Golly runs too fast?

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gmc_nxtman
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Golly runs too fast?

Post by gmc_nxtman » December 16th, 2015, 9:45 pm

Whenever I run a pattern in golly, it seems to run multiple generations at a time uncontrollably. I have hyperspeed turned off, and I also tried changing the default base step.

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dvgrn
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by dvgrn » December 17th, 2015, 9:24 am

gmc_nxtman wrote:Whenever I run a pattern in golly, it seems to run multiple generations at a time uncontrollably. I have hyperspeed turned off, and I also tried changing the default base step.
My favorite settings for speed control are a base step of 2, and a minimum delay (also on the "Control" Preferences page) of 10 milliseconds. You could try setting it even lower than 10 if you're still having trouble. Does the problem still occur when you're running with a 10-millisecond delay?

I've occasionally run into a computer where Golly runs rather strangely, as if CPU time is getting allocated very unevenly -- so Golly gets lots of attention for a few seconds, then stalls for a while while the system is doing something else.

The great majority of systems don't do anything like that. So if that's the kind of thing you're seeing, please post any details you have about the specs on your computer. Including the OS, of course -- in Windows at least, it might be possible to work around the problem by making Golly.exe's priority a little higher in Task Manager (even up to "Realtime", maybe?)

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SuperSupermario24
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by SuperSupermario24 » December 17th, 2015, 1:00 pm

This bothers me too, and the annoying thing is it's inconsistent with how the iOS version behaves. On that version, running at n^0 step is a smooth 60 gens per second, but on the computer version running at n^0 basically runs as fast as it feels like.
I can avoid this by setting up a 16 ms delay in Preferences, but it still bothers me.

Code: Select all

bobo2b3o2b2o2bo3bobo$obobobo3bo2bobo3bobo$obobob2o2bo2bobo3bobo$o3bobo3bo2bobobobo$o3bob3o2b2o3bobo2bo!

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Andrew
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by Andrew » December 17th, 2015, 7:12 pm

SuperSupermario24 wrote:This bothers me too, and the annoying thing is it's inconsistent with how the iOS version behaves. ...
The iOS and Android versions of Golly use a timer (set to fire at approx 60 times per sec) to control generating speeds. The desktop version calculates and displays generations in a tight loop, so is vulnerable to the vagaries of CPU speed and rendering speed. The good news is that the new 2.8 version I'm working on now uses the same timer approach, so generating speeds will be much more consistent across all platforms. I was hoping to release a beta version of 2.8 before the end of the year but the silly season will probably delay that until some time in Jan.
Use Glu to explore CA rules on non-periodic tilings: DominoLife and HatLife

thunk
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by thunk » December 21st, 2015, 5:30 pm

I have recently had the same issue after updating my Mac laptop to OS X 10.11.2 (El Capitan). Golly skips forward 3-5 ticks at a time at 8^0, and does not display the intermediate steps. This also recurs for higher step sizes (e.g. at 8^2, the simulation jumps 3*8^2 ticks at a time).
"What's purple and commutes?
The Evanston Express."

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Andrew
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by Andrew » December 23rd, 2015, 4:59 pm

thunk wrote:I have recently had the same issue after updating my Mac laptop to OS X 10.11.2 ...
Yep, I also saw that. Previous versions of Mac OS X automatically prevented window updates occurring faster than 60Hz, but it looks like Apple have decided to stop doing that. Anyway, here is a build of Golly 2.8b3 for Mac users to try:

http://www.trevorrow.com/golly/golly-2.8b3-mac.zip

This is a beta version, so backup your 2.7 folder in case you need to go back!

As always, see Help > Changes for what's new. Report any problems here (but I probably won't reply until early Jan -- going away on hols soon).
Use Glu to explore CA rules on non-periodic tilings: DominoLife and HatLife

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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by fluffykitty » March 28th, 2016, 4:06 pm

The link is dead. Also what happened to the scripts pane?

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Andrew
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Re: Golly runs too fast?

Post by Andrew » March 28th, 2016, 5:57 pm

fluffykitty wrote:The link is dead.
Oops. I've updated the link to the latest beta.
Also what happened to the scripts pane?
It's simpler to have one panel in which you can click on a pattern/script/rule/html file. See the 1st item in Help > Hint and Tips for the recommended way to organize your Golly folder.
Use Glu to explore CA rules on non-periodic tilings: DominoLife and HatLife

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