well that was a revelation typed in the great grep caper this is what it returned

/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~/BOINC$ ps -ef|grep boinc
david 13626 13351 0 23:37 pts/1 00:00:00 grep boinc
david@XANXLHNLM30:~/BOINC$

Which looks like the boinc manager isnt connecting.

Then did as you said with the run_client it returned nothing at all however it was seeming to update itself but still BOINC mgr is not working.
Don't think it is anything i have done wrong
over to you again mate.

i am listening to Tchaikovsky as i do this actually his 1812 overture which is helping to lower my blood pressure and stop me using the large computer adlustment tool(a 2lb lump hammer) it usually performs a whole lot better when i threaten it with that.Good grief this is rather becoming like Fawlty Towers.

i think i'll take a large pill and go to bed

You will be sick of this but thanks again.

Strangely enough in reading through the thread i do understand what and how we have been doing things and it does make sense it just seems to me that boinc as a management agent is unecessarily complicated anyway more on that later

AHAAAA found the sneaky little devil up above the enter key accessed by holding down the shift as you said.
Yeah Linux is great certainly keeps my poor old brain active
Back shortly for the next installment of Pilgrim's Progress

Mate this is a rather embarassing questionhow on earth do you make the vertical line as at "ps ef[vertical line]grep boinc"

Have never seen this and cant figure out how to do it.

Sorry i wont pass go and i wont collect my $200

hehe
thats the "pipe" symbol. In linux, it means take the output from command 1 (ps) and use it as the input for command 2 (grep)

Anyway, on my UK keyboard, to the left of Z I have | and \\ (need to use shift to get | )
Dunno what an ozzie keyboard looks like but that key does tend to move around on different keyboards.
Also try somewhere over by the Enter key, or even just press every damned key combination till you find it.

Isn't Linux great :-)


just done a google for ozzie keyboards and it looks like its 3 keys to the right of P (and you'll need to use Shift)

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Mate this is a rather embarassing questionhow on earth do you make the vertical line as at "ps ef[vertical line]grep boinc"

Have never seen this and cant figure out how to do it.

Sorry i wont pass go and i wont collect my $200

Hello Temujin,
Good morning how goes it in sunny England,has been EXTREMELY hot and humid here for some weeks on Saturday we had 40+ on Sunday about 17 but at least the humidity had gone.

We don't get anywhere near those temps.
The odd few days a year we manage the dizzy heights of 30C, the whole country grinds to a swealtering halt.

Yes that is correct that is my m/c,it probably is registered 3 times by me whilst i was thrashing around like a drunken whale attempting to get it to function correctly,do i need to stand in the corner with the dunces hat on,sorry will it make any difference in the final analysis.

nope, don't worry about it.

"BOINC MANAGERIS NOT ABLE TO CONNECT TO A BOINC CLIENT.WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY TO CONNECT AGAIN"

ok, sounds like you haven't started the boinc client (although you must have at some point to have attached your computer).

Can you check if its running by opening a console and typing "ps -ef|grep boinc"
If its running you'll see something like

[ajs@ajs-hp BOINC]# ps -ef|grep boinc
ajs 3385 1 0 Feb22 ? 00:20:02 /home/boinc/boinc_client
ajs 11126 10799 0 13:43 pts/3 00:00:00 grep boinc
[ajs@ajs-hp BOINC]#

and if it isn't running, something like
ajs 11126 10799 0 13:43 pts/3 00:00:00 grep boinc

Here's what to do if it isn't running.
In the same directory as boincmgr, you should see a file called run_client, run that by typing "./run_client" (without the quotes of course)
Now when you run boincmgr, it should talk to the boinc program and then you might see Seti in the Projects tab and maybe even some work units in the Tasks tab.
And, by doing that, boinc will run untill you reboot your machine, then you'll have to do the same thing again.

You need to look at boinc/seti as 3 different programs
1 - boinc, its like the Fat Controller, it attaches to projects, asks for work and returns results etc
2 - the seti application which does the looking for aliens bit
3 - boincmgr, is the visual bit, it talks to the other 2 and displays things in a nice easy way.

To do anything, you need at least numbers 1 & 2 running

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Hello Temujin,
Good morning how goes it in sunny England,has been EXTREMELY hot and humid here for some weeks on Saturday we had 40+ on Sunday about 17 but at least the humidity had gone.

Yes that is correct that is my m/c,it probably is registered 3 times by me whilst i was thrashing around like a drunken whale attempting to get it to function correctly,do i need to stand in the corner with the dunces hat on,sorry will it make any difference in the final analysis.

No when i start BOINC manager there are no tasks under the tasks tab and a lot of functions are greyed out ,i guess waiting for activation,after a while a box appears with the following

"BOINC MANAGERIS NOT ABLE TO CONNECT TO A BOINC CLIENT.WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY TO CONNECT AGAIN"

to which i made an obscene gesture(felt much better after that more in command).
I guess we are close to getting there so i will wait to hear from you.

When this is working i think i will rush out and perform a ritual fertility dance with the cat next door,seems somehow appropriate

Thanks mate over to you

Cant say i really understood what we were trying to acheive there,i did it in a console not a text editor ,is that correct.this is what it did

david@XANXLHNLM30:~$ echo $BROWSER
/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$

but i cant see that it has really done anything,guess i'm at a loss,which doesn't really suprise me.So it is back to you for inspiration and guideance.

Right, you now should have the BROWSER variable set permanently (which was your original problem).

Looking at your hosts, it looks like you've got 1 machine (AMD 64 X2 @ 4600Mhz) that has managed to register itself 3 times, each time downloading 2 work units.
But, theres a distinct lack of returned results which means you have no credits.

So, the next task is to get you up and running properly.

When you start boincmgr, does it show anything in the Tasks tab?

And yes, the time difference doesn't help does it :-)

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Hello Temujin,
Cant say i really understood what we were trying to acheive there,i did it in a console not a text editor ,is that correct.this is what it did

/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$ echo $BROWSER
/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$

but i cant see that it has really done anything,guess i'm at a loss,which doesn't really suprise me.So it is back to you for inspiration and guideance.
I wonder if the Gordian knot was as diffucult to cut or maybe i'm just thick

Yeah you can only hope that it doesn't involve any of the Palistani cricketers or officials there seemed to be genuine mutual respect,all in all,not very good for cricket,which i believe is a great civilising influence and the last international sport not ruined by money.

Thanks again mate i guess its night over there England is about 11 hours behind the east coast of Australia so i hope i will hear from your tomorrow.

oops, double post

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A pom by jove its a wonder your talking to me after the recent ashes series,seriously,i dont know whether you follow the cricket,but isn't this Bob Woolmer murder an absolute tragedy it will be most interesting to see what comes out of it.

Hmmmn, "if" its was murder. Seems a bit strange to me that they needed 2 autopsies to decide he was strangled. Sad all the same though.

I copied and pasted that edit command but nothing occured so its back to the drawing board i think by the time i get this working i'll be ready to be pensioned of,i hope its worth it ah well at least i am learning and keeping you busy.I cant understand why that didnt do anything by my reckoning it should have returned some indication.

Hang on mate, not so fast ;-)
nothing is gonna happen by just getting that line into .bashrc.
You then have to open a new window/console/thingy or log out and back in again.
Do that and then type "echo $BROWSER" and it should answer "/usr/bin/firefox"
By opening a new console (or logout/login) you are starting a new bash shell which reads .bashrc and should then set the BROWSER environment variable.
Assuming that works, you'll then be in a position to run boincmgr at any time and have firefox start up when you click the buttons.

By the way what type of system do you use.

Just a little old P4 2.5 running Fedore Core 5

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Hello Temujin,

A pom by jove its a wonder your talking to me after the recent ashes series,seriously,i dont know whether you follow the cricket,but isn't this Bob Woolmer murder an absolute tragedy it will be most interesting to see what comes out of it.

I scratched around in the system and found 2 editors

(1) text editor4.4 (using KDE 3.4.2)

(2) kate 2.4.1 (using KDE3.4.2)

I copied and pasted that edit command but nothing occured so its back to the drawing board i think by the time i get this working i'll be ready to be pensioned of,i hope its worth it ah well at least i am learning and keeping you busy.I cant understand why that didnt do anything by my reckoning it should have returned some indication.

Still thanks for your help and above all patience.
By the way what type of system do you use.

I tried various things to find kedit but i dont think it is in the Xandros system.
This is rather like chess your next move.

oh well,
ok, if you haven't got kedit, there will be numerous other editors on your system, I only suggested kedit cos its on my system and its easy to use.
You will almost certainly have vi but believe me, its a pig to use for a beginner.
I've never used/seen Xandros but there must be an editor in the menu somewhere.
If you can't find an editor, I'll have to talk you thru using vi.
tell you what, you could just type the following line
cd; echo "export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox" >> .bashrc
theres 2 command there, 1st theres a cd to make sure you're in your home directory
and then there an echo command that will append our BROWSER bit to the end of .bashrc
give that a go, maybe a good idea to copy & paste that complete line into a window/console/thingy
I should say that this needs to be done for the user that runs boinc.

Are you by any chance Australian,i notice your use of that good old Australian idiom "MATE".

haha
no mate, I'm a pom!!

---

Hello Temujin,

Sorry had to go out last night but thanks for your timely reply.

The saga continueswhen i type into console this is what it returns


/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$ cd
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$ kedit .bashrc
bash: kedit: command not found
david@XANXLHNLM30:~$

I tried various things to find kedit but i dont think it is in the Xandros system.
This is rather like chess your next move.

Yes you are quite right we all do have to learn sometime its just that when one asks what you know to be a dopey and fundamental question it is a little embarassing,many assume that because you use a computer you are somehow cognizant of allits secrets(particularly Linux)

Are you by any chance Australian,i notice your use of that good old Australian idiom "MATE".

Once again thanks for your knowledge help and patience

Hello Temujin,
Typed "echo $SHELL"
it returned"/bin/bash so i need to edit the .bashrc shell,i understand what we are tryig to do and how we are trying to acheive it but just cant get it to do it.
the only thing i am not sure of is the startup file where exactly is it,in the shell, and how do you then edit it.

ok, /bin/bash is good, that makes it easier.
The .bashrc file lives in your home directory. Open a window/terminal/console/Konsole and type "cd"
With msdos/windows, cd shows you which directory you are in but in linux/unix cd moves you to your home directory.
So, type "cd" to make sure you're in your home directory
then type "kedit .bashrc"
kedit is just like notepad or wordpad in windows, its easy to use.
Add in the "export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox"
Then click File/Save and File/Quit and you should be all done & dusted

These may seem strange questions but until 3/4 years ago my only expierence with computers was telling the IT people what information i wanted and in what format i wanted it so i have no formal experience at all. i have used windows up until now but refuse to go back to it and am thoroghly enjoying learning Linux all be that it is a fairly steep learning curve.

No worries, we all have to start somewhere.

once i have this done how does seti present itself automatically when screensaver starts or do you have to configure it.

I've no idea mate, I don't use the screensaver, I just have boinc running all the time in the background.
Lets get this working first, we can deal with that later.

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Hello Temujin,
Typed "echo $SHELL"
it returned"/bin/bash so i need to edit the .bashrc shell,i understand what we are tryig to do and how we are trying to acheive it but just cant get it to do it.

the only thing i am not sure of is the startup file where exactly is it,in the shell, and how do you then edit it.
These may seem strange questions but until 3/4 years ago my only expierence with computers was telling the IT people what information i wanted and in what format i wanted it so i have no formal experience at all. i have used windows up until now but refuse to go back to it and am thoroghly enjoying learning Linux all be that it is a fairly steep learning curve.

once i have this done how does seti present itself automatically when screensaver starts or do you have to configure it.

Again thank you for your extreme patience and help

You're getting there.
As far as the BROWSER bit is concerned, all you have to do now is make it permanent.
Just how you go about doing this depends on the shell you use.
The shell is the window/terminal/console/Konsole bit, there are different types available, each with their own way of doing things.
Each shell has a startup file and you need to put "export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox" in the startup file of your shell.
The startup file is sort of like autoexec.bat from msdos days and it lives in you home directory.
Can you type "echo $SHELL"
Mine would give "/bin/bash" which means its running the bash shell and I would need to edit .bashrc
Depending on your shell, your file could be .bashrc .bash_profile .profile .cshrc or any number of others.

Use whatever editor you're familiar with (kedit is fairly easy to use if you have KDE).
So, type the following

cd
kedit .bashrc

and insert a line like below
export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox

that will make it permanent for that user and boincmgr will know which browser to start.
See how you get on with that.

---

Hello Temujin,

This is abit like drawing teeth isnt it however we will get there.

Yes i have done that and have the boinc manager up bought up the seti@home page loads ok so i guess we are at the next step.

/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~/BOINC$ cd/home/boinc
bash: cd/home/boinc: No such file or directory
david@XANXLHNLM30:~/BOINC$ export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox
david@XANXLHNLM30:~/BOINC$ ./boincmgr
Skin Manager: Failed to parse static line color. Using default.
Skin Manager: Application name was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Failed to load application logo. Using default.
Skin Manager: Company name was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Company web site was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Project name was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Default tab was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Exit message was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Failed to load attach to project wizard bitmap logo. Using default.
Skin Manager: Attach to project wizard title was not defined. Using default.
Skin Manager: Failed to load attach to project wizard bitmap logo. Using default.
Skin Manager: Attach to project wizard title was not defined. Using default.
connect: Connection refused
Skin Manager: Failed to load 'a' icon. Using default.
connect: Operation now in progress


The above is what i got on the console if it helps determine where i am up to.
Again thanks for your help and patience

hi,
a command prompt means open a window/terminal/console/Konsole, something that you can type commands in.
As for the cd bit, cd means change directory. I have boinc installed in /home/boinc so I would type "cd /home/boinc"

You might be using a File Manager (like windows explorer) and that should have an option to open a window/terminal/console/Konsole

You need to get into your boinc directory to issue the commands mentioned.

---

ok, you're getting there.
at a command prompt, cd to your boinc directory and type

Hello Temujin,thanks for your prompt reply,
sorry i am going to have to display my lack of knowledge here

"at acommand prompt" i assume you just mean use a console(not as root)

"cd to your boinc directory" exactly what does that mean,i have no problem navigating the file system or finding directories etc just dont know what cd means.

Mate i think i'll do a rain dance when i get this working.I live in Australia so we could sure do with the rain.

once again thanks for your patience

Thanks for your reply guess i should have realised that i went into the console(not as root) typed in "which firefox" it returned asit is supposed to"/usr/bin/firefox".

I just cant make the connection between that and boinc to get seti to work.

ok, you're getting there.
at a command prompt, cd to your boinc directory and type
export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox
and then type
./boincmgr
That should bring up BoincManager, click on the Projects tab, highlight the seti project and then click on the Seti@home button on the left.
It "should" now start firefox and load up the seti homepage.
Assuming that all works, the next step is to make $BROWSER a permanant setting,
but let us know how that all goes first

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