BleepingComputer.com: Folding@home, Distributed Computing At It's Best

from what I have just read it looks as though this program is happier run on one of the more modern windows platforms and on a computer that is more often than not , left on

I ran it on my old Windows 98 with no problem so hopefully it will run smoothly on other's older operating systems, as well. (Never leave the computer on overnight but must confess it runs most of each day).

Egad, it stopped automatically running way back in November!!! Shows me that I should pay more attention to what's on my task bar but I rarely think to 'expand' the silly thing - huge drat!! Not to worry, Dialer, I'd be cheering you on if you'd overtaken me - after all we're all working towards the same goal - huge happy smile!

one of my lap tops now has it on for a trial hope I do not mess up the work

Hey, to the team, Ruby!

Whatever happens with your first work unit, don't delete it. They can sometimes use even party finished WUs. I had one that got screwed up when it was only 19% done, but I sent it back and actually got partial credit for it.

Thanks for joining us on this great project!

Hi Mara. I totally agree about us working as a team. I was just nudging you a bit.

Congratulations on completing your first WU, Joe!

I have another question for the team; for those including me whose comps will not be on 24/7


how do you 'save' the folding work before turning off the computer and how do you'retrieve ' it when you come back?

who 'send's the work off 'for marking'?

Hi Ruby,

Are you using the GUI interface or the text-only console? I can't help if it's the GUI. But here are the instructions that I use for the console client. The control is in the shortcuts that you make.

looks like GU interface; I have programed my 'checkpoint frequency 'to every 5 minutes ; I will see what happens ( or not)when I reboot later today

the 'speed' ( or lack of)of the folding brings back very difficult memories of watching a machine do a very slow defrag and of another on an horrendously infected computer doing an awfully LONG spyware scan that took way too many hours to complete

of interest, the slider for CPU useage percent, bearing in mind that on the older comp models you cannot SEE how MUCH CPU IS in use; which end of the slider is maximum ,left or right as the slider values do not give any indication

Yep, that's the GUI for sure. I've sent for reinforcements!

Heh, I actually miss the little Pacman-like guy chewing up all those bits and pieces.

When using the GUI one has the option of pausing the WU at anytime by left clicking on the "cog" icon and right clicking on the "Pause work". This immediately stops the folding and saves to that point.

Should the F@H program be stopped for any other reason, the checkpoint frequency setting will pick up from its last point.
(I use three minute set point. I also use and click on the "Pause work when done" mode, as I want to watch the up/down load processes.)

The GUI should autostart when your system is turned on. If it doesn't then you just double click on the program shortcut.

RE: Slider for CPU usage percentage. 100% is to the far right.
(I run most of my systems at 75%, unless I'm doing something else intensive. The F@H program usually cedes to all system operations.)

RE: Display Molecule Draw Rate. I use the 50% mark. It's only a simulation and does take CPU use away from actual folding processes.

I mostly use the Console program now as it folds faster than the GUI when used on the same system. But it's a bit different to set up and operate.

Both methods should ask you for permission to connect to F@H (if you set that request).

//Edit: Realize the GUI shows WU's in "frames", which are comprised of steps; While the Console shows in steps only.
I think a frame is 10 steps ?

something amiss here; shut down for a few hours then rebooted; I HAD 'saved' 600 of 5000 completed;

on rebooting I am told that I am back to square one or do I have to log into something on line to 'remind' it of what work it had done

dismayed

If you clicked on "Quit" it may have restarted. Or did you also see a new core downloaded?

Use the "Pause" only on the GUI, unless you want to abort the working WU.

Sometimes, depending on CPU size, it may take a couple of minutes for the program to register back to saved amount of work.

Close the GUI screen, wait about ten minutes, then hover your cursor over the Icon to get a reading.

it seems to have corrected itself; I do not wish to be letting all this work go on in the background for a good cause, only to reboot and find all this 'time' completely wasted; a unit of 5000 will take some time to complete
I am clicking on 'pause work' when I shut down ;
also my system will not allow

 3. Use flags to control what WUs you get
Locate your shortcut to the folding @ home program or create a new one. Right click it and press "Properties". Unde the "Shortcut" tab, find the "Target:" box. Add -advmethods -forceasm to the end of the target outside of the quotes so that it looks something similar to:
"C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\winFAH.exe" -advmethods -forceasm

although I am not too concerned about this ; just to get it to do some work

of interest, does the computer HAVE to be ON line for all this ,else I have another machine that COULD just chug away at it OFF line

Actually, I don't think you want to be using flags to control WUs you receive. (Another here might address such.)

Quote

Your systems only have to go on line to receive and send WUs. They actually fold faster if off line as the CPU is not being used for the on line work.

Upon a boot up, give the program about ten minutes to register the previous results. This will depend on your OS and amount of CPU committed to the F@H. My Vista systems register immediately. My little XP's take a couple of minutes.
So, it stands to reason your 98SE(?) with ??? CPU might take a couple more minutes to register.

ruby1, on Jan 5 2008, 11:07 AM, said:

KoanYorel, on Jan 5 2008, 11:17 AM, said:

Again, not being familiar with the GUI version, I can only speak to the flags issue in general (and don't know why your system won't allow you to use them). I agree with KY that it's probably not a good idea to try to select the types of WUs you get, with some exceptions:

From the console instructions, for which there may be something similar in the GUI: "Allow receipt of work assignments and return of work results greater than 5MB in size (such work units may have large memory demands.... By default, the client gets assigned only WUs that won't need a lot of network bandwidth or ressources. If it's not a problem for you, answer yes and you may be assigned these larger WUs that have bonus points."

If you have an option to request WUs without deadlines, select no for that. Apparently such WUs no longer exist. Related to that, also be sure not to ignore deadlines, or late WUs will be rejected.

The -forceasm flag might be the equivalent of the console's question of whether or not to allow highly optimized assembly code. I allow it, but you might not want to. Here's the explanation about it for the console: "Several years ago it [the highly optimized assembly code] was useful because some earlier AMD CPU had a flaw in their SIMD implementation, leading to crashes, but now it's past history."

Hope this helps. FYI, there's also an F@H forum, where they can answer questions that we can't answer here. They'll also address scientific questions, which is really .