Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

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Alez
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#1 Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

Post by Alez »

Here is a step by step guide for installing Ubuntu 14.04 lts with boinc and nvidia gpu's.
Written by an idiot so it should work. Have computer built as you want it, GPU on Mobo etc.

Download Ubuntu 14.04 lts http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop use the 64bit version unless you really have to use 32bit ( really old computer ) Don't use 12.04 LTS or you are on your own. I'm never touching that again, and 13.04 has lots of issues with broken openCL.

Burn iso to CD / DVD http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/ ... -on-ubuntu
or bootable USB http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/ ... on-windows

Make sure boot from CD ( or USB ) is set in bios as 1st option. Stick disc in cd drive, boot and
install Ubuntu.Remember to input a password as you will need one. When finished system will reboot.

Upon reboot let system update install updates if it is required. Reboot if required.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Select system settings from the launcher bar.
Brightness and lock - turn screen off -> never
lock -> off
Power management
suspend when inactive for -> never

select software updater and enable partner repo's in SETTINGS -> OTHER SOFTWARE and select all 4 options.( use file manager to search for it if it is not on your launch bar )

Select software center from launcher bar and search / install the following packages

Sysinfo
Psensor
Freeglut3 ( freeglut3-dev )
Virtualbox
7zip
java ( open JDK java7 runtime )

select additional drivers from the software updater ( SETTINGS -> ADDITIONAL DRIVERS )
this will search and give options for nvidia drivers, install nvidia driver 304 legacy

Reboot when finished
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Select sysinfo from launcher bar
nvidia
nvidia display settings
x server display configuration -> change underscan if required ( normally the screen is slightly too large )
save to x configuration file ( no name required )
if you want powermizer under GPU lets you set mode for GPU performance ( adaptive, prefer performance, auto etc. )

Select software center from launcher bar and search / download the following packages

boinc ( boinc 7.2.42 ( ancient but it will do at first ))
metapackage for boinc client and manager

(both found by searching boinc)

nvidia cuda toolkit
metapackage for cuda savvy boinc client and manager.
(this will install all the libraries needed for GPU crunching, both found by searching nvidia cuda )

next we need to install the 32 bit libraries ( this list will do all the projects on boinc ( it
can be installed from software center, but installing 32bit, removes 64 bit, go figure )). This will
require the terminal i'm afraid, but dont worry. Either copy and paste or type exactly the commands in red. Linux is reliant on syntax

open terminal -> Ctrl-Alt-T

sudo apt-get install gcc-4.7-multilib
sudo apt-get install lib32z-dev
sudo apt-get install lib32ncurses5 lib32bz2-1.0 libstdc++6 libstdc++5

add the following ppa's if you wish ( they are not required )

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:webupd8team/java
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

ppa:webupd8team/java will update java
ppa:webupd8team/y-ppa-manager gives you a ppa manager
ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa and ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates give you updated nvidia drivers

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally we update boinc to a up to date version by adding this PPA to your system
( You can update your system with unsupported packages from this untrusted PPA by adding
ppa:costamagnagianfranco/boinc to your system's Software Sources.There is a PPA repository available for Ubuntu.
This is a "testing" PPA, that typically is rebuilt with the newest Boinc version as they are released.
You may experience bugs with the version changes, but if you want the current boinc version installed the easy way from a repository: type these commands in a terminal

CTRL-ALT-t)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costamagnagianfranco/boinc

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

(will bring you to current version 7.4.34 (as of 19/12/14))

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select additional drivers from the software updater -> additional drivers ( use file manager to search for it if it is not on your launch bar )
this will search and give options for nvidia drivers, install nvidia driver 340.xx open source

Reboot when finished

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Boinc should now be running but no usable gpu will be found.

in terminal ( ctrl-alt-t )


sudo usermod -a -G video boinc

( this adds the unprivalidged boinc account to the video group )

sudo update-rc.d -f boinc-client remove
sudo update-rc.d boinc-client defaults 99

( move BOINC start-up to the end of start-up processing )

sudo apt-get install nvidia-modprobe
sudo modprobe nvidia_uvm

( without nvidia-modprobe installed boinc will not find the GPU )

sudo service boinc-client restart

( restarts the boinc client )

Thats it, check boinc now see's a usable gpu in the start up log. Select boinc from launcher bar, ( advanced view -> advanced -> view log ( at the start of the log it

should now have entries for your GPU with both CUDA and openCL versions )) .
Once you have completed and have a GPU available to BOINC, running and controlling Boinc is exactly as you would under windows.
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launch Bam manager as per usual for new install or attach to project as per your preferences. Boinc will autoboot on startup of computer. Set all your preferences on

boinc as you usually would.

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if you wish to use Linux for more than just a cruncher, take a look here to install VCL, photo editors, MP3/4 plugins etc.
http://howtoubuntu.org/things-to-do-aft ... rusty-tahr

Hope it helps
Alez
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scole of TSBT
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#2 Re: Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

Post by scole of TSBT »

Can you install the nVidia drivers and run gpu apps if you're running ubuntu server, not a desktop version?
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#3 Re: Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

Post by Alez »

I guess so but not 100% on what would be needed as I doubt you have xorg , mesa etc installed, as you will have installed it with no desktop. I don't see why you can't just install Lubuntu and control it exactly the same way as you control server. I know the install version of ubuntu server I have gives the option to install various desktops as part of the install. Server is basically just ubuntu with no desktop anyway.
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#4 Re: Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

Post by Dirk Broer »

The secret must lie in a file called xorg.conf. Here's one from a guy with two nVidia cards and three monitors

Code: Select all

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 1920 0
    Screen      1  "Screen1" 0 0
    Screen      2  "Screen2" RightOf "Screen0"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
    Option         "Clone" "off"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "keyboard"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor1"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "LG Electronics LG TV"
    HorizSync       31.0 - 100.0
    VertRefresh     48.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor2"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    # Actual PCI location of first card/gpu
    # Actual connector - as reported by /sys/class/drm/card0-xx
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 560 Ti"
    BusID          "PCI:2:0:0"
    Screen          0
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device1"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 460"
    BusID          "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device2"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce GTX 560 Ti"
    BusID          "PCI:2:0:0"
    Screen          1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-I-1"
#    Screen      0
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DVI-I-2: 1440x900_75 +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen1"
    Device         "Device1"
    Monitor        "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "ZaphodHeads" "HDMI-A-1"
#   Screen      1
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1080_60 +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen2"
    Device         "Device2"
    Monitor        "Monitor2"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "ZaphodHeads" "DVI-1"
#   Screen      2
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "metamodes" "DVI-I-3: 1280x1024_75 +0+0"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option         "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection
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Alez
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#5 Re: Installing Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with Boinc / nVidia drivers

Post by Alez »

Not sure if it's the same on mint but look for either
open "Control Panel" > "ScreenSaver" and un-check the "Lock screen when screen saver is active" box. or
Power Management > Advanced Settings > uncheck Lock on Resume.

It should still be crunhing as long as you turned off suspend in power managment feature. ie Power management
suspend when inactive for -> never
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