World Community Grid Beta BOINC 6.2.21 and 6.2.23

I have asked Kevin Reed what the changes are for the new WCG versions of BOINC. He answered me the following:

Changes to the source code itself:

* Code so that the simple gui will display a message that the applications are 'Paused: Application start delayed' when the cc_config.xml contains the delay start option
* There was a bug on windows in the simple gui so that if the taskbar was at the top of the screen, then the slide show images would be offset and only partially shown. The actual bug appears to be a wxWidgets code, but a work around is implemented.
* The skin tags for organizations were fixed to have the proper spelling of organization (they were 'organizaton')
* Allow settings in the cc_config.xml file to override the default website to use for the network connection test and for new application version check
* Add text to explain the difference between choosing between research applications available at World Community Grid and attaching to a new project (this only shows if the user is using the WCG version of the boinc client and if they are also attached to WCG) when they start the process of attaching to a new project

Within our installer, we have done the following

* Updated the WCG skin
* Add a custom action that will delete a version of the cc_config.xml that is identical to the version installed with a previous WCG version. The new cc_config.xml is only installed if there is not currently a cc_config.xml present.
* Modified how the ALLUSERS flag is set, so that the option that the user selects for 'Allow all users on this computer to manage', their choice is honored (details given to Rom so he can fix the BOINC version)
* By default, the setup config screen now will show the box for "Allow all users on this computer...." as unchecked so that unless the user overrides, only they can control BOINC
* Modify the manager shortcut in the startup folder so that it is run as 'normal' window instead of 'minimized'. This fixes the issue of the BOINC manager advanced view opening super tiny after a reboot. (details given to Rom so he can fix the BOINC version)
* Change the text on configuration screen:

"Use BOINC Screensaver" becomes "Use the World Community Grid - BOINC Screensaver"
"Protected application execution" becomes "Run the research applications under a restricted account. A reboot may be required after installation. (Recommended)"
"Allow all users on this computer to control BOINC" becomes "Allow all users on this computer to manage the World Community Grid - BOINC software"
"Click Next to use these options." becomes "Click Next to use these directories and the options checked."
"Click Advanced to customize options." becomes "Click Advanced to change these settings."

Kevin Reed

World Community Grid Beta BOINC 6.2.24

Kevin Reed wrote:

Change log:

The core client will now use the lesser of the number of cores defined by the existing max processors settings or the new max percent of processor settings. This provides backwards compatibility.

World Community Grid Beta BOINC 6.2.25

Fixed ability to read global preferences.

Kevin reed wrote:

Major Changes since version 5.10.45

* By default, the software is installed as a service and the research applications run under a unprivileged user 'boinc_project'. This increases the security for the user running the software.
* There several improvements to eliminate problems running the software with Vista
* The screen saver displays the graphics even if the screen saver has the password protected box checked
* A new preference is available to allow you to set the max percent of available processors to use. This field defaults to 100%. The number of processors used is the lessor of either this new value or the value of 'max number of processors' previously set on the device profile.
* The latest version of libCurl is being used. We would appreciate it if members who have had to <force_auth> in the cc_config.xml could try the new version and remove the <force_auth> tag from their cc_config.xml file. Please let us know if it properly identified the type of proxy and ran correctly without this tag.
* The latest version of OpenSSL is being used.
* By default, only the user installing the software will be able to run the BOINC manager and thus control the agent but the core client (and therefore research applications) will run under the 'boinc_project' id.

More information is available at: http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Release_Notes

Major changes since version 5.10.45 specific to World Community Grid

* A message is displayed if you are already connected to World Community Grid and you attempt to 'Add Project'. This is intended to help users understand the difference between joining a different BOINC project vs changing their participation for the projects available at World Community Grid.
* The research applications will not start running until two minutes after BOINC has started. This will help reduce contention for resource when a computer is being started.
* Members can now set the maximum resource consumption allowed by the graphics. This field is set for a specific device profile http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ms/device/viewProfiles.do. The graphics will use at most X% of cpu time or run at a rate of at most Y frames per second. By default the graphics use at most 5% of cpu time and 7 frames per second.
* If the user installing the software is a new user or if they have never modified the cc_config.xml, then:
o The software will use www.ibm.com in order to check if the BOINC client is connected to the internet. During the initial connection process, it will suggest that if the client cannot connect to the project or to ibm.com, then it will provide a list of things to check
o The BOINC software will now contact World Community Grid to find out if a new version is available rather than contacting the BOINC servers. This gives us control of when the message about a new version being available appears on members messages log.


Known Issues

* If you exit the BOINC manager from the system tray, it will not stop BOINC from running. This is a change due to the fact that by default, the core client runs as a service. However, this is a usability problem. We will need to add a dialogue that asks the user if they want to stop BOINC from running completely or if they just want to close the manager.
* Preference for auto-launch the BOINC manager on startup not offered and manager always set to startup

BOINC 6.3.17 released for Windows and Windows x64

Rom Walton wrote:

Howdy Folks,

We are beginning the push to get the 6.4 client with CUDA detection out the door. Now we will be able to keep CPUs and GPUs busy.

The big changes for this release are:
1. CUDA Detection and Utilization

2. Phased out the Grid-Based views in the BOINC Manager

3. Changed how BOINC Manager communicates with the BOINC client (You should be able to drag the BOINC Manager window are on the screen and not get stuck anymore)

4. Both Projects and Tasks have a detailed properties view now.

Based on your feedback we have made some changes to the test system. While we are testing out the new features we can add and remove test groups for every new release. You will not be asked to report results for things that haven’t changed in the client anymore. However, we will do a few complete test passes before we release to the public to make sure we haven’t accidentally broken something.

----- Rom

BOINC 6.3.17 released for Macintosh

Charlie Fenton wrote:

I have posted BOINC 6.3.17 for the Macintosh to the download page.

This also should support CUDA devices, but only on those Intel Macs which do _not_ support 64-bit applications (either because they have older processors or are still running OS 10.4). This is because the CUDA libraries for the Mac are currently built only for Intel 32-bit architecture, not 64-bit (and not PowerPC). We have notified NVIDIA of this issue and asked them to look into it.

Mac OS X does not automatically come with the CUDA libraries; you must download them from the NVIDIA website and install them if you want them. There are not yet any CUDA-capable BOINC applications for the Mac, but SETI@home plans to release one soon.

Cheers,
--Charlie

BOINC 6.3.18 released for Linux

Rom Walton wrote:

Here is the 32-bit Linux client.

This release contains these fixes over the .17 release:

- client: --help: show all options, and alphabetize them

- MGR: Fix typo in BOINCListCtrl.cpp: remove extra semicolon.

- MGR: Sort compare functions return false if values are equal (to fix asserts in stable_sort).

- client: ignore max_cpus if max_ncpus_pct is nonzero

----- Rom

BOINC 6.3.19 released for Windows, Windows x64
BOINC 6.3.19 released for Linux, and Linux x64

This release fixes these bugs:

- client: for CPU throttling, don't suspend apps that are non-CPU-intensive or that use < 1 CPU (e.g., CUDA)

- client: get rid of spurious "internal error, expected process to be executing" msg

- diag: don't check heap on every alloc

- fix a few compile warnings

- client: fix crash when sched_op_debug is enabled

- MGR: If simple_gui_only flag is set in cc_config.xml, trigger call of CSimpleFrame::OnConnect().

- client: accept --insecure flag even if not compiled with -DSANDBOX

- manager: pass --insecure flab only if compiled with -DSANDBOX (from Nicolas; fixes #762)

- SCR: Fix the screensaver logo.

BOINC 6.3.19 released for Macintosh

Charlie Fenton wrote:

I have posted BOINC 6.3.19 for the Macintosh to the download page.

In addition to the changes in the Windows version, this Mac release
has one additional revision:

- MGR: When removing a row in Projects, Tasks and Transfers tabs, refresh all rows. Fixes a bug where display was not always properly updated.

BOINC 6.3.20 released for Macintosh

Charlie Fenton wrote:

I have posted BOINC 6.3.20 for the Macintosh to the download page.

The last-minute changes I included in the 6.3.19 release had a serious bug, which caused the manager to have high CPU usage and become unresponsive if it started up in the Tasks tab (and probably also the Transfers or Projects tab).

This release fixes that problem. Unfortunately, the Linux builds also have this bug; I've asked Rom to build the 6.3.20 Linux releases as soon as possible.

My apologies to all for the inconvenience.

NOTE: Rom did build the Windows releases _before_ I checked in the faulty changes, so the Windows 6.3.19 releases are not affected by this bug.

BOINC 6.3.21 released for Windows, Windows x64
BOINC 6.3.21 released for Macintosh
BOINC 6.3.21 released for Linux, and Linux x64

Rom Walton wrote:

This release fixes the following issues:

- MGR: When removing a row in Projects, Tasks and Transfers tabs, refresh all rows. Fixes a bug where display was not always properly updated.

- client: move round-robin simulation to its own file

- MGR: Fix bug introduced yesterday.

- MGR: Always sort after a row is added or deleted.

- Mac: Add new files rr_sim.cpp,.h to XCode project.

- client: /proc/N/stat has () around the command name. Remove these.

- client: the preemptability order was wrong

- client: cleaned up CPU scheduler logic somewhat

- client: include precompiled header in rr_sim.cpp so memory leak detection will work.

- MGR: Have the BaseFrame call a function to determine if the selection list should be saved instead of traversing the application pointer. Each view just overrides the function returning a true/false value. We don't have to worry about null pointers and the like.

- MGR: BOINCGUIApp should never need to know how either the views work or the document. Move the code that determines which RPCs should be fired into each of the views. Have the document look for it there.

- MGR: Reduce duplicate code for hiding and showing an application

- MGR: Move some Windows and Mac specific code into functions and streamline the application startup and shutdown routines.

- MGR: Move the event processing that was in BOINCGUIApp into the BaseFrame.

- MGR: General cleanup.

- MGR: Doxygen comments.

- MGR: Cleanup some warnings.

- MGR: Fix show / hide on Mac broken by previous changes.

- Rebuild libcurl x86 and x64 (turn off async DNS) for Windows only.

- client: revise round-robin simulation to take variable avg_ncpus into account

- Mac SCR: fix some real and potential crash bugs.

Keep the bugs coming…

----- Rom

BOINC 6.3.23 released for Windows, Windows x64
BOINC 6.3.23 released for Macintosh

Rom Walton wrote:

Windows Only:

This release changes the exit dialog for the manager. You can now enable/disable displaying the exit dialog by going to the advanced view advanced/options menu. Right now the new exit dialog does not shutdown the core client when it is installed as a service and UAC is turned on for the current user. We are shipping a new executable called boincsvcctrl.exe which will be able to start and stop the BOINC service on Vista even when UAC is turned on. The next release of the manager will start using this new tool.

This release fixes the following issues since the .21 release:

- MGR: Move the wxWidget version information to the about box.
printf and Unicode strings don't play well with one another.

- MGR: Fix up the OnHelp features of the BOINC Manager so they all point to manager_links.php.

- client: fix compiler warning.

- Mac SCR: eliminate unused argument, add comments.

- client: fix the updating of CPU time left in RR simulation; don't print msgs about non-CPU-intensive projects.

- client, scheduler: there were a few places where we had 1e9 instead of 1 gig (2^20)

- client: fix a long-standing error: if prefs say leave X GB free, and BOINC is using Y GB, and there are Z GB free, the limit on BOINC is Y + Z - X (not Z - X).

- client: fix compiler warning indicating real error in RR simulation.

- client: fix bug that caused occasional assert in pop_heap() for the preemptable_task_list.

The problem was that the ordering predicate (more_preemptable()) could change on the fly, making the heap inconsistent. Instead, we create a vector, sort it by increasing preemptability, then pop off the end.

- MGR: Use Sleep instead of Yield for the async thread loop. On Posix systems all Yield translates to is sched_yield but only if HAVE_SCHED_YIELD is defined in the wxWidget config file. If it isn't defined it becomes a null op. The async thread doesn't really need millisecond response times. Have it check every 100 milliseconds for an RPC to process.

- client: preemptability ordering was messed up

- MGR: Reverse earlier change in RPC thread logic: restore Yield() because Sleep(100) caused undesirable latency. Pause the thread immediately on receipt of wxEVT_RPC_FINISHED event. Reduce RPC thread CPU usage while not connected to a client.

- MGR: Create an Exit dialog for the Manager.

- MGR: Allow the manager to shutdown the CC even when it was installed as a daemon.

- MGR: Code cleanup.

- MGR: Provide a way to enable/disable launching from the BOINC Manager at startup from within the BOINC Manager itself.

- MGR: Add a command line argument which specifies that the Manager was launched by the OS.

- SCR: Remove the code that checks for the BOINC Manager shortcuts.

- MGR: Fix Simple_GUI help button URL.

- Mac: Add new source files DlgExitMessage.cpp,.h to XCode project.

- MGR: On non-Mac and Non-Windows systems, have RPC thread call nanosleep() for 1 nanosecond instead of wxThread::Yield(), because some Linux systems may not support POSIX sched_yield(), in which case wxThread::Yield() returns immediately.

- MGR: RPC thread: wait for connection with 1 ms delays initially, pause RPC thread after creation on non-Windows systems.

- MGR: Text cleanup

- MGR: Bug fixes for the new Exit dialog.

- MGR: Don't display the 'Run BOINC at startup checkbox' for any platform other than Windows. It has no effect on Mac since the Mac doesn't automatically start BOINC Manager with any command line arguments.

- MGR: Add DlgExitMessage.cpp to Makefile.am.

- fix makefile typo

- MGR: Give the option to shutdown the CC even if the manager didn't launch it. This only applies to when the manager and client are on the same machine.

- MGR: properly save the 'DisplayShutdownClientDialog' setting.

- MGR: Async RPCs: RPC thread is now a joinable thread which does one RPC and exits. Main thread creates a new RPC thread for each RPC request after waiting for any previous RPC thread to exit. This simplifies the logic, eliminates Yield(), Sleep() and nanosleep() calls from RPC thread and will hopefully eliminate exess CPU usage on Fedora.

- MGR: Async RPCs: fix memory leaks, KillRPCThread() tries to end thread gracefully before killing it.

- MGR: On Mac only, remove checkbox asking whether to shutdown CC.

- MGR: Fix crash bug on non_Windows systems in Options dialog.

- MGR: Tweak the shutdown logic so that it can still shutdown the BOINC service even though it didn't start it.

- MGR: It BOINC Manager starts the BOINC daemon on the mac don't bother trying to shut it down. (reverting to previous behaviour)

- MGR: revise exit dialog text, use the names in the skin file.

- MGR: Revise text one more time.
From: Kevin Reed

- client: make host CPID a function of: MAC addresses + hostname + IP addr
This means that a given host will generally always get the same CPID.
Helpful e.g. on grids where the client gets installed repeatedly.
From Artyom Sharov.

- client: add OS name into the hash for host CPID (for multi-OS hosts)

- MGR: Only tweak the BOINC was started by us variable on Windows.

- Mac: Add new source files mac_address.cpp,.h to XCode project.

- MGR: Fix compiler warnings on non-Windows builds.

- MGR: Filter wxEVT_TASKBAR_MOVE events only on Windows.

- MGR: On Mac, restore using original exit dialog text from skin file or use old default if none in skin file.

- MGR: fix verbose text

- accelerate dup_element_contents()

- manager: truncate task progress bar (display) at 100%

- MGR: Move the old exit message from the SkinManager file to the new Exit dialog.

- MGR: Consolidate the new exit message to one line. Sun Studiodoesn't concat the separate strings together during compilation like the other compilers to when building for Unicode.

- MGR: Provide a way to re-enable the Exit Dialog.

- MGR: Fix build break on non_Windows systems.

- MGR: Provide a way to re-enable the Exit Dialog on non-Windows systems, too.

- MGR: Remove Exit() from RPC thread to possibly fix occasional crash on Windows; KillRPCThread() tries to end thread gracefully on Windows before killing it.

- client: don't fclose() time_stats_log if it's NULL
Fixes #772

- MGR: Erase and refresh entire Tasks panel when selecting a new tab to try to fix cosmetic bug reported by David on Windows.

- SVCCTRL: Introduce a new binary that is used to start and stop the BOINC service, if it is installed as a service.

NOTE: If UAC is turned on in Windows Vista then even an administrator cannot start/stop a service without elevating their privileges. The new application includes the requiresAdmin tag in its manifest file to cause the UAC dialog to be displayed when it is launched.

BOINC 6.4.0 released for Windows, Windows x64

Rom Walton wrote:

Howdy Folks,

The need to get a CUDA enabled BOINC client has caused us to revert back to the 6.2 version of the BOINC Manager for the 6.4 release. Obviously a few minor tweaks will show up in the 6.4 manager such as the ability to see what processors a particular task is using. Plus the new way of handling startup and shutdown of both the manager and core client.

Just so everyone is on the same page, the bar for fixing manager bugs is pretty high right now, if we can we will ship this release. What I mean by this is if you find a bug and we can reproduce this bug on the 6.2 client, it isn’t a showstopper. Basically if the 6.2 manager was in good enough shape to release, this manager ought to be in good enough shape to release. Be sure to send an email for all bugs you find, just in case it is something that really does need to be fixed, I don’t know what it might be at the moment, but better to be safe than sorry.

All the changes you have been helping us with will make their appearance again in the 6.5 clients.

Since this is the first release of the 6.4 client package I have enabled all test cases for a full regression test pass. We want to make sure we have dotted our i’s and crossed our t’s.

Please report test results to http://boinc.berkeley.edu/alpha/



----- Rom

Change Log:

Reverted the manager back to the 6.2 version of the manager.

BOINC 6.4.1 released for Linux and Linux x64

Rom Walton wrote:

I’m releasing the 6.4 Linux clients to test.

Log test results against the 6.4.0 version number. The only thing changed was fixing the localization file names to work with the 6.4 manager.

I’ll build the new Windows clients tomorrow.

----- Rom

BOINC 6.4.1 released for Windows and Windows x64

Rom Walton wrote:

Here is the new Windows package.

This should resolve the localization issues.

Since there were no code changes, please report results against 6.4.0.


----- Rom

Testing status report (BOINC 6.4.0)

Rom Walton wrote:

Howdy Folks,

As of this morning it looks as though the biggest complaint against the current build is that you need to exit the manager before the Run BOINC Manager at logon checkbox value is saved.

While this is something I am going to fix, I don’t think I’m going to hold up the release for it.

I suspect that when most people see the manager and if they are able to find the options dialog, they uncheck the checkbox and then exit the manager before going on about their business. I don’t suspect rebooting their computer again will be high on their priority list.

Do you all disagree with me? Have I lost touch with reality?

We’ll do something with making it easier for somebody to find the disable BOINC manager launch at logon for the next release.

We could really use some more Linux and Linux x64 results. I need to know if there are any other Linux issues lurking about. If everything else checks out with Linux I’ll get a new build out and 6.4.2 will quickly follow on the heels of the 6.4.1 Windows launch. I would like to release the Windows clients today.


----- Rom

BOINC 6.4.x Status

Rom Walton wrote:

Well folks,

We won’t be able to release 6.4 today, a last minute bug was detected with the work fetch policy when running a CUDA based application.

We’ll get the bug fixed tomorrow and do a new release across the board.


----- Rom

BOINC 6.4 news Macintosh

Charlie Fenton wrote:

We have no plans to release 6.4 for the Macintosh at this time, because we can't run BOINC CUDA applications on the Mac until NVIDIA makes some changes in their Mac software.

BOINC 6.4.2 released for Windows and Windows x64
BOINC 6.4.2 released for Linux and Linux x64

Rom Walton wrote:

Here is a new build to test. This build contains to fixes.

1. A work-fetch fix for GPU related issues.

2. A new ‘Terms of Use’ wizard page for a new up and coming project.

3. A diagnostics fix for crashing bugs.


----- Rom

Change Log:

- Mac: Fix XCode project to build old Manager with Grid Views; rename SetVersion.C to SetVersion.cpp.

- client: in round-robin simulation, only increment CPU shortfall (per-project or overall) if there are no pending tasks.

This is needed when there are coproc (i.e. CUDA) jobs; CPUs may be idle because pending jobs are waiting for active jobs to release coprocs.

In this situation the CPU idleness should not be counted as shortfall; otherwise (if there are only coproc jobs) there will always be a shortfall, and the client will fetch infinite work.

- DIAG: On Windows move the symbol store directory under the BOINC data directory structure. Depending on the version of Windows, sometimes the temp directory was being set to the system temp directory which is not setup for everyone to use. It is just best to use our data directory structure.

- GUI RPC: add optional terms_of_use field to project config. If present, the manager will display this text in a yes/no dialog before attachment continues.

- MGR: Make the error message processing work for the get_project_config rpc, use the same scheme as the ACCOUNT_OUT structure.

- MGR: Make the error message processing work for the get_project_config rpc, use the same scheme as the ACCOUNT_OUT structure. I missed the Account Manager scenario in the first checkin.

- client, Win: 32-bit client running on a 64-bit machine should report winx64 as primary platform.

- MGR: Remove the Account Key page from the Wizard.

- MGR: Add a Terms of Use page to the Wizard.

- MGR: Make the Terms of Use text control read-only

- MGR: fix exit dialog so that both the Mac and Linux clients don't display the 'close core client...' checkbox.

- WININSTALL: Change the default to not use protected application install.

- WININSTALL: Change the advanced install text to point out that on Windows Vista CUDA applications won't work with protected application installs.

BOINC 6.4.3 released for Linux and Linux x64

Rom Walton wrote:

Howdy Folks,

This release has some more work fetch and CPU scheduling fixes when using co-processors. We would like to have testing for this release wrapped up by close of business Tuesday (09/12/08).

If no showstoppers are found this release will be the one that goes out to the public.

Please log test results to http://boinc.berkeley.edu/alpha/

----- Rom

Change Log:

- client: work-fetch tweak: don't increment overall CPU shortfall if any jobs pending in simulation.

- client: use FLOPs, rather than CPU time, as the basis for estimating job completion times. This should improve estimates for GPU apps, and prevent the DCF from getting messed up.

- client: estimate time to completion based on elapsed time, not CPU time (improves estimates for coproc apps).

- client: compute duration_correction_factor based on elapsed time, not CPU time (otherwise it doesn't work for coproc or multi-proc apps).

- client: in estimate of job completion time, weight the estimate based on fraction done more heavily (quadratic rather than linear).

- Remove the notion of "CPU efficiency" from both client and server. This wasn't being measured correctly for coproc/multithread apps, and its effect is now subsumed in DCF.

- client: fix calculation of CPU shortfall; don't fetch work from projects with zero CPU shortfall.

- client: fix compiler warning.

- client: parse checkpoint_elapsed_time from state file; if missing, use checkpoint CPU time.

- client: enforce CPU schedule: if we're running a coproc job, keep CPU utilization strictly less than NCPUS.

- client: fix last checkin

BOINC 6.4.3 released for Windows and Windows x64

Rom Walton wrote:

We have now disabled the “Protected application execution” option by default. This will increase our ability to handle computers with CUDA capable devices.


----- Rom

Change Log:

- WININSTALL: Disable "Protected Application Execution" mode by default.

- WININSTALL: Turn off the check for Internet Explorer 5.x