Troubleshooting BOINC

Problems installing BOINC

• The installer failed?.
• The installation completed, but BOINC doesn't work.
  • Jump to the troubleshooting section for the error given by BOINC.

BOINC won't start

If BOINC produces as error message of the form

boinc_client: /lib/libc.so.6: version 'GLIBC_2.2' not found (required by ./boinc_client)

then you need to install a newer version of libc.

Problems while running BOINC

If BOINC isn't working properly, there are two places to look for problems:

Preferences

Often, BOINC will be working as expected, but simply not doing what you want. Some preference settings will stop BOINC from doing work entirely. Check the messages if this is the case. Otherwise, review your preferences? looking for settings that may cause the problem you see. As a last resort, reset your preferences to the defaults.

Messages

BOINC logs many messages informing you what is happening. If BOINC isn't running properly, there should be an error message shown in the message log.

Use the error reference to diagnose and fix the problem based on the error message.

Problems attaching to a project

Check your account name and password and try again

If your account name contains unusual characters, you may get this error even though you typed the name correctly. Rename your account to use ASCII only, then try again. Once you have attached successfully, you can reset the account name to the original value.

Project temporarily unavailable

If you try to attach to a project that's down, you'll get this error. Wait a while, then try again.

Network communication failure

This means BOINC can't do any communication at all. The likely problems are:

• Connectivity: you don't have a network connection. Check your network or modem connection (if your web browser can get to outside sites, this is not the problem). See this ​information on Windows networking troubleshooting from Microsoft website.
• Personal firewall software (ZoneAlarm, Norton Personal Firewall, McAfee, etc.) is blocking BOINC.
  • The first time you run BOINC, your personal firewall will bring up a dialog asking if boincmgr.exe and boinc.exe should be allowed to communicate (say yes).
  • If this dialog doesn't appear, bring up your personal firewall program and add an 'exception' entry allowing BOINC to communicate. If it already has an entry for BOINC, delete it. Detail vary between firewall packages.
  • You may have accidentally installed more than one firewall. Uninstall or disable all but the primary one.
• Proxy server: there are two kinds of proxies, HTTP and SOCKS. You may be using one or both. Most home computers do not use proxies. To find out if you're using a proxy, look at the Internet settings of your web browser. (Firefox: Tools/Options/General/Connection? Settings; Internet Explorer: Tools/Internet? Options/Connections/Settings?). Copy the settings there (server, port, etc.) to the BOINC dialog.
• (Windows) SETI@home: if it appears to attach OK, but the Messages tab has repeated shared memory error messages from the server: uninstall BOINC and delete the install directory (typically C:\Program Files\BOINC). Reinstall BOINC, but in a different directory (such as C:\Program Files\BOINC2).
• Some DSL customers in the UK report needing to set MTU=1492 in their modem/router and rebooting it.

BOINC is crashing

Crashes are rare, and if you are unlucky enough to experience a crash (or repeated crashes) then the developers would like to learn from them and help you if possible. Here, you can find any outstanding crash problems, and instructions for reporting crashes.

No results

BOINC Manager crashed

The BOINC Manager may crash with an error message, or it may simply vanish. If an error message is displayed, try to write it down.

The core client crashed

Usually when the core client crashes, BOINC Manager will show a "not connected" error.

Further Help

If you have a problem with a particular project, go to the 'Questions and Answers' area of the project's web site. You may find the solution to your problem. If not, post it there, and you'll get help from other users. If the problem persists, use the BOINC Manager to 'reset' that project. This will erase any jobs in progress and start from scratch.

If these troubleshooting steps don't solve your problem:

• Talk with a Help Volunteer
• Browse other BOINC-related web sites
• Check out the BOINC message boards

Report a Bug

If all else fails, you may need to report a bug. Bug reports are not for general troubleshooting. Please discuss the bug on the BOINC message boards and gather as much information as you can before submitting your report.