New beta bigadv coming soon needs 12 cores

What about that install from a memory stick? Somebody's name Father Ted or Pistol Pete or summat?

 

You can install most/all Linux distros from a USB stick:

Universal USB Installer EXE



Or there's always Unetbootin:

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

 

If you're thinking of going with *buntu i'd give Wubi a try.

Linux mint [which is based on ubuntu] has something similar but you have to manually extract it from the ISO

 

Thanks, but I want it within a VM, not as a dual boot. None of my media streaming software will work on Unix... I've tried.

 

My two bigadv rigs are each doing a P6903 frame every 46 mins, which seems very poor given their spec.

One has a pair of Xeon X5650s (24 threads total) and the other a pair of Xeon W5580s (16 threads).

Maybe it's time to upgrade the Fedora distro that's been on there the last 2+ years.

 

Can't speak for the W5580s but I reckon that with the current preferred build you may almost double your ppd on the X5650 rig.

Musky at [H]ardforums put together a fairly straightforward guide based on Ubuntu 10.10. Then with tear's kraken wrapper and something like i7z to monitor temps, you're set.

The whole configuration takes roughly an hour or so including waiting time. C'mon James, you know you want to grab that low hanging fruit

 

Even just using the Kraken should make a big difference if you want to keep the same distro, takes seconds to install.

 

Yes, you should be able to get the bigger bonuses - are you running the latest SMP client on those machines?

Musky's latest install guide here includes installing Ubuntu 10.10, and the SMP client, along with BFS, The Kraken, Langouste, and HFM, and some other tweaks. Works for me and I'm a complete Linux novice. Highly Recommended.

Or time to get yourself a sandwich for lunch.

 

Yeah, hidden away at the back of the latest magazine, is the 'Coming Next Month' column. One of the promised items is "we test the latest 12-core APUs from [AMD]". I'm really looking forward to seeing that.

Is it too late to request testing it on folding?

And if that's the fake item, we'll get "Pigs in Spaaaace"

 

I think Lizard must be running the latest client to pick up the 6903s. They just appear to be running dog slow for the hardware he's using.

Thanks Christopher, I'd completely missed that he'd updated and added to it. Will be giving that a quick read.

Edit: Subsequent to musky's guide the kraken download script would need modding to reflect the latest v0.4.

 

Am I to understand that folding on Linux produces more PPD than windows?

May I ask why? I know nothing of Linux but a mate of mine is "THE" Guru of Linux, and could set me up good and proper

 

I think it generally comes down to the fact that Linux is generally a lot leaner and more efficient than Windows, and it's ultimately built for 24/7 operations - Windows (desktops at least) get quite unhappy with long periods of uptime (we've had Linux servers up for 300+ days without a reboot). It has been proven that the same WU will complete faster on Linux and produces more PPD though.

 

Interesting...... I shall be looking into this, cheers mate

 

The extra stability is certainly helpful. The main driver for me was that -bigadv was only available on Linux to start with, though since then it moved to Windows as well, and then there was a period when it only ran on Windows. Now we have the uber bigadv, again running on Linux only. So having both OS available basically gives me more choice of units that I can run.

 

I'm a complete beginner with Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) but I'm running -bigadv without any problems so give it a go

Off topic I know, but being closly related to the dinosaurs, what on earth does "+rep" mean ?

Someone please enlighten an old codger

 

You may be thinking of "NotFreds Diskless Folding" - now overtaken by the relentless march of technology.

 

Hi One_Box, +rep means that you are adding to someones Reputation, thats the little green spot under your posts, its the Dungeon in Ogmore castle for You !!!!

 

Not totally clear out-of-context, but probably 'plus [one] reputation point' - to show the poster has awarded someone else a reputation point for being very helpful or something similar. They show up as the little green boxes underneath your avatar. I have given Musky on the [H]ardForum +1 for his very helpful Linux guide, and CoolaMasta gave one point to everyone who contributed to the ChimpsChallenge.

 

Thanks guys, I can sleep easy at night now

 

Right then, I've upgraded one of my dual Xeon rigs to Ubuntu 10 with all the trimmings. Unfortunately, while this has reduced the frame times from 46 mins to 41 mins, this still seems far too slow for the rig (a pair of W5580s).

After further investigation is going to have to wait till I'm back in the office on Monday, as something clearly isn't still right.