*weeps* I shall never see a project complete! This last one was doing so well, too, and then I found <i>this</i>, this morning:
<pre>--- - 2004-09-20 01:46:07 - Suspending network activity - user request
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-20 02:46:00 - Preempting result 2ngh_100144964_0 (quit)
SETI@home - 2004-09-20 02:46:01 - Starting result 26ap04aa.7733.23138.73576.50_0 using setiathome version 4.03
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-20 03:46:01 - Restarting result 2ngh_100144964_0 using hadsm3 version 4.03
SETI@home - 2004-09-20 03:46:01 - Preempting result 26ap04aa.7733.23138.73576.50_0 (quit)
<b>climateprediction.net - 2004-09-20 04:20:56 - Unrecoverable error for result 2ngh_100144964_0 ( - exit code -5 (0xfffffffb))</b>
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-20 04:20:56 - Computation for result 2ngh_100144964 finished
SETI@home - 2004-09-20 04:20:56 - Restarting result 26ap04aa.7733.23138.73576.50_0 using setiathome version 4.03</pre>
(Hope that reads OK)

I'm running BOINC 4.05 on WinXP SP 1 loaded on an Dell Inspiron 8600; this is something like the 4th or 5th project/workunit I've downloaded, none of which have come even close to completing, although this one managed 3 trickles first, which is the farthest any have run so far.

It's getting very discouraging.

Corgi

try upgrading to BOINC 4.09, it seems to be better for pre-empting other projects.

&gt; try upgrading to BOINC 4.09, it seems to be better for pre-empting other
&gt; projects.

[unhappy expression] Lookit:

<pre>--- - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Starting BOINC client version 4.09 for windows_intelx86
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Project prefs: using your defaults
Predictor@home - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Project prefs: using your defaults
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Project prefs: using your defaults
--- - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Version Change Detected (4.05 -&gt; 4.09); running CPU benchmarks
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Host ID is 9456
Predictor@home - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Host ID is 5314
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Host ID is 105144
--- - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - General prefs: from Predictor@home (last modified 2004-07-03 02:32:45)
--- - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - General prefs: using your defaults
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-21 18:35:55 - Resuming computation for result 2rvd_100150740_0 using hadsm3 version 4.03
--- - 2004-09-21 18:36:21 - Running CPU benchmarks
--- - 2004-09-21 18:36:21 - Suspending computation and network activity - running CPU benchmarks
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:23 - Benchmark results:
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:23 - Number of CPUs: 1
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:23 - 1331 double precision MIPS (Whetstone) per CPU
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:23 - 3732 integer MIPS (Dhrystone) per CPU
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:23 - Finished CPU benchmarks
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:24 - Resuming computation and network activity
--- - 2004-09-21 18:37:24 - Suspending network activity - user request
<b>climateprediction.net - 2004-09-21 19:07:39 - Unrecoverable error for result 2rvd_100150740_0 ( - exit code -5 (0xfffffffb))</b>
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-21 19:07:39 - Computation for result 2rvd_100150740 finished
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 19:07:39 - Starting result 26ap04ab.3369.17089.561076.42_0 using setiathome version 4.03
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 22:52:27 - Result 26ap04ab.3369.17089.561076.42_0 exited with zero status but no 'finished' file
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 22:52:27 - If this happens repeatedly you may need to reset the project.
SETI@home - 2004-09-21 22:52:28 - Restarting result 26ap04ab.3369.17089.561076.42_0 using setiathome version 4.03
SETI@home - 2004-09-22 03:14:10 - Computation for result 26ap04ab.3369.17089.561076.42 finished</pre>


Not only did my climateprediction crash again, it messed up my SETI!

oh well, unfortunately not every computer can run CPDN, perhaps there's something about Pentium M's that the Fortran code hates?

&gt; oh well, unfortunately not every computer can run CPDN, perhaps there's
&gt; something about Pentium M's that the Fortran code hates?
&gt;
&gt;
&gt;

I don't think this is a Pentium M issue. My Dell Latitude D800 has a 1.6GHz Pentium M and it seems to be running under BOINC quite contentedly (now half way through Phase 2 on first model).


<img src="http://boinc.mundayweb.com/cpdn/stats.php?userID=250&amp;trans=off">

OK, barring CPU problems, the other most common error seems to be hard drives with errors. CPDN, since it has 500MB-700MB of files once it gets going, is very sensitive to hard drive errors, one bad sector will crash the entire model.

&gt; OK, barring CPU problems, the other most common error seems to be hard drives
&gt; with errors. CPDN, since it has 500MB-700MB of files once it gets going, is
&gt; very sensitive to hard drive errors, one bad sector will crash the entire
&gt; model.

I've scanned and defragged this (fairly new) computer 2x since I got her, and there've been no errors found. And the projects have plenty of wiggle room, too -- my settings give them almost as much space as what's already loaded non-BOINC.

I also got this error, but the project seems to be proceeding pretty happily at the moment, knock wood....

<pre><font face="Courier New">climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:06:00 - Result 2uuk_000154638_0 exited with zero status but no 'finished' file
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:06:00 - If this happens repeatedly you may need to reset the project.
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:06:00 - Restarting result 2uuk_000154638_0 using hadsm3 version 4.03
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:08:18 - Result 2uuk_000154638_0 exited with zero status but no 'finished' file
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:08:18 - If this happens repeatedly you may need to reset the project.
climateprediction.net - 2004-09-24 01:08:20 - Restarting result 2uuk_000154638_0 using hadsm3 version 4.03</font></pre>

&gt; OK, barring CPU problems, the other most common error seems to be hard drives
&gt; with errors. CPDN, since it has 500MB-700MB of files once it gets going, is
&gt; very sensitive to hard drive errors, one bad sector will crash the entire
&gt; model.

If that is the case, a sensible error-message should be there. If the application cannot read or write to disk for some reason, it should tell in the logs if this happens, and if that is not possible (because of drive-errors), a popup should be shown until acknowledged (at least when running in gui mode).

On the other hand disk-read/write errors are at a very low-level and already dealt with at the OS level, right. If there are bad-sectors involved, it's a case of a dying diskdrive and soon all other applications on your computer are affected.