The Definitive Folding @ Home Thread - FAQ, Links, Info and More!

[frozndevl]

I was playing WoW while folding last night and it didn't do a whole lot to me. My framerates weren't great so that may have been part of the cause though.

[SPD010273]

it doesn't rly do much tho. the client still sits in RAM, but it only uses a little overhead while you're playing. You might notice a loss of 2-5 FPS but nothing to bad. You can just close the smp client (use the x, dont stop the task via task manager), and then get your game on.

[teebob21]

For a comparison of the impact folding has on performance, I recommend this article: http://techreport.com/articles.x/4341

It's a little dated, but the information is still valid. Expect to see a larger impact from the SMP client, but the system will still run fine.

[gamer11200]

This is a great article for anyone that is learning about folding. I sure learned some good info here to make Folding@Home run better on my rig

[god123987]

just an idea,
but to save questions on how well 'my xxxx card folds'
cant somebody with a little more knowledge put together a more recent (inc. i7) put together the greatest folding GPUs and CPUs?

i think this would deffinately help me out, and hopefully others?

[_MtM_]

Is OP still around to edit the opening post? Some changes and additions are needed imo for clarity and correction.

Though, I will always refer people to the official forum and wiki pages it centralized and maintained all the time as opposed to these guides. And xillikon has done a great job rewriting them and keeping it up to date, and the wiki is also undergoing changes for the better all the time.

Sorry, it's not negative to this thread, I started this post with the idea of getting some of the newer info in here, but while writing it just daunt on me it's something I actively try to prevent, or I should say I actively try to centralize it as it will be the most accurate and accessable.

Though, couldn't hurt to add some more info about gpu2 number from people here, or to remove the incorrect information ( there are 3 core's... mhm ). And add the passkey option information and why it's there? Firedeamon was nice when it was free but listing it now is also not needed since the clients offer service mode themselfs.

Again, not trying to be negative, but we could really use a good brush up

Additional Comment:

Posts: 5,487
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DSwarP, I guess you don't have this thread bookmarked anymore?

Or did you already choose to ignore me

Additional Comment:

Knock knock.

You're being really rude here

[_MtM_]

Bumpity... We really need a good brushing up, and I'm convinved that I would waiste my time writing it for you guys atm as you wouldn't replace (edit: wrote reply at first ) this outdated material with it anyway. So I wanted to just help you actualise and correct the current content but you're not even going to reply to that?

It's not really mature is it?

Ah darn, this will again show up as a double post, so it will probably not register.. anyway I'll send you a pm as well

Additional Comment:

Quick notes:

Statistics -> add

http://www.xcpus.com/Folding/FoldingTeamList.aspx

Add these for performance statistics?

ftp://legoman666.dyndns.org:47024/scores_nvidia.zip
ftp://legoman666.dyndns.org:47024/scores_ati.zip

Headless diskless section ->

GAHnix has not been updated since 2003?
Why isn't NotFred on this list?

Monitoring:

emIII isn't updated no more, doesn't support smp/gpu afaik?

Add: HFM.net -> http://code.google.com/p/hfm-net/

General utilities:

http://en.fah-addict.net/articles/ar...imizations.php is usefull as addition to any vmware guide, I think the one hosted is old though and this trick needs workstation 6.5.3 or higher. Also this works for one month before expiring!

Virtual box? I been trying to get it stable using more advanced folding os's then NotFred's but it's been flacky. Others have reported mixed results as well, and I am not able to give a final verdict. Though that only indicates it requires more looking into.

Firedeamon -> not a free solution and any recent client has build in service possibilities ( excluding gpu clients under vista/07 ).
HideIT -> link is dead?

http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/download/stresscpu.zip no longer works and has been superseeded with stresscpu2 -> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.ph...&t=430&start=0

Diffrences between clients:

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=11148 as possible explanation what the advantages are of the HPC clients and why optimal ppd!=optimal science? There are good explanations to be found in both this thread as fahwiki, as in allot of older threads which I can give links for. I could summarize the important points but only if asked.

http://fahwiki.net/index.php/Vijay_P..._Transcription a very old interview with the same references to speed vs througput.

http://fahwiki.net/index.php/FAH_&_SMP same references

Server problems: Maybe add that when there is a connection problem and the server is listed as faulty, looking at the foldingforum section for 'problems with a specific server' as well?

General: add faulty wu's, the amount which is normal to recieve, and a link to the fahwiki core status page -> http://fahwiki.net/index.php/CoreStatus_codes

Maybe add something to describe how to debug info from the log to detect probably faulty wu's and corrupt files, helped with the core codes in the wiki, and how to clean a corrupted queue.dat ( link to qfix + small guide located here -> http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=191 )

About impact on pc usability -> article is from 2002, doesn't take into account gpu clients. Need to inform gpu clients need to be closed while gaming ( strongly recommended ), there is a section about priority settings, should be added to give gpu clients on a system where they compete on the same core with a cpu client to be given an higher priority.

Which clients to use->

Screen saver client is no longer available ( only the old versions ).
Add notice that HPC clients are beta, expect more problems and don't use in environments where 100% stability is required.

"client.cfg – Contains the configuration information for your client. You can edit this with a text editor. If you delete it and are using the text console, the console will run through the configuration process the next time you launch it."

Quote from fahWIKI: DO NOT manually modify the client.cfg. Make all changes using the FAH client configuration. (see -config and -configonly flags). Manual modification of any F@h client files is against the EULA. And as noted above, if you make a mistake, it can cause points for completed work to be credited to a user name other than yours.

Link to page -> http://fahwiki.net/index.php/Client.cfg

I have to ask Dan's permission but I have some quotes from him I would like to add as well, also explaining what folding is and especially about the evolution of the approach they are able to take ( = efficiency models ).

When I planned this I thought about rewriting the entire first post but it's not my place nor do I have unlimited time. I would think these suggestions are valid and warranted/needed as well, but I also know it's presented in a form which isn't really easy. Can't just copy and paste, but as said if wanted I could work out some parts to a level where it's possible to just drop it in place. I'm 100% sure there are people who will still find things missing, if so I would like those to be named so it can be included/changed as well, let's put this thread's usefullness back where it belongs together ok!

I would also link more to fahwiki as the guides there are very often easier to read and more regularly updated then the official one's by Xilikon but I realise it's user preference mostly ( and fahwiki is hard to navigate if you don't know exactly what to look for ). I would use the guides on the wiki for smp issues more often the official guides, and instead of mostly ending up with the same info when writing setup guides from scratch it's imho better to link to a centralized point.

[DSwarP]

I have no idea what this NotFred business is, you're going to have to update me.

[_MtM_]

I'm going to move a setup to a nf appliance tomorrow, Iĺl make some screenshots while I'm at it. It's for a dual core setup so no 4 core hack needed/used.

Maybe Iĺl try to make a short summary about getting gpu folding to work on ubuntu9.04, but it's abit dependent on the amount of spare time I get during the day ( ~ when my son sleeps ).

[jevans64]

Just making a post here in a sticky for my BigAdv Bonus calculator so it will be easier to find.

[_MtM_]

FireDeamon is stil on the list, don't know why?

The bigadv spreadsheet is nice, HFM.net supports it natively though doesn't it ( can't check right now ).

Also, monitoring several clients over a network ( or internet ) is possible with both fahMON and HFM.net, not only the one's you mention ( and again, EMIII, does it support gpu clients? Smp clients? I thought development was dropped years ago, I really do think that am I so wrong?

Just noticed I promised a short how to for vm ubuntu folding, seeing as the new vmwareplayer also supports 4 cores I can do that tomorrow.

Gahnix is btw also no longer supported iirc?

And I understand you couldn't add NotFred's before you have a how to along side it, so I'll try and keep my promise and do it tomorrow

Will send a pm to notify you as well btw

Edit: as promised -> http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=333513

Had to use two posts due to image limit per post. Will do a native ubuntu later as it will take much more time to set up properly.

Additional Comment:

I think the sticky should contain a link to the fahwiki main page? http://fahwiki.net

Atleast one article I find handy is there http://fahwiki.net/index.php/VMware%...nd_Clock_Drift

But the entire wiki index could be used for that matter as it's covering well everything ( and that which it does not cover but should cover, will be coverd in the future since my next request is to point me out things you miss ).

I had some hw problems here, crashed hdd's the pressing one. Working from a 80gb reserve now, and trying a recover of atleast all my pictures to it but it's not at all looking promising Got my gpu back from rma, plug it in, did not boot, I had the modded nvidia drivers for sli on any mb and thought that would be the cause. Do a clean install, run's, update drivers, works. Running furrmark+cpu overclock -> green screen, kb stuck, hard reset.. reboot.. no boot.. no hdd's detected??? Wth??? Boot win7 cd, repair windows, can't find active windows installation. Boot hiren -> scan hdd's with testdisk, hdd's found, partitions visible and explorable, reboot mini xp... drives not visible.. Reset cmos, reboot, drives not visible. Boot win7 try fresh install, fails ( no disks visible to install to ). Take the drives out, put in 80gb backup, fresh install...

So, I have to recover 800gb of data files ( sound/video and some apps ), 50gb of pictures on a diffrent partition and then some things I recently aquired which hadn't yet been moved to their proper location on my data disk. And I have exactly 40gb of usuable space... see the problem lol!

[cdolphin]

Mtm, that sounds crappy dude. I am sorry...I cannot help you there, you have done everything I could suggest.
folding under ubuntu is really very easy, for big adv atleast, not for gpu

[richar]

Nice Post..................

[_MtM_]

All data recoverd

Thank god only partition tables were damaged and not anything physical.. Took some time to copy to an external hdd but it's finally done now.

Still fishy how I damaged/lost my tables in the first place, I thought ntfs was supposed to be abit more resiliant to power failure's ( hard freeze is about the same I recon ) then fat tables, and that I wasn't able to restore the tables themselfs ( partition table doctor used, was not succesfull ).

Anyway, thread going off topic, mod can prune if they wish, just wanted to give some final feedback on my string of bad luck..

@richar, right back at ya, wonderfull first post.........

[dianalyon]

I just installed FAH and have the control panel running. What I need is a FAQ for computer-terminology dummies. I'm afraid all the terminology has my head spinning. I used to do this YEARS ago (early 90s?), and I seem to remember just setting it up as a screensaver. I leave my computer on 24-7 except when I'm going to be gone a few days. Can I still do the screen saver thing & have it running in the background OR do I need to leave the FAHControl thing open? I realize this is pretty basic and may be answered somewhere else, but I have searched and...well, my head is still spinning. Please don't yell at me.

[jimh425]

I assume you are running Windows. If you are, it should stay running in the system tray if the system doesn't go into sleep mode. You need to make sure your computer is on High Performance mode or change the settings to make sure it doesn't go to sleep. It's ok if the monitor goes off.

[dianalyon]

thank you!! Yes, I did then notice it near the clock Have changed settings to never turn off hard disks and to not hibernate.

[hiigaran]

quick question: is it possible to get a gradient colour for the folding sigs? it looks like only five solid colours can be put in to a sig at the moment, but ive had people on my team ask about further customisation.