| Index | Recent Threads | Unanswered Threads | Who's Active | Guidelines | Search |
 |
World Community Grid Forums
Category: Support
Forum: BOINC Agent Support
Thread: Possible machine lockup using BOINC agent ?? |
| No member browsing this thread |
|
Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 15
|
|
| Author |
|
|
mlinehan
Cruncher Joined: Aug 5, 2005 Post Count: 11 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
I've recently experienced multiple lockups of my Lenovo T60p laptop that I think may be related to the BOINC agent. Symptoms are that I come back to my machine after not using it for awhile, I start working, when suddenly the machine locks up completely while I'm moving the mouse. By "locks up" I mean that the mouse stops responding, and the machine does not respond to the keyboard. I have to power off and then reboot to get the machine going again.
I'm guessing this is related to BOINC for two reasons: (1) it seems to happen within a few seconds after I start using the machine when it is otherwise idle; (2) I experimentally turned off BOINC (by telling it to "exit") and the problem seemed to go away. But I can't be sure. Has anyone else seen this problem? Any suggestions? Here's the BOINC log: 2/13/2008 3:17:16 PM||Starting BOINC client version 5.10.22 for windows_intelx86 2/13/2008 3:17:16 PM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops 2/13/2008 3:17:16 PM||Libraries: libcurl/7.16.1 OpenSSL/0.9.8e zlib/1.2.3 2/13/2008 3:17:16 PM||Data directory: C:\Program Files\BOINC 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Processor: 2 GenuineIntel Genuine Intel(R) CPU T2600 @ 2.16GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 14 Stepping 8] 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Processor features: fpu tsc sse sse2 mmx 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||OS: Microsoft Windows XP: Professional Edition, Service Pack 2, (05.01.2600.00) 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Memory: 3.00 GB physical, 4.84 GB virtual 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Disk: 93.16 GB total, 5.92 GB free 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Local time is UTC -5 hours 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM|World Community Grid|URL: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/; Computer ID: 325349; location: (none); project prefs: default 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||General prefs: from World Community Grid (last modified 2007-06-25 12:32:24) 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Host location: none 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||General prefs: using your defaults 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 2302.77MB 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 2302.77MB 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 3.73GB 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM|World Community Grid|Task X0000041971006200411040828_1 is 0.52 days overdue. 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM|World Community Grid|You may not get credit for it. Consider aborting it. 2/13/2008 3:17:17 PM||Suspending network activity - user is active |
|||
|
||||
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Suspending network activity - user is active How are your preferences set? Are you running special screen savers or power-down options when user is not active? It sounds as though your computer is doing something special when the user is not active. Lawrence |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
We did have some issues with IBM power management in the distant past, but I thought those problems were long since over.
Lockups, however, are more likely to be a hardware issue. In the case of a laptop, I would check for overheating first. Try running your laptop in the extended battery life mode. This will slow the processor and reduce overheating considerably. Alternatively, you can just reduce the amount of CPU BOINC gets (in your preferences). |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Unfortunately, as the system froze you were not able to capture the final entries which might assist to identify the cause.
I have had the same problem using Linux on an IBM ThinkCentre 8086 (ultra small form factor desktop) which uses identical or very similar parts as does the T60p. It happened whether or not I ran Boinc. It appeared to be a hardware problem. However, the issue was corrected when SuSE 10.3 was released (Novel were aware of the problem). Unfortunately Boinc itself now stops and is unable to find the client after a few hours of inactivity. There may be a link with your problem. I'll keep you posted of any solution that might assist you. Regards, Mark |
||
|
|
mlinehan
Cruncher Joined: Aug 5, 2005 Post Count: 11 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
When plugged in, the machine is setup to run at full power, and turn off the disk after 20 minutes, and turn off the LCD display after 1 hour.
When running on battery, my laptop is setup to go into standby after an hour, turn off the disk after 3 minutes, and turn off the LCD display after 10 minutes. In both cases, Windows is set to switch to the WCG screen saver after 30 minutes. WCG itself is set to run only when the machine is idle for 1 minute. It is permitted to use 100% of CPU, and up to 4GB of disk space. It is not supposed to run while on battery. |
||
|
|
Former Member
Cruncher Joined: May 22, 2018 Post Count: 0 Status: Offline |
Hello mlinehan,
Two different points that I am suspicious of. First, anytime anything goes wrong, I suspect the graphics. We have had several odd cases, so I suggest that anybody with problems switch from the BOINC screen saver to 'blank'. Second, since I do not have a laptop to experiment with, I am uncertain of turning the disk drive off while running BOINC. Obviously you do not want it to run on battery power while you are not using it. If you continue to have trouble after eliminating the BOINC screen saver, you might want to try running the hard disk while BOINC is running and you are plugged into a power outlet. Lawrence |
||
|
|
mlinehan
Cruncher Joined: Aug 5, 2005 Post Count: 11 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
My lockup does not occur while the WCG screen saver is displayed. It occurs 20-30 seconds after I clear the screen saver and log back onto my laptop. It happens while I am moving my mouse: I have the Windows mounse "display pointer trails" option turned on, and I see multiple mouse trails on the screen when the machine locks up. So I don't think the WCG screen saver is a problem, but maybe the mouse trails option is.
Regarding turning off the hard disk: this option only applies if the disk is idle. And the disk is immediately turned back on if the software does a disk access. So I'm doubtful that this has anything to do with the problem. |
||
|
|
Sekerob
Ace Cruncher Joined: Jul 24, 2005 Post Count: 20043 Status: Offline |
When on mains I'd recommend to never spin down the disk. Apparently one of the top failure reasons in laptops. Truly don't know how well BOINC handles write delays due to the wait on disk spin-up.
----------------------------------------The hang behavior coming out of screensaver was reported before. Inside the WCG/BOINC Screensaver is an option to go to blank after X minutes. You might want to try that too. In combo with keeping the disk spinning things might start to work proper.
WCG
Please help to make the Forums an enjoyable experience for All! |
||
|
|
polarsquid
Cruncher Joined: Jul 21, 2005 Post Count: 2 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
|
I've experienced the same with my T60p and I'm convinced that it's an overheating issue. I lowered my % of processor time in my device profile to 50% and eventually raised it up to 90%. I occasionally get a lockup at 90% but it's always in a situation where I can blame it on a combination of poor heat dissipation of the surface it's on and a period of use that would keep the CPU usage higher than the 90%.
|
||
|
|
mlinehan
Cruncher Joined: Aug 5, 2005 Post Count: 11 Status: Offline Project Badges:
|
I think you may be right. I reduced my % of processor time to 50% and the lockup stopped happening. Now I've increased it back to 80% and we'll see what happens.
|
||
|
|
|