So I have this really old (read: 13 year old) computer, it's a 486 Pentium II running at a whopping 455MHz and has a vast 128MB of RAM...

It runs Gentoo Linux and I compiled a custom kernel for it so that it would run a bit quicker. Then...it just sort of sat around in my dorm room for a while, so I decided I should try to throw BOINC on here. Installation was fairly easy, and attaching it to BAM! wasn't too much trouble. Problem is, once I attached the projects I wanted to compute for (read: all of them), I wasn't getting any work units! Pasted below is a copy of the log once I attached a bunch of projects. I noticed the 'unknown platform' and 'requesting 1 second of work' messages in particular. Anyone got a fix/work around for this or is my computer just WAY too old?

13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Starting BOINC client version 5.10.45 for i486-pc-linux-gnu
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||log flags: task, file_xfer, sched_ops
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Libraries: libcurl/7.18.2 OpenSSL/0.9.8g zlib/1.2.3
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Data directory: /var/lib/boinc
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Processor: 1 GenuineIntel Pentium II (Deschutes) [Family 6 Model 5 Stepping 2]
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Processor features: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||OS: Linux: 2.6.25-gentoo-r7brandon-gentoo-PII
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Memory: 123.16 MB physical, 235.32 MB virtual
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Disk: 12.92 GB total, 9.83 GB free
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Local time is UTC -5 hours
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM|SETI@home|URL: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/; Computer ID: 4661550; location: (none); project prefs: default
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM|lhcathome|URL: http://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/; Computer ID: 9756693; location: (none); project prefs: default
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||No general preferences found - using BOINC defaults
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 61.58MB
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 110.84MB
13/11/2008 1:37:53 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 6.46GB
13/11/2008 1:38:28 PM|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user. Requesting 20160 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:38:33 PM|SETI@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:38:33 PM|SETI@home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:38:38 PM|lhcathome|Sending scheduler request: Requested by user. Requesting 30240 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:38:43 PM|lhcathome|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:38:43 PM|lhcathome|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:40:24 PM||No general preferences found - using BOINC defaults
13/11/2008 1:40:24 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 61.58MB
13/11/2008 1:40:24 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 110.84MB
13/11/2008 1:40:24 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 6.46GB
13/11/2008 1:41:21 PM||No general preferences found - using BOINC defaults
13/11/2008 1:41:21 PM||Reading preferences override file
13/11/2008 1:41:21 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when active to 61.58MB
13/11/2008 1:41:21 PM||Preferences limit memory usage when idle to 110.84MB
13/11/2008 1:41:21 PM||Preferences limit disk usage to 5.17GB
13/11/2008 1:42:49 PM||Contacting account manager at http://bam.boincstats.com/
13/11/2008 1:43:00 PM||Account manager: BAM! User-ID: 61357
13/11/2008 1:43:00 PM||Account manager: BAM! Host-ID: 142358
13/11/2008 1:43:00 PM||Account manager: This host connected 5 times to BAM!
13/11/2008 1:43:00 PM||Account manager contact succeeded
13/11/2008 1:43:59 PM|SETI@home|Sending scheduler request: To fetch work. Requesting 63360 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:04 PM|SETI@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:04 PM|SETI@home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:44:09 PM|lhcathome|Sending scheduler request: To fetch work. Requesting 95040 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:14 PM|lhcathome|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:14 PM|lhcathome|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Contacting account manager at http://bam.boincstats.com/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Account manager: BAM! User-ID: 61357
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Account manager: BAM! Host-ID: 142358
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Account manager: This host connected 6 times to BAM!
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Account manager contact succeeded
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://www.primegrid.com/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://docking.cis.udel.edu/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://boinc.iaik.tugraz.at/sha1_coll_search/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://arcoboinc.unex.es/rnd/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/
13/11/2008 1:44:30 PM||Attaching to http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/
13/11/2008 1:44:40 PM|http://www.primegrid.com/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:44:45 PM|http://www.primegrid.com/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:50 PM|PrimeGrid|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:44:50 PM|PrimeGrid|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:44:52 PM|PrimeGrid|Started download of stat_primegrid.png
13/11/2008 1:44:52 PM|PrimeGrid|Started download of primegrid_slideshow_00.png
13/11/2008 1:44:53 PM|PrimeGrid|Finished download of stat_primegrid.png
13/11/2008 1:44:57 PM|PrimeGrid|Finished download of primegrid_slideshow_00.png
13/11/2008 1:45:00 PM|http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:45:05 PM|http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:10 PM|rosetta@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:10 PM|rosetta@home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:45:20 PM|http://docking.cis.udel.edu/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:45:25 PM|http://docking.cis.udel.edu/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:30 PM|Docking@Home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:30 PM|Docking@Home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:45:40 PM|http://boinc.iaik.tugraz.at/sha1_coll_search/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:45:45 PM|http://boinc.iaik.tugraz.at/sha1_coll_search/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:50 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:45:50 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:45:52 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Started download of icon_krypto_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:52 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Started download of show_01_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:53 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Finished download of icon_krypto_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:53 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Started download of show_02_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:54 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Finished download of show_01_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:54 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Finished download of show_02_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:54 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Started download of show_03_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:54 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Started download of show_04_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:56 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Finished download of show_03_01.png
13/11/2008 1:45:56 PM|SHA-1 Collision Search Graz|Finished download of show_04_01.png
13/11/2008 1:46:00 PM|http://arcoboinc.unex.es/rnd/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:46:05 PM|http://arcoboinc.unex.es/rnd/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:10 PM|RND@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:10 PM|RND@home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:46:20 PM|http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:46:25 PM|http://boinc.fzk.de/poem/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:30 PM|Poem@Home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:30 PM|Poem@Home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found
13/11/2008 1:46:40 PM|http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/|Master file download succeeded
13/11/2008 1:46:45 PM|http://milkyway.cs.rpi.edu/milkyway/|Sending scheduler request: Project initialization. Requesting 1 seconds of work, reporting 0 completed tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:50 PM|Milkyway@home|Scheduler request succeeded: got 0 new tasks
13/11/2008 1:46:50 PM|Milkyway@home|Message from server: platform 'i486-pc-linux-gnu' not found

iv'e been running older machines on SIMAP lately..



why the hack are u trying to use i486 kernel on a pentium II?

i'm not that much into bogomips, but with a plain vanilla install it should run. i had a similar host with win2k on several projects lately (should run everything not demanding SSE or more memory).

I'm not a kernel expert. I used menuconfig and just sort of....well...compiled it?

I haven't touched the actual boinc stuff at all, it was emerged from portage.

Are you saying that I should use a generic kernel and see what happens?

exactly..

Portage fails with BOINC then.

The BOINC platform name must be exactly one of these: BoincPlatforms.

Investigate the RAM requirements of each project before attaching them. Some need more than 128MB for the app alone; add memory usage of the OS, BOINC, and disk cache, and you'll be swapping like mad.

I ran a Pentium 200MHz with 64Mb of memory for a while with a standard Debian Lenny base installation. It could successfully crunch POEM and malariacontrol.net workunits as well as rice from WCG. I suggest that you increase the percentage of the RAM memory allowed to use while active. I put it on over 100% on my oldie since I wasn't doing much on it anyway. The swap memory could sort it out if I was. But first make sure to use a BOINC with a correct platform name.

确实太老了