Prime95 Stops Mid-Test, Starts New One

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by S485122

You should have used two different directories...

... or one could do what I do, using only one directory:

Start Prime95 without "-a0", but with the affinity set to 0 ("opened the Advanced tab on the first instance, went to Affinity, unchecked 'Let program run on any CPU', set it to run on CPU 0"),

then start a second instance of Prime95 with "-a1".

Both of mine coexist quite happily using the same directory.

(Note: I manually start the two instances after booting the system.)

When you start Prime95 -a1 or Prime95 -a0 the configuration files are loca0000.ini and loca0001.ini, instead of local.ini. the same for prime.ini (prim0000.ini and prim0001.ini), prime.log (prim0000.log and prim0001.log), result.txt (resu0000.txt and resu0001.txt) and worktodo.ini (work0000.ini and work0001.ini).

But if one does it my way, there are no "...0000" files. The instance running on CPU 0 (but without "-a0", remember) simply uses the same file names as default-single-CPU Prime95, namely local.ini, prime.ini, prime.log, result.txt, and worktodo.ini. So the instance on CPU 0 would have just continued the work started by the initial no-affinity setup jinyu had.

The "-a1" instance does use the "...0001" file names. Also, its save file names all have ".001" appended. If one were to have the "-a1" instance take over a test started on the CPU 0 instance, one would need to add ".001" to the existing save file name for that exponent, or else the "-a1" instance would start over from the beginning to test that exponent, unaware of what the CPU 0 instance had already accomplished.

Note again: I manually start the two instances, so I don't actually know if anything would go wrong in my setup if I had them start automatically instead.

[jinydu]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

... or one could do what I do, using only one directory:

Start Prime95 without "-a0", but with the affinity set to 0 ("opened the Advanced tab on the first instance, went to Affinity, unchecked 'Let program run on any CPU', set it to run on CPU 0"),

then start a second instance of Prime95 with "-a1".

Funny. That's precisely what I do, except that the instances start automatically.

Originally Posted by cheesehead

Note again: I manually start the two instances, so I don't actually know if anything would go wrong in my setup if I had them start automatically instead.

Apparently something does. For instance, there is only one results file; and it doesn't have any results since the first self-test, even though both instances have completed plenty of exponents. Of course, the data that should be in the files must be on the hard drive somewhere, or else the instances of Prime95 wouldn't work. But I haven't been able to find them, even using Windows Search. To be sure, I haven't tried that hard because the instances are generally working fine.

[jinydu]

Is there a way to force an instance to reveal where in the hard drive it is writing its save files, recording its results, etc.? Because it definitely isn't in C:\Program Files\Prime95.

[S485122]

Jinydu,

What you must do is go to "Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services" or to "My Computer, Manage and chose the Services and Appplications, Services" line. then you ask for the properties of the Prime95 services that are listed. The field "Path to executable" should provide the answers to your questions.

If you want I can provide you with a .reg, file that starts all necessary instances and the acompanying local.ini and prime.ini files...

What OS are you using XP or Vista ?

Jacob

[jinydu]

That computer is using Vista. I couldn't find Prime95 in the list of services, despite the fact that 2 instances are running.

It's funny... There are 3 dual-core computers on which I am running 2 instances of Prime95. The only one on which the files are clearly being saved correctly (with one file called results and another called resu0001, with both files where I expect them to be) is on the computer running XP.

EDIT: I just found all relevant files for one of the other two computers. They were hiding in an obscure Hidden Folder. C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Prime95. Weird; I definitely didn't type that in when I was installing Prime95.

[S485122]

Originally Posted by jinydu

That computer is using Vista.

EDIT: I just found all relevant files for one of the other two computers. They were hiding in an obscure Hidden Folder. C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Prime95. Weird; I definitely didn't type that in when I was installing Prime95.

Like I said in another post (and perhaps another thread) : with Vista it is best to run Prime95 from a directory inside Documents. Vista does not allow users to write in \Program Files", instead it uses two different paths : \ProgramData and the one you found. That last one can also contain \Users\<user>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows to accomodate programs like SAP that still want to write their .ini files to the Windows directory. I suppose those features are documented, but not for end-users.

You should try an "Advanced Search" for "prim*.ini" and or "work*;ini" where you ask the search to look at non indexed files and locations, including hidden directories. (Vista is really annoying for searches that are not those imagined by Microsoft, i.e. documents in the user profile and mail stores.)

Since Prime95 starts automatically on the Vista machines and since it is not a service, it must be started because it is in one of your Startup directories (the common one or the user one. \Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup) You can also use msconfig or Windows Defender to look at the startup programs.

You might considering upgrading your computers to Windows XP : Review: Windows XP :-)

Jacob

[jinydu]

Thanks for the advice. I think I've got a solid handle on what's going on with two of the computers.

Now for more weirdness... This is about my laptop (one of the two computers that runs Vista).

I run two instances of Prime95. The one that uses Core 0 is testing M37209241 while the one that uses Core 1 is testing M21164029. Instance 1 appears to work just fine; it starts automatically at boot-up and picks up right where it left off.

Instance 0 on the other hand has problems. It does not start up automatically at boot-up; I have to use the Command Prompt to open it, despite the fact that I checked "Start at Bootup" under Options. More importantly, it always starts at 11.57% every time I open it; and I'm not sure why (I suspect it lost the ability to overwrite save files. No idea why it would do so at 11.57%).

I've attached a picture of the Prime95 folder. The fact that the file p2C09241 hasn't been updated since Aug. 15 does look suspicious; but I'm not sure what to do about it.

Thanks again

[Prime95]

Start at Bootup does not work under Vista. In the name of security, MS no longer supports services with a GUI.

[S485122]

Like I told you, with Vista just move all files to a subdirectory of Documents.

If you install Prime95 on a Vista machine with the installer, change the destination directory to a subfolder of Documents. You will have less trouble.

Jacob

[jinydu]

I copy-pasted the Prime95 folder to My Documents; but I still have the same problems. However, I suspect that deleting everything and installing Prime95 in My Documents from scratch could work.

Before I try anything like that though... Is there a way to patch up the issue with Instance 0 without losing 11.57% of the M37209241 test? I think the Prime95 instance may be writing to one file and reading from another, causing it to always start from the same place.

[S485122]

Before moving the program around you should have stopped it and exited.

Then you do an advanced search (as described in a previous post) for all possible configuration files (prim*.ini, loca*.ini, resu*.txt and work*.ini) and save files (p2C09241 and q2C09241 and even a possible r2C09241 if there are problems writing files in the Prime95 working directory. A search for ?2C09241 should do the trick.)

Now you must decide which of the save files and other files to keep. Best to move them to different subdirectories of your future Prime95 directory, be carefull not to overwrite one or the other.

Decide which configuration files you want to use.

Choose the save files you are going to use based on their modification date. Another way to do it is to simply try each file in turn : COPY (not move) it to from one of the directories where you moved them, start Prime95, you will immediately see how far the test was complete at the time of saving that particular file. Use the menu File / Stop / Continue to stop and restart Prime95, there is no need to exit the program.

Jacob