Result '(result)' exited with zero status but no 'finished' file/Task (task) exited with a DLL initialization error/Unrecoverable error for result (task) (too many exit(0)s)

This is a difficult one to diagnose, therefore the developers have added a couple of different error messages over time, in different BOINC versions. Let's first split them down and tell what the separate errors mean.

Version changes:

1. In BOINC 5.2.x to 5.8.16 you can come across the "Result exited with zero status but no 'finished' file" error.
2. In the BOINC 5.10 series, the "Task (task) exited with a DLL initialization; If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer." error has been added.
3. In BOINC 6, "Unrecoverable error for result (task) (too many exit(0)s)" is added, so all three are possible.

So what do they mean?
1. The "Result exited with zero status but no 'finished' file" error can mean that the science application is unable to find the last checkpoint that it wrote. For some reason, the latest checkpoint wasn't written to disk, perhaps due to a corruption of the task, the disk or because the directory was locked (possibly due to an anti virus scan or anti spyware scan).

It will try to write and read the checkpoint, but goes stuck in an ever lasting loop trying to do so. Exiting BOINC and restarting it may help. Rebooting the computer may also help. usually though, the task will error out after you restarted.

2. The "Task (task) exited with a DLL initialization; If this happens repeatedly you may need to reboot your computer." error is still a big unknown on many projects. We don't know what DLL file exactly causes this problem. Fact is that a restart of BOINC or a reboot of the computer may fix it, although it also happens that the task immediately errors out when you do restart.

3. The "Unrecoverable error for result (task) (too many exit(0)s)" error is added to the first error. In the past, the "Result exited with zero status but no 'finished' file" could loop forever, which was a problem on unsupervised PCs. Now a count is started at the first sign of this error. When the count reaches 100, the task is unceremoniously discarded with the too many exit(0)s error.

What can I do to prevent them from happening?
Until it's known what is exactly causing them, not much. There are some tips, though:

1. Make sure you exclude the BOINC directory and all subdirectories (or the BOINC Data directory and all subdirectories in BOINC 6) from being actively scanned by anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Only scan when you have exited BOINC.

2. Don't defrag your disk with BOINC on.

3. Don't run Scandisk with BOINC on.

4. Disable Drive Indexing or set it to only index when the system is really idle.

5. Update your motherboard chipset drivers, specifically those for your USB and SATA controllers.

6. Disable the Time synchronization in Windows XP/Vista. Normally found under the clock (double click it in the system tray), third tab (Internet in English), uncheck the sync option.

7. When you use use BOINC's CPU throttling function, you can run into the too many exit(0)s error. The advice here is to disable the BOINC throttling (set it to 100%) and reduce the amount of CPUs/cores for BOINC to use.

• Use at most 100.0 percent of CPU time.
• In BOINC 5.10 and before, this is done through the option On multiprocessors, use at most x processors.
• In BOINC 6.1 and above, this is done through the option On multiprocessors, use at most xxx% of the processors.

8. In BOINC 6.10 and above, the "Suspend work if CPU usage is above X%" preference can trigger this error. Sometimes BOINC science-applications and the screen saver are seen as non-BOINC applications and affected by this setting. Should be fixed in BOINC 6.12

9. Always report these errors on the forums of the project you see this problem on. It may be that the science application is out-of-date and the developers need to know about it.

Original writer	Original FAQ	Date
Jorden	116	19-05-2008