Hi everybody,

possibly I've missed something but so far I could not find a proper documentation for the command line client. My question is: can the Linux client be forced to upload results? I thought the -return_results_immediately option should do it, but whenever the scheduler is not responding the time to wait grows longer.

Matthias

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What would proper doc consist of? They list the command line options here. And that page has link to some detailed instructions for installing and running BOINC.

Just issue the command ./boinc_client_version_here -h and it will list the optional params. for you in your current consol window

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I know the site that Walt suggested, but my question is not about setting BOINC up and running it. It's running o. k. so far.

The problem is: the client is running in the background, and as my machine is disconnected from the net 98% of the time, it is rather unlikely that work is finished and can be uploaded right away. The client tries and tries again, with the waiting period getting longer every time.

I want to kill the BOINC process and restart it as soon as the network is up, and force the client to up/download.

This is the output I have:
2005-01-15 20:16:02 [climateprediction.net] Deferring communication with project for 8 hours, 2 minutes, and 46 seconds

The comment on the option -update_prefs URL is:
...This will also report completed results and get new work if needed.

an on -return_results_immediately
Contact scheduler as soon as any result done

None of the options does what I want.

Seems I am missing something that is obvious to others?

> I know the site that Walt suggested, but my question is not about setting
> BOINC up and running it. It's running o. k. so far.
>
> The problem is: the client is running in the background, and as my machine is
> disconnected from the net 98% of the time, it is rather unlikely that work is
> finished and can be uploaded right away. The client tries and tries again,
> with the waiting period getting longer every time.
>

You don't want to use -return_results_immediately if you're disconnected 98% of the time.

> I want to kill the BOINC process and restart it as soon as the network is up,
> and force the client to up/download.
>

The answer is on that page.

Kill BOINC and restart it with the -update_prefs option. You also have to supply the URL so it would be:

./boinc*gnu -update_prefs http://setiathome.berkeley.edu

(I never remember the name so I use wildcards)

and let it continue running. You did mention that in an earlier reply, what errors did you get if it didn't work? Usually its because the wrong URL was used or the scheduler wastoo busy at that moment and didn't reply.

> This is the output I have:
> 2005-01-15 20:16:02 [climateprediction.net] Deferring communication with
> project for 8 hours, 2 minutes, and 46 seconds
>
> The comment on the option -update_prefs URL is:
> ...This will also report completed results and get new work if needed.
>
> an on -return_results_immediately
> Contact scheduler as soon as any result done
>
> None of the options does what I want.
>
> Seems I am missing something that is obvious to others?


You can't contact the scheduler when the result is finished because you aren't connected to the internet. It can't upload the results or contact the server until you dial into your ISP.

What is your preference for "Confirm before connecting to Internet"? Since you use a modem it should be set to "Yes". Have you tried that?

Have you looked at running BoincView under Wine? It provides a GUI interface to BOINC that lets you enable/disable the network connection (your original q) and manually "update" to upload results when you want to. Plus a lot more. It might work well enough for what you need.

> You don't want to use -return_results_immediately if you're
> disconnected 98% of the time.

I realize that. I wanted to use this option after killing the client, dialing up and restarting it manually. Usually the client is started at boot time, running in the background.


> Kill BOINC and restart it with the -update_prefs option. You also have to
> supply the URL so it would be:
>
> ./boinc*gnu -update_prefs http://setiathome.berkeley.edu
>
> (I never remember the name so I use wildcards)

That's what I tried, it never worked. Output was something like this, no specific error message. The client behaved as if the -update_prefs URL switch was ignored. it just didn_t try to connect.


> You can't contact the scheduler when the result is finished because you aren't
> connected to the internet. It can't upload the results or contact the server
> until you dial into your ISP.


Indeed. I don't want to dial it up automatically, I want do dial up myself.

> Have you looked at running <a> href="http://www.boinc.dk/download.php?file=boincview_beta_0.9.1.zip">
> BoincView[/url] under Wine? It provides a GUI interface to BOINC that lets you
> enable/disable the network connection (your original q) and manually "update"
> to upload results when you want to. Plus a lot more. It might work well
> enough for what you need.

I thought of that. I'll try that, but it seems an overkill solution for quite a simple problem. Thanks anyway.

---

The only solution I have found is the following:

1) kill the BOINC and SETI@home clients

2) edit the file client_state.xml

3) change the min_rpc_time value to 0

4) re-launch BOINC

Primitive, but effective. It is surprising that the BOINC client
does not more easily address this very obvious requirement.