*** F@H Tech Assistance Thread ***

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Folding@Home Now More Powerful Than Top 500 Supercomputers Combined

Many people are donating their PC's leftover power to help fight the coronavirus.

www.tomshardware.com

I think the system is just overwhelmed to a degree it's now at 2.4exaflops potential beating all top 500 supercomputers combined!, Quite the feat , someone on their end said they're recieving 6TB of results a day and they're having to clear space for WU delivery.

Been a while since I messed with flags anyone know a guide for that advanced flag.

 

[mx500torid]

Go to configure on the advanced control window of F@H and click on expert tab. Click the add button lower left bottom. In the window that pops up put Client-Type in the first slot the put in advanced in the bottom slot. The same is for beta just switch advanced for beta. Click save on the bottom and you are done.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Go to configure on the advanced control window of F@H and click on expert tab. Click the add button lower left bottom. In the window that pops up put Client-Type in the first slot the put in advanced in the bottom slot. The same is for beta just switch advanced for beta. Click save on the bottom and you are done.

Thanks for that, same as it was then, secondary question, to everyone not just you.
Has anyone got and used two network connections.
I have mobile broadband based 4G home network using a gdamn Huawei home hub, a necessary evil due to where I live, with this communication channel I get no jobs, it's on three (3) as a network provider.
If I use my mobile as a hotspot I get jobs straight away and continuously, or definitely more so.
I have reset the house router but no joy, no ports or anything opened or changes besides admin password was changed.
Anyone have a clue why or similar, been like this for a month in total I have been trying stuff but I'm out of ideas.

The flags have possibly helped, man got work to do yay, , I'll just continue monitoring the situation for a bit

 

[mx500torid]

Update. Both machines sent completed WU in but can get no more work. I changed flags and deleted flags, No change. Oh well was fun while it lasted.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I have been thinking about the difficulty getting work unit's.
Is it possible that the now vast network of PC sat with no work are forming a denial of service attack unintended of course, by retrying connection every couple of minutes, 2.4exaflops worth of computers sounds like enough?.

 

[windwhirl]

I have been thinking about the difficulty getting work unit's.
Is it possible that the now vast network of PC sat with no work are forming a denial of service attack unintended of course, by retrying connection every couple of minutes, 2.4exaflops worth of computers sounds like enough?.

As far as I know, default behaviour is that the client tries to get WU, fails, tries again a minute later, fails, tries again 2 or 3 minutes later and so on, so at some point the client waits for 4 or 8 hours before trying again.
So a unintended DDoS shouldn't happen, unless you're constantly hitting pause and start.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

As far as I know, default behaviour is that the client tries to get WU, fails, tries again a minute later, fails, tries again 2 or 3 minutes later and so on, so at some point the client waits for 4 or 8 hours before trying again.
So a unintended DDoS shouldn't happen, unless you're constantly hitting pause and start.

Correct I hadn't noticed the uptick in time ,Ty.

 

[Star_Hunter]

The client was just updated to 7.6.9 (https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/). They didnt list a detail changelog other than fixes bugs/security issues as well as being able to pick COVID-19 in the list. Its possible this new client may be better at trying another server for a WU if the current one wont respond.

 

[phill]

The last few days I've had the program open and waiting for work units to download, I've been waiting all day and I've been lucky to get one maybe two.. At least I can understand why tho!!

 

[windwhirl]

*avast antivirus voice* "The F@H Client has been updated"

Update went without a hitch.

Its possible this new client may be better at trying another server for a WU if the current one wont respond.

That's likely more of a server-side issue. Previous version didn't have a problem jumping from one server to another when the first one didn't respond as expected.

 

[Divide Overflow]

Is there a way to start the client in Advanced Control instead of the web interface?

 

[phill]

On the icon by the clock (bottom right) right click, advance options or something advanced I can't quite remember, it'll eventually load up for you to see

 

[zlopras]

I'd like to remind everyone who struggles to receive work units from F@H that many other similar computing projects exist that would welcome your contribution. For example, rosetta@home is also folding COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) related proteins (different goals and methodology). Their results can in fact theoretically direct the F@H guys to better prepare new workloads. It uses a really well made BOINC client which allows you to effortlessly contribute to a number of projects throughout disciplines (if you also want to do something different than COVID-19 research).

 

[mstenholm]

I'd like to remind everyone who struggles to receive work units from F@H that many other similar computing projects exist that would welcome your contribution. For example, rosetta@home is also folding COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) related proteins (different goals and methodology). Their results can in fact theoretically direct the F@H guys to better prepare new workloads. It uses a really well made BOINC client which allows you to effortlessly contribute to a number of projects throughout disciplines (if you also want to do something different than COVID-19 research).

Noble plea but Roseta dosn't use GPUs and my understanding is that it is the GPUs jobs that are the biggest problem. I did start Rosetta a few days ago so I'm not a hater

 

[windwhirl]

Is there a way to start the client in Advanced Control instead of the web interface?

Not sure about the Advanced Control, but the web interface can be disabled by taking out the parameter for it in the shortcut properties...

Typing "FAHClient.exe --help" in the command line did produce a big list of parameters you can use (including the one for the web interface), but there doesn't seem to be one for opening the Advanced Control. But you could simply make a .bat file with what you need...

 

[mstenholm]

Not sure about the Advanced Control, but the web interface can be disabled by taking out the parameter for it in the shortcut properties...
View attachment 152146

Typing "FAHClient.exe --help" in the command line did produce a big list of parameters you can use (including the one for the web interface), but there doesn't seem to be one for opening the Advanced Control. But you could simply make a .bat file with what you need...

FAHControl.exe works for me

 

[windwhirl]

FAHControl.exe works for me
View attachment 152147

Ah, I thought he meant automatic startup of the Advanced Control along with the client executable.

 

[zlopras]

Noble plea but Roseta dosn't use GPUs and my understanding is that it is the GPUs jobs that are the biggest problem. I did start Rosetta a few days ago so I'm not a hater

You are right, Rosetta does not use GPUs, it was just an example. I am not aware if any other projects that study COVID-19 use GPUs, might be worth looking into. I use my CPU for Rosetta and GPU for GPUGRID (molecular dynamics).
If people can't get projects for COVID but still want to help other research, they can. I hope that the pandemic has at least helped spread awareness of shared computing and many people will continue to contribute to various projects long into the future. I don't personally work with these platforms (I do cancer genomics), but if I can use my otherwise idle gaming PC to help my colleagues, I'm more than happy to.

 

[mstenholm]

Ah, I thought he meant automatic startup of the Advanced Control along with the client executable.

Maybe he did. It has been more than 10 years since I set up this client.....I just start FAHClient if I want to see what is going on.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Normally, I just create a shortcut on the desktop....

 

[mstenholm]

Normally, I just create a shortcut on the desktop....

I installed the new version and it makes this shortcut

 

[thebluebumblebee]

F@H has had usability problems forever. I wonder if the influx of millions of Folders has prompted Stanford to address some of these issues?

 

[windwhirl]

Well, one thing that I definitely noticed is that now Advanced Control opens the project's page when clicking its number. Previously that feature was broken... so that's something they fixed

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I am having issues with Fah, my main listed rig got a clean install , actually enabling uefi boot this last weekend.
Fah installed ok with Wcg too, and was working fine up to me using the pc today, it had tan all night without issues until I was watching the tube on it this morning.
Now I get a kernel power reboot whenever I run fah.

I'm working through some options, just about to clean install the GPU whql driver's to move away from the latest beta driver's.

But any ideas, is it just me?

 

[windwhirl]

I am having issues with Fah, my main listed rig got a clean install , actually enabling uefi boot this last weekend.
Fah installed ok with Wcg too, and was working fine up to me using the pc today, it had tan all night without issues until I was watching the tube on it this morning.
Now I get a kernel power reboot whenever I run fah.

I'm working through some options, just about to clean install the GPU whql driver's to move away from the latest beta driver's.

But any ideas, is it just me?

There was a known issue in the Radeon Adrenaline drivers 20.4.1 that comes close to what you describe

Running Folding@Home while also running an application using hardware acceleration of video content can cause a system hang or black screen. A potential workaround is disabling hardware acceleration for the application that has it enabled.

But it was supposed to be fixed in 20.4.2. Also, it shouldn't happen unless you run into that specific scenario.