WCG-Boinc: Move work to fresh install of OS

capreppy

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2009
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Sig Rig is currently Vista Home Premium x64.

I have to get up to speed on a software application that I used to do consulting for back in the day. Only way to get this thing up and running is Windows XP x86. Plus it helps if it is on fast HDDs.

So I ordered 2 x WD Caviar Black 640GB HDDs which I will run in RAID 1. I also ordered 6 x Seagate 1.5TB HDDs to run in RAID 5 for backup and other stuff but that is another matter :)

I have just finished creating the slipstream for WinXP x86. I'll be doing the install as soon as the drives arrive via UPS in a couple of hours. I will NOT be touching the drive that I currently have Vista on.

I have BOINC for WCG grabbing a couple of days with of work (due to sometimes spotty internet connections). I will reinstall BOINC on the revised box. Will it redownload the work previously downloaded? Can I copy the work I have downloaded already to this new instance for it to work on?

Note: the name of the box (machine name) IS going to change. Will that have any effect on my decision making process?
 
Looks like you're gonna be the crash test dummy for this one. I can't say for sure what will happen but WCG will definitely NOT re-download work already gotten. If it isn't returned in time, it'll go out to someone else.

I'd also imagine renaming a box in the middle of running a WU will probably cause an issue but not for sure there. I'd copy your Boinc data folder (\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Boinc and all sub directories) over to your new install and reinstall Boinc.

The other wrench you're throwing in the works is you had a 64 bit Boinc install and now you're going to a 32 bit Boinc install. Over all you're throwing a lot of curves at a pretty flexible and stable application but I'd expect it to not go smoothly with all the changes you're throwing at it. But who knows.... it may fly.

Be sure and let us know though. If Boinc can handle what you're trying to throw at it, it'll be nice to know as I see it as about the worst case basis you could get. Good Luck! :)
 
all you need is the work folders dont you? just over write the work it downloads with the old one and it should work on those.. only problem is it might restart those same ones over instead of starting where they left off..


if you want i can test it out on my other system.. by saving the work stuff deleting wcg and reinstalling it and putting it back to see if it resumes.. though all my systems are 32bit.. still dont think it will matter as long as you only transfer the work files and not the other wcg files..


btw the 640's are nice.. also watch out on the 1.5tb drives and make sure they come with the updated firmware and not the original firmware.. because the drives wont work for crap unless you flash them to the new firmware.. secondly.. ya should of waited a week since WD is releasing their brand new 2TB drives.. :p
 
Yeah, brother capreppy, please post the results. I'm curious to see if going from 64 bits to 32 bits makes any difference in WCG. D'oh, I wouldn't even have thunk of that if hadn't been highlited by brother nomad8u. It's nice havin' knowledgeable people pertaining to the specific question, not to say in any way your not knowledgeable. (hell, you're braver than me to try something like this) :eek:

I'm probably a little off base, but I thought the F@H WU's were different between 32 bit and 64 bit. If it's true the F@H WU's are different, it may not be true for WCG. You're the tester, so please let us know the answer. ;)

Folding and WCGing for the CURE
 
Well, it wasn't as smooth as I wanted. Well honestly it didn't work :)

The name change was in fact the most crucial part of this. My sig rig was given to my wife for a while, so I renamed the box PinkDragon (it WAS appropriate for my wife and I have a xxxDragon them going on with ALL of my boxes).

When I changed the name of the box, it changed what was reported to WCG so it pulled down new work. Since the previous work was "assigned" to PinkDragon, not possible to switch the work to BlackDragon (new name). It's ok. The work will get completed :)

I got 6 1.5TB drives @ $129 each with free shipping. I suspect the 2TB drives will be steep initially so 1.5 is perfectly fine for me. The two seagate 640GB HDDs are just screaming fast!!!

Now if I can just get a signature and a deposit from the contract I am working on, then I can build the box that I really want:
Copper Dragon: Dual Xeon E5450 Harpertowns - 64GB RAM - 16 x 300GB Velociraptors in RAID 10 (can't really afford to go SAS as that adds another $2K to the build and this is plenty fast for my needs)
Black Dragon Update: Dual Xeon E5450 Harpertowns - SkullTrail MoBo - 16GB RAM - 4 x 640GB RAID10 - 15TB Areca RAID Storage Array. Black Dragon will have dual duty as an Apps Server | File Storage | Gaming Rig

Plus I'll be adding 2 dedicated folders with 3GPU's each. I've been looking (not successfully) for 6 - 9800GX2's, but given the price point of the GTX285's, I may spring for that and go with 6 x GTX285.

edit: of course all of this will WCG or F@H when not in use :)
 
I was also thinking that it would be easier to simply re-download the work units rather than try to copy them over. :)
 
Your wife is a pink dragon...

Well, she is a girly girl and pink is her favorite color. Soooo, her computer is/was Pink Dragon.

I've got to build her a new box at some point in the future and that will be named Pink Dragon :)
 
I really need to come up with better names for my boxen. Everything is just named after who uses it (mine's "ALAN"), and the laptop has the highly original name "LAPTOP." :D
 
I really need to come up with better names for my boxen. Everything is just named after who uses it (mine's "ALAN"), and the laptop has the highly original name "LAPTOP." :D

Don't feel all by yourself brother alan2308. :) My boxen (atm, only three) are not exactly strategically named to be voted #1 in any literary competition :cool:. In the heat of creativity I named my boxen after the GPU cards they had (8800GT, 8800GS, 9600GSO) "Heaven forbid" I get another GPU card like the one I already have. I'd be in that proverbial "world of shite" (looks like the old faithful numbering system.( #1, #2, etc) :D

Oh well. I've always heard it's the thought that counts :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone for helping make the mighty [H]orde the bestest of the best in the DCing world. (is bestest a word; if it ain't it ought to be :confused:)

Folding and WCGing for the CURE
 
I really need to come up with better names for my boxen. Everything is just named after who uses it (mine's "ALAN"), and the laptop has the highly original name "LAPTOP." :D


lol mine are all 6400 3100 2350 laptop1 laptop2 laptop3 laptop4 laptop5 laptop6.. there was a laptop 7 and 8 but they quit working so i had fun completely dismantling them and parting them out..


btw capreppy.. i really hope you have good cooling with those raptors.. i have 2 of them not in raid though because they are boot drives on 2 different systems.. the built in heatsink is friggin awesome.. but you need to have air going over them.. otherwise it starts cookin the drive above it.. i had fun testing that one out on an already dying maxtor.. set it ontop of the velociraptor.. it sat at 30C by its self.. sitting on top of the VR it hit 50C within a minute or so with me running the VR at full load :p but that was with absolutely no fans.. all my hdd's in both systems sit between 30-35C including the VR's..
oh yeah.. the 2TB WD GP drives will be about 235-250 dollars.. which isnt all to bad..
if you havent yet.. you might want to do a full test on all those 1.5TB drives with HD tune pro and make sure you have the good firmware and not the screwed up one..
 
I'm actually in the process of checking out the HDDS now. The WD 640's are fine and running great (and cool). The Seagate 1.5's are being tested right now.

The 'raptors will be going inside a Norco 4020 so hopefully plenty of cooling. I've heard a LOT about these cases (Ockie used one as well as quite a few others for their servers).
 
cool enjoy.. and make sure you have more then 1 dead bolt on your door.. because if you come home and 1 or more systems are missing.. ill tell ya right now.. it was me! :p
 
Well, I'm glad I started preparing. I got laid off today, but really wasn't expecting this for another 4 weeks.

This allows me to go after independent consulting gigs full time and therefore could allow me to ramp up that much quicker :)
 
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