[SOLVED] Newbie with a question

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-07-2013, 05:19 PM

I decided to join your fellowship, because I found a lot of posts geared to my searches were directed to this site, but the post dates were years old and a lot of the links were no longer valid. I am hoping that the expertise that created those posts is still here, because I need to access some of that knowledge.

I am a retired graduate engineer, but I am not a programmer. I used to work in the UNIX environment so some of the Linux language is in my brain, but very rusty.

I installed R4W (long story) on my new custom built i7 computer. Yea, I built it. I installed and am running Boinc.

I would like to have BOINC startup during reboot. I found a few references on this site, but the associated links no longer connected and the post usually referenced the info contained in the link.

If I have left off any needed info, please say so and I will provide it.

My second and most important is that BOINC doesn't seem to see my GPU. I have two EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card.
I support WCG and the cancer research group uses CUDA to crunch numbers. I know because I have a second i7 with Win7 installed and it is crunching with it's two GPU like mad. I would like this i7 to do likewise. I check before I bought them and these two GPUs do support CUDA. So why can't BOINC see them?

Please help. I have gone to the end of my rope (knowledge). I need access to your brains. Remember I am not a programmer, so please break down any directions for me and do not assume I know what you know. Believe me, I don't.

PS - Is there a Spell Checker associated with this edit window? If so, how do I turn it on? If not, why not? I'm not an english major. At my age, I'm lucky if I remember how to spell my own name.

Thanks in Advance for taking the time to read my babble.

Gandalf

Snark1994 · 01-07-2013, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gandalf_PCHF

I installed R4W (long story) ... I would like to have BOINC startup during reboot.

R4W? That's a bit of an odd choice - I would have though a more mainstream Linux distro would be better supported. I can't find any docs for it on the web. Anyway, if you meant "I want BOINC to start automatically when the computer boots up", then have a look in /etc - do you have directories called e.g /etc/rc0.d ? Or does R4W use upstart, or systemd? If all else fails, you could put 'boinc' in our .xinitrc.

Quote:

My second and most important is that BOINC doesn't seem to see my GPU. I have two EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card.

According to ArchWiki, https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...ects_using_GPU:

Quote:

If you want to use your GPU, you need the proprietary nvidia or amd drivers. For ATI/AMD Cards you also need Catalyst driver for stock kernel which you can get from AUR. For Nvidia, you also need the package opencl-nvidia located in extra.

In addition, the boinc user should be in the video group:

Code:

# gpasswd -a boinc video

The boinc user also needs to have access to your X session. Use this command to accomplish this:

Code:

xhost local:boinc

You may want to add that to a startup script.

The packages will have different names in your OS, but you should be using the proprietary driver, boinc should be in the video group and you should have run the 'xhost local:boinc' command.

Quote:

PS - Is there a Spell Checker associated with this edit window? If so, how do I turn it on? If not, why not? I'm not an english major. At my age, I'm lucky if I remember how to spell my own name.

Try a browser plugin, like https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/fir...y-/?src=search for Firefox.

Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo,

chrism01 · 01-07-2013, 06:50 PM

In addition to the above, you should find this a good tutorial for the cmd line
http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz

To check your system, can you get into the cmd line aka cli, as root (admin) user and run the following and post the results

Code:

cat /etc/*release*

uname -a

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-09-2013, 10:25 PM

BOINC doesn't seem to see my GPU.

I have two EVGA GeForce GTX 650 1024MB GDDR5 DVI mHDMI Graphics Card.

I support WCG and the cancer research group uses CUDA to crunch numbers. I know because I have a second i7 with Win7 installed and it is crunching with it's two GPU like mad. I would like this i7 to do likewise.

I check before I bought them and these two GPUs do support CUDA.
So why can't BOINC see them?

TobiSGD · 01-09-2013, 10:59 PM

As asked before, do you have the proprietary NVidia drivers installed?

Besides that, as far as I know, R4W is a distribution especially meant for use on legacy computers, which your machine is definitely not. I would recommend to use one of the more mainstream distros with a larger userbase and better support, like Ubuntu or Mint.

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-12-2013, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

As asked before, do you have the proprietary NVidia drivers installed?

Specifically, how do I do that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Besides that, as far as I know, R4W is a distribution especially meant for use on legacy computers, which your machine is definitely not. I would recommend to use one of the more mainstream distros with a larger userbase and better support, like Ubuntu or Mint.

I have hear and I obey. I have changed to the Ubuntu 12.10.

TobiSGD · 01-12-2013, 04:13 PM

On Ubuntu 12.10 you can install the proprietary Nvidia drivers using the Additional Drivers program, which is integrated into the Software Sources program that can be found in the System Settings.

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-12-2013, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

On Ubuntu 12.10 you can install the proprietary Nvidia drivers using the Additional Drivers program, which is integrated into the Software Sources program that can be found in the System Settings.

Been there, done that. I think. Don't know how to verify that the operation took.

I find myself backfilling a lot every time I learn something new. Which is a lot.
Thanks to the clarification. I'm sure I'll be back, when I run out of backfill and hit that brick wall.

Thanks...

TroN-0074 · 01-12-2013, 06:13 PM

Gnadalf PCHF You might want to look at this article. If you havent yet

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/u...al-nvidia.html

This one might be of interest too

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/10/1...g-ubuntu-12-10

Good luck to you

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-12-2013, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TroN-0074

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/u...al-nvidia.html
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/10/1...g-ubuntu-12-10

The first one is new. Will check it out.
Did the installs in the second link already, but thanks.
Thanks...

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-12-2013, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TroN-0074

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/u...al-nvidia.html

I have just finished the procedures in the referenced URL.
Everything appeared to work with a little fudging, but that was forewarned.
However, the end result was a no go.

A little background. BOINC > WCG can use my GPUs via CUDA for Cancer research, however the GPUs have to be seen by the Boinc Manager. This is my second i7 that I am trying to use for this purpose. The first i7 runs under Win7. There is no problem with the Boinc Manager seeing the GPUs with Win7. All the modified files are in the correct places.

Is the Nvidia drivers the correct drivers for this purpose?
According to the referenced link, I thing they are. However, I am not the expert.
I just know it ain't working right.

I am still in need of expert assistance to make my CUDA capable GPUs work with the Boinc program correctly.

As always, I thank everyone who has assisted me to this point.

TroN-0074 · 01-12-2013, 09:26 PM

Well I dont really know how you have set up your video card, but in your signature you have EVGA Geforce GTX 650 for that video card this is the driver they suggest at the NVIDIA web site
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/52241

Remove the one you installed with the graphical tool
you can try to install it with these commands

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings

==================================================================================================== ========
OR

install the new driver by downloading the file from the above link, Once the donwload is done tur off your graphical display (Hit CTRL+ALT+F2 and login using your credentials.)
kill your current X server session by typing sudo service

Code:

sudo lightdm stop

remove any reminding of the old driver

Code:

sudo apt-get - purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

and go to your downloaded file like

Code:

 cd ~/Downloads

then type ls so you can see the files your have there
then to install the driver

Code:

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.19.run

That is what I did in Ubuntu 12.04 but I didnt have any fancy set up with my nvidia card, on your signature says you have 2?

So I dont know if these steps are going to work for you. Good luck to you.

Gandalf_PCHF · 01-12-2013, 10:04 PM

Feedback:
This command...
sudo apt-get - purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
should read ...
sudo apt-get - purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

This command...
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.19.run
produced...
ERROR: You appear to be running an X server; please exit X before
installing. For further details, please see the section INSTALLING
THE NVIDIA DRIVER in the README available on the Linux driver
download page at www.nvidia.com.

Installation has failed. Please see the file
'/var/log/nvidia-installer.log' for details. You may find
suggestions on fixing installation problems in the README available
on the Linux driver download page at www.nvidia.com.

nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log'
creation time: Sat Jan 12 19:57:03 2013
installer version: 310.19

PATH: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin

nvidia-installer command line:
./nvidia-installer

Using: nvidia-installer ncurses user interface
-> The file '/tmp/.X1-lock' exists and appears to contain the process ID '2245' of a runnning X server.

mreff555 · 01-12-2013, 10:23 PM

You should really consider switching to debian, redhat, or ubuntu. BIONIC is in all of their package managers and will install easy. There is also more documentation for all of these distro's. Based on what you are doing, I would imagine reliability would be an important factor.
I am pretty sure proprietary nVidia drivers are also in their package mangagers which you WILL need if you wish to make use of your cuda cores

TroN-0074 · 01-12-2013, 10:41 PM

@ mreff555 He is Using Ubuntu 12.10

@Gandalf_PCHFF You need to turn 'Off' X server with the command

Code:

sudo service lightdm stop

or

Code:

sudo stop lightdm

then Ctrl+Alt+F2
log in with your credentials

then

Code:

sudo apt-get - purge xserver-xorg-video-nouveau

then

Code:

cd ~/Downloads

then

Code:

sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-310.19.run

once is done you can do

Code:

sudo service lightdm start

or reboot If it doesnt work you will know because you wont have a graphical interface the next session

Adding the PPA was the easiest way though, didnt work for you either?

Code:

 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current nvidia-settings