This message is intended for cpdn crunchers with problems who, finding the cpdn/boinc forum down, seek refuge here.

A number of members on the BBC and cpdn/boinc forums were having problems with boinc and their models from Thursday evening onwards, so I posted quite extensively over there yesterday getting them all onto one thread and suggesting what to do. By the time I knew more about what was happening in Oxford and felt I could make a general announcement there, both of those forums were down. The BBC forum is now up, the boinc forum still down.

This morning Carl in Oxford has said

Hi, I shut things off for the weekend until we can solve this new problem, I think it's in the BOINC upgrade I attempted on Thursday or Friday.

Anyone who
*is getting 'not enough disk space' messages
*finds that they have large numbers of unwanted climate models
*needs a new model and can't get one

should

*right-click on the round boinc icon in the system-tray, bottom right of screen, and select 'Suspend network access'
*if as a result of the above problems, your model won't crunch, also select 'Suspend' or 'Exit'
*stop clicking the Suspend, Update and Reset buttons in the boinc manager
*click once only the 'Don't get new tasks' button in the Projects tab of the boinc manager
*please wait for the problem to be solved and watch the php forum linked to below for info and advice
*if you post about this problem, please do so here on the cpdn php forum and include your computer ID number for the project - 7th line down in the boinc messages. You have to register separately for that forum if you want to post - it helps if you use the same name so we recognise each other
*OR, if you also crunch other boinc projects, let your computer get on with other projects for the time being

Cpdn server status is here:

http://climateapps2.oucs.ox.ac.uk/cpdnboinc/server_status.php

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Many thanks to Carl who gave up his weekend to fix the problem.

Members who couldn't get a new model, or received far too many models, will now find single models properly available. They can

*click Allow new Tasks/Work in the Projects tab

*right-click the round boinc icon in the system-tray, bottom right of screen, and click Allow network activity

*look at the messages and the Tasks tab window to see whether a new model has arrived (and in the case of some members, whether the old model has uploaded)

*if there is still no new model showing in the Tasks window (probably because communication with the server is still being deferred) click Update in the Projects tab to override the deferral

*when you have a new working model, in the Projects tab click No new Tasks/Work, once only

*open the Disk tab. Each model takes up about 700Mb of disk space. If much more space than this is being occupied by models, you may still also be getting 'not enough disk space available' messages. You'll need to go into the folder to delete models that you are NOT crunching ie any model whose number starting hadcm3ln_ or hadcm3lm_..... is different from the model number showing in the Tasks tab. Please note that of the dozens, hundreds or thousands of models apparently downloaded to you, probably only one or a few are actually there in the folder.

*TO DELETE SURPLUS AND COMPLETED MODELS
---First of all, right-click the round boinc icon in the system tray and select Exit
---Empty the Recycle bin on your desktop now before you begin
---On the desktop, double-click My computer
---\\C
---\\Program files
---\\Boinc
---\\Projects
---\\cpdn, or Climateprediction, or BBC CCE
Open up that subfolder and start looking for models you don't want. Highlight and delete them.

If you make a mistake, you should be able to restore items from the Recycle Bin on the desktop. So don't empty the Recycle bin again for a few days, just in case.

---Open up boinc again (Start - programs - maybe startup - cpdn boinc manager exe - highlight and click it)

---The icon should now be in the system tray. Check that your model's working.

---If it is, open the Projects tab and click No new tasks/work, once only

---If it isn't, post on the forum for help. You can post in this thread.


NEWBIE MEMBERS WHO NEVER CRUNCHED A MODEL OR WHO ONLY EVER CRUNCHED FOR A DAY OR TWO CAN AVOID THIS HASSLE BY UNINSTALLING BOINC + MODEL AND REINSTALLING. THIS SOLUTION DOES NOT APPLY IF YOU HAVE WORKUNITS AND CREDITS FROM OTHER BOINC PROJECTS THAT YOU WANT TO KEEP

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Forget that last paragraph in capital letters. This is a better solution.

Now to eliminate the dozens, hundreds or even thousands of phantom models that were not in the folder but may appear on your web results pages. They are not taking up disk space and although they say 'in progress', only the one or two model(s) in your Tasks tab window are actually crunching. So these phantom models are doing no harm, but they mess up your results pages and make it difficult to find the details of your real model(s).

You should only eliminate these phantoms when your current model has progressed very little or not at all, because you will lose your current model in the process. If you're in the middle of a model, wait until it has finished.

HOW TO ELIMINATE THE PHANTOMS

*select Allow network activity (via boinc icon or Activity in boinc manager)
*click Allow new tasks in projects tab
*in the Projects tab window, highlight the climate project
*click Reset project
*check in the Messages tab that a new model is arriving
*then check in Tasks that it begins to crunch
*when the model is working, in the Projects tab click No new tasks, once only
*finally, look at your results pages to see whether the phantoms have gone
*please post here and tell us whether the phantoms have gone (because if this solution doesn't work, we'll have to suggest another slightly more complicated method)

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We have found that the instructions given above do not eliminate the phantom climate models and now advise as follows:

We have not yet found an easy way to clean out the phantom models from your climate prediction results web pages. As the phantoms are only on your web pages and do not occupy disk space on your computer, we suggest that the best idea is to ignore them. Real models downloaded to you after the phantoms will probably appear on the first page of your model results and will be easily accessible. Pre-phantom real model results (pre-12/13 October 2006) will probably be at the bottom of your last results page.

If you really want to eliminate the phantom results, you can restore a model backup. Your computer will then acquire a new ID number without the phantoms. After doing this, do not merge the new computer ID. Note that restoring a backup always entails some risk to the model. So if you do choose this method, it would be advisable to implement it while your model is not far advanced.

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