Gridcoin (GRC) - first coin utilizing BOINC - Official Thread

[slashka]

Hey guys,
Been extremely busy, lots of emails coming in to the contact address, and finishing up v1.0 of the integrated miner -- the wallet is still compatible with cgminer, reaper, guiminer and gridcoinminer however.

The integrated miner has a "sleep" function only designed to be used if we ever implement the network sleep algo allowing segments of the network to sleep; still being discussed on cryptocointalk; no resolution. 

Just as an FYI, the gridcoinminer was developed to sit out during a non-eligible hash block; the function is not turned on and still in the discussion phase.

Regarding future pools, since a detached pool could undermine the security of gridcoin obviously we don't want that, so for now, we are focusing on ways to make the current integrated pool robust enough to handle 1000 users.  Its scalable enough to do 100 as-is without a code change.  We have a plan that can allow it to scale to 1000 users by turning on the hourly wallet consolidation feature (requires a release) and I believe that will allow us to operate for a year or so as long as we keep growing.  In the longer term we would need something a little better (only necessary if we have more than 500 pool miners), and I personally think the answer is adding MySQL support to the coin -- with a database integrated into the coin, we could then do the cool things to this coin that would make it supportable from an IT standpoint and allow the larger features to be added; for example in the current state, its extremely hard to add new tables of data (such as guid-poolminer-payment-confirm) and a database like MySQL would allow us to do that and support the code.  So in summary, I think for pool mining over the next year:

1) Use the integrated miner until we reach 100 users (we are at 33 already)
2) Release a patched version of the wallet that switches to daily payouts, supporting up to 1000 users. 
3) Over the next year, add my-sql to the coin
4) After that is debugged, add pool mining to the database
5) Enjoy a stable, provable integrated pool with close to unlimited scalability and features

Rob Halford

Hey, Rob. This is great news! But I'm afraid of using mysql. Why? Now all clients are stucked on loading block chains. The performance depends of hdd speed mostly. Though, in my opinion, it will fall with including database. May be a wrong comparison, but that's why all high load projects put popular query results in cache.

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[Gridcoin]

Hi everyone!

Just an idea:
Would it be possible to add BOINC statistics for users in Gridcoin teams to the block explorer website?
So we would be able to check how much work we all did for BOINC, some averages, maybe a ladder sorted by who did most etc.

It would be nice to see and keep track of our contribution to BOINC.

Andrew.

Yes its a great idea, Aysyr is keeping a wishlist of things (please add it Aysyr), and eventually we will make the block explorer allow clicking on txids' and we can add the boinc stats too.

I'm currently looking at the syncing issues first-- have observed that all of my non seed-nodes sync correctly -- but my seed node with over 100 connections has an issue every 12 hours; and cannot be resolved without deleting the blocks folder.  I am trying to find the root cause.  At this point, I'm going to make a feature that tells the wallet to delete 100 blocks before its last confirm and automatically resync, and hopefully if we release that feature the group will be able to tell me if that works without restarting the wallet.  If it does we may uncover the problem or build that in to the code to automatically execute that when it happens.  

I also have a suspicion that a large number of non gridcoin-qt nodes are connecting to the seed nodes; that would require a global port change; we'll try one thing at a time.

Thanks,
Rob H.

[Gridcoin]

Hey guys,
Been extremely busy, lots of emails coming in to the contact address, and finishing up v1.0 of the integrated miner -- the wallet is still compatible with cgminer, reaper, guiminer and gridcoinminer however.

The integrated miner has a "sleep" function only designed to be used if we ever implement the network sleep algo allowing segments of the network to sleep; still being discussed on cryptocointalk; no resolution. 

Just as an FYI, the gridcoinminer was developed to sit out during a non-eligible hash block; the function is not turned on and still in the discussion phase.

Regarding future pools, since a detached pool could undermine the security of gridcoin obviously we don't want that, so for now, we are focusing on ways to make the current integrated pool robust enough to handle 1000 users.  Its scalable enough to do 100 as-is without a code change.  We have a plan that can allow it to scale to 1000 users by turning on the hourly wallet consolidation feature (requires a release) and I believe that will allow us to operate for a year or so as long as we keep growing.  In the longer term we would need something a little better (only necessary if we have more than 500 pool miners), and I personally think the answer is adding MySQL support to the coin -- with a database integrated into the coin, we could then do the cool things to this coin that would make it supportable from an IT standpoint and allow the larger features to be added; for example in the current state, its extremely hard to add new tables of data (such as guid-poolminer-payment-confirm) and a database like MySQL would allow us to do that and support the code.  So in summary, I think for pool mining over the next year:

1) Use the integrated miner until we reach 100 users (we are at 33 already)
2) Release a patched version of the wallet that switches to daily payouts, supporting up to 1000 users. 
3) Over the next year, add my-sql to the coin
4) After that is debugged, add pool mining to the database
5) Enjoy a stable, provable integrated pool with close to unlimited scalability and features

Rob Halford

Hey, Rob. This is great news! But I'm afraid of using mysql. Why? Now all clients are stucked on loading block chains. The performance depends of hdd speed mostly. Though, in my opinion, it will fall with including database. May be a wrong comparison, but that's why all high load projects put popular query results in cache.

Hi,

Don't worry, we'll fix the syncing issue first - MySQL would be a full 6 months out anyway, its such as drastic change.  I'm talking about replacing berkeleyDB altogether and moving to MySQL after it is provably working alongside berkeleyDB.

Regarding MySQL, first, we'll still have a memory pool for volatile transactions; that works fine; its used when someone buys a coffee with gridcoins and the tx is not part of a block.

Regarding scalability of MySQL don't worry about that, I have seen tables with 5 million rows,  with clustered indexes they work fine, and in this type of situation we're really only using the last 100 blocks at any given time; not a problem for an enterprise database to handle.  Not to mention we would have 30,000 copies of it all doing the work on each individual pc, so I think it would actually be more efficient than writing to locked files on the filesystem (ie the algos are already there to efficiently search for relevant data in contrast to searching the chain for data sequentially).

Regarding choosing MySQL, its free and strong enough to work without paying any royalties, and works cross platform.  It would allow database administrators who want to support gridcoin to get involved to write ansi-92 reports etc.

Rob H.

[slashka]

Hi,

Don't worry, we'll fix the syncing issue first - MySQL would be a full 6 months out anyway, its such as drastic change.  I'm talking about replacing berkeleyDB altogether and moving to MySQL after it is provably working alongside berkeleyDB.

Regarding MySQL, first, we'll still have a memory pool for volatile transactions; that works fine; its used when someone buys a coffee with gridcoins and the tx is not part of a block.

Regarding scalability of MySQL don't worry about that, I have seen tables with 5 million rows,  with clustered indexes they work fine, and in this type of situation we're really only using the last 100 blocks at any given time; not a problem for an enterprise database to handle.  Not to mention we would have 30,000 copies of it all doing the work on each individual pc, so I think it would actually be more efficient than writing to locked files on the filesystem (ie the algos are already there to efficiently search for relevant data in contrast to searching the chain for data sequentially).

Regarding choosing MySQL, its free and strong enough to work without paying any royalties, and works cross platform.  It would allow database administrators who want to support gridcoin to get involved to write ansi-92 reports etc.

Rob H.

That's nice! Don't think that I'm too intrusive, but contact me. I wanna help with development

[Gridcoin]

First of all I'd like to say big thanks to developers that they have bring to us such a cryprocurrency! THANKS! I think that it would have a big and bright future! This is the first coin in which I fell in love

I'd like to support or something. I can help with translation eng<->rus, can help in programming. I'd like to mine it, but all I have is a core2duo   So, somehow, I'd like to help in Grid Coin evolution. I've launched the wallet under WINE in Ubuntu and support many of community members which are saying that it is too dark. I could help you to program some "theme switcher" or android app. Programming experience ~10 years.

GAJVTf4JLxPwX8e3rq51jaJo2KMH6GrGDZ

Hi Slashka,
Your running it in Wine in Ubuntu?  That's good to know; because our Linux guy is busy adding the cpuminer to the Linux version and Id like to give people some direction that have been left hanging.  Are you able to mine successfully using wine-Ubuntu?

Regarding programming, Ive been receiving a lot of volunteer e-mails to the contact address, which is great.  We had a project scheduled to port a thin client to Android.  I have a volunteer named "Lowkey Leesmith" who would like to start on that--- would you be interested in working on that with him?  PM me if your interested.  

Rob H.

[Gridcoin]

When I try to compile the qt-wallet under ubuntu, qmake reports:

Code:

Project MESSAGE: Warning: unknown QT: qaxcontainer

make terminates with following error:

Code:

src/qt/bitcoingui.cpp:9:21: fatal error: QAxObject: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.

Please help me to solve this problem.

Hi Grex,
You can build a Linux version if you look at the cryptsy thread on page 1 of this thread (the please add us to the exchange link) a guy named Roo posted the instructions for the build,
but please be aware that you cannot Mine on the latest Linux version since it does not have a CPUMiner-- its mainly there as a wallet for the exchanges etc.
Sergey is working on the CPUMiner now; but its a big project.

Thanks,
Rob H.

[Gridcoin]

Just had this error this morning:

Code:

See the end of this message for details on invoking 
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.ArgumentOutOfRangeException: Value of '-56' is not valid for 'Value'. 'Value' should be between 'minimum' and 'maximum'.
Parameter name: Value
   at System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar.set_Value(Int32 value)
   at boinc.frmMining.timerBoincBlock_Tick(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.
[/quote]

Thanks Bob---- I see exactly where the problem is, its trying to make main progress bar -56, Ill fix it this afternoon, release may be held up 4-5 days due to the integrated miner.

Rob H.

[Gridcoin]

It was most likely an orphan which happens occasionally when solo-ming.  This is when someone solves the block on the network just before you do. Your wallet shows you mined the block but once it is check with the network it is invalidated and shows up as a "?" and usually disappears once you restart you wallet or reindex to the blockchain.  Have you tried the internal pool yet? (setting poolmining=true in your config)

No I have not. Is the payout proportional to the hashrate or something ? And any more settings besides poolmining=true to be set ?
I was under the impression its only solo mining.

Hi NobleBot,

Regarding the orphan block you found and "possible major flaw", don't worry -- you have to look at it from another perspective --  if you look at the larger pool statistics like burnsides pool for example (a scrypt mining pool) youll see quite a high stale rate, maybe 3% if I remember correctly.  It happens all the time, and makes you feel as though you have been cheated out of revenue but that's not the case, remember if you have 90 concurrent miners there is a high chance another miner can find the same solution.  The solution has to propogate the entire networks memory pool and the first client to write it to the chain wins-- you have to build in a 4% loss into your mining calculations-- also regarding integrity, the real analysis is what is actually contained in the official blocks on the net-- I get emails about people sending 50grc to each other  the grc always turns up somewhere; its either Not sent, or in a tx, and if you do a "getrawtransaction hexcode 1" you can see if the tx made it to the chain......  So the security is the same as litecoin-bitcoin.. but I do want to say, if we can ever integrate MySQL, we will then have the ability to query the transaction for you (along with every other Gridcoin user) and actually see confirms as they take place; etc; it would be excellent for auditing.  Right now, it is cumbersome to track all these things down.

Rob H.

[traderman]

Hey Slashka, post your grc address so we can send you some donations for your help.

I'm ready to write an exchange site in a couple of days, but all I need is a linux version of a gricdoind (daemon version), because I can not find what source are responsible for compiling it.

BTW, is it necessary to install boinc to use wallet only? Because I have no connections to network a long time

[traderman]

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

[slashka]

Hey Slashka, post your grc address so we can send you some donations for your help.

I'm ready to write an exchange site in a couple of days, but all I need is a linux version of a gricdoind (daemon version), because I can not find what source are responsible for compiling it.

BTW, is it necessary to install boinc to use wallet only? Because I have no connections to network a long time

It's in my signature.
GAJVTf4JLxPwX8e3rq51jaJo2KMH6GrGDZ
Thank you anyway! My brain is waiting for programming queries 

[Tequilablob]

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined your team.

[traderman]

That's great Tequilablob!

I think if the whole Gridcoin community puts some power into the World Community Grid we can advance pretty quickly in the rankings.

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined your team.

[slashka]

Hey guys! Well, I almost synced now but getting a dotnet error (which is better). Before I used a non install version (debug.log says that can not find peers). You should update package on site.

[slashka]

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Have joined too

[Boing7898]

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined.
I just wish the difficulty was lower, I'll never find a block with 200 KH/s :c

[traderman]

Current difficulty is @ 1.37 , it dropped off a bit, it was @ 2.5 before. So keep mining.

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined.
I just wish the difficulty was lower, I'll never find a block with 200 KH/s :c

[traderman]

Great!

What's your grc address, I will send you some GRC love

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined.
I just wish the difficulty was lower, I'll never find a block with 200 KH/s :c

[traderman]

Just sent you some GRC!

Great!

What's your grc address, I will send you some GRC love

Guys, if you are running Boinc, make sure to join team Gridcoin @ World Community Grid, the more working members we have, the higher we go in the rankings. You can add it alongside the other projects you are running.

Here is Team Gridcoin: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/viewTeamInfo.do?teamId=BBNGDQS832

Just joined.
I just wish the difficulty was lower, I'll never find a block with 200 KH/s :c

FtWgehaapGH5cKSmMPEH91sVzxLUioNZ3s

Thanks! 

[Gridcoin]

New beta version available on the web site (1.1.4.1 5.73-beta) if anyone wants to test it out - this is not the prod version, so please test cautiously and rollback if you have any problems.
 
Changes:
1) Integrated gridcoin miner.  The miner updates the hashrates for each GPU from left to right on the mining module screen.  Please stop guiminer and save the settings with autostart turned off before you run the gridcoin miner.
 
2) The restartwallet feature (restartwallet=minsbeforerestart in the config file) is re-enabled with a new purpose.  To solve the syncing issues for the time being with a cannonball approach, this feature will cause the wallet to close all open miners, close gridcoin, delete the blockchain, restart gridcoin, and reload the chain from the network.  I have tested it on my seed node and it seems to be working.  This will give us more time to figure out what is going on. 
 
3) Reindex blockchain button on the main page.  This does the same thing as #2, but manually.
 
4) When you exit gridcoin, it will gracefully close the database and stop any cgminers, reapers, gridcoinminers and exit.  You can now leave other windows open and exit with this single method.
 
5) The hashrates from gridcoins miner are summed and charted in the hash chart.
 
6) The main chart has been improved to not update in a jerky fashion.
 
7) The UI has some bugfixes and the updates to the boinc info more standardized.
 
You will have to delete the AppDir and reinstall this version manually as it contains new files.
 
To test the integrated miner:
 
Disable your guiminer auto-start(s) and save the settings so it doesn't try to start (we still support guiminer if it is in the directory for backwards compatibility).
 
To set up the integrated miner, go into the Mining Module and click Config.
 
There are only two preloaded configs so far, but it should allow you to type in the values manually for other cards.
 
You should see the dropdown full of your GPU device IDs.
 
Select one at a time, populate the values and click save.  (Also, check enabled).
 
You can verify the settings are saved with Refresh.
 
The values are stored by card in your config file.
 
Once you have them all populated, close that window and go to the mining module and click Restart Miner.
 
After the GRC Kernel compiles each individual GPU opencl file it will try to start mining. (This could take a while so please wait up to a minute).
 
Each individual card's mh/s will appear from the left to the right next to "GPUs" respecitively.
 
If one is out, there is a problem that wont allow that card to start.
 
One added Quirk to keep in mind:
 
Configuring cards with thread_concurrency values > 8192 may give you a problem temporarily.
You may have to store the config, try it, reboot the machine, and re-test (that usually permanently solves it).  On one of my machines, I only had to log off and log back on for the AMD drivers to pick up the gridcoin large buffers.
So, if you test first with lower thread concurrencies you can test to see if it works at all, then raise the TC > 8192, test, reboot, and test again, and if it works, it should continue to work.  Do not kill the gridcoinminer from the task manager, please use
the Close Miner or Exit wallet (doing that may hang the thread concurrency setting, until the next logoff logon as an FYI).
 
When full speed is checked, the cards will run at the agression set in the settings; when unchecked they run about 35% slower.
 
The GPU mining checkbox will toggle mining on-off.
 
If you do need to go back to guiminer, you can simply "disable" each configured GPU device in the config and the wallet will respect that on the next "Restart Miner".
 
Good luck,
Rob H.