Prime95 resetting LL test
 

Strange one - the last couple of times that I've booted my computer, Prime95 has decided to restart the LL test I'm on at the moment from the beginning, losing a couple of weeks' worth of processing in the process. I'm using version 24.14 on an Athlon running XP. Can't see anything odd in the results file either. Any ideas?

File permissions? (Right click on icons to select properties and turn off "read only".)

File permissions on which files?

The directory that contains Prime95 needs write permission (if that is settable in Windows.) The prime95 can be "read only" and any associated readme/help files. Initialization files (e.g. prime95.ini) along with log files and save files must [I]not[/I] be "read only".

(I use LLR under linux and have little knowledge of prime95.exe under windoze.)

Preservation of file permissions when backing up to CD is a common problem. I use zip to get around this even though a corrupted zip can be hell. If I recall correctly the CD burning software I use has an option to preserve file permissions.

If you are running Vista the whole directory Program Files is read only for most users. If so you should change the premissions on the "\program Files\Prime95" directory so as give users write access.

[quote=S485122;105092]If you are running Vista[/quote]


Stated XP in the OP. Anyway, it seems as if the whole directory became read only somehow. I'll see if that fixes it upon a reboot.

This is common enough of a problem, maybe a sticky thread?

George, could you tweak the current in-dev version of your code so that it reports these kinds of file-permissions problems to the output window? That way users wouldn't be blindly poking around, trying to figure out what's causing the problem.

Also maybe see if a savefile *exists* (whether read-only or writeable) and report-problem/quit if it's found to be read-only, so the user can change the permissions and not lose their work by having the file blown away.

You may as well just have the program attempt to reset the file permissions itself too since it'll likely be running a from an account with the access to do so. [the same account the removed the permissions in the first place]

[quote=jonthomson;105095]Stated XP in the OP. Anyway, it seems as if the whole directory became read only somehow. I'll see if that fixes it upon a reboot.[/quote]

No it didn't, the directory keeps setting itself back to read only no matter how many times I turn it off.

Have you tried setting the read only attribute both on the left hand (tree) pane and right hand (icon) pane of windows explorer?

Does the advanced button give anything interesting in "properties"?

Did you install Prime95 under your account (or administrator)?

I am really out of my depth with this problem. :popcorn:

[QUOTE=jonthomson;105141]No it didn't, the directory keeps setting itself back to read only no matter how many times I turn it off.[/QUOTE]Sorry for not noting that you had stated it was XP.
Is this a home PC or a PC in a network ? There could be policies at work there. You could try to install prime95 in a subdirectory of your profile to see if the permissions change.

[quote=paulunderwood;105143]Have you tried setting the read only attribute both on the left hand (tree) pane and right hand (icon) pane of windows explorer?[/quote]

Yes. I uncheck the one in the tree pane, look in the icon pane and it's still checked. I uncheck that one, and the one in the tree pane is now checked.

[quote]Does the advanced button give anything interesting in "properties"?

Did you install Prime95 under your account (or administrator)?[/quote]

I don't see an advanced button. Yes I installed Prime95 under my account.

I *think* I may have worked out that it was caused when I upgraded to 24.14 - that's more or less when the problem started, so I guess the installation botched somehow. I'm going to uninstall prime95 completely and reload the thing, see if that fixes it.

I am no expert with Prime95.exe, but I would recommend taking a backup, especially of prime95.ini and the save files -- these will be some funny looking file names. Just copy the whole prime95 directory to a backup directory. Then when you reinstall you will be able to continue with you number by putting the relavent files back. Others will help you...

Maybe you should check your file system. It used to be the "chkdsk" command. Guys, what is the procedure for XP with NTFS?

You must backup the following files (from the readme.txt file) :
prime.ini A file containing your preferences. The menu choices and dialog boxes are used to change your preferences.
local.ini Like prime.ini, this file contains more preferences.
worktodo.ini A list of exponents the program will be factoring and/or Lucas-Lehmer testing.
results.txt Prime95.exe writes its results to this file.
prime.log A text file listing all messages that have been sent to the PrimeNet server.
prime.spl A binary file of messages that have not yet been sent to the PrimeNet server.
pNNNNNNN & qNNNNNNN Intermediate files produced by prime95.exe to resume computation where it left off.
mNNNNNNN Intermediate files produced during P-1 factoring.

"chkdsk /f" is still the command to run, you can also go to the explorer right click on your disk and choose properties, then the tools tab there you click on the "Check Now" button, check the box "automatically fix the file system errors", windows wil tell you that you have to way until a reboot...

Are you administrator of your workstation ? Is that workstation in a domain ?

It's just one computer on its own. I've tried reinstalling it, but that didn't seem to work. I've uninstalled everything, wiped everything clean and reloaded it, and if this doesn't work I'll probably just pack it in and try some other project. Shame that the thing works fine on three different computers for six years and then doesn't want to save at all.

Aside: what does error 7 mean?

:lol: Out of memory.

The total memory is the physical RAM chips plus any free disk space allocated by the operating system, sometimes called "virtual ram" -- that's windoze for you. How much RAM does this machine have? How much free disk space is there? Is virtual ram "on"? Look in "control panel" -- the "system" icon maybe :unsure:

[quote=paulunderwood;105870]:lol: Out of memory.

The total memory is the physical RAM chips plus any free disk space allocated by the operating system, sometimes called "virtual ram" -- that's windoze for you. How much RAM does this machine have? How much free disk space is there? Is virtual ram "on"? Look in "control panel" -- the "system" icon maybe :unsure:[/quote]

512MB RAM, about 4 gigs free HD space. It's got me some exponents now.