To get to the website device settings follow the path My Grid → Device Manager → Device Profile.
Presets[]
Managing the huge variety of advanced preferences can be daunting. To solve this problem, World Community Grid provide four presets for device profiles:
- Standard (default)
- Minimum Impact
- Maximum Output
- Power Saving
If there are no other constraints, then Maximum Output is the best choice. The Standard preset is best for laptops, where overheating is a consideration. Use the Power Saving preset if World Community Grid conflicts with power saving sleep modes.
Members who are beginning to experiment with the custom settings often want to know which preferences are affected by the presets. These are the values for each setting:
| Preference | Standard Settings | Minimum Impact | Maximum Output | Power Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use no more than X% of processor time | 60% | 60% | 100% | 60% |
| Run while computer is in use: | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Do work only after computer is idle for X minutes | – | 5 minutes | – | – |
| Stop work after computer is idle for X minutes | Never | Never | Never | 20 minutes |
| Leave applications in memory while preempted? | No | No | Yes | No |
| Use no more than X% of memory while computer in use | 50% | 40% | 75% | 50% |
| Use no more than X% of memory while computer idle | 75% | 60% | 90% | 75% |
| Use no more than X% of virtual memory | 50% | 30% | 75% | 50% |
| On multiprocessors, use X% of processors | – | – | 100% | – |
When comfortable with the general operation of the BOINC agent, any of these profiles can be amended for personal refinement by switching to the Custom Profile.
Local Preferences[]
These settings are also changeable at the individual client level using the BOINCmgr's Advanced Menu, (Local) Preferences screen. Any settings entered at the local client, only available from version 5.10 in GUI format, supersede the local preference settings.
When saving a Custom Profile (CP) and all options of the above table have remained unchanged from pre-set, the device profile on next visit will show the original radio button as checked, e.g. Standard Settings instead of CP. All other changes are though be saved properly. This helps to signify which of the pre-set profiles form the base of the CP on later visits.
Which preferences are in use is reported in the start up portion of the client message log. The lines to look for are:
- 25-Aug-2008 13:51:46 [---] General prefs: from World Community Grid (last modified 29-Jul-2008 18:31:51)
- 25-Aug-2008 13:51:46 [---] Computer location: work
- 25-Aug-2008 13:51:46 [---] General prefs: using separate prefs for work
- 25-Aug-2008 13:51:46 [---] Reading preferences override file
Latter line indicating that the local preferences are overruling the website device settings, with few exceptions such as the project selections.
Once the local preferences are created they will stay in effect and override the website device profiles settings, with some exceptions. To learn how to remove them visit Restoring device defaults
There are some 'field' names that have a different label on the website versus those shown in the local client. A short list of how they are titled in the 2 places where significantly different are:
| Website Device Profile | Local Preferences (Client, Advanced Menu) |
|---|---|
| Use No More Than | Use At Most |
| Leave application in memory when preempted | Leave application in memory when suspended |
| % of virtual memory | % of page file (swap space) |
| Connect to network about every | Connect about every |
| Cache X extra days of work | Additional workbuffer X days |
Related topics[]
External links[]
For further expanded information visit the following BOINC Wiki pages:
- Explanation of Current Preferences as controlled on the website and in Local Preferences (Refer above for version dependencies)
- Explanation of Current and Future Preferences (Some preset values at WCG vary from defaults of BOINC)