Q: does a reboot clear the condition faster ? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jason Richard Groothuis bSc(compSci)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > To: [email protected] > From: [email protected] > Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2015 03:34:35 -0600 > Subject: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit Windows > > I found a partial workaround for this problem, enough to allow starting > 32-bit programs for a few week after the workaround is applied. > > Set Activity to Suspend network activity. Set ALL projects to No new > tasks. Set Activity back to either of the enabled settings. Now, for > each project with no workunits on your computer, Remove that project > to delete its project files. For the projects that still have > workunits on your computer. wait until all those workunits are finished > and reported back to the server. Then Remove those projects as well. > When there are no projects left, shut down the BOINC client. Restart > or reboot Windows. Restart the BOINC client. Add all the removed > projects again. If you see No new tasks on any of the projects, enable > new tasks for those projects. > > It's now allowing 32-bit programs to start from the console, but still > often very slow at giving them more memory when they need it. > > -----Original Message > Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 20:45:28 -0500 > From: Robert Miles<[email protected]> > Subject: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit Windows > > What I'm seeing indicates that is what's supposed to happen, but not > quite what is actually happening. It seems to preload memory just as > you expect, but NOT free much of the preloaded memory of BOINC-related > files when it is under memory pressure because a 32-bit program or an > attempt to start a 32-bit program needs it. It does seem to free > preloaded memory as needed when a 64-bit workunit needs it, and starts > up 64-bit programs fast enough that I'd also expect it to free > preloaded memory as needed for 64-bit programs started from the console. > > If BOINC has no control over this, then the most that BOINC developers > can do is to allow reducing the total size of the project directories, > as I previously requested, and try to help persuade Microsoft to allow > more control over SuperFetch and provide a way to see just what > SuperFetch has stored in the preloaded memory. > > I don't especially want to start removing the more memory-hungry > BOINC projects from my computers, except for the few projects that > allow downloading only 64-bit workunits, which seems to be the only > option I currently have. Many of the programs I want to run from the > console simply aren't available in 64-bit forms. > > -----Original Message > Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 00:10:46 +0000 > From: Rom Walton<[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit > Windows > > From my understanding Superfetch tries to use all the memory on a machine. > It preloads various programs and files into memory just in case you want > you use them. If Windows finds itself under memory pressure, it just > forgets about the stuff in the cache to make room for the stuff you want > at that moment. > > As far as I know, there isn't anything a program can do to control that > behavior in Windows. > > ----- Rom > > -----Original Message----- > From: boinc_dev [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Robert Miles > Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 5:15 PM > To:[email protected] > Subject: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit Windows > > Probably, but finding a name for the cause of the problem offers little > help in fixing it. > > ---- Robert > > -----Original Message-----Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:56:54 +0000 > From: Rom Walton<[email protected]> > To: Robert Miles<[email protected]>, > Subject: Re: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit > Windows > > I believe you are running into SuperFetch. > > See: > http://www.osnews.com/story/21471/SuperFetch_How_it_Works_Myths > > ----- Rom > > -----Original Message----- > From: boinc_dev [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Robert Miles > Sent: Monday, October 26, 2015 10:51 AM > To:[email protected] > Subject: [boinc_dev] Problems with cached memory under 64-bit Windows > > BOINC appears to have a problem with filling the cached memory in a way > that prevents Windows from using that cached memory for any 32-bit > programs until the next restart or reboot. Problem seen under 64-bit > Windows Vista and 64-bit Windows 7; 64-bit Windows 10 appears to have a > similar problem even if it does not call anything cached memory; I do > not have any running other versions of Windows to check. > > 64-bit workunits appear to be able to get cached memory freed if they > need it. I do not run 64-bit programs from the console often enough to > tell if such 64-bit console programs can also free cached memory or not. > > One of my computers with 8 GB of memory and 64-bit Windows Vista is now > often unable to start its email program unless I have shut down BOINC. > Another computer, with 16 GB memory and Windows 10, does not have as > obvious a problem yet, but the email program is often slow to start or > run there. > Suspending BOINC to free CPU use does not help. > > My Windows Vista computer currently has 5319 of its 8190 blocks of > physical memory labelled as cached, and is slow to respond when I start > a 32-bit program with significant use of memory. > > Still, the help files do not appear to explain what cached memory is, > whether it is useful to reduce the amount of cached memory, and if so, > how to do this. > > So many files on the hard drives that defragmentation, full virus scans, > and other operations on all the files take 3 to 5 days, even with > nothing else running. These are mostly message files from using Windows > Mail and Windows Live Mail to read newsgroups, and save most of the > messages read or even downloaded but not yet read. This is so long that > I seldom run any operations that require reading all the files. Quick > virus scans find nothing of interest, though. > > The motherboard appears to be at the maximum amount of physical memory > it can handle. > > Could several of you join me in asking Microsoft to add an explanation > of whether it is useful to reduce the amount of memory cached, and if > so, how to reduce the cached memory? I'd like for them to provide a > program to show more about what is being cached, including any file > names, so that users can look harder at the files cached most often. For > example, I'd like to check if files that a program used months ago but > but not more recently are getting stored in the cache every time that > program runs. > > I've found information on what memory caches are supposed to be used for > (faster access to items likely to be used again), but it looks like > BOINC does not allow enough of the cached memory to be freed when 32-bit > programs need more memory. > > One idea of how to change BOINC to reduce the number of BOINC-related > files in cached memory: BOINC already has a feature for allowing > frequently used files to be stored in project directories so they can be > saved for any future workunits that need them. A new feature could be > added to allow BOINC servers to tell BOINC clients that some of the > files in the project directories are not expected to be used again, and > therefore should be deleted from the project directories so that they > cannot be loaded into cached memory in the future. > This may need some thought about what to do if a project mistakenly > lists a file as no longer needed, but some later workunit tries to use > it anyway. > Note that both the server and the client will need to have sufficiently > recent software for this new feature will work, so it should be designed > in a way that will allow older BOINC software to ignore it if only one > end of the connection supports the feature. > > I have not found a definite way to duplicate this problem, but the > following method seems likely: Start with a computer with 8 GB of > memory or less, and running 64-bit Windows. Install a recent version of > BOINC, if it isn't already installed. Connect it to each of the > following BOINC projects, and run each of their applications at least once: > > World Community Grid > rosetta@home > ralph@home > PrimeGrid > Milkyway@Home > GPUGRID > FiND@Home > Einstein@Home > Albert@Home > > These projects were the ones that use the most disk space on my > computers, and therefore probably have the most space used in their > project directories. > My computers are connected to enough other projects to have about 20 > projects in all connected. > > Now, with all but one of the CPU cores running 32-bit CPU workunits, and > a GPU workunit also running, start trying to start some 32-bit program > that uses a lot of memory. > > _______________________________________________ > boinc_dev mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev > To unsubscribe, visit the above URL and > (near bottom of page) enter your email address. _______________________________________________ boinc_dev mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ssl.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/boinc_dev To unsubscribe, visit the above URL and (near bottom of page) enter your email address.
