SETI@Home may not work properly on newer Android (7 and 8) devices

Questions and Answers : Unix/Linux : SETI@Home may not work properly on newer Android (7 and 8) devices
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Message 1930913 - Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 17:06:10 UTC
Last modified: 1 Aug 2019, 17:21:24 UTC

(This has been well-known here for a while, at least a year, but I think it needs a pinned thread for those who aren't forum regulars.)

The SETI@Home client may not work on some newer Android smartphones, tablets, etc. Work units may crash and show as "Error while computing" in the device's Tasks listing. Here is an example task from my own Samsung Galaxy S7. The error shows:

process got signal 6
</message>
<stderr_txt>
CANNOT LINK EXECUTABLE "../../projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu/setiathome_8.00_arm-android-linux-gnu__armv7-neon": /data/data/edu.berkeley.boinc/client/projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu/setiathome_8.00_arm-android-linux-gnu__armv7-neon: has text relocations


The technical reason behind this is that the SETI@Home Android client is 32-bit and has never been ported to Android's 64-bit CLANG C++ suite. Some devices have a 32-bit subsystem to run these older 32-bit apps. (much like desktop OSes do so you can still use your older programs in Windows 10 64-bit, for example) but some do not and the client will not launch. Even if the 32-client does work, tasks may complete slowly compared to a native 64-bit client. (Thanks to Dr. Korpela for confirming this.)

If you have a newer Android device and it doesn't seem to be doing any work, you can confirm this issue by clicking your display name at the top-right of this page, then the View link beside Computers on this account, then find the device and click Tasks beside it. Under the Status column look for Error while computing.

If this is noted, go back to Computers on this account and click Details. Beside Operating system will be the Android version. If it shows (Android 7.0) or higher (ie 8 or 9) then this is the issue and SETI@Home may not work properly on this device until new client is released. After enough work units have errored out, some may start to complete slowly as they are based on a different Android platform (see Ageless' post after this one.)

In the interim, if it doesn't work at all or is too slow, there are other BOINC projects with updated clients which are compatible with Android 7+. Unfortunately there is no ETA for an updated Android SETI@Home client at this time.
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Message 1930918 - Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 17:44:11 UTC - in response to Message 1930913.  
Last modified: 19 Apr 2018, 17:44:48 UTC

Do know though that the v8.01 application (aarch64-android-linux-gnu) works fine on Android 7 (and maybe 8). It is just the v8.00 arm64-vfpv4 and v8.00 arm64-neon that don't work. If you allow for these to run errors, eventually they will be on the 1 task per day limit for these applications and you should get mostly tasks for the v8.01 app which will finish fine. Like so:

<core_client_version>7.4.53</core_client_version>
<![CDATA[
<stderr_txt>
Unable to resolve function unwind_backtrace_signal_arch
Unable to resolve function acquire_my_map_info_list
Unable to resolve function release_my_map_info_list
Unable to resolve function get_backtrace_symbols
Unable to resolve function free_backtrace_symbols
Unable to resolve function format_backtrace_line
Unable to resolve function load_symbol_table
Unable to resolve function free_symbol_table
Unable to resolve function find_symbol
one or more symbols not found. stackdumps unavailable
setiathome_v8 8.00 Revision: 3553 aarch64-linux-android-g++ (GCC) 4.9 20140827 (prerelease)
libboinc: BOINC 7.7.0

Work Unit Info:
...............
WU true angle range is :  2.179504
Triplet: peak=7.971074, time=32.25, period=0.7381, d_freq=1420280761.72, chirp=0, fft_len=16 
Spike: peak=24.17157, time=90.6, d_freq=1420285295.82, chirp=-11.657, fft_len=64k
Spike: peak=24.38553, time=90.6, d_freq=1420285295.82, chirp=-11.672, fft_len=64k
Autocorr: peak=19.17839, time=33.55, delay=2.2229, d_freq=1420283599.19, chirp=11.804, fft_len=128k
Unable to resolve function unwind_backtrace_signal_arch
Unable to resolve function acquire_my_map_info_list
Unable to resolve function release_my_map_info_list
Unable to resolve function get_backtrace_symbols
Unable to resolve function free_backtrace_symbols
Unable to resolve function format_backtrace_line
Unable to resolve function load_symbol_table
Unable to resolve function free_symbol_table
Unable to resolve function find_symbol
one or more symbols not found. stackdumps unavailable
Restarted at 38.55 percent.
Triplet: peak=8.216975, time=77.97, period=0.6095, d_freq=1420284035.8, chirp=-20.632, fft_len=64 
Triplet: peak=9.033834, time=105.1, period=0.1442, d_freq=1420281559.56, chirp=-25.79, fft_len=256 
Triplet: peak=8.289671, time=105.1, period=0.1442, d_freq=1420281560.43, chirp=-49.001, fft_len=256 
Triplet: peak=8.519686, time=23.36, period=0.9011, d_freq=1420279556.98, chirp=-51.579, fft_len=64 
Triplet: peak=8.200883, time=105.1, period=0.1442, d_freq=1420281557.19, chirp=-74.79, fft_len=256 
Triplet: peak=8.559072, time=105.1, period=0.1442, d_freq=1420281558.06, chirp=-98.001, fft_len=256 

Best spike: peak=24.38553, time=90.6, d_freq=1420285295.82, chirp=-11.672, fft_len=64k
Best autocorr: peak=19.17839, time=33.56, delay=2.2229, d_freq=1420283599.19, chirp=11.804, fft_len=128k
Best gaussian: peak=0, mean=0, ChiSq=0, time=-2.124e+11, d_freq=0,
	score=-12, null_hyp=0, chirp=0, fft_len=0 
Best pulse: peak=0.5680848, time=84.9, period=0.01807, d_freq=1420284106.26, score=0.9061, chirp=82.527, fft_len=16 
Best triplet: peak=9.033834, time=105.1, period=0.1442, d_freq=1420281559.56, chirp=-25.79, fft_len=256 

Flopcounter: 16219663652779.679688

Spike count:    2
Autocorr count: 1
Pulse count:    0
Triplet count:  7
Gaussian count: 0
03:07:14 (15539): called boinc_finish(0)

</stderr_txt>
]]>

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Message 1930920 - Posted: 19 Apr 2018, 17:57:06 UTC
Last modified: 19 Apr 2018, 18:08:09 UTC

As always, thank you Jord... Dr. Korpela had indicated that it was the neon client that was failing. I will update my OP indicating.

I have tasks (example) that seem to be completing now very slowly on aarch64-android-linux-gnu but the neon ones all errored out.
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Message 1932615 - Posted: 29 Apr 2018, 8:27:11 UTC
Last modified: 30 Apr 2018, 5:07:04 UTC

I have a new Ulefone smartphone with ARM64 and Android 7.1.1. Some SETI@home 8.00 tasks fail on it while 8.01 work and complete. Einstein@home tasks work too but I have not completed one yet. The funny thing is that SETI sees a Mali G71 GPU as coprocessor, while Einstein does not. The SETI 801 tasks are crunched by aarch64-android-linux-gnu. The Einstein tasks are crunched by arm-android-linux-gnu.
Tullio
Einstein tasks complete and validate
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Message 1934025 - Posted: 6 May 2018, 18:46:17 UTC

On this ARM64 CPU time and Runtime are exactly equal.
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Message 1934800 - Posted: 10 May 2018, 9:40:00 UTC

Would this explain why "HTC Power To Give" won't allocate CPU to SETI@Home tasks? They either sit there "Ready" for ever, or they "error out".

I am running a HTC U11 with Android 8.0.
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Message 1935370 - Posted: 12 May 2018, 16:05:31 UTC
Last modified: 12 May 2018, 16:06:36 UTC

The SETI RAC of my Ulefone smartphone using Android 7.1.1 on a ARM64 CPU has almost reached that of the Windows 10 PC with a four core A10-6700. The Computer page says it has an OpenCl GPU which is not however used so far. 801 tasks run well, 800 fail.
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Message 1939957 - Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 17:22:01 UTC

I found that to run both SETI@home and Einstein@home on my Ulefone smart phone with an ARM64 CPU I have to connect the phone to a power outlet, so it is not likely that smart phone users will contribute much to BOINC.
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Message 1942179 - Posted: 1 Jul 2018, 6:31:25 UTC - in response to Message 1939957.  
Last modified: 1 Jul 2018, 6:54:46 UTC

Why not? You have to charge your phone, at least every night. During that charging it will be doing BOINC.
Here, look at my hosts. They're one tablet and two phones. (Leave the studio-ST1022 out for the moment, as its battery is broken and so it isn't crunching anymore).

Of these the HUAWEI VNS-L31 - SDK:24 is my day to day phone. It charges during the night, and sometimes during the day when I am not specifically using it. But mostly during my own sleep cycle, of about 7 hours.

The other Huawei is a fun story as well, it's my old smart phone that's now just crunching. It has been crunching since October 2017 and is still figuring out which of the 12 (!!) science applications is the fastest and most reliable to do science with. I wonder if it will ever figure this out.

The tablet and my other phone are Android 7 on a 64bit CPU, so they've done the run through faulty v8.01 tasks and are now almost only running v8.00 apps.And see that RAC of 611? Although you have to see it without the ST1022's RAC, so then that's a RAC of ~570 done on these guys at a cost of just 1 Kilowatt hour every 20 weeks or so. That includes the power used by the 230mm BitFenix fan that's cooling them and the 12V AC->Molex adapter that's powering the fan.
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Message 1942893 - Posted: 6 Jul 2018, 16:47:24 UTC

801 tasks run on my Ulefone 3, 800 tasks fail. Einstein@home tasks run also and get me credits.
Tullio
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Message 1943248 - Posted: 8 Jul 2018, 9:54:44 UTC
Last modified: 8 Jul 2018, 9:58:19 UTC

Because my 8 logical cores' LG Q6 (Android 7.1.1 PIE) keeps erroring out SETI@home WUs, it's now crunching World Community Grid data without problems. My much older 2 cores' Polaroid A4 (Android 4.4.2 non-PIE) didn't have issues with SETI@home WUs.

For the curious, here's a WUprop list of Android devices that can crunch through SETI@home WUs.
Apr 3, 1999 - May 3, 2020
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Message 1943317 - Posted: 8 Jul 2018, 17:49:23 UTC - in response to Message 1943248.  
Last modified: 8 Jul 2018, 17:58:00 UTC

You can add this:
ulefone Power_3 - SDK:25 ABI: arm64-v8a
OpenCL GPU Mali-G71 (4096MB) driver: 1.02
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Message 1943596 - Posted: 9 Jul 2018, 21:07:30 UTC - in response to Message 1943317.  
Last modified: 9 Jul 2018, 21:17:19 UTC

I'd be glad to add it directly to their database, but to my knowledge it can only be done though the
non-intensive WUProp@home project (BOINC / Add Project / http://wuprop.boinc-af.org).

I personally only run it for a while for new computers/tablets/smartphones or when I attach a new project - in order to help them build their useful database.

WUProp@home is a non-intensive project that uses Internet-connected computers
to collect workunits properties of BOINC projects such as computation time, memory 
requirements, checkpointing interval or report limit. You can participate by downloading 
and running a free program on your computer.

You can add this:
ulefone Power_3 - SDK:25 ABI: arm64-v8a
OpenCL GPU Mali-G71 (4096MB) driver: 1.02
Tullio

Apr 3, 1999 - May 3, 2020
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Message 1961444 - Posted: 22 Oct 2018, 4:18:26 UTC

Just for my own morbid curiosity, is there any way (other than "just wait") to get BOINC to try the 64 bit v8.01 application aarch64-android-linux-gnu?

I have a couple of phones I've added to my computing mix. My very old LG Risio H343 has been happily crunching tasks under Android 6.0 with its Snapdragon 400 (32 bit 4x Cortex-A53) for a couple of weeks. So far seems to be averaging around 140 credits per day.

My newer phone is a Motorola e5 Cruise running Android 8.0 (Oreo) on a Snapdragon 425 (64 bit 4x Cortex-A53). So far ALL of the work units sent to this phone have failed. I believe around 300 work units have now been sent, but none tried have been the 8.01 application. From what this thread says it seems like that application will eventually be tried -- and perhaps it will run fine.

Any ideas? Or should I just shut this one down?
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Message 1961455 - Posted: 22 Oct 2018, 7:11:46 UTC - in response to Message 1961444.  

The ARMv7 is a 32-bit CPU. You won't get the v8.01 app on that device.

Not all Android devices manage to run all the Seti applications correctly. If you see continuous errors, your device is one that cannot be used here, no need to continue trying.

You can still try it with any other project out there.
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Message 1961507 - Posted: 22 Oct 2018, 16:50:43 UTC - in response to Message 1961444.  

I am running 801 tasks on my ARM64 CPU in a Ulefone smart phone. Both SETI@home and Einstein@home tasks run well. Android is 7.1.1.
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Message 1962088 - Posted: 27 Oct 2018, 5:50:27 UTC - in response to Message 1961455.  

The ARMv7 is a 32-bit CPU. You won't get the v8.01 app on that device.

Not all Android devices manage to run all the Seti applications correctly. If you see continuous errors, your device is one that cannot be used here, no need to continue trying.

You can still try it with any other project out there.

Ah, and therein is the problem. The phone actually has a Snapdragon 425 which is a 64 bit 4x Cortex-A53 1.4 GHz -- technically an ARMv8. Since BOINC is saying it's an ARMv7, I'll never get the correct 64 bit client (8.01). I'll just have to carry on with the devices I currently have. (Or save my pennies for an RTX 2080ti or similar.)

8-)
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Message 1962095 - Posted: 27 Oct 2018, 7:16:24 UTC - in response to Message 1962088.  

If you set that you want to test beta software on the Boinc site on Google Play, you will get 7.14.2 which has a new routine for detecting CPUs. It might detect the CPU correctly.
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Message 1962379 - Posted: 29 Oct 2018, 8:46:22 UTC - in response to Message 1962095.  

If you set that you want to test beta software on the Boinc site on Google Play, you will get 7.14.2 which has a new routine for detecting CPUs. It might detect the CPU correctly.

Trying that for a couple of days. BONC Beta on Android is version 7.14.1 according to the "about" screen. So far everything is still erroring out, but we'll see if we can't get a working client in a day or two. Fingers crossed.
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Message 1962384 - Posted: 29 Oct 2018, 9:39:28 UTC - in response to Message 1962379.  

It still reports your CPU as being:
ARM
ARMv7 Processor rev 4 (v7l) [Impl 0x41 Arch 7 Variant 0x0 Part 0xd03 Rev 4]

Can you post what it says for the Model from your account, you computers, details?

And if you haven't yet, can you post what brand and model Android device this is? I know you said the Snapdragon version, but that doesn't always meam it's true.

For instance, the Archos device I have should have a 32-bit CPU, but in reality it has a 64-bit CPU. I suspect that it lives in the wrong outer casing....
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Questions and Answers : Unix/Linux : SETI@Home may not work properly on newer Android (7 and 8) devices


 
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