Folding@Home - The Race For 50 Million!

Folding@Home Forum ^ | 04/22/2008 | Vijay Pande

[texas booster]

In the near future, we will be releasing some new projects which require a very rapid turn-around time. These are peptide fragment simulations which we are interested in simulating for a time-sensitive collaborative project involving protein structure prediction.

These WUs will go directly to the classic clients running with -advmethods. Non-classic clients (eg SMP, GPU, PS3) will not be affected, as all of these calculations will be run via the AMBER core and only the classic client supports the AMBER core.

To reward users for participating in this exciting project, we will be giving a x1.5 bonus in the points awarded. What's the catch? These projects will be less rigorously beta tested, so there will be an increased risk of Early_Unit_End errors. We believe the risk of this is minor (there will likely be a higher rate of early unit ends, especially very early in the WU, but we do not expect client machines to become significantly less stable). However, if you do not wish to participate in this project, just remove the -advmethods setting from your client.

This will not last forever and will likely go back to normal -advmethods usage in a few months. With that said, we do plan other uses for -adv in the future.

Note: the text was updated to clarify that this is classic clients only.

[antiRepublicrat]

IIRC we were #58 when I started. Glad to help in pushing us towards the top 50.

[BreitbartSentMe]

It seems to be running fine, I had been getting the same error message about not getting another work packet, but now I have a new one and am chugging along.

I was trying to find out if there was any way to add the -adv switch to the GUI interface that I’m running, and it doesn’t appear that is possible, according to the last few comments in the thread. So, I guess the choices are to keep folding the way I am, or uninstall and then install the non-GUI option (that’s what I’m unsure about.)

One question, if you install the non-GUI option, do you still see the red ‘flower’ in the bottom corner, and can check your status, or can you only look at it some other way (like Egon’s tool, which I have also?) Thanks for the hints!

[texas booster]

Extremeoverclocking stats started back then to track the Top 2000 teams worldwide, and it was in December or January that we finally hit #2000.

Looking at old threads we would be leaping 20 - 50 teams per week, and it was fun flying up the charts so fast.

At about #700 we started to slow down, but we kept adding enough new folders to keep our momentum going. At about #100 we slowed to a crawl, passing maybe one team per week.

If you take out the new PS3 teams that started last year, we would be somewhere around #40. The Free Republic folders only has a half dozen PS3s cranking out points for us, verses hundreds and thousands for some of the gaming teams.

We have done quite well, I should say, considering how scattered we all are and the influence of certain political jihads that have flamed our board. We must have three dozen folders that have been with us from early on.

[texas booster]

Egon's tool is great for the console version. It monitors it and you can see when a system gets hung up.

His tool monitors both GUI and console versions of F@H.

Red flower = GUI v 5.03

Console version = 5.04

[brityank]

Hello All; my apology for not realizing that there were more questions about this -- adding the switches to the GUI string. Here's what my Desktop Shortcut looks like:

Make a copy of your Startup link, and then Move that second link onto your Desktop. When you select "Properties" you get the following:

As you can see, I added the Switches [ -local -verbosity 9 -advmethods] right after the link in the Target window, then hit Apply and OK.

Now when you double click that Shortcut, F@H will start the GUI with those parameters and settle in your Tray with the little Molecule Icon. As texas booster noted, the 'normal' Windows Installer shoves it into your C:\Documents and Settings\[user_name]\Start Menu\[F@H_folder]\WinFAH.exe -- [Bracket items are your system dependent]. When I Installed it, I selected Install to: C:\ instead of the Program Files it normally uses.

Hope this clarifies it a little better.

Keep Folding !

[Looks as if ExtremeOverclocking Stats are back]

[texas booster]

Hey, that's actually clear. Even I can understand it.

You're hired!

[brityank]

LOL !!

I had to go get a login at Photobucket, then play around to get the pics in. Now I can be dangerous!

[antiRepublicrat]

I’ll try to leave my PS3 on more often, but I don’t think I can do that so much going into the Summer. Over Winter it was nice to have a little 200W heater in the room that does more than just heat the room.

[BreitbartSentMe]

Yea! By Jove, I think I’ve got it!

I used your instructions, locted my ‘flower’ in the startup folder (using Windwos Explorer), right-clicked to get the properties, and added the switches you listed, quit the running F@H instance, and restarted it from the updated shortuct and - voila! Success notes from my log! Thanks so much brityank!

---

Launch directory: C:\Program Files\Folding@Home
Arguments: -local -verbosity 9 -advmethods

[17:06:11] - Ask before connecting: No
[17:06:11] - Use IE connection settings: Yes
[17:06:11] - User name: Bush_Democrat (Team 36120)
[17:06:11] - User ID: 4BE0449F296AB497
[17:06:11] - Machine ID: 1
[17:06:11]
[17:06:11] Loaded queue successfully.
[17:06:11] Initialization complete
[17:06:11] + Benchmarking ...
[17:06:14] The benchmark result is 3080
[17:06:14]
[17:06:14] + Processing work unit
[17:06:14] Core required: FahCore_78.exe
[17:06:14] - Autosending finished units...
[17:06:14] Trying to send all finished work units
[17:06:14] + No unsent completed units remaining.
[17:06:14] - Autosend completed
[17:06:14] Core found.
[17:06:14] Working on Unit 06 [May 14 17:06:14]
[17:06:14] + Working ...
[17:06:14] - Calling ‘FahCore_78.exe -dir work/ -suffix 06 -checkpoint 15 -verbose -lifeline 272 -version 503’

[17:06:14]
[17:06:14] *———————————————*
[17:06:14] Folding@Home Gromacs Core
[17:06:14] Version 1.90 (March 8, 2006)
[17:06:14]
[17:06:14] Preparing to commence simulation
[17:06:14] - Looking at optimizations...
[17:06:14] - Files status OK
[17:06:38] - Expanded 3633740 -> 18750173 (decompressed 516.0 percent)
[17:06:40]
[17:06:40] Project: 2620 (Run 46, Clone 55, Gen 18)
[17:06:40]
[17:06:40] Assembly optimizations on if available.
[17:06:40] Entering M.D.

[brityank]

Great news; well done.

Now to check a second potential problem:

[17:06:11] - Ask before connecting: No
[17:06:11] - Use IE connection settings: Yes
[17:06:11] - User name: Bush_Democrat (Team 36120)

Are you sure you need the proxy settings to contact F@H's servers? Most times that will allow the finished WU to upload, but it doesn't clear from the Work Folder, and posts a message that the upload failed. to change it, right-click the Icon and select Config, then uncheck the "Use IE Settings" mark.

I found that an update from MS flipped it on me, so it's something to check.
Cheers!

[Craigon]

I got bored running all day+ for 150-250 points and getting passed up by others way too fast using my old Northwood Pentium OC’s to 3.5. So I stopped folding for most of last year and this year.

Then made the mistake of walking into my local Fry’s last month to ‘browse’. Yea, I walked out with a E8400 Core-2 Duo, 9600GT, and Gigabyte MB. First thing I did was overclock it to 3.6g. I had to use a lot more voltage then other’s I’ve read about, so I must have a lower grade E8400. Anyway, read about how the SMP client rocks. I tried to install the SMP client on XP and had problems...No patients, so ditched that effort.

So last week I decommissioned an old PC of he kids and had an extra SATA. So I installed Ubuntu and gave the SMP client another whirl.. WOW! My CPU cranks through a SMP WU in 1/2-3/4 of a day and they’re worth about 1780 a pop!

The only problem is most of my daily stuff... and games :) ... is on XP. So I only boot up to Ubunto for folding when I am not using the PC. But still.. I go to bed and boot up Ubunto, kick off a fold.. and wake up the next morning to a nice little 1700+ point bump before booting back up to XP. Cool!

[texas booster]

Glad that you could get SMP working under Linux. I tried on a couple of boxes but could never get it running properly. Finally gave those systems away.

I installed F@H onto an E8x00 today. It was running the F@H GUI at about 4 minutes per 1%. Wow. You might want to consider the console version for an additional 500 ppd.

I am running console versions almost entirely with a single GPU system. Almost all are older systems.

Honestly, I could get more points by buying a new PS3 and running it nonstop, but I really want to get some research done on the broad scale that Windows console allows.

Now if I can convince the Budget Committee that this new AMD 4800 needs an upgrade ...

I kinda wish that

[mouser]

Well in the next 72 hours or so Chris Primavera and I will make it over one million points.

The only question is which of us make it first.

Its still looking like photo finish

That will make 10 of us to reach that point with GOPBiker about 2 weeks behind us.

[texas booster]

Pretty amazing considering so many of us watched Klutz blow past us and we figured that he would be the only one to hit 1,000,000 points.

When I look at our team points I see a steady growth in the green “up-arrow”. We continually add new folders, the folders that we have continue to produce, often for years, and there is no single dominant folder.

Anyone remember the days of DUmmies creating threads in which they would bury us? HA!

Congrats, guys, on a job very well done!

[mouser]

When I started in Dec of 2005 we were hoping for 200,000 points for Christmas.

I believe when I posted my first work unit I came in at 64 and that was all of us there was.

We sure have grown since them.

[NY.SS-Bar9]

9

mouser 1000112 3729

10

Chris_Primavera 999796 4622

Congratulations Mouser!

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Hello All; my apology for not realizing that there were more questions about this -- adding the switches to the GUI string. Here's what my Desktop Shortcut looks like:

I figured out why some of us are getting errors. Your desktop doesn't look like mine, perhaps you are using Vista? I am using XP and the path for the shortcut comes in quotes. The mistake I (and anyone else getting the path not found error) was putting the switches in the quotes like this

"C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\winFAH.exe -verbosity 9 -advmethods"

The way to get the switches to work is by putting them after the quoted path, like this:

"C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\winFAH.exe" -verbosity 9 -advmethods

I guess I won't know if the switches actually work on the AMBER core until I start my next work unit, I figured this out in the middle of a run.

Now the next question is where do we find the list of available switches and what they do?

[meyer]

So this is the electronic equivalent of a chain letter? If you want to utilize the processor in my computer, you can rent it for a fee.

[EasySt]

"So this is the electronic equivalent of a chain letter? If you want to utilize the processor in my computer, you can rent it for a fee."

No, it's charity. It's the contribution of unused computational power to help speed science and discovery in the search for cures and understanding of the inner workings of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Perhaps you can sell your spare processor cycles to the folders over at DU. They're lagging badly. (But they probably want to be paid, too...) ;-)

[brityank]

Glad you got it working, seems all of the Windows boxes I've ever worked on behave just a little differently. I am using WinXP SP2, but with the Classic/Modified Theme. My shortcuts don't have the quotes, yet I know others do -- I have no idea why the difference.

As far as the extra info, like Switches, Tools, and Tips are concerned, go get registered at http://foldingforum.org/ and look in the F@H Wiki in the top links -- lots of info there:

How do I know what the client flags (-switches) are and what they do? -- WIKI

> Console Client Configuration Options
> Linux Specific Options
> Windows Specific Options
> New Options

Make sure you verify them and they are setting correctly, or you could lose points. If you have any questions, then use the Forum to get answers; there's a good bunch of folks there, as well as the Pande Group jumping in and giving info.

From Tools I grabbed FahSpy and have that running for my house LAN, tracking my three processors; works great.

Keep Folding !