Hello,

First things first:

Package: boinc-client
Version: 7.0.39+dfsg-0~964~precise1

Architecture: amd64

Package: boinc-manager
Version: 7.0.39+dfsg-0~964~precise1

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=12.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=precise
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS"

So Boinc runs normally if I don't tell it to suspend when the computer is in use. But if I do, it never runs.

I did a little searching and found some old (old!) posts about previous versions and the global_prefs_override.xml file... removed that and set my preferences again; same result.

I'm setting the "Only after the computer has been idle for --- minutes" to various short values: 0.5, 1.0 or so. Observe after hands off for that amount of time and it stays suspended.

Also tried hitting the 'clear' button on preferences.

Any clues as to what to check or change?

Thanks in advance.

I'd check what the preference setting is for "Suspend work if CPU usage is above X%". Default that's set to 25% which is far too low for any system. It'll suspend BOINC whenever a non-BOINC process runs at 25% CPU cycles or more. This includes any screen saver program, including BOINC its screen saver.

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Thanks for the suggestion. It was set for 50%, but I set it to 0 (disabled) and tried again. Still suspended after 1 minute.

Other suggestions?

What are the contents of the global_prefs.xml file?

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Hm. Well, I thought I had moved it aside, finding it at /etc/boinc-client, but apparently there's a couple of others:

bick-ubtu3:~$ sudo find / -mount -name global_pref\*.xml
/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml
/var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs.xml

I'll try moving that one aside (not sure what _override is for) and trying again.

To directly answer your question, though:

bick-ubtu3:~$ cat /var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs.xml
<global_preferences>

<source_project>http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/</source_project>
    <source_scheduler>https://grid.worldcommunitygrid.org/boinc/wcg_cgi/fcgi</source_scheduler>
    <mod_time>1</mod_time>
    <cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>120</cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>
    <disk_interval>60.0</disk_interval>
    <disk_max_used_gb>10.0</disk_max_used_gb>
    <disk_max_used_pct>50.0</disk_max_used_pct>
    <disk_min_free_gb>0.5</disk_min_free_gb>
    <end_hour>0</end_hour>
    <idle_time_to_run>3.0</idle_time_to_run>
    <leave_apps_in_memory/>
    <max_bytes_sec_down>0.0</max_bytes_sec_down>
    <max_bytes_sec_up>0.0</max_bytes_sec_up>
    <daily_xfer_period_days>0</daily_xfer_period_days>
    <daily_xfer_limit_mb>0.0</daily_xfer_limit_mb>
    <max_cpus>16</max_cpus>
    <max_ncpus_pct>100.0</max_ncpus_pct>
    <suspend_cpu_usage>50.0</suspend_cpu_usage>
    <net_end_hour>0</net_end_hour>
    <net_start_hour>0</net_start_hour>
    <run_if_user_active/>
    <start_hour>0</start_hour>
    <cpu_usage_limit>60.0</cpu_usage_limit>
    <ram_max_used_busy_pct>50.0</ram_max_used_busy_pct>
    <ram_max_used_idle_pct>75.0</ram_max_used_idle_pct>
    <vm_max_used_pct>50.0</vm_max_used_pct>
    <work_buf_min_days>0.2</work_buf_min_days>
    <work_buf_additional_days>0.3</work_buf_additional_days>
</global_preferences>

Let me give that a try.

Ok, so tried this:

moved global_prefs and global_prefs_override aside (renamed .xml to .sav)
bounced boinc-client
bounced boinc-manager
set preferences to .5 min and 0%

That last step created a new _override file (now I know what that is) and its contents:

bick-ubtu3:~$ cat /var/lib/boinc-client/global_prefs_override.xml
<global_preferences>
   <run_on_batteries>0</run_on_batteries>
   <run_if_user_active>0</run_if_user_active>
   <run_gpu_if_user_active>0</run_gpu_if_user_active>
   <idle_time_to_run>0.500000</idle_time_to_run>
   <suspend_cpu_usage>0.000000</suspend_cpu_usage>
   <start_hour>0.000000</start_hour>
   <end_hour>0.000000</end_hour>
   <net_start_hour>0.000000</net_start_hour>
   <net_end_hour>0.000000</net_end_hour>
   <leave_apps_in_memory>0</leave_apps_in_memory>
   <confirm_before_connecting>1</confirm_before_connecting>
   <hangup_if_dialed>0</hangup_if_dialed>
   <dont_verify_images>0</dont_verify_images>
   <work_buf_min_days>0.100000</work_buf_min_days>
   <work_buf_additional_days>0.500000</work_buf_additional_days>
   <max_ncpus_pct>0.000000</max_ncpus_pct>
   <cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>60.000000</cpu_scheduling_period_minutes>
   <disk_interval>60.000000</disk_interval>
   <disk_max_used_gb>10.000000</disk_max_used_gb>
   <disk_max_used_pct>50.000000</disk_max_used_pct>
   <disk_min_free_gb>0.100000</disk_min_free_gb>
   <vm_max_used_pct>75.000000</vm_max_used_pct>
   <ram_max_used_busy_pct>50.000000</ram_max_used_busy_pct>
   <ram_max_used_idle_pct>90.000000</ram_max_used_idle_pct>
   <max_bytes_sec_up>0.000000</max_bytes_sec_up>
   <max_bytes_sec_down>0.000000</max_bytes_sec_down>
   <cpu_usage_limit>100.000000</cpu_usage_limit>
   <daily_xfer_limit_mb>0.000000</daily_xfer_limit_mb>
   <daily_xfer_period_days>0</daily_xfer_period_days>
</global_preferences>
bick-ubtu3:~$ 

no global_prefs.xml exists

Still misbehavin'

Uhm, for the moment I don't know. Let me mull this one over.

In the mean time, the _override.xml file is the preferences file made by setting up preferences in BOINC Manager, simple view or advanced view. See http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/Local_preferences.

It overrides all the same preferences that were set in the global_prefs.xml file. There are also some preferences that can only be set in global_prefs. You shouldn't get rid of it, although it doesn't do harm other than that it will reset all those prefs to default values, until you update and get them from WCG.

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Is there not that other option which [beats me why] never was ported to the client prefs interface... only exists on device profiles / locations.

<suspend_if_no_recent_input>0.0</suspend_if_no_recent_input>

Default at WCG it's something like 20 minutes... stops crunching when there's that long no user input. Was designed so devices could get into power down mode. Been told that on Vista/W7 it's not really needed. The "lowest priority" BOINC processes are not deemed important even if running at 100%. The OS will go to sleep if the power saving profile in the OS is set and the device has the capability.

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Coelum Non Animum Mutant, Qui Trans Mare Currunt