are you all running any specific flags with the SMP?

i have it running on a dual core 1.83 and it looks like it will take a little over two days to complete, but it should be in by the deadline.

also can you not stop/restart the SMP (i thought it didn't save positions in the WU, but that it did save the WU itself)? I was close to finishing then tried to restart and it just hung (reinstalled and trying again, but not trying to restart if I don't have to).

6/12/2007 1:22:24 PM

i've noticed that too, if my computer hangs or if i restart using the soft reset or hard power button (albeit not very often) when i restart the client, the work is almost always corrupt, and it doesn't revert to the last saved point like the normal WU's do.

the proper thing to do is close the client using the [x] button and let it shutdown itself, then initiate a reboot.

i always use the -local tag and as of late i use -verbosity 9 with the SMP client to better diagnose any issues...

for anyone who has a corrupt WU, all you have to do is delete the queue.dat file and the /work/ folder, then restart the client, it will then keep your config and just pull a new WU

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 1:31 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2007 1:27:33 PM

Quote :

"are you all running any specific flags with the SMP?"

I run -forceasm at the very least on most of my client setups. If you end the client abruptly (which happens often with normal PC usage, sometime the optimazations do not turn back on (you can tell theyre on by the SSE Boost OK line) and you'll be folding VERY slowly. The -forceasm flag forces the optimizations on. If you're running the client as a service, I believe you have to go into the registry to add a flag (at least thats how i did it).

Quote :

"also can you not stop/restart the SMP (i thought it didn't save positions in the WU, but that it did save the WU itself)? I was close to finishing then tried to restart and it just hung (reinstalled and trying again, but not trying to restart if I don't have to)."

Every client ive seen, including the smp, saves checkpoints, so you shouldn't have to start WUs over when you restart you system etc.

As far as stopping and starting go, if you install as a service its a little hard to start and stop the service (though i guess you could do it thought services.msc or something). I run a SMP client at home, and don't run it as a service. I made a shortcut to the executable (with flags like -forceasm listed there), and put the shortcut in my startup folder so it starts when Windows loads. If I need to close it, which I never really need to anyway, I can close the DOS window running the SMP client. I also use a program called TrayIT to make the DOS window running the client go to the System Tray.

6/12/2007 1:44:40 PM

^i do the same thing w/ the SMP client

Quote :

"Every client ive seen, including the smp, saves checkpoints, so you shouldn't have to start WUs over when you restart you system etc."

what happens sometimes, is that when the computer restarts w/out properly shutting down the client, the WU gets corrupt, causing the need to restart with a new WU

forgot -forceasm

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 2:19 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2007 2:16:46 PM

I'm not running the smp as a client, i just start it up when i want because i don't run it 24/7. When i shut it down (just close it) i think it restarts back up on the same WU where it left off. Is there a better way to shut the smp console down?

6/12/2007 2:20:18 PM

Quote :

"as for the -forceasm, i thought that was only needed on AMD setups, my C2D SSE boost is always on"

My understanding was, that if the client is abruptly stopped (which could happen with any processor), then the optimizations would be turned off for saftey of the processor or something...in case the Folding client caused the abrupt stoppage. I didn't think it was AMD specific but I couldbe wrong

I did find this:, but its from 2004 and is obviously outdated.

Quote :

"The -forceasm switch is used to force the use of SIMD optimizations (3DNow!, SSE, SSE2) after the Gromacs core shuts down improperly. If a machine crashes, whether due to FAH, power failure, or other source of instability, Gromacs will assume that the optimizations are causing the problem (a rather unlikely assumption, but still a conservative choice) and will disable SIMD optimizations. If it is known that a machine crashed for reasons unrelated to FAH, the -forceasm or -forceSSE switch can be used to re-enable the optimizations. The -forceSSE switch was introduced to manually force SSE optimizations when running on AMD hardware. There was, at one time, an issue with AMD processors that resulted in instability when SSE optimiztions were used, so 3DNow! optimizations were used by default. This issue has since been resolved, and the most recent cores use SSE optimiztions by default on all SSE-enabled hardware. The -forceSSE switch is officially deprecated and now has the same functionality as -forceasm. The -forceSSE switch will be eliminated in Version 5 of the client."

This is from the userguide:

Quote :

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

^ no you're fine, just click the X and it shuts down properly.

6/12/2007 2:22:18 PM

^^i do the same thing

http://folding.stanford.edu/console-userguide.html

-forceasm & -forceSSE was used back in the day, but i'm not entirely sure they're needed now, mine starts w/ SSE optimizations w/out these flags

i'll try forceasm and see if it cuts down on corrupt WU's

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 2:25 PM. Reason : .]

6/12/2007 2:23:14 PM

I think -forceasm is stilll useful...I've seen my client run with the the optimaztions turned off and its not pretty

6/12/2007 2:24:55 PM

are you on AMD?

6/12/2007 2:26:01 PM

naw my home PC is a Pentium D.

6/12/2007 3:00:22 PM

so my WU just hung. each step had been about 30-35 minutes, this one has taken around an hour. F@H is not using any of the CPU, the CPU is idling with nothing to do. what should I do there is nothing going on with the computer, just normal use...

6/12/2007 3:52:40 PM

^ when in doubt, restart the pc?

6/12/2007 4:07:19 PM

I restarted the FAH SMP program...

it says i had 8 improper terminations of core...

"Folding@Home Core Shutdown: FILE_IO_ERROR
Finalizing Output"

Not sure what that is or how long it will take... Should I wait on it or ????

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 4:21 PM. Reason : h]

6/12/2007 4:21:01 PM

try running install.bat first, from the program files/folding directory

i've had that happen before, i usually delete the WU and try again, if the install.bat doesn't work

make sure your computer isn't set to standby or hibernate also

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 4:27 PM. Reason : ;]

6/12/2007 4:27:04 PM

right i had tried the install.bat last time, but it did not help. the computer is not set to do standby or hibernate. i want a SMP unit to succeed... i was half way there. i might just go ahead and delete it...

6/12/2007 4:41:06 PM

does anyone have a copy of the smp version of folding? it seems that the file available now is corrupted.

6/12/2007 7:09:54 PM

why do you think that?

6/12/2007 7:49:00 PM

i downloaded it and it wont extract due to there being some error with it.

it tells me

"The data section of this self-extracting file has been damaged.
(CRC Error: Should be: 369A4FD3, is:22A25FFe)

[Edited on June 12, 2007 at 8:26 PM. Reason : error]

6/12/2007 8:24:41 PM

I'm using the -forceasm flag to see if that helps my shitty 265PPD on a CORE 2 DUO?!?!

6/12/2007 10:00:09 PM

anyone know what might be wrong with the extractor? or have a version that works that they can send?

6/12/2007 10:22:06 PM

do a google seach for the name of the file that downloads

6/12/2007 10:30:28 PM

alright, i'll try that

6/12/2007 10:31:04 PM

If that doesn't work, my S/N is in my User Info. Hit me up and I'll send it to you.

6/12/2007 10:45:11 PM

i got it running now.

and now i'm at 100%
so up to 4 machines working.
got 2 more to add on in the next couple days

6/12/2007 11:03:44 PM

I got this when running the -forceasm flag, just FYI:

Quote :

"Warning: By using the -forceasm flag, you are overriding safeguards in the program. If you did not intend to do this, please restart the program without the -forceasm. If work units are not completing fully (and particularly if your machine is overclocked), then please discontinue use of the flag."

6/12/2007 11:26:17 PM

^^ any SMP?
^ yeah that sounds right.

6/12/2007 11:44:42 PM

I reinstalled the SMP and as it's running it now, it works out to ~1200PPD.

I have no idea what changed, all I did was reinstall it.

6/12/2007 11:48:17 PM

hmm, since my last post about getting it installed it has only done 4% of a 500,000 step

that sound about right?

6/13/2007 6:50:11 AM

I don't think so. I started mine about the same time and mine's up to 28%.

Mine did the exact same thing and here's what I did -

- Uninstall the SMP client.
- Reboot
- Install the SMP client
- Run install.bat, make sure you use the default logon and your windows password.
*I did not have a Windows password before and it didn't like that for some reason, so I had to go set one. Try that if need be.
- You should see the little "If you see this twice, it's working...", well, twice.
- After that run fah.exe and in the setup make sure you do NOT tell it to run as a service.
- Profit

If you have to restart, shut the client down cleanly. I think it messes up if you don't. On any subsequent runs, just rerun fah.exe and you should be good to go.

[Edited on June 13, 2007 at 7:15 AM. Reason : .]

6/13/2007 7:13:35 AM

ok, i think i had told it to run as a service. i don't recall

6/13/2007 9:07:18 AM

anyone tried running folding on a graphics card? how many PPD can u get doing that?

6/13/2007 3:16:31 PM

only on ATI Radeon X1600, X1800, and X1900

on average 400 ppd

6/13/2007 3:26:06 PM

the GPU client gets less than the SMP client? I had no idea.

6/13/2007 3:30:48 PM

lots less...almost 80-90% less...

6/13/2007 3:59:45 PM

it's all about the number of cores, i heard the SMP is even more tuned for quad core... scary!

anyone upgrading to a bearlake in august?

6/13/2007 4:57:53 PM

yeah its designed for 4 cores, but works on 2 cores.

6/13/2007 10:26:15 PM

^^ I want to.

6/13/2007 10:58:28 PM

i do too, except i just got my E6600 like 2 months ago and it's a really good OC'r so we'll see... i can't wait to see some realistic benchmarks that aren't engineering samples...

6/13/2007 11:00:25 PM

Yeah i got my 6600 a few months ago too. And it's a great overclocker, so i don't know.

6/13/2007 11:29:51 PM

k someone explain this to me.

This username is averaging over 20k points every 24 hours.
http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?s=&u=216728

But it says he's only using 5 processors to do it.
http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/main.py?qtype=userpage&username=TROGDOR101

Hows that possible?

In fact their entire team looks a little fishy...
http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=49078

6/14/2007 11:39:28 AM

Yeah that is very fishy. 5 pcs can't generate 20,000 pts in 24 hours. Maybe half that, but even that's pushing it.

6/14/2007 11:47:16 AM

so the only explanation that makes any sense is sneakernetting

where you can fold on computers not connected to the internet. and then they use 5 pcs connected to the internet to submit their results. i dunno...
http://fahwiki.net/index.php/Sneakernetting

6/14/2007 2:50:29 PM

Says they should only be used for "deadlineless" WU's. How often do you find powerful enough computers to fun SMP folding that arn't connected to the internet?

6/14/2007 2:53:52 PM

I'd wager that the most powerful computers on the planet aren't connected to the Internet and probably shouldn't be.

6/14/2007 4:01:59 PM

The big guns here at work are all behind firewalls and vlan's and some crazy security stuff. Basically no data in or out of the secure enclave, so it can't d/l WU's. One I use for dev work just sits idle most of the day since I'm the only one that uses it...quad Xeon 3.6 CPU's - what a shame.

I'm trying to find some way to load WU's through my laptop. Are the WU's interchangeable across platforms? Say, can I download a WU on my WinXP laptop and copy the files onto the Linux server to run them?

If this thing could get internet, I think 3-4000PPD would be child's play


[Edited on June 14, 2007 at 6:01 PM. Reason : .]

6/14/2007 5:57:57 PM

No luck today...tried using a proxy, since there's a firewall rule that allows it to access my workstation and vice versa, but I couldn't get it to bind to the port. I'll keep working on it though.

6/14/2007 7:27:49 PM

hey...just wanted to let you know i got this installed on my parents computer

6/14/2007 7:40:36 PM

my computer is taking a ridiculous amount of time to complete 1 WU.

if i dont do anything else, it chugs along at a rate of 2500 steps every 1 hour 35 mins. -- roughly 25 steps per minute.

this 250,000-step work unit has taken at least a week, and its still not quite 90% done.

this sounds wrong to me.

any hints?

6/15/2007 12:35:11 AM

I've had problems with it deactivating the optimizations after a crash. I use the -forceasm flag and it uses them regardless. What kind of computer are you running it on and what client?

6/15/2007 12:56:10 AM

1.8GHz P4 512M, Linux FC6

FAH Client Version 5.04beta

6/15/2007 2:16:10 AM