Hi Rob,

Hibernation required had disk space that I did not have, but it's good it's working for you.
My windows powershell script waits for all running tasks to checkpoint on all cores and does not start new ones. You can read how it does that on the script page.

You can also use it to backup Boinc data directory and not lose any data which you cannot do with hibernation.

Powershell is windows only of course.

Thanks,
Amir

"in effect you have a mean time of CPU cores not being used"
"I prefer to just run all cores and take whatever loss there is if boot is required, which is really a gain to me."

Hi Rob,

I have edited this post, because on a second thought your assumption is not correct unless you run long tasks that never checkpoint.

Hibernation happens immediately, so the extra time you get before shutdown when you run the script is a gain to you and the project not a loss, even if at that time the rest of cores will be free. because you will be saving on power.

Also, what happens when you hibernate while a task is in the middle of a checkpoint (writing files)? I know from experience that when power goes off at this critical time, I end up with a computation error.

The script has a variable that lets you set a timeout to allow the last task to checkpoint before killing boinc.

If, on the other hand, you're running tasks that never checkpoint and that takes more than two hours to complete, then this script is not for you because the script (and boinc) does not know if and when a task will checkpoint and therefore will wait the entire time for the task to checkpoint or complete then terminates.

The script is a starting point for anyone that may want to modify it or make it better.

thanks,
Amir

Hi Coleslaw,

Virtual machines use a lot of RAM and hard disk space, and may cause a computation error if you hibernate while a task is in the middle of a checkpoint (writing files). correct me if I am wrong!

This script is low on RAM. uses RAM only for a short period of time (when you run it), not the entire time you run Boinc, and saves you on power consumption, and increases your contribution to the project at the same time.

Because the script does not shutdown Boinc immediately, it increases your contribution to the projects you crunch, while at the same time minimizing your power consumption (at the time you run it only), by shutting down cores until all tasks have check-pointed.

If, on the other hand, you're running tasks that never checkpoint and that takes more than two hours to complete, then this script is not for you because the script (and boinc) does not know if and when a task will checkpoint and therefore will wait the entire time for the task to checkpoint or complete then terminates.

If you have any suggestions to make it better, feel free to comment.

Amir

Timed startup and shutdown interests me, as the Boinc-dedicated Win 7 i7-2600k machine here is not allowed to interfere with sleep.

I use the 'shutdown /h' command in a batchfile called up by the Task Scheduler to hibernate the machine on a daily timed basis. This does need some small extra disk space. Hibernate files can be 12 Gb+.

Once the machine is hibernating, the Task Scheduler can be set to wake it up, by telling it to display a simple message.

So the machine runs from 07:00 to say 22:00 by itself without losing work units (on my machine.) Manually turning it off, as opposed to hibernation, means the machine won't auto-start. Note:machine is WCG dedicated- so won't affect workflow if it auto-shuts down.

The full set of shutdown commands is here:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/commandlinereference/p/shutdown-command.htm