Ion's WCG Essentials Thread

[TRWOV]

Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap.

It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?

[Norton]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap.

It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?

64 bit crunching runs about 10% more output than 32 bit.

as far as 6450's/6570's output will be lower but you may be able to get 3-4k BOINC ppd out of them.... best I can say is give them a try and see how they do- the gpu in AMD APU's can crunch gpu wu's so no reason why those cards can't

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

Is there an estimate of how many points could a 6450 net? I'm going to upgrade the CCTV unit in a couple of months and I think I could put a 6450 in there and leave it crunching all day. Maybe even a 6570 if I get one cheap.

It would have to be an XP machine (darn capture program won't work on W7) so it'll be limited to the 32bit client. Is there any impediment for this?

Impediment is slight at worst (maybe 10%). You may be able to get 2k-3k PPD from a HD6450, but it wouldn't make for an impressive card, unfortunately

[TRWOV]

The capture program just requires DX9 and 32bit color so even the IGP of the new board will be able to run it but I thought I'd trow a GPU in there and do some crunching since that PC is on 24/7 anyway.

So a 6450 could crunch then? The 6450's 18w TDP won't make a huge impact on the power bill and even if it just nets 2K that's more than 0. I just was concerned that it wouldn't crunch.

[[Ion]]

The WCG website doesn't say it can't crunch, so I'd assume it can
And 2 or 3K is still very much worthwhile

[TRWOV]

I'm going to setup two crunchers with the USB ubuntu install. If using 8GB sticks, how big should I make the persistent file? I tried setting the slider all the way but the installation failed, I then set 6GB but if I plug the USB stick it says that there are 2GB free?

I just want to maximize the amount of space available to BOINC. Or in other words, how much space does Ubuntu uses on the USB stick?

EDIT: answered my own question by installing Ubuntu without a persistent file. 762MB.

[[Ion]]

You need a persistence file or will lose BOINC/work if it reboots. I've found that a 3-4GB persistence file works well for a system that only crunches

[TRWOV]

I set a 6.5GB persistence file and installed fine. Now I just have to wait for the 1090T.

WTB, can the linux client do work on the GPU too? What about multiple WUs? With the CPUs coming my way I can setup 3 dedicated crunchers, 2 PII X6 and a G620 driving 2 GPUs in a H61 Xfire board. I was thinking about getting a cheap 32GB SSD for running windows on the GPU cruncher but if the linux client can run multiple WUs I might avoid that expense.

[[Ion]]

It can run GPU WUs (and multiple at that). I've never done it, but I think that Jstn7477 has. I'd send him a PM

[TRWOV]

Ok I got the Phenom and I'm setting the Ubuntu client. Question: is there any way to configure the USB Ubuntu to skip the "Install Ubuntu" screen and start BOINC automatically once loaded?

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

Ok I got the Phenom and I'm setting the Ubuntu client. Question: is there any way to configure the USB Ubuntu to skip the "Install Ubuntu" screen and start BOINC automatically once loaded?

I think that it actually starts crunching (at least based on how warm the heatsink is there versus once the system has fully booted and BOINC is up) but I'm not sure if there's a way to skip it

[TRWOV]

ok, seems to be working. I just can't edit the cc_config file. I can open it but the "Save" option is grayed out. Is this normal for the USB install?

[[Ion]]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

ok, seems to be working. I just can't edit the cc_config file. I can open it but the "Save" option is grayed out. Is this normal for the USB install?

Probably because you aren't root. Use the terminal, browse to it using the 'cd' command and then when you're there, do 'vi cc_config.xml'. VI is a bit tricky, but works well enough.

[TRWOV]

mmm... I let the PC run all night but it seems stuck??? It says "running" in the task manager but the timer doesn't move. The PC isn't frozen, I can minimize, open other apps and such. I saw the result status and it didn't turn any in

EDIT:
Is there a way to install Ubuntu to the USB key? Not a Live version but a regular installation. Maybe my board doesn't like the live mode. I just lost the mouse and can't seem to get it back, not even re-starting.

EDIT2: Installed to USB stick. Boots fine but still no mouse Remembered why I gave up on linux. Can't seem to find my way around with just the keyboard. You'd expect Tab to move you from clickable to clickable but it doesn't always.

EDIT3: I guess it'll be wayyyyyy easier to install W7 to the USB key. Using Alt I can enter to the options I want to but since Tab doesn't move me to the next button it's no use. The arrow keys seem to work on some screens and in some don't. I want to set the client to not download more tasks in order to clean the queue on the Live USB but can't select the project or activate the option. Maybe it doesn't like my mouse for being a MS one? I'll get another mouse just in case. On the bright side Boinc is running fine again.

[KieX]

Originally Posted by TRWOV

mmm... I let the PC run all night but it seems stuck??? It says "running" in the task manager but the timer doesn't move. The PC isn't frozen, I can minimize, open other apps and such. I saw the result status and it didn't turn any in

EDIT:
Is there a way to install Ubuntu to the USB key? Not a Live version but a regular installation. Maybe my board doesn't like the live mode. I just lost the mouse and can't seem to get it back, not even re-starting.

EDIT2: Installed to USB stick. Boots fine but still no mouse Remembered why I gave up on linux. Can't seem to find my way around with just the keyboard. You'd expect Tab to move you from clickable to clickable but it doesn't always.

EDIT3: I guess it'll be wayyyyyy easier to install W7 to the USB key. Using Alt I can enter to the options I want to but since Tab doesn't move me to the next button it's no use. The arrow keys seem to work on some screens and in some don't. I want to set the client to not download more tasks in order to clean the queue on the Live USB but can't select the project or activate the option. Maybe it doesn't like my mouse for being a MS one? I'll get another mouse just in case. On the bright side Boinc is running fine again.

Might be a long shot.. but I had that problem when running off USB 3.0 port. Try switching ports see if you can get it to not crash. If you want to have a "installed" version you might as well use something like PenDriveLinux installer and create a permanently accesible storage area with the live distro.

[TRWOV]

The board only has USB 2.0 ports. I used the PenDriveLinux to install the Live CD into a USB stick with a 6GB persistence file. With that stick I installed Ubuntu onto another USB stick (full install, not Live install) but neither one is picking up my mouse now for some reason. It just stopped working while I was settiing up the boinc client.

I could get by with the keyboard and in fact I can go to any tab I want but once in the correct tab I can't do anything. Pressing TAB doesn't take me to the next clickable button and the arrow keys don't do anything either.

I suppose that the client is at fault and not Ubuntu (I can go into Calc and move around with the KB just fine), I guess the client doesn't have provisions for computers without a mouse.

[Chevalr1c]

Is your mouse plugged in a USB hub or so? How well are the chipset components cooled? Does the stick work on a different system?

[TRWOV]

The stick is fine, it boot ups normally. I'm not having problems with Ubuntu per se, what isn't working is my mouse. It's a MS basic optical mouse (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/en...ouse/P58-00061). It was working fine but suddenly it didn't work anymore. I re-started the PC but no dice.

Ubuntu Live boots and works fine; the install I did on the other USB stick also works fine but neither seem to be able to pick up my mouse anymore. I plugged the mouse in another PC and it works fine. It's like the mouse interface is being disabled or something. Or maybe it is working but is freezed since I can see the mouse pointer on the screen.


In short Ubuntu works fine, Boinc is working fine, I just can't get my mouse to work. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if the Boinc client was manageable with the keyboard. I can use Alt to go to the desired tab but then I can't select anything with the keyboard, TAB and the arrow keys don't do a thing.

The mouse is plugged directly into the USB port.

[Chevalr1c]

Does the mouse work with the same mouse and the same stick in another PC? Also: USB/mouse drivers are generic (inside the kernel) so brand should not matter.

[TRWOV]

Got me another mouse, a Genius this time and I'm pahhy to report that it's working fine. I don't know why it won't pickup my MS mouse.