Thread 'Graphics freeze - due to project switch?'

Author	Message
gravitysmith Send message Joined: 9 Mar 06 Posts: 10	Message 5057 - Posted: 19 Jul 2006, 1:55:51 UTC Last modified: 19 Jul 2006, 2:03:30 UTC Today the graphics part of BOINC screensaver froze and nearly required a hard shut-down of the computer to get it to quit. The timing of the events relative to project switching lead me to wonder if there is any correlation. For complete detail, all the messages from the BOINC manager for the relevant time are listed at the bottom of this post. I have the saved the stderr files as well if they are needed. The message at 1:22:37PM shows error with E@H screensaver which occurred when I tried exiting the screensaver by moving the mouse. Unfortunately it did not exit and after a couple seconds lead to the error on the next line of the messages. At that point, my mouse cursor was visible and responsive, but the screen was frozen on the last image from the E@H screensaver. In other words, the screensaver was no longer animated but filling the entire screen. Various key combinations such as alt-tab, ctrl-alt-del, and right-clicking the mouse (to change graphics properties), did not revive the screen and gave no indication of having any effect on the system. Nothing seemed to affect the screen. Being a laptop, I realized I could close the lid and force the computer into sleep mode. This worked. About 10 seconds later, I opened the lid, and the computer resumed with the screen back to normal. Even though I had pressed ctrl-alt-del a number of times, there was no indication of the log-off menu (WinXP Pro) suggesting the buttons really had no effect during the graphics freeze. Based on the events, I guesstimate the 1:24:00PM time to be when the lid was re-opened. Interestingly, during this down time, Malariacontrol.net requested work, not once as I would expect due to the E@H result erroring out, but twice. Why would it request work twice? More interestingly, by examining the times from the message log it can be seen that a project switch should have occurred just prior to the error and likely during screensaver mode. I have a 60min "switch between applications" preference for both projects. To give the time-frame more context, the following are my system parameters: WinXP Pro SP2 BOINC CC 5.4.9 leave apps in memory (both projects) write to disk every 300sec (both projects) switch between projects = 60min (both projects) BOINC screensaver = wait 5 min before starting BOINC screensaver option = go to blank after 4 min turn off monitor/harddisk = 20 min Finally, I will note that I do NOT have "On resume, password protect" set. I write this to emphasize that the problem is different from what others have seen with the screensaver. 7/18/2006 12:18:22 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Requesting 45 seconds of new work 7/18/2006 12:18:27 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Scheduler request succeeded 7/18/2006 12:18:29 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_28_449_6_1460688868 7/18/2006 12:18:32 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_28_449_6_1460688868 7/18/2006 12:18:32 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 22677 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 12:18:33 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 12:18:33 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Resuming task h1_0881.5_S5R1__777_S5R1a_0 using einstein_S5R1 version 402 7/18/2006 12:18:33 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Pausing task wu_2_121_430_0_1006093592_1 (left in memory) 7/18/2006 1:22:37 PM\|Einstein@Home\|einstein_S5R1 not responding to screensaver, exiting 7/18/2006 1:22:43 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Unrecoverable error for result h1_0881.5_S5R1__777_S5R1a_0 ( - exit code -1 (0xffffffff)) 7/18/2006 1:22:43 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Deferring scheduler requests for 1 minutes and 0 seconds 7/18/2006 1:22:43 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: application exited 7/18/2006 1:22:43 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Computation for task h1_0881.5_S5R1__777_S5R1a_0 finished 7/18/2006 1:22:43 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Resuming task wu_2_121_430_0_1006093592_1 using malariacontrol version 533 7/18/2006 1:22:52 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Sending scheduler request to http://www.malariacontrol.net/malariacontrol_cgi/cgi 7/18/2006 1:22:52 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Reason: To fetch work 7/18/2006 1:22:52 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Requesting 16741 seconds of new work 7/18/2006 1:22:52 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Started upload of file h1_0881.5_S5R1__777_S5R1a_0_0 7/18/2006 1:22:57 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Scheduler request succeeded 7/18/2006 1:23:02 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_107_450_1_149844874 7/18/2006 1:23:03 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_105_450_4_276313049 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_107_450_1_149844874 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 7322 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_105_450_4_276313049 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 7321 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_104_450_5_203109966 7/18/2006 1:23:13 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_106_450_3_14565351 7/18/2006 1:23:15 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Sending scheduler request to http://www.malariacontrol.net/malariacontrol_cgi/cgi 7/18/2006 1:23:15 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Reason: To fetch work 7/18/2006 1:23:15 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Requesting 5987 seconds of new work 7/18/2006 1:23:16 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:23:17 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:23:25 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_104_450_5_203109966 7/18/2006 1:23:25 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 11581 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:25 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_106_450_3_14565351 7/18/2006 1:23:25 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 11583 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:26 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:23:27 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:23:27 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Scheduler request succeeded 7/18/2006 1:23:32 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_106_450_2_1041285643 7/18/2006 1:23:32 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_106_450_4_60221424 7/18/2006 1:23:38 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Finished upload of file h1_0881.5_S5R1__777_S5R1a_0_0 7/18/2006 1:23:38 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Throughput 48889 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:42 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_106_450_2_1041285643 7/18/2006 1:23:42 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 6426 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:42 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_106_450_4_60221424 7/18/2006 1:23:42 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 6426 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:23:42 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Started download of file wu_2_104_450_4_1212216164 7/18/2006 1:23:43 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:23:44 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:24:00 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Sending scheduler request to http://einstein.phys.uwm.edu/EinsteinAtHome_cgi/cgi 7/18/2006 1:24:00 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Reason: To fetch work 7/18/2006 1:24:00 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Requesting 21600 seconds of new work, and reporting 2 completed tasks 7/18/2006 1:24:03 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Finished download of file wu_2_104_450_4_1212216164 7/18/2006 1:24:03 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Throughput 12095 bytes/sec 7/18/2006 1:24:04 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:24:06 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Scheduler request succeeded 7/18/2006 1:24:09 PM\|\|Rescheduling CPU: files downloaded 7/18/2006 1:24:09 PM\|malariacontrol.net beta\|Pausing task wu_2_121_430_0_1006093592_1 (left in memory) 7/18/2006 1:24:09 PM\|Einstein@Home\|Starting task h1_0881.5_S5R1__776_S5R1a_0 using einstein_S5R1 version 402 smith [edit]Minor word tweaks and grammar corrections.[/edit] ID: 5057 ·

Pam Send message Joined: 3 Aug 06 Posts: 1	Message 5225 - Posted: 7 Aug 2006, 17:36:40 UTC When I first downloaded BOINC, everything was running fine, no problems with projects or the screensaver. However, lately I too am having similar problems with the BOINC screensaver. The problem happens whether I am running SETI or Rosetta project, but seems to happen more often with Rosetta. I am using a desktop computer, not a laptop, and it does require a hard shut-down in order to get my screen back to normal. I tried downloading BOINC's new version, 5.4.11, but still have same problem. ID: 5225 ·

Tom Campione Send message Joined: 4 Sep 06 Posts: 2	Message 5517 - Posted: 4 Sep 2006, 18:13:34 UTC I have the same issue. That is, the screen saver hangs my machine when switching, but only sometimes. I run SETI, Einstein, Predictor, and QMC on 3 different Dell machines. Two use an ATI Radeon card, one nVidia g-force. Boinc manager is 5.4.11. All are Intel CPUs, Windows XP SP2. It drives me insane. I have to force a power-down at least twice a day on each machine. /tom/ Get interactive with Classroom Response Systems and Audience Response Systems ID: 5517 ·

Jord Volunteer tester Help desk expert Send message Joined: 29 Aug 05 Posts: 15563	Message 5534 - Posted: 5 Sep 2006, 15:43:05 UTC Tom, are those videocards really cards, as in add-on cards (AGP/PCI/PCI-E)? or are they videochips (as in soldered on the motherboard)? ID: 5534 ·

Tom Campione Send message Joined: 4 Sep 06 Posts: 2	Message 5642 - Posted: 17 Sep 2006, 18:48:35 UTC - in response to Message 5534. Tom, are those videocards really cards, as in add-on cards (AGP/PCI/PCI-E)? or are they videochips (as in soldered on the motherboard)? Two machines are AGP (1 ATI Radeon & 1 nVidia) the other machine is about 4 years old using an ATI Radeon PCI card. To confirm, none are motherboard/integrated graphics. Since my post on Sep-5, I changed screen saver/power options and have not had the problem at all. That is, I now have my monitor set to power off after 15 minutes and the BOIC screen saver launch after 16 minutes. So, after idle time of 15 minutes, my monitors power down. One minute later, the Boinc screen saver kicks in. I've had no graphics hang since making this change, which is about 12 days. The downside is that I don't get to see my cool einstein, seti, & QMC screen saver graphics. But, at least I'm not cold booting each machine a couple of times a day. /tom/ /tom/ Get interactive with Classroom Response Systems and Audience Response Systems ID: 5642 ·

nevermore Send message Joined: 26 Mar 06 Posts: 91	Message 5648 - Posted: 18 Sep 2006, 4:15:00 UTC - in response to Message 5642. ... That is, I now have my monitor set to power off after 15 minutes and the BOIC screen saver launch after 16 minutes. So, after idle time of 15 minutes, my monitors power down. One minute later, the Boinc screen saver kicks in. I've had no graphics hang since making this change, which is about 12 days. ... /tom/ I'd just turn the screensaver off. First off, it's to no purpose running with the monitor powered down and secondly, it's pulling cycles away from your crunching. If you can't 'have' it, why have it? :) ID: 5648 ·

hedera Send message Joined: 23 Sep 06 Posts: 10	Message 5722 - Posted: 23 Sep 2006, 20:16:56 UTC I've twice had the same problem smith reports, BOINC screen saver freezes the system hard requiring a push of the Big Red Button, although I didn't do his detailed troubleshooting. However, I'm running only one project (rosetta@home), so it can't be switching between projects. I have a very similar O/S - WinXP Pro sp2 running on a Dell 8400 with the installed video it came with, 128mb PCI Express (ATI Radeon X300 SE), and I've installed BOINC with all the defaults. I have BOINC manager 5.4.9. If there's something I can tweak to make this not happen again, I'd like to know. hedera [email protected] How do you know the planet Mars is not carried around by an angel? -- J. B. S. Haldane ID: 5722 ·

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