How to set up Folding@home - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 17th Jun 2009, 10:17

http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/softwar...folding-home/1

By running the Folding@home software you can contribute to the world's largest supercomputer and help medical research. You can fold on CPUs, GPUs and under almost any OS going. Our guides will show you how to make the most of your hardware.

PT88 · 17th Jun 2009, 10:40

I know folding@home is for a good cause and all, but is having your PC running full whack all the time not hard on your wallet, lecky style?!

MajorTom · 17th Jun 2009, 10:42

I agree with PT88. It's a noble cause but I can't afford to do this.

p3n · 17th Jun 2009, 11:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by PT88

I know folding@home is for a good cause and all, but is having your PC running full whack all the time not hard on your wallet, lecky style?!

Article needs more disclaimer imo, TV style "make sure you have permission from the bill payer"...

alpaca · 17th Jun 2009, 12:27

Although you can look at the text log files each client produces, a better method is to use a third-party application such as [eurl=http://fahmon.net ]FahMon[/eurl]

i guess there is something wrong

mclean007 · 17th Jun 2009, 12:29

My house has electric central heating, so I run FAH whenever I'm at home during the winter, as it makes sense to me to be doing something useful with the power before it gets dumped into the room as heat - basically using my PC and PS3 as heaters. In the summer, though, I don't fold - electricity is too expensive; I don't believe in leaving electrical goods on more than necessary; and my place gets hot enough as it is without adding to it!

Sifter3000 · 17th Jun 2009, 12:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by alpaca

Although you can look at the text log files each client produces, a better method is to use a third-party application such as [eurl=http://fahmon.net ]FahMon[/eurl]

i guess there is something wrong

Fixed, thanks. Tiny typo...

StephenK · 17th Jun 2009, 12:29

I just turn it on when I'm doing other things. My pc would be on most of the day and I haven't really noticed much of a difference bill-wise using one core for folding and carrying on with email, browsing,etc on the other.

Skiddywinks · 17th Jun 2009, 12:55

Frankly excellent article James. I tried setting up F@H a few times, and ran in to so many problems, with fixes hard to find, that I just gave up.

Everything needed is nice and tidy in this article. Well done.

tripwired · 17th Jun 2009, 13:29

Nice write-up, thanks for the guide. I've now got started with my local PC and two 24/7 servers - configured to contribute to the bit-tech/cpc team of course!.

That FAHMon tool is pretty sweet too, I was a bit confused by it at first as I was pointing it to the F@H directory and it wasn't picking up the client - but that wasn't where the FAHlog.txt file was. Found it in the C:\Users\%NAME%\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-x86 (example path is from Windows 7).

Dave_M · 17th Jun 2009, 15:00

W00t what a complicated setup! I already set mine up before reading the artical. Turns out I did some things wrong.

But why is it better to run SMP compared to 2 regular clients? Plz explain.

Lizard · 17th Jun 2009, 15:46

In short - you'll get far more points per day running an SMP client on a dual-core CPU than two standard CPU clients.

pullmyfoot · 17th Jun 2009, 16:02

When you guys all complain of hot summers, you arent thinking of people who live in heat all the time. Here in Singapore a cool day would be 25-27 degrees. Hot will be like >30. Its usually in between.

Lizard · 17th Jun 2009, 16:33

Pah! 30C is nothing, when I used to live in Dubai it was regularly 45C+ for a large part of the year. Now that I live in the UK again I can fold more easily (and use the farm to heat my house nicely too

)

C-Sniper · 17th Jun 2009, 19:10

small disclaimer (and i might be wrong on this one but this is what i am getting) the smp client for Linux is for x64 only.

Boddaker · 18th Jun 2009, 03:33

Once I finish Trident, I plan to set up GPU folding on it, as it will have three video cards. However, I only have two monitors at the moment, and F@H requires each video card to have a monitor connected in order for it to recoqnize the card. Could you go over how to "fool" the folding client into thinking that there are more monitors plugged in? Some sort of wiring trick with the DVI port or something. Thanks!

p3n · 18th Jun 2009, 13:04

Connect the VGA cable from one of the monitors to the third gfx card? (assuming your 'using' DVI and they have both

)

zoot2boot · 18th Jun 2009, 13:24

mmm. i don't see any particularly amazing science coming out of this. just a whole bunch of wasted power messing up the environment... and scant justification for that faster cpu, that new graphics card. bit of a weird obsession imo.

uncle_fungus · 18th Jun 2009, 13:43

Define "amazing science"

uncle_fungus · 18th Jun 2009, 14:00

I know this is probably a little late now, and I haven't compared this to the print article in issue 70 either, but there are several misnomers on page 4 of this article.

First, the -local flag is deprecated and does precisely nothing in the version 6 clients since the registry is no longer used to determine the working directory for the clients. -local is implicit in version 6.

Second, multiple console clients (of the same type) can be set up in exactly the same way as the system tray clients. You only need 1 executable which is shared by all clients. The "Start in" folder is what determines where the client actually works from.

Edit: Why can't I delete my own incompetent double-post?

17th Jun 2009, 10:17	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	How to set up Folding@home http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/softwar...folding-home/1 By running the Folding@home software you can contribute to the world's largest supercomputer and help medical research. You can fold on CPUs, GPUs and under almost any OS going. Our guides will show you how to make the most of your hardware. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

17th Jun 2009, 10:42	#3
MajorTom Multimodder Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bristol, UK Posts: 71	I agree with PT88. It's a noble cause but I can't afford to do this. __________________ Steam: MajorTomG XBoxLive: MajorTom83

17th Jun 2009, 12:27	#5
alpaca llama eats dremel Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brussel/Leuven Posts: 275	Although you can look at the text log files each client produces, a better method is to use a third-party application such as [eurl=http://fahmon.net ]FahMon[/eurl] i guess there is something wrong __________________ my English may not be as good as I think it is...

17th Jun 2009, 12:29	#6
mclean007 Officious Bystander Join Date: May 2003 Location: Nodnol Posts: 1,597	My house has electric central heating, so I run FAH whenever I'm at home during the winter, as it makes sense to me to be doing something useful with the power before it gets dumped into the room as heat - basically using my PC and PS3 as heaters. In the summer, though, I don't fold - electricity is too expensive; I don't believe in leaving electrical goods on more than necessary; and my place gets hot enough as it is without adding to it! __________________ Demand Naked DSL in the UK!

17th Jun 2009, 12:29	#8
StephenK Nanomodder Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 224	I just turn it on when I'm doing other things. My pc would be on most of the day and I haven't really noticed much of a difference bill-wise using one core for folding and carrying on with email, browsing,etc on the other. __________________ Intel e6600 @ 2.4ghz \| 4gb Corsair Twin2X 6400C4 DDR2 \| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro + Silver 5 \| Gainward 7950GT 256MB \| iiyama ProLite E2200WS \| Black Coolermaster Mystique 631 \| Corsair HX620 PSU \| Asus P5B Deluxe \| 1tb SpinPoint F1 Desktop + 320gb Samsung T166 \| X-Fi Xtreme Gamer \| Creative Inspire T6100 \| Samsung DVD±RW SH-S183A \| LG DVD ROM \| Logitech Mx5000 \|

17th Jun 2009, 10:40	#2
PT88 Minimodder Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 23	I know folding@home is for a good cause and all, but is having your PC running full whack all the time not hard on your wallet, lecky style?!

17th Jun 2009, 12:55	#9
Skiddywinks Supermodder Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Caerwys, North Wales Posts: 408	Frankly excellent article James. I tried setting up F@H a few times, and ran in to so many problems, with fixes hard to find, that I just gave up. Everything needed is nice and tidy in this article. Well done.

17th Jun 2009, 13:29	#10
tripwired Minimodder Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: London, UK Posts: 36	Nice write-up, thanks for the guide. I've now got started with my local PC and two 24/7 servers - configured to contribute to the bit-tech/cpc team of course!. That FAHMon tool is pretty sweet too, I was a bit confused by it at first as I was pointing it to the F@H directory and it wasn't picking up the client - but that wasn't where the FAHlog.txt file was. Found it in the C:\Users\%NAME%\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-x86 (example path is from Windows 7).

17th Jun 2009, 15:00	#11
Dave_M Minimodder Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 36	W00t what a complicated setup! I already set mine up before reading the artical. Turns out I did some things wrong. But why is it better to run SMP compared to 2 regular clients? Plz explain.

17th Jun 2009, 15:46	#12
Lizard Addicted to upgrades Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 384	In short - you'll get far more points per day running an SMP client on a dual-core CPU than two standard CPU clients. __________________ James Gorbold CPC Deputy Editor Folding/Gaming as Lizard More power, we need more power Join the Custom PC/Bit-tech Folding Team (#35947)

17th Jun 2009, 16:02	#13
pullmyfoot superbacon Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 72	When you guys all complain of hot summers, you arent thinking of people who live in heat all the time. Here in Singapore a cool day would be 25-27 degrees. Hot will be like >30. Its usually in between. __________________ PII 720BE X3 @ 3.8Ghz \| HD4850 \| 4gigs OCZ Reper \| Gigabyte 790GX \| WDC 640gb Black \| OCZ StealthXstream 500W \| CM RC-690 Pure \| W7 RC Athlon II 250 X2 @ 3.85Ghz \| HD4670 \| 4 gigs OCZ Reper \| Gigabyte 770 \| WDC 500gb Black \| Vista Home Premium D80 \| Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-11

17th Jun 2009, 16:33	#14
Lizard Addicted to upgrades Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 384	Pah! 30C is nothing, when I used to live in Dubai it was regularly 45C+ for a large part of the year. Now that I live in the UK again I can fold more easily (and use the farm to heat my house nicely too ) __________________ James Gorbold CPC Deputy Editor Folding/Gaming as Lizard More power, we need more power Join the Custom PC/Bit-tech Folding Team (#35947)

18th Jun 2009, 13:04	#17
p3n Hypermodder Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 737	Connect the VGA cable from one of the monitors to the third gfx card? (assuming your 'using' DVI and they have both )

18th Jun 2009, 13:24	#18
zoot2boot Multimodder Join Date: May 2006 Location: aus Posts: 75	mmm. i don't see any particularly amazing science coming out of this. just a whole bunch of wasted power messing up the environment... and scant justification for that faster cpu, that new graphics card. bit of a weird obsession imo.

18th Jun 2009, 13:43	#19
uncle_fungus P/T Folding@home developer Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: York, UK Posts: 166	Define "amazing science" __________________ Join us in the Folding Chimp Challenge and help us put Maximum PC, HardOCP, overclockers.com, OCAU, EVGA, TSC! Russia & overclock.net in their place! Custom PC & bit-tech folding team: 35947

18th Jun 2009, 14:00	#20
uncle_fungus P/T Folding@home developer Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: York, UK Posts: 166	I know this is probably a little late now, and I haven't compared this to the print article in issue 70 either, but there are several misnomers on page 4 of this article. First, the -local flag is deprecated and does precisely nothing in the version 6 clients since the registry is no longer used to determine the working directory for the clients. -local is implicit in version 6. Second, multiple console clients (of the same type) can be set up in exactly the same way as the system tray clients. You only need 1 executable which is shared by all clients. The "Start in" folder is what determines where the client actually works from. Edit: Why can't I delete my own incompetent double-post? __________________ Join us in the Folding Chimp Challenge and help us put Maximum PC, HardOCP, overclockers.com, OCAU, EVGA, TSC! Russia & overclock.net in their place! Custom PC & bit-tech folding team: 35947