSD SSE3


P.S. i would appreciate some comments about those in this thread.

Porting 2.2B "chicken app" to alt. platforms or over at http://lunatics.at

Thanks.

---

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Hi,

Here is a new optimized app. for HPUX 11.11 on PARISC based on the 2.4 source tree of the "chicken app" ready for Multi Beam WUs.


1. Ported to HPUX on PARISC 2.0 ,compiled with HPs native C++ (aCC), FFT is FFTW3 3.1.2 Alpha.

2.4 MultiBeam for HPUX PARISC 2.0

2. Ported to HPUX on Itanium, HP-GCC 4.1.0 vectorization enabled, FFT is FFTW3 3.1.2 Alpha.

2.4 MultiBeam for HPUX Itanium IA64


P.S. i would appreciate some comments about the app. in this thread Porting 2.2B "chicken app" to alt. platforms
or over at Lunatics.at.

Thanks.

---

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Hi folks,

Code Revision 2.4 of the KWSN/Lunatics.at SETI@Home optimized apps has been released.

This new revision supersedes all previously released apps for all platforms and adds Multibeam compatibility as well as some performance gains.

The people responsible for this new version are, in no particular order, Josef W. Segur, Crunch3r, Ben Herndon and Alex Kan. A great big "thank you", guys!

Thanks also to the tireless members of the prerelease test community!

Since there are so many platforms it took me a full 3 hours to upload and write up the announcements at lunatics.at, please find your brand new SETI@Home science app here:

http://lunatics.at/discussion-forum/releases-all-released-versions-are-announced-here.0.html

I want to stress that this is a required update! Please read this thread to find out more.

Also, the recommendation from the team at lunatics.at is to run 64-bit apps only via a 64-bit BOINC version - anything else is something you do at your own risk. It may work, it may not, but we're not going to offer support if you choose that route.

You're hereby encouraged to register and take part in the community - we value your input.

Regards,
Simon.

---

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Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

[On behalf of Alex Kan who is currently unable to post here himself.]

The optimised Mac apps, updated with the new multiplier, are now available via this link

Mac OS X optimized applications Mac OS X 10.3.9 and newer)
ppc-v7.1mb-g4-nographics - optimized for all G4s
ppc-v7.1mb-g5-nographics - optimized for all G5s
i386-v7.2mb-coreduo-nographics - optimized for Intel Core Duo-based Macs
i386-v7.2mb-core2-nographics - optimized for Intel Core 2 Duo or Xeon-based Macs

• updated credit multiplier for Multibeam
  
• support for <credit_rate> tag for variable credit multipliers in future work units
  

This is a required update for everyone running any Mac OS X optimized client, including prerelease apps. Until the stock Mac OS X app is updated to 5.27, this is the only way to get correct credit claims if you are running SETI on a Mac.

Crunch3r has made new 32 bit Windows Vista compatible builds of the 2.4 lunatics.at optimized applications, available from http://calbe.dw70.de/seti.html. His testing indicates some increase in speed as well as the Vista compatibility.

When Simon has time, these will be listed at lunatics.at. For now they are only available from Crunch3r's page.

For those running Pentium-M or Core Solo/Core Duo (not Core 2), the Windows_x32_SSE2 version should be best, the specific Pentium-M build option (xB) has been deprecated in the Intel Compiler.

                                                                Joe

Crunch3r has posted revised versions of the 2.4 lunatics.at optimized applications for 32-bit Windows at the same address, http://calbe.dw70.de/seti.html. The new revisions are dated 26 August 2007, and show Revision: R-2.4v in stderr_txt.

Test copies have been running on my 32-bit Windows Vista machine for the last 12 hours without error: I am happy to withdraw the caution notice in my previous post.

Edit: Users wishing to upgrade direct from Chicken 2.2B - usually showing 'setiathome_enhanced 5.17' in the Application column in BOINC Manager - are warned that the file "app_info.xml" distributed with these interim builds does not contain a reference to version 517. You may lose any previously-downloaded work, including work in progress, if you upgrade without modifying this file. If you do not already know what modifications are needed, seek advice in Number Crunching (not in this thread) before upgrading.

Further to my note last night in the 'New Optimised Apps' thread:

I think it is now safe to upgrade to an optimised SETI application on 32-bit Microsoft Vista - the only platform where it previously wasn't safe.

I think you should upgrade: it's quicker, and fairer.

You can upgrade directly from 2.2B to 2.4v without reverting to stock first or losing any work, provided you're careful and understand what you're doing - whatever anyone else says.

So there's no excuse - Please do it now

Now for the details: you'll need a file called "app_info.xml". Crunch3r has supplied one with your optimised app, but you'll probably need to modify it slightly. Use a simple text editor like notepad, and read the instructions in full before you start.

Here is an example app_info.xml file, as it's running on my machine. It does everything I've claimed above.

<app_info>
    <app>
        <name>setiathome_enhanced</name>
    </app>
    <file_info>
        <name>[b][color=green]KWSN_2.4V_MB_SSSE3.exe[/color][/b]</name>
        <executable/>
    </file_info>
    <app_version>
        <app_name>setiathome_enhanced</app_name>
        <version_num>[b][color=red]517[/color][/b]</version_num>
        <file_ref>
            <file_name>[b][color=green]KWSN_2.4V_MB_SSSE3.exe[/color][/b]</file_name>
            <main_program/>
        </file_ref>
    </app_version>
    <app_version>
        <app_name>setiathome_enhanced</app_name>
        <version_num>[b][color=red]527[/color][/b]</version_num>
        <file_ref>
           <file_name>[b][color=green]KWSN_2.4V_MB_SSSE3.exe[/color][/b]</file_name>
            <main_program/>
        </file_ref>
    </app_version>
</app_info>

Note the bits I've picked out in colo(u)r:

The version number in red.
You need two of these. The first one should match the version you're currently running. 517 is right for most Chicken 2.2B optimisations. It may be different if you're upgrading from a different optimisation or older version of Chicken. Check first: this is the number that you see when BOINC is running, as 'Application setiathome_enhanced 5.17' in BOINC Manager (only without the period/decimal point). Use the number you see on your own screen - don't just blindly follow the example I've given here.

The second version number - 527 - tells Berkeley that you're in line with the current stock application. It also means that, when you next download new work, the application will be described as 'setiathome_enhanced 5.27' to confirm that you've done everything right. Leave this second version number as in my example.

The file names in green.
These appear three times, and must be exactly the same each time. The ones in my example are suitable for a Core 2 or quad, but as with all optimisations, you must use an application which is suitable for your particular CPU (use CPU-Z if you're not sure). The name you use in this file must, reasonably enough, match the name of the optimised application you've chosen to download and install. They should be right in the downloaded app_info.xml file, but it's always good to check.

And that's it. Happy (optimised) crunching.

Mac OS X optimized applications (Mac OS X 10.3.9 and newer)

i386-v7.2mb1-coreduo-nographics
i386-v7.2mb1-core2-nographics

• pulse-finding fixes to address weakly similar WUs
  

source code

Crunch3r has posted brand new 32 bit and 64 bit builds for Windows. They should be compatible with Vista, and test out a few percent faster than the old 2.4 builds.
You can download them here, from Crunch3r's site.

Note....
There is a very small bug in the app_info.xml files which causes a 'unparsed line' error that is listed in the Boinc startup messages. It is caused by an extra blank line in the file just before the very last line. It does not cause any problems. You can ignore the error in Boinc, everything works fine. Or if you are so inclined, you can edit the blank line out of the app_info.xml file.

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"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

Posting for Alex as his RAC is too low again.

No, I didn't forget about all of you, but as time went on, it became easier to just do small-scale (rather than real-world) testing. Also, it eventually became clear to me that if I was going to be a perfectionist about this, I would never wind up releasing anything. So, without further ado...here's v8!

G4
G5
CoreDuo
Core 2
Xeon

Note that there are two different Core 2 apps now, one for C2D machines, and one for Xeons. It was thanks to my pretesters that I recognized that the performance characteristics of Mac Pros are sufficiently different from iMacs and MacBooks to merit their own separate builds. Hopefully this app will also address whatever other smaller issues people were seeing, since all of them are now built against more recently BOINC libraries, and should all have their app icons properly baked in.

Source code to this release is also available. Note that there are two separate Xcode projects (since I build with different compilers and libraries depending on whether I'm building for PowerPC or Intel), but all the source code should be the same.

Let me know if anything goes wrong. It was kind of a mad scramble today to unify the source bases and get everything built, so it's entirely possible that I may have overlooked something in all the craziness.

---

Posting for Alex as his RAC is too low again.

Let me know if anything goes wrong. It was kind of a mad scramble today to unify the source bases and get everything built, so it's entirely possible that I may have overlooked something in all the craziness.

Comments on the applications can be made at MacNN forums

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Solaris optimized binaries.

We know these binaries work for Solaris 10 and upwards. For more information about installing please visit http://seti.smlug.net/downloads.php?lang=en

UltraSparc II
http://seti.smlug.net/downloads/ultrasparc-ii/

AMD64 / Opteron
http://seti.smlug.net/downloads/athlon64/

Pentium4 - Prescott
http://seti.smlug.net/downloads/pentium4/

---

Checkout http://seti.smlug.net for optimized Sun binaries.

It's time to post an update of the available BOINC clients, SETI Enhanced and SETI Enhanced Multibeam application for not officay supported platforms...

Stefan Urbat ; BOINC clients and SETI Enhanced applications
http://www.lb.shuttle.de/apastron/boincDown.shtml :
- Solaris x86 (i686 and AMD64)
- Solaris SPARC BOINC client 5.4.9 and SETI App for UltraSPARC I/II and IIIi
- Linux on AMD64 (Opteron), Itanium (IA64), PPC and Power CPUs, SPARC and Alpha
- HPUX 10.20/11.0/11i (V1 and V2.) on PARISC
- HPUX 11i (V.1 and V.2) on IA64 (Itanium)
- FreeBSD i386 and Alpha
- NetBSD i386
- OpenBSD i386

FreeBSD Ports ; BOINC Clients and SETI Enhanced Multibeam applications
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/ports.cgi?query=boinc-setiathome&stype=all
http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/ports.cgi?query=boinc&stype=all
- FreeBSD, source via the FreeBSD Ports

Yuri Dario ; BOINC Client and SETI Enhanced application
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/seti-warp/message/1467
- OS/2 i386

Nekochan ; BOINC Client and SETI Enanched application
http://www.nekochan.net/nekoware/index.php?path=current/
- Irix

Chicken/Lunatics ; SETI Enhanced Multibeam and SETI Enhanced applications
http://lunatics.kwsn.net/index.php?module=Downloads
- FreeBSD i386
- HP-UX PARISC and IA64
- Linux Alpha, IA64, x86, x86_64
- Windows IA64, x86, x86_64

Alex Kan ; SETI Enhanced Multibeam applications
http://tbp.berkeley.edu/~alexkan/seti/
- MacOS X optimized for G4 and G5, Intel CoreDuo, Core2Duo and Xeon

Debian Linux ; BOINC and SETI Enhanced applications
Ports for all platforms which are supported
- BOINC Client : http://packages.debian.org/boinc-client
- BOINC manager : http://packages.debian.org/boinc-manager
- SETI application : http://packages.debian.org/boinc-app-seti

SETI@SummoneR.mikrocomp.hu ; BOINC client and SETI Enhanced application
http://www.mikrocomp.hu/seti
- OpenBSD on AMD64 (Opteron)

smlug@seti ; SETI Enhanced Multibeam applications
http://seti.smlug.net/downloads.php?lang=en
- Solaris x86 on AMD64 and Pentium4
- Solaris SPARC for UltraSPARC II or better

Gaurav Khanna ; SETI Enhanced application
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=39910
- Linux on PS3. The application uses the SPEs of the PS3.

Lars Bausch ; BOINC Clients, SETI Enhanced Mulitbeam and SETI Enhanced applications
www.dotsch.de/boinc
- AIX 5.x on Power and PowerPC
- FreeBSD Alpha and i386
- HP-UX 11.0 and 11i on PARISC and IA64
- Linux Alpha, HP PARISC, IA64, Power/PowerPC/PS3, SPARC
- NetBSD i386
- OpenBSD i386
- SCO UnixWare and OpenServer LKP
- Solaris x86 and SPARC


The ports for TRU64 and OpenBSD SPARC are still in work.


The most third party binaries are listed on the boinc third party site (boinc.berkeley.edu/download_other.php), too.

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Crunch3r's page, http://calbe.dw70.de/seti.html, has the most recent stable builds from the Chicken/lunatics sources for:
- Linux x86, x86_64
- Windows IA64, x86, x86_64

For those running Windows Vista, those are the only usable versions from lunatics.at code.

Crunch3r's builds also have the adjustable LOAD_STORE_ADJUSTMENT credit multiplier value, so if the project activates that feature after stock 6.x apps are released here an upgrade shouldn't be necessary. Builds from http://lunatics.kwsn.net/ do not have that feature.

Crunch3r's builds are missing two minor features, the inclusion of what signals were found when there's a result_overflow and checking of speeds of cache and memory transfers.

                                                                 Joe