difficulties getting started

[WarpedPlatter]

Greetings fellow silent PC advocates.

I've run into a few difficulties since deciding to start running FAH on my work PC. Things are going smoother now, but could be better.

At first I installed the graphical client, but when I would click on the tray icon to maximize it, I received the error "winfah caused an invalid page fault in module G400ICD.dll", which is the Matrox G400 OpenGL ICD. I ended up switching to the command line client, but I don't like unsolved problems, so I'm going to upgrade to the newest driver. If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know.

The first day the command line client didn't save the frames it completed, but I think it was because I neglected to reboot after the last graphical client crash. It hasn't happened since.

I fired up the client again this morning to finish the last ten percent of the first WU, only to get a message that the due date had passed (arrrrrghh!). A new WU and the gromacs core were subsequently downloaded. The big problem with this is that instead of 4 minutes per frame (200 total), the current WU is taking about 30 minutes for each percent.

Since I'm not going to leave the machine on overnight unless necessary, this WU will take over a week. Thankfully the due date is five weeks from now. Is there a way to force the download of less intensive WUs? Are the points awarded fairly linear, or do tougher WUs get awarded a premium?

WarpedPlatter

[miker]

There is a premium for bigger WU's. It's definitely not scientific, some WU's give good pts/min, others not so much.

Your question about getting smaller WU's downloaded: When the PC goes out to get a new WU, it first does a quick benchmark on your PC. The slower the PC, the easier the WU. (if an easy one is available, which is not always the case)

Work PC, why not leave it on? I just switch off the monitor and lock the workstation.

[Rusty075]

Welcome to the Folding!

Now you did set the team number to 31574 in the config, right?

Yes, some workunits take much longer than others. The points earned for each are proportional to how long it'll take you. The 4 minute/frame one you had was probably good for 29 points, while the one you've got now is most likely a 54 pointer.

There's no way to request only faster units, but you can request Gromacs units, which tend to run much faster on AMD machines. To do that add the tag "-advmethods" to the target line of your shortcut to the executable.

[WarpedPlatter]

If the earlier WU using the Tinker core ended up being worth 29 points, it would've worked out to 2.18 pts/hr. If the current WU using the Gromacs core ends up being worth 54 points, it will yield 1.08 pts/hr.

So, the Gromacs core might not be the best one to be using with my system, a Celeron 1200. After this one finishes, I'll try doing another one with the Tinker core before making a final judgement.

I'm a network admin at my company, so I have a lot of leeway in what I do, but my boss doesn't like PCs getting left on. He occcasionally needs to come into my office for parts when I'm not here. If I modify the power supply and undervolt the CPU fan, he'll never know it's running, hehehe.

He wouldn't do anything more than asking me to stop leaving it on, though. A couple of the CAD guys have been getting away leaving their machines on most of the time. Hmmm, that gives me an idea.

Later this year I might be able to contribute to a larger extent. We'll probably be buying quite a few new PCs, which of course will need to be burned in awhile before being deployed.

[Rusty075]

Ooooh, an Admin

That could come in handy for the team.

Have you read any of the stuff on installing F@H as a service, so it can be running in the background on the machine without the user even knowing its there? (hint hint)

[Wrah]

I fired up the client again this morning to finish the last ten percent of the first WU, only to get a message that the due date had passed (arrrrrghh!).

You're not the first to have that happen.. You can switch that off in the client. Start the console with the -config switch, when it eventually asks for "Change advanced options", go yes. A few questions later you'll see a "ignore deadline information" and do yes again. Fixed.

[WarpedPlatter]

I just turned in my first WU this morning. The next one is using the Tinker core and the frames are taking about 4 minutes as before, so I'll be able to compare the points per hour between the cores soon.

I've set up another non-critical computer which is on 24/7, but it's only a C500. FAH chose the Gromacs core. It's taking 5.5 hours to do each step, so it will take a few weeks. Hopefully it gets an easier WU next time.

I tried to download the files from overclockers.com.au to run FAH as a service, but the link to them results in a 404 error. Does anyone have a copy they could send? I can always do it manually, but those files would save me some time.

Thanks for the ignore deadline tip, Wrah. I'll use that in the future.