Major problems with getting Folding@Home to work!

[holokaustos]

Sorry for the noob alert, but I'm getting frustrated with this program for folding.

I downloaded, installed, and ran the graphical interface version, but it simply got hung up on "Waiting for core: step 5".

So, I uninstalled that version and installed the text only version. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get that to run, nor understand what it was I should be expecting to see (again, the noob status).

I uninstalled THAT version, reinstalled the graphical version, and am now getting a message of "Couldn't get work instructions" at the bottom of the screen!

I really want to help, but I don't seem to be making any headway with this. I've read numerous posts on different setting suggestions (e.g. Tawcan), but no luck.

Help, for I would much rather be :rockin: , than be :cry:!!!

Thanks...

[YARDofSTUF]

Hey, for the text only when you start FAH504console it should ask for a username, anyone you want, and then a team number, 15, and then about use IE settings, select no and then other misc stuff thats not important to getting it running.

As long as you have a net connection it should start going fine, wont find the core cuz it needs to dl it first and so it will say core not found and then should start to DL one.

[holokaustos]

So, how long does that take with a broadband connection? What about the "Couldn't get work instructions" message?

BTW: I'm currently on 'step 26', if that helps any. How many 'steps' are there and what are they?

[YARDofSTUF]

Ah if your on 26 that means its folding. each step is a percent fo the WU or Work Unit.

Every work unit completedgets sent back to stamford and thats one more little experiment they have completed.

[Mark]

go here and see what project number you are working on now.

http://vspx27.stanford.edu/psummary.html

it only takes a few seconds on broadband to send/recieve a project, and it only conects when it is done and needs a new project to run.

any other questions, please feel free to ask :)

[holokaustos]

Okay. Well, that explains some of it. I wasn't aware that it was actually doing something. You'd think that there would be a better indicator given than my black window, with only 'step blah, blah, blah' being shown.

Is there some sort of step-by-step guide for new people, one that'll explain what will happen and what they should expect to see on their PC? I tried looking on the site for Stanford, but, well, you know...their FAQ was written by scientists! :D

Thanks for the pointers!

[YARDofSTUF]

Well if all goes well it will just look repetitive

theres about 3 or 4 cores out now and sometimes they create new ones, so when you dont have one needed it will download it and then keep going on counting the steps.

Once you've completed a full WU and the results are updated your name will be added here:

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_list.php?s=&t=15

And from that you can see your progress with it.

Theres a lot of little bits of info around, a couple stickies at the top of this forum.

[holokaustos]

I'm still not entirely sure if it's working correctly. I checked EO and didn't find any listing for my name, but that may simply be because of the fact that I'm so new.

Unfortunately, though, I still having my F@H window showing the same message at the bottom, plus I'm back on Step 6, with the WU's completed showing as 'none'.

I read a couple of the stickies at the top of the forum, but it's still over my head. When I get home, I may just uninstall the current version and reinstall the text one, since most of the instructions seem to be for that.

Wasn't there supposed to be some sort of graphics showing while the program was running, or was that just for the screensaver?

[YARDofSTUF]

Text has no graphics, the graphics console should have something in the window I think.

[Mark]

to see if it running, hit the control + alternate + delete keys to bring up the task manager.

once that is shown, click twice on the CPU colume to sort by CPU usage, it should show something like FAHCore_"some number" at the top and show it using most of the CPU cycles, for instance here is what my task manager shows running F@H in VMware first and then 2 other instances of F@H taking the rest of the cycles.

http://members.speedguide.net/thesnake/cpuusage.png

[holokaustos]

I took a look at the Task Manager and here's what it showed:

http://i16.tinypic.com/4goauxe.jpg

As far as I can see, that's the only instance of Folding. Not much going on there...

[holokaustos]

Here's a shot of the F@H display:

http://i13.tinypic.com/35bbjft.jpg

That "Couldn't get work instructions" still bothers me...

[YARDofSTUF]

Ya its not folding, I dont use the graphical version so I cant help with that, sorry.

[holokaustos]

Finally, here's a shot of the link to see my stats:

http://i13.tinypic.com/2ptcoqo.jpg

[holokaustos]

Ya its not folding, I dont use the graphical version so I cant help with that, sorry.

Then I should probably just uninstall it and reinstall the text version; see if that helps (unless someone can give me some ideals on the graphical version).

[Mark]

when you are in task manager, what is the process that is useing the CPU the most ?

66 processes seems like alot for a desktop to me, any virus scaners on this PC ?

but ya i would also just run the graphical F@H, faster from what i have read also.

are you on dial up internet ?

[YARDofSTUF]

when you are in task manager, what is the process that is useing the CPU the most ?

66 processes seems like alot for a desktop to me, any virus scaners on this PC ?

but ya i would also just run the graphical F@H, faster from what i have read also.

are you on dial up internet ?

He was unsing 1% of the CPU.

[Mark]

He was unsing 1% of the CPU.

but i wonder what was useing the rest of it, i couldn't see from his screenshot, unless i missed it ?

[YARDofSTUF]

but i wonder what was useing the rest of it, i couldn't see from his screenshot, unless i missed it ?

99% idle

[Mark]

99% idle

alrighty then :D

[joecool169]

yea down at the bottom cpu usage 1%

[holokaustos]

Yeah, YoS is right. It was the System Idle Process:

http://i14.tinypic.com/2znwn4z.jpg

Not to mention that F@H is four spots above it and still pretty dormant.

Yeah, I have Norton and PC-cillin, but they're not of any concern.

I've been really busy, so I haven't had the time to install the text version. I'll do that tonight or tomorrow, since the graphical version still doesn't seem to be doing anything.

[holokaustos]

but ya i would also just run the graphical F@H, faster from what i have read also.

are you on dial up internet ?

Do you mean the text version of it, because everyone says that the text version is faster than the graphical one.

And I have standard broadband service with Comcast. Dial-up, sir?! :irate: NEVER!

[Mark]

Do you mean the text version of it, because everyone says that the text version is faster than the graphical one.

And I have standard broadband service with Comcast. Dial-up, sir?! :irate: NEVER!

yes i meant the "no non-sense text version", sorry for the confusion :)

[holokaustos]

yes i meant the "no non-sense text version", sorry for the confusion :)
No problem. Had me going there! :D

Just installed the text version. Here's a quick screenshot of it running:

http://i3.tinypic.com/2eaqski.jpg

Only concern I have is the fact that it asked to use IE settings, to which I chose 'No', per Tawcan's sticky. But, then, it asked to use proxy settings. Tawcan's sticky didn't state anything about that, so I chose 'No'. Will that be a problem?

[holokaustos]

Here's a full view of the installation, in case someone with more experience can catch a mistake I might've made...

Screenshot 1
-------------

http://i1.tinypic.com/2qva3it.jpg

[Mark]

No problem. Had me going there! :D

Just installed the text version. Here's a quick screenshot of it running:

http://i3.tinypic.com/2eaqski.jpg

Only concern i have is the fact that it asked to use IE settings, to which I chose 'No', per Tawcan's sticky. But, then, it asked to use proxy settings. Tawcan's sticky didn't state anything about that, so I chose 'No'. Will that be a problem?

it should work the way you got it running, i always choose no for those options as well.

[holokaustos]

Screenshot 2
-------------

http://i12.tinypic.com/29uvry1.jpg

[holokaustos]

Screenshot 3
-------------


http://i3.tinypic.com/47wvblh.jpg

[holokaustos]

Screenshot 4 (FINAL)
---------------------


http://i16.tinypic.com/48gzy0w.jpg

[Mark]

what CPU is this running on ?

[holokaustos]

A 3.20GHz P4. I have HT enabled, but I'm not using it with F@H just yet, at least not until I can get F@H to work under normal conditions. If I can get that to happen, then I'll look at setting it up to run with two instances.

http://i1.tinypic.com/4c3kh2h.jpg

http://i13.tinypic.com/2dsmkux.jpg

[holokaustos]

At leats F@H is showing something in the processes, even though it's still stuck at "Completed 0 out of 20000000 steps".

http://i13.tinypic.com/30m4a3s.jpg

[joecool169]

Don't bother with two F@H clients. HT is not dual cpu or dual core. 1 instance of folding gives best performance on HT enabled cpu's.

[holokaustos]

Finally! It seems to be doing something worthwhile! Tell me if I'm wrong...

http://i12.tinypic.com/44b4vnc.jpg

And do I need to keep this window open all the time for it to run? Can I just set it up so that it runs in the background, with no open window?

[Mark]

ya it is running now, good job :)

you can use this freeware tool to monitor it if ya like, it's called Electron Microscope III.......

http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/help/

[holokaustos]

ya it is running now, good job :)

you can use this freeware tool to monitor it if ya like, it's called Electron Microscope III.......

http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/help/
Wow, cool link! I think I'll try it out. Thanks! :thumb:

Nobody answered my question, though: do I need to keep the F@H window open for it to be running?

Holy Crap! Did I just post a reply with no screenshot in it??? :rotfl:

[Mark]

Wow, cool link! I think I'll try it out. Thanks! :thumb:

Nobody answered my question, though: do I need to keep the F@H window open for it to be running?

Holy Crap! Did I just post areply with no screenshot in it??? :LOL:

you can minimize the window, also you can either move it to the startup folder, or it gives you an option to install it as a service when you first set it up, that way it runs but you don't see it on the desktop.

[Debbie]

Welcome to the Fold holokaustos!! :thumb:

[YARDofSTUF]

Don't bother with two F@H clients. HT is not dual cpu or dual core. 1 instance of folding gives best performance on HT enabled cpu's.

2 instances run fine on HT P4s and faster than 1.

[joecool169]

I was just reading from here. (http://forum.folding-community.org/ftopic10427.html)

I guess it does say points are better with two.

[joecool169]

Ahhh, and this one is the one I remember the most.http://fahwiki.net/index.php/FAH_&_SMP

[holokaustos]

Welcome to the Fold holokaustos!! :thumb:

Thank you very much! Now that I've got it running, I really am beginning to like the fact that I'm making a positive contribution to something.

(BTW - I love the new avatar! Looks much better than the Nerdy Dog! Then again, I've always been partial to Snoopy and the Gang...:rockin: )

I was just reading from here. (http://forum.folding-community.org/ftopic10427.html)

I guess it does say points are better with two.

Ahhh, and this one is the one I remember the most.http://fahwiki.net/index.php/FAH_&_SMP

Thanks for the links. I'll need to check them out this weekend, when I have more time. I have to admit, though, what I had read here seemed to be stating that a HT setup would be better than just one CPU, so I'm glad to see that my initial impression was correct.

[holokaustos]

Well, I was able to look at the thread from fahwiki.net. Guess I was wrong, because there were some very interesting points:

"In simple terms Hyper-Threading allows unused instruction units of the CPU to be utilized in parallel. Whilst this can be very effective for certain application classes, for Folding@home it is not especially helpful..."

"However, if you try and run two instances of Folding@home on the same Hyper-Threaded CPU, they will both be competing for the same instruction units. This essentially means that each Folding@home instance shares its access to those instruction units. Overall a small performance gain is achieved due to the few calculations that can be run on the "spare" instruction units. However the end result is that the two WUs you are running complete in just under twice the length of time as a single WU would because of the afore mentioned instruction unit sharing.

The recommended procedure is to run a single instance of the Folding@home client per physical CPU, because this will finish a Work Unit (WU) in the shortest time. This is more valuable to the science of Folding@home, since the data from processed WUs is used to generate new ones. [Emphasis Added]

If you have an HT capable CPU, the best way of running Folding@home is to install 1 instance of Folding@home, and leave HT enabled. This way you will gain a slight performance advantage over disabling HT, since Folding@home will be affected to a lesser degree by other programs running."

I guess they're basically saying to NOT use two instances of F@H when you have HT enabled. Kind of makes sense, I suppose, but, still, surprising, considering all of the kudos I read here recommending it.

This caught my eye, too, especially considering that it's the exact same thing that's showing on my PC:

"Note: Windows task manager will show the CPU usage whilst running 1 instance of Folding@home on a HT enabled CPU to be only 50%. This is wrong. The single instance of Folding@home is working at full capacity on the portions of the CPU that it utilizes."

Very interesting. Anyways, thanks for the links. I'll see if I can hit the other one later today...

[Debbie]

Thank you very much! Now that I've got it running, I really am beginning to like the fact that I'm making a positive contribution to something.

(BTW - I love the new avatar! Looks much better than the Nerdy Dog! Then again, I've always been partial to Snoopy and the Gang...:rockin: )

Yeah, I hated those glasses! :rotfl:

[holokaustos]

Yeah, I hated those glasses! :rotfl:

These glasses are much more acceptable! Marcie rocks! :D

Maybe I need to read a bit more thoroughly on the forum, but real quick: how do I change the variable in F@H that designates how much of the CPU it uses?

[YARDofSTUF]

These glasses are much more acceptable! Marcie rocks! :D

Maybe I need to read a bit more thoroughly on the forum, but real quick: how do I change the variable in F@H that designates how much of the CPU it uses?

close FAH and create a shortcut for FAH504console and in properties add "-config" at the end of the target field. This lets you change all the config settings and will then continue folding.

[holokaustos]

^Okay, thanks. I'll try it out the next time I start up F@H...

[holokaustos]

Finally, some results!

http://i16.tinypic.com/2rm4nxc.jpg

Good to see that I'm showing up on the charts...

[holokaustos]

And I get a certificate, too!

http://i1.tinypic.com/2yyxls7.jpg

Just one question: where's my cookie? :rotfl:

[Mark]

congrats, nice work there, now just change the name to the_snake and all is good :)

:thumb:

[holokaustos]

congrats, nice work there, now just change the name to the_snake and all is good :)

:thumb:
LOL! Ulterior motive, I take it? Nice try! :D

[MissTynker2]

Good job! Welcome aboard the team. I have run both...the singles, and the hyperthreaders. The difference I have found is amazingly small. The hyperthreaders do take a bit longer per unit, and I have checked the same unit working on a single processor at the same time. The difference is not enough to even be concerned with, and the ht machines will run 2 units. I think its a matter of what you are personally comfortable with. :)