K wrote...
Ok, I am new to all this. How do I cache work units?
I'm sorry. If you don't know, we're not going to tell you.
Besides, if we told you, we'd have to kill you.
I use "SETI Driver" to cache WUs (work units). I've been running the
Command Line (CLI) version (-not- the pretty graphical version) with
SETI Driver for so long, I don't even remember what happens if you
run the CLI client by itself, solo.
To find SETI Driver, go to the Add-Ons page (
http://setiathome2.ssl.berkeley.edu/links_addons.html ). Scroll
down to "Add-ons for Windows client." Scroll halfway through that
section for "SETI Driver," or just ctrl-F for "SETI Driver."
Put SETI Driver and your SETI client in the same folder, by
themselves, in the corner, in the dark.
Throw out the shortcut for your client. Instead, make a shortcut
for SETI Driver. Perhaps put a SETI Driver shortcut in your
Start-Up folder.
When SETI Driver starts, it will run the Client for you.
Also, SETI Driver includes an easy function for caching work units.
Semi-monthly SETI outages don't seem to last more than a few days,
so it should be sufficient to cache but a few days' worth of WU
(work units).
There are lots of add-ons, but I've been happy using with SETI
Driver and the command-line client, only. If you're networking
computers together (for more crunch power), you'd want one of the
add-ons that are described as "... for distributing work units..."
If you want skycharts, to help you locate the point of origin, then
they have add-ons for that, too, so you can sterilize imperfections.
Pardon. Flashback. OK; it's over.
You can always go to the SETI website to check your latest
statistics. However, SETI keeps no statistics about your previous
WUs, except for your final count. Therefore, if you want to keep a
log, you'd have to do it yourself. SETI Driver doesn't do that sort
of thing. It's an opportunity to play with Excel, and manually log
your WUs. Then you can go back and see if your computer goes slower
while you're streaming audio, or faster if you close all other
programs, or whatever. If you record your "ranking" as you submit
WUs, you can look at your spreadsheet to see how your ranking is
changing over time.
Maybe there's an add-on that will keep a log for you?
And of course, SETI Driver will take care of transmitting completed
WUs and receiving new ones as old ones are completed. Seti it and
forgeti it. (Sorry. Eating spagheti; in a macaroni loop.)
I also use TaskInfo2003 ( http://www.iarsn.com/download.html ), which
displays what percentage of CPU cycles are being used by the assorted
running programs. If something is only using 1/10th percent of your
CPU, then it's nothing to worry about. If it's using a few
percentages, then you might want to close it before going to bed, if
you won't be using it anyway.
For instance, you won't want to leave a weather radar-loop running
if you're going to sleep, or a streaming player.
And of course, screen savers are considered a waste of cycles.
Besides, modern monitors don't suffer from "image burn-in," so
screensavers serve no purpose, except to help you space out. If
you're going to bed, just turn the monitor off, and save some real
electricity. (My 17" monitor goes from 150 watt consumption to 50
watt consumption by reducing the brightness and contrast to
"minimum," if I'm going to walk away for a while. Of course, when I
turn the monitor Off, the consumption goes to 0 watts; duh.)
Do I recall that WinXP also displays percentage CPU cycles per
program, as a moving graph? I have Win98, so I'm not sure. Maybe
there's no need for TaskInfo if you have XP.
SETI Driver has a function for choosing it's "priority." If you
turn it to "High," then it will leave almost no CPU cycles for your
other programs, such as your mouse. It will seem like your computer
has crashed, because nothing seems to work anymore. Actually,
everything else has just slowed down a lot. Don't panic. Just
slowly work your mouse to change from "High" to "Normal," and then
everything else will start working normal, again.
If I want to get maximum performance for SETI, I just exit the other
programs. I don't use High priority. If you close your anti-virus,
firewall, and anti-spyware programs, remember to disconnect your
internet connection. You should be able to get 99% of your CPU
cycles going to SETI.
You can set SETI Driver to process two WUs at the same time (or
more). I think I read that hyperthreading computers can almost
double productivity by running two "processes," but for older
computers, running two processes will just make each WU take twice
as long.
Also, it's so much easier if you have a broadband connection.
Starting (?) to ramble. Better sign off.
CU soon,
-Neil-