Folding@Home: CF Official Discussion Thread

[magicman]

Originally Posted by Marzeth

so you can fold on multiple PCs under the same team and donator name?

Oh absolutely, some of the top donators have hundreds of computers folding under the same username. If you have more than one pc lying around doing nothing, you know what you can do...

And the WU's are given out randomly as far as I know, so you'll be given both big and small WU's. Bear in mind the bigger ones will carry more points, so it doesn't matter too much. If you want a different WU, the only thing you can do is uninstall/delete the software and start again.

Bear in mind the deadline estimates are always well off. It probably won't take 80 days.

[Kazoon]

And the Intels are crunching the data and catching up fast, 7 WU's completed so far

[ceewi1]

As promised, draft one of a Dual Core folding guide. Please indicate any changes you'd like made:
Folding on a Dual Core CPU

Create two seperate folders somewhere out of the way. For example, in the C: drive, create the folders Folding1 and Folding2.

Download the latest "No-nonsense" text-only console (with built-in Windows-service-install option) from the download page: http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html

Now copy the file you downloaded to both the folders you just created. Load up the Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd). Type the following commands:

chdir \Folding1 (substitute Folding1 for the name of the first directory you created)
FAH502-Console -local -configonly (if you used a different version, substitute FAH502-Console for the name of the file you downloaded)

Here is what you should see, with what you should answer in bold:

--- Opening Log file [September 22 08:31:27]

# Windows Console Edition ##################################################

Folding@Home Client Version 5.02
http://folding.stanford.edu

################################################## #############################

Launch directory: C:\Folding1
Executable: FAH502-Console
Arguments: -local -configonly

[08:31:31] Configuring Folding@Home...

User name [Anonymous]? Your ComputerForum Username
Team Number [0]? 44358
Launch automatically at machine startup, installing this as a service (yes/no) [no]?yes
Use Internet Explorer Settings (no/yes) [no]? yes
Use proxy (yes/no) [no]? no
Allow receipt of work assignments and return of work results greater than 5MB in size (such work units may have large memory demands) (no/yes) [no]? no
Change advanced options (yes/no) [no]? yes

... Leave all options as default UNTIL ...

Machine ID (1-8) [1]? 1

Repeat for the other core:
Load up the Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd). Type the following commands:

chdir \Folding2 (substitute Folding2 for the name of the second directory you created)
FAH502-Console -local -configonly (if you used a different version, substitute FAH502-Console for the name of the file you downloaded)

Choose the same options as above, EXCEPT

Machine ID (1-8) [1]? 2

Whew! Your system will now fold on both cores. As an alternative to using the command prompt to load up the FAH502-Console files, you can create a shortcut to each of these files and set the 'Target' field to:
"C:\Folding2\FAH502-Console.exe" -local -configonly and
"C:\Folding2\FAH502-Console.exe" -local -configonly:



For those of you with Hyperthreading
Hyperthreading adds a 'virtual core' to your system. You can use the above instructions to run a second instance of Folding@Home on your Hyperthreading enabled system. This will not, however, provide the same benefits as running two instances on a Dual Core system, and it is recommended that you do not run a second instance of Folding@Home on your P4 with Hyperthreading


Monitoring the results
Running multiple instances of Folding@Home requires you to use the console version, which doesn't provide a simple, user friendly way of monitoring your progress. Enter Electron Microscope III.

Download EMIII from http://www.em-dc.com/ and unzip it. Double click on EMIII.exe and you will be presented with a configuration screen as follows. If you don't see the options page, click on the image of a microscope in the top left hand corner (green circle):

Click on the Browse button next to 'Box Path' (red circle). Navigate to the first of the two folding directories you created, and select the 'FAH502-Console.exe' file. Click the 'Add a Box' Button. Repeat for the second directory, then choose 'Save and Exit'.

This small application will show you your progress as follows:

[Motoxrdude]

Originally Posted by ceewi1

As promised, draft on of a Dual Core folding guide. Please indicate any changes you'd like made:
Folding on a Dual Core CPU

Create two seperate folders somewhere out of the way. For example, in the C: drive, create the folders Folding1 and Folding2.

Download the latest "No-nonsense" text-only console (with built-in Windows-service-install option) from the download page: http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html

Now copy the file you downloaded to both the folders you just created. Load up the Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd). Type the following commands:

chdir \Folding1 (substitute Folding1 for the name of the first directory you created)
FAH502-Console -local -configonly (if you used a different version, substitute FAH502-Console for the name of the file you downloaded)

Here is what you should see, with what you should answer in bold:


Repeat for the other core:
Load up the Command Prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd). Type the following commands:

chdir \Folding2 (substitute Folding1 for the name of the first directory you created)
FAH502-Console -local -configonly (if you used a different version, substitute FAH502-Console for the name of the file you downloaded)

Choose the same options as above, EXCEPT


Whew! Your system will now fold on both cores. As an alternative to using the command prompt to load up the FAH502-Console files, you can create a shortcut to each of these files and set the 'Target' field to:
"C:\Folding2\FAH502-Console.exe" -local -configonly and
"C:\Folding2\FAH502-Console.exe" -local -configonly:

Awesome man! Thanks!
I am now folding on two cores

[Marzeth]

I can't do folding in fullscreen on my desktop. my laptop has no problem though.
anyone know a patch or something?

[magicman]

People sometimes have problems with the graphical client, especially with games minimizing to the desktop etc. You could always switch to the console version (the instructions for setting it up are in the About thread.)

[Marzeth]

I don't get it.
I've been running F@H on two PCs (Desktop and Laptop below, soon PS3 as well) under the same team and donator names but it seems that they are not contributing to WU completion or Points.
On my Desktop, where I started folding, I've finished 3 WUs and it shows. On my Laptop, which I started after, I recently finished my first WU and it shows, but I cannot see the points or total WUs on the team website reflecting I've finished 4 and not 3.
Also, at a certain point, both processors were working on the exact same WU... is that why? But why would it give me the same WU?
Any ideas?

[magicman]

The points from a completed WU sometimes only show up a few hours after the WU's been completed and the results sent.

Also, the reason why the simulations are so useful to the Stanford boys is because of the repetition. They wouldn't learn much if the simulation was run once and then that was it. So you'll find not only can two of your pc's be running the same WU, you may find you get given the exact same WU to the same machine several times (although probably not consecutively). I've had that myself. It shouldn't be causing the problem you're having.

I'm not sure off the top of my head. Look in the installation directory for a text file or something that states the results have been sent off alright. I'll look into why it might be.

[magicman]

Oh, and ceewi1, that looks great. Would you mind if I cleaned up/resized the images a tad to put in the sticky? As you might have seen, I've added the content thus far.

Perhaps add instructions for setting up Electon Microscope? I know they've got instructions on their website, but I'm sure they can be simplified down to the basics. What do you think?

[ceewi1]

By all means, feel free to make any changes you'd like. I'll add setup instructions for Electron Microscope soon as well.