Question Need some Milkyway or BOINC help - can't get video card to get WU's

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Modular

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Jul 1, 2005
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OK, so help a newbie out here. Here's what I'm working with:

Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa
Athlon II X4 635 - don't get too scared!
ATI HD5850

I installed the BOINC Client and the Manager in Mint no problem. I signed up for a Milkyway account, joined the TeAm and got to work, but I noticed that I can't get any workload sent to my GPU.

My preferences are all set to use the GPU from what I can see. I also told the client to run no matter what I'm doing with the PC. From what I can tell, the CPU is crunching away on all 4 cores, but I don't show any progress other than those 4 WU's.

I'm sure I'm missing something easy. Any insights are appreciated.
 
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StefanR5R

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StefanR5R

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M

Modular

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Ken g6 said:
What project is that? Milkyway, I assume?

That's an old GPU. It might be too old for Milkyway. Maybe try Collatz Conjecture with it first.
Click to expand...

Yep, Milkyway. I just updated the title.

StefanR5R said:
Does the boinc client detect the GPU alright?
The beginning of /var/log/boinc.log should have some lines about any detected GPU.
And /var/lib/boinc-client/coproc_info.xml should have lots of info.

PS,
Milkyway@Home GPU requirements:
https://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=3188

PS2,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units#Radeon_HD_5000_Series states that HD 5850 has double precision support, hence it should work for M@H, it seems.
Click to expand...

I had read that the card should work for Milkyway and wanted to give it a shot. Looks like your data confirms that.

The GPU is not detected in the log. Something is off there. Does anyone know how to install older drivers in the current flavor of Linux Mint? That's where I'm stuck at the moment.
 
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Assimilator1

Assimilator1

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Modular said:
Yep, Milkyway. I just updated the title.

I had read that the card should work for Milkyway and wanted to give it a shot. Looks like your data confirms that.
Click to expand...

Ah, that would be me, I'd forgotten it's problematic to run it on MW :oops:, been a while since I've run an HD 5850 (fitted it to my mum's PC to upgrade it from a X800 GTO!).
Not a foggiest on Linux I'm afraid.

But looking at MW GPU's page doesn't bode well for running MW on an HD 5850 on Linux, not a single person is crunching on that combo atm!
Can't/won't do windows? What about WINE?
 
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Modular

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Assimilator1 said:
Ah, that would be me, I'd forgotten it's problematic to run it on MW :oops:, been a while since I've run an HD 5850 (fitted it to my mum's PC to upgrade it from a X800 GTO!).
Not a foggiest on Linux I'm afraid.

But looking at MW GPU's page doesn't bode well for running MW on an HD 5850 on Linux, not a single person is crunching on that combo atm!
Can't/won't do windows? What about WINE?
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks! I have a copy of W10 pro sitting around I might try at some point. Fpr now, I just picked up am rx580 8gb in sale at newegg for 150 and a 1070gtx for 200 on ebay. I'll see what the rx580 can do instead of the old 5850. Thanks all!
 
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Fardringle

Fardringle

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StefanR5R said:
This thread brought me to this post from @Assimilator1 in 2014, according to which Catalyst 13.1 drivers were necessary to get Milkyway@Home to run without errors on HD 5850:
http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/forum_thread.php?id=3400&postid=60868
Newer drivers would result in 100 % error rate.
Click to expand...

Yep, I had the same problem with my HD 5670 before I replaced it. It worked great with the 13.1 drivers, but failed completely on Milkyway@Home with anything newer.
 
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Assimilator1

Assimilator1

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The HD 5670 doesn't have double precision ;), did you mean 5870?

Modular
Looking at MWs GPU page the HD 5850 runs MW just fine on windows these days.
I remember now that the HD 5800s & 6900s had problems running the MW v1.02 app, the old cat drivers got it working with those cards. That app was retired quite a while ago (1-2 yrs ago?), so now those cards should run MW just fine. IIRC whatever that app did that was different was merged into what was called the mod fit apps (currently v1.46).

The 4800s can no longer run MW though with the new app.

Btw I can't believe you got an RX 580 so cheap! It cost me £220 just a couple of months ago or so! Nice bargain you've got :).
The HD 5850 has 418 GFLOPs DP power, the RX 580 is 362-386 GFLOPs, so pretty close! And it might be that the RX 580s more modern architecture is more efficient & possibly ends up being faster in MW. I need to benchmark my own GPU....
 
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Fardringle

Fardringle

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Nope, 5670. But that was a couple of years ago. I don't know if they've changed the project requirements, but I clearly remember the issue with the driver version. And I think it wasn't just MW, but actually newer versions of BOINC that wouldn't communicate properly with the GPU if newer drivers than 13.1 were installed.
 
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Modular

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Assimilator1 said:
The HD 5670 doesn't have double precision ;), did you mean 5870?

Modular
Looking at MWs GPU page the HD 5850 runs MW just fine on windows these days.
I remember now that the HD 5800s & 6900s had problems running the MW v1.02 app, the old cat drivers got it working with those cards. That app was retired quite a while ago (1-2 yrs ago?), so now those cards should run MW just fine. IIRC whatever that app did that was different was merged into what was called the mod fit apps (currently v1.46).

The 4800s can no longer run MW though with the new app.
Click to expand...



Interesting. I wasn't able to get the RX580 to work in Linux Mint either, but that's certainly on me. I'm a newbie to Linux and have been learning. Had no issues getting my 1070gtx up and Folding, but for some reason the AMD card isn't being recognized properly, even when I try to install the AMD Pro drivers.

I ended up scrapping Mint for this box and installed W10 with using the RX580. It's running very well! I love the idea of using the 5850 for something, so I might have to give it a go as well, but for now, it's just hanging out in a box in my basement.

I also have 3 PC's running non-stop at this point, so I think I'll take a break. I do have a Celeron G3930 just sitting around though, so it's hard to resist the temptation to buy a MOBO and RAM and get it up and running too. SOMEONE STOP THIS ADDICTION!! Good thing the 4850 is not able to be used, or I'd have it up and running as well. It was voltmodded and has an Accellero S2 Rev2 on it. Good times!


Assimilator1 said:
Btw I can't believe you got an RX 580 so cheap! It cost me £220 just a couple of months ago or so! Nice bargain you've got :).
The HD 5850 has 418 GFLOPs DP power, the RX 580 is 362-386 GFLOPs, so pretty close! And it might be that the RX 580s more modern architecture is more efficient & possibly ends up being faster in MW. I need to benchmark my own GPU....
Click to expand...

I was amazed at the deal. It came with a $30 rebate, so it was 180 before the rebate; but it also came with a copy of Resident Evil 2 and Tom Clancy's The Division 2. I couldn't stop myself lol.

If nothing else, it's been fun to use both AMD and nVidia in Linux to learn the nuances between them.
 
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Assimilator1

Assimilator1

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Fardringle said:
Nope, 5670. But that was a couple of years ago. I don't know if they've changed the project requirements, but I clearly remember the issue with the driver version. And I think it wasn't just MW, but actually newer versions of BOINC that wouldn't communicate properly with the GPU if newer drivers than 13.1 were installed.
Click to expand...
Nope, sorry, the HD 5670 never had double precision & MW has required DP all the time I've been running it (since 2011, I think). Post 13.1 driver issue only affected 5800s, 5900s & 6900s cards, IIRC the 4800s weren't affected by that. Slowest HD 5000 series card with DP is the HD 5830.
I still think you've typo'd ;), or maybe you're thinking of another project?
 
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