Howto setup Folding@Home

[ndhskp]

This first post is outdated, please see: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome and https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome/Install
_________________________________________________







I should note this howto is geared to 1 cpu however multi-cpu systems can still use this howto. But each cpu in multi-cpu systems must have it's own machine id.
Laptop users are encouraged to see the Folding@Home wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoldingAtHome?=%28folding%29) for special information. I don't use an laptop so that info probably will not show up here.
For information on the issue of Intel HT cpu's (HyperThreading) see this post at the stanford forums (http://forum.folding-community.org/viewtopic.php?t=10427)
I want to make sure that everyone knows that the author of the script used in this howto is jpkotta (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=36735). User jpkotta is to blame. wink wink. :)

This is a howto for Folding@Home on Ubuntu. Works great on Breezy-5.10 & Dapper-Drake-6.06.



Is Folding@Home for you? (Old & New Computers welcome)
It is a distributed computing project to understand protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases. It is run by or associated with (not sure) Stanford University. This software will benefit best if you leave your computer on 24/7. However the computer does not actually need to be on 24/7 however it will take a longer time to complete the job and if the time is long enough then you may miss the due date there by causing the WU (work unit) to be reasigned to someone else and causing delays. Remember that this project is about getting work units back to the researchers as fast as possible. So at the very least 4 to 6 hours a day of operation.




Step 1. Do not download the folding@home executable from the folding.stanford.edu website. Actually you can download it if you really want. Just run the script first to create the proper folders and then place the Folding@Home executable in No sudo /home/username/opt/foldingathome/config With sudo /opt/foldingathome/config

However I recomend that you download the single install script to your/home/username directory. If the link below ever stops working just get the file from the wiki. (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoldingAtHome?=%28folding%29)

File:<removed link per OP's request>
Click on the link ^ to download




Step 2. Extract the archive in your /home/username directory
Do this by opening your terminal. In Gnome this is Applications/Accessories/Terminal.KDE and others you need to find and open your terminal version. For those that don't have X or boot directly to console I'll assume you know what to do.

Replacing "fah_install-version" with the current name.
tar zxvf fah_install-version.tar.gzNote the following info is just to let you know about 2 files they are not needed for this howto.When you extract the script you will see 2 files called "client.options" and "system.options". These files allow you to pass arguments (options) to the client so those arguments become persistent where as before those arguments had to be added manually every time you started the client. Note (client is higher precedence than system). Syntax is bash. Example of syntax:
CLIENT_OPTS='-forceasm'If you need a list of options the link is at end of howto. I don't provide support for these 2 files.



Step 3. Navigate to the new folder in /home/username/folding and read the documentation.
cd fah_install
less README Press the letter q to quit reading the documentation.





Step 4. Install the Folding@Home client. Please note that if you don't have root access (su or sudo) you can't use sudo or su, so in that case just use the command without sudo or su.


Install command
sudo ./folding_install.sh install
At this point you will be asked if you want to install to the system or user. Remember that if you don't have root (su or sudo) access to the computer you will need to choose user (1). Note that I personally strongly recomend that if you have root access (su or sudo) to your computer that you choose number (2) "system".




Step 5. Configuring the client. The client will ask you some questions and you will give it some answers to optimize it for your computer. Note that defaults will be shown in brackets [] and you may just hit enter to accept defaults.
User name [Anonymous]? Make up one.
Team Number [0]? Only if you want to be a part of a team. However I recommend that you join team "TeamUbuntu" just enter the number 45104.
Ask before fetching/sending work (no/yes) [no]? Best to say no here.
Use proxy (yes/no) [no]? Most people will probably say no here. If not just enter your proxy info.
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]? Less than 1GB RAM no, 1GB or more yes. Remember you need to take into account your operating system and programs. Large units can exceed 500MB in ram requirements. Also if you are on dial-up modem service you should say no here.
Change advanced options (yes/no) [no]? Type no here if you want to keep it simple.Step 5a. Advanced options
Core Priority (idle/low) [idle]? Type idle here. There is no benefit to putting in low and in fact could actually interfere with your computers operation.
Disable highly optimized assembly code (no/yes) [no]? Type no here
Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints (3-30) [15]? I chose 30. This is how often to save the state. You should enter 3 to 5 minutes if you have a notebook or laptop, I myself use a desktop on battery backup. If you reboot, shutdown or crash and your state has not been saved your computer has to start over from the last saved state.
Request work units without deadlines (no-pref/no/yes) [no-pref]? If you have an older computer or a computer that's not on all the time you might want to choose yes here.
Ignore any deadline information (mainly useful if system clock frequently has errors) (no/yes) [no]? Type no here. But from time to time make sure your computer clock is fairly accurate.
Machine ID ( 1-8 ) [1]? Type 1 here. If you have a multi-cpu system then each cpu must have it's own machine id. It is very important to make sure that under the "Advanced Settings" option each copy is given a unique machine ID ( from 1 to 8 ). The first copy (cpu 1) will default to a machine ID of 1, so additional copies should be given IDs of 2 (cpu 2), 3 (cpu 3), 4, etc.


Step 6. The install script will now tell you the command to start Folding@Home

If you did not use sudo, then use this command. Note you still need to enter this command even if you chose to install the cronjob to be absolutely sure it is started as it gives immediate feedback.
/home/username/opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start
If you did use sudo, then use this command.
sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome startIf you ever want to reconfigure the options, use this command.sudo /opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh
or if you did not use sudo
home/username/opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh
or
sudo ./folding_install.sh update


Step 7. Once you are done entering the command open up in Breezy-5.10 Applications>System Tools>System Monitor and Dapper-Drake-6.06 System>Administration>System Monitor click the Resources tab and check CPU history to make sure it's at 100% all the time. KDE and others I don't know where your GUI system monitor is. For the console or terminal people type "top".


Step 8. Open your file browser also known as Nautilus and go to this location: /home/username/opt/foldingathome or /opt/foldingathome here you can check several things. Such as to make sure one or more directory's were created. There are a minimum of 2 directory's called 1 and config respectively. Go into both and explore. In my 1 directory I have 3 files of interest they are: FAHlog.txt, MyFolding.html, unitinfo.txt. Check them out as they all have very interesting info. By the way the directorys that are numbers are the actual working clients. Number 1 would be cpu 1 and 2 would the second cpu and so on. So the config directory is just used for configuration, no actual work.

The HTML file will be the one you use the most from here on out as it will allow you to get to unitinfo.txt from within your web browser and you can bookmark it.

Leave the other files and directories alone for best safety!


Step 9. Give Folding@Home the best chance possible.
Disable all screensavers.




Special thanks to the script author jpkotta (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=36735). Also user jpkotta (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=36735) has indicated that you may contact him via PM (Private Message) if you have problems with the script. Thank you to user: henriquemaia (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=13876) for pointing out some formatting tips.

Folding@Home links:
Team Ubuntu & chew the fat social talk (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=102313)
The main Stanford site (http://folding.stanford.edu/)
Official F.A.Q. (http://folding.stanford.edu/faq.html)
Dual core or cpu F.A.Q. (http://folding.stanford.edu/faq.html#run.dual)
The Stanford Folding@Home forums (http://forum.folding-community.org)
Version changes info (http://folding.stanford.edu/linuxchanges.txt)
Lightweight userguide from Stanford (http://folding.stanford.edu/console-userguide.html)
The one and only original Ubuntu wiki (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoldingAtHome?=%28folding%29)
Fahwiki (http://fahwiki.net)
A complete list of Linux command line arguments. (http://fahwiki.net/index.php/The_FAH_client_on_Linux)

User: WelterPelter (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=69353) has created a Folding@Home monitoring program. ProThink (https://sourceforge.net/projects/prothink/)


Cheers.

[ToastedToad]

Thanks, I'll give it a try soon.

[ndhskp]

Let me know how it goes. Also you can choose from any number of teams out
there if you decide to go that route not just team Ubuntu. I should have
mentioned that even if you sign up with a team you still have individual
statistics.

[henriquemaia]

Thanks a lot for this. I had a friend that told me once about this, but I never installed before.

I followed your howto and everything went perfect. It's good to know my ubuntu is helping othes actively.

Thanks again.

[ndhskp]

henriquemaia, yes it is nice to know that this has a fairly direct impact on our lives as opposed to other projects that are big ifs. Not to say that others are not worthy but just that for some people a little bit more immediate benefit is important. Also projects like Folding@Home seem to go with the spirit of open source/free software. Anyway glad to hear every thing went well. I also cleaned up the howto a bit to make it easier for new users.

[henriquemaia]

I also cleaned up the howto a bit to make it easier for new users.

I would suggest you to give some spaces between lines on Step 6, to make it more readable. You could also add some bullets and bolds. Something like this:

Step 6. Configuring the client. The client will ask you some question and you
will give it some answers to optimize it for your computer.


User name [enter a username] make up one
Team number: only if you want to be a part of a team.
Ask before fetching/sending [no] best to say no here.
Use Proxy yes/no: most people will probably say no here.
Allow receipt of work assignments and return of work results greater
than 5MB in size (such work units may have large memory demands)
yes/no: less than 256MB RAM no, 512MB or more yes.
Change advanced options [yes] type yes here
Core Priority [idle] type idle here
CPU Usage [100] if this comes up type 100
Disable highly optimized assembly code [no] type no here
Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints (3-30) [I choose 15] you can choose more if you have battery backup and have a stable computer. This is how often to save the state.
Request work units without deadlines [no] your choice but I chose no
Ignore any deadline information (mainly useful if system clock has
errors) [no] I chose no as my clock is accurate.
Machine ID ( 1-8 ) [1] type 1 here

[ndhskp]

Thanks henriquemaia.

The formatting ideas really make the howto look better. I gave you credit for the formatting suggestion.

[D2X2903]

Thanks for the tutorial. I installed Ubuntu last week after my Windows installation on my secondary (and largely unmonitored) PC became unstable again. Since then, I've been trying to figure out how to set this thing up with Folding. I just found this this morning, and now I'm back online with the second box.

- InNeedofHelp from team 36057

[ndhskp]

User D2X2903, glad everything went well with Folding@Home. Ubuntu forums are really the best place to find out how to setup up your Ubuntu box. There is just so much good info here.

[drizek]

oops, wrong thread....

*bump*

[XDevHald]

ndhskp: Great tut, but please note that this is a heavy tut to be doing for newbies and is great to do for those in advanced.

But for the newbies, could you please add the following below to your tut?

STEP: 1 Visit: http://folding.stanford.edu/download.html STEP: 2 Select the 5.04beta version and "Save As". Then open your home directory and create a FAH folder and drag & drop the .exe in your FAH folder. STEP: 3 Open a terminal and sudo chmod -x ./FAH504-Linux.exe STEP: 5 ./FAH504-Linux.exe and then enter the following information as ndhskp has provided for you to do in setting up your user information.
This is for the .exe installation and works like a charm :)

[drdeutsch]

How about adding in a tutorial about how to share Folding@Home so that users with EMIII running on Windows can monitor the progress?

[ndhskp]

Steve Myers said: ndhskp: "Great tut, but please note that this is a heavy tut to be doing for newbies and is great to do for those in advanced."

Actually it's very easy. All you have to do is cut and paste the code, you don't have to know really what's going on too much although knowing does help. If people want to follow your method that's great. So feel free to point them to your post or even write an alternative tutorial and send it in.

For drdeutsch: I have not a clue what your talking about.

[WelterPelter]

I have been running folding@home for years, but now I'm trying to set it up on this ubuntu box. I have downloaded the executable, chmodded it, put in in the /opt/foldingathome/config directory. I have the two scripts, and have renamed and chmodded them and put them in /opt/foldingathome/.

However, when I run the install script (as sudo), it keeps saying that I don't have the folding executable. Obviously I do, so what's going on here?

[ndhskp]

I have downloaded the executable, chmodded it, put in in the /opt/foldingathome/config directory. I have the two scripts, and have renamed and chmodded them and put them in /opt/foldingathome/.

However, when I run the install script (as sudo), it keeps saying that I don't have the folding executable. Obviously I do, so what's going on here?
You say that you download the executable, what do you mean by that? The 2 install script files on the Ubuntu wiki for folding@home are all the files that you need. I am not sure about the exact process but I think that they download the executable for you. Also you seem to have created a /opt/foldingathome/config directory manually well you don't need to do that as that happens automatically.

Try deleting everything in the /opt/foldingathome directory and just leaving the /opt/foldingathome directory. Download the 2 scripts and proceed to copy and paste the code into your terminal from the howto. Remember the 2 script files are all you need don't download anything from the folding at home website.

[WelterPelter]

You say that you download the executable, what do you mean by that? The 2 install script files on the Ubuntu wiki for folding@home are all the files that you need. I am not sure about the exact process but I think that they download the executable for you. Also you seem to have created a /opt/foldingathome/config directory manually well you don't need to do that as that happens automatically.

Try deleting everything in the /opt/foldingathome directory and just leaving the /opt/foldingathome directory. Download the 2 scripts and proceed to copy and paste the code into your terminal from the howto. Remember the 2 script files are all you need don't download anything from the folding at home website.

Here's what happens:

$ sudo ./folding_install.sh

Creating directory structure...

It appears that you have not installed Folding@Home yet. Would you like me to download it for you?
1) yes
2) no
#? yes

Please download the executable and save it to /opt/foldingathome/config.
Then re-run this script.
$

It just tells me to do it myself.

[ndhskp]

Here's what happens:

$ sudo ./folding_install.sh

Creating directory structure...

It appears that you have not installed Folding@Home yet. Would you like me to download it for you?
1) yes
2) no
#? yes

Please download the executable and save it to /opt/foldingathome/config.
Then re-run this script.
$

It just tells me to do it myself.
All right lets try this when you see the question about "would you like me to download it for you" don't answer with yes just put in a 1.

Make sure you are connected to the Internet when you are doing this.

Looks like this:
It appears that you have not installed Folding@Home yet. Would you like me to download it for you?
1) yes
2) no
#? 1

If this works great if not reply so I can continue to help you.

Also when you get to the question about running as daemon or manually and if you choose daemon use this command to start folding@home:
username@ubuntu:/opt/foldingathome$ sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start

[WelterPelter]

All right lets try this when you see the question about "would you like me to download it for you" don't answer with yes just put in a 1.

Make sure you are connected to the Internet when you are doing this.

Looks like this:
It appears that you have not installed Folding@Home yet. Would you like me to download it for you?
1) yes
2) no
#? 1

If this works great if not reply so I can continue to help you.

Also when you get to the question about running as daemon or manually and if you choose daemon use this command to start folding@home:
username@ubuntu:/opt/foldingathome$ sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start

Ahh. Well, my embarrassment is overcome by my joy. Happily folding away. Thanks! :-D

[ndhskp]

Ahh. Well, my embarrassment is overcome by my joy. Happily folding away. Thanks! :-D
What was it? Were you not connected to the Internet or was it the 1 as opposed to the yes.

Congratulations sir, most excellent! :-D

[WelterPelter]

It was typing yes, over and over and over, instead of one. Duh.

[ndhskp]

It was typing yes, over and over and over, instead of one. Duh.
I will contact the author of the scripts and suggest that he or she modify it so that it no longer matters whether one puts in a 1 or yes. That whole thing can be confusing sometimes. Anyway have fun.

[garnertr]

Greetings,

I didn't follow the previously mentioned HOW-TO on getting F@H to work, I managed to do it on my own... but one small question.

if I want to get it start in a Daemon, how would I get that in there?

Thanks!

[ndhskp]

Greetings,

I didn't follow the previously mentioned HOW-TO on getting F@H to work, I managed to do it on my own... but one small question.

if I want to get it start in a Daemon, how would I get that in there?

Thanks!

Well I don't know for sure. I know the Folding@home forums have a section devoted to linux and they talk about daemons there. However if you want you can just re-install folding@home using the same username and team numbers and any points you get from the new install will be added to any points that you already have. However if you do reinstall make sure your username and team numbers are exactly the same as before case sensitive.

If you don't want to re-install I can't really tell you anything as I originally followed the wiki myself. You would have to create a startup script that called the folding@home exucable and tell it to run as a daemon.

I would strongly recomend re-instaling and use the howto or wiki as a guide. If you really don't want to re-install then ask in this forum thread:
Team Ubuntu Thread (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=102313) or at the folding@home forum here Folding@Home Forums (http://forum.folding-community.org/)

Good Luck sorry I could not be of more help. However if you need more info or wish more discussion then feel free to post some more.

[jpkotta]

I'm the author of the scripts. Please add a note to the HOWTO to PM me if there is a problem (but read on). Also, you don't need to leave your computer on 24/7 to make running F@H worthwhile, but it helps.

I found this by accident from ndhskp's signature. I'm glad people find the installer useful. I've read the thread and will correct the issues that people are having. It should be much better. Give me a day or two to update and test the installer before inundating me with bugs.

I'm up to 142825 points, try to beat me!

[ndhskp]

I'm the author of the scripts. Please add a note to the HOWTO to PM me if there is a problem (but read on). Also, you don't need to leave your computer on 24/7 to make running F@H worthwhile, but it helps.

I found this by accident from ndhskp's signature. I'm glad people find the installer useful. I've read the thread and will correct the issues that people are having. It should be much better. Give me a day or two to update and test the installer before inundating me with bugs.

I'm up to 142825 points, try to beat me!

Hey great thanks for posting. I never had any problems because I just entered the numerical value "1" as opposed to yes. It can be confusing for users new to Linux to consider alternatives like "1" and so thats what was my reasoning to contact you.

I'll put up the note about PM and just say: Give the author a day or two to update and test the installer before inundating him with bugs. I'll wait till the new files are actually up first though.

What I am personally really looking forward to is the dedicated user and group mode. I don't know if you will have that in the next update or not but you got my support for it. Oh later this spring I plan on adding a couple of servers to my world so watch out here I come!

[Kaobear]

Worked like a charm, running it for the Ubuntu team as we speak

[ndhskp]

Worked like a charm, running it for the Ubuntu team as we speak

Execellent. Also feel free to post in the Team Ubuntu recruiting notice (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=102313) thread as that is were a lot of social talk happens for the team. Again congratulation.

[daredevil]

lol i too join u drizek

[ninuhadida]

just finished installing right now. most of the time running at 95% on my P4 3.2ghz :)

[ndhskp]

just finished installing right now. most of the time running at 95% on my P4 3.2ghz :)Super. And you have a nice Intel cpu with some muscle.

[sleepy127]

Thanks for the tut, I am a first time linux user and never coded a thing in my life so I know no command lines. After a couple of tries I got it to work and now I am folding away on my 7th machine (the others are some shape or form of windows)

[jpkotta]

Thanks for the tut, I am a first time linux user and never coded a thing in my life so I know no command lines. After a couple of tries I got it to work and now I am folding away on my 7th machine (the others are some shape or form of windows)

You're folding on the windows machines too, right?

[JAwuku]

This is all quite impressive. I followed your instructions, and now my AMD 2GHz is folding away in the background. I can use the web and other things, and not even notice any slowdowns at all.

[ndhskp]

This is all quite impressive. I followed your instructions, and now my AMD 2GHz is folding away in the background. I can use the web and other things, and not even notice any slowdowns at all.Yeh the folding client is designed to only use cpu cycles that are unused, in other words idle cyles. So it should never interfere with any other activity.

[henriquemaia]

This is a really helpful Howto. I have followed it again for another machine I set and all went well again. Now I have 3 CPUs working on this.

Thanks again.

[ndhskp]

This is a really helpful Howto. I have followed it again for another machine I set and all went well again. Now I have 3 CPUs working on this.

Thanks again.Your welcome. :)

[ForeverUnknown]

What would I have to change in the scripts to add flags? I'd like to add -forceasm -verbosity 9 .

[jpkotta]

Adding flags is the next step in the scripts. I'll work on it in the next few days. I have already added it, but have not tested or debugged yet. PM me if you want a preliminary version.

[ForeverUnknown]

PMed you jpkotta

[sleepy127]

You're folding on the windows machines too, right?
Yes I am folding with 8 processors right and hoping to add 3 in the next 2-3 weeks (waiting on a hub and a KVM switch). I am on the overclock.net team, I think we are in 60th place right now and I am 8th on the team. I have been folding for almost a year now and have over 200,000 points. My next project is a folding farm using one full pc as a server and the rest of the computers will not have video cards, or drives of any kind. Just a motherboard, processor, ram, nic, and PSU. I may even build a mount to put maybe 4 in one case.

[dage]

hi,
how can I active this program on start up ? I've installed it in my system (/opt/foldingathome),
If my firestarter is active, Do i have to configure it for allowing F@H ?
I can't find my "unitinfo.txt" at "/opt/foldingathome" anyone can help me ?
thanks :)

[nbcthreat]

Just a quick plug here for team Ubuntu. If you're folding, why not fold with the rest of us Ubuntu users? Just enter team number 45104.

[jpkotta]

hi,
how can I active this program on start up ? I've installed it in my system (/opt/foldingathome),
If my firestarter is active, Do i have to configure it for allowing F@H ?
I can't find my "unitinfo.txt" at "/opt/foldingathome" anyone can help me ?
thanks :)

It should automatically be set to start up on boot. To make sure, check that there is a file called /etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome and a file called /etc/init.d/foldingathome. If you want to start it right now:
sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start

For the firewall, I don't use one. I got too frustrated getting everything to work with it. I'll probably set it up over spring break, and I'll make sure what settings are necessary. By default, the client uses port 8080. This can be changed in the advanced options, or you could set your firewall to open this port.

For your unitinfo.txt, it won't be in /opt/foldingathome. The way I have it set up is there is a configuration directory where no folding is ever done. The installer copies the config files from the config directory to each client directory (1, 2, ...; one for each CPU). So the actual folding takes place in /opt/foldingathome/{1,2,...}, and that is where your unitinfo.txt will be.

[ndhskp]

hi,
how can I active this program on start up ? I've installed it in my system (/opt/foldingathome),
If my firestarter is active, Do i have to configure it for allowing F@H ?
I can't find my "unitinfo.txt" at "/opt/foldingathome" anyone can help me ?
thanks :)Open Nautilus and go to this location: /home/username/opt or /opt/foldingathome here you can check several things. Such as to make sure one or more directory's were created. In mine I have 2 directory's called 1 and config respectively. Go into both and explore. In my 1 directory I have 3 files of interest they are: FAHlog.txt, MyFolding.html, unitinfo.txt. Check them out as they all have very interesting info.

The HTML file will be the one you use the most from here on out as it will allow you to get to the other 2 files from within your web browser and you can bookmark it.Here's some more information. The best way to get to unitinfo for myself is through the HTML file as I have that bookmarked.

[ForeverUnknown]

The new beta script seems to be working well. I've tried it with different and multiple flags with no problems.

[Athropos]

The best way to get to unitinfo for myself is through the HTML file as I have that bookmarked.

If you want more information on what your client is doing, you can have a look at FahMon (http://fahmon.silent-blade.org/). There is no packaged version, but it is very easy to compile it on Breezy or Dapper as it depends on scons and wxwidgets 2.6.x which are available in the repos.

[ndhskp]

If you want more information on what your client is doing, you can have a look at FahMon (http://fahmon.silent-blade.org/). There is no packaged version, but it is very easy to compile it on Breezy or Dapper as it depends on scons and wxwidgets 2.6.x which are available in the repos.Maybe you should make a howto for FahMon it looks interesting. For myself I probably won't do it as thats a little too much work for me.

[WelterPelter]

I'm creating a little python app for monitoring F@H on ubuntu. Setup is a breeze and there's no compiling. Should be ready fairly soon. I've already got a (pretty crappy) test version ready that works fine. But I'm reworking the guts completely, so that will take a little while.

I'll post back here when it's ready...

[ndhskp]

I'm creating a little python app for monitoring F@H on ubuntu. Setup is a breeze and there's no compiling. Should be ready fairly soon. I've already got a (pretty crappy) test version ready that works fine. But I'm reworking the guts completely, so that will take a little while.

I'll post back here when it's ready...Cool we'll be waiting.

[mjwood0]

Quick question to all --

I've been folding for Team Ubuntu for a couple weeks. I've got FAH starting as a service when the computer starts. Everything seems to work well and I'm folding away, but I noticed in poking around my sytem that I have four instances of FAHCore_82.exe.


mjwood@mojave3:/media$ ps aux | grep FahCore
root 8852 0.0 1.3 17788 3432 ? SN 00:11 0:00 ./FahCore_82.exe -dir work/ -suffix 03 -checkpoint 5 -lifeline 8807 -version 502
root 8853 0.0 1.3 17788 3432 ? SN 00:11 0:00 ./FahCore_82.exe -dir work/ -suffix 03 -checkpoint 5 -lifeline 8807 -version 502
root 8854 84.8 1.3 17788 3432 ? RN 00:11 611:10 ./FahCore_82.exe -dir work/ -suffix 03 -checkpoint 5 -lifeline 8807 -version 502
root 8855 0.0 1.3 17788 3432 ? SN 00:11 0:00 ./FahCore_82.exe -dir work/ -suffix 03 -checkpoint 5 -lifeline 8807 -version 502
mjwood 8779 0.0 0.2 3064 752 pts/0 R+ 12:11 0:00 grep FahCore
mjwood@mojave3:/media$


All of the processes seem dependent on process 8807 - /opt/foldingathome/1/FAH502-Linux.exe

Anyone have any ideas?

[WelterPelter]

This is common behavior of the FAH client. Mine looks like that as well:

mwt@sequoia:~$ ps aux | grep FahCore
1001 8838 0.0 0.5 11896 5140 ? SN Mar11 0:00 ./FahCore_78.exe -dir work/ -suffix 02 -checkpoint 15 -lifeline 8797 -version 502
1001 8839 0.0 0.5 11896 5140 ? SN Mar11 0:00 ./FahCore_78.exe -dir work/ -suffix 02 -checkpoint 15 -lifeline 8797 -version 502
1001 8840 88.1 0.5 11896 5140 ? RN Mar11 1232:31 ./FahCore_78.exe -dir work/ -suffix 02 -checkpoint 15 -lifeline 8797 -version 502
1001 8841 0.0 0.5 11896 5140 ? SN Mar11 0:00 ./FahCore_78.exe -dir work/ -suffix 02 -checkpoint 15 -lifeline 8797 -version 502
mwt 28498 0.0 0.0 2936 748 pts/1 R+ 10:02 0:00 grep FahCore

Notice that on this page (http://fahwiki.net/index.php/Running_the_FAH_client_on_Linux), almost at the bottom, it says that the FahCore starts up "several" processes when it runs as a service. No worries.

[mjwood0]

Good to know. Thanks! I read that page but missed that point.

Anyway, all seems to be well then!

Thanks!

[WelterPelter]

The reason I noticed that particular section is that I want to implement stop | start | restart behavior with my FAH Monitor program. It doesn't look particularly easy, since you have to hunt down a number of running processes and kill them individually in a manner that is fairly unclean.

I'm looking for some good code sections in C++, Java, or Python that do something similar, if anyone knows of any.

[ndhskp]

The reason I noticed that particular section is that I want to implement stop | start | restart behavior with my FAH Monitor program. It doesn't look particularly easy, since you have to hunt down a number of running processes and kill them individually in a manner that is fairly unclean.

I'm looking for some good code sections in C++, Java, or Python that do something similar, if anyone knows of any.Are you trying to monitor each individual folding@home thread. Or are you talking about your programs threads. Not always but sometimes killing a parent kills the child threads I've noticed.

[ndhskp]

I have attached the log. The message is to long for display.

http://www.nathaniel-homier.net/misc-files/FAHlog.txt

[twopeak]

Just wondering, but how do I uninstall this?
I've followed the install instructions here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoldingAtHome
It makes my fan be very noisy...

[ndhskp]

Just wondering, but how do I uninstall this?
I've followed the install instructions here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FoldingAtHome
It makes my fan be very noisy...sudo ./folding_install.sh uninstallBut wait what's the real problem? Have you checked your computer to see how dusty it might be. If it's really dirty then you need to clean it. A dirty computer runs hotter than a clean one. So that means your fan would have to work harder and louder. Also please check your fan for any obstructions. In the past I have had a loud fan and I checked it, it was because a wire was rubbing against it. So basically clean your computer and check for obstructions and see if that don't improve the noise level. Still too loud then maybe it's time to buy a new fan. New fans are quieter and the fact that your old fan is so loud may mean that it's about to give up the ghost. New fans are very inexpensive.

Hey anything to keep you folding!

[twopeak]

Well, i haven't touched it between the installation and the noise.
It used to switch on once in a while, for example when it was drawing a silly 3d screensaver. I think it has something to do with intensive tasks.
I'm a complete n00b to linux, being used the no-noise Apple G5.

And it's for sure not dusty, i've put in extra ram one month ago and then ive blown 75% of all dust.

[MihaiM]

http://digg.com/science/Setup_Folding@Home_for_Ubuntu_Linux

[ndhskp]

Well, i haven't touched it between the installation and the noise.
It used to switch on once in a while, for example when it was drawing a silly 3d screensaver. I think it has something to do with intensive tasks.
I'm a complete n00b to linux, being used the no-noise Apple G5.

And it's for sure not dusty, i've put in extra ram one month ago and then ive blown 75% of all dust.Yes when the cpu is doing hard work it gets alot warmer and the cooling fans ramp up to keep it cool. You might check with your local computer store about getting a quieter fan, meaning quieter at top speed. But I understand if you don't want to buy a new fan and want to get rid of Folding@Home because fan noise is very irritating. I am hearing impaired and wear a hearing aid but I still can hear my fans and the difference is astounding when my computer is off.

Anyway I am still glad you have decided to use Ubuntu.

[ndhskp]

http://digg.com/science/Setup_Folding@Home_for_Ubuntu_Linux

Nice! although it only has 2 Diggs at the time of this writing.

[WelterPelter]

Anyone want to be the guinea pig for a very alpha folding@home monitor I wrote in Python? Will only work with a one fah setup.

Simple and effective - will show the percentage of the current work unit even when minimized. Nothing fancy. Not my problem if it sets your box on fire. ;)

I've been using it for weeks, and would now like some feedback from users.

[ndhskp]

Anyone want to be the guinea pig for a very alpha folding@home monitor I wrote in Python? Will only work with a one fah setup.

Simple and effective - will show the percentage of the current work unit even when minimized. Nothing fancy. Not my problem if it sets your box on fire. ;)

I've been using it for weeks, and would now like some feedback from users.Okay I'll be your guinea pig, where do I get it or how.

[WelterPelter]

I'll send it to you. - Should be in your inbox.

[ndhskp]

I'll send it to you. - Should be in your inbox.Okay, WelterPelter sent it to me. After checking it out for a few minutes I am impressed. Also it's very easy to set up and is self explanatory. For Folding@Home geeks it's just plain fun. I will now be using this on a regular basis.

C'mon everybody contact WelterPelter and ask for a copy and try it out.

[jpkotta]

Why don't you just attach it to your post?

[ndhskp]

Why don't you just attach it to your post?I will PM WelterPelter and ask him if I can put up the file. It's probably okay I just want to make sure.

[WelterPelter]

See next post for downloadable application.

Thanks for the good review, ndhskp. :)

[WelterPelter]

OK. Here's a version of the app, which is called "Protein Think", for folks to try out.

Please realize it may not work right. It's still in alpha.

I look forward to any feedback. Thanks.

[drizek]

Very cool, works great here.

[ndhskp]

I am hosting the program as well. But if WelterPelter finds a more permanent home (host) then I will take it down at that point.

Edit: took it off my site as it is now at Sourceforge.

[WelterPelter]

Protein Think is now hosted at SourceForge. Get the alpha release here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/prothink/

Thanks ndhskp! You got me going on this thing.

[ndhskp]

Protein Think is now hosted at SourceForge. Get the alpha release here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/prothink/

Thanks ndhskp! You got me going on this thing.Very cool. Your on Sourceforge! And thank you for a cool program WelterPelter.

Everybody who wants to try the program get it at the Sourceforge page as that's where the current file will reside.

[WelterPelter]

For anyone who's using Protein Think, there have been two updates to the alpha release. You won't have to setup again, just replace the files and restart.

CAUTION: if your hidden .stats directory is in your protein_think folder, make sure you don't erase that. However, if you do, just go through the setup again and you'll be fine.

These little fixes are coming fast and furious lately, so don't be afraid to check back at sourceforge every once in a while for a new version. :cool:

[WelterPelter]

Yet another release (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=164311) that fixes some bugs, especially if your team name has spaces in it (unlike the TeamUbuntu name).

Since I'm updating this program a lot, you main want to select the "monitor" button on the download file page. That will automatically email you if there is a new file release.

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

I have a few questions.

If I install :fah_install-20060313.tar.gz

Will it create the directories needed? Or do I need to mkdir /home/folding_at_home or some such? move the tar.gz file to that newly named directory and "open" it once it is there?

Will it run at boot-up without the need for user intervention?

I can have the computer on 8 hours a day, but if I read the various posts here, if the screensaver is working, Folding is asleep? No work being done? Is there a way around this, other than turning the screensaver off? --A way around for someone who has been using Ubuntu/Linux since January 2006, that is?

[jpkotta]

Just follow the instructions. Untar the file, run the install script, and then you can safely delete the directory that got created by the tarball (fah_install).

It will automatically start at boot time if you install to the system. If you install as user it will restart every hour, unless it's already running.

If you run a screensaver that uses a lot of CPU cycles, then you will do less folding, and instead display pretty pictures. Personally, I choose a pretty screensaver that doesn't use a lot of CPU, "Intermomentary". But a screensaver won't turn FAH off, it just sucks away CPU cycles from it.

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

Why?

mark@lexington:~$ tar zxvf fah_install-version.tar.gz
tar: fah_install-version.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
mark@lexington:~$

[ndhskp]

Why?

mark@lexington:~$ tar zxvf fah_install-version.tar.gz
tar: fah_install-version.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
mark@lexington:~$You probably downloaded the script to your desktop. Try this:cd /home/put-your-username-here/DesktopNow try following the instructions.

[jpkotta]

Don't literally type 'version'. If you're using the current one from the wiki,
tar zxvf fah_install-20060313.tar.gz

Also, as ndhskp said, you have to be in the directory that you saved the file in. If you lost it,
find ~ -name 'fah_install*.tar.gz'

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

I'll get it right, eventually:

mark@lexington:~$ tar zxvf /home/mark/fah_install-20060313.tar-2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

mark@lexington:~$ tar zxvf fah_install-20060313.tar-2

gzip: stdin: not in gzip format
tar: Child returned status 1
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
mark@lexington:~$

I deleted the downloaded .tar.gz and downloaded a fresh copy. Without the .tar-2. I moved the file to /home

mark@lexington:/home$ tar zxvf fah_install-20060613.tar.gz
tar: fah_install-20060613.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

Twilight Zone, anyone?

[ndhskp]

I'll get it right, eventually:

mark@lexington:/home$ tar zxvf fah_install-20060613.tar.gz
tar: fah_install-20060613.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

Twilight Zone, anyone?I am confused here. Are you sure you moved it to your home folder. You can keep it on your desktop if you want, it really does not make any difference where you place it. Open your file browser and go to your home folder to see if the file is there. Another thing is to put the file on your desktop and right click it and select extract here, but this is assuming your using the Gnome desktop.

[jpkotta]

Why is it getting renamed to *-2? Whatever. Just redownload the file. Anywhere. It doesn't matter. Just make sure that the filename is "fah_install-...". Then run the find command.
find ~ -name 'fah_install*'
It will tell you where the file is if it is anywhere in your home directory. So let's say it is in /home/mark/supersecretdir:
$ find ~ -name 'fah_install*'
/home/mark/supersecretdir/fah_install-20060313.tar.gz
$ cd ~/supersecretdir
$ tar zxvf fah_install-20060313.tar.gz

You shouldn't do things in /home, that's basically a system directory, a place for all users' home directories. You don't want to do things in /home anymore than you want to do things in /. Do your work in /home/username (aka $HOME, aka ~), or subdirectories of it.

We will get this thing installed.

[ndhskp]

You shouldn't do things in /home, that's basically a system directory, a place for all users' home directories. You don't want to do things in /home anymore than you want to do things in /. Do your work in /home/username (aka $HOME, aka ~), or subdirectories of it.

We will get this thing installed.Actually by /home directory I meant /home/username. I guess I've been using Linux long enough that I had assumed that everbody would know what I was talking about, I sometimes forget that people will take things literally or that they are new users. Always much harder to get myself across using words. Jpkotta is right always use /home/username.

I will keep it in my mind for the future that not everyone will understand that when I say home I mean username home so from now on I will use /home/username. That can be confusing to others for sure. Thanks for catching that.

So Mark_in_Hollywood does this help you the distinction between /home and home/username.

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

Yes, distinction now understood. I have moved the fah...tar.gz to:

/home/mark

doing

ls

shows it residing there.

doing

mark@lexington:~$ sudo tar zxvf fah_install-20060613.tar.gz
tar: fah_install-20060613.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

Anybody else got any ideas>

[jpkotta]

I'm baffled. If the file is in the directory, how can tar not find it? You don't need to use sudo to untar the file, but it should work anyway. I decided to install this on a school computer, just to see if there's some problem with the tarball on the wiki. It worked fine, but I found a bug (nothing major). Anyway, when I get home tonight, I'll fix the bug, upload the new version to the wiki, and make a zip file and post it here. Maybe a zip file will work better than a tarball, but I doubt it. Have you had trouble with other .tar.gz files?

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

Had any trouble with .tar.gz??

Hmmmm

Well, I'm quite embarassed to say that I'm not sure.

On one occasion I did a ./ for something. Mostly I've learned to let Synaptic do the work. Then Automatix and Update Manager.

I try to stay out of the operating system. This is my third time installing ubuntu, the two prior having blow up. As much as I want to Fold, I much more don't want to do a re-install. I'm using a 56K modem, the update/upgrade took over 7x24 hour day to download it all.

Please be patient. I've use Ubuntu since March of this year. Before that Fedora Core 4 since January 21st, 2006. Fedora blew up as I tried to update the OS. I got handed an Ubuntu CD and have never looked back.

I'm going to move that FAH file around and try to see what is "up".

Thanks for your timely, kindly on-going support.

[jpkotta]

Here's an updated zipfile.

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

So I saw the .zip file. Clicked it for downloading and "saved" it rather than having Firefox "open" it. It saved. Then I could do nothing with it. Called Nautilis and had the Archive Manager "open" it. A list of file appeared. The README had no instructions as to how to execute the installation. OK. I will try running the .sh in a terminal with ./

Wish me luck!!

[OfficeLinebacker]

Adding flags is the next step in the scripts. I'll work on it in the next few days. I have already added it, but have not tested or debugged yet. PM me if you want a preliminary version.
Any update on this, jpkotta? I'd like to do the forceasm -verbosity 9 thing, also.

Also, the script still downloads version 5.02 of the client, while the most current release is 5.04.

PM on the way.

[ndhskp]

Any update on this, jpkotta? I'd like to do the forceasm -verbosity 9 thing, also.

Also, the script still downloads version 5.02 of the client, while the most current release is 5.04.

PM on the way.The latest script on the wiki and howto has full support for options. You should install the latest script. Also 5.04 is a beta client. The script only downloads the latest stable version. If you really want to download 5.04 then open Gedit or your favorite text editor and find all instances of 5.02 and replace them with 5.04 and save the file. If the editor ask to overwrite in the proccess of saving say yes.

[ndhskp]

So I saw the .zip file. Clicked it for downloading and "saved" it rather than having Firefox "open" it. It saved. Then I could do nothing with it. Called Nautilis and had the Archive Manager "open" it. A list of file appeared. The README had no instructions as to how to execute the installation. OK. I will try running the .sh in a terminal with ./

Wish me luck!!Well did it work, I hope so.

[OfficeLinebacker]

The latest script on the wiki and howto has full support for options. You should install the latest script. Also 5.04 is a beta client. The script only downloads the latest stable version. If you really want to download 5.04 then open Gedit or your favorite text editor and find all instances of 5.02 and replace them with 5.04 and save the file. If the editor ask to overwrite in the proccess of saving say yes.
You say I should install the latest version; what if I already have a version installed?

[OfficeLinebacker]

Also, how do I know which version I have installed?

I think folding@home should be a package you can install via apt-get / synaptic. That would be a big boost for the project.

[jpkotta]

Stealing my avatar, eh? Or maybe I stole yours? Well, the more fractals, the better.

To run with the beta client, you have to edit exactly one line in the installer and exactly one line in the init script. Maybe I'll add a question in the installer that asks if you want the beta client or not. The magic line is the one with "executable=". I would recommend removing everything first before getting the beta client, so you have a clean install.

You can safely rerun the installer with the "update" option. It will not overwrite your current options files (unless you tell it to), nor the work queue. You can update if even while the client is running. Update only reinstalls the helper scripts, it does nothing with the client itself.

I don't think it's possible to make this a .deb file. You must download the client from Stanford's web site. You have to manually configure the client (unless you want to fold as Anonymous for Team Default). I don't think putting it in the repos makes it any easier to install. Anyone who wants to run it will search the forums or the wiki when they don't find it in the repos, and find the installer. And the main reason is that I'm lazy, and I don't want to learn how to make a .deb package (at least not right now). Someone else is welcome to, as long as the above problems are worked around.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Stealing my avatar, eh? Or maybe I stole yours? Well, the more fractals, the better.

To run with the beta client, you have to edit exactly one line in the installer and exactly one line in the init script. Maybe I'll add a question in the installer that asks if you want the beta client or not. The magic line is the one with "executable=". I would recommend removing everything first before getting the beta client, so you have a clean install.

You can safely rerun the installer with the "update" option. It will not overwrite your current options files (unless you tell it to), nor the work queue. You can update if even while the client is running. Update only reinstalls the helper scripts, it does nothing with the client itself.

I don't think it's possible to make this a .deb file. You must download the client from Stanford's web site. You have to manually configure the client (unless you want to fold as Anonymous for Team Default). I don't think putting it in the repos makes it any easier to install. Anyone who wants to run it will search the forums or the wiki when they don't find it in the repos, and find the installer. And the main reason is that I'm lazy, and I don't want to learn how to make a .deb package (at least not right now). Someone else is welcome to, as long as the above problems are worked around.
My avatar is brighter and bigger than yours! OfficeLinebacker FTW!

OK, I am not too worried about the version of the executable. What about options like verbosity -9 and advmethods, etc?

[jpkotta]

From the README:

Configuration

There are two ways to configure the client. First, you can use the client's
question/answer configuration. The reconfigure.sh script, located in the
foldingathome directory, is the proper way to do this. Using it ensures that
everything will be updated correctly.

The other route to configuration is by giving options to the client when
starting it. The init script will get these options from two sources. The
first is /etc/default/foldingathome. This is for system-wide options. All
clients will look for it, even those installed to a user's $HOME directory. The
other place is in the configuration directory, foldingathome/config. In here
there should be an option file for each client. These per-client options will
override the system-wide options.

This makes sense to me. If it is confusing to you, let me know so I can fix it.

[Mark_in_Hollywood]

Well did it work, I hope so.

Sadly, I report that death of my Folding at Home Project.

I tried the tar.gz, I tried the .zip and neither will write directories, etc. I'm more than baffled.

I haven't modified a thing of Ubuntu, without using Synaptic, Update Manager or Automatix. I haven't modified a .conf file anywhere. According to Update Manager, I have "everything" up-to-date.

So, for now, I give up and will revisit this issue once Dapper Drake is up and running.

NUTS!!!

[OfficeLinebacker]

From the README:



This makes sense to me. If it is confusing to you, let me know so I can fix it. jpkotta, I just ran reconfigure, and that's only for options within the program. I am talking about command line arguments. most notably -verbosity 9. How do I set those? Or are those in the realm of the second way?

edit: the second way seems to just allow editing of the client.cfg file, which again does not affect the arguments passed to the program, I don't believe

[ndhskp]

Sadly, I report that death of my Folding at Home Project.

I tried the tar.gz, I tried the .zip and neither will write directories, etc. I'm more than baffled.

I haven't modified a thing of Ubuntu, without using Synaptic, Update Manager or Automatix. I haven't modified a .conf file anywhere. According to Update Manager, I have "everything" up-to-date.

So, for now, I give up and will revisit this issue once Dapper Drake is up and running.

NUTS!!!Shoot, that always sucks when you run up against something like that. I know that I have been in that situation myself many times. Experiance Ubuntu some more and someday in the future just try agin. Dapper Drake 6.06 comes out in June so maybe sometime this fall. Good luck.

[ndhskp]

jpkotta, I just ran reconfigure, and that's only for options within the program. I am talking about command line arguments. most notably -verbosity 9. How do I set those? Or are those in the realm of the second way?

edit: the second way seems to just allow editing of the client.cfg file, which again does not affect the arguments passed to the program, I don't believeOkay when you downloaded the script and uncompressed it there should have been 2 files called client and system. Look in those files for an example. I don't use those files myself, I used to until jpkotta pointed something out to me. Any way I can't remember if you edit the files then run the installer or edit the files in the folding dir, you'll have to ask jpkotta about that. Example of client.options file. Remember Linux command line arguments go here or system, of course.# Folding@Home Linux client options.

# This file contains per-client options. It will override options specified in
# /etc/default/foldingathome, if it exists.

# Use the CLIENT_OPTS variable to set any options that you want the client to
# use.
# Example: CLIENT_OPTS='-advmethods -forceasm'

# Run the client executable with the help option (e.g. "FAH504-Linux.exe -help")
# to learn what options are available.

# Options specified here will override system-wide options.
# To keep system-wide options, use CLIENT_OPTS="$CLIENT_OPTS -opt1 -opt2 ..."
# Remember that double quotes are different than single quotes.

#CLIENT_OPTS=''Oh ya, I almost forgot to tell you that these files only come with the more recent scripts. Like I said you probably want to download and install the latest script. Uninstall your current one by using sudo ./folding_install.sh uninstall

[OfficeLinebacker]

OK, thanks. I will wait for Jonathan to post again before taking any action.

I did notice that I do not appear to have a /etc/default/foldingathome file on my system.

Thanks for all your help guys. I am used to doing this in WIndows with regedit, I like knowing what my performance fraction is.

[jpkotta]

Download the latest installer tarball from the wiki. Unpack and run the installer with the update option. You can edit the relevant files before or after you install. If you're installing to the system, then the relevant files will be /etc/default/foldingathome and /opt/foldingathome/config/client?.options. BTW, most config files for daemons ("services" in Windows) are in /etc/default (on Debian systems, anyway). I guess the nice thing about the registry is that everything is in one place. Of course, that's also the problem with it. I really wish distributions would standardize where files go.

[OfficeLinebacker]

OK, got it. I think I had a version from March. DLed the version from 4/21 and edited the systemwide options file. Thanks! (And sorry for being so dense--your help is really, REALLY appreciated).

[OfficeLinebacker]

Hey, whoever uses this howto, post what team you fold for, and if you wish your username. I fold for 2cpu.com. team #3074. Lumberg is my username!

[ndhskp]

Hey, whoever uses this howto, post what team you fold for, and if you wish your username. I fold for 2cpu.com. team #3074. Lumberg is my username!Uh, actually the social talk happens over at Team Ubuntu located here: Folding social talk (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=102313). Please use that thread for social talk. Don't worry OfficeLinebacker they are very friendly over there. I have had good conversations there. So come on over and join us dude!

[OfficeLinebacker]

Uh, actually the social talk happens over at Team Ubuntu located here: Folding social talk (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=102313). Please use that thread for social talk. Don't worry OfficeLinebacker they are very friendly over there. I have had good conversations there. So come on over and join us dude!
Oh OK, thanks for keeping me in check in a friendly way.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Well, whatever I did, folding at home now no longer is automatically started at startup.

](*,)

[OfficeLinebacker]

OK, going nuts here. I finally got folding to start on my machine, but the flags I specified in

/opt/foldingathome/config/client1.options


# Folding@Home Linux client options.

# This file contains per-client options. It will override options specified in
# /etc/default/foldingathome, if it exists.

# Use the CLIENT_OPTS variable to set any options that you want the client to
# use.
# Example: CLIENT_OPTS='-advmethods -forceasm'

# Run the client executable with the help option (e.g. "FAH504-Linux.exe -help")
# to learn what options are available.

# Options specified here will override system-wide options.
# To keep system-wide options, use CLIENT_OPTS="$CLIENT_OPTS -opt1 -opt2 ..."
# Remember that double quotes are different than single quotes.

#CLIENT_OPTS='-verbosity 9 -forceasm'



did not get applied!

GRRRR!

[ndhskp]

OK, going nuts here. I finally got folding to start on my machine, but the flags I specified in

/opt/foldingathome/config/client1.options


# Folding@Home Linux client options.

# This file contains per-client options. It will override options specified in
# /etc/default/foldingathome, if it exists.

# Use the CLIENT_OPTS variable to set any options that you want the client to
# use.
# Example: CLIENT_OPTS='-advmethods -forceasm'

# Run the client executable with the help option (e.g. "FAH504-Linux.exe -help")
# to learn what options are available.

# Options specified here will override system-wide options.
# To keep system-wide options, use CLIENT_OPTS="$CLIENT_OPTS -opt1 -opt2 ..."
# Remember that double quotes are different than single quotes.

#CLIENT_OPTS='-verbosity 9 -forceasm'


did not get applied!

GRRRR!Whenever there is an # sign in front of the options that means it is commented out. In other words it says ignore me. So just remove the # sign.CLIENT_OPTS='-verbosity 9 -forceasm'

[OfficeLinebacker]

Whenever there is an # sign in front of the options that means it is commented out. In other words it says ignore me. So just remove the # sign.CLIENT_OPTS='-verbosity 9 -forceasm'
Wow. I CANT RAED.

Edit: I resarted after applying some updates and this time there was FAH at the top of my top display.

At this point I don't care what I did or anything, as long as this continues to be the case:

-folding starts automatically as a service at startup
-verbosity and forceasm arguments get passed to FAH every time it starts up.

Sorry if I am grumpy. Have had a bad evenihg personally and venting it on the boards is not appropriate, but we all know that we're not robots. Things get to us sometimes. I probably need to watch some shocking videos of people getting their comeuppance.

[halitech]

I'm hoping someone here can help me out cause I can't seem to find what I'm looking for (either no one has asked or I've missed it) but I was wondering if there is anyway of checking the status of F@H on a machine running ubuntu with only the command line? I can check TOP and see it running, even after a reboot so I know I've set that up properly but will something like protein think work without a GUI or do I just need to take a look at the unitinfo.txt file to see how I'm doing?

[WelterPelter]

I'm hoping someone here can help me out cause I can't seem to find what I'm looking for (either no one has asked or I've missed it) but I was wondering if there is anyway of checking the status of F@H on a machine running ubuntu with only the command line? I can check TOP and see it running, even after a reboot so I know I've set that up properly but will something like protein think work without a GUI or do I just need to take a look at the unitinfo.txt file to see how I'm doing?

Just take a look at the unitinfo.txt - that will tell you what's up.

[TimeForBears]

Hello,

I set up folding following this howto.

I'm running dual opterons, and I'm currently folding as 'anaonymous' - can I set up the client1.options and client2.options (or /etc/default/foldingathome) to specify my username and team number?

Any help wuold be appreciated.

Thanks,

TFB

[TimeForBears]

idiot.

completely missed the /1/client.cfg and /2/client.cfg.

question answered.

sorry

TFB

[kebabtomten]

I have read this howto and some pages but i dont really know what Folding@Home means, so what does it means? :>

[OfficeLinebacker]

I have read this howto and some pages but i dont really know what Folding@Home means, so what does it means? :>
It's sort of like donating your computer's processing power to help further medical science.

[jpkotta]

It's sort of like donating your computer's processing power to help further medical science.

It's not like that...it's exactly that.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome

[forte-fine-art]

Hi Everyone,

Fairly new to Linux and brand new to Ubuntu and having all kinds of trouble getting folding@home up & running on my Xubuntu installation.

I've followed the instructions very closely and can't get passed a "No such file or directory" error message.

I've used the install script AND the instructions on the folding@home site and no luck what so ever.

(Please note that I am folding on several other linux boxes withn distros from Fedora Core & Suse, along with a couple of OS X-PPC configurations, so I'm not entirely "wet behind the ears" but not competent enough to work this Xubuntu issue out by myself. Frankly, this has me completely baffled!).

Here's what happens when I run the install script:

./folding_install.sh install

Do you want to do this for this user or for the whole system?

1) user
2) system
3) cancel
Please pick a number: 2

Creating directory structure...


Looking for FAH502-Linux.exe...


I couldn't find the client executable. If you have it already, please copy it to /opt/foldingathome/config/.
Do you want me to download it for you?

1) yes
2) no
Please pick a number: 1
--00:27:44-- http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe
=> `FAH502-Linux.exe'
Resolving www.stanford.edu... 171.67.20.36
Connecting to www.stanford.edu|171.67.20.36|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 249,236 (243K) [application/x-msdos-program]

100%[================================================== ===========>] 249,236 158.17K/s

00:27:46 (157.72 KB/s) - `FAH502-Linux.exe' saved [249236/249236]


Found 1 cpus. I will create one client for every cpu.


Creating foldingathome user.


Press 'q' to exit the license viewer.
./folding_install.sh: line 70: /opt/foldingathome/config/FAH502-Linux.exe: No such file or directory
/opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh: line 19: ./FAH502-Linux.exe: No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat `/opt/foldingathome/config/machinedependent.dat': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat `/opt/foldingathome/config/MyFolding.html': No such file or directory
cp: cannot stat `/opt/foldingathome/config/client.cfg': No such file or directory
/bin/sed: can't read /opt/foldingathome/1/client.cfg: No such file or directory

Adding startup script to /etc/init.d
`/root/home/fah_install/foldingathome' -> `/etc/init.d/foldingathome'
Adding system startup for /etc/init.d/foldingathome ...
/etc/rc0.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc1.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc6.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc3.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc4.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc5.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome

To start folding right now, run /etc/init.d/foldingathome as root.

Installing global options.

`system.options' -> `/etc/default/foldingathome'
`client.options' -> `/opt/foldingathome/config/client1.options'
`README' -> `/opt/foldingathome/README'

To start folding right now, run '/opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start'

root@xubuntu-francis:~/home/fah_install# /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start
bash: /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: No such file or directory
root@xubuntu-francis:~/home/fah_install#




Thanks so much for your help!

[forte-fine-art]

Problem solved!!

The "No such file or directory" message was not referring to any of the folding@home related files but to a missing libc6-dev package and this will effect more than just your attempts to install folding@home. The "light went on" as I was trying to install Java and got the same "No such file or directory" message.

For those like me, not familiar with the libc6-dev package (and the libc6-dev-i386 which is needed for use with 64 bit systems) does the following:

libc6-dev: GNU C Library: Development Libraries and Header Files
Contains the symlinks, headers, and object files needed to compile
and link programs which use the standard C library.

libc6-dev-i386: GNU C Library: 32bit Development Libraries for amd64
Contains the symlinks and object files needed to compile and link programs
which use the standard C library. This is the 32bit version of the
library, meant for amd64 systems.


It seems I needed to use Synaptic to install the libc6-dev-i386 package (I'm running a 64 bit system. The libc6-dev was selected automatically, must be a dependency?). I guess Xubuntu does not install the above packages during installation but Ubuntu does?

Now I'm folding as fast as the little rodent will run!

I'm just hoping that all the hair I pulled out will grow back.

Great community! I look forward to being a part of it all.

Thanks.

[meander]

strange, i installed without sudo, and all went well until i tried to start it, which gives me: ~/fah_install$ start-stop-daemon: Unable to open pidfile `/var/tmp/FAH502-Linux.exe-1.pid' for writing: Permission denied (Permission denied)

[jpkotta]

Please post the results of the following command:ls -ld /var/tmp

If that command doesn't work as a user, then run it with sudo.

[essention]

Excellent Post told me exactly what i needed to do.

Thanx.

[Tobba25]

So what is the deal, is this going to clog up my system now? I thought this was just something that would use my cpu when the screensaver turned on?

[swaaye]

Dare i ask if it would be possible to change the folder it installs to? I dual boot XP on here and would like the two OS's to have access to the same work files instead of doing their own thing.

I tried to figure things out on my own but this isn't exactly a simple batch file we have here. The other FAH install is on a mounted FAT32 drive. "/media/bigpart/fah"

[OfficeLinebacker]

Dare i ask if it would be possible to change the folder it installs to? I dual boot XP on here and would like the two OS's to have access to the same work files instead of doing their own thing.

I tried to figure things out on my own but this isn't exactly a simple batch file we have here. The other FAH install is on a mounted FAT32 drive. "/media/bigpart/fah"

You can't work cross platform in FAH. GO to the actual FAH forums if you want info on FAH on dual-boot systems. If you don't spend a significant amount of time on both OSs, you need to turn timeless WUs on at least the one you spend less time in.

[jpkotta]

So what is the deal, is this going to clog up my system now? I thought this was just something that would use my cpu when the screensaver turned on?

FAH runs all the time, not just when the screensaver runs. It runs at a very low priority, so you should never feel an impact (other than memory usage, but you can control that).

http://techreport.com/etc/2002q4/foldingimpact/index.x?pg=1

I was going to add this to the wiki page (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome), but for some reason I can't edit anything in the wiki.

[jpkotta]

You can't work cross platform in FAH. GO to the actual FAH forums if you want info on FAH on dual-boot systems. If you don't spend a significant amount of time on both OSs, you need to turn timeless WUs on at least the one you spend less time in.

The Windows console client works in Wine, so you can run cross platform.

If you use the installer script from the wiki, you can just install as usual, and after installation:

move /opt/foldingathome to whatever you want
change the line "fah_dir=/opt/foldingathome" in the script /etc/init.d/foldingathome to point to whereever you moved it
change the line that looks like "executable=FAH502-Linux.exe" to have the name of the windows client (or rename the windows client)
change any lines that look like "--exec $client_dir/$executable" to "--exec wine $client_dir/$executable"


Disclaimer: I have no idea if this will actually work, but it should be at least a step in the right direction. You can always write your own init script too.


Also, I'd bet that the Linux client runs in Cygwin.

[sleepy127]

Okay, in need of a little help. I was able to set this up before but for some reason cannot get it to work now. I go thru the steps and extract the folder to home/sleepy127/folding and in that file is the fah install folder. I get to step 4 and I get a command not found error. I try to double click the folding install file and choose run in terminal and terminal pops up and closes immediately. If I choose to run it it does nothing. I can not figure out what I am doing wrong.

This is the last command that I tried. I modified the original command thinking that maybe it was not specific to my install and I received the same command not found reply.
sudo ./folding/folding_install.sh install

[jpkotta]

The directory that gets created is fah_install, not folding. You can see what files (and directories) are in the current directory with the "ls" command (ls = LiSt). Look here (http://rute.2038bug.com/index.html.gz) for more than you ever wanted to know about the command line and Unix/Linux in general.

[smbm]

Has anyone tried this on edgy? If so did it work? Thanks

[henriquemaia]

I'm always getting back here. As the winter approaches, I start using folding@home again, since during summer I can't leave the computers on all day. Once again, I just have to follow the howto to have things set up in a instant.

Thanks.

[robinl]

Does the script break on Edgy or is it only me? Since I dist-upgraded to Edgy I've been getting errors like these:

$ sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"

[jpkotta]

Does the script break on Edgy or is it only me? Since I dist-upgraded to Edgy I've been getting errors like these:

$ sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"

That's weird. Try changing the top line to #!/bin/bash I don't run Edgy, so I can't test it right now. I'll make an Edgy chroot or virtual machine or something and test it before it's released. Unfortunately, I don't have time until next week.

[robinl]

Yep that fixed it. Thanks alot.

PS: why does it work in Dapper but not Edgy? Aren't sh and bash almost the same in syntax?

[jpkotta]

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/EdgyBetaAnnouncement

* New init system.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DashAsBinSh

Change the /bin/sh symlink on Ubuntu systems to point to the dash shell instead of the current bash shell.

That's probably it. I apparently didn't write the init script to be executable by a Bourne shell; I have some Bash assumptions.

[jpkotta]

I've updated the init script. I think it's not using any Bash extensions now. Also improved the "send" option. So give it a try and post back if there are any troubles. After I install a Edgy chroot and test it there, I'll update the version in the wiki.

[jpkotta]

Yep that fixed it. Thanks alot.

PS: why does it work in Dapper but not Edgy? Aren't sh and bash almost the same in syntax?

Bash has a lot of extensions to sh. Any sh script will work in bash, but not necessarily the other way. I had assumed that by calling bash as /bin/sh, it would act like sh, but apparently, I was wrong.

I would appreciate Edgy users testing this (attachment in previous post). If a bunch of you test it, and PM me to say if it works, I'll update the wiki version immediately.

[robinl]

The new version still requires bash... If it's ran as it is it will output "fail" for everything (start, stop, restart etc.). Once changed to bash it runs fine.

[jpkotta]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll have to wait to do a real fix until next week then.

[sleepy127]

Thanks for the reply, I have been reading but I still cannot figure out why it is not installing. Here is what I get;
sleepy127@ubuntu:~$ sudo ./folding_install.sh install
sudo: ./folding_install.sh: command not found
sleepy127@ubuntu:~$

Ok, I got that to work, I changed sudo ./folding_install.sh install to
sudo ./fah_install/folding_install.sh install

Now I get this;
I couldn't find the client executable. If you have it already, please copy it to /opt/foldingathome/config/.
Do you want me to download it for you?

1) yes
2) no
Please pick a number: yes
Please pick a number: 1
--13:58:37-- http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/release/FAH502-Linux.exe
=> `FAH502-Linux.exe'
Resolving www.stanford.edu... 171.67.22.26
Connecting to www.stanford.edu[171.67.22.26]:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 249,236 [application/x-msdos-program]

100%[====================================>] 249,236 187.68K/s

13:58:39 (187.12 KB/s) - `FAH502-Linux.exe' saved [249,236/249,236]


Found 1 cpus. I will create one client for every cpu.


Creating foldingathome user.


Press 'q' to exit the license viewer.
cp: cannot stat `reconfigure.sh': No such file or directory
./fah_install/folding_install.sh: line 74: /opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh: No such file or directory
sed: can't read /home/sleepy127/foldingathome: No such file or directory

Adding startup script to /etc/init.d
/bin/cp: cannot stat `/home/sleepy127/foldingathome': No such file or directory
Could not copy startup script to /etc/init.d
sleepy127@ubuntu:~$

[jpkotta]

The installer assumes that you're in the same directory as all of the scripts. In other words, you have to do sudo ./folding_install install.

cd fah_install
sudo ./folding_install install

You can see what is in the current directory with ls and change directories with cd

[robinl]

Any word on the Edgy-compatitable version? Currently it doesn't auto start on boot and I have to manually start it.

[jpkotta]

Any word on the Edgy-compatitable version? Currently it doesn't auto start on boot and I have to manually start it.

I downloaded the edgy beta live cd and booted it in VMWare. I installed folding at home. For some reason, it will not stop properly, although it starts ok (obviously, I have only tried doing things manually). I'm really confused as to why it is not stopping, it seems to be a problem with start-stop-daemon, not the script itself, but other init scripts use start-stop-daemon just fine. I haven't found any bug reports of a broken init script in edgy yet. I'm going to have time this weekend to work on it, so hopefully I'll be able to get something working.

[jpkotta]

Beta for edgy is up on wiki: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome

You can test it directly from the untarred directory:
cd
tar zxvf fah_install-...tar.gz
cd fah_install
sudo ./foldingathome stop

The problems I was having in testing seem to be related to the fact that I was using the Live CD. I don't have the space to do an Edgy installation, so I'm hoping for some good beta testers.

[robinl]

Currently the script works fine but doesn't auto start from /etc/init.d/ on boot.

[jpkotta]

Currently the script works fine but doesn't auto start from /etc/init.d/ on boot.

OK, I freed up some space and installed Edgy into a VM. (The graphical installer from the Live CD is very slick, BTW.) I installed F@H and it started and stopped fine, as you said. Then I rebooted and it started at boot. Edgy has a new init system, but the interface to it should be the same, and since it worked for me, it seems like it is (I followed the Debian spec for init scripts when I wrote the installer and init script).

Try updating the client:

sudo ./install.sh update

[eldaria]

I have have a server running Dapper 64bit version installed on an Intel 64bit Dual core CPU system with 4 Gig of memory, and I'm not able to run this script, it installed fine on my Desktop PC that is a Standard Pentium 4 CPU running Kubuntu 6.06.

The server would be an ideal candidate for running Folding@home for TeamUbuntu, since it is on 24/7 and has a load average of 0.09.
So please help me get this running.

The script fails on running the FAH502-Linux.exe already when telling to push Q to exit the licence.

I get following error message:
#######################################
Press 'q' to exit the license viewer.
folding_install.sh: line 70: /opt/foldingathome/config/FAH502-Linux.exe: No such file or directory
(END)
#######################################

It also only detects 1 CPU.

I checked and the file FAH502-Linux is in the fodler where it is looking for it, and if I try to manually run it:

#######################################
-bash: ./FAH502-Linux.exe: No such file or directory
#######################################

I suspect that it is related to the fact that I'm running 64bit version, but if this is the case, is there a way to work around this?

Regards.
Brian

[eldaria]

ok, never mind, I found I just needed to install the ia32-libs package, and it worked.

However the scripts fails to detect the difference between having 2 CPU's because of dual core and having Hyperthreading.

So it only detects 1 CPU in my system even though there are actually 2 CPU cores.

[jpkotta]

ok, never mind, I found I just needed to install the ia32-libs package, and it worked.

However the scripts fails to detect the difference between having 2 CPU's because of dual core and having Hyperthreading.

So it only detects 1 CPU in my system even though there are actually 2 CPU cores.

So there are two cores, but they are each hyperthreaded? There are 4 logical processors, and 2 physical ones? Please post your /proc/cpuinfo file.

[eldaria]

It only shows 2 CPU's.
Here is the output of cpuinfo:
#######################################
processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.66GHz
stepping : 7
cpu MHz : 2676.325
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 5361.41
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 15
model : 4
model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.66GHz
stepping : 7
cpu MHz : 2676.325
cache size : 1024 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 5
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl tm2 cid cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 5352.77
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 128
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:
################################################## #####

[jpkotta]

Ahh, I see now. It looks like it has a processor in /proc/cpuinfo for each logical cpu, and each logical has 2 cores. I think this is completely braindead, but hopefully there is a good reason for it...

Check the wiki tomorrow for an update.

[NZ-Wanderer]

Yep, I'm getting exactly the same errors when I do the sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start
command, it's getting very frustrating to the point I'm wondering if it is worth the hassle anymore..

I saw the post where it was said:

That's weird. Try changing the top line to
#!/bin/bash

However, I have no idea as to what "top line" is being referred to, so I just typed #!/bin/bash into terminal, which didn't seem to do anything.

Does the script break on Edgy or is it only me? Since I dist-upgraded to Edgy I've been getting errors like these:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"

[jpkotta]

Yep, I'm getting exactly the same errors when I do the sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start
command, it's getting very frustrating to the point I'm wondering if it is worth the hassle anymore..

I saw the post where it was said:

That's weird. Try changing the top line to
#!/bin/bash

However, I have no idea as to what "top line" is being referred to, so I just typed #!/bin/bash into terminal, which didn't seem to do anything.

Top line refers to the first line of the foldingathome script. Any line that looks like #!/path/to/program will look for a program at that location and give the rest of the file to the program. In this case, our program is /bin/sh, which was acutally bash in dapper and earlier, but is dash in edgy and later. The errors you're getting are because the script is a bash script, but it is being run with dash (which behaves exactly like sh, whereas bash has numerous extensions). I have rewritten the script to work with dash, but you are still trying to run the old one. Get this (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=fah_install-20061021.tar.gz) file, untar it, run sudo ./install.sh update and it should replace your current init script with a working one.

Why did I not just use bash in the first place? Because init scripts are not supposed to use it, they are supposed to work with sh.

It is worth the hassle. Your reports mean that I can fix the problems and others don't have to deal with them.

[glotz]

Hell Love!

EDIT: DISREGARD FOLLOWING, I WAS WRONG!
Proof: http://forum.folding-community.org/ftopic16583.html

This link (from the F@H wiki article) http://www.hackaday.com/2005/09/13/how-to-folding-home-competitively/
sez that the windoze client is faster than the Linux client and suggests running it using wine for speed increase. What do you guys think about that? Should the wiki page contains instructions for that kind of setup? If the benefits are considerable, I think we all should start running it on wine and the instructions should be included. Since windows is so much more popular a platform, I'm sure the F@H dudes did spend more time with the windoze client and thus the claim sounds feasible to me...
:rolleyes:

[robinl]

OK, I freed up some space and installed Edgy into a VM. (The graphical installer from the Live CD is very slick, BTW.) I installed F@H and it started and stopped fine, as you said. Then I rebooted and it started at boot. Edgy has a new init system, but the interface to it should be the same, and since it worked for me, it seems like it is (I followed the Debian spec for init scripts when I wrote the installer and init script).

Try updating the client:

sudo ./install.sh update

Hmmm I've done that and it still doesn't auto starts... I can't put it in sessions because I installed it system wide and can't be stuffed to type my password twice during boot. Is there any way I can fix it?

[jpkotta]

Hell Love!

This link (from the F@H wiki article) http://www.hackaday.com/2005/09/13/how-to-folding-home-competitively/
sez that the windoze client is faster than the Linux client and suggests running it using wine for speed increase. What do you guys think about that? Should the wiki page contains instructions for that kind of setup? If the benefits are considerable, I think we all should start running it on wine and the instructions should be included. Since windows is so much more popular a platform, I'm sure the F@H dudes did spend more time with the windoze client and thus the claim sounds feasible to me...

It's plausible, but I'd like to see some numbers. Try it with wine for a week and then with Linux for a week and see the difference. Ideally, each would work on the same WUs, but I don't think that's possible (you can't transfer WUs AFAIK and you certainly can't request them).

[jpkotta]

Hmmm I've done that and it still doesn't auto starts... I can't put it in sessions because I installed it system wide and can't be stuffed to type my password twice during boot. Is there any way I can fix it?

Yeah, you shouldn't have to add it to any of you're login stuff. That was the whole reason I made this. Well, let's see what we can do:

Make sure there is a link to /etc/init.d/foldingathome in /etc/rc2.d:
[jpkotta@euler ~](0)$ ls -l /etc/rc2.d/ | grep fold
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 2006-02-25 14:37 S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome*

Make sure /etc/init.d/foldingathome is executable:
[jpkotta@euler ~](0)$ ls -l /etc/init.d/foldingathome
-rwx------ 1 root root 4856 2006-10-21 16:31 /etc/init.d/foldingathome*

If that checks out, then change the "--quiet" in the start-stop-daemon parts of /etc/init.d/foldingathome to "--verbose". Then reboot and look for error messages on tty8 (ctrl-alt-F8).

Hint: you can copy and paste from the console by installing gpm (mouse driver for console) and selecting the text. Then you can log in on tty1 and start nano or another editor and paste with middle click.

[glotz]

nothing here, move along...

[robinl]

Yeah, you shouldn't have to add it to any of you're login stuff. That was the whole reason I made this. Well, let's see what we can do:

Make sure there is a link to /etc/init.d/foldingathome in /etc/rc2.d:
[jpkotta@euler ~](0)$ ls -l /etc/rc2.d/ | grep fold
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 2006-02-25 14:37 S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome*Make sure /etc/init.d/foldingathome is executable:
[jpkotta@euler ~](0)$ ls -l /etc/init.d/foldingathome
-rwx------ 1 root root 4856 2006-10-21 16:31 /etc/init.d/foldingathome*If that checks out, then change the "--quiet" in the start-stop-daemon parts of /etc/init.d/foldingathome to "--verbose". Then reboot and look for error messages on tty8 (ctrl-alt-F8).

Hint: you can copy and paste from the console by installing gpm (mouse driver for console) and selecting the text. Then you can log in on tty1 and start nano or another editor and paste with middle click.

I've tried those two commands and the outputs seems normal.
robin@robin-desktop:~$ ls -l /etc/rc2.d/ | grep fold
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 2006-10-06 23:56 K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
robin@robin-desktop:~$ ls -l /etc/init.d/foldingathome
-rwx------ 1 robin robin 4859 2006-10-26 19:47 /etc/init.d/foldingathome

I've also changed the start daemon to --verbose but nothing showed up in tty8...

[jpkotta]

I've tried those two commands and the outputs seems normal.
robin@robin-desktop:~$ ls -l /etc/rc2.d/ | grep fold
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 23 2006-10-06 23:56 K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
robin@robin-desktop:~$ ls -l /etc/init.d/foldingathome
-rwx------ 1 robin robin 4859 2006-10-26 19:47 /etc/init.d/foldingathome

I've also changed the start daemon to --verbose but nothing showed up in tty8...

sudo mv /etc/rc2.d/K01foldingathome /etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome

[robinl]

sudo mv /etc/rc2.d/K01foldingathome /etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome

That did it. Thanks.

[citizenkahn]

Really nice installer. I ran into one problem with the init.d script on edgy-eft (6.10). The script runs as bourne shell, but has some requirements on bash. The incrementor on the variable (++foo) and some of the double [[ on the test/if statements. When I changed the script to use bash, it all worked quite well.


--
Peter Kahn (citizenkahn@gmail.com)

[jpkotta]

Really nice installer. I ran into one problem with the init.d script on edgy-eft (6.10). The script runs as bourne shell, but has some requirements on bash. The incrementor on the variable (++foo) and some of the double [[ on the test/if statements. When I changed the script to use bash, it all worked quite well.


--
Peter Kahn (citizenkahn@gmail.com)

Thanks. I'm well aware of the Bash-isms in the old init script. Visit the wiki (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome) for an updated version.

[glotz]

Looks like TeamUbuntu is overtaking Microsoft (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_overtake.php?s=&t=45104) in about a month or so! No wonder http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/3082/billgatesrecommendsubuntuft4yr6.jpg

[DarkDancer]

I can't get this to install in edgy.

I tried tar zxvf fah_install-20061021.tar.gz.tar and get

fah_install/
fah_install/foldingathome
tar: fah_install/foldingathome: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
fah_install/install.sh
tar: fah_install/install.sh: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
fah_install/README
tar: fah_install/README: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
fah_install/system.options
tar: fah_install/system.options: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
fah_install/reconfigure.sh
tar: fah_install/reconfigure.sh: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
fah_install/client.options
tar: fah_install/client.options: Cannot open: Permission denied
tar: Skipping to next header
tar: fah_install: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors



so then I tried the same command with sudo and get

fah_install/
fah_install/foldingathome
tar: fah_install/foldingathome: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
fah_install/install.sh
tar: fah_install/install.sh: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
fah_install/README
tar: fah_install/README: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
fah_install/system.options
tar: fah_install/system.options: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
fah_install/reconfigure.sh
tar: fah_install/reconfigure.sh: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
fah_install/client.options
tar: fah_install/client.options: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install: Cannot change ownership to uid 1000, gid 1000: Operation not permitted
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors


Any clues?

[jpkotta]

I have no idea. I just tested it myself by downloading with another user on my machine and extracting. It went fine and the files were created as the other user, the default behavior for tar.

Do you already have that directory? Be very careful with this command!
rm -rf ./fah_install

Try using the --no-same-owner (and maybe --no-same-permissions) options to tar.

tar --no-same-owner zxvf fah_install-....tar.gz

[DarkDancer]

Thanks for responding jpkotta, when I tried tar --no-same-owner zxvf fah_install-20061021.tar.gz.tar I got:

tar: You must specify one of the `-Acdtrux' options
Try `tar --help' or `tar --usage' for more information.

[jpkotta]

Oh, yeah, I don't think you can combine options after giving a long one. This is what sucks about Unix. There are a number of GUI archivers that may work for you too (I am not familiar with them); if you double click the tarball in Nautilus or another filemanager, it should open it up.

tar --no-same-owner -z -x -v -f fah...

[DarkDancer]

ok, when I double click on the tar in nautilius, the unarchiver thing comes up, when I have it try to extract, it comes back with these errors.

tar: fah_install/foldingathome: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install/install.sh: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install/README: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install/system.options: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install/reconfigure.sh: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install/client.options: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install: Cannot utime: Operation not permitted
tar: fah_install: Cannot change mode to rwx------: Operation not permitted
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

[jpkotta]

Yeah, something is borked with tar. Here is a zip, maybe that will work.

[DarkDancer]

Thanks, just got home from work, trying it now... ;)

[DarkDancer]

Ok, I got it all going right up to the point where it shows me the eula, I can't figure out how to accept it, it won't take any keys....

[jpkotta]

Press 'q'.

What is up with your machine? tar and less both don't work right? Man, I don't think I'm updating to edgy until I have some time to kill.

[DarkDancer]

Hmmm, got past the eula (this time I saw the thing about hitting q (for a split second, then it was gone) it asked me if I wanted to set up a cron. I said yes. I tried using the command it gave to start, but nothing happened, so I rebooted, but the cron didn't start it either (no cpu usage to speak of and it's not listed in the processes.)

I don't know.....

[DarkDancer]

Oh, it is running. Thanks jpkotta!

[jpkotta]

Hmmm, got past the eula (this time I saw the thing about hitting q (for a split second, then it was gone) it asked me if I wanted to set up a cron. I said yes. I tried using the command it gave to start, but nothing happened, so I rebooted, but the cron didn't start it either (no cpu usage to speak of and it's not listed in the processes.)

I don't know.....

Read the README.

[DarkDancer]

Hehe, read the readme before posting... ;)

Doesn't matter, it's off and running now.

[Rhapsody]

I've had Folding@Home on this PC for a while now, but it doesn't seem to have even started working. The log files are filled with the following:

[02:59:07] + Attempting to get work packet
[02:59:07] - Connecting to assignment server
[02:59:08] - Successful: assigned to (x.x.x.x).
[02:59:08] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[02:59:08] Loaded queue successfully.
[02:59:09] + Could not connect to Work Server
[02:59:09] - Error: Attempt #1 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.

I'm not really sure what's going wrong here. My internet connection is fully working, but Folding@Home is never able to get any work. If I can fix this, I should be able to contribute, but I've no idea what would be causing this.

[jpkotta]

How long has it been since you got work? F@H appears to be able to connect to the servers (assignment server), it just seems that there is no work to do. See this post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1606734#post1606734 and the ones that follow.

[Rhapsody]

How long has it been since you got work? F@H appears to be able to connect to the servers (assignment server), it just seems that there is no work to do. See this post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1606734#post1606734 and the ones that follow.

I've had it for months now and, as far as I can tell, it's done absolutely no work at all in that time. I've changed "Request work units without deadlines" from 'yes' to 'no-prefs' in the hope that it will get my PC more work. It's on every day anyway (only shut down at night) so I can probably make deadlines without many problems.

[glotz]

Looks like they're out of deadlineless work units. http://forum.folding-community.org/portal.php?topic_id=16235

Does the installation script (instead of the .exe) ask the configuration question about deadlines? If yes, could/should it be removed for now?

[jpkotta]

The installer I wrote simply runs the client with the -configonly option during installation. I can't change what questions it asks, and I'm not going to have it not run -configonly, because that's about the only way to set user name and team number. The default is no-pref anyway.

[Rhapsody]

Well now that I've removed the requirement for deadlines, my PC has got a work unit and is processing it. If I knew how lax the deadlines were going to be, I would've done this ages ago. This work unit has to be completed by February 25th, but my PC has done 5% of it in just 7 hours!

It should also be noted that I'm looking to get myself a Core 2 Extreme sometime next year (likely a quad-core one), which will blitz this old work horse.

[Raptormn]

this is what happens when i try to start mine does anyone know whats wrong?

raptormn@raptormn-desktop:~$ opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"

[jpkotta]

this is what happens when i try to start mine does anyone know whats wrong?

raptormn@raptormn-desktop:~$ opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"

This is a known issue with old versions of the script and Edgy. It is fixed in the latest version from the wiki.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome

[AndyW]

I get this error while installing

[03:44:55] -configonly flag given, so exiting.
Terminated

[jpkotta]

I get this error while installing

[03:44:55] -configonly flag given, so exiting.
Terminated


That is not an error, it is a message. It is normal.

[aprita]

So I figured I'll give this software a shot and installed it using the beta version (fah_install-20061021.tar.gz, have edgy installed) and seems to have worked fine except for one thing. It says it could only find 1 cpu even though I have two. Anyone know how I could change that? My system is currently only running at 50% and would like to make use of both my processors. thanks a bunch.

here my output for the /proc/cpuinfo

processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 1600.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 1
core id : 255
cpu cores : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 3726.97

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 15
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 1867.000
cache size : 2048 KB
physical id : 1
siblings : 1
core id : 255
cpu cores : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
bogomips : 3724.06

[jpkotta]

It seems like there is no good way to determine if you have physical processors (dual core) or logical processors (hyperthreaded). Read the wiki for why the difference is important. I will update the installer this weekend so that you can choose how many.

[AndyW]

It wont work though
[01:08:32] -configonly flag given, so exiting.
Terminated
/opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh: 33: [[: not found

Adding startup script to /etc/init.d
`/home/andy/fah_install/foldingathome' -> `/etc/init.d/foldingathome'
Adding system startup for /etc/init.d/foldingathome ...
/etc/rc0.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc1.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc6.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc3.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc4.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc5.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome

To start folding right now, run /etc/init.d/foldingathome as root.

Installing global options.

cp: overwrite `/etc/default/foldingathome'?
`/home/andy/fah_install/client.options' -> `/opt/foldingathome/config/client1.options'
`/home/andy/fah_install/README' -> `/opt/foldingathome/README'

To start folding right now, run '/opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start'

andy@andy:~/fah_install$ /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start
bash: /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: No such file or directory

There is no foldingathome file in that directory

when I try to uninstall it gives me this:
userdel: error removing directory /opt/foldingathome
groupdel: group foldingathome does not exist

Maybe I did something wrong?

[jpkotta]

It wont work though
[01:08:32] -configonly flag given, so exiting.
Terminated
/opt/foldingathome/reconfigure.sh: 33: [[: not found

Adding startup script to /etc/init.d
`/home/andy/fah_install/foldingathome' -> `/etc/init.d/foldingathome'
Adding system startup for /etc/init.d/foldingathome ...
/etc/rc0.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc1.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc6.d/K01foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc2.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc3.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc4.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome
/etc/rc5.d/S99foldingathome -> ../init.d/foldingathome

To start folding right now, run /etc/init.d/foldingathome as root.

Installing global options.

cp: overwrite `/etc/default/foldingathome'?
`/home/andy/fah_install/client.options' -> `/opt/foldingathome/config/client1.options'
`/home/andy/fah_install/README' -> `/opt/foldingathome/README'

To start folding right now, run '/opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start'

andy@andy:~/fah_install$ /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome start
bash: /opt/foldingathome/foldingathome: No such file or directory

There is no foldingathome file in that directory

when I try to uninstall it gives me this:
userdel: error removing directory /opt/foldingathome
groupdel: group foldingathome does not exist

Maybe I did something wrong?

Yes, that is an error (however "-configonly flag given, so exiting.
Terminated" is normal). Someone else notified me of the error in reconfigure. There will be fixes this weekend. It might work if you change the first line of reconfigure to "#!/bin/bash".

[jpkotta]

New installer scripts available. I think I fixed the bugs. I have an Edgy VM that I tested in, and it works perfectly there. If you have already installed, then you should only have to do an update.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome

[AndyW]

thanks for the update, Im folding for teamubuntu now!

[TwistedTripper]

Hi there

Not sure if this is the right thread but I setup folding@home a few months ago using this guide and everything is working nicely, Thanks for the great guide :) however I am planning on upgrading my computer with a new hard drive and would like to know how I can backup my folding@home files.

Which files do I need to copy so I can reinstate them later? I can't seem to just copy and paste the folding@home folder so is there a command I can use to make a backup of the files? Sorry for the stupid questions but any suggestions/advice will be much appreciated.

Cheers

[wames]

There is a problem with how the install script counts my Turion64 X2 CPUs. It counts it as just one CPU when it is really two. This stems from the check for the "ht" flag in /proc/cpuinfo. This flag does appear in AMD X2 chips and does not indicate HyperThreading capability. To quote some info I found on the net

"...It denotes that fact that the processor is capable of exposing more than one logical CPU..."

Now I don't know if this is really true but when checking /proc/cpuinfo I do see the ht flag and my system does not have HT. There needs to be a better way to check for HT now that modern AMD dual core CPUs contain this flag. I fixed (dirty hacked) this problem by just commenting out the last two lines of the num_cpu check which is safe for me as I know I have two CPUs and no HT.

[jpkotta]

Hi there

Not sure if this is the right thread but I setup folding@home a few months ago using this guide and everything is working nicely, Thanks for the great guide :) however I am planning on upgrading my computer with a new hard drive and would like to know how I can backup my folding@home files.

Which files do I need to copy so I can reinstate them later? I can't seem to just copy and paste the folding@home folder so is there a command I can use to make a backup of the files? Sorry for the stupid questions but any suggestions/advice will be much appreciated.

Cheers

If you used fah_install, you do this:
sudo tar zcvf fahbck.tar.gz /opt/foldingathome /etc/default/foldingathome
That should save all of your work and settings.

To restore, cd / ; sudo tar zxvf fahbck.tar.gz
After restoring, use the fah_install script with the update option. This will not overwrite your work or settings, and will set up everything to start at boot time again.

[jpkotta]

There is a problem with how the install script counts my Turion64 X2 CPUs. It counts it as just one CPU when it is really two. This stems from the check for the "ht" flag in /proc/cpuinfo. This flag does appear in AMD X2 chips and does not indicate HyperThreading capability. To quote some info I found on the net

"...It denotes that fact that the processor is capable of exposing more than one logical CPU..."

Now I don't know if this is really true but when checking /proc/cpuinfo I do see the ht flag and my system does not have HT. There needs to be a better way to check for HT now that modern AMD dual core CPUs contain this flag. I fixed (dirty hacked) this problem by just commenting out the last two lines of the num_cpu check which is safe for me as I know I have two CPUs and no HT.

I can't find a good way to get CPU detection to work right. The latest installer has some improvements and the ability to manually set the number of CPUs.

[ruudiculus]

Hi all,

I wrote a simple Folding@Gnome applet to graphically monitor your folding progress and set preferences in. For those interested, you can find more info on my website (http://www.ruudbeukema.nl).

Please report any strange behaviour! The applet works fine here, but is still in "testing" until it works fine for more than one person of course!

[smbm]

Does anyone know of any way to set F@H up so that it still runs as root but have the work unit stored in a folder in /home?

Also is it possible to tell F@H to finish the work unit it is on, send it and then exit?

Thanks in advance

[jpkotta]

Does anyone know of any way to set F@H up so that it still runs as root but have the work unit stored in a folder in /home?

Also is it possible to tell F@H to finish the work unit it is on, send it and then exit?

Thanks in advance

Why do you want it to run as root? It really shouldn't. Try hacking my installer, it should only be necessary to change the "fah_dir" variable in a few places to make it use the folder of your choice. As for running as root, I went through a lot of trouble to make sure it doesn't need to run as root. You would need to hack the foldingathome init script and the reconfigure script. The really quick and dirty way is to use su (read the man page).

You can give it a command line option to finish the current unit and send and quit: '-oneunit'. If using my installer, you would this option to the /etc/default/foldingathome file and restart.

[smbm]

Thanks for the reply

Perhaps I don't mean as root. I installed it using the script in the wiki. It installed to /opt but I would like to wipe my / partition. /home is on a separate partition so if I could somehow copy it there that would mean I could keep my current work unit. I'll have a look at the scripts and stuff and see how I get on.

[jpkotta]

Thanks for the reply

Perhaps I don't mean as root. I installed it using the script in the wiki. It installed to /opt but I would like to wipe my / partition. /home is on a separate partition so if I could somehow copy it there that would mean I could keep my current work unit. I'll have a look at the scripts and stuff and see how I get on.

That's easy. It's a good idea to shutdown the client before backing up.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1952745&postcount=197

Edit:
Added FAQ to wiki page: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome#head-774c7065f707a8798b15820b9ff824f3e1fa34bd

[nanotube]

hey fellow folders!
i recently installed the fah client on my laptop, along with some nice cpulimiting.
i posted a pretty thorough howto about it on my ubuntu chronicles page here:
http://pykeylogger.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu:Chronicles#Folding.40Home_.5BFAH.5D_on_a_La ptop
in case anyone is interested. :)

i have it running at 50% cpu load - that keeps the cpu nice and cool (otherwise, fan keeps revving up if i just let it run at 100% idle load), so that should prevent any premature death due to folding. ;)

hope this comes in handy for some of you.

[Bragador]

Hey thanks it WAS useful. I kept trying to install the program for the past couple of hours with scripts that didn't seem to be up to date and when I read your description saying "it simply boils down to" I was finally able to make it run.

So thank you !

Next time I'll have to make it run in the background. But enough for today :)

[jpkotta]

Bragador:

Are those scripts the ones from the wiki? Can you describe what went wrong?

[Bragador]

Bragador:

Are those scripts the ones from the wiki? Can you describe what went wrong?

What I meant was that I tried to use both fah_install and finstall to install folding@home and yes, both didn't work.

The ubuntu one went wrong when I had to enter the install command:
sudo ./folding_install.sh install

The command didn't exist apparently. I managed to install it by changing the commands to something else so the wiki wasn't up to date it seems. After some tinkering I made it but I wasn't sure how the files were installed so I kind of panicked and managed to uninstall everything. So yeah in the end I think I did it but since I didn't understand what the script was doing I didn't like it.

As for the finstall I received a 404 not found when I tried to get it.

What I finally did was to download f@h manually and start it from its own folder with the terminal. I wish I could make it run in the background though but it's not too much of a problem for now. At least I know where all the files are.

[jpkotta]

Bragador:

You are absolutely right that the wiki was out of date. Thanks for pointing that out.

The README mentions which files and directories are created during installation.

[Bragador]

Bragador:

You are absolutely right that the wiki was out of date. Thanks for pointing that out.

The README mentions which files and directories are created during installation.

Well I'm glad I helped the community then :D

Also you are right about the README. I guess I was expecting to find my folder organized like in windows and that's why I ended up not using the script in the end.

I've just found out you are the coder for the script so kudos to you !

[xyrcncp]

Hi, I'm a total noob to Linux, but I managed to follow the instructions on installing, but I can't get it to run, I get this in Terminal after entering sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start :

/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"


?

I really want to get this running as I have this computer doing nothing and rather put it to good cause.

Thanks!

[glotz]

What version of Ubuntu you're on? (system > about Ubuntu)

I don't know what the problem is but somebody else will. Welcome to Ubuntu and welcome to the Ubuntu folding team!

[xyrcncp]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm on Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft

As I'm reading the instructions again, they state that the script resides in

/etc/init.d/foldingathome start

but when I actually navigate to /etc/ there is no init.d at all...:confused:

[jpkotta]

Hi, I'm a total noob to Linux, but I managed to follow the instructions on installing, but I can't get it to run, I get this in Terminal after entering sudo /etc/init.d/foldingathome start :

/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 23: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 33: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: [[: not found
/etc/init.d/foldingathome: 147: arith: syntax error: "++num"


This is a bug that was caused by the switch from bash to dash in Edgy. The newest scripts in the wiki have this fixed. Read the wiki for quick instructions for installing/updating the scripts. Link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome

/etc/init.d has to exist. Otherwise you would be getting "No such file or directory" errors instead of syntax errors.

[nanotube]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm on Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft

As I'm reading the instructions again, they state that the script resides in

/etc/init.d/foldingathome start

but when I actually navigate to /etc/ there is no init.d at all...:confused:

that's not possible :)
either you are somewhere not in /etc, or you are looking at the listing and missing the init.d in it. what is the output of the following command (type/paste it exactly):
ls -ald /etc/init.d

[xyrcncp]

that's not possible :)
either you are somewhere not in /etc, or you are looking at the listing and missing the init.d in it. what is the output of the following command (type/paste it exactly):
ls -ald /etc/init.d

I typed the command and got
[code]drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2007-02-22 20:54 /etc/init.d]/code]

I guess it does exist....oops

This is a bug that was caused by the switch from bash to dash in Edgy. The newest scripts in the wiki have this fixed. Read the wiki for quick instructions for installing/updating the scripts. Link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FoldingAtHome
Great! I followed the wiki and got it running. I checked the system monitor and the CPU usage is at 95-100%, which I assume it's working.

Just a quick question, if I need to stop the client for some reason, how do I go about it. I was reading the wiki and it mentioned finstall, is that like a script just to start/stop/status the client?

I assume that checking the "status" would let me know the stats on what's going on?

[jpkotta]

You control it with the init script. All init scripts are supposed to have start, stop, and restart commands, and this one is no exception. Many have a status command too, and for this one, status will print out the end of the log file for each client. You may rather simply look at the log file manually because that way you don't have to use sudo. I have the following aliases in my ~/.bashrc:

alias fah_log='less /opt/foldingathome/1/FAHlog.txt'
alias fah_tail='tail -f /opt/foldingathome/1/FAHlog.txt'

There are also little applets (e.g. for gdesklets, gkrellm, etc.) that provide a GUI to monitor the client.

finstall is another script that basically does the same thing as this one (which I'm unimaginatively calling fah_install). Of course, I think mine is better.

[glotz]

Did you guys understand what caused that problem? (I didn't) If you did, it's cool, no need to explain really. I was just wondering how this problem was created and if some process should be improved to avoid this in the future. o_O

I know, I'm a funnyguy.

[jpkotta]

The problem is that /bin/sh used to point to /bin/bash, but in Edgy it points to /bin/dash. dash only understands Bourne shell, while bash understands Bash language, which is a superset of Bourne shell (hence Bourne Again SHell). I had bash-isms in the scripts, which dash doesn't understand.

The way to prevent it is to RTFM. I should have RTFMed the fact that bash still acts like bash when it is called as /bin/sh, and that those statements don't work in Bourne shell. People who are running Edgy and have the problem at this point (not the ones that first reported it, obviously) should RTFM (i.e. the wiki or this thread), because it is a known problem with a easy fix. Don't take the above statements as being harsh, they are simply the best way I can see to prevent problems of this type. The "F" in RTFM means the same thing as the "F" in FVWM (http://www.fvwm.org/documentation/faq/#1.1).

[xyrcncp]

You guys are gonna hate me, another n00bish question I bet....

I'm trying to get stats on what my computer is actually doing, I've read that the unitinfo.txt file shows this info and that it should be located in the opt/foldingathome/ folder, but the only file there is: MyFolding.html and it tries to pull up /opt/foldingathome/1/unitinfo.txt but firefox says it doesn't exist.

[ruudiculus]

Are you starting your Folding@Home from another directory than where it is actually located? Folding@Home will drop those files in the directory where you started running Folding@Home

[glotz]

Depends how much you're going to fold! :lol: (just kidden)

Do a sudo updatedb and then locate unitinfo.txt

That will find probably find it. (on linux filesystems by default)

[jpkotta]

xyrcncp:

Post the output of this command:
locate unitinfo.txt


Edit: I'm sloooow.

[xyrcncp]

edit: nevermind ;p

[DarkDancer]

I can't find unitinfo.txt.

locate unitinfo.txt just drops to the next line....

[glotz]

Did you update the database first? Do you have non Linux native partitions? (vfat or ntfs)

[DarkDancer]

By update the database I assume you mean: sudo updatedb.

Yes, I did that. I do have a couple of fat32 partitions. Do I need to do something else to see what it's doing?

[glotz]

Yes, that's what I meant. It doesn't index non-Linux partitions by default. If the file's on a vfat partition you need to edit /etc/updatedb.conf and remove vfat from prunefs. Then update and then locate.

[DarkDancer]

Hmmm, I don't belive that it is on a fat partition, and the file /etc/updatedb.conf doesn't contain an instance of vfat, or even just fat (I searched for both).

[Megatog615]

How would I be able to automatically run it when my screensaver begins(I use a blank screensaver)?

[DarkDancer]

Ok, so after redoing my drives and reinstalling everything I can finally see my unitinfo.txt...yay! However, as far as I can tell I have sent in 2 work units and my personal statistics page never updates. anyone have a clue why?

[moz_21]

If you mean the MyFolding.html page, it wont; it contains static information. The link on that page, unitinfo.txt, will be the one that updates. If you mean the Stanford pages, I believe they take a little while to update if you're a new user.

Jpkotta, thanks for the script and howto. I do have an issue with the battery/ac script. It doesn't kill or restart FAH. I've tried chmod +x on the "fah" script under both directories but that doesn't fix it. Is anyone else using it and if so, does it work for you?

[DarkDancer]

Yeah, it is the stanford page I am talking about. While I'm not a new user, it has been a while since I turned in a work unit (the last one before the current crop was 2006-07-29 14:15:52), so maybe that's like being a new user again.

[jpkotta]

Jpkotta, thanks for the script and howto. I do have an issue with the battery/ac script. It doesn't kill or restart FAH. I've tried chmod +x on the "fah" script under both directories but that doesn't fix it. Is anyone else using it and if so, does it work for you?

Which version of Ubuntu are you using? Hint:cat /etc/lsb-release

It works for me obviously, with both Dapper and Breezy. I do Edgy testing in VMware, and I don't know how to simulate ac/battery events. Note that it may take a while before it actually shuts down/starts up. Mine always works in under a minute.

Speaking of testing, has anyone tried this (the installer/init scripts) under Feisty?

[moz_21]

Which version of Ubuntu are you using? Hint:cat /etc/lsb-release

It works for me obviously, with both Dapper and Breezy. I do Edgy testing in VMware, and I don't know how to simulate ac/battery events. Note that it may take a while before it actually shuts down/starts up. Mine always works in under a minute.

Speaking of testing, has anyone tried this (the installer/init scripts) under Feisty?

I'm using Edgy. Maybe I'm not waiting long enough or maybe it has something to do with the switch from bash>dash (similar to what you went through with the install script I believe).

Minutes later...

Ok, I tried adding #! /bin/sh to the "fah" script and it did nothing. I waited even longer (about 3 minutes) and it didn't kill the process.

So, both scripts look like the following and are executable, but do not work?? They do what they should when manually executed (sudo ./fah). They are also identical (in re: permissions and +x) to the only other file in ac.d and battery.d, named "15-anacron.d". In case you're wondering, my laptop is a Compaq Presario 2100 and is able to detect when I plug and unplug the power adapter.

#! /bin/sh
/etc/init.d/foldingathome stop >/dev/null

#! /bin/sh
/etc/init.d/foldingathome start >/dev/null

[DarkDancer]

Hey moz_21, just curious, how long do you think it will take?

[jpkotta]

Apparently, the scripts in /etc/acpi/{battery.d,ac.d} must end with ".sh". I don't think they need to be executable or need a shebang on the first line. Wiki has been updated.

[moz_21]

Hey moz_21, just curious, how long do you think it will take?

As long as it takes when running the script manually. ;)


Apparently, the scripts in /etc/acpi/{battery.d,ac.d} must end with ".sh". I don't think they need to be executable or need a shebang on the first line. Wiki has been updated.

Hah, how weird. That did the trick. I was going to try that but I guess I forgot. Now it runs just like when Window$ was on it (and everyone knows how)! Thanks!

[DarkDancer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkDancer View Post
Hey moz_21, just curious, how long do you think it will take?
As long as it takes when running the script manually.

I'm afraid I don't understand the answer to the question.... #-o

[moz_21]

I'm afraid I don't understand the answer to the question.... #-o

It should take just as long as when manually starting or stopping it, via either /etc/init.d/foldingathome stop (or start) or when running the same thing via the fah.sh (note the .sh to make it work) located in the /etc/acpi/battery.d or /etc/acpi/ac.d.

It took about a minute to shutdown the service and it starts back up within a few seconds.

[DarkDancer]

Oh, now I understand why I didn't get the answer, you're answering a different question... ;)

My question was about how quickly you thought the Stanford page would update me, it hasn't yet and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crunching to no purpose... ;)

[moz_21]

Oh, now I understand why I didn't get the answer, you're answering a different question... ;)

My question was about how quickly you thought the Stanford page would update me, it hasn't yet and I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crunching to no purpose... ;)

Doh! I thought you were being a smart*** when you first asked it... Sorry about that.

Well first off, make sure you're looking at the right stats page. Be aware that it is case sensitive. If I remember right there are some characters you can't have in your username or it will fold anonymously. Otherwise it should update pretty quickly I'd imagine. To be honest, I've been folding since 2001 or so; i really don't remember how long it took. Just double check everything over.

Fyi, another good stats page: http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com.

[DarkDancer]

Extremeoverclocking (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?s=&u=176184) has all the old info for me (from 2006) but none of the mew that I have turned in, very much like stanford.....

The Stanford page I go to is the one from "My Folding Page" which I would have to think would be the right one. If something doesn't go right, is there an error log or something that is created?

[jpkotta]

Wow, moz, you have almost a million points. Way to go! Too bad you're not folding for TeamUbuntu, we could use more.

[moz_21]

Extremeoverclocking (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?s=&u=176184) has all the old info for me (from 2006) but none of the mew that I have turned in, very much like stanford.....

The Stanford page I go to is the one from "My Folding Page" which I would have to think would be the right one. If something doesn't go right, is there an error log or something that is created?

As it should; it uses the stanford page for it's own updates. I'd have to say the client.cfg file is corrupted for some reason. You might want to stop the service, delete the client.cfg file, and then run the reconfigure script (/opt/foldingathome/reconfigure). :edit: I just read that DST is screwing up the updates for some people so that could be the case also.

Wow, moz, you have almost a million points. Way to go! Too bad you're not folding for TeamUbuntu, we could use more.

Thanks, it's been a long time coming!

[DarkDancer]

Hehe, guess I just needed to wait a litttle longer, it updated... ;)

[mahiyar]

Used the how to and everything working well. Also downloaded protein think. However I have a few questions to ask. I have a Intel 4 3.0GHz HT processor, however in the System Monitor the Fahcore runs at @50%, while in the HTOP or TOP CLI the Fahcore runs at @100%. Is that anything to do with HT processors which are virtually seen by system monitor as 2 processors. Will increasing the number of processors to 2 during config increase the processor load to 100%?

[moz_21]

Used the how to and everything working well. Also downloaded protein think. However I have a few questions to ask. I have a Intel 4 3.0GHz HT processor, however in the System Monitor the Fahcore runs at @50%, while in the HTOP or TOP CLI the Fahcore runs at @100%. Is that anything to do with HT processors which are virtually seen by system monitor as 2 processors. Will increasing the number of processors to 2 during config increase the processor load to 100%?

Yes but I believe the efficiency goes down. I'm not sure what the official word is although you may find this to be helpful:


http://folding.stanford.edu/FAQ-settings.html

Computers with multiple CPUs (SMP) are supported under FAH in two ways. For Intel-based Macs and x86 PC's running linux, there is a special SMP client. For other machines, one can use multiple processors by running multiple clients (one for each CPU). This is clearly non-ideal and better support is under development. There are certain caveats of using SMP boxes with special flags. Do not run multiple clients with each set to the most aggressive settings (bigWU + adv), as this can overwhelm most computers. Instead, we suggest bigWU+adv on one client and the default settings on the other(s). In situations where reliability, stability, and/or responsiveness a premium, we suggest either all clients with the default settings or just one client with the big WU enabled.

[mahiyar]

Thanks for the prompt reply moz_21, that really cleared up things. Now for two more queries. I see that the folding@home has created a user of the name foldingathome, with home directory in /opt/foldingathome, is it normal? Now the second question, when I run foldingathome my cpu is 50 - 100% occupied, and the temperature stays fairly high about 75 degrees celcius, it may be due to high ambient of our region (around 30), now I have seen my processor specs and 75 deg is at the higher band, but is running continuously at high temp ok?
Thanks in advance.

[glotz]

The dedicated user is normal and a security feature. Running too hot can damage the chip and might shorter it's lifespan. I wouldn't suggest doing it. I'd constantly keep below 70. That's a pretty high temp but so is the ambient too. Have you got a proper fan and a well placed heatsink with the correct amount of heat conductive paste?

[mahiyar]

Thanks Glotz, well as a first step I removed the processor heat sink assembly and thoroughly cleaned it, (it was full of dust), the result - temperature within 70 degree, (@68 ), now as a next step I have to put thermal pad/glue, I'am sure that will help.