Hello!

Please set CPU usage to 1 CPU for GPU Acemd tasks. Because is it.
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I do it in my app_config.xml file:

Is this useful?
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Not really. Toni stated that with the new acemd3 app and wrapper, that the app will use a full cpu core all on its own without any additional configurations.

No need for the old SWAN_SYNC tweak we needed with acemd2.

I have a problem with the fact that ACEMD 3 actually utilizes 1 core, as a result, BOINC launches applications more than necessary and this is a big problem, because everything is drowning in context switching. Correct already this disgrace please, how much can you mock then ?????
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Then you must be running your cpu overcommitted to begin with.

The tasks as sent by the project by default are assigned:

0.986 CPUs + 1 NVIDIA GPU

That is sufficient cpu usage to support the task.

Reduce the overcommitment of your cpu to other projects.

Keith, this is not about changing the actual CPU usage. It is about making BOINC aware.

Then you must be running your cpu overcommitted to begin with.

The tasks as sent by the project by default are assigned:

0.986 CPUs + 1 NVIDIA GPU

Reduce the overcommitment of your cpu to other projects.

Hi Floyd, you as a long time BOINC user also know that the cpu_usage values are only used for scheduling BOINC resources.

The actual science application, being acemd3 in our case is actually the only entity responsible for actual cpu usage used to support the gpu task.

The application will use as much or as little cpu as it requires and you have no control over the issue.

Hi Floyd, you as a long time BOINC user also know that the cpu_usage values are only used for scheduling BOINC resources.

And this is what's causing it. As a long time BOINC user you'll know that 0.986 is interpreted as zero

Actually Richard commented on this a little while ago somewhere. It depends where you are in the code.

Boinc is not consistent at all on how it interprets integer values. Some places in the code, anything less than 1 is interpreted as 0.

Elsewhere, 0.986 is rounded up to 1.

And 2.5 can be interpreted as either 2.0 or 3.0 in other sections of the code.

He lamented he wished that Boinc would be consistent everywhere in the applications on how integers were valued.

And this is what's causing it. As a long time BOINC user you'll know that 0.986 is interpreted as zero

can you cite a source for this? I'm not sure this is the case. please point me to the BOINC documentation or code segment that defines this behavior.

the GPU allocation works as intended (0.5 = 0.5, 1=1, 0.33=0.33 and so on) so I have no reason to believe it doesn't account for CPU in increments less than 1 also.

Currently I fix the problem with crutch:

On Windows I place "app_config.xml" file

Actually Richard commented ...

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Ian and I were having a conversation about this in https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/issues/3764.

You can add the missing priority line to job.xml.32charID locally - 2 would be the traditional value, other possibilities are described in https://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/wiki/WrapperApp#Thejobdescriptionfile.

I found the edit was persistent over new task downloads and client restarts, Ian didn't. YMMV.

Finally. For host S, I "fixed" the problem with this config:

I've never seen 20% GPU usage. I always install an app_config for this project and several others. I cannot imagine why using <cpu_usage>0.3</cpu_usage> is ever a good idea for GG.

I also do not understand how one can be over committed. I'm in the habit of leaving a CPU thread open in Preferences, e.g. 23/24 => Use at most 96% of the processors.

Ian and I were having a conversation about this in https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/issues/3764.

You can add the missing priority line to job.xml.32charID locally - 2 would be the traditional value, other possibilities are described in https://boinc.berkeley.edu/trac/wiki/WrapperApp#Thejobdescriptionfile.

I found the edit was persistent over new task downloads and client restarts, Ian didn't. YMMV.

My priority line is still in the file, with an edit timestamp of around 32 hours ago (many tasks have passed under the bridge in that time!)

Linux Mint, editor launched from the File Browser with administrative rights.

I can't explain why. I did this with Ubuntu 20.04 on my test bench. I opened the file with the standard text editor (gedit) in the GUI, then added <priority>2</priority> and saved and closed the file. restarting BOINC (launched via boincmgr) results in the file being reverted without my edits.

I tried doing this again invoking root privs by running sudo gedit job.xml*, made my edits, saved, and same behavior.

just now, I ran a chown root job.xml* to change the owner to root (instead of me). and it still deleted and regenerated a new file without my edits when starting BOINC back up.

it seems the only thing that makes it stick is the chattr +i command, but then the project doesnt like it, tries to overwrite it, can't, and all tasks stop running.
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For comparison: different BOINC environment.

I have service install (from Gianfranco's PPA): I have added myself to the boinc user group created by the PPA: I think my file browser's 'administrative' mode is the equivalent of sudo (the same password works for both).

Hi L,
Is it still stable 1 month later ?

And this is what's causing it. As a long time BOINC user you'll know that 0.986 is interpreted as zero

can you cite a source for this? I'm not sure this is the case. please point me to the BOINC documentation or code segment that defines this behavior. the GPU allocation works as intended (0.5 = 0.5, 1=1, 0.33=0.33 and so on) so I have no reason to believe it doesn't account for CPU in increments less than 1 also.

So, now when my PC switches to an Einstein task (the one marked as 1 CPU), my WCG threads drop to 4 rather than 5.