SMP Guide

[SiriusB]

When finstall works properly it is very quick. It also automatically installs the client as a service. You will notice whenever you restart Ubuntu you have to manually start Folding@Home. [I plan to add how to add something as a service when I know how. I have found about 10 different methods and none worked so it could be a while!]

Also, the questions you answer with finstall take only a moment to answer and to some the FAQ or the third party tools may be useful. Finstall also knows about any existing clients and can create new folders and service entries as necessary - although that is only useful if you plan to install standard linux clients.

So in short, when finstall works, it works

 

[mikeymike]

Well if it worked for me im sure i'd like it, but it turned out it was an annoying sticking point, whereas manual worked instantly.

The rest of the guide it great though with the little kinks and mistakes ironed out it is very straightforward and easy enough to follow along. Hopefully you can get all the ocuk members to have a go, im sure our output would increase exponentially if everyone with a dual core system went over to SMP folding? My office rig before was doing 300-400PPD whereas i can see people on here with scores of well over 1200PPD just by making the (relatively) pain free swap to SMP

Is the current version of linux fahmon just not very compatible with SMP WU's? i seem to have no data and really corrupted log files

 

[kinnison]

michael@michael-linux:~/foldingathome/CPU1$ ls
FaH  fah5  FAH504-Console.exe  mpiexec
michael@michael-linux:~/foldingathome/CPU1$ ./fah5 -configonly
bash: ./fah5: No such file or directory
michael@michael-linux:~/foldingathome/CPU1$

if i list files its there, but if i try to use it, it says its not there, something is obv wrong

Hmmm... if ia32-libs is installed, it's strange that it's not seeing fah5 as a file
Are you sure the execute flag is on fah5? If you do "ls -l fah5" it should show something like :
-rwx------ 1 chris chris 249556 2007-01-31 03:29 fah5

The "x" needs to be there.

 

[SiriusB]

Moot point now kinnison since it appears to be running. As for FahMon mine recognises the SMP WUs with no problems. The log files can be a little screwy with the text formatting but thats the case with all new clients [you'd think the guys at Stanford would manage to get that sorted first time by now - they've had enough practice]

It would be fantastic if everyone who had a dual-core 64 bit machine ran the SMP client. But the fact is some people just don't want the aggro. It is going to be less likely to get people to use Linux if the Windows SMP client offers similar PPD.

 

[mikeymike]

I fixed it somehow kinnison, thanks for the help though Working great now

This is what i see in fahmon:

 

[mikeymike]

Well reading up on other forums i have seen the problem i am having is because fahmon cannot handle the unitinfo.txt files from SMP projects if the unit name does not start with its project number.

For example i have a p2605 but it is called Protein in POPC in the unitinfo.txt. So renaming it to p2605_Protein in POPC then saving the file solves the issue, i can now see all the normal info plus a benchmark for the WU, i am currently now folding at:

Woohoo, a lot better than ~400PPD on 2 normal clients, 3 hours of fiddling around has just quadrupled my output from this computer

 

[Berserker]

I don't use fahmon (use my own), but it has the same problem with that project (i.e. not showing the correct project name).

 

[mikeymike]

another ammendment in guide needed:

if you mess up your graphics you have written to write:


sudo cp -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf
shutdown -r now

whereas i think it should be

sudo cp -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo shutdown -r now

 

[Stelly]

I can add remote monitoring of Linux through FAHMON on a windows computer if you want??

Stelly

 

[SiriusB]

another ammendment in guide needed:

if you mess up your graphics you have written to write:


sudo cp -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf
shutdown -r now

whereas i think it should be

sudo cp -p /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf
sudo shutdown -r now

I'm not at a Linux box right now, but I believe you may be correct. Well, you probably are if you have tried it yourself. I will make the change when I get home.

And yes Stelly, you can monitor a Linux client from a Windows box. There is a bit of messing you need to do to Samba to make it work properly, so I will post that info later on. I will also add it to the guide as it is useful to know.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

I'm not at a Linux box right now, but I believe you may be correct. Well, you probably are if you have tried it yourself. I will make the change when I get home.

It'd probably be easier to just say sudo reboot.

 

[Stelly]

It'd probably be easier to just say sudo reboot.

Yes I agree... what do you think about sudo? I find myself logging in as root most of the time

Stelly

 

[BillytheImpaler]

I have no qualms about it. I certainly don't like to log in as root. At worst I'll sudo su and stay as root in a terminal window.

 

[Stelly]

I have no qualms about it. I certainly don't like to log in as root. At worst I'll sudo su and stay as root in a terminal window.

sorry thats what I mean...

Stelly

 

[SiriusB]

The reason why Linux is far more secure is because you aren't meant to use root as your day to day account. In your standard account you can change anything in your home folder and that is usually enough.

Linux generally doesn't throw wobblers when running applications in a standard account because people who make software make sure normal users can run it. Unlike in XP where software developers seem to think everyone uses an Admin account anyway, why bother programming for Limited Users.

You probably shouldn't run as root all the time in the terminal as this undermines the idea of having limited accounts. Running as root for a short time is ok, especially when installing and configuring software, but when you're done you should go back to being a normal user.

Sorry for the lecture - all this kind of stuff got drilled in at Uni

 

[shadowscotland]

Edit: After rearraging my system last night, to stealth my HD's (£2.65 of elastic=money well spent) I droped my temps a further 2 degress, by improving airflow and now have a 'spair' 250GB drive to play with

SO

Original text: Will attemp a duel boot this week with Ubuntu on a separate HD - wish me luck (I think I'm going to need it, based on past proformance )
Really didn't like be double stomped this week so it's SMP for die trying

 

[SiriusB]

Hey all

I have been working on the web page version of the smp guide and i am not far from finishing.

The basic layout and structure of the pages is pretty much complete and I started on creating imagery and working out how to style the pages this evening.

I wont give you a definite date when the site will be ready as I anticipate something to go wrong . Suffice it to say that the site will be ready when it is ready

I haven't updated the list of errors recently as I have been busy but I will make sure any errors mentioned will be corrected. Obviously if anyone finds any more please let me know!

 

[shadowscotland]

so how following the guide gave me the standard client or the smp client folding standard units on two core

No good asking me for more detail ditched it and VM - just not worth the hassle I'm sure its was a typo at some point

 

[rich99million]

so how following the guide gave me the standard client or the smp client folding standard units on two core

No good asking me for more detail ditched it and VM - just not worth the hassle I'm sure its was a typo at some point

sounds like you left the -smp switch off when you ran finstall, that was a problem which I believe was spotted and corrected, though it would depend if you'd seen it before or after

 

[SiriusB]

Yeah, missing the SMP switch is a major gaff on my part. It is in the list of errors in the first post.

If I get time I will try and update the links so the files are up to date.