It appears BOINC w/ CUDA requires X to be running first (revised).

[Steffen Moeller]

Hello,

Skip Guenter wrote:
> Without even testing (yet) I'm sure you are right. 
:)
> I'm guessing it's
> the entries that get added to /etc/X11/xorg.conf when you install the
> restricted driver. 
>
> It was my error in using 'gdm' like it was the x-session.  It's still a
> fuzzy line for me.
>
> I suspect it's this entry in xorg.conf that needs to 'happen' before the
> boinc-client starts:
>
> Section "Module"
> 	Load	"glx"
> EndSection
>
> Thanx for clarifying this for me.
>
> After the GDM vs KDM swap, is the second part of what you are suggesting
> I test to uninstall the Debian v180.11 driver and install the one from
> the Nvidia site?
>   
In a way, to follow any of my previous suggestions would be a waste of
time. We should investigate a way to have BOINC performing what it
should perform. If BOINC as a consequence can no longer stay in main but
would need to move to contrib, then so be it (IMHO). Maybe we could
somehow persuade upstream to prepare a CUDA module for the BOINC client
which would then go into non-free.
> I'll have to re-read Nvidia's directions for Linux installing but I
> think there is a point where they make the same type of changes to
> xorg.conf but let me go read that again first.
>   
I personally only have my wife's laptop with something CUDA-savvy. And
that is only running an OS whose name is more or less self-censored on
this list. I don't know about the other readers, but since there is yet
no other email in this thread, I could imagine that you are a bit ahead
of us, here.

Cheers,

Steffen
> On Mon, 2009-07-20 at 11:15 +0200, Steffen Moeller wrote:
>   
>> Hi,
>>
>> the CUDA part of the BOINC upstream code was removed for license issues.
>> I could imagine that this makes a difference of some sort with respect
>> to initialisation, but having not looked at it I am only guessing here.
>>
>> I am happy to hear that CUDA works with Debian/Ubuntu BOINC, actually :)
>>
>> So, the hunch I have is that the commercial nvidia driver is somehow
>> invoked and provides the underlying CUDA functionality which BOINC then
>> profits from. You could test this by substituting the GDM with KDM
>> (which would mean that the desktop manager does not make a difference
>> but the initialisation of  X does) and the official nvidia driver with
>> the free one that ships with Debian.
>>
>> And ... should my hunch be correct, I don't know what this actually
>> means for our BOINC packages. Comments by the others will tell :)
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Steffen
>>
>> Skip Guenter wrote:
>>     
>>> Hey ya'll,
>>>
>>> First a HUGE THANX for all the good stuff ya'll do!
>>>
>>> On to my problem...
>>>
>>> I recently installed an 8800GT card into each of two different machines.
>>> One my normal desktop (Ubuntu v8.10 64b) and another into a headless,
>>> diskless number cruncher (Dotsch/UX / Ubuntu v8.10).  There was little
>>> problem with Intrepid machine as I only had to create a link
>>> in /var/lib/boinc-client to libcudart.so to resolve an error message.
>>>
>>> The install on the Dotsch/UX machine was another thing.  I'm trying to
>>> work with the author of that distro on what I believe the problems are
>>> when the machine is running off of a served up NFS.  
>>>
>>> Anyway, to get around this I installed a HDD back into that machine and
>>> installed Jaunty on it (v9.04, 64b).  All went well with the same link
>>> needing to be added into /var/lib/boinc-client.  
>>>
>>> On BOTH machines I installed v6.4.5 deb package from 'getdeb' Intrepid
>>> 64b.
>>>
>>> On the 2nd (normally headless) machine I had the gdm NOT starting
>>> automatically via a rename of the "S30gdm" in rc2.d to "s30gdm". 
>>>
>>> I then noticed that BOINC was throwing errors saying "missing CUDA
>>> device".  I started the gdm back up and then restarted boinc-client.
>>> This resolved the error.  I then reset the gdm to auto start and
>>> rebooted the machine to make sure it would be OK on a restart.  It was
>>> not.  I again had the missing CUDA device message.  
>>>
>>> I looked at /etc/rc2.d and it appears to me that boinc-client is started
>>> at S20 and gdm is started at S30.  IF (that's a BIG IF) I understand
>>> correctly that means that boinc-client is already running by the time
>>> xsession/gdm is started.  I think this is a problem because I believe
>>> the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf contains things needed by the nvidia device
>>> driver which in turn is needed by BOINC to recognize the CUDA card.
>>>
>>> Is there a simple rename that I could do to resolve this locally?
>>> Something along the lines of:
>>>
>>> sudo mv /etc/rc2.d/S20boinc-client /etc/rc2.d/S32boinc-client
>>>
>>> I'm afraid there may be something else that would have to match an
>>> action like the above on another file but I don't know what it would be.
>>>
>>> I don't know how to report this as an official problem but still would
>>> appreciate anybody that could help with a local fix.  
>>>
>>> If somebody wants to point me to something on how to report the bug I'll
>>> try to fill out the forms. 
>>>
>>> Thanx in advance, Skip
>>> República de Tejas, Centro
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> pkg-boinc-devel mailing list
>>> pkg-boinc-devel at lists.alioth.debian.org
>>> http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/pkg-boinc-devel
>>>       
>
>