Recently I've been experiencing computer crashes with Skype (blue screen of death). I'm running Windows XP professional on a 3 GHz machine with 2GB main memory and lots of disk space.

In trying to figure out what's happening, I've been keeping the task manager open. Today, while making a phone call on Skype, I was surprised to see BOINC load one its modules, which committed almost all the memory on the machine.

Apparently voice activity alone doesn't trigger whatever event Boinc is listening for to detect user activity.

I'm wondering if this might be the cause of the occasional crashes I've experienced while using Skype.

Arthur

Recently I've been experiencing computer crashes with Skype (blue screen of death). I'm running Windows XP professional on a 3 GHz machine with 2GB main memory and lots of disk space.

In trying to figure out what's happening, I've been keeping the task manager open. Today, while making a phone call on Skype, I was surprised to see BOINC load one its modules, which committed almost all the memory on the machine.

Apparently voice activity alone doesn't trigger whatever event Boinc is listening for to detect user activity.

I'm wondering if this might be the cause of the occasional crashes I've experienced while using Skype.

Arthur

User activity = keyboard or mouse

What about running MemTest on your machine to make sure the RAM is OK?

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Kathryn :o)

Recently I've been experiencing computer crashes with Skype (blue screen of death). I'm running Windows XP professional on a 3 GHz machine with 2GB main memory and lots of disk space.

In trying to figure out what's happening, I've been keeping the task manager open. Today, while making a phone call on Skype, I was surprised to see BOINC load one its modules, which committed almost all the memory on the machine.

Apparently voice activity alone doesn't trigger whatever event Boinc is listening for to detect user activity.

I'm wondering if this might be the cause of the occasional crashes I've experienced while using Skype.

Arthur

I'd be surprised if this is the case, since the BOINC Online Help system uses Skype - I would expect that one of the BOINC volunteer helpers would have noticed and reported this by now if it was a generic problem.

Also, I don't know of a BOINC module which would commit 'almost all' of a 2GB main memory. You couldn't mean on of the BOINC project scientific applications, could you? Did you happen to make a note of the name - it would help identify which project might be involved, and their message boards might be a good place to start looking for fellow-sufferers.

In the meantime, as a temporary work-round, you could lower the percentage of the computer's memory BOINC is allowed to use while it thinks the computer is not in use - 75% (1.5GB for BOINC, 512MB for Windows and Skype) might be a starting point.

I was surprised to see BOINC load one its modules, which committed almost all the memory on the machine.

What projects are you running? What "module" was the one that loaded and ate memory?

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I also have had trouble with BOINC and skype, but not crashes. When BOINC is running, skype estimates the CPU is overloaded and therefore scales back the quality of the call. This is most obvious on video calls, as skype complains of "CPU_LOW" and drops the video resolution and frame rate. To solve this problem I have to manually snooze or suspend boinc while I am in a skype call. There must be a better solution to this problem and you probably could determine it a skype problem not a BOINC problem, but nonetheless it is a problem.
rearden

What kind of CPU do you have? How much RAM? On which OS?
Are you using video calls when you do a Skype call? If so, do you use on-board video, or on-board audio or both? (Not separate cards for either, but the chips on the motherboard).

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I use skype and boinc on a variety of computers. Usually if I install one, the other also gets installed. 2.8 P4 HT xeon, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo, AMD X2 4800, 2.4 P4 HT, P4M 1.8, P4 mobile 1.6. All are running XP professional or vista, ram varies between 512 and 1.12 GB. Video is on by default, so if a camera is present then video is attempted. I use shared memory video, standard standalone video cards depending upon the machine, I have used onboard audio, external phone connectors and usb sound cards.

All of the combinations of the above exhibit the same behavior: when boinc is running, skype lowers the quality of the call, when boinc is suspended then the quality stays at a high level. This is most noticeable with video calls, where you can watch the resolution and frame rate decrease and see skype complaining about LOW_CPU in the call stats info. If boinc is then suspended, skype stops complaining and quality improves. This is 100% repeatable.

What kind of CPU do you have? How much RAM? On which OS?
Are you using video calls when you do a Skype call? If so, do you use on-board video, or on-board audio or both? (Not separate cards for either, but the chips on the motherboard).

All of the combinations of the above exhibit the same behavior: when boinc is running, skype lowers the quality of the call, when boinc is suspended then the quality stays at a high level. This is most noticeable with video calls, where you can watch the resolution and frame rate decrease and see skype complaining about LOW_CPU in the call stats info. If boinc is then suspended, skype stops complaining and quality improves. This is 100% repeatable.

Worth reporting to Skype. They should look for a different way to check for CPU usage (ie. somehow avoid counting low-priority processes).

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I have also a similar problem with Skype and Boinc 5.10.45 on me WinXP machine.

When I close Skype the processes of Boinc are also terminated.

My machine AMD Athlon XP 2000+ (1,67 Ghz), 1 GB RAM.

Please help me

Seems that the shutdown problem of Skype while BOINC is working is solved in the latest update.

I have a network conflict problem between Boinc and Skype on my laptop, a Thinkpad T60: running Skype rel 3.9.0.154, Boinc 6.2.18 isn't able to communicate with the server over TCP.
The T60 runs with Win XP pro SP2.
Gabriel