Micromart-UK FAH Team - The Tutorial!

The MM team was started in Spetember of 2005 by Dr-Jon a forum regular. Since then it has gone from strength to strength wth us soon to be breaking into the top 1000 teams. Not a bad record for 3 months work, especially considering there are thousands of other teams all folding away! As an established team rather than constantly posting links to other peoples tutorials that it was time we had our own. I wont claim for it to be conclusive and there are plenty of things I expect Ive missed out. So please feel free to let me know whats missing and it'll be added. Ive also uploaded the article I wrote for the magazine for anyone who wants a copy - or missed it both times (see attachment at bottom of post)

Just a note this is not a 'why should I fold?' thread, for that sort of info read Frosty's Sticky HERE
The other sticky (HERE) is Fridgemakers milestones table.

BeforeI begin I also feel that I should add something else: There has been alot of discussion recently, both in this forum and in other parts of the MM forum,about havinga regularF@H magazine feature and what it should contain. I'm not going to revisit the issue here, there are plenty of other threads for that. The point is that this discussion has caused divisons between team members and between the team and non-team forum users. Unfortunately this is causing what some would call a loss of focus. So here is some of advice for prospective team members (and possibly some current ones too).
-- It is important to remember that league tables arn't, at the end of the day, important. What is is that we are a team and a community which is in turn part of the bigger MM community. Please do not lose sight of this, competing is fun and it helps to encourage people to fold for a bit longer each day but if your personal opinion is that you do not wish to compete then there is no need to, everyone is just glad you are part of the team.
--Also remember thatF@H is a good cause and that is why we are folding - to help with all of the good the protein folding research group are doing. Again please don't lose sight of this.
Finally anyone with 20 3GHZ dual core rigs (etc) who wishes to go on a power trip, please don't! No one finds it impressive. The little guy who donates his struggling P3 to the cause will be more appreciated by the team.

Sorry to be a bore! Now on with the tutorial.....

OK peeps you can now get one of our very own MM folding sigs for your forum signature. Visit http://folding.tomnrob.com for more details.

(P.S. If you need a linux tutorial 900i has kindly posted one below this post becauseI forgot well done that man)

Ive now added 2 Appendices as well (as replies to the thread):
Appendix A - Getting a MM folding sig and adding it to your forum signature (Click Here)
Appendix B - Folding on Dual core CPU's (Click Here)
AppendixC - MM Folding Sigs Source Files (Click Here)

1a) What is FAH (an introduction)

F@His a distributed computinginitiative run bystanford university (in america).
You mayhave heard of the SETI project which is a similar thing. The search for extra terrestrial life includes the processing of millions of radio signals from outer space, a job that would take years on just one computer. The solution was distributed computing. Users all over the globe download a small program known asa client. This dowloads small chunks of data from the main server and processes it before sending the reults back. F@H employs the same principal but, instead of aliens, Stanford’s application researches the folding of proteins using simlations. The university developed a way of breaking up the simulations into smaller ‘work units’ which are distributed to millions of computers via the client. To make things more interesting all of the work units are worth points if completed on time, with larger units worth more than smaller ones. Users can also join teams where their points go towards the team’s total.

1b) The Client

To begin folding you need to decide whichclient to run. There are 2 options. The GUI version and the console version. The GUI client is a windows program which includes the main core (mostly GROMACS at the current time) and a graphical interface, this lets you view the current progress of your workunits, time remaining, WU name, no. of completed WU's and other things (including a graphical display of the folding protein). The Program runs in the system tray and has a configuration menu for setup. The disadvantages of using the GUI client are that there are the occasional issues with OPEN-GLthat cause freeze ups, and there is a school of thought that says it slows down the folding process.

The GUI Client with fancy graphics!!(thanks to Frosty15 for the Pic)

The console version is much simpler. The download is an .exe file which contains only the folding core and console. It is only configurable once when you first run the client andcan beinstalled as a service. which means it runs invisibly when your system starts. It has less overheads than the GUI version (obviously) and tends to have less compatibility problems.The disadvantage is that there is no way to see your current progress without a 3rd party program. We recommend the vers. 5.04 beta

Here is the link to the client download page.

new link http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Download 

It's small but thats the point - The console client

2) Setup & Configuration

Once one of the clients is installed it is time to setup your configuration options to get the best out of F@H. The options for the GUI client are available by right clicking on the icon in the system tray and selecting configuration from the menu. For the console client you can set up the options when the client is first run, or change them in the client.cfg file in your folding directory.

User Name: This is the name to which you will be awarded points for your WU, don't worry about getting an individual name, you will be differentiated by the team you fold for.

Team Number: This is the number of the team you want to fold for, MicroMart team number is 46590.All of the points you score will also go towards the teams score!

Install as service (console version only): If you want the F@H console to start with windows select yes for this option.

Ask before sending / fetching work: If you want F@H to ask you when sending results or downloading new WU's the select this option. The only real useI can think of for this is if you are on dial-up or have patchy net access. Otherwise this option is best ignored because it will slow down your folding efforts.

Use Internet Explorer Settings: If you have an odd Internet connection then this option lets the F@H client connect to the server properly. Otherwise do not worry about this option.

Use Proxy Settings: same as above.

Allow receipt of work assignments greater than 5MB in size: If you have less than about 512MB of system memory then this option is best left alone because it will clog up your memory. Otherwise the larger sized and more complex WU will get you more points, so if you have more than 512MB then go for this option!!

Core Priority: [Idle or low] Default setting is idle which means the client will make use of any idle processing power. If you are having any problems with F@H crashing programs (especially games) then selecting low will probably solve these problems.

CPU usage: [5-100%]This is basically the maximum amount of CPU power the client is allowed to use. Generally it is fine to be left at 100% howeverI have mine set at 95% just to give my computer a bit of an overhead whenI am using it! If you are having problems with F@H slowing up your PC then setting this to around 70% or so may help.

Disable Highly optimized assembly code: Select If you are having problems with WU not completing or taking a long time.

Pause if battery power is being used: For laptops running off batteries.

Interval between checkpoints: [3-30Minutes] F@Hwill regularly save its calculations, this sets the interval between saves. The default is 15 minutes which should be fine. If you have a lot of trouble with your computer crashing then by setting this to 3minutes you can minimize data loss.

Memory in MB to use: The amount of Memory F@H can use. Like CPU %age this is best set to maximum unless you are having problems with the program slowing your computer down.

Request WU without deadlines: Wu's have a completion deadline by which they must be returned to score points. Normally this is about a month so this option should be left alone seeing as it is unlikely you will take that long to complete a unit! Especially as WU with deadlines score more points. NB no deadlineless WU's available for the forseeable future

Ignore deadline information: Only select this if your system clock has a nasty habit of resetting on occasions.

Machine ID: If you are using more than 1 clienton the same PC,you must give each client a unique ID (1 to 8) so that it can work properly.

3a) Console Client Configuration Options

Adding flag’s to the console client is best done by adding them to the path of the shortcut on the desktop. You do this by right clicking the console client and selecting create shortcut, you then drag the shortcut to the desktop. Right click on the shortcut and select properties, go to the end of the shortcut and add the flags you want i.e. –local, you will then have a shortcut somewhat like this.

"C:\Documents and Settings\kit\My Documents\Folding-2\FAH504-Console.exe" -local -verbosity 9. Click to apply the change then click OK. The next time you start the console client via this shortcut the flags will be in action.

CONSOLE AS A SERVICE

changing options

Don't regedit!
Stop the service.
From a command prompt navigate to the folding directory and type fah504-console -configonly.
Answer the questions as appropriate - they will default to whatever you have currently set.
Close the command prompt.
Restart the service.

There are certain flags you can add to the console client when running it as a serviceto improve performance. Adding them requires a registry edit thoughso before you start remember BE CAREFUL tampering with the registry can screw your PC if your not careful. In actual fact though this edit is quite easy (note: this only works if you have the client set up as a windows service). First you need to open regedit (start>run type regedit & click ok). Now in the left hand panel find the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> System -> CurrentControlSet -> Services -> FAH@C:+[FAH Directory]
A set of options should appear in the right hand panel. Right click on ImagePath and then add the flags you want to the end of the file path (ie: after the .exe bit). Remember to leave a space between the flags and the dash at the start of each one!

Here is a list of all the available flags, most of them are debugger / problem solving or for people setting up more than one client. The one I would recommend using is
-advmethods.

General Flags

-config

Allows users to change their configuration information. This includes user & team names (reflected in the stats), whether or not to ask before a network connection is made to fetch/send work, set up proxy servers, preferred work unit type (Folding/Genome), process priority, CPU usage requested (5-100%), whether or not to use assembly loops, whether or not to use deadline information, and Machine ID changes.

-configonly

Same as above, but quit following configuration instead of beginning work.

-delete x

Delete item #x from work queue. This option should only be used if there is a serious error with the current unit that the client does not automatically recover from (e.g. crash-inducing). This should not normally happen, and if it does, we would be grateful if you could send us the FAHlog.txt file from the unit that causes the error.

-license

Displays the end-user license agreement

-queueinfo

Get information on queued work units. Includes for each unit the status (READY/FINISHED/EMPTY), unit type (Folding/Genome), originating server, and date when the unit was received (local time in GMT), as well as deadline if the server sent that information.

-send x

Send result #x back to server. Exits after trying to send unit (successfully or unsuccessfully). Use "-send all" to send all results outstanding. If unit x is not a completed work unit then the client exits without doing anything.

-verbosity x

Sets the output level, from 1 to 9 (max). The default is 3. This option should be used if the user wishes to see more detailed client output, particularly useful if there is a problem which needs to be reported to the F@H client development team.

-oneunit

Instruct the client to quit following the completion of one work unit.

-forceasm

Instruct the core to use SSE/3DNow assembly instructions if possible, even if it has previously made the determination that the machine may not be handling this well.

-advmethods

Request to be assigned work units from new projects, before they are broadly released to the rest of Folding@home. As among the first to try out new advanced simulations, you may wish to post any observations (positive or negative), questions, or issues at the user Forum.

-local

Use configuration files from local directory. This option has no meaning on Linux, but is vital on Windows and Macintosh for running multiple clients on a machine. It instructs the client to read its config information from the client.cfg file in the current directory rather than, on Windows, from the installation directory specified in the registry, or, on Macintosh, the Library/Folding@home directory. Information such as the user name, team name, proxy information, machine ID are maintained in the client.cfg file. The flag ensures that work does not conflict. Use "-local" only if you are planning on running more than one instance of Folding@Home on the same machine (this is only useful if you are running on a multi-processor machine). Create as many directories as there are processors on the machine, copy the exe files and client.cfg file into each of these directories, run "FAH3Console -local -config" on each and specify unique machine IDs for each directory (under the Advanced Settings option). From then onwards you may run each copy by switching to its directory and running with the -local flag.

-help

Print out the command line flags available and then exit.

Linux Specific

-freeBSD

For use by those wishing to use the Linux client on a machine running FreeBSD. See our FAQ for details on how to do this, but with this flag, all Cores downloaded will automatically be branded as being a Linux executable.

Windows Specific

-pause

Pause after finishing and trying to send current unit. Allows a user to shut down after finishing a unit, by pressing Ctrl-C, without then getting new work to process. This is recommended if you are planning on shutting down your machine for a long time (e.g. for a vacation), or are planning to un/re-install F@H after finishing the currently processing work unit.

-service

Run in service mode (for programs such as firedaemon). This prevents the client from exiting when it detects the current user is logging out. If this option is used when the client is not run as a service then it will run normally, but will not shut down automatically if the user logs out, and a "Wait for program to close." dialog box will be displayed.

-svcstart

This flag is used if you configure the console client to be run as a service (through the standard client Configuration). The user should NOT give this flag manually, it is automatically given by the Windows scheduler and is just listed here for information.

If you have the GUI version of F@H then you get to look at the fancy display that tells you all about your folding successes! But for us console users we only get a text display Of course you could usthe official F@H stats page [http://folding.stanford.edu/stats.html] but thats boring too! Never fear though there are several options available. Below are two programs that you can use and guides to setting them up, and also a 2 websites with more in depth info!

NOTE: These programs can also be used with the GUI version as well (sorry for any confusion)

http://fahmon.silent-blade.org/ Fahmon is easy to setup and use. Just download the latest version (2.0.2) and extract to a directory. Then click on the .exe file to start the program. Then you need to tell it where your client is sat, right click anywhere on the blank window (it took me ages to find out how to do this!!! ) and fill in the dialog box [name can be anything to identify the client it doesn't matter, and the directory needs to be the one where you have the F@H client] I like FahMon because it is small and can handle multiple clients well. It has an easy to read interface that gives you just enough info but doesn't crowd you. The graphical %age bar is a nice touch!

FahMon in action - note the clean simple display

http://sourceforge.net/projects/fahstats/FAH logstats is another monitoring program. Again all you need to do is get the latest version and unzip the files to a directory. Setting up this is more obvious, just hit the settings tag and click 'add' to set up your client. I find logstats a bit harder to use and it doesnt look as good. It has all of the major stats but not much else and i have had some glitches with the 'overview screen'. Plus there is no fancy %age bar . One nice touch is that it does tell you all of the WU's that are currently available for download so you could play a "guess which one I'm getting next game".....

http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/index.htmlIve added Electron Microscope as per requested (byFM and others). EM is a monitoring program that combines the simplicity of FahMon and the fancy graphics of the GUI client! It can handle multiple clients nad even supports those over a network or VPN. Each client is shown with a wide range of information and tyhere is even a status bar as well. Also there is a view of the currently folding proteins for each client (much like the one on the GUI client)

EM in action - thanks to FM for the Pic

http://fahstats.com/This site takes the official stats info and takes it one step further. You there is a massive stats page for every team / user which includes current points, when you finished WU's and loads more! Best of all there is a radar screen showing which team members you are about to overtake (there is a team one as well) and when.

http://jmol.sourceforge.net/fah/JMOL is a java appplet made to display molecular structure! Sounds complicated! Some nice people have used it to display info about all of the available F@H workunits. It gives information about the unit code (ie Gromac or Tinker) the number of frames to the unit, its deadline, the project name and most importantly the credit you get for its completion!

Quick Tips

There are a few other tweaks you can make to your system as well to help get the most from your folding.

Screensaver or ScreenHogger
Having your screensaver enabled can eat up system memory and some processor time. So if you leave your computer to fold all day long you should get rid of any screensavers and just set your monitor to power down after a while (the option for this is in
'control panel ->power management'). It wont have a massive impact but every little helps!

Core Info
F@H uses several different cores to process the WU's (normally named FahCore_xx.exe) once downloaded they are stored for the next time a WU uses it, by deleting ones that are not in use (be very careful about this and check the log file which will tell you which one is in use) you ensure that the latest (read faster) versions are downloaded each time.

Forum Signatures

Once you've got a few WU's done obviously you want to show off! What better way than displaying your score in your forum sig.
We now have our own MM forum signatures available at http://folding.tomnrob.com anyone who wantstheir owndesign adding to the 5 we already have please feel free. PM me about it and I'll let you know what spec you've got to work with!
If that doesnt take your fancy (:crazy then through trial and error we've found the best place for a Sig ishttp://www.dcsig.com just create an account and then add yourF@H username and MM's team no! You can make your own skin for the image or use one that Dr-Jon has kindly created (its called MM-UK, just add it to your cached images). Once created just post it in your forum signature!!!

5) FAQ

Well they're hardly 'frequently asked' seeing as they've only been asked umm once! but even so:

System Overheads
Q. How much of a system and networkoverhead is folding? I use a work laptop and could leave it folding all day if it didn't render my laptop unresponsive. (posted by Yadda)
A. Network overhead is minimal just on the odd occasion when it transmits work etc. System overheads is up to you! You can set the max CPU usage that your client uses in the configuration options and F@H will use this max whenever it can

Folding - at home!
Q. Could I also "take units home" to continue folding offline? (posted by Yadda)
A. If you want to take units home you could zip the Folding@Home directory and send it as an email attachment... then unzip it when you get home and start running it then. (thanks to Fridgemaker for that answer).
A2. Theoretically it is fully possible to do this. You should only need to take the following files to get Wu's home:
queue.dat
fahlog.txt
unitinfo.txt
The folder called 'Work' and the F@H core (called FahCore_XX.exe)

I want it - NOW!!
Q. From the brief look at the fah discussion groups it appears the Dothan CPUs are particularily good at folding certain cores - namely QMD and Gromacs 14xx.TheWU I am currently folding is a 400 frame deadlineless Tinkercore which I am folding at around 5m35s per frame, is worth 261pointsand will take until Tuesday to complete but apparently the Gromacs and QMD cores can yield 500ppd+!!!. Is there any way I can dictate the nextworkunit core type? (posted by Yadda)
A. Good question! You cant request specific units but if you add the -advmethods tag to the console version which will give you access to the new beta WU's before they are released to rest of the community.They generally tend to yield more points! Of course there is the chance they will fail as well.... In general Gromac cores yield around200 - 600 points (600 is the most I've ever seen) and are generaly project no's 1000 - 1500, Double Gromac cores earn about 40 - 200 points. Tinker cores vary. I'm currently running project 1481 which is a Gromac Core and yields 364 points.You say that you are recieving deadlinless workunits, if you set the client to recieve WU's with deadlines you will recieve more points for these! Finally i believe that Stanford are phasing out Tinker coded workunits and replacing them all with Gromac, so you shouldnt get too many more of them, a quick check of Jmol shows that most of the later units haver been upgraded to Gromac.


Lots &Lots of folding!!!!!!
Q. I have read the guide in this forum and had a quick read of do's and dont's at stanford site and it seems fairly easy to set up. But I have some questions can I download multiple versions(or install the same version on multiple machines ) and install them on machines that do not have web access then transfer WU's to them via removable media or do the machines have to have direct web access.
A. If you want to install FAH on machines with no web access, you need toownload the program as normal into a folder. Run it once to set the config.Under the advanced options, you can tell FAH to get more than one unit at a time, to minimise networking. Set FAH to ask before sending / receiving work units. Let it connect to the internet to get work units. Exit the program once it has the work units. Repeat as many times as necessary (once per machine). Copy the entire folder / foldersto a removable device (CDRW, USB drive etc.). Copyone folder onto each machine you want to run FAH (different folder per machine). Create a shortcut to FAH and copy it to your startup folder. When FAH completes its work units and asks to send / receive, copy the folder back onto the removable device. Copy it back onto the machine with internet access and run FAH from its folder. It will then connect to the internet, send the completed units back, receive new units and be ready to start again.(thanks to Tippon for that answer).
A2. This seems a very complicated process but I dont see why it shouldn't work, much better to invest in a router!!
A3. The way I understand it is that if you want to run multiple copies you should run the console version from different directories. I would recommend that you then use monitoring software to monitor them... (In the setup you want to change the Machine ID number) (thanks to Fridgemaker for that answer).
A4. FM is correct. To run multiple clients on the same machine you need to install them in different directories. You also need to make sure the machine ID setting is different for each setting. Youa also need to remember this setting if installing on networked machines.

How is scoring worked out?
Q. How is scoring worked out? I have folded 4 work units and got a score of 612 but there are others who have folded 6 units but only scored 235. Whats that all about then?
A1. There are different types and sizes of WU the fastest to complete return the smallest amount of points the larger the unit (eg. the longer it takes to complete) the higher the points. so one person could do a tinker core in under 24 hours and get 76 points were as someone else could do a QMD core in a week and get 450 points. These times are hyperthetical but it will give you some idea. [Thanks to Dr-Jon]
A2. Points arn't actually worked out on time taken but on a combination the number of frames in the WU and the number of atoms in the unit. It is also worked out on the deadline limit. For example: Project 16 - p160_vill8MUre99p (a tinker coded unit) is deadlineless, has 100 frames and 392 atoms. It is worth 2 credits. However project 2360 - p2360_Coiled_Coil (gromacs coded) has 46366 atoms, 100 frames and a 237hr deadline and scores 1294 points. So it would seem that the no of atoms has the most effect on points. Unfortunately not. I think the code it is written in (Tinker, Amber, Gromacs, Double Gromacs) adds a factor. Basically as far as i can make out this is the points order for wu's (highest to lowest):
- Double Gromacs code, Very High number of atoms
- Gromacs code, High number of atoms
- Any Tinker coded (bar a few)
- Gromacs code, Low number of atoms
- Any Amber code (bar a few again)
- Double Gromacs code, High and low number of atoms
- The rest of the Amber and Tinker coded units (normally deadlineless)
PhewI think thats right but there may well be some exceptions (eg the QMD cores which Im not sure about). Generally speaking the top of the table ones take the longest but i have had a double Gromaacs before worth 10 points that took about 2 days!! There were loads of answers to this, check out the full thread located here

Ooops!
Q.Hi all just noticed PMD core try to send results before finished first 1% of WU also did it later on in the run, Help quick look at F@H faq did not bring up a result. Any ideas thanks. [Posted by Spike09 included his logfile in the post, located here]
A.Ok this is what I think is happening.
[19:05:47] - Connecting to assignment server
[19:05:47] + Attempting to send results
[19:05:48] - Successful: assigned to (171.65.103.158).
This part of ther logfile shows that the client is assigning the previous WU a server to upload to. Then the upload begins, as son as it does tho FAH can start D/L a new unit which is what has happened here. Then the previous unit has failed to be sent and put back in the queue to try again later.
If you check your queue.dat file there will probably be 2 entries, the current WU and the last one.
Its nothing to worry about evantually it'll get sent!

Config Hell
Q. This is a bit of a long question posted over time by Bez a new folding member. Basically he has been having trouble with having a corrupted configuration file. When he tried to do a copy and paste from a new client it messed up even further! He wanted to know what to do to fix the problem. (He's running console version)
A. If you try to do a copy and paste of the config file whilst the client is running then it detects the changes and resets the configuration file to a default setting! However rescuing it is fairly easy:
1) Stop the F@H console service (go to control panel - > administration tools -> services then scrolldown to the F's till you see your F@H client and right click to stop it) This will stop it automatically deleting the new config options.
2)Delete the rogue config file and take a copy of the folding client (just the .exe file) into another folder. Double cick to run and enter all your config options (including install as service) then when it benchmarks and starts to run clost it off. Next copy ther new config file back into your original directory.
3)Go back to the services page and find the new F@H client you installed (the one youve just nicked the config file from) and right click to disable it, this is so that it doesntstart as well with theother client- make sure you get the right one! Look for the folder path to be sure.
4) DO NOT restart the old F@H client in services. You need to reboot now to make absolutely sure F@H doesnt know that it's been modified. Once youve doen that it should be ok
I keep a backup of my config file anyway just to be sure! This is advisable for all folders to do just in case as it makes this rescue process really easy!

Glue Me
Q. Should this thread be made a sticky? (posted by Loads of peeps!)
A. YES! Many Thanks to Frosty15 for stickie-ing thethread, well done on making Mod!(posted by Loads of peeps!)


6)The MM Team

A new team news section!

100 Members, Top 1000 and then top 600 Well this is alot of celebrations in one! We made 100 members the other day after my article we also made the top 1000 teams a few days before that. Then today we passed the 600 mark. Still going strong well done guys!

Top 1500 In my absence ity seems the amazing team MM has reached the top 1500 and on Xmas day no less. This means we should hopefully have our own sig soon hosted by ourselves.. watch this space. Being in the top 1500 means we also have our own individaul stats page http://vspx27.stanford.edu/teamstats/team46590.html

Lots &Lots of folderswell the mentions in the mag must have worked, as of the 31st of December we have 61 members in the team. Good to see you all

Lots &Lots More folderswell a few anyway, 66 at last count. every few helps tho and soo we should be inside the top 1000 teams. quite an achievment for aq team thats only 3 months old!

Top 1000 Well inside the top 1000 now peeps, well done all

7) Credits

Wow I almost forgot the credits!
Thanks go to:

DR-Jon for setting up the team and getting us going, and for the cool sig image
900i for posting the Linux guide
Fridgemaker For answering queries
Yadda for asking questions!
Oh and of course the Stanford University Website whereI got the list of console flags from!!

Additional credits spike09,charcoal,ricedg and FM


8) Bits & Bobs

THe section for the stuff that I wasnt sure where to put it! Like this excellent and useful post from captainCAD :

"If you're using Windows XP and like me you decided to try the FAH***-console.exe program first before running it as a service; there is a way to do it later.

I have made a compiled batch file to do it automatically for you. If you are interested at all you can download it here!"


There are loads of other points of note and I am sureI have missed no end, please post anymore you find!!

Cheers,
Tom

Folding under Linux

Basic client (Program) installation

Overclockix and Folding@Home Console Client Howto

If you want it to use minimal 'excess' resources, when you initially install, download the console version, and set it to run as a windows service (under the advanced options, I believe). This way you don't get any flashy thing consuming resources, but you can check your stats at:

http://folding.stanford.edu/stats.html

BTW, if and when I can get my points transferred to Team MM, I'll have up to five machines folding at a time, so watch your backs!

Let's get some friendly competition going

Want to add flags to the service? Here is the manual method:

In true MM Style:
EDITING THE REGISTRY IS NOT ADVISED UNLESS YOU
KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, ALL ADVICE TAKEN HERE
IS DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Start regedit (click run on the start menu and type in regedit)
Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Services / FAH@*wherever*

Now you can edit the ImagePath string, just double click and you can add your flags on the end.

As an example, mine reads: C:\Program Files\FAH\FAH504-Console.exe -svcstart -advmethods

The Best of Both Worlds – 64 Bit SMP and GPU Folding

This how-to explains how to make a Windows XP based machine with a x64-multi core instruction set processor run with the two best point generating folding clients.  This guide can only cater for machines with 2 or more cores;  whether that’s dual-core, dual dual-core or quad core.

Both the 64-bit SMP Linux client and the Windows only GPU client currently receive a higher level of points than WUs allocated to other clients; and this is because both of these clients are beta types.  Stanford are kind enough to dish out bonus points to those of us who take the trouble to run with their beta clients and WUs. If you read that previous sentence again, you’ll notice the catch, the SMP client is Linux only, and the GPU client doesn’t have a Linux version.

All is not lost, there is a solution,  you can run both versions of client on one machine at the same time.  The handy solution comes in the guise of machine virtualisation; or in simple terms,  the Linux operating system can be emulated within an emulator running on a XP platform.

Pre-Requisites

First lets check our pre-requisites, if you don’t match all of these, then you’re unlikely to successfully run the two big boy clients:

·         A multi core x64 processor, i.e. AMD X2 or Intel Core 2 Duo

·         At least 1 gig of RAM; virtualisation needs memory rather than virtual memory to operate at an efficient rate – plus the clients might want to run some memory intensive FAHCores.

·         The machine to be running a copy of Windows XP, Home or Professional.  I’ve not listed Vista, as I’m not entirely sure of compatibility.

·         That you have an ATI X19xx class graphics card (I’ll not cover multi-GPU solutions here).  Some X1800 are supported, see here for exact card support:  http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-ATI.html

·         That you have Catalyst Drivers 6.5 or 6.10 installed, these are the two current versions that provide F@H support.

If you’ve got all those checked off, then lets move onto the steps:

Step 1 – Running the GPU client

Download the GPU console client from here: http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html  and copy the download file to your preferred folding directory.  For example save file as http://folding.stanford.edu/release/FAH5.91beta2-console.exe to c:\folding. 

Create a run.cmd file in this directory containing the following:

FAHxxxxxxx-console.exe –versbosity 9 –local –advmethods –forceasm

Remember to replace FAHxxxxxxxx-console.exe with the file you downloaded.

Now go to your folding directory and run FAHxxxxx-console.exe –configonly and enter your preferred details such as Username, Team (always 46590).

Now run run.cmd from your folding directory, the client will now download its first WU and start crunching away.  For a X1900XTX class card, your first WU should be completed in about 12 hours.

I’d personally not recommend attempting to overclock the card from its default 2D clock speeds.  It’s all too easy for the GPU client to fail with EARLY UNIT ENDs, which results in no points and lots of completed WUs listed against your name and team.

For the official FAQ on the GPU client see: http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-ATI.html

Step 2 – Running the 64-bit SMP Client

To get the SMP client running alongside the GPU client, we now have to setup your machine to run a copy of Linux within a PC emulator.  For this how-to I’ll detail how to use VMWare Server, but possibly other products may be up to the task.  From my own experience I have found that the current crop of Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Servers are unable to host a 64-bit operating system within a 32-bit operating system.  I would recommend not using them, unless I’m incorrect in my findings.

You’ll also need to download one of the freely available copies of 64-bit Linux.  You can pick which version of Linux you prefer, but make sure it has SMP support, not all 64-bit distro’s currently do.  For this how-to I’ll be using Fedora Core 64; which supports x64, SMP and Linux wary users like myself.

2.1 Linux Distro

We need to download the ISO file for the DVD of Fedora Core 64 V6.0; it’s around 4Gb in size so prepare for a night long download.  Alternatively you could purchase a DVD copy from those good chaps at a shop like the Linux Emporium.  For now, one of the available places to download the DVD ISO is ftp://download.fedora.redhat.com/pub/fedora/linux/core/6/x86_64/iso/

You may find a better place to download this file from, so do please google for other places if you so desire.

Never fear if you don’t have a DVD burner, we won’t be burning this file onto a disc.  We’ll just be attaching the ISO image to the virtual machine.

2.2 Virtual Machine

Go download VMWare Server from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/.  It’s free, and despite the requirements, this server product will work sufficiently well on XP.  There are some problems with the web based management tool; however there’s no need for us to use this feature, so it’s irrelevant.

Go through the installation process of the server, ignoring the server-product warnings.  You will be emailed a registration key during the download/install process.

Once installed, you need to install a new virtual PC.  Go to File->New ->Virtual Machine, and select Typical installation.  On Guest operating system select Linux, and in the version combo, either select your preferred Linux distro, or Other Linux 64-bit.  When prompted for Network connection select “Use Bridged Networking.  For the disk capacity, I would recommend at least a 16Gb hard disk file to be created.  The hard disk size is just a file created on your machine, it will not tamper with your partitions or destroy any data you currently have.

You’ll now have a virtual machine that can do nothing but perform its POST operations and fail to find an installed OS.  This is all good, but if you haven’t got to this stage, then either PM me or its time for a spot of RTFM.

To install the OS we need to attach the ISO file we downloaded.  Simply right click on the tab of your virtual machine (the default title would be “Other Linux 64 Bit” if you’re having trouble finding the tab).  Click on settings, and highlight the CD-ROM item in the hardware list.  You’ll now see to the right the option of using a physical drive or to use an ISO image.  Select the ISO image option and  point it to the Fedora Core 64 DVD ISO file you downloaded.  Click on OK to close the settings dialog.

You can now return back to your virtual machine, which should be complaining bitterly that it doesn’t have an OS installed.  Right click on the VM’s tab, and select reset.  It should now perform a cold reset and then start to auto-boot from the attached DVD image.

I won’t detail the Fedora Core 64 installation – as it’s so user friendly there’s no point.  You may have decided to install another Linux, which would then make my detailing of the installation redundant.  Seriously, installing FC 64 is a piece of cake.  Just make sure you respond that you want the OS to run across more than one processor.

Once you’re up and running with FC64 and are facing the logon screen, then use root for the username, and the password you specified for the root user during installation.

You should now be faced with a fancy graphical desktop, and a task/start bar at the top of the screen.  Either from the start bar, or from the accessories select a web browser, and point it at:

http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html

Grab yourself a copy of the Linux x86-64 SMP Client (console only), and download it to your preferred folder (i.e. /folding).   Unfortunately, in the weird world of Unix-a-like systems,  we have to go and set the system flags on this file to let the OS know it’s an executable.

To do this, find Terminal in the start menus – it’s the equivalent of the command prompt in Windows.  In there you’ll need to type the following:

cd /folding                          (go to your folding directory)

chmod +x fah5                  (set the downloaded file to executable)

./fah5 –configonly           (start the configuration of the client)

A better explanation of installing the Linux client can be had at:  http://fahwiki.net/index.php/Running_the_FAH_client_on_Linux

You should now be able to run ./fah5 –verbosity 9 –local –forceasm –advmethods to kick off the Linux SMP client.

Other ways to download and install the client can be found here http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-SMP.html

That FAQ details the option of opening a terminal session to download and install the client by running the following commands:

http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=5057 

SPIKE09
REMEMBER IT'S JUST A RIDE (BILL HICKS THE GREATEST)
rig 1 Spike Athlon 64 X2 3800,1 gig pc3200 (dc) ,radeon X1900XT rig 2Angus Ogg Athlon  2200,ASUS A7V8X-X,1GB2 PC2700,RADEON 9600XT rig3 The Dagda Acer aspire 1353 xv, AthlonXP-M 2400, 512 Mb PC2700 .Rig 4 Q6600,ASROCK DUALQUAD thingy,2GB corsair pc6400 X1600pro rig 5 TVTWINs- IntelE6400,2Gb DDR667,Nvidia6600 silent.rig6.AMD 64 3700 1Gb pc3200 rig7.Smokey Q6600,2GB pc5400,X1950 pro, asrock quad-dualthingummy|rig 8 Q6600, 4GB patriot PC6400, ASUS P5B 8800gt,  E6420,4GB ram currently homeless TOP 1,000 in the world in F@H
F@H BETA TESTER- team MM FOLD it does every body good join team 46590 2ND Mug. Hmm you know who you are.
 

http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/cgi-bin/edit/English/Guide 

SPIKE09
REMEMBER IT'S JUST A RIDE (BILL HICKS THE GREATEST)
rig 1 Spike Athlon 64 X2 3800,1 gig pc3200 (dc) ,radeon X1900XT rig 2Angus Ogg Athlon  2200,ASUS A7V8X-X,1GB2 PC2700,RADEON 9600XT rig3 The Dagda Acer aspire 1353 xv, AthlonXP-M 2400, 512 Mb PC2700 .Rig 4 Q6600,ASROCK DUALQUAD thingy,2GB corsair pc6400 X1600pro rig 5 TVTWINs- IntelE6400,2Gb DDR667,Nvidia6600 silent.rig6.AMD 64 3700 1Gb pc3200 rig7.Smokey Q6600,2GB pc5400,X1950 pro, asrock quad-dualthingummy|rig 8 Q6600, 4GB patriot PC6400, ASUS P5B 8800gt,  E6420,4GB ram currently homeless TOP 1,000 in the world in F@H
F@H BETA TESTER- team MM FOLD it does every body good join team 46590 2ND Mug. Hmm you know who you are.