Questions and Answers :
Windows :
Recommended Virtualbox version
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Author | Message |
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Send message Joined: 22 Feb 15 Posts: 5 Credit: 304,748 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
Which version is recommended for use with Boinc and LHC and is known to work smoothly? Is there an official recommendation? |
Send message Joined: 27 Sep 08 Posts: 854 Credit: 698,373,287 RAC: 149,926 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I use 5.1.38, when I need maximum reliability. I have one computer with 6.0.8 that work OK. |
Send message Joined: 22 Feb 15 Posts: 5 Credit: 304,748 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
Version 6.0.8 is not working here. After about 10 minutes I get "postponed for 86400 seconds, VM job unmanageable, restarting later" with ATLAS Simulation 1.01 (vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas) work units I have tried in on two different PC's with actual Win10 64 Bit 1903, Boinc 7.14.2; one with AMD Ryzen 3-1300X 24GB RAM and the other an AMD RX-4300 with 8GB RAM. Virtualisation is turned on on both PC. |
![]() Send message Joined: 15 Jun 08 Posts: 2567 Credit: 258,506,547 RAC: 118,699 ![]() ![]() |
Version 6.0.8 is not working here. After about 10 minutes I get "postponed for 86400 seconds, VM job unmanageable, restarting later" with ATLAS Simulation 1.01 (vbox64_mt_mcore_atlas) work units This one? https://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/show_host_detail.php?hostid=10374558 It reports only 6 GB RAM. That's too close to the requirements of a 3 core ATLAS VM (5700 MB). As a result there is not enough RAM left for the OS and it's disk cache. Hence your logfile shows this: 2019-06-23 23:20:22 (7560): VM state change detected. (old = 'paused', new = 'running') 2019-06-23 23:20:32 (7560): VM state change detected. (old = 'running', new = 'paused') 2019-06-23 23:20:42 (7560): VM state change detected. (old = 'paused', new = 'running') 2019-06-23 23:20:53 (7560): VM state change detected. (old = 'running', new = 'paused') 2019-06-23 23:21:04 (7560): VM state change detected. (old = 'paused', new = 'running') . . . The Ryzen should have enough RAM. Nonetheless I would suggest to try some Theory VMs first until you are familiar with their behavior and their logfiles. |
Send message Joined: 22 Feb 15 Posts: 5 Credit: 304,748 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
No, That one was just for testing purposes. The machine has only 6 GB and an very old Version of Virtualbox installed. I was just curios to know if it works with that less RAM. It's crunching slowly but crunching. |
Send message Joined: 27 Sep 08 Posts: 854 Credit: 698,373,287 RAC: 149,926 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
For me I see the unmanageable message very rarely with old version, for the 6.0.8 I cap the max CPU to 70% and it's reliable. I think there was a change somewhere where the priority the various parts of Vbox was changed, sure you could change manually but I have better things to do with 290 tasks running at once. |
Send message Joined: 22 Feb 15 Posts: 5 Credit: 304,748 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
If I cap the number of cores or processing time in Boinc on 6.0.8 the unmanageable message does not appear. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to calculate at all then. Progress is VERY slow, and task manager states CPU usage about 1 to 10 percent. I installed the antique Version 5.1.30 then because it seemed to work on the "crap machine". This old version seems to work, I calculated three atlas WU's without problems yet. I'll keep an eye on it. |
Send message Joined: 27 Sep 08 Posts: 854 Credit: 698,373,287 RAC: 149,926 ![]() ![]() ![]() |
These setting work without the throttling of tasks: ![]() |
Send message Joined: 13 Apr 18 Posts: 443 Credit: 8,438,885 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
If I cap the number of cores or processing time in Boinc on 6.0.8 the unmanageable message does not appear. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to calculate at all then. Progress is VERY slow, and task manager states CPU usage about 1 to 10 percent. How are you measuring progress? The "% complete" in BOINC Manager is not a reliable indicator for these tasks. ATLAS tasks are very slow to startup. CPU usage will be low for at least 10 minutes after task startup. You'll notice other short periods of low CPU usage as the task progresses. |
Send message Joined: 22 Feb 15 Posts: 5 Credit: 304,748 RAC: 0 ![]() ![]() |
I'll stuck with the old Version 5.1.30 of Virtualbox. The last 18 Workunits went fine with it. Now I had to stop calculating, because it's getting to hot in the appartment, adding more heat with the computer doesn't make sense. I'll restart again when the summer is over. @bronco: Measuring progress is difficult. Usually boinc is rather accurate, if the wu does't run out of the rudder. You'll get an feeling for it if you know how fast your computer usually is calculating the Wu's and watch the progress from time to time. |
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