It is being worked on, one problem at the time.

Uli, with respect, your reply is...almost a put off to people who might have hardware resources to offer. Maybe if we were told what hardware was needed to fix "one problem at the time", we could help out.

It's not a put-off at all. In order for the SETI guys to determine what they need, they have to do quite a bit of work. For support see the two most recent threads by Matt in the Tech News Forum.

For example, they've currently put more RAM into Oscar. While more RAM always seems like a good idea, they've been working for over a week to date to determine if the new RAM is actually helping anything. That's $3300 retail worth of RAM.

When they need specific components, they'll let us know. For now, sending them a ton of random hardware won't really help a thing.

I don't see anyone suggesting sending "random hardware"......at least give us some credit for not being quite that dense.

The lack of updates to the Hardware needed list has been going on for quite a while as you should note from the last update being 2008.....

By now one would think they should know what they need and there are plenty of
folks wanting to help but lacking any info of what (specifically) is needed
makes that quite futile.

Even the existing list is beyond deficent........it should list makes - CPU Speeds + Stepping codes - RAM types/speeds - drive models etc.

I know they are all busy .....but that will never improve if they don't make use of one of their best (and free) assets - their users.

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It is being worked on, one problem at the time.

Uli, with respect, your reply is...almost a put off to people who might have hardware resources to offer. Maybe if we were told what hardware was needed to fix "one problem at the time", we could help out.

It's not a put-off at all. In order for the SETI guys to determine what they need, they have to do quite a bit of work. For support see the two most recent threads by Matt in the Tech News Forum.

For example, they've currently put more RAM into Oscar. While more RAM always seems like a good idea, they've been working for over a week to date to determine if the new RAM is actually helping anything. That's $3300 retail worth of RAM.

When they need specific components, they'll let us know. For now, sending them a ton of random hardware won't really help a thing.

I don't see anyone suggesting sending "random hardware"......at least give us some credit for not being quite that dense.

The lack of updates to the Hardware needed list has been going on for quite a while as you should note from the last update being 2008.....

By now one would think they should know what they need and there are plenty of
folks wanting to help but lacking any info of what (specifically) is needed
makes that quite futile.

Even the existing list is beyond deficent........it should list makes - CPU Speeds + Stepping codes - RAM types/speeds - drive models etc.

I know they are all busy .....but that will never improve if they don't make use of one of their best (and free) assets - their users.

Perhaps my post came off the wrong way.

To put it more succinctly, we need to wait until they let us know specifically what they need. Once we hear from them, then we can tackle those projects.

Sorry if I ruffled any feathers, that wasn't my intention.

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Executive Director GPU Users Group Inc. -
brad@gpuug.org

If Berkeley is like many other universities they have a big say in what a project can do in terms of its own fund raising. While small amounts of cash/hardware are unlikely to draw attention the receipt of a large lump of cash, or hardware in the form of a server (or the money for the server) will have to go to several boards, committees or the like.

The process goes along the lines:
Project has a "sponsor" who wants to give them a lump (money or hardware). They complete the proposal to receive the donation.
University board vets donor to make sure the lump is legitimate.
Another university board vets project to make sure the lump is in line with project aims and conditions.
Another university board vets all the project interfaces.
Another university board makes sure the lump is complaint with all the university's technical rules.

At each board there is may be a high degree of "inter departmental jealousy" that may get in the way.

Finally the lump is authorised, and eventually arrives. t now has to be inspected to make sure it is exactly what was expected by each of the aforementioned boards.

And finally the project to which it was donated gets it to play with.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

If Berkeley is like many other universities they have a big say in what a project can do in terms of its own fund raising.

(snip)

And finally the project to which it was donated gets it to play with.

You are quite right in the hoops that you have to jump through to donate a "lump". This is why many companies have abandoned donations. If they don't already have a relationship with a University many find it is just too much of a PITA (not the bread) to go through it for what might be a one time effort.

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