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Frustrating BOINC Problem
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Michelle
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:23 am    Post subject: Frustrating BOINC Problem Reply with quote

I don't know if anybody else has experienced this problem, but why the heck does my computer restart when I run BOINC.
I don't think it's BOINC itself but it could be one of the projects. I haven't been BOINCing very much for a while now because of this problem. Had it running today for a little while but quit after the computer restarted twice and then crashed without restarting the third time. I think ralph@home was running.

Confused
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have not had that problem. What version of BOINC are you running? Have you checked for any viruses or spyware?
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And check the BOINC logs to see if anything of interest in mentioned in there. Try loading BOINC and then suspending it (right click the B icon in the system tray) and see if it still blows up. If it does, it's probably not the projects, but could be the manager itself. If it doesn't, it's probably a project. Suspend all of the projects and go through them one at a time to figure it out (if the logs don't tell you straight up).

There have been projects that have locked things up but I've never had crashes.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Check CPU temperature when BOINC is running. When CPU exceeds a certain temperature then the computer restarts. It's an automated response so that the CPU does not burn. Due to CPU overheating, had to uninstall BOINC from one of the computers I was running it. The other is fine doesn't exceed 60-65 Celsius at 100% of CPU usage and runs 24/7. Will close it before going on vacation, don't want to leave it running for 20 days totally unattended.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You also might want to check the BOINC forums for any similar problems.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pretty sure this isn't a BOINC problem... It has no code in it to initiate a restart. Are these graceful restarts where the computer shuts down properly and then reboots or does it just die instantaneously and plop you at the BIOS boot screen?

As mentioned above, monitoring your CPU temperature is probably a good idea. Most motherboards have a temperature sensor built in right below the CPU. You should be able to get monitoring software from the motherboard manufacturer's website. Maybe try to open up the computer and remove any dust.

Another culprit might be some bad memory. You could try running Prime95 in its "torture test" mode for a day and see if it finds any errors.

It is also possible that it is just windows being naughty. Windows XP has a "feature" that causes it to suddenly restart instead of displaying a blue screen of death that might actually tell you what the problem is. I think it can be disabled somewhere...
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Michelle
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't restarted BOINC yet and the computer hasn't carked it again.
Could be a combination of dust and temperature so I'll pull the cover off when there's time to do it. As for temp, I did have like a monitoring type program on the older Acer a while back that the punkin told me about, but that was a while ago - before I wiped everything and reinstalled xp - so I can't remember what it was.
How do I check what the temp is?

MacG - It just suddenly cuts out, does a restart (except for the last time when it just stayed off) and then it does the 'checking the disk' thing before Windoze starts up.

John - I'm using version 5.8.15 so it should be pretty current.

JerWA - It doesn't do it when BOINC is suspended. At the moment I have it set to suspend when I'm doing other stuff because the computer cut out a couple of days ago in the middle of something and I had to redo it. Then when I was away from the computer for a while last night, BOINC started working again and computer went off. Rolling Eyes

Tenebra - What are you using to monitor your CPU temp?

BOINC restarted so I'll suspend ralph@home and see if it does it again with RCN or ABC.

p.s. It's winter here now so temp shouldn't be a major problem. Day temps have been around 20 - 24C and night temps are around 7 - 10C except for a couple of nights ago when it got down to 3.

It also crashed a couple of days ago when I was doing a spybot scan but I can't remember if BOINC was running or not. I do plenty of spyware scans - spybot, avg anti-spyware, adaware and trend micro housecall (online scan).
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Michelle wrote:
MacG - It just suddenly cuts out, does a restart (except for the last time when it just stayed off) and then it does the 'checking the disk' thing before Windoze starts up.

John - I'm using version 5.8.15 so it should be pretty current.


Disk checking? I wonder if you might have a bad sector on the HD or if it might be going....if there is a problem with the disk & it is trying to hit the disk it could possibly try to restart itself.

I m also running ver 5.8.15 without the problems....It think 5.8.16 is out now. try upgrading, maybe there is a fix for something I haven't run into yet.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hm. It restarted when I ran spybot, so I ran adaware and it was fine. Adaware didn't find anything so I went to housecall. It restarted when I ran housecall. I'm running avg anti-spyware now so we'll see what happens.
I might be narrowing it down to some kind of spyware....maybe.
It did this a while back - restarted with housecall and spybot but not adaware - so it may be some sort of spyware that adaware doesn't pick up but the other two do, and the spyware doesn't like it.

Then again, I'm probably grasping at straws and it's a hardware problem rather than a BOINC or spyware problem.
Shocked

John - I'll see how I go after all the scans I can think of, and if that still doesn't work I'll download 5.8.16
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Took the cover off and found enough dust to fill a vacuum cleaner bag. Embarassed Maybe half fill.
Got rid of it, then remembered the name of the program for temps - SpeedFan. Downloaded that but don't really understand it. I don't like the little flames, they look a bit scary.



Temp 1 at the top is now going from 71 - 72. I started up eon and stopped it again when that reading when to 76.

Temp 2 is constantly going up and down, and the other ones haven't moved.
Heat problem? The fan on the inside appears to working okay. I shone a torch through the vent on the side and it appeared to be spinning madly. The fan at the back (on the psu?) is whizzing around.

Maybe it isn't BOINC or one of the projects after all. Confused
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 4:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Temp 1 is likely the CPU, and that's pretty toasty. What CPU is it? Be as specific as possible, and if you have no idea then download cpu-z and it'll tell you all the juicy bits.

The cooler on the CPU probably has vanes or slots or something similar, if possible see if they're clear so that air can flow through. If not, use some canned air on it hehe.

Your voltages are also all over the place, which doesn't bode particularly well for the health of the power supply.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

try shutting down every thing, ie boinc, eon, MJ-12 etc... the run taskmanager to confirm that the cpu is running at around 1-5% then just leave for a few minutes and the recheck the temps......

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nothing's running other than anti-virus etc and task manager is 0 - 8%. Temp thing jumped up to 75 as I logged in. Rolling Eyes



I downloaded cpu-z.



Thanks for trying to help, guys.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

CPU temperature might be your one problem, since it is pretty high.

If it does a disk check, you might also have a bad sector or something. Try defragmenting the disk with the Windows Defragmenter as well.

As for checking CPU temperature, I use the programs that come with the motherboards. There is always a monitoring program, at least with the Asus motherboards I like so much.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't know whay I didn't think of this before now....http://pcpitstop.com/.

Try the link Michelle. It's free, and it runs a bunch of tests on your computer.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a suggestion, just vac'ing out the inside doesn't really get everything that causes the problems. You need to "blow-out" the heatsink in most cases. If the inside is dirty, the slots in the heatsink will fill up with junk and restrict the cooling properties. 70 degrees sounds way to hot, but I don't real speak Celeron. The hottest CPU I have is a P4 Prescott, which runs about 65 under 100% load.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://processorfinder.intel.com/Details.aspx?sSpec=SL7DM

Thermal spec on that processor is 67C, which is high (61.4C on my Core 2 E6400 for example), but the fact you're over it by a healthy margin means you're definitely running too hot. I don't know where the sensor is that Speedfan is reading, but if it's idling at 75C then full load (i.e. BOINC) is almost definitely going to trigger a thermal shutdown to protect the CPU.

I would suggest first checking to make sure all the fans (and I mean all of them, case, graphics card, CPU, power supply, etc) and heatsinks are clear of dust and debris and checking temps again. Make sure all the fan grills are clear, and that the fans aren't crusted with gunk. Use a flashlight if you need to, but make sure all the fans are spinning at a consistent speed. If any of them are "surging," i.e. speeding up and slowing down constantly, then that fan needs to be replaced.

If all of that doesn't bring temperatures down, you're going to need to get more drastic. One easy test is to take the side off your case and point a big fan at it, like a desk fan, and watch temps. If they drop sharply, you've got an airflow problem and will likely need to add/upgrade/replace fans (including the CPU heatsink fan) and possibly upgrade the CPU cooler itself.

Generally none of that should be necessary. Just cleaning things up and replacing any dead/dying fans usually works. If you need to go beyond that, I can do some hunting for cheap stuff that'll help.

Given that your processor is fairly close in power consumption to mine (74W vs 65W), and our thermal specs fairly close (67C vs 61C), I would think that idle you should be idling in the <40C range and running no more than 60C under load. My CPU is at 45-47C right now at 100% load, and the cooling setup is far from optimal in this Dell machine. If I saw my CPU at 75C I'd freak out.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

One other thought- While you've got the side off as per the prior msg suggested, check and make sure all your fans are running.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tenebra - I did a defrag. #ni-1

Thanks for the links, John and JerWA.

I turned the machine off overnight and just turned it back on again. According to speedfan the fan didn't fire up until it hit 67C. I would have thought it should come on before that.

I'll take the cover off again today and try to get some more dust out and then start it up to check the fans. Yesterday I used a soft clean cosmetic brush and a clean art brush to brush some out as well as trying to blow some out.
Any opinions on the best methods? Suck it out with a vac on low setting or blow with compressed air?

Jonnyv, it might be better if you could move this to the Help forum since it's not a BOINC problem after all.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I prefer compressed air because a vacuum can generate static charges if it's not specifically designed for working with electronics. And while a nice static zap or two would fix the heat problem, it would only be fixed because it wouldn't work any more.

If the fan isn't turning on until a set temperature, check your BIOS settings for fan related settings. It's also possible the fan is heat controlled by a sensor on itself (look for a little bit of wire sticking off the fan leading nowhere). The fan should be on a low setting below a certain temp, and then get faster as temps increase. If it's not running at all at low temp, you need a new fan for sure.
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