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!

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.

Take a look here https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1435811/Msi-X470-Gaming-Pro.html?page=32#manual and read the text to the side of the graphic.
I am in slot 2_1

As for slot 2_2 I am not sure what I have set up for SATA ports. I rarely go in there.
But I don't have much for SATA gear. DVD ROM and HDD and SDD I think.
So I could probably move them to other ports if 1 is not available.

Take a look here https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1435811/Msi-X470-Gaming-Pro.html?page=32#manual and read the text to the side of the graphic.
I am in slot 2_1

As for slot 2_2 I am not sure what I have set up for SATA ports. I rarely go in there.
But I don't have much for SATA gear. DVD ROM and HDD and SDD I think.
So I could probably move them to other ports if 1 is not available.

Since you're in 2_1, that says it doesn't disable anything. So you should be fine there. 2_1 says PCI Express M2s only, but I assume you have one of those or it wouldn't work at all.

There is something else strange afoot, probably drivers. Take a look here, where Jord managed to sort the same error on Seti Boinc: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=84281#1996931

Or did you do something wrong shifting Boinc to the new drive? See another post by Jord, which I followed successfully when putting my Boinc onto a second drive: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=82100#1898040

Take a look here https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1435811/Msi-X470-Gaming-Pro.html?page=32#manual and read the text to the side of the graphic.
I am in slot 2_1

As for slot 2_2 I am not sure what I have set up for SATA ports. I rarely go in there.
But I don't have much for SATA gear. DVD ROM and HDD and SDD I think.
So I could probably move them to other ports if 1 is not available.

Since you're in 2_1, that says it doesn't disable anything. So you should be fine there. 2_1 says PCI Express M2s only, but I assume you have one of those or it wouldn't work at all.

There is something else strange afoot, probably drivers. Take a look here, where Jord managed to sort the same error on Seti Boinc: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=84281#1996931

I read that one already, so good to know we are thinking the same



Or did you do something wrong shifting Boinc to the new drive? See another post by Jord, which I followed successfully when putting my Boinc onto a second drive: https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=82100#1898040

I'll have to try this tonight and see.

something of interest, I can not update the firmware on the drive.
Software, yes.
Even though Samsung Magician says there is a firmare update available and tries to install it, it fails.

I checked my SATA ports, they are all in use. So I can't install the drive down under the GPU's near the SATA ports. So I am stuck in PCIE location.

The HDD is a terrabyte and barely full, so I can go that way.
First I have to clear out the existing work 1 full day plus 1 day extra
So tomorrow night I can uninstall BOINC and take the M.2 drive out and see what happens.
I wonder if I have a defective drive or if somehow the M.2 PCIE location interferes with the GPU function somehow.

Is this something for the BOINC forum?

something of interest, I can not update the firmware on the drive.
Software, yes.
Even though Samsung Magician says there is a firmare update available and tries to install it, it fails.

I checked my SATA ports, they are all in use. So I can't install the drive down under the GPU's near the SATA ports. So I am stuck in PCIE location.

The HDD is a terrabyte and barely full, so I can go that way.
First I have to clear out the existing work 1 full day plus 1 day extra
So tomorrow night I can uninstall BOINC and take the M.2 drive out and see what happens.
I wonder if I have a defective drive or if somehow the M.2 PCIE location interferes with the GPU function somehow.

Is this something for the BOINC forum?

There are two types of drives, SATA and PCI-express. Yours is PCI-Express, it must be or it would not have worked in the first slot, which is PCI-Express only. If you put it in the second slot, it will consume some PCI-Express lanes, disabling one of the PCI-Express sockets. If you don't need to have a card in that socket, do that. It won't use a SATA port since it's capable of PCI-Express mode.

In socket 1 it shouldn't be interfering with anything. And I can't understand how F&H works but not Boinc, as they should be doing similar things with your GPU.

Try the other slot, and/or buy an adapter to put it into a PCI-Express socket, or try it in another machine. It does sound a bit odd that you can't update it. And if it's faulty I suppose it could be buggering something up in the communications on the motherboard.

The fancy method of moving Boinc to another drive is to keep your work units. If you're running it down to zero anyway, you can just install from scratch. Just keep a copy of any app configs you made etc as they're a pain to set up.

I have taken a look and fear that you cpu doesn't have enough pcie cpu lanes to support the 2 graphics cards and the m.2 at the same time unfortunately. I fear this is the cause of the current issues you are experiencing.

Tech support at the store

I have taken a look and fear that you cpu doesn't have enough pcie cpu lanes to support the 2 graphics cards and the m.2 at the same time unfortunately. I fear this is the cause of the current issues you are experiencing.

Tech support at the store

State your CPU and graphics cards in use and I'll investigate.

Something you could try is putting a GPU into a different slot. Some slots have less lanes, which will slow down communication with the graphics card, but that won't be noticeable unless you play games on it. If you play games, stick the non-gaming card on a different slot. The MB manual will tell you how many lanes on each slot. You can also sometimes see there are less physical pins in some of them. The ones further down the board, (away from the CPU) are the ones with less lanes.

I have taken a look and fear that you cpu doesn't have enough pcie cpu lanes to support the 2 graphics cards and the m.2 at the same time unfortunately. I fear this is the cause of the current issues you are experiencing.

Tech support at the store

State your CPU and graphics cards in use and I'll investigate.

Something you could try is putting a GPU into a different slot. Some slots have less lanes, which will slow down communication with the graphics card, but that won't be noticeable unless you play games on it. If you play games, stick the non-gaming card on a different slot. The MB manual will tell you how many lanes on each slot. You can also sometimes see there are less physical pins in some of them. The ones further down the board, (away from the CPU) are the ones with less lanes.

MSI 470x gaming Plus
1 x GTX 1050
1 x. GTX 1080
Using PCIe slots 1 and 2
Slot 3 unused (GPU does not fit very well there).

Ryzen 3700x CPU

Store does not say motherboard. Rather they say the CPU is out of PCIe channels. But then we get into PCIe 3 and type 4. So how many channels of what kind are the GPU'S using? And how many channels of what kind does the CPU have? I have read that the CPU alone uses 4 type 4 channels for itself. Also generalized information says there are 24 channels (of which type?) on the CPU.

I have taken a look and fear that you cpu doesn't have enough pcie cpu lanes to support the 2 graphics cards and the m.2 at the same time unfortunately. I fear this is the cause of the current issues you are experiencing.

Tech support at the store

State your CPU and graphics cards in use and I'll investigate.

Something you could try is putting a GPU into a different slot. Some slots have less lanes, which will slow down communication with the graphics card, but that won't be noticeable unless you play games on it. If you play games, stick the non-gaming card on a different slot. The MB manual will tell you how many lanes on each slot. You can also sometimes see there are less physical pins in some of them. The ones further down the board, (away from the CPU) are the ones with less lanes.

MSI 470x gaming Plus
1 x GTX 1050
1 x. GTX 1080
Using PCIe slots 1 and 2
Slot 3 unused (GPU does not fit very well there).

Ryzen 3700x CPU

Store does not say motherboard. Rather they say the CPU is out of PCIe channels. But then we get into PCIe 3 and type 4. So how many channels of what kind are the GPU'S using? And how many channels of what kind does the CPU have? I have read that the CPU alone uses 4 type 4 channels for itself. Also generalized information says there are 24 channels (of which type?) on the CPU.

The type is irrelevant when counting them. If your CPU has 20 v4 channels, that means they can all go up to v4 speed. If an old GPU connects at v2 speed, that still uses up the same number of channels, they just run slower.

4 channels are reserved to connect to the motherboard's chipset, so yes, you have 20 left from the CPU for stuff you plug in. It's a pity you don't have a 570 motherboard, that motherboard's chipset provides another 16 lanes itself, so you'd now have a total of 36 lanes. Anyway, you've got 20 to play with. And your board only allows v3, don't worry v4 is only required for extreme gaming on the very latest cards.

Both your GPUs support up to 16 lanes, and will presumably take them all if the socket has them. Now your board only does 16,0 or 8,8 lane configurations for the PCI express sockets, so if you have two GPUs, they get 8 lanes each. So you should have 4 lanes left.

Ah, it looks like 16 lanes go to PCI-express sockets 1 and 2, either all to slot 1 or 8 to each. The other 4 go to slot 3 or the SECOND M2 slot. I can't find out where the first M2 slot takes its lanes from, but perhaps it's buggering up the GPU slots. So trying it in M2 slot 2 might work.

Not that you'd want to do it, but I connect GPUs via a USB lead (with a convertor at each end to change to and from PCI express - they were designed for bitcoin miners). You can connect huge numbers of GPUs this way as you can get quad adapters, you just have to physically house them somewhere, and provide a lot of amps at 12V for the power connectors (I use 85 amp LED PSUs from Ebay). They only take up one lane each, and for Boinc that's fine. In fact when you use a quad adapter, you get 4 cards sharing one lane on one socket, and you can even daisy chain that for 16 etc.

I have taken a look and fear that you cpu doesn't have enough pcie cpu lanes to support the 2 graphics cards and the m.2 at the same time unfortunately. I fear this is the cause of the current issues you are experiencing.

Tech support at the store

State your CPU and graphics cards in use and I'll investigate.

Something you could try is putting a GPU into a different slot. Some slots have less lanes, which will slow down communication with the graphics card, but that won't be noticeable unless you play games on it. If you play games, stick the non-gaming card on a different slot. The MB manual will tell you how many lanes on each slot. You can also sometimes see there are less physical pins in some of them. The ones further down the board, (away from the CPU) are the ones with less lanes.

MSI 470x gaming Plus
1 x GTX 1050
1 x. GTX 1080
Using PCIe slots 1 and 2
Slot 3 unused (GPU does not fit very well there).

Ryzen 3700x CPU

Store does not say motherboard. Rather they say the CPU is out of PCIe channels. But then we get into PCIe 3 and type 4. So how many channels of what kind are the GPU'S using? And how many channels of what kind does the CPU have? I have read that the CPU alone uses 4 type 4 channels for itself. Also generalized information says there are 24 channels (of which type?) on the CPU.

The type is irrelevant when counting them. If your CPU has 20 v4 channels, that means they can all go up to v4 speed. If an old GPU connects at v2 speed, that still uses up the same number of channels, they just run slower.

4 channels are reserved to connect to the motherboard's chipset, so yes, you have 20 left from the CPU for stuff you plug in. It's a pity you don't have a 570 motherboard, that motherboard's chipset provides another 16 lanes itself, so you'd now have a total of 36 lanes. Anyway, you've got 20 to play with. And your board only allows v3, don't worry v4 is only required for extreme gaming on the very latest cards.

Both your GPUs support up to 16 lanes, and will presumably take them all if the socket has them. Now your board only does 16,0 or 8,8 lane configurations for the PCI express sockets, so if you have two GPUs, they get 8 lanes each. So you should have 4 lanes left.

Ah, it looks like 16 lanes go to PCI-express sockets 1 and 2, either all to slot 1 or 8 to each. The other 4 go to slot 3 or the SECOND M2 slot. I can't find out where the first M2 slot takes its lanes from, but perhaps it's buggering up the GPU slots. So trying it in M2 slot 2 might work.

Not that you'd want to do it, but I connect GPUs via a USB lead (with a convertor at each end to change to and from PCI express - they were designed for bitcoin miners). You can connect huge numbers of GPUs this way as you can get quad adapters, you just have to physically house them somewhere, and provide a lot of amps at 12V for the power connectors (I use 85 amp LED PSUs from Ebay). They only take up one lane each, and for Boinc that's fine. In fact when you use a quad adapter, you get 4 cards sharing one lane on one socket, and you can even daisy chain that for 16 etc.

oooeff.....to much to digest at 1145 at night.
I'll try to reread it at lunch.
BUT there still is a problem.
Mounting the M.2 in the other bracket takes out a SATA port.
I have none to spare.
1 SSD
1 HDD - I think that is connected via SATA
1 DVD ROM
1 cable that is two wires that disappears to the backside of the motherboard somewhere or goes under the case opening to somewhere.
And I have only 4 ports.
All I know is I have 4 wires and 4 ports and the MOBO book says using the SATA or whatever slot will take out SATA #1

BTW, can you link to these adaptors and then say where they go on the MOBO?
If that is a way to get around things and not to expensive, then I will try that.
But I have to hurry, I have only a 2 week refund period and then Im out a hundred plus.

oooeff.....to much to digest at 1145 at night.
I'll try to reread it at lunch.
BUT there still is a problem.
Mounting the M.2 in the other bracket takes out a SATA port.
I have none to spare.
1 SSD
1 HDD - I think that is connected via SATA
1 DVD ROM
1 cable that is two wires that disappears to the backside of the motherboard somewhere or goes under the case opening to somewhere.
And I have only 4 ports.
All I know is I have 4 wires and 4 ports and the MOBO book says using the SATA or whatever slot will take out SATA #1

BTW, can you link to these adaptors and then say where they go on the MOBO?
If that is a way to get around things and not to expensive, then I will try that.
But I have to hurry, I have only a 2 week refund period and then Im out a hundred plus.

No, it will not take out a SATA port. That only happens if you plug in a SATA M2. Yours is a PCI Express M2. It will take out the third PCI Express slot instead. From your motherboard specs:

"SATA1 port will be unavailable when installing SATA M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot.
PCI_E6 slot will be unavailable when installing PCIe M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot."

This is what you're after, although you say you don't like buying from Ebay, but I'm sure you can get them elsewhere, possibly 2nd hand from a Bitcoin user.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224796842885
The little card plugs into your PCI-Express slot. The blue cable connects that to the larger card, which you plug the GPU into. It's basically just moving the GPU physically away from the board, but it also only takes up one lane. The other part is just a power adapter incase you don't have enough plugs on your PSU.

Or the caviar version for 4 cards :-)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304228336923

By the way, that 4th thing you mention about 2 wires coming from the 4th SATA port, seems very odd, do you have an esata port on the back of the case? You could disconnect that if you ever wanted to add another SATA drive. And you can buy cards to give you more SATA ports.

oooeff.....to much to digest at 1145 at night.
I'll try to reread it at lunch.
BUT there still is a problem.
Mounting the M.2 in the other bracket takes out a SATA port.
I have none to spare.
1 SSD
1 HDD - I think that is connected via SATA
1 DVD ROM
1 cable that is two wires that disappears to the backside of the motherboard somewhere or goes under the case opening to somewhere.
And I have only 4 ports.
All I know is I have 4 wires and 4 ports and the MOBO book says using the SATA or whatever slot will take out SATA #1

BTW, can you link to these adaptors and then say where they go on the MOBO?
If that is a way to get around things and not to expensive, then I will try that.
But I have to hurry, I have only a 2 week refund period and then Im out a hundred plus.

No, it will not take out a SATA port. That only happens if you plug in a SATA M2. Yours is a PCI Express M2. It will take out the third PCI Express slot instead. From your motherboard specs:

"SATA1 port will be unavailable when installing SATA M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot.
PCI_E6 slot will be unavailable when installing PCIe M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot."

This is what you're after, although you say you don't like buying from Ebay, but I'm sure you can get them elsewhere, possibly 2nd hand from a Bitcoin user.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224796842885
The little card plugs into your PCI-Express slot. The blue cable connects that to the larger card, which you plug the GPU into. It's basically just moving the GPU physically away from the board, but it also only takes up one lane. The other part is just a power adapter incase you don't have enough plugs on your PSU.

Or the caviar version for 4 cards :-)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304228336923

By the way, that 4th thing you mention about 2 wires coming from the 4th SATA port, seems very odd, do you have an esata port on the back of the case? You could disconnect that if you ever wanted to add another SATA drive. And you can buy cards to give you more SATA ports.

Interesting. I'll have to look tonight. It's get ready for work time.

oooeff.....to much to digest at 1145 at night.
I'll try to reread it at lunch.
BUT there still is a problem.
Mounting the M.2 in the other bracket takes out a SATA port.
I have none to spare.
1 SSD
1 HDD - I think that is connected via SATA
1 DVD ROM
1 cable that is two wires that disappears to the backside of the motherboard somewhere or goes under the case opening to somewhere.
And I have only 4 ports.
All I know is I have 4 wires and 4 ports and the MOBO book says using the SATA or whatever slot will take out SATA #1

BTW, can you link to these adaptors and then say where they go on the MOBO?
If that is a way to get around things and not to expensive, then I will try that.
But I have to hurry, I have only a 2 week refund period and then Im out a hundred plus.

No, it will not take out a SATA port. That only happens if you plug in a SATA M2. Yours is a PCI Express M2. It will take out the third PCI Express slot instead. From your motherboard specs:

"SATA1 port will be unavailable when installing SATA M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot.
PCI_E6 slot will be unavailable when installing PCIe M.2 SSD in M2_2 slot."

This is what you're after, although you say you don't like buying from Ebay, but I'm sure you can get them elsewhere, possibly 2nd hand from a Bitcoin user.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224796842885
The little card plugs into your PCI-Express slot. The blue cable connects that to the larger card, which you plug the GPU into. It's basically just moving the GPU physically away from the board, but it also only takes up one lane. The other part is just a power adapter incase you don't have enough plugs on your PSU.

Or the caviar version for 4 cards :-)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304228336923

By the way, that 4th thing you mention about 2 wires coming from the 4th SATA port, seems very odd, do you have an esata port on the back of the case? You could disconnect that if you ever wanted to add another SATA drive. And you can buy cards to give you more SATA ports.

Interesting. I'll have to look tonight. It's get ready for work time.

Looking at the book, it appears I have 6 SATA ports, so if I lose 1 to the m.2 I still have 1 left.

That's ok.
What do you think?