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Re: nVidia Optumus prevents using CUDA?

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg122604] Re: nVidia Optumus prevents using CUDA?
  • From: DmitryG <einschlag at gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 03:44:56 -0500 (EST)
  • Delivered-to: l-mathgroup@mail-archive0.wolfram.com
  • References: <j8nuj1$ee5$1@smc.vnet.net> <j8r9hu$3jk$1@smc.vnet.net>

On Nov 2, 4:29 am, "Oleksandr Rasputinov"
<oleksandr_rasputi... at hmamail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:03:29 -0000, DmitryG <einsch... at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi All,
>
> > Being interested in GPU computations, I have bought a new powerful
> > laptop Lenovo Y570 ($1080) that has, according to my test today, a
> > 1.05 Mathematica 8.0.4 benchmark, under Windows 7 64 bit.
>
> > The main reason to buy this laptop was that it has nVidia Geforce 555M
> > graphic card that is one of the best in the consumer range and has 96
> > CUDA cores.
>
> > I have got the new Mathematica 8.0.4 activated today and the first
> > thing was to try out CUDA. To my disappointment, it appears that
> > Mathematica does not see the nVidia GPU at all, and all that it sees
> > is the integrated Intel HD graphics. Thus CUDAInformation[] command
> > outputs "CUDAInformation::invdevnm: "CUDA is not supported on device \!
> > \(\"Intel(R) HD Graphics Family\"\)."
>
> > I know that there is nVidia Optimus manager that tries to redistribute
> > the load between the integrated HD graphics and the nVidia GPU. Also
> > there is a hardware switch in my laptop to activate or deactivate the
> > GPU. Thus I have GPU activated per this switch and also in the "Manage
> > 3D settings -> Global settings" of the nVidia control panel I have
> > checked nVidia as the preferred graphic processor (other options are
> > Automatic and integrated HD graphics). However, this did not bring
> > anything to the way Mathematica works with CUDA.
>
> > I do not know if the above is related to another disappointment. I
> > have installed Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 express, as on my previous
> > Win 7 64 bit laptop (that has a too old nVidia card, though) and it
> > turned out that it does not work with Mathematica. Even the command
> > CCompilers[Full] does not say that Microsoft Visual can be installed
> > on my system, there are only Intel Compiler and a generic C compiler
> > in the list. I don't know why there is such a difference with my
> > previous laptop. I have checked Windows SDK and it is installed. What
> > else?
>
> > It seems that there is some relation between CUDa and C compiler,
> > maybe a C compiler is a prerequisite for CUDA?
>
> > It appears I have serious problems with Mathematica on my new laptop,
> > and any advice will be appreciated.
>
> > Dmitry
>
> I won't comment on the CUDA issue as it's not something that I'm familiar
> with. However, I have had Visual C++ 2010 working with Mathematica (8.0.1;  
> I haven't got 8.0.4 yet) without difficulty. The installation is slightly
> convoluted; here are my notes on the matter:
>
> Minimal installation of Microsoft Visual C++ 10.0 (2010) SP1
>
> Note that this installation does not include the Visual Studio IDE, help,
> tools, etc. Only the build system, compilers, headers, and libraries will
> be installed.
>
> 1. Get the Microsoft Windows SDK 7.1 for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4:
>
>    http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=8442
>
> 2. From the SDK, install at least the headers and libraries, but do not 
> install the compilers. The headers and libraries will be installed for the  
> x86, x64, and IA64 platforms. To keep the installation self-contained, and  
> for for consistency with Visual Studio, one may install to  
> %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\SDK rather than the  
> default location.
>
> 3. Get the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Service Pack 1 Compiler Update for 
> the Windows SDK 7.1:
>
>    http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=4422
>
> 4. Install the Compiler Update. This will install x86, x64, and IA64  
> compilers.
>
> 5. If support for the IA64 platform is not required, one can remove the 
> IA64 compiler via Add/Remove Programs (if present there) and then simply 
> delete all of the directories installed by either the SDK or the Compiler
> Update that contain IA64-specific files. (Note that the Compiler Update 
> will install the x86-hosted IA64 cross-compiler along with the x86  
> compiler even if the IA64 compiler itself is not installed.) The  
> directories to delete can easily be identified since they all have "IA64"
> as part of the name. This saves about 200MB of space. Note that apart from  
> the main installation directory, some (small) files are also installed 
> into %ProgramFiles(x86)%\MSBuild, including some for IA64 in  
> MSBuild\Microsoft.Cpp\v4.0\Platforms\IA64.
>
> 5. After installing, it is recommended to run Microsoft Update in case any  
> patches are required.
>
> As you see, this does not involve Visual Studio Express, which I  
> deliberately avoided since it does not include the 64-bit compilers  
> necessary for operation with Mathematica. Personally, I use MinGW-w64 GCC
> 4.6.1 rather than Visual C++; this works perfectly well also but does  
> require modifications to Mathematica which I will not discuss here other 
> than to say that it would be nice if this compiler could be supported  
> without need of modifications in a future release.

It is unfortunately Mathematica 8.0.4 that does not accept any
compilers except of the Intel C Compiler, according to
CCompilers[Full]. Checked on Windows 7 and Mac Snow Leopard.

Dmitry



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