Optimized apps?

manbearpig

manbearpig

manbearpig

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Hi, ive just started seti@home for team OcUK for the first time! I have a Dell Dimension 2350 that I use along with my pc in my sig. How can I find out what optimized clients I should use for both of the PC's, and would it really make any difference?

Thanks :)
 
Optimised apps tend to offer significant improvements in the time taken to process work units, so I'd definitely recommend you use them. To find out which ones to install, use CPUz to find out what instruction sets your CPUs support and download the apps that correspond to those. Once you've done that you'll more than likely need to create/modify an app_info.xml file, but I'll leave those who know what they're talking about to explain what, if anything, needs to be done there.
 
Sorry I am very new to this and dont know where to begin, on CPU-Z in instructions it says "MMX, SSE (1, 2, 3, 3S, 4.1, 4.2) EM64T, VT-x", Is there an offical website to download whatever app I need?
 
Ah, sorry, thought you already knew that :o

Here you go. Actually, I forgot that they now have unified installers that you download and run that do all the work for you, so it should just be a simple case of making sure you download the right one for your OS, stopping BOINC, running the installer and restarting BOINC. Just make a backup of your BOINC directory (by default, x:\Program Files\BOINC) beforehand in case anything goes belly-up.
 
I can't remember if installing the optimised app bricks your existing WUs, but I have a feeling it will. If you can, wait until all your WUs are done and sent to be on the safe side :)
 
The last couple of times i've use the unified installer it hasn't bricked any unstarted WU's just the ones its in the middle of that are effected. I all depends if you have a lot of work. If you've got a backup as long as boinc is set to 'no network connection' or whatever its called (may be worth pulling the cable to be sure) you may as well give it a go. If it goes wrong restore the backup and wait till there all complete then re do it.
 
Thanks, there is 1 task left with 4 hours to go so I will try that tomorrow.

Edit: I can try it on my other PC first because that only has 1 task left and no others pending.
 
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Don't forget that with the new standard 3 day outage, you'll need to have grabbed at least 3 (ideally considerably more) days of work by about 3 PM tomorrow (UK time). Once the servers go down, no work will be available 'till about 3PM Friday (UK time). BTW, welcome to the team :D
 
Oh ok, thanks for reminding me. Ive got a fair amount of work to keep my PC's warm for the next few days, anyway its good to have something to use them for ;)
 
Bit of a thread bump, Is there anywhere that I can get an optimized app for milkyway@home?, because all of the websites that used to have the links dont seem to work anymore.

Thanks
 
Thanks again :)

Edit: Im a bit confused as to how to install it, I already have BOINC installed which I have only run Seti@home on.

The instructions say:

1) Stop BOINC service by going to the advanced menu and selecting "Shut down connected client, click okay and then click cancel. Then exit out of the BOINC Manager.

2) Copy all files in the "Files to install" directory to your BOINC\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway folder.

Windows 98/SE/ME: C:\Windows\All Users\BOINC\ or C:\Windows\Profiles\All Users\BOINC\

Windows 2000/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\

Windows Vista and Windows 7: C:\ProgramData\BOINC\

There is a file called "app_info.xml" included that will make BOINC use this app automatically.
3) Restart BOINC service by reopening BOINC Manager.

Where can I find the files to install directory?

Any help would be great.
 
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You'll need to attach to Milkyway@home first (Tools > Attach to project or account manager..., then choose Attach to project and follow the instructions that follow), which will have BOINC create the Milkyway folder and download the default files. It may even download some work, but as soon as you've attached stop it from requesting more work. Once all that is done, stop BOINC, install the optimised apps and restart BOINC as per the instructions you've got above. Finally, allow Milkyway to download work again.

Don't forget to join OcUK (on your new Milkyway account page)!
 
Well, mine's in x:\Program Files\BOINC\Data\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway, but I think by default the data directory is created within x:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\..., but I can't remember exactly where off the top of my head.

Edit: x:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC Data\ is apparently where the data folder will be stored if it's not in the main BOINC folder. (That's for XP. If you're using Vista it's x:\ProgramData\BOINC Data\.) Some of these folders will be hidden.
 
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might depend on whether you allow all users to control the app.

mine on XP goes in
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway
 
Im on XP and I should be able to see all of the hidden folders, but I dont have a data folder in either of them places. Anyway I will let it finish its work and see what happens after.

thanks for all your help.
 
kolala said:
might depend on whether you allow all users to control the app.

mine on XP goes in
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\projects\milkyway.cs.rpi.edu_milkyway
Click to expand...

I have some data in that folder of the work that I am currently doing for Milkyway@home, but it says to copy it to the folder that it is already in?
 
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