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Author | Message |
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William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
So I am confused.. I have been running Boinc as a service for a Long time but now with win7 I cant use the GPU and run as a service. How does boinc start now? Can Boinc run in the background without starting the boinc manager? If the user is not logged in then the boinc manager is not running to start boinc? Thnaks in Advance I find myself getting easily confused the older i get :-) |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
BOINC always could run in the background by inserting itself in the startup process after the user logs in. BOINC can (and has had the ability for a while to) run in the background without starting the manager via the same process. BOINC Manager is just the GUI front end to BOINC.EXE, also known as the "Core Client" and is perfectly capable of running BOINC tasks without starting BOINC Manager. You can use boinc.exe --h for help on the Core Client and starting it without BOINC Manager loading. |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
So how does boinc.exe "normally" start? I noticed during the install boincmanager puts itself in the standard registry location for startup apps but where is boinc.exe? |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
Sorry i am accustomed to removing items from startup by using regedit I didnt realize there was an option in the manager gui to not load the manager gui at startup. old habits die hard! |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
So how does boinc.exe "normally" start? I noticed during the install boincmanager puts itself in the standard registry location for startup apps but where is boinc.exe? BOINC.EXE is normally called upon by BOINCMGR.EXE if not used as a system service. Once BOINCMGR.EXE is loading, it checks for BOINC.EXE and if isn't running, it starts it. You would have to create your own startup entry for BOINC.EXE with the appropriate switches to have it start without the manager. Sorry i am accustomed to removing items from startup by using regedit I didnt realize there was an option in the manager gui to not load the manager gui at startup. old habits die hard! I don't know about old habits being the cause here. I'd just say a bit of curious investigation is all that is needed. |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
So... boinc manager launches boinc. new question does the user need to be logged in for boinc manager to do its thing? the default startup is... hklm\software\microsoft\windows\surrentversion\run but that is after the user logs in? is there a place to put the startup so it starts with the OS before login? or i am not correct. |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
is there a place to put the startup so it starts with the OS before login? or i am not correct. No, not unless you install as a service. Only when installed as a service will BOINC run when no one is logged in, or prior to log-in of a user. At all other times, you can do with a shortcut that starts Boinc.exe and closes the command line window. If BOINC is installed in its normal place, that'll be: For 32bit BOINC on a 64bit Windows: "C:\Program Files (x86)\BOINC\boinc.exe" --detach_console For 32bit BOINC on a 32bit Windows and for 64bit BOINC on a 64bit Windows: "C:\Program Files\BOINC\boinc.exe" --detach_console That's including the quotes, as you're giving a command to a protected Windows directory. If the BOINC programs are installed anywhere else, you can do without the quotes, like I do: P:\BOINCProgram\BOINC\boinc.exe --detach_console To make a shortcut, right-click anywhere on the desktop->New->Shortcut->in the Browse bar fill in the address as I gave above, depending on BOINC version and OS->Next->Type a name for the shortcut (e.g. BOINC_start) and finish the shortcut. You can now move this shortcut to Start->All Programs->Startup, or if done through Windows Explorer, to C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup Do this for every user that logs in to the computer. Edit: If you want other users to be able to run BOINC Manager as well, make sure to add them through the BOINC Installer->Allow other users on this computer to control BOINC. You need to do this for every new user (after installing BOINC). |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
So... boinc manager launches boinc. new question does the user need to be logged in for boinc manager to do its thing? the default startup is... If you're trying to get BOINC to run before the user logs in so that you can still use the GPU for crunching, you're not going to get it to work. Starting with Windows Vista and newer, Microsoft moved the GPU drivers out of the kernel mode (known as Ring Zero of the OS) and into the user space (known as Ring 3) to reduce a buggy driver crashing the entire system. During startup, Microsoft uses it's own basic video driver which does not support crunching. The crunching libraries are not loaded until after a user logs on. This is not something BOINC or you will be able to work around as it was a fundamental change in the way the OS works. |
Gundolf Jahn Send message Joined: 19 Sep 00 Posts: 3184 Credit: 446,358 RAC: 0 |
Windows: "C:\Program Files\BOINC\boinc.exe" --detach_console I (still:-) think the quotes are needed because the pathname contains blank spaces and not because it's a protected directory. ;-) Gruß Gundolf |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
Or that. I always forget. It's not a thing I really feel the need to remember either, not during a time when all the PIN codes of all my debitcards are being changed. :-) |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
That is exactly what i was trying to do! more Reason to stay on XP! Thanks guys! |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
In my humble and professional opinion, the moving of the video driver from the kernel space into the user space was a very wise decision to increase the stability of the overall machine. Combined with UAC, Windows 7 is the superior OS of the two. |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
it may be "better" but it messes stuff up like this. If i could get any of it to run with computer not being logged in i would be happy. in service mode seti will run but without cuda, in standard mode i get cuda BUT the machine must be logged in. i know it is an MS thing still sucks! |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
As a work-around, you can set the user account with no password, and if it is the only user account on that computer, Windows 7 will auto-login to that account. It is less secure, but it would allow the user to login and at the same time allow you to crunch on the GPU. Personally, I'm happier with a more stable system than I am worried about being able to crunch on a GPU without a user logged in. |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
Thanks, but going back to XP, now i have a new issue. Which version of boinc on 32bit XP would run cuda as a service. I have a bunch out there but the two i have put back to XP wont find the cuda. tried boinc 6.4.5 and 6.6.12 niether one find the gpu. wish i left this alone! |
bill Send message Joined: 16 Jun 99 Posts: 861 Credit: 29,352,955 RAC: 0 |
I was under the impression that you can't use the gpu when running as a service. Something about how the drivers load. |
Gundolf Jahn Send message Joined: 19 Sep 00 Posts: 3184 Credit: 446,358 RAC: 0 |
I was under the impression that you can't use the gpu when running That's only true for windows versions after XP. |
OzzFan Send message Joined: 9 Apr 02 Posts: 15691 Credit: 84,761,841 RAC: 28 |
Thanks, but going back to XP, now i have a new issue. Which version of boinc on 32bit XP would run cuda as a service. I have a bunch out there but the two i have put back to XP wont find the cuda. tried boinc 6.4.5 and 6.6.12 niether one find the gpu. wish i left this alone! I'm certain that CUDA support was built into BOINC sometime in the v6.6.x series, and I thought it was later than v6.6.12. You can find the download for v6.10.58 here to see if that helps. |
Jord Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 15184 Credit: 4,362,181 RAC: 3 |
Thanks, but going back to XP, now i have a new issue. Which version of boinc on 32bit XP would run cuda as a service. All before 6.12.38. But to be able to detect CUDA capability, BOINC requires that you installed the correct videocard drivers. In this case, drivers from the Nvidia site, not those installed by Windows (Update). |
William R. Clune Send message Joined: 14 May 99 Posts: 48 Credit: 691,775,094 RAC: 943 |
Thanks Cuda is happy working again! |
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