Just wondering: Boinc just downloaded a bunch of new tasks, 3 of which mention 'Download failed'.

I'm on a cable modem, stable to my knowledge. Does this really mean that there are glitches on my line that would not be recovered by the protocol (TCP)? Or can this have another meaning?

In the same way I occasionally saw computation error: is a computation error really possible (exclude the cases where I messed around with the files myself - then I can understand).

6.10.18 on XP SP3, no useable CUDA.

Just wondering: Boinc just downloaded a bunch of new tasks, 3 of which mention 'Download failed'.

I'm on a cable modem, stable to my knowledge. Does this really mean that there are glitches on my line that would not be recovered by the protocol (TCP)? Or can this have another meaning?

Which project was this with?
It can be because of glitches in your connection, but it can also be that the project has problems. Usually in the messages it'll tell you what got lost. And else it'll tell it in the stderr.txt on the tasks in question (you can find the details about that on the project web site, under your account, tasks on your computer, click on any of the Task IDs for more information.

In the same way I occasionally saw computation error: is a computation error really possible (exclude the cases where I messed around with the files myself - then I can understand).

Yes, computation errors are really possible. Be it due to glitches in the data, corrupt data on disk, not the whole task having been downloaded, a problem with the CPU, a problem with the RAM, heat, and a myriad of other causes, including OS.

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