World Community Grid - View Thread - BOINC: Message & Error Log Reporting

Most important when reporting problems is posting sections of the main message logs to include parts that went on before and after the lines that showed the problem. The real-time log entries show in the Messages Tab of the BOINC manager. They can be copied to the Clipboard for support forum posting by selecting the entries of interest and operating the "Copy Selection" button.

For general system diagnostics we'd like to see the complete start up portion of the client log all through to where a job starts running. An example:

9/24/2008 4:02:41 PM||Starting BOINC client version 6.2.18 for windows_intelx86
9/24/2008 4:02:41 PM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops, checkpoint_debug
9/24/2008 4:02:42 PM||Libraries: libcurl/7.18.0 OpenSSL/0.9.8e zlib/1.2.3
9/24/2008 4:02:42 PM||Data directory: C:\ProgramData\BOINC
9/24/2008 4:02:42 PM||Running under account user
9/24/2008 4:02:46 PM||Processor: 4 GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.40GHz [x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 7]
9/24/2008 4:02:46 PM||Processor features: fpu tsc pae nx sse sse2 pni mmx
9/24/2008 4:02:47 PM||OS: Microsoft Windows Vista: Home Premium x86 Editon, Service Pack 1, (06.00.6001.00)
9/24/2008 4:02:47 PM||Memory: 3.00 GB physical, 6.19 GB virtual
9/24/2008 4:02:47 PM||Disk: 290.08 GB total, 197.85 GB free
9/24/2008 4:02:47 PM||Local time is UTC +2 hours
9/24/2008 4:02:47 PM||No coprocessors
9/24/2008 4:03:25 PM|WCG|URL: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/; Computer ID: 628290; location: home; project prefs: home
9/24/2008 4:03:25 PM||General prefs: from World Community Grid (last modified 29-Jul-2008 18:31:51)
9/24/2008 4:03:25 PM||Computer location: home
9/24/2008 4:03:25 PM||General prefs: using separate prefs for home
9/24/2008 4:03:26 PM||Reading preferences override file
9/24/2008 4:03:26 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 2302.32MB
9/24/2008 4:03:26 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 2916.27MB
9/24/2008 4:03:26 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 9.31GB
9/24/2008 4:03:42 PM|WCG|Restarting task R00149_93d1dbc8f71f605b01a3818e747e65b1_02_5 using rice version 617

The Log-Messages permanent recording is done in the following files found in the BOINC Data directory, location found in the bolded message log line above. They will assist most greatly in analyzing a device/host issue:

The BOINC Core Client aka Daemon, the centerpiece (BOINC.exe):

stdoutdae.txt - containing all messages from current and previous sessions.
stderrdae.txt - containing specific debug reporting

The BOINC Manager (BOINCmgr.exe):

stdoutgui.txt - for recording of Graphic User Interface related messages.
stdouterr.txt - reserved to capture serious problems

Many error messages are referenced in the Unofficial BOINC wiki, Message section and in BOINC FAQ Service , Error Codes Explained

The Science Project Application:

stderr.txt - The log is found in a subdirectory of the BOINC Data directory and are named ..\slots\0\, ..\slots\1\ and is storing actual task events. The file will only exist as long as the result file has not been returned to the servers. On automatic completion it can be retrieved from the Result Status page (see below)

If a Task has gone bad and was already uploaded, visit the My Grid > Result Status page and find the problem work unit. In the Status column click on the "Error", "Invalid" or other negative condition link. That will display a more detailed list of events specific to the task (see screenshot below and follow Result Log Link pointer). Some messages in there are generic like the VersionInfo size: 1812 or 2 and are benign, but include whole or portions of the log with sections that are of concern in the support request.

Other log files have a 'Prev' in the name or an .old extension to indicate that they are backups of expired log files.

Further information is captured in job_log_www.worldcommunitygrid.org.txt

Sample 'error' log of a Nutritious Rice task:

Result Log

<core_client_version>5.10.45</core_client_version>
<![CDATA[
<message>
Function incorrect. (0x1) - exit code 1 (0x1)
</message>
<stderr_txt>
wcg_seed 114702178
running time: 77.782099
wcg_seed 145836742
running time: 159.791824
wcg_seed 1022086711
could not open file best1.pdb

</stderr_txt>
]]>

Special Request: What to do when Your Problem was [RESOLVED]