OFFICIAL: SlickDeals.net Folding@Home Team Getting Started, Discussion, Bragging, and Community Support Thread

[darksarcasm]

This post is primarily in response to these threads:
http://forums.slickdeals.net/show...=foldi ng
http://forums.slickdeals.net/show...8&t=199461
This guide is designed to make getting started easy and convenient for novice computer users running Windows that want to participate for Team Slickdeals. Participation is optional, any information listed here could be wrong, install the suggested software at your own risk, enjoy!

Introduction:
Folding@Home (F@H) is a way to participate in a distributed computing project done by Stanford Univeristy to research the way human proteins assemble (fold) themselves. This research will assist biologists to greater understand the causes of disease such as Alzheimer's Disease, Cancer, Huntington's Disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Parkinson's Disease, Ribosome & antibiotics, etc. The purpose of participating is to donate your otherwise idle computer power to assist modern medical science in finding cures to these diseases.
More info: http://folding.stanford.edu/

How it works:
You install a small software program on your computer which downloads data, processes it, and send the results back to Stanford. Ideally this program should be running whenever your comptuer is on, and ideally running on computers that are left on all the time. The software program is designed to work when your compuer is idle by setting the process priority to low. This basically means that the F@H program pauses when applications you are using are busy, and it resumes when the applications you are using are idle. You should not see any performance loss when the program is running. There should be no exceptions to this, even if you are running processor intensive applications like 3D games or CAD, but you can easily pause the F@H program temporarily if for some strange reason you find it interferring with whatever application you are using. The research project is open to anyone with an internet connection and a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. There are also optional "teams" which you can join to give the participation an added sense of accomplishment and competition.
More info: http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=teampage&teamnum=49191

About the software:
There are two versions of F@H, the "graphical" version and the "console" version. Technically these descriptions refer to the configuration portion of the software, once you configure the software you no longer do anything with it except let it run and do its work in the background. There are many pros and cons for either version:

Graphical version:

• configuration is fast and easy through a typical window-style user interface.
• gives you instant access to pause, resume, or quiting the software.
• gives you instant access to its status, current activity, team and user stats.
• gives you an animated visual representation of the current work being done.
• takes up slightly more resources because its system tray application must always be running, which can take anywhere from 900kb to 12mb of RAM.
• some of the advanced options are not in the user interface, such as "MachineID" so you can run it on multiple computers, but this option is available through the INI file.

Console version:

• all configuration is done through the command prompt, like DOS.
• uses Windows' services control panel, or you can create a shortcut, to pause, resume, or quit the software.
• has an option to install as a service, so it starts automatically before you log into Windows, and there are other benefits of running as a service which advanced users may want to use.
• all status and activity are saved to log files.
• takes up slightly less resources because it doesn't use any graphical interface.
• every option in the software, including all the advanced options, are available through the command line interface.

If you want to use the graphical version for Windows, follow the steps immediately below.

For the console version for Windows, skip to post #3.

For the console version for Mac, skip to post # 5.

Graphical version Installation and Configuration for Novice Users:
[onlinehome.us]
1) Go to http://folding.stanford.edu/
2) Click on Downloads.

[onlinehome.us]
3) Click the download link for the Windows 2000/XP/Vista Graphical Client (or the client that corresponds with your correct operating system).
4) Follow your internet browsers prompts to save the file to your computer. I suggest you save the file to a separate folder, perhaps a new folder named "FoldingAtHome" inside your "My Documents" folder.

I always recommend manually scanning downloaded files for viruses before running them. Most antivirus software offer the option to scan specific files in the right-click menu. Right-click the downloaded file and select scan for viruses (your antivirus software may not have this feature).

5) If the file you downloaded is a ZIP file:
(the beta client is typically a ZIP file), then you will need to unzip the file: if you have Windows XP/Vista you can right-click the zip file and select "Extract All" then follow the on-screen prompts to extract the file to the current location.

[onlinehome.us]
Locate and double-click the EXE file. The beta client will probably run from its current location without going through any installation. The non-beta client will probably go through an installation, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. You can typically use all the default options during the installation.

if you are prompted by your software firewall to grant access (or unblock) the F@H client, select the option that allows the program to access the internet.

Configuration:

6) You should now see a new icon in the system tray.
7) If the configuration window does not automatically open, then right-click on this icon and select "Configure".


8) Select the "User" tab.
9) Enter a desired username where it says "user name". You might as well use your Slickdeals username.
10) Enter 49191 where it says "team number".
11) Click Ok.


12) Double-click the F@H icon in the system tray.
13) You will now see the main window and the program doing its work.
14) You can close this window by clicking the "X" in the upper-right corner, the program will continue running in the background.
15) If you need to force the program to quit for whatever reason, you can do so by right-clicking the F@H icon in the system tray and select "Quit".
16) The program will automatically start when you turn your computer on, but it will not show the main window, it will only display the F@H icon in the system tray.

if the F@H system tray icon does not appear when you turn your computer on (make sure you click the little arrow to show all the icons), then the program is not running, and you will need to manually add a shortcut to your startup folder. This will most likely be the case if you downloaded the beta graphical client, which does not appear to go through an installation. This will work for Windows 2000/XP, not sure about Vista: open "My Computer" and browse to the EXE file, right-click the EXE file, select "Create Shortcut", right-click over the shortcut, select Cut. Go to Start, Programs, right-click over the "Startup" folder, select Paste.

17) After a few weeks of participating, you should see your stats listed on the F@H Team Slickdeals website:
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bi...mnum=49191

Remember, the purpose of this software is to let it run silently in the background. You don't necessarily do anything with it.

If you just followed the directions above you can stop now you are done. This next portion is for the console text-only version, not the graphical version.

System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

February 19, 2009, 7:37 am: System Notice: This thread has been automatically renewed after reaching a post limit. Most of its content has been moved to this thread for reference purposes.

[darksarcasm]

Console version Installation and Configuration for Advanced (Windows) Users:

Most of the console prompts offer a pre-determined default value which you can select by just pressing the Enter Key. I cannot verify that these default values will remain the same for each operating system or version of the service, so I provided a recommended value for each setting. The values I recommended may not work best for everyone, but they should work well enough to get anyone up and running quickly and easily with a minimal amount of problems.

1) Create a new folder for the application. This is where the program will run and register itself as a service, and where its log files will be stored. This must be a permanent folder for the program. The program will register itself as a service the first time you launch it. Moving the EXE file to another folder or renaming or otherwise changing the program path can cause problems.

2) Go to http://folding.stanford.edu/

3) Click on Downloads.

4) Download the appropriate console version for your operating system, save the file to the new folder you created.

5) Run the program.

6) "User name" = enter a desired name, you might as well use your Slickdeals username.

7) "Team number" = 49191.

8) "Launch automatically at machine startup, install this as a service" = yes, unless you are re-configuring the software then this question changes to "Do not this program automatically, remove the service?" and you should enter no. When first configuring the software, entering no would be absolutely idiotic, and would defeat the entire purpose of using the console version. It would be better to install the Graphical version than to install the console version without the service install option.

9) "Ask before fetching/sending work" = no.

10) "Use Internet Explorer Settings" = no. Make sure you select no, selecting yes may prevent the F@H application from accessing the Internet. When you select no, you may be prompted if you want to use a proxy, or to enter proxy settings.

11) "Allow receipt of work assignments and return of work results greater than 5mb in size" = yes, unless you are using dial-up or for some reason dont want to download large assignmnets then enter no.

12) "Change advanced options" = yes, unless this is the only computer you are installing F@H on and you always leave your computer on then enter no and skip to item #23.

13) "Core Priority" = idle.

14) "CPU usage requested" = 50. I recommend starting with 50 until you can determine that there is no significant change in CPU temp. If everything runs smoothly, reconfigure the service at a later time (instructions are at the end of this post) and enter 100.

15) "Disable highly optimized assembly code" = no.

16) "Pause if battery power is being used" = no, unless you are using a laptop then enter yes.

17) "Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints" = 15.

18) "Memory, in MB, to indicate" = press the Enter key to use the default (max) setting.

19) "Request work units without deadlines" = no, unless you turn your computer off frequently then enter yes. Keep in mind if you enter yes, that sometimes there are no work units without deadlines meaning that the service wont do anything until some are made available. If no work units are available, the logs/console will report errors when attempting to fetch work units.

20) "Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced scientific cores and/or work units if available" = no.

21) "Ignore any deadline information" = no.

22) "Machine ID" = 1, unless this is an additional installation of F@H then enter a unique number for each computer. For example, on the first computer enter 1, on the second computer enter 2, on the third 3, etc.

23) The installation is now complete and the console client and service is running. At this time you will have a console window open showing some status and logging information. Do not close the F@H console window now, otherwise the service will stop. Leave this program running until it displays "Completed 0 out of XXXXXXXXX", then close the console window.

24) To easily start and stop the service, create shortcuts with the following targets. The format is "net.exe start " followed by the service name surrounded with quotes. You can find the service name by going to start, run, services.msc. Its basically "FAH@" followed by the path to exe with backslashes replaced with plus symbols. Don't forget to replace C:+Program Files+FAH+FAH504-Console.exe in the examples below with the F@H service name on your computer. Don't forget to start the service after you have closed the console window!

• Here is an example shortcut target to start the service:
  net.exe start "FAH@C:+Program Files+FAH+FAH504-Console.exe"
• Here is an example shortcut target to stop the service:
  net.exe stop "FAH@C:+Program Files+FAH+FAH504-Console.exe"

25) To easily re-configure the software, create a normal shortcut to the exe and add " -configonly" (without the quotes) to the end of the target. Stop the service, run the config shortcut, configure as desired, close the window, then start the service.

Other commands are available which you can also create shortcuts for. Here is a list of all the console commands:
http://folding.stanford.edu/conso...guide.html

[bean]

console > graphical

<edit>
bean's tear, blood and possibly pain free guide to update your GPU2 and 5.91 beta client.

These are the clients I will be using:

Windows XP/2003 GPU Console client (6.20) [stanford.edu]
Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008 SMP client console version 6.22 beta2 for MPICH (32-bit or 64-bit) [stanford.edu]

1. Stop the current client you are updating and backup everything first!
2. Stop the MIPCH2 Service (services.msc) for SMP as well.
3. Install the new program from the above repository into the folder with your work.
3a. I put the GPU client in the Application Data\Folding@home-gpu
4. I've renamed my clients 'fah.exe' and 'fahGPU.exe' just for easier CLI tasking, optional.
5. Run each client using the -configonly switch.
6. Setup each client how you want but make sure to use the following additional parameter is necessary.
6a. SMP: -local -smp -forceasm -verbosity 9
6b. GPU: -verbosity 9
7. Change each service like the following replacing 'Administrator' with the login information you used for installation:

8. Check your services to make sure they all checkout and try them out.

Credit for full service install (5.91) is here [xtremesystems.org]
</edit>

[darksarcasm]

Console version Installation and Configuration for Intel Mac Users:

Most of the console prompts offer a pre-determined default value which you can select by just pressing the Enter Key. I cannot verify that these default values will remain the same for each operating system or version of the service, so I provided a recommended value for each setting. The values I recommended may not work best for everyone, but they should work well enough to get anyone up and running quickly and easily with a minimal amount of problems.

1) Open a new terminal window.

2) Copy/paste the following into the terminal, and wait for the program to download. If the program does not automatically launch after its downloaded and unzipped, press Enter.

mkdir ~/Library/Folding@home
cd ~/Library/Folding@home
curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/release/FAH6.00beta1-OSX-Intel-Console.tgz
tar xzf FAH6.00beta1-OSX-Intel-Console.tgz
chmod +x ./fah6
echo "cd ~/Library/Folding@home" > StartFaH
echo "~/Library/Folding@home/fah6 -smp -local -verbosity 9" > StartFaH
chmod +x StartFaH
./StartFaH

3) "User name" = enter a desired name, you might as well use your Slickdeals username.

4) "Team number" = 49191.

5) "Passkey" = press the Enter key to leave blank.

6) "Ask before fetching/sending work" = no.

7) "Use Proxy" = no.

8) "Acceptable size of work assignment and work result packets" = normal.

9) "Change advanced options" = yes.

10) "Core Priority" = idle.

11) "Disable highly optimized assembly code" = no.

12) "Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints" = 15.

13) "Memory, in MB, to indicate" = press the Enter key to use the default (max) setting.

14) "Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced scientific cores and/or work units if available" = no.

15) "Ignore any deadline information" = no.

16) "Machine ID" = 1, unless this is an additional installation of F@H then enter a unique number for each computer. For example, on the first computer enter 1, on the second computer enter 2, on the third 3, etc.

17) The installation is now complete and the console application is running. At this time you will have a terminal window open showing some status and logging information. Do not close the F@H terminal window otherwise the application will stop. Leave the terminal application running all the times. To get it out of the way, just right-click over the Terminal icon in the dock and select Hide.

18) To automatically start the application:
a) Go to System Preferences, Accounts, select your user account, select Login Items.
b) Drag-drop the StartFaH file located in ~/Library/Folding@home.
c) Select the Hide checkbox if you do not want the terminal window visible.

You can stop now you are done!

19) To reconfigure the software:
a) Shutdown the Folding application by closing the terminal window.
b) Open a new Terminal window.
c) Copy/paste the following into the terminal window and press Enter:

~/Library/Folding@home/fah6 -smp -config

d) You will now be prompted to go through the configuration.
e) Don't forget to restart the Folding application once you have finished the configuration: copy/paste the following into the terminal window and press Enter:

~/Library/Folding@home/StartFah

20) Optional: you can download FahMon for Mac here: http://fahmon.net/download.html. This application will show statistics of your progress, current work assignment, deadline, PPD, etc.

[bean]

CUDA 181.20 is out.
Direct Link XP [nvidia.com]

Core 1.19 Thread Manual Download [foldingforum.org]
Direct Download [stanford.edu]

[Raven1245]

Quote from YfzinJay : Wow Dempa you are inspiring me to run my rig for another production push.

Inspiring everyone or demolishing? He had another 15k PPD jump yesterday.

[zealousalien]

Quote from bean : CUDA 181.20 is out. Direct Link XP [nvidia.com]

for quadro nvidia cards right?

[FlashX83]

Quote from bean : CUDA 181.20 is out. Direct Link XP [nvidia.com]

Is there a difference between the CUDA drivers and regular drivers? Nvidia standard drivers are at 181.22 now.

[dempa]

Yes, the folding bug got me and I am currently running five 9800gx2 in two builds plus some minor extra contributions. I was hoping it could inspire at least the previous big folders to keep up and someone else having spare computing power to add to the production.

I have some hardware issues to fight with so my PPD will probably drop some.

What rigs are you running? I am impressed with all the 1920-pointer mr slickdeals keep submitting.

Now, go team slickdeals!

[Mackowitz]

Quote from dempa : Yes, the folding bug got me and I am currently running five 9800gx2 in two builds plus some minor extra contributions. I was hoping it could inspire at least the previous big folders to keep up and someone else having spare computing power to add to the production. I have some hardware issues to fight with so my PPD will probably drop some. What rigs are you running? I am impressed with all the 1920-pointer mr slickdeals keep submitting. Now, go team slickdeals!

My current hardware is:

Folder 1:
AMD BE-2400
MSI Crossfire Motherboard ($28 )
2 x eVGA 8800gs 384mb

Folder 2:
Intel e7200
Abit IP-35E
1 x XFX 8800gs 384mb

Folder 3: (at mom's house)
Intel Q6600
Asus G31 Motherboard
1 x eVGA 9600gso 384mb

Main Rig:
Intel Q6600
Asus P5B Deluxe
PNY 9800gtx

Folder in progress:
Intel E6600
MSI P6N Diamond
1 x PNY 9600gso 768mb
1 x eVGA 8800gs 384mb

Will probably remove the 2x8800gs from folder 1 and put them in the P6N Diamond for now (if I ever get around to it), turn off folder 2 and put it's card in folder 1. Then I've gotta finish a new computer to replace my main rig, and once that's done I can put the 9800gtx from my main rig in folder 1... man, this gets complicated. I run SMP clients on the Q6600 at my mom's house, and also on the E6600 that is in progress. Don't know why, but I can't get the SMP client to run on the e7200 build - it just crashes, so I gave up. Running SMPs on the BE-2400 was too slow (risk missing deadlines) and the PPD per watt numbers weren't favorable.

I've been getting a lot of EUEs on the GPU clients lately, on all of my systems and none of them are overclocked - so I think something is up with the newer WUs. I have to babysit them a little and restart the clients to get them running again (otherwise they stop for 24 hours). It's very frustrating to be adding GPUs to the folding effort but still have my PPD drop because of unstable work units.

[Raven1245]

I just use my regular desktop, with an eVGA 9600 GSO 384 mb. When I wake up in the mornings I turn it on to use it, and leave it running until I goto sleep. (And close F@H whenever I want to play a game or something )

[zealousalien]

dempa's push is inspiring!

i am in the same boat with raven with when i am folding. i also turn off the gpu client when i am gaming but leave the cpu's on even thru gaming. i find the gpu client not being able to throttle back as well as the cpus.

um, since i recruited two friends to not only join in the project but also team SD could i tally up their PPD to mine?

that would make about 4000-5000 ppd total!

not

[YfzinJay]

I am running a q6600 and an 8800gt. I fold in two week spurts, about once every 2 months.

[formulanerd]

i was @ 12 or 15k total ppd.... i let all the clients go till they crashed or eue....i'm left with one linux client that runs perfectly... they all started to consume too much of my time (and money) to keep them running, if it were more stable i'd be more apt to get my ppd back up.