July 12, 2007 PS3GRID Boinc Client.
A new release of the PlayStation 3 BOINC client with an easier installation and execution script is now downloadable from PS3GRID.

Report any comments in this thread.

---

Alpha Tester ~~ BOINCin since 10-Apr-2004 (2.28) ~~~ Join team USA

OK, now that we are back in business, I got this done, I had planned on this for the weekend, but....

Install was easy.

I just used the new folder created from extracting the download, and copied the contents of my old \'run\' folder into this one, then executed the install script.
I then copied the two run_... files to my desktop. I did a run_client, and all is working #1 A-OK using my old settings and continuing work where I left off.

New run_boinc and run_client are helpful. I kind of had those made myself but the automatic setup will be good for new to linux users

All the dialog boxes for attaching to the project only show the left half of the box. So now I can\'t click on the non-new user button, and I cannot join the project. What now?

Edit: I found a work-around. While I could not resize the dialog box, I was able to set it to full-screen. That allowed me to get to the button to select \"existing user\". Another though also occurred to me. I could also have attached via command line, then restarted the manager.

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

New boinc client is just a esay way to install or new boinc client?

New boinc client is just a esay way to install or new boinc client?

It is easier to install and run, and compiled from a more recent version of the BOINC client. Functionally, it is the same. If you are happy with the previous one, there is no need to update.

g

Hey, Keith (or anyone else) - I had to reinstall YDL and now when I download and run the newest .tgz file of the BOINC software an error message keeps popping up saying \"an error occurred while loading the archive\"; this leaves me with nothing to do but click on \"Close\" or \"command line output\". when i click on \"command line output\", here is what is displayed:

/bin/gtar: Skipping to next header

gzip: stdin: invalid compressed data--crc error

gzip: stdin: invalid compressed data--length error
/bin/gtar: Child returned status 1
/bin/gtar: Error exit delayed from previous errors


Help! I\'m not that adept with YDL and i don\'t want to drive myself crazy trying to solve this one on my own. thanks in advance!

I was considering running BOINC via command line, but I don\'t see a \"boinc_cmd\" executable (a command-line interface to a running BOINC core client). Is it really missing? Or am I overlooking it somehow?

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

i got it work somehow (by total accident on my part), so i don\'t know what i did to fix the problem. however, now that BOINC is up and i\'ve connected to the project the server is responding that there aren\'t any work units available.

is that something others are experiencing also? i know it\'s a beta project and may not always have units to crunch so perhaps that is the issue.

Is there a reason we need to use this particular version of BOINC? Is there something special about that is needed to run PS3GRID?

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Is there a reason we need to use this particular version of BOINC? Is there something special about that is needed to run PS3GRID?

Yes, we have introduced a couple of changes in the client. These will be soon be inserted in the main BOINC client such that, if you wish, you could compile it yourself.

i got it work somehow (by total accident on my part), so i don\'t know what i did to fix the problem. however, now that BOINC is up and i\'ve connected to the project the server is responding that there aren\'t any work units available.

is that something others are experiencing also? i know it\'s a beta project and may not always have units to crunch so perhaps that is the issue.

You can check the server status page to see when we have workunits. In the future, there will be more and more workunits. That\'s when we can focus on the work rather than on the application development.

GDF

i got it work somehow (by total accident on my part), so i don\'t know what i did to fix the problem. however, now that BOINC is up and i\'ve connected to the project the server is responding that there aren\'t any work units available.

is that something others are experiencing also? i know it\'s a beta project and may not always have units to crunch so perhaps that is the issue.

This is my impression why work is not always available here.

The project is still in a testing phase and sometimes the results from one batch need to be reviewed (by a human) before the next batch goes out, sometimes just a few from a batch. Mainly this is to insure that the application in development is functioning as expected. Other times it just depends on a human being available to push the button to generate another batch.

You are allowed 2 max at a time (server limit). Right Now I only have 1 running v5.01 task with none waiting. I checked another users account and see he had 2. It looks like my request for a 2nd unit got none, but his was sent 15 minutes later and he got a second one, oh well, these thing happen.

Some of the v5.22 tasks will automatically generate another task when a result is returned, so some of this depends on one to finish before the next can be put in the queue for another user to get, these can reproduce any number of times, but currently has only been 2 and in the future will probably only be up to about 10. Its like 1 big long task, worked on by 10 people in 1 day pieces, instead of 1 person working on it for 10 days by their self.

There are 5 different applications being tested here, see the applications page.

Just stay attached you should get work soon.

You can check the Server Status Page to see if work is there, I think it refreshes every 15 minutes. So it can say some work is there, but you get none, check the time it was \'as of\'.

I was considering running BOINC via command line, but I don\'t see a \"boinc_cmd\" executable (a command-line interface to a running BOINC core client). Is it really missing? Or am I overlooking it somehow?

I did not see it the package dated 12Jul (5.10.6).

It was in the 1st version released (5.9.11) in the \'bin\' folder.

I did not notice since I use BOINCview anyway to control my hosts, which allows me to control all my Windows(98,ME,XP,Server), Linux and PS3 hosts here and at work from 1 WindowsXP computer.

Is there a reason we need to use this particular version of BOINC? Is there something special about that is needed to run PS3GRID?

As GDF said, there were some changes made to run on the PS3.

As I understand it, mainly the platform identification, the standard boinc client releases as of yet do not identify the PS3, but the change GDF is making here will be incorporated into future official releases. At that time that should allow all projects to have PS3 applications and make it easier for users to use their PS3 to run more than 1 project.

During the outage here I got my PS3 attached to SIMAP, but not as easy as just clicking attach, unfortunately they have no work until August 1st. I was just going to do some while we could not get through to here. So my PS3 sat idle for 2 days.

There may be other small changes for performance issues.

As I understand it, mainly the platform identification, the standard boinc client releases as of yet do not identify the PS3, but the change GDF is making here will be incorporated into future official releases. At that time that should allow all projects to have PS3 applications and make it easier for users to use their PS3 to run more than 1 project.

During the outage here I got my PS2 attached to SIMAP, but not as easy as just clicking attach, unfortunately they have no work until August 1st. I was just going to do some while we could not get through to here. So my PS3 sat idle for 2 days.

There may be other small changes for performance issues.

Thanks for the information. I tried running S@H, for the periods of down-time here. I downloaded the application from:


http://gravity.phy.umassd.edu/~gkhanna/sah-cell.tar.gz

I expanded the archive, and copied all three files into projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu, except for the BOINC client as I already have a PS3 BOINC installed an running. The three files are app_info.xml, setiathome_2.3A_bin, and wisdom.sah.

When I restarted BOINC, I am getting from S@H \"platform powerpc64-ps3-linux-gnu not found\".

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to spoof some other platform somehow? I hear folks mention \"anonymous platform\". Does that have something to do with it? I don\'t know what it is or how to use it.

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

I was considering running BOINC via command line, but I don\'t see a \"boinc_cmd\" executable (a command-line interface to a running BOINC core client). Is it really missing? Or am I overlooking it somehow?

I did not see it the package dated 12Jul (5.10.6).

It was in the 1st version released (5.9.11) in the \'bin\' folder.

Thanks. Is this something I can just take from the generic linux BOINC package, and use? Or does it need to be customized too?

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

restarted BOINC, I am getting from S@H \"platform powerpc64-ps3-linux-gnu not found\".

What am I doing wrong? Do I need to spoof some other platform somehow? I hear folks mention \"anonymous platform\". Does that have something to do with it? I don\'t know what it is or how to use it.

The app_info.xml should be located in the directory $BOINCDIR/projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu. Also, you need to stop the BOINC client and restart them again, to get the new app_info.xml working. - Could you please verify, if the app_info.xml and setiathome_2.3A_bin are located in the projects/setiathome... directory.
If not, this would work. This projedure work for all projects which need a app_info.xml, also for SIMAP as installation procedure :
- attach to the project, if you are not attached
- stop the boinc client
- copy the app_info.xml and project binary (setiathome_2.3A_bin) to the projects directory under $BOINCDIR/projects/$PROJECT_URL, for example $BOINCDIR/projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu
- change in your BOINC directory ($BOINCDIR) and start the boinc client with : ./boinc -update_prefs $PROJECT_URL, for example \"./boinc -update_prefs http://boinc.berkeley.edu\"

The app_info.xml should be located in the directory $BOINCDIR/projects/setiathome.berkeley.edu. Also, you need to stop the BOINC client and restart them again, to get the new app_info.xml working. - Could you please verify, if the app_info.xml and setiathome_2.3A_bin are located in the projects/setiathome... directory.

Yes, it is in that directory.

Yes, I did as you described, but am still getting \"platform powerpc64-ps3-linux-gnu not found\".

How do I implement anonymous platform?

---

Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Yes, it is in that directory.

Yes, I did as you described, but am still getting \"platform powerpc64-ps3-linux-gnu not found\".

How do I implement anonymous platform?

The anonymous platform is actually the use of an app_info.xml...

But as I understand it, if I read the Thread at SETI@home, you have to use the BOINC Client in the sah-cell.tar.gz you´ve already downloaded, to crunch SETI on your PS3...

Another thing I read is, that the PS3 SETI app is in Alpha, and actually very slow, compared to the crunching power the Cell processor has...

---

pixelicious.at - my little photoblog

[quote]


Another thing I read is, that the PS3 SETI app is in Alpha, and actually very slow, compared to the crunching power the Cell processor has...

We are going to give a look at SETI app when Anderson comes here in September but porting an application to Cell in a proper way is not a trivial job.