Manager (Windows): False specific error message ...

[RichardHaselgrove]

... - shown when connection to client fails.

Describe the bug
Manager disconnects from local client for a unknown reason - I suspect it may be a timeout error when the local machine is CPU-bound.

Steps To Reproduce

1. Load machine to the limit
2. Wait several days

Expected behavior
Error message either identifies the real cause of the problem, or reports it as 'unknown'. No blind alleys, please.

Screenshots

I've been running these machines for years, and I know that the password is unchanged and valid - remote monitoring of this client continued throughout, and the connection to the (continuously running) client was restored without anything being restarted.

System Information

• OS: Windows 7/64
• BOINC Version: 7.16.16, build date 20 April 2021 (local VS 2013 compilation from sources downloaded on 9 March 2021)

Additional context
I don't think this default 'fall-through' message was touched when other changes for Linux were being worked on in #3907 and 12e2287

Fall-through logic is at https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/blob/master/clientgui/BOINCBaseFrame.cpp#L503

[RichardHaselgrove]

After Eric Levine reported another case of this error on the boinc_alpha mailing list today, I had a look at the gui_rpc error log. In the general case the code is meant to catch (client is expecting a password, manager offers a password, but they differ), the event log reads:

01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] got new GUI RPC connection
01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] GUI RPC Command = '<boinc_gui_rpc_request>
<auth1/>
</boinc_gui_rpc_request>
�'
01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] GUI RPC reply: '<boinc_gui_rpc_reply>
<nonce>1659367168.776342</nonce>
</boinc_gui_rpc_reply>
'
01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] GUI RPC Command = '<boinc_gui_rpc_request>
<auth2>
<nonce_hash>ed02f97a762592885e76e161ef9c3288</nonce_hash>
</auth2>
</boinc_gui_rpc_request>
�'
01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] GUI RPC reply: '<boinc_gui_rpc_reply>
<unauthorized/>
</boinc_gui_rpc_reply>
'
01-Aug-2022 16:19:28 [---] [gui_rpc] handler returned -155, closing socket

That appears to contain two distinct markers:

• < unauthorized/ >
• handler returned -155

which translates as

#define ERR_AUTHENTICATOR   -155
    // scheduler request host ID doesn't match authenticator

Could either of those be used to distinguish between "reply received, but there's a password error" and "no reply received"?