On 27 Feb 00, at 22:56, Your Name wrote:
> For some reason, though I entered the computer type and speed when I
> checked out the exponent, my account page shows the CPU speed as 0 and the
> Prime95 version as 16 (I'm running 19.2.1).
This is normal, and immaterial. If you're using the manual testing
page to get exponents to test, it just takes whatever you put in when
you complete the form (each time) & doesn't store it.
> Also (and probably as a
> result of this) the time allotted to the LL test is 50 days, a bit less
> than half the time the P166 actually needs.
No, your system is running slow for some reason. Is it an AMD
processor, or is it running ~12 hrs/day? Either of these would
explain the anomaly.
> 2) Though I've read the documentation, it's not clear to me whether my
> manually checked out exponent will be put back into the pool at the end of
> its "days to go" (about a week from now), or whether I have until "days
> exp" (about 10 weeks).
Days to expiry.
>
> 3) Though my automated exponent (running on the PII 300) sends an update
> every 28 days without fail, I can find no procedure by which I can update
> the progress on the manual exponent (i.e., the date updated column in my
> account report is always blank). Again, have I missed something, or am I
> seeking a function that simply isn't there?
There is a section on the PrimeNet Manual Assignments page for
progress reports. It's (somewhat confusingly) called "extension".
Simply put in the number of days you expect to elapse before the
assignment completes. This resets the expiry date to this number
plus 60 days.
> Manual Checkouts: Great! Without them, I wouldn't be able to
> participate beyond my main PC (and others wouldn't be able to
> participate at all). If there are enough of us, is it worthwhile to fix
> the glitch (if it is a glitch) in (1) above? Or provide a way to send
> updates (a la 3)?
There are two ways to use automatic assignments in your situation:
(a) if you have a LAN, run pnProxy on the system with the internet
connection;
(b) without a LAN, set up another copy of Prime95 in a different
directory on your system with internet connectivity & make a copy of
all the files from the P166 Prime95 directory into it. You can then
communicate with the PrimeNet server by starting the copy in this
directory (just leave your other copy running as well). When the
communication with PrimeNet has finished, stop this "parasite"
version & copy any files which have changed to the P166 system using
"sneakernet" (copy to a floppy disk & walk across the room!). Use
"sneakernet" to update any files on the "parasite" from the P166
before you connect it to PrimeNet again.
The LAN method is much more convenient & can be implemented for less
than $50; you need (at most) two network interface cards and a
crossover cable long enough to connect the systems. The neccessary
software you already have in Windows (or linux); pnProxy is free,
from the software page on entropia.com.
Regards
Brian Beesley
p.s. Why not change the "Your Name" parameter in your mail client to
something meaningful?
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