Is it just me or are we abandoning more?

[petrw1]

I can't honestly say I have been watching these stats for a long time but lately it sure seems like a LOT of assignments expire, sometimes close to 50% of an assigned range, expecially near the top end of LL testing.

[retina]

My guess: People see the $100k and give it a try. After a few days of "hard work" they get bored with the lack of results and delete P95.

Maybe it is the I.G.G. that has previously been mentioned in other threads?

[ET_]

I still think that 10% of GIMPS users do 90% of the hard job...

Luigi

[ahmerali]

I think you guys are right about the majority of abandoned jobs. But I also see among my PCs some exponents get to 90% and then just get lost for some reason....I try to reassign but it's not easy sometimes.

[davieddy]

Originally Posted by petrw1

I can't honestly say I have been watching these stats for a long time but lately it sure seems like a LOT of assignments expire, sometimes close to 50% of an assigned range, expecially near the top end of LL testing.

I agree.
Wouldn't it be a better "hardware" test to complete a
doublecheck (<1/4 of the time), thereby having the
confirmation of the final residue and assisting the painfully
slow progress towards proving that "M40" is indeed the
40th Mersenne prime?

David

PS If a test is abandoned halfway through, I don't see why
someone else couldn't take it up from where it left off.

[mdettweiler]

Originally Posted by davieddy

PS If a test is abandoned halfway through, I don't see why
someone else couldn't take it up from where it left off.

Wouldn't that require the person who's picking it up to have access to the previous save files?

Here's what you could always do: Make a sticky thread in this PrimeNet forum (or even in the "New To Gimps? Start here!" forum, so that people don't have to register to post in it) where people could post their save files before abandoning a result--thus, anyone who's interested could take the partially-complete save file and run with it, and as such all of that work wouldn't be wasted.

[lycorn]

Originally Posted by ahmerali

But I also see among my PCs some exponents get to 90% and then just get lost for some reason....I try to reassign but it's not easy sometimes.

That´s curious. What do you exactly mean by "get lost for some reason"? Some connection problem that keeps the PCs from reporting progress to the server?

[Brian-E]

Originally Posted by davieddy

I agree.
Wouldn't it be a better "hardware" test to complete a
doublecheck (<1/4 of the time), thereby having the
confirmation of the final residue and assisting the painfully
slow progress towards proving that "M40" is indeed the
40th Mersenne prime?

David

PS If a test is abandoned halfway through, I don't see why
someone else couldn't take it up from where it left off.

A doublecheck is I think indeed a good test of hardware and is directly contributing to the project at the same time, but it can take months for many users to complete so I don't think it should replace the current hardware test built into the software which takes only an hour or two. If someone has hardware problems serious enough to surface in a short test then they want to discover that quickly.

Personally I would be unwilling to resume someone else's started test because I wouldn't know that I could trust their hardware and with that uncertainty my motivation would be compromised. Still, if others would not mind doing it then I don't see why this possibility should not be available to them.

[petrw1]

Originally Posted by davieddy

PS If a test is abandoned halfway through, I don't see why someone else couldn't take it up from where it left off.

Could this be considered a form of legalized "poaching"? Look for the almost complete tests, grab the files, complete the test and get FULL CREDIT?

[mdettweiler]

Originally Posted by petrw1

Could this be considered a form of legalized "poaching"? Look for the almost complete tests, grab the files, complete the test and get FULL CREDIT?

Maybe there could be a requirement that all such tests must be completed under the anonymous account?

On second thought...then most people probably wouldn't want to do them.

[ET_]

Originally Posted by petrw1

Could this be considered a form of legalized "poaching"? Look for the almost complete tests, grab the files, complete the test and get FULL CREDIT?

I don't think so. If the user leaves the exponent in the "unreserved" box, with its own savefile, the user gives you permission to complete it instead of wasting all the work done...

Luigi