Hi all

I have a strange issue, but one that seems to have happened before (to other members).

I have BOINC Manager v7.20.2 (x64) running on 2 different Windows 7 PCs.

One crunches SiDock tasks perfectly.

The other, on a different IP address (as it is remote from the first host) will not connect to SiDock and when trying to "Remove" the project and then using "Add project..." to "start again", all I get is:

Failed to add project
Please try again later
Click Finish to close

Looking at the BOINC Manager error log I see:

16/02/2023 10:35:18 | SiDock@home | Sending scheduler request: To fetch work.
16/02/2023 10:35:18 | SiDock@home | Requesting new tasks for CPU and NVIDIA GPU
16/02/2023 10:35:19 | SiDock@home | Scheduler request failed: SSL connect error
16/02/2023 10:35:33 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 10:35:34 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.
16/02/2023 10:36:34 | SiDock@home | Fetching scheduler list
16/02/2023 10:36:49 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 10:36:50 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.
16/02/2023 12:59:49 | SiDock@home | update requested by user
16/02/2023 12:59:50 | SiDock@home | Fetching scheduler list
16/02/2023 13:00:05 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 13:00:07 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.
16/02/2023 13:00:15 | SiDock@home | update requested by user
16/02/2023 13:00:16 | SiDock@home | Fetching scheduler list
16/02/2023 13:00:19 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 13:00:20 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.

and then most recently (10 minutes ago !!)


16/02/2023 22:07:18 | | Fetching configuration file from https://www.sidock.si/sidock/get_project_config.php
16/02/2023 22:07:33 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 22:07:35 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.
16/02/2023 22:07:36 | | Fetching configuration file from http://www.sidock.si/sidock/get_project_config.php
16/02/2023 22:07:41 | | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
16/02/2023 22:07:43 | | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.

(and note above that I tried using the "http" URL, instead of the "https" URL, just in case it was an SSL error...but both failed...

So, something seems to be stopping this host from connecting - and yet other BOINC projects upload and download tasks perfectly and internet access is perfect too. And I can access/view the SiDock website through a browser with no issues...

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Tim

Hello! Could you set log_options in сс_config.xml for more information? This can be done in GUI also.

Hello! Could you set log_options in сс_config.xml for more information? This can be done in GUI also.

OK - will try this and advise.

Is there a specific logged event that you want reported in the error log? (As there are many options in the GUI - or should I tick them all???)

regards
Tim

...
Is there a specific logged event that you want reported in the error log? (As there are many options in the GUI - or should I tick them all???)
...

Flags like '*http*' and '*xfer*' maybe most interesting.

Hi

OK so this might be helpful:

I got some additional error log info as follows:

17/02/2023 15:21:25 |  | Re-reading cc_config.xml
17/02/2023 15:21:25 |  | Config: GUI RPCs allowed from:
17/02/2023 15:21:25 |  | 192.168.1.234
17/02/2023 15:21:25 |  | log flags: file_xfer, sched_ops, task, http_xfer_debug, work_fetch_debug

17/02/2023 15:21:25 |  | [work_fetch] Request work fetch: Core client configuration
17/02/2023 15:21:27 |  | [work_fetch] ------- start work fetch state -------
17/02/2023 15:21:27 |  | [work_fetch] target work buffer: 43200.00 + 0.00 sec
17/02/2023 15:21:27 |  | [work_fetch] --- project states ---

17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Amicable Numbers | [work_fetch] REC 537.685 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Asteroids@home | [work_fetch] REC 262.552 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | climateprediction.net | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | collatz | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Cosmology@Home | [work_fetch] REC 33.710 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | DENIS@home | [work_fetch] REC 612.759 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Einstein@Home | [work_fetch] REC 747.090 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Gerasim@home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | GPUGRID | [work_fetch] REC 32034.393 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | iThena.Computational | [work_fetch] REC 0.007 prio 0.000 can't request work: master URL fetch pending (85162.19 sec)
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | latinsquares | [work_fetch] REC 0.611 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | LHC@home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work: master URL fetch pending (85168.33 sec)
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | lhcathome-dev | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work: master URL fetch pending (85175.48 sec)
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | LODA | [work_fetch] REC 55.971 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Milkyway@Home | [work_fetch] REC 443.222 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | minecrafthome | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Moo! Wrapper | [work_fetch] REC 562.331 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | nanoHUB_at_home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | NFS@Home | [work_fetch] REC 3.194 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | NumberFields@home | [work_fetch] REC 74914.130 prio -0.008 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | odlk | [work_fetch] REC 0.788 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Parlea@Home | [work_fetch] REC 0.046 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | PrimeGrid | [work_fetch] REC 50920.706 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | PRIVATE GFN SERVER | [work_fetch] REC 121274.093 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | QuChemPedIA@home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Rake search of diagonal Latin squares | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | RamanujanMachine | [work_fetch] REC 1940.199 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | RNA World | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Rosetta@home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work: master URL fetch pending (85182.60 sec)
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | SRBase | [work_fetch] REC 630.410 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | T.Brada Experiment Grid | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work: master URL fetch pending (85189.70 sec)
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | TN-Grid Platform | [work_fetch] REC 4.528 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | Universe@Home | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | World Community Grid | [work_fetch] REC 39.555 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | WUProp@Home | [work_fetch] REC 0.027 prio 0.000 can't request work: non CPU intensive
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | yafu | [work_fetch] REC 0.000 prio 0.000 can't request work:  
17/02/2023 15:21:27 | yoyo@home | [work_fetch] REC 29.590 prio 0.000 can't request work:  

the above repeats for the next few seconds until:

17/02/2023 15:21:32 |  | [work_fetch] No project chosen for work fetch
17/02/2023 15:21:40 |  | Fetching configuration file from https://www.sidock.si/sidock/get_project_config.php
17/02/2023 15:21:55 |  | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 44 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 2370 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 3238 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 3655 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 3287 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1275 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 5 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 9 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 4 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 1 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 4 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | [http_xfer] [ID#0] HTTP: wrote 44 bytes
17/02/2023 15:21:56 |  | Internet access OK - project servers may be temporarily down.

ALL the other projects (as listed above) successfully connect and download tasks without problems.

But just trying to add the SiDock project to BOINC Manager shows the above problem (and obviously no tasks were downloaded).

regards
Tim

Add the http_debug event log flag. It will give more detail about the error.

Hi

How about this?

20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | Fetching configuration file from https://www.sidock.si/sidock/get_project_config.php
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] HTTP_OP::init_get(): https://www.sidock.si/sidock/get_project_config.php
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Too old connection (200 seconds idle), disconnect it
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Connection 1783 seems to be dead
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Closing connection 1783
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  schannel: shutting down SSL/TLS connection with scheduler.worldcommunitygrid.org port 443
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Too old connection (203 seconds idle), disconnect it
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Connection 1782 seems to be dead
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Closing connection 1782
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  schannel: shutting down SSL/TLS connection with www.worldcommunitygrid.org port 443
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:    Trying 83.149.227.88:443...
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Connected to www.sidock.si (83.149.227.88) port 443 (#1785)
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  schannel: disabled automatic use of client certificate
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  schannel: next InitializeSecurityContext failed: SEC_E_ILLEGAL_MESSAGE (0x80090326) - This error usually occurs when a fatal SSL/TLS alert is received (e.g. handshake failed). More detail may be available in the Windows System event log.
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] [ID#2] Info:  Closing connection 1785
20/02/2023 12:59:54 |  | [http] HTTP error: SSL connect error
20/02/2023 13:00:08 |  | Project communication failed: attempting access to reference site
20/02/2023 13:00:08 |  | [http] HTTP_OP::init_get(): https://www.google.com/
20/02/2023 13:00:09 |  | [http] [ID#0] Info:    Trying 142.250.200.36:443...
20/02/2023 13:00:09 |  | [http] [ID#0] Info:  Connected to www.google.com (142.250.200.36) port 443 (#1786)

regards
Tim

Could you check Event Log?

... More detail may be available in the Windows System event log. ...

SSL connect error

This machine might be missing a security update. Can you compare the versions of the file %SystemRoot%\system32\schannel.dll (in Explorer, right-click » Properties » Details tab » File version) on your two machines?

SSL connect error

This machine might be missing a security update. Can you compare the versions of the file %SystemRoot%\system32\schannel.dll (in Explorer, right-click » Properties » Details tab » File version) on your two machines?

Hi

Thanks for the input.

re: the version info of BOTH host machines

host 1 (works fine with SiDock):

schannel.dll - 21/02/2019
v6.1.7601.24384
size: 337KB (345,600 bytes)

host 2 (fails to add project):

schannel.dll - 21/02/2019
V6.1.7601.24384
sIze: 337 KB (345,600 bytes)

So, it seems that this is not the problem...but given the intricacies of Windows, it could easily be (and probably is) something related to the host OS, rather than a project issue.

regards
Tim

Could you check Event Log?

... More detail may be available in the Windows System event log. ...

Hi

Yes, I did check this using Event Viewer, when I first reported this here, but there were no entries that mentioned SiDock (as that was the search term I used on the log file).

However: There are many, many entries with the log, so it just depends on what I should be looking for.

And certainly looking just at the time specific criteria, (for the seconds before and just after I tried to add the project), there were no apparent "errors" that gave me any clue that certain things were happening (or not happening !!).

So, maybe it is just "one of those things"...but this host machine has been crunching SiDock in the past, but not recently:

https://www.sidock.si/sidock/show_host_detail.php?hostid=1223

Please do not worry about this issue. Yes, it is a bit annoying and it would be nice to think there is a simple answer - but the host crunches many other projects without any problems, so I will just have to accept that this host cannot contribute towards your project. :-(

thanks for your kind response and regards
Tim

it would be nice to think there is a simple answer

You PC is missing some root certificates updates. Since Windows 7 is not supported anymore by Microsoft, it doesn't receive any updates, including these one with root certificates.
You should either upgrade to Windows 10 or update root certificates manually. I can't recommend any 3rd-party root certificates updated since I haven't checked any, so this is something that you should probably do by youself.

You PC is missing some root certificates updates. Since Windows 7 is not supported anymore by Microsoft, it doesn't receive any updates, including these one with root certificates.
You should either upgrade to Windows 10 or update root certificates manually. I can't recommend any 3rd-party root certificates updated since I haven't checked any, so this is something that you should probably do by youself.

Hi

Thanks for your feedback - most useful.

However, what should be noted is that adding other projects to both of these host machines is NOT an issue.it is just SIDock (at present) that is not allowing me to add this project on ONE host - the other host works perfectly and is crunching tasks without any problems - so if this was JUST a Win 7 problem, then why does one host continue to receive tasks when it connects to the SiDock project website?

I'll look at updating the root certificates, so I'll check the logs and see which one might need updating (assuming this is possible as a newer certificate might not be compatible with an older OS... ????).

And yes, WIn 7 is old and now unsupported...but Win 10 and Win 11 do not support some of the external devices that I need for work. And nowhere on this website does it say that Windows 7 is now NOT suitable to be added as a project - and in fact there are currently 233 hosts using Microsoft Windows 7 (but these were no doubt added before whatever was changed on the SiDock website that now prevents the project being added to Win 7 hosts).

https://www.sidock.si/sidock/host_stats.php

As I mentioned, it's not a big issue for me...it just means that one of my hosts cannot donate results to the project.

And if any other member has an issue, then this thread can provide some feedback for THEIR issue (if it is the same).

regards
Tim

Tim, could you try to install one of previous version of BOINC and replace ca-bundle.crt in BOINC binaries folder on newer version: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BOINC/boinc/master/curl/ca-bundle.crt ?

Since Windows 7 is not supported anymore by Microsoft, it doesn't receive any updates, including these one with root certificates.

Automatic root certificate updates are still working on Windows 7, even if it’s out of official support.

@Tim: Is the Cryptographic Services service running on the machine that’s failing to connect?

I was having this same error (project said, "Cannot communicate with the current certs," and I also could not re-add the project when I tried to remove and rejoin it).

Replacing the ca-bundle.crt file fixed it for me!