So you got boinc and want to run with with multiple projects (seti, predictor, astropulse ,etc) so your machines keep crunching when work isn't available on your favorite project. Here is how:
Set up accounts with whatever projects you want to run.
For seti, go here:
Existing seti classic users -
http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/sah_email_form.php
New seti users or folks without access to their old account -
http://setiweb.ssl.berkeley.edu/create_account_form.php
For Predictor go here:
http://predictor.scripps.edu/create_account_form.php
Once you get your emails with your account ids(account number so large you could never remember), you can run boinc.
Grab our local mac happy version of bonic that meets your OS and CPU requirements from here:
http://members.dslextreme.com/~reade...eam/boinc.html
If on 10.2.8 and going to run seti, get the client and seti worker version. If on 10.3 you only need the client, unless you are lucky enough to have a G5 and want to run Seti, then grab the G5 client and seti worker version.
The client and seti worker versions expand in to pre-setup directories.
If you get just a plain client, you will need to set them up.
I suggest you make a directory named
Boinc and stick the expanded client inside it.
Then launch
Terminal (in Applications/Utilities), and type
cd
Leave a space after it, and drag your Boinc folder from the Finder to the Terminal window.
The command will now look something like this, depending on where your Boinc folder is:
cd /Users/yourname/Desktop/Boinc
Smack return and you are in the proper directory.
You can confirm this with the command
ls
and hitting return which will list everything in your current directory, and so you should see your boinc client.
Sometimes the boinc client itself isn't executable after downloading or expanding.
To fix that, simply do
chmod a+rx ./boinc_3.1.9_powerpc-apple-darwin
The command 'chmod' means change mode, 'a' means all users, '+' mean add these abilities, 'rx' means Read and eXecute (read is required to execute), './' means current directory, and then the 'name' of the file you want to alter.
If your boinc client is named something else, you should type that or just hit the first three letters and then press the
Tab Key to auto-complete.
chmod a+rx ./boi
hit
Tab and get
chmod a+rx ./boinc10.2.8
(if your client were named that)
If you have multiple machines to setup, make a
Duplicate of the Boinc directory in the Finder now (highlite the Boinc directory and hit Command D in the Finder).
Once your client is executable, you can run it in Terminal by just doing
./boinc_3.1.9_powerpc-apple-darwin
and hitting return (use the name of your client obviously).
You will then be prompted for the
URL of the project and your
account id.
Both of these are available in the email you receive from each project, just copy and paste.
After you input these, a benchmark test will run and then the client will download some work.
Yay, you are up and running!
So now you want to add a second project, here's how:
Kill your current client by hitting
control C in the Terminal window where it is running. It will say it received a signal and then give you back your prompt.
Type
./boinc_3.1.9_powerpc-apple-darwin -attach_project
and you will be prompted for the URL and user ID of your next project.
Once inputted, boinc will start working again and you are good to go.
A bit of a pain, but once set up you are set.
But wait, what if I have multiple machines, or a farm of 100? I don't want to go through that on each one.
Well you don't need too.
Take your initial boinc setup with just the directory and client(the duplicate you made above, or the pre-setup Seti version directory and client) and stick it on another machine.
You just need to copy over a couple of files to be able to just start up and go.
In your working Boinc directory, you will have account files for all your accounts, you just need to copy those into your new Boinc directory on the other machines.
For seti and predictor( the only currently running boinc projects) you just need these 2 files:
account_predictor.scripps.edu.xml
account_setiathome.berkeley.edu.xml
Just copy them into your Boinc Copy directory, or the other machines. If you get your Boinc Copy directory ready to go, can then distribute it to all your machines.
Then just launch the client as above on all your machines and you are up and crunching.
To see the projects set up for a given boinc install you can do
./boinc_3.1.9_powerpc-apple-darwin -show_projects
How to control the project priority:
To control the amount of time spent on your projects, visit your user page for any of the boinc projects and Click on the Preference for the project you want to modify.
You can set one project to a number like 90 and another to 10 if you want to split your time between the projects 90% for one and 10% for the other.
This is good especially for Seti Users that might want 99% Seti but 1% Predictor for when no Seti work is available.
Once you have your clients running for a few days your stats will start to show up and be awarded. Don't worry about your scores until at least 3 days have passed since it takes awhile for the points to get credited and your average to build up.
I hope those of you using Boinc for Seti will at least add a Predictor project to your setups crunching for TeamMacNN for those times (and there will be many) when no seti work is available.
Enjoy.
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