Mprime runs relatively slow

guido72 · 2002-09-13, 16:55

Hi all!
Recentely I've decided to learn a bit more about Linux, since I get bored with Windows blue Deaths and want to try to set a diskless LAN (Thank you Alf!).
I've installed Mandrake 8.2 but mprime 22.9, even it seems to detect the CPU correctely, doesn't uses the SSE2 George's optimization. As a result, "Pepe", a 2.0 Ghz P4 is working relatively slowly...
What's going wrong?
Regards

crash893 · 2002-09-13, 17:35

look in the undoc.txt

make it use it there is a option you add to prime.ini

ebx · 2002-09-13, 18:40

See the thread below, 'Why it kept saying I got a P3'.

It was FreeBSD in that case. I ended up recompiling the kernel with an option to enable SEE2. I wonder if your Linux has the same problem.

guido72 · 2002-09-13, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebx

See the thread below, 'Why it kept saying I got a P3'.

It was FreeBSD in that case. I ended up recompiling the kernel with an option to enable SEE2. I wonder if your Linux has the same problem.

It was me... I just was using an old version of mprime... Sorry

ops:

ops:

Few questions from a Linux absolute novice:

I've ran mprime from an ordinary shell window with the command
./mprime - m -w/[path of win98 shared working directory], since sometimes I boot Win as well. Well, mprime seems to take its config files from this shared dir but it is saving its back-up files (PXXXXXXXX) just in its linux dir, not in the shared one. What do I have to do?

How to be sure that mprime starts everytime the system boot?

If I close the terminal do I close mprime as well? That is: in Linux click on "X" is like to kill an application?

Is a good sensation to have once again some command to type on a console (it remember me the ancient times...) but I've lost familiarity with this, so,please, be patient...
Thanks for any help in advance!
Regards

Prime Monster · 2002-09-13, 21:02

From the readme.txt

Quote:

-Wdirectory This tells mprime to find all its files in a different
directory than the executable.

You can also run mprime in the background with the -B parameter, so that if you close the window it doesn't close mprime.

If you want to start mprime automatically at startup, then add the start cmd to your /etc/inittab file (or whateverit is called in Mandrake)

Alf

Xyzzy · 2002-09-13, 22:47

You can use "nohup" to run the program even though you have closed the window... It will redirect all the screen output to a file for you... I ran mlucas before, and not mprime, but the basic concept is the same...

[code:1]nohup nice -19 ./mlucas &[/code:1]

You could just put it into your crontab, but that is a bit more work... If you want to go that route, just let us know...

Prime95 · 2002-09-14, 02:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by guido72

I've ran mprime from an ordinary shell window with the command
./mprime - m -w/[path of win98 shared working directory], since sometimes I boot Win as well. Well, mprime seems to take its config files from this shared dir but it is saving its back-up files (PXXXXXXXX) just in its linux dir, not in the shared one. What do I have to do?

Sounds like a bug. Copy mprime to the win98 shared working directory and run mprime without the -w switch.

guido72 · 2002-09-14, 05:19

Wow! I've got answers from the GIMPS fleet admirals...
Thank you Alf, Thank you Mike and Thank you George! :D
I'm going to follow yours advices right now...

Xyzzy · 2002-09-14, 10:56

One thing about running the process in the background that I forgot to mention is that it is hard to remember if it is running or not... There are several ways to approach this problem...

1) You can use prstat to view the system processes...
2) You can use tail to display the output file to the console...

I think in Linux you would use top for number one...

I don't know what types of output files mprime generates, but mlucas uses a file that is named pxxxxxxx.stat, where the x is the exponent... It is written to every 2000 iterations... So if you want to take a quick look at the last few entries you can type "tail pxxxxxxx.stat" and the last 10 lines will be displayed...

When you use nohup only stuff that would appear on the screen goes to the nohup file... Since we invoked mlucas with a "&" to put it into the background, nothing should ever be written to this file...

Now, if you like to watch output all the time but you still want the process to run in the background without worrying that it may stop if you close the window, set it up like before and run "tail -f pxxxxxxx.stat"... What will happen is the first 10 lines of pxxxxxxx.stat will be displayed, and when any new lines are added to the file it will echo them to the screen as well... The nice thing about doing it this way is if you kill the tail command or close the window, mlucas continues working... The other nice thing is it uses virtually no resources to tail output... Even after several days of running it will have used only a second or two of CPU...

You'll have to adjust some of what I wrote above to Linux, but the basic concept is the same...

ebx · 2002-09-14, 18:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by guido72

How to be sure that mprime starts everytime the system boot?

If I close the terminal do I close mprime as well? That is: in Linux click on "X" is like to kill an application?

Best way is to put it in your local startup rc. That requires root. I am lazy so I made up a cron job to start mprime every 4 hours. If one already running, it exits right away. This will also help if mprime for whatever dies. Worst is losng 4 hours.

I always run
% ./mprime -B

It will be there unless you reboot or kill it.

2002-09-13, 16:55	#1
guido72 Aug 2002 Rovereto (Italy) 9F₁₆ Posts	Mprime runs relatively slow Hi all! Recentely I've decided to learn a bit more about Linux, since I get bored with Windows blue Deaths and want to try to set a diskless LAN (Thank you Alf!). I've installed Mandrake 8.2 but mprime 22.9, even it seems to detect the CPU correctely, doesn't uses the SSE2 George's optimization. As a result, "Pepe", a 2.0 Ghz P4 is working relatively slowly... What's going wrong? Regards

2002-09-14, 05:19	#8
guido72 Aug 2002 Rovereto (Italy) 3·53 Posts	Many thanks Wow! I've got answers from the GIMPS fleet admirals... Thank you Alf, Thank you Mike and Thank you George! :D I'm going to follow yours advices right now...

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2002-09-13, 17:35	#2
crash893 Sep 2002 296₁₀ Posts	look in the undoc.txt make it use it there is a option you add to prime.ini

2002-09-13, 18:40	#3
ebx Aug 2002 65₁₆ Posts	See the thread below, 'Why it kept saying I got a P3'. It was FreeBSD in that case. I ended up recompiling the kernel with an option to enable SEE2. I wonder if your Linux has the same problem.

2002-09-13, 22:47	#6
Xyzzy Aug 2002 8658₁₀ Posts	You can use "nohup" to run the program even though you have closed the window... It will redirect all the screen output to a file for you... I ran mlucas before, and not mprime, but the basic concept is the same... [code:1]nohup nice -19 ./mlucas &[/code:1] You could just put it into your crontab, but that is a bit more work... If you want to go that route, just let us know...

2002-09-14, 10:56	#9
Xyzzy Aug 2002 2·3²·13·37 Posts	One thing about running the process in the background that I forgot to mention is that it is hard to remember if it is running or not... There are several ways to approach this problem... 1) You can use prstat to view the system processes... 2) You can use tail to display the output file to the console... I think in Linux you would use top for number one... I don't know what types of output files mprime generates, but mlucas uses a file that is named pxxxxxxx.stat, where the x is the exponent... It is written to every 2000 iterations... So if you want to take a quick look at the last few entries you can type "tail pxxxxxxx.stat" and the last 10 lines will be displayed... When you use nohup only stuff that would appear on the screen goes to the nohup file... Since we invoked mlucas with a "&" to put it into the background, nothing should ever be written to this file... Now, if you like to watch output all the time but you still want the process to run in the background without worrying that it may stop if you close the window, set it up like before and run "tail -f pxxxxxxx.stat"... What will happen is the first 10 lines of pxxxxxxx.stat will be displayed, and when any new lines are added to the file it will echo them to the screen as well... The nice thing about doing it this way is if you kill the tail command or close the window, mlucas continues working... The other nice thing is it uses virtually no resources to tail output... Even after several days of running it will have used only a second or two of CPU... You'll have to adjust some of what I wrote above to Linux, but the basic concept is the same...