The Unhappy Me thread

[Christenson]

so should I go ask for the exponent for a manual assignment, and report back in a couple weeks?
If this is a useful thing to do, I could use a bit of help. In a day or two, my six core will complete an LL-D, and one core could be retargeted to the job.

[ixfd64]

More bad news: five of the exponents assigned to that computer (including the current assignment) have a "ROUND OFF > 0.4" error. So I guess something is wrong with the hardware, and that the results are probably bad.

However, I was able to run a 24-hour stress test without any problems. Anyone got any advice for me?

Should I remove that computer from GIMPS? Can I do something like trial factoring instead?

[Uncwilly]

Dust the computer like mad. Then try Memtest on it.

[cheesehead]

Originally Posted by ixfd64

So I guess < snip > that the results are probably bad.

Not necessarily! Don't delete any files!

Many errors are recoverable. If prime95's automatic retry (starting from the most recent save file) doesn't get an error, the result is still valid.

When the word "unrecoverable" appears in a message, then ...

- -

BTW, when you dust (SOON), be gentle. Get one of those cans of compressed fluorohydrocarbons (3M Dust Remover has 1,1-difluoromethane) that are designed for the purpose of dusting the interiors of electronic gear. Any office supply store ought to have them.

Note: fluorohydrocarbons don't damage the ozone layer -- they don't contain chlorine (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the ozone culprits) -- but they are flammable! (You do always turn off the power before you dust, don't you?)

[mdettweiler]

Originally Posted by cheesehead

BTW, when you dust (SOON), be gentle. Get one of those cans of compressed fluorohydrocarbons (3M Dust Remover has 1,1-difluoromethane) that are designed for the purpose of dusting the interiors of electronic gear. Any office supply store ought to have them.

Note: fluorohydrocarbons don't damage the ozone layer -- they don't contain chlorine (chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the ozone culprits) -- but they are flammable! (You do always turn off the power before you dust, don't you?)

I've found that a regular canister vacuum (or an upright with hose attachment) can work well for this too; as long as you make sure not to bump the sensitive computer components (circuit boards, heatsink fins), you should be fine. Personally, I've found that the high power of a vacuum cleaner is needed to get all the dust out; maybe it's just me (perhaps others tend to clean more often near the computer) but there's usually enough dust in there that compressed air would just send up a mushroom cloud of dust to get in your face and, eventually, settle back down into the computer case where it began.

YMMV, of course--there are definitely places in the heatsink assembly that a vacuum can't reach easily, and which compressed air would be much better at getting. Also, my computer has a standard Intel stock cooler; those are pretty open and a vacuum can get a good angle on them, but I have another box with an aftermarket cooler (one of those ones with a huge tower of metal fins) that the vacuum doesn't seem to be quite as effective on. I should probably try compressed air on it sometime...

[xilman]

Originally Posted by mdettweiler

I've found that a regular canister vacuum (or an upright with hose attachment) can work well for this too; as long as you make sure not to bump the sensitive computer components (circuit boards, heatsink fins), you should be fine. Personally, I've found that the high power of a vacuum cleaner is needed to get all the dust out; maybe it's just me (perhaps others tend to clean more often near the computer) but there's usually enough dust in there that compressed air would just send up a mushroom cloud of dust to get in your face and, eventually, settle back down into the computer case where it began.

I tend to use both at once. High pressure gas to blow the dust into the air from where it can be removed with a vacuum hose. With a bit of practice it's quite easy to use one in each hand.

Oh yes, a make-up blusher brush (I think that's what they're called, at least in the UK) is incredibly useful for removing fluff from otherwise hard to get at components.

Paul

[ixfd64]

I've just had another setback.

As I mentioned a few months ago, I mentioned that my workplace didn't have any policy against putting personal software on individually assigned computers (non-work-related software on other computers, such as servers, are not allowed, however).

A few weeks ago, I had installed Prime95 on a desktop computer that I share with another colleague, whom I'll call "Joe." Unfortunately, the computer started having bootup problems recently, and nobody was able to fix it. Since most of us use laptops for our work, Joe assumed that nobody else had important files on the computer, so he proceded to do a clean install. Of course, that meant that everyone's files - my Prime95 data being no exception - were wiped and unrecoverable.

On the bright side, all I lost was two half-completed double checks.

Don't get me wrong, Joe is a really cool guy, and everyone likes him. But I wish he could have sent an e-mail out first. :\

With regards to the computer that generated a bunch of suspicious results: the computer is very new, so I don't think dust is a factor. I don't have the means to make a memtest86 boot disk right now, but I was able to run IntelBurnTest several times without problems.

[Christenson]

I work with a really bright colleague who, yesterday, sees a dolly in my office, recognizes it as being borrowed from production, and returns it to them "to keep me out of trouble" without asking about 10 minutes before I am ready to use it under a box (large plastic suitcase) that ends up weighing in at 200 pounds.

Keep Internet Explorer off of your new re-install if at all possible!

[ixfd64]

Boy, am I on an unlucky streak: another desktop just died as well, so we had no choice but to do a factory reset. I think we definitely got a bad batch.

I did manage to recover old versions of prime.txt, results.txt and worktodo.txt (on both computers) using Recuva. However, they weren't too useful because worktodo.txt was outdated and prime.txt could be easily generated. The larger files, such as prime.log and the residue save files, were gone. On the bright side, I only lost about 100 GHz-days' of work in total, which isn't too bad.

Funnily enough, and the computer kept generating suspicious results was just re-assigned to the new hire, so I've taken the opportunity to remove it from GIMPS.

[davieddy]

When you are browsing, and spot a song you want
to listen to, it is disturbing and "mood-destroying" to
hear UNRELATED CRAP as a commercial preamble.

I suppose they have to pay their bills* somehow.

David

*IIRC I had to correct William when he asked the waiter
for the "check" in Hampstead.

[wblipp]

Originally Posted by davieddy

*IIRC I had to correct William when he asked the waiter for the "check" in Hampstead.

Yes, it was part of my education in speaking English instead of American during our year living in London. I also learned that if you want to pre-schedule a table at a restaurant, that is a booking not a reservation. I also learned the meaning of "bespoke", a word that I had only encountered as the name of a restaurant in New Haven. Hmmm - it seems all the English I remember has something to with eating away from home.

William