Error 17: What to do?

[fauxia]

I have version 22.12 testing program for Win95 and I have been testing M33431227 since February and the program shows I have done 73% of the work. However the program tells me that ERROR 17: Exponent not assigned to this computer has happened whenever I contact PrimeNer server. What has happened and what should I do? My computer still keeps checking for the factors thought.

Thank you in advance...

[dswanson]

Your exponent was originally assigned to someone else. They didn't report in, and it expired. Primenet then reassigned it, and you were the (lucky?) recipient. But whoever had it first continued to run it, and finally completed it and reported back. So Primenet now has one entry that says that this exponent is complete.

However, I STRONGLY recommend you continue running, even though Primenet no longer believes the exponent is yours. Your result will count as an early doublecheck of the first result, and you will receive credit for it.

[dswanson]

... Although now that I look at the cleared exponents report, I don't see any entry for 33431227.

And when I look in the assigned exponents report, I see this entry:

[code:1]33431227 69 12778239 138.0 -14.4 5.6 11-May-03 09:48 18-Feb-03 20:07 S93398 C498C99ED
[/code:1]

This was indeed allocated in February (18-Feb-03 20:07, to be exact). The account ID it was assigned to is S93398. Is this your account ID? If not, did you change your account ID sometime shortly after May 11, which is the last time that this exponent reported back to the server? (ie, did you change the "Your User ID" field under the "Test>User Information..." menu?)

Regardless, this exponent is going to expire in a few days (5.6). If your computer reports in after it expires but before Primenet reassigns it to someone else, then Primenet will give it to you. If you get in too late and Primenet has already reassigned it to someone else, then you'll simply be on the other side of what I described in my previous post -- you'll get credit for the first-time check, and the person it gets reassigned to will get credit for the doublecheck.

Message is still the same: Don't stop now!

[fauxia]

OK, thank you for your help. I checked my prime.txt and my old ID number was indeed that S93398. I looked it further and it showed that Error 5: UserID/password error had occured and that the program had generated me a new account. So I guess that caused my problem, althought I don't recall that would have happened. Can the program do the assigment automatically?

My holiday is going to start next Wednesday and my computer won't be on for three weeks so I won't be likely to pick it up when the time expires. But I will be still able to continue checking my exponent even if I will open my computer next time on August?

Thank you very much dswanson. And don't worry, I won't stop. This is too exciting to quit... :D

[dswanson]

Easiest thing to do would be to simply change your user ID back to S93398 using the "Test>User Information..." menu. Then you can report into Primenet before you go on vacation, and the expiration date will be extended to at least 60 days. That way it won't get reassigned while you're gone.

(I've never actually tried changing my user ID this way. If it complains that the UserID is already taken, try exiting Prime95, manually change the UserID field in the prime.ini file, then restart Prime95. That should work.)

[trif]

Let us know how it goes, because we can always figure out something to do. If nothing else, one of us that is experienced at picking up expiries can pick it up and put it under your username for you.

[fauxia]

I tried to change my ID back to S93398 but I since I don't have the right password I'm not allowed to log in Primenet. So that didn't work.

[Prime95]

I've reset the exponent on he server. Next time you check in it should be assigned to your new user id

[fauxia]

Thank you very much for your kind help. The error doesn't appear to bother me anymore. Problem solved! (me hopes)