Hi All,

After installing the latest updates (Creators Update) from Microsoft on Windows 10,
the screensaver doesn't get executed anymore.

In detail, after 5 minutes of inactivity (my settings) I see BOINC tries to run the screensvaver,
I can see the attempt, but then it fails and the desktop turns visible again.

I tried also uninstalling and installing BOINC again, but the issue is still there.

Any idea?

Thanks

+ BOINC 7.6.33, x64, installed as service
+ Win 10

Windows Creators Update (hahaha) broke the BOINC screen saver. It's known, the developers have been told. But without knowing where and what exactly broke, this is going to be difficult to fix. And is it even for BOINC to fix it? It's Microsoft that broke something in their update, because it worked prior to the update and it doesn't after the update. So why do the software developers then have to fix all the stuff Microsoft breaks?

I've for the moment put this break in Github: Issue #1856

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Should you encounter black screen issues during the upgrade process, give your PC a few minutes. If nothing happens, perform a forced shutdown. This action should send your device straight to the “Installing apps/preparing your PC/We’ve got updates for you” screen.

Also, don’t forget to unplug any peripherals before your hit the upgrade button. Users report the screen will stay black (or in standby) after the update if you keep your peripherals connected.
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Users report that there is a compatibility issue between the Creators Update OS and Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interractive. Many users have rolled back to the Anniversary Update because the Realtek High Definition Audio driver doesn’t accept Dolby Digital Live and DTS Surround. For the time being, there is no fix available to solve this problem.
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It appears that the Creators Update drains computer memory. Users report that memory is full after the upgrade, causing their computers to freeze. Again, this issue forced many users to roll back.
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Despite having sufficient hard drive space, some users can’t upgrade to the Creators Update because the Update Assistant says there isn’t enough disk space available. The tools somehow fails to read the correct available space.
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Users report that the Edge Hub is unresponsive after installing the Creators Update. They can’t see or save their favorites and Edge freezes when they click on the Hub.
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Some users may also experience Internet connection issues after the upgrade. More specifically, users report that their modems can’t establish any Internet connection due to error 633. If you’ve encountered error 633, try uninstalling and reinstalling your modem drivers.
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Some of your Startup shortcuts may not properly run after installing the Creators Update. The startup apps affected by this issue are the ones that try to grab a port and are getting denied access.
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Many Creators Update users can’t launch any of the apps installed on their computers. The apps simply close unexpectedly.
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Interesting to see how much a Windows update actually breaks. But that last one is interesting, for the similarities displayed here.

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Hi Ageless,

Thank you for your info.

I didn't face any of the problems listed by you since the installation of Creators Updated.
Everything works as before.

After reading the wiki
boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Client_configuration
I went under 'Options' and clicked on the 'Event log options..' menu item.
On the 'BOINC Diagnostic Log Flags' dialog I set the 'scrsave_debug' check box.
Then I waited for screen saver being activated. After the unsuccessful running of the screen saver
I looked at the Event Log of BOINC Manager dialog, but I didn't see any detailed messages about
my issue. I looked also inside the various txt files inside the BOINC data directory
(stderrdae.txt, stdoutdae.txt etc ), but no one contained any meaningful info related to my issue.

Having the BOINC screen saver not working properly, its not a big issue for me.
My primary interest was to report it to the BOINC forum, should someone else have had the same problem and
eventually to the BOINC's devs should this issue be of concern to them.

Thanks

Thank you CV and Ageless. I had the same problem as CV, apparently caused by the "Creators" update: BOINC would try to start, and be killed after an instant. Same behavior in screensaver preview mode.
Fixed problem by reverting to previous build of Windows 10:
PC settings > Update and security > Recovery > Go back to an earlier build
Windows is now prompting me to update again; haven't yet investigated how to suspend that behavior.
--Eric
7.6.33 (x64) on Windows 10
(add'l tags: screen saver)

I too have this problem since the "Creators Update". This update also broke my sound driver.

Im running an older machine and so my manufacturer no longer issues new drivers for this machine, so I guess I'm stuck there.

What I have noticed is that BOINC does actually process tasks after the idle timeout. I have mine set to 3 minutes, with the screensaver set to come on after 5. I have the BOINC manager open and watching it I see that the tasks begin to be processed after 3 minutes.

When the screensaver is supposed to come on at 5 minutes it briefly flashes on the screen and then goes back to the "normal" screen and the tasks stop being processed as it thinks the computer is in use.

So my theory is that something is happening in the background that kills the screensaver and in doing so resets the idle timer that BOINC relies on.

Joining the ranks of those with Creator's Update woes.

Would be happy to post a data dump of what info my PC has collected and is needed to help figuring this out. Just tell me what is needed.

I have not gotten the screen saver to work but I changed from Boinc screen saver to (blank) screen saver which has allowed my GPU to continue processing data where it was only sporadic when the Boinc saver was trying to run.

Hi all,

Updating my issue for whom is interested.

It seems the last KB4020102 (OS build 15063.332) fixes in some way the problem my BOINC had with the screensaver.
I updated it today and I'm having back the BOINC's screensaver working as before.

The only solution I could come up with is to run BOINC all the time so suspend when computer is in use is not selected and set CPU percentage to 75. That seems to work fine. I'll leave it like that until a fix is in place and BOINC screen saver is working again.

What exactly is broken? Is it BOINC or Windows10?

John Tod

As has been said in the post above yours, this problem was already fixed by Microsoft: get update KB4020102. Next time please read the whole thread, in cases such as this, where it's been fixed already.

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So sorry but the KB4020102 update did not fix my issue. It was an improvement however. I very recently went from Windows 10 32bit to 64bit which necessitated a full install as upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit is not possible. I had applied the aforementioned update when I was running the 32 bit version and it did fix the problem. But since installing 64 bit Windows 10 the problem reappeared. I did apply the 64 bit update but it only fixed part of the problem. The BOINC screensaver appears but nothing is displayed in the power/frequency window and just before the screensaver appears it says screensaver cannot be run because computer is in use which it wasn't. I tried increasing the percentage of non-BOINC useage but that did not fix the problem either. I tried unchecking everything under "when to suspend" except for when running off battery (I use a Dell laptop) and going to see if that improves things.

Looking back in previous posts it appears the problem reappeared when "authors" update was applied but the problem was solved when rolling back to original 64 bit OS. This is not possible for me because I had to do a clean install to go from 32 bit to 64 bit Windows 10.

I am going to monitor this thread to see if anyone else has this problem and if a fix has been found.

Respectively,


John

Warning for everyone running Windows 10 and the screen saver. The next upgrade of windows 10 will do away with the screen savers. The Fall Creators Update will have screen saver functionality removed in themes in this release, deprecated in Group Policy, Control Panel and Sysprep but functional for the time being.

So when your screen save stops working in a near future, this ISN'T the fault of BOINC, but due to Microsoft stopping support for a screen saver by default. You will probably have to download a program or something from their store to have screen saver functionality then.

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Warning for everyone running Windows 10 and the screen saver. The next upgrade of windows 10 will do away with the screen savers. The Fall Creators Update will have screen saver functionality removed in themes in this release, deprecated in Group Policy, Control Panel and Sysprep but functional for the time being.

So when your screen save stops working in a near future, this ISN'T the fault of BOINC, but due to Microsoft stopping support for a screen saver by default. You will probably have to download a program or something from their store to have screen saver functionality then.

Just another reason to stay with Windows 7.

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Additional info:
Ozzfan wrote:

Warning for everyone running Windows 10 and the screen saver. The next upgrade of windows 10 will do away with the screen savers. The Fall Creators Update will have screen saver functionality removed in themes in this release, deprecated in Group Policy, Control Panel and Sysprep but functional for the time being.

So when your screen save stops working in a near future, this ISN'T the fault of BOINC or Seti, but due to Microsoft stopping support for a screen saver by default. You will probably have to download a program or something from their store to have screen saver functionality then.

To be clear, it says that they are removing the screen saver functionality in Themes, but did not say if they were removing screen saver functionality altogether. Traditional screen saver functionality is found under Lock Screen settings instead. The post in the link you gave by user Ben Ramsay seems to confirm that screen savers are still there:

Ben Ramsay July 24, 2017 at 4:16 pm wrote:

On the build i have they have removed it from themes however it is now under lock screen, but will wait and see, as for ms paint I do use it on a regular basis and hope they will keep it or at least make a uwp version of it.

(Ben apparently doesn't know or acknowledge that the traditional screen saver has always been under Lock Screen settings as it is on my Creators Update as well as the previous Anniversary Update).

It wouldn't surprise me if they eventually remove screen savers but it looks like it's too soon to claim it will stop working in the next release.

Edited to add for clarity: SETI@home is a "traditional" screen saver and not a Themes screen saver, so it should continue working.