28 June 2009
Unofficial BOINC wiki
The unofficial BOINC wiki (UBW) has moved and been updated with new content. It can be found at http://www.boinc-wiki.info/
27 June 2009
Projects Down
This week has seen 2 of my 3 projects go down.
Seti with its various issues with database size and sheer number of users. Even now it can't hand out work fast enough to keep up with all the computers around the world. Its up now. Uploads take a long time to get through and there is no work available.
Just to cap things off Einstein's file server crashed a couple of days ago. No word yet on when it will be back, just a simple web page saying they are looking into it. The message boards and all file transfers are gone.
GPUgrid is still working, but I only have a few GPU's so there is only so much work I can download for it. All the machines, except one have run out of CPU work. The one remaining machine will run out of work in about 1 hour.
Other news
I still haven't put the new power supply into Yoda yet and therefore it hasn't got the GTX275 installed either.
Windows update has been giving out Internet Explorer 8, so i've installed it today on all the machines that have been offered it so far (about half of them). I don't install windows updates automatically as it can reboot the machines while they are working.
The new 8 port KVM is working fine, however i'm still waiting on the 25 foot cable to arrive. It will be used to control Maul on the other side of the room. At the moment Maul has an old 15" LCD screen along with a keyboard and mouse.
This week has seen 2 of my 3 projects go down.
Seti with its various issues with database size and sheer number of users. Even now it can't hand out work fast enough to keep up with all the computers around the world. Its up now. Uploads take a long time to get through and there is no work available.
Just to cap things off Einstein's file server crashed a couple of days ago. No word yet on when it will be back, just a simple web page saying they are looking into it. The message boards and all file transfers are gone.
GPUgrid is still working, but I only have a few GPU's so there is only so much work I can download for it. All the machines, except one have run out of CPU work. The one remaining machine will run out of work in about 1 hour.
Other news
I still haven't put the new power supply into Yoda yet and therefore it hasn't got the GTX275 installed either.
Windows update has been giving out Internet Explorer 8, so i've installed it today on all the machines that have been offered it so far (about half of them). I don't install windows updates automatically as it can reboot the machines while they are working.
The new 8 port KVM is working fine, however i'm still waiting on the 25 foot cable to arrive. It will be used to control Maul on the other side of the room. At the moment Maul has an old 15" LCD screen along with a keyboard and mouse.
20 June 2009
Rearranging deckchairs (part 2)
Now that the Belkin KVM switch is installed and the extra shelving unit is in place this is how the farm is currently looking.
Top shelf, Left at the back a thermometer and mouse in the foreground. Middle: A 22" LCD monitor, the (new) Belkin KVM and a keyboard on top. Right: Internet router at the back with the wireless antenna poking up and in the foreground an 8 port switch.
Middle shelf, Left is Yoda, Middle: Qui-Gon. Right: Luke
Bottom shelf, Left is a P4. Middle: Obi-Wan. Right: Anakin
The beige colored machine is a P4 used as a file server. The other 5 quaddies are identical except Yoda who doesn't have a graphics card (yet). Not shown is Maul as its moving to the other side of the room in order to distribute some power as this lot are all connected to the one power point.
Top shelf, Left at the back a thermometer and mouse in the foreground. Middle: A 22" LCD monitor, the (new) Belkin KVM and a keyboard on top. Right: Internet router at the back with the wireless antenna poking up and in the foreground an 8 port switch.
Middle shelf, Left is Yoda, Middle: Qui-Gon. Right: Luke
Bottom shelf, Left is a P4. Middle: Obi-Wan. Right: Anakin
The beige colored machine is a P4 used as a file server. The other 5 quaddies are identical except Yoda who doesn't have a graphics card (yet). Not shown is Maul as its moving to the other side of the room in order to distribute some power as this lot are all connected to the one power point.
19 June 2009
Rearranging the deckchairs
Last weekend I decided to rearrange the loft where the computers lived. Got myself another shelving unit and started putting the machines on it. Switched off Maul until I had everything else plugged in. Uh oh. When I started it up it gave an error about the cpu fan. I switched it off and retried it, same error. Switch it off again and pull the side off the case. Power up and watch the cpu fan. It does half a revolution and stops, another half and stops. The error message comes up again. Switched it off took out the cpu fan. Being a Sunday I couldn't just run out and get another one, besides it was only 3 months old. On Monday took it back to the PC shop and they swapped it over as the machine is still under warranty. I installed it and Maul is now back and running.
The long KVM cables ordered via eBay arrived today. The 4 port KVM I also bought at the same time (from a different seller) is yet to turn up. Not to worry - I ordered a Belkin 8 port KVM and cables anyway as I don't want to run more than one screen and keyboard. Its already arrived at the PC shop so i'll have to drive over there and pick it up on Saturday, as its not exactly small. I will be selling the old KVM and cables on eBay if anyone is interested.
While in the PC shop on Monday I ordered the above Belkin 8 port KVM and also a GTX275 card. I took the spare power supply that I hadn't opened back to the shop and swapped it over for a 700w one (they didn't have any 600w ones in stock).
It looks like back to rearranging the loft once I pickup the bits this weekend.
The long KVM cables ordered via eBay arrived today. The 4 port KVM I also bought at the same time (from a different seller) is yet to turn up. Not to worry - I ordered a Belkin 8 port KVM and cables anyway as I don't want to run more than one screen and keyboard. Its already arrived at the PC shop so i'll have to drive over there and pick it up on Saturday, as its not exactly small. I will be selling the old KVM and cables on eBay if anyone is interested.
While in the PC shop on Monday I ordered the above Belkin 8 port KVM and also a GTX275 card. I took the spare power supply that I hadn't opened back to the shop and swapped it over for a 700w one (they didn't have any 600w ones in stock).
It looks like back to rearranging the loft once I pickup the bits this weekend.
12 June 2009
This week has seen a couple of new versions of BOINC. The current version 6.6.36, released yesterday, has been made the release version. In my opinion its premature seeing as we haven't had a chance to test it yet.
I bought another 4 port KVM switch and a couple of cables on eBay. This should allow me to rearrange things a bit so I can put all the machines (except Maul) on shelves and run them all at once. I also need to buy another set of shelves.
I got a quote for 4 i7 machines to replace the 5 quaddies. Without any graphics cards the shop wanted $2,000 each. I think an i7 is about a 50% improvement over a quaddie. Using 150% of the price of a quaddie that means they should cost $1,800 each, so I suggested that if the shop wants the sale they need to get to this figure.
I have one CPDN work unit to upload and report, then I can detach from the project. Unfortunately their upload server ran out of disk space and has been off-line for over a week. I am unable to upload it.
One of the guys on GPUgrid had an interesting i7 machine. It was an asrock machine with 4 x GTX295 cards, giving a total of 8 CPU's and 8 GPU's. He said that it had 4 x 700 watt power supplies to drive it.
I bought another 4 port KVM switch and a couple of cables on eBay. This should allow me to rearrange things a bit so I can put all the machines (except Maul) on shelves and run them all at once. I also need to buy another set of shelves.
I got a quote for 4 i7 machines to replace the 5 quaddies. Without any graphics cards the shop wanted $2,000 each. I think an i7 is about a 50% improvement over a quaddie. Using 150% of the price of a quaddie that means they should cost $1,800 each, so I suggested that if the shop wants the sale they need to get to this figure.
I have one CPDN work unit to upload and report, then I can detach from the project. Unfortunately their upload server ran out of disk space and has been off-line for over a week. I am unable to upload it.
One of the guys on GPUgrid had an interesting i7 machine. It was an asrock machine with 4 x GTX295 cards, giving a total of 8 CPU's and 8 GPU's. He said that it had 4 x 700 watt power supplies to drive it.
03 June 2009
8 million credits
I hit 8 million for all projects today. As well as that tonight I hit 2 million credits for GPUgrid. Below is my BOINCstats image and my GPUgrid certificate. BOINCstats only updates once a day so it doesn't think GPUgrid is there yet.
In other news I have started testing the latest BOINC version. I know I said that I won't be testing it, but it has a couple of fixes in it that are useful. As of tonight its up to 6.6.33.
My Seti 10 year anniversary T shirt arrived in the post yesterday, so i'll see if I can organise a photo and put it online.
In other news I have started testing the latest BOINC version. I know I said that I won't be testing it, but it has a couple of fixes in it that are useful. As of tonight its up to 6.6.33.
My Seti 10 year anniversary T shirt arrived in the post yesterday, so i'll see if I can organise a photo and put it online.
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