Changing preferences bug (newb)
 

Hi folks,

I encountered an odd glitch that causes current work to be stopped and removed from worktodo.txt. I run Prime95 version 29.4 build 8, on a Core 2 Duo T6600. I set Worker #1 to do P-1 factoring, and Worker #2 to do first-time PRP tests. Worker #1 started doing a matching double-check, and Worker #2 started on a PRP test.

A a week later, I changed Worker #2's preference to PRP on Mersenne cofactors. I was under the impression that it would finish the current PRP test first. However, when my computer contacted the server, it suddenly stopped the double-check and PRP test, deleted them from the worktodo, and started P-1 and PRP on Mersenne cofactor work.

I brought the Double-Check and PRP Test back by copying their worktodo entries from the assignments page to worktodo.txt, but I may have lost progress on the PRP test due to it being overwritten by the new PRP test.

Is this a bug or intended behavior?

That is not intended behavior

I could not replicate the problem.

Were you able to resume your original work? If not, that might indicate the save files and perhaps worktodo.txt were not getting written to disk.

I'll give a timeline of what happened, and add a few details I omitted because I thought they wouldn't matter.

2/24 - I start using Prime95, and set Worker #1 to "whatever makes the most sense", and Worker #2 to "First-time PRP tests." Worker #1 starts on the yearly matching double-check, and Worker #2 starts a PRP test.

2/25 - I change Worker #1's work preference to PM1-L.

2/26 - I change Worker #2's work preference to PMI-L. This because I want Worker #2 to run P-1, but because my PRP test will take a while, I want Worker #1 to run P-1 in the meantime.

3/5 - I change Worker #2's work preference to PRP-CF. This is because I realized (after running benchmarks) that the core Worker #2 uses on is the faster core, and I want to run primality tests on the faster core. PRP/LL first-time checks (or even double checks for that matter) take several months on my computer, so I set it to PRP-CF. To update my info on the website, I use Manual Communication. Immediately after I do so, all my workers restart with the new settings and get P-1/ PRP-CF work. I decide to make sure worktodo.txt is accurate the next day.

3/6 - I check worktodo.txt, and, lo and behold, it's missing my double-check and PRP assignments. I go to the website, go to "Assignments", and add the missing entries.

Here's the output from the Comm thread when this happened:

[QUOTE][Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Exchanging program options with server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Done communicating with server.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Updating computer information on the server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Exchanging program options with server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Exchanging program options with server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Exchanging program options with server
[Main thread Mar 5 20:21] Restarting all worker threads.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Sending expected completion date for M51583397: May 09 2019
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Sending expected completion date for M89537957: Nov 22 2019
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Done communicating with server.
[Main thread Mar 5 20:21] Restarting all worker threads using new settings.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Getting assignment from server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] PrimeNet success code with additional info:
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Server assigned P-1 factoring work.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Got assignment BA1C453F0BE0EAD9598652BCDE58CAB5: P-1 M90774487
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Sending expected completion date for M90774487: Mar 11 2019
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Getting assignment from server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] PrimeNet success code with additional info:
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Server assigned PRP work.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Got assignment EA9A50EF9E06F8E91F64FFED9E66ADF4: PRP M8866903
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Sending expected completion date for M8866903: Mar 07 2019
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Getting assignment from server
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] PrimeNet success code with additional info:
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Server assigned PRP work.
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Got assignment A7D994D6294EDC917A27DA3AC3499396: PRP M8866919
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Sending expected completion date for M8866919: Mar 09 2019
[Comm thread Mar 5 20:21] Done communicating with server.[/QUOTE]

I hope this helps.

Sorry Prime95, I didn't see your post before posting.

To avoid my P-1 and PRP-CF assignments expiring, I let them run before resuming the DC and PRP-CF. My PRP-CF work will finish in 2 days, so I'll give an update on 3/10.

Update: the first-time PRP test resumed properly. My statement about the save files being overwritten was incorrect.

[QUOTE=InsetIowa9;510382]I hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately it did not. I ran through all the steps (without waiting a day between steps) and everything worked perfectly.

I'm at a loss to explain what happened. Until more/better information is available I'm afraid the bug will remain unfixed.