I had my machines some on Win 7 home and some win 7 ultimate. They all got an upgrade to Win 10 home or win 10 pro for free. But I don't think they still do it, unless you fiddle with the settings and say you're disabled!

I just had a quick look around the net and an upgrade to win10pro may still be possible
Maybe if I tell MS that I am insane and I boinc 24/7
You don`t have to be mad to work here , but it helps.

Anything is possible depending which websites you're willing to use. When I say I had Windows 7 on 7 machines....

My Windows 10 is using 10% of my RAM = 6.5GB for a write cache. And if you tick the box to turn off write cache buffer flushing, it helps even more. Right click the drive, properties, hardware, properties, change settings, policies, tick "turn off buffer flushing".

It appears that you are looking at the Performance tab in Task Manager. That just says "cache". I think they stick everything they can into the memory for faster retrieval of programs that you have already opened. In other words, it is a read cache.
But I don't know how they implement it, so there may be something you could call a write cache, but more for system programs or desktop apps.
I don't think the user has any control over it however, and I doubt that they would put any of the BOINC writes into it, which is something they don't know anything about.

I would leave buffer flushing on.

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My Windows 10 is using 10% of my RAM = 6.5GB for a write cache. And if you tick the box to turn off write cache buffer flushing, it helps even more. Right click the drive, properties, hardware, properties, change settings, policies, tick "turn off buffer flushing".

It appears that you are looking at the Performance tab in Task Manager. That just says "cache". I think they stick everything they can into the memory for faster retrieval of programs that you have already opened. In other words, it is a read cache.
But I don't know how they implement it, so there may be something you could call a write cache, but more for system programs or desktop apps.
I don't think the user has any control over it however, and I doubt that they would put any of the BOINC writes into it, which is something they don't know anything about.

I would leave buffer flushing on.

No, the 10% (= 6.5GB in my case) is from me reading an article. The task manager shows (all memory not in use by programs) is a cache, most of that will be a read cache.

They don't need to know about Boinc, they write cache any writes to disk.

Why would I leave buffer flushing on? It's a bit safer if you crash or have powercuts a lot, but it impedes performance and as you said wears out the disk quicker.

No, the 10% (= 6.5GB in my case) is from me reading an article. The task manager shows (all memory not in use by programs) is a cache, most of that will be a read cache.

They don't need to know about Boinc, they write cache any writes to disk.

Why would I leave buffer flushing on? It's a bit safer if you crash or have powercuts a lot, but it impedes performance and as you said wears out the disk quicker.

Certainly it is from you reading an article. When you open a word processor or web browser, for example, it initially reads the information from the disk drive (SSD). But it also places it in the cache. Then, the next time you open that same page, it can read the information from the cache, rather than from the disk drive. It is a bit faster, but not much in the case of an SSD, since they have fast reads anyway. It was developed mainly for use with mechanical disk drives, where it can make more of a difference.

You don't have a write cache. There is no point in risking a crash.

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Errors that result in systems being black listed from getting work

When do systems get blacklisted?
I'm using a self-written script to abort tasks that don't process, wondering whether this can get my systems blacklisted too.

I need a bit of help with the m.2 drive.
It is installed correctly, driver updated
BIOS sees it.
Device manager sees it.
But File Explorer does not.

This is where I want to put the data files for BOINC, but I can't seem to find the drive.
Did a self test out of BIOS, that was clean.
I'm lost.

Do you see the drive in the Disk Management? If yes, can you assign it a drive letter there?

I need a bit of help with the m.2 drive.
It is installed correctly, driver updated
BIOS sees it.
Device manager sees it.
But File Explorer does not.

This is where I want to put the data files for BOINC, but I can't seem to find the drive.
Did a self test out of BIOS, that was clean.
I'm lost.

File Explorer won't see it if there is no partition on it.

File Explorer won't see it if there is no partition on it.

Good point. If you go into Disk Management, you should be able to see the drive.
Then, right-click on it, and select "New Simple Volume".

Or you can always use Parted Magic.
https://partedmagic.com/

It used to be that you had to create a partition on a drive to even install Windows, but now Windows does it automatically.

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File Explorer won't see it if there is no partition on it.

Good point. If you go into Disk Management, you should be able to see the drive.
Then, right-click on it, and select "New Simple Volume".

Or you can always use Parted Magic.
https://partedmagic.com/

It used to be that you had to create a partition on a drive to even install Windows, but now Windows does it automatically.

Didn't want to pay for that program, but found another to do the job.
So magic! I can see everything now.

Going to take a hit on credit for lost work, because I migrated without finishing all the work. Oh well.

Curious to see what RAH will do now that it has 100% again.

What?

1/23/2022 5:37:15 PM | | GPU detection failed: process exited with status 0x1: Incorrect function. (0x1)
1/23/2022 5:37:15 PM | | No usable GPUs found

FAH uses them just fine.
And my monitor runs off of one of them.

There are three major kinds of GPUs - Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. You may need to match the kind BOINC sees to the kind or kinds the applications are written to be able to use.

There are three major kinds of GPUs - Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. You may need to match the kind BOINC sees to the kind or kinds the applications are written to be able to use.

GPU units were used prior to installing a m.2 drive and changing data folder location.

Nothing changed other than a m.2 drive being installed and the data moved.

Drivers uninstalled and redone, BOINC removed and reinstalled.

I guess I'll run out the work I have now and erase BOINC and the data folders.

You don't have a write cache. There is no point in risking a crash.

Yes I do. Again, read cache = all spare RAM. Write cache = 10% of RAM (50% in windows server). Turning off buffer flushing makes it more effective.

Errors that result in systems being black listed from getting work

When do systems get blacklisted?
I'm using a self-written script to abort tasks that don't process, wondering whether this can get my systems blacklisted too.

I have 7 Windows systems. 1 works fine 99% of the time. 5 do no CPU time and I've cancelled loads. 1 looked like it was working, but produced errors when validating. Only that last one got blacklisted (after 100 failed tasks), and only blacklisted from python. I assume if it was my own account I could go and switch it back on, but through gridcoin I cannot, and the admin can't be bothered doing it for me.

File Explorer won't see it if there is no partition on it.

Good point. If you go into Disk Management, you should be able to see the drive.
Then, right-click on it, and select "New Simple Volume".

Or you can always use Parted Magic.
https://partedmagic.com/

It used to be that you had to create a partition on a drive to even install Windows, but now Windows does it automatically.

Didn't want to pay for that program, but found another to do the job.
So magic! I can see everything now.

Going to take a hit on credit for lost work, because I migrated without finishing all the work. Oh well.

Curious to see what RAH will do now that it has 100% again.

All programs are free if you know where to look. But device manager should make the drive letter for you anyway.

There are three major kinds of GPUs - Nvidia, AMD, and Intel. You may need to match the kind BOINC sees to the kind or kinds the applications are written to be able to use.

GPU units were used prior to installing a m.2 drive and changing data folder location.

Nothing changed other than a m.2 drive being installed and the data moved.

Drivers uninstalled and redone, BOINC removed and reinstalled.

I guess I'll run out the work I have now and erase BOINC and the data folders.

You may have installed the M2 drive on a shared PCI express lane. Look at your motherboard manual and see what you can do. For example, my motherboard has two M2 slots. One disables one of the PCI express sockets. If it's an adapter card you're using, try another slot.

Errors that result in systems being black listed from getting work

When do systems get blacklisted?
I'm using a self-written script to abort tasks that don't process, wondering whether this can get my systems blacklisted too.

I have 7 Windows systems. 1 works fine 99% of the time. 5 do no CPU time and I've cancelled loads. 1 looked like it was working, but produced errors when validating. Only that last one got blacklisted (after 100 failed tasks), and only blacklisted from python. I assume if it was my own account I could go and switch it back on, but through gridcoin I cannot, and the admin can't be bothered doing it for me.

Interesting, thank you for the answer!

1 looked like it was working, but produced errors when validating.

How did this come? Faulty RAM?

On my 2 PCs roughly 20% of the rosetta python tasks have to be aborted; if I wouldn't abort them, they would just exceed the deadline, so I don't have much alternative. Most of the aborted tasks can be completed and validated on other systems, regardless of the OS. Would be really interesting why they don't run on my systems.

1 looked like it was working, but produced errors when validating.

How did this come? Faulty RAM?

No, perfectly stable machine with RAM tested. Nothing else does this, must be a python fault. VB tasks from LHC work smoothly.

On my 2 PCs roughly 20% of the rosetta python tasks have to be aborted; if I wouldn't abort them, they would just exceed the deadline, so I don't have much alternative. Most of the aborted tasks can be completed and validated on other systems, regardless of the OS. Would be really interesting why they don't run on my systems.

It's very strange and nobody knows the answer, except perhaps the silent staff that aren't here! Some machines can't run them, some can half the time, some can most of the time, there must be a huge list of bugs in it.

How did this come? Faulty RAM?

No, perfectly stable machine with RAM tested. Nothing else does this, must be a python fault. VB tasks from LHC work smoothly.

Strange!

On my 2 PCs roughly 20% of the rosetta python tasks have to be aborted; if I wouldn't abort them, they would just exceed the deadline, so I don't have much alternative. Most of the aborted tasks can be completed and validated on other systems, regardless of the OS. Would be really interesting why they don't run on my systems.

It's very strange and nobody knows the answer, except perhaps the silent staff that aren't here! Some machines can't run them, some can half the time, some can most of the time, there must be a huge list of bugs in it.

I see! Very strange indeed!