BOINC tasks sometimes freeze Mac and aren't cleared from memory when suspended

Message boards : Questions and problems : BOINC tasks sometimes freeze Mac and aren't cleared from memory when suspended
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Richard Brockbank

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Joined: 3 May 17
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Message 77736 - Posted: 3 May 2017, 17:53:31 UTC
Last modified: 3 May 2017, 17:57:48 UTC

Boinc 7.6.12
macOS 10.12.4

iMac 13,2
3.4 GHz Intel Core i7
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX
3TB Fusion Drive

I am unsure whether all, some or one projects are the cause. I'm running Asteroids@home, Citizen Science Grid, climate prediction.net, Collatz Conjecture, Cosmology@Home, DENIS@Home, Einstein@Home, Enigma@Home, LHC@home, Milkyway@Home, Moo! Wrapper, NFS@Home, NumberFields@home, pots, primaboinca, PrimeGrid, RNA World, rosetta@home, SETI@home, SZTAKI Desktop Grid, The Lattice Project, World Community Grid, yoyo@home.
I took the list from the Projects tab in the advanced view in BOINC Manager, which I guess probably includes my projects that only run on Windows. I'm not sure how to easily determine which ones only run on the Mac.

I run BOINC on macOS and Windows 10 on my dual-boot iMac. On Windows I have had no significant problems, but on macOS I often return to my computer to find it unresponsive and needed to be turned off with the power button. This happens less often now that I have reduced the CPU percentage to 60%, CPU time to 80%, and memory usage to 50%. Page/swap file usage is set to 50%, but I can't remember if I changed it from the default. (I don't know which one or which combination of settings has helped). Ideally I would like to push those percentages much higher if this problem can be resolved.

As well as the responsiveness/hanging issue, BOINC tasks remain in memory when BOINC is suspended. The 'leave non-GPU tasks in memory while suspended' checkbox is not ticked, so I guess these tasks are probably GPU tasks. Suspend when computer is in use and 'Suspend GPU computing when computer is in use' are both ticked.

Currently I have four processes named
garli-2.1_osx_x64
in memory, with memory usage of 6.69 GB, 6.68 GB, 6.67 GB and 2.19 GB. BOINC is suspended and none of them is using the CPU.

Although I have 24 GB RAM installed, I often use a lot of it, for example by having 50 or more pinned web browser tabs, and using some other memory hungry applications such as photo editing suites and some games. So, if the memory could be cleared when BOINC is suspended it would be very helpful and could mean I could increase the allowed memory percentage for BOINC.


So, while utilising as much of my system as available and safe when I'm not using it myself, firstly, how can I prevent crashes and possible damage to the PC, and secondly, how can I make sure processes are cleared from RAM when BOINC is suspended?
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Profile Jord
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Message 77737 - Posted: 3 May 2017, 18:32:53 UTC - in response to Message 77736.  

So, if the memory could be cleared when BOINC is suspended it would be very helpful and could mean I could increase the allowed memory percentage for BOINC.

CPU applications will only stay in memory when you have the preference Leave non-GPU tasks in memory while suspended enabled. As the title suggests, applications whose tasks run on the GPU are never suspended in memory.
I suspect that non-checkpointing applications will also stay in memory.
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Richard Brockbank

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Message 77741 - Posted: 4 May 2017, 11:38:01 UTC - in response to Message 77737.  

Thank you, Ageless. I would like to try suspending non-checkpointing applications but I'm unsure how to identify them. I wasn't able to find a simple list of checkpointing/non-checkpointing projects when searching the web, and the projects' properties, viewed in BOINC Manager, don't provide this information either. Will I need to visit each project's website in turn to find out?
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Message 77742 - Posted: 4 May 2017, 13:15:58 UTC - in response to Message 77741.  

You can see if applications checkpoint by activating the checkpoint_debug flag in the BOINC Diagnostics Log Flags window in BOINC Manager->Advanced view->Options->Event Log options...
That shows in the log like this:

04/05/2017 15:13:19 | SETI@home | [checkpoint] result blc02_2bit_guppi_57835_09191_HIP40693_0034.23737.409.23.46.4.vlar_1 checkpointed
You can also enable the task_debug flag, which shows what state tasks are in and if when they suspend, they do so by staying in memory, or exit memory.
That shows in the log like this:

04/05/2017 15:14:20 | SETI@home | [cpu_sched] Preempting blc02_2bit_guppi_57835_09191_HIP40693_0034.23737.409.23.46.4.vlar_1 (removed from memory)

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Message boards : Questions and problems : BOINC tasks sometimes freeze Mac and aren't cleared from memory when suspended

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