Hi

I am about the end of my teather. It is no wonder that Windoz is the #1 software in the world. I can't do anything in this Linux and I can't find help anywhere. The simplest of things I can't find. I have had Debian Linux on a PC for a day or more now and still have not been able to get BOINC to work. All I have is a command line and no GUI.

I got the Boinc app to run but couldn't get Boincmgr to run to attach to projects. So I thought I would download the older command line version. I put it on a CD on my XP and could look at it on the CDROM on the Linux box but could not copy it.

I can't find the copy command from a CD to a hard drive. cp seems to think I am copying to the CD all the time.

Well if you know the command to copy from a cdrom to a hard disk, in linux, let me know. I am going to put the windoz image I took back onto the PC tomorrow if I can't get boinc running tonight.

I have to copy because I haven't figured a way to get a browser to run as yet I need to copy everything from CD.

I also need to figure out how to use gunzip.

These insstuctions look so simple but do not show the commands to copy the file.

This type of installation requires that you be familiar with the UNIX command-line interface.

After downloading the file:

* Use gunzip to uncompress the file if your browser has not done it for you.
* chmod +x the executable.
* put the executable into a separate directory (say, boinc/).
* run the executable. The first time you run it you'll need to attach it to a project, e.g.:

boinc_client -attach_project http://setiathome.berkeley.edu df0d93e384a2700f70e0bc45a1b2c96c




Dingo

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Proud Founder and member of



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Hi

I got a bit further in the last few hours and was able to copy the file boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz from the CD that I downloaded from here http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php. The problem is the instructions say
# Use gunzip to uncompress the file if your browser has not done it for you.
# chmod +x the executable.
# put the executable into a separate directory (say, boinc/).
# run the executable. The first time you run it you'll need to attach it to a project, e.g.:

boinc_client -attach_project http://setiathome.berkeley.edu df0d93e384a2700f70e0bc45a1b2c96

so I use gunzip on boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz and I get one file called boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu (The same thing happened with WINZIP on XP)

There is no file called boinc_client so what do I do now. I tried running boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu but it said Command not found.
If anyone can help I would be much obliged.

Dingo

---

Proud Founder and member of



Have a look at my WebCam

There is no file called boinc_client so what do I do now. I tried running boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu but it said Command not found.
If anyone can help I would be much obliged.

Sounds like you're making steady progress. First, don't get discouraged, the transition from Windows to Linux can be a bit daunting at first.

First thing is to verify that the file, boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu, has in fact been made executable.... chmod +x boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu

Next, you may have to type in the complete path to the program, and not just it's name.
This is controlled by the PATH environment variable, much the same as the PATH variable in Windows. In my experience, however, Windows always looks in the directory or folder you are currently in. In some cases Linux won't do this by default, it only looks in directories specified in the $PATH variable. To test it out, try entering the the entire path/program, for example, /home/dingo/BOINC/boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu

Of course you'll want to replace the path portion with the actual directories on your system where boinc is installed. You can verify the path by changing to the directory where boinc is installed and using the pwd command (print working directory). It will show you the full path to where you currently are. Using that path, and adding the program name (boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu) to the end might be all you need to get it going. Give that much a whirl and see what happens. There's a lot of good Linux minds around here (much smarter than me) that will jump in and offer suggestions if things still don't fly. Good luck!

Scarecrow.

That was all it was. I needed to put in the whole path and it did not like the URL and key entered on the line but prompted for it later.

Now I have one project up and running do I do the same thing for the others and run the same command ?? It is running and putting out lines to the screen. How do I get back to a prompt so that I can run the program again ??



Thanks again for the help.
Dingo

---

Proud Founder and member of



Have a look at my WebCam

Hi

I got a bit further in the last few hours and was able to copy the file boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz from the CD that I downloaded from here http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php. The problem is the instructions say
# Use gunzip to uncompress the file if your browser has not done it for you.
# chmod +x the executable.
# put the executable into a separate directory (say, boinc/).
# run the executable. The first time you run it you'll need to attach it to a project, e.g.:

boinc_client -attach_project http://setiathome.berkeley.edu df0d93e384a2700f70e0bc45a1b2c96

so I use gunzip on boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz and I get one file called boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu (The same thing happened with WINZIP on XP)

There is no file called boinc_client so what do I do now. I tried running boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu but it said Command not found.
If anyone can help I would be much obliged.

Dingo

Why don't you use BOINC 4.43 and its boincmgr? First use the run_client & command in background then start boincmgr. I am running both SETI&home and einstein&home on my old Pentium II at 400 MHz, SuSE Linux 9.1, and they both run fine. I have to suspend seti&home in order to meet the much shorter deadlines of einstein&home. My latest 2 seti results are still pending. Cheers.

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Hi

I got a bit further in the last few hours and was able to copy the file boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz from the CD that I downloaded from here http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php. The problem is the instructions say
# Use gunzip to uncompress the file if your browser has not done it for you.
# chmod +x the executable.
# put the executable into a separate directory (say, boinc/).
# run the executable. The first time you run it you'll need to attach it to a project, e.g.:

boinc_client -attach_project http://setiathome.berkeley.edu df0d93e384a2700f70e0bc45a1b2c96

so I use gunzip on boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu.gz and I get one file called boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu (The same thing happened with WINZIP on XP)

There is no file called boinc_client so what do I do now. I tried running boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu but it said Command not found.
If anyone can help I would be much obliged.

Dingo

Why don't you use BOINC 4.43 and its boincmgr? First use the run_client & command in background then start boincmgr. I am running both SETI&home and einstein&home on my old Pentium II at 400 MHz, SuSE Linux 9.1, and they both run fine. I have to suspend seti&home in order to meet the much shorter deadlines of einstein&home. My latest 2 seti results are still pending. Cheers.

I was thinking in background. Of course seti&home is seti@home. Same for einstein. Sorry.

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As Tullio said, using boincmgr simplifies things greatly, but it does require Xwindows to be running. I don't know if you did a full install of Debian with the Xwindows environment, but if you did, boincmgr is the way to go. Lots easier clicking on the buttons and tabs to accomplish things. If, on the other hand, you don't have X installed, boincmgr will not run for you at all and you will have to depend on the command line to carry out the various tasks. As for running an app in the background, all you really need to do is add an ampersand (&) to the end of the line when you run the program. The program will start and you will instantly be taken back to the prompt.

boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu &

You should also note that once a program is running in the background, you no longer have control of it via the console you launched it from. Should you want or need to kill boinc after you've started it in the background, you will first have to determine it's PID (process Identifier) and kill it with (of all things) the kill command. You can find the PID with the pidof command....

pidof boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu
will return a number... this is the program's PID. To kill it...
kill -9 (PID) (where (PID) is the number you got from pidof above)

Alternatively, you can try the killall command which will accept the program name and not require the PID...
killall boinc_4.19_i686-pc-linux-gnu
This will kill all running instances of boinc that you have control over. Using the PID method you can select which instance to kill if there are more than one running on the system.

And if all this hasn't overwhelmed you yet, killing the boinc program doesn't kill the science app, that is, the actual setiathome program. It will keep running until it has finished it's computations, or until it is killed as well. There are several scripts posted here that automate most all of this including having boinc start up when the computer boots up. But since you're just starting out, trying a few of these commands 'by hand' to get a feel for how it all works will be a good groundwork for taking it to the next step and putting the more complex scripts to work.

Or you could use a script like:

#!/bin/sh
cd /opt/boinc
/opt/boinc/boinc_client -return_results_immediately > /dev/tty10 3> /dev/tty10&
to start boinc

and

#!/bin/sh
cd /opt/boinc/
kill `ps aux | grep setia | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'`
kill `ps aux | grep boinc | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'`
rm /opt/boinc/lockfile

to stop boinc and the setiathome app.

regards
Crunch3r

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As Tullio said, using boincmgr simplifies things greatly, but it does require Xwindows to be running. I don't know if you did a full install of Debian with the Xwindows environment,

I haven't had any luck getting Xwindows to run and I don't know if it loaded ? I don't know how to get a web browser running or how to access the web without one.

I have the command line running and I am attached to several projects and they are switching over ok so I will leave it at that.

I would like to have a GUI as it must be much easier. I feel like I have been time warped back to the late 70's early 80's when DOS only had a command prompt.

I can still remember that era.

I installed the i386 version by mistake, I think it is an age thing. If I had the i686 it may have Xwindows I don't know ?

If I decide to reinstall linux what command lets the work units run down so none are left??

Thanks everyone for the help I have it running and I will let it run for a while.

Dingo (MCSE)

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Proud Founder and member of



Have a look at my WebCam

Hi

Could I stop the command line 4.19 version I have running and load the newer 4.43 version of the client and the boinc manager over the top?

Will the work currently there just pick up where it left off?

I assume that 4.43 is an upgrage to 4.19 so everyone will need to do it that has 4.19, right ??

Before I go ahead and do it I wanted to make sure after the problems I have had just getting to to run.

Thanks


Dingo

---

Proud Founder and member of



Have a look at my WebCam

Could I stop the command line 4.19 version I have running and load the newer 4.43 version of the client and the boinc manager over the top?

yes

Will the work currently there just pick up where it left off?

yes

I assume that 4.43 is an upgrage to 4.19 so everyone will need to do it that has 4.19, right ??

no

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Join BOINC United now!

To protect the OP, it would be really good for everybody who printed the poster's account key to delete it from their posts. As it is now, his account is way open to hijacking. :-(

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I'm also very new to Linux and am having problems getting boincmgr to run.

I've installed Gentoo 2.6.12-r9 with X and Xfce4. I've gotten BOINC v4.72 installed from a terminal and the command line version seems to run ok. Now I'm interested in seeing at how the GUI version looks. (This is my main desktop system at home, so I might want to run it this way from time to time.)

When I try to run boincmgr from a xfce4 terminal, the window is filled with the following text repeated over and over before exiting to the command prompt: "SIGABRT: abort called"

Ok Linux guru's, what do I need to do in order to get this working? Thanks for your assistance in advance.

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I've fixed my problem by switching over to the standard v4.43 version of the core client. After making some adjustments to my video configurations, I was able to run boinc and then run boincmgr. (An odd change from someone used to WinXP.)

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