LHC@home

I have a 12/24 CPU with 64 GB Mem; in the old ATLAS project I could run up to 6 4-core tasks without any problems; app_config etc. all OK.

I tested it for you with a simulated 24-core machine running 6 Theory tasks each using 4 cores.

App_version part of app_config.xml for the Theory is

 <app_version>
  <app_name>Theory</app_name>
  <plan_class>vbox64</plan_class>
  <avg_ncpus>4.000000</avg_ncpus>
  <cmdline>--memory_size_mb 1280</cmdline>
 </app_version>

For ATLAS it should be:

 <app_version>
  <app_name>ATLAS</app_name>
  <plan_class>vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas</plan_class>
  <avg_ncpus>4.000000</avg_ncpus>
  <cmdline>--memory_size_mb 5400</cmdline>
 </app_version>

In your preferences you don't have to set # of CPUs. Just keep it 1.

Not working . . . I changed the app_config: not working; I rebooted: not working; I changed my preferences on the server: not working.

At the beginning I got 4 tasks, 2 started and 2 are waiting, and this is now the same situation.

Could you try it with Theory?

Mind that those tasks will run between 12 and 18 hours.

Edit: Maybe you could post your whole app_config.xml . . .

I will try it . . . when ATLAS finished.
My app_config is as your advice (with "app_config" at start and end).

Now I am running 6 4-core tasks from theory using the given theory-app_config - and habe no problems . . . perhaps ATLAS has a restriction ???

Now I am running 6 4-core tasks from theory using the given theory-app_config - and habe no problems . . . perhaps ATLAS has a restriction ???

Sorry, I can't test that for you. I've 'only' 16GB of RAM.

Thank you very much for helping !!!

Hello, it's working for me with the app_config written as explained by Atlas@home, BUT I modified the section "app_name" from ATLAS_MCORE to ATLAS and "plan_class" to vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas:

http://atlasathome.cern.ch/forum_thread.php?id=517#4729

This is my app_config:


<app_config>
<app_version>
<app_name>ATLAS</app_name>
<avg_ncpus>4.000000</avg_ncpus>
<plan_class>vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas</plan_class>
<cmdline>--memory_size_mb 5300</cmdline>
</app_version>
</app_config>

Hello ! I made the same modifications, but set the memory_size to 5400 (last advice) - but : I can only run 2 tasks at the same time, the third task say "waiting for memory".

Haw many tasks are you running ?

I have checked the configurations of ATLAS and LHC and there should be no difference on how many parallel WU you can run.

If you get "waiting for memory" you may be suffering from the BOINC scheduler bug where BOINC assumes each WU will use all available cores and so thinks it needs more memory than it really does.

For example if you have 8 cores and 16GB RAM and setup app_config.xml to run 2 4-core tasks, BOINC will think you need 2*9.4GB=18.8GB to run them both and so will only allow you to run one task.

I have a 12/24-core CPU with 64 GB RAM.

2*13.4GB=26.8GB; 2*25.4GB=50.8GB; ???

But the memory_size in the app_config should overrule this . . .

And in my actual running test there are 2 ATLAS tasks and 3 Theory task running . . so far, I will go on with testing.

But the memory_size in the app_config should overrule this . . .

Yes, it does when starting up the VM. It allocates the memory in app_config to the image. But the scheduling algorithm in BOINC client ignores app_config and assumes that each task will use the full number of cores available. You can see some discussion on this in this ATLAS@Home thread

Effectively, I get 2 tasks (max) at the same time because i have an 8 threads CPU... So I can't test with your parameters.

Now I have much more information to continue testing - thanks to all !!!

Hello, it's working for me with the app_config written as explained by Atlas@home, BUT I modified the section "app_name" from ATLAS_MCORE to ATLAS and "plan_class" to vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas:

http://atlasathome.cern.ch/forum_thread.php?id=517#4729

This is my app_config:


<app_config>
<app_version>
<app_name>ATLAS</app_name>
<avg_ncpus>4.000000</avg_ncpus>
<plan_class>vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas</plan_class>
<cmdline>--memory_size_mb 5300</cmdline>
</app_version>
</app_config>

I tried this app_config.xml, however, after BOINC reads it, I receive the message

... Your app_config.xml file refers to an unknown application 'ATLAS'. Known applications: 'sixtrack'

I tried this app_config.xml, however, after BOINC reads it, I receive the message

... Your app_config.xml file refers to an unknown application 'ATLAS'. Known applications: 'sixtrack'

This is normal as long as you did not receive an ATLAS-task.
After you have received the first task, that message will disappear.
Have you checked "Run test applications?" in your preferences?
Be aware that there are some long runners (10x the normal run time) among the tasks.

This is normal as long as you did not receive an ATLAS-task.
After you have received the first task, that message will disappear.
Have you checked "Run test applications?" in your preferences?
Be aware that there are some long runners (10x the normal run time) among the tasks.

thanks for the Information. As soon as the one ATLAS Task which is still running under the ATLAS Project gets finished, I'll try to download from the LHC@home Project.
Re your question: I have NOT checked "run test applications".

One final question from my side: from what I see in the LHC@home settings, there seems to be no way to check/uncheck either single-core or multicore tasks, as it was the case in the settings of the ATLAS Project. How can I make this determination now?

One final question from my side: from what I see in the LHC@home settings, there seems to be no way to check/uncheck either single-core or multicore tasks, as it was the case in the settings of the ATLAS Project. How can I make this determination now?

There are no dedicated single core tasks any more, only multicore here. but you can run multicore tasks with only one core with app_config, then you have something similar like single core. You can also define the Number of CPUs to one in lhc@home preferences, and then your multicore task will only use one core.

There are no dedicated single core tasks any more, only multicore here. but you can run multicore tasks with only one core with app_config, then you have something similar like single core. You can also define the Number of CPUs to one in lhc@home preferences, and then your multicore task will only use one core.

this is bad news for one of my machines on which I run ATLAS tasks, i.e. the Notebook which has only 4GB RAM. On this, I can run single-core tasks only; I had tried to run multicore-tasks (defining by an app_config to run only one task on one core), however, I ran out of RAM by doing this;
as then discussed in the message board, a multicore task requires more than 4 GB RAM for the initial Setup (even if during processing, it does NOT require that much).
So, after several efforts to get such a multicore task to run on the Notebook, I gave up and returned to run single-core tasks, which works fine. Unfortunately, this may no longer be possible now :-(