Changing preferences bug (newb)

[InsetIowa9]

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?

[Prime95]

That is not intended behavior

[Prime95]

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.

[InsetIowa9]

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:

[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.

I hope this helps.

[InsetIowa9]

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.

[InsetIowa9]

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

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by InsetIowa9

I hope this helps.

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.