Confused

[Matress_of_evil]

Hi, i'm new to these forums so sorry if similar questions have been raised before, but I searched and couldn't find anything.

I've just upgraded my graphics card to a Radeon x1650. I've been folding for well over a year now, and my old graphics card (Radeon 9250) wasn't able to run the newer GPU clients. But I noticed that x1650's are capable of doing so, so I thought i'd try installing one.

As soon as I Downloaded The GPU Client GUI Version, I recieved an error message saying the program had expired on the 8th February. It does NOT mention anything about an expiry date in the program info on the downloads page though, even though some of the other beta's do say this.

...So I tried to install some of the other versions. They all came up with the same expired error message. If these programs have expired, why are they still available for download? And where can I get the updated versions that won't expire? I already fold 24/7 but I barely get 200 points a day. I want to start achieving greater things for the good of science!

Thanks for your help.

[toTOW]

Do you have the same issue with the GPU console client

[Matress_of_evil]

No, that's running fine as it is. But how can I take advantage of my extra power if I can't install the GPU versions of Folding@home?

[toTOW]

Don't mix GUI and GPU ...

There are GUI and console for GPU ... and there are also GUI and console for CPU

Try tu use this one : http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... onsole.zip

[Matress_of_evil]

Err...what? Do I need to run both versions then? How can I do that if i'm just being told the versions have expired?

I'm currently working on "p2453_Fragment-Recep", a 400-frame unit and it's going to take me 2 days 5 hours to complete, even though i'm folding 24/7.

*Edit - google is telling me the download page is missing as well now. The world is against me.

[toTOW]

You'll have to choose if you wish to use your ATI board to fold, or if you prefer to use your CPU as usual.

[Matress_of_evil]

I just noticed your download link. It's working, but it's the client version rather than the graphics version. I don't like the client because I can't actually tell if it's running or not in the background or even know what it's doing when it is!

Why doesn't folding@home take advantage of both the CPU AND the GPU? Surely it makes more sense to use whatever power is available? If not, what do you think is better to make folding@home use?

My CPU is Pentium 4 model 540 @3.207Ghz, and my graphics card is a Radeon x1650 (AGP)

[uncle fuzzy]

If you have a single core processor, you'll have to chose using the CPU client or the GPU client. If the GUI client won't work, try the console version (v6.01 beta 3). The GPU client requires full use of a CPU core to work right.

[Matress_of_evil]

Ok, thanks for the info. I just tried running the version that toTOW linked to, and I entered all the info it asked for. As soon as I finished doing this, the program crashed. The graphical client (5.03) was running at the same time though. I assumed I could run both the GPU service and the CPU graphical versions at the same time, so I set the machine ID for the GPU service to 2 to separate them.

So it's a case of one or the other, right? Since I know that my processor is giving me about 200 points a day, i'll try running folding@home on my graphics card instead and see if it's any better. Is there a graphical GPU client? Google still says the downloads page is missing so I can't check.

Thanks for your help guys!

*Edit - the downloads page is working again now. The GPU Graphical Client is the one that I want, but it tells me that it expired on 8th February - even though there is no mention of this on the downloads page. So why has the download not been updated to a newer version/been removed?

[toTOW]

Your X1650 will produce about 220 PPD ... almost the same as your CPU ... so the choice is up to you.

You need to install the clients in separate folders (example /Folding and /FoldingGPU), use two different Machine ID (1 for the CPU and 2 for the GPU for example). Then, add the -local flag to both shortcuts to avoid conflicts.

P.S : the GPU GUI is still in beta ... I don't see the link to get it in public forums ...

[7im]

Well, actually, a P4 with HT is the one exception to the rule of not folding with a 2nd client using hyperthreading.

You can run a CPU client and a GPU client if HT is enabled. The CPU client will run on the "real" processor, and the "virtual HT" processor is enough to keep the GPU fed with data.

There is a VERY small performance hit, but not like trying to run 2 CPU clients. With 2 CPU clients, both clients are competing for the exact same processor resources. With a CPU and GPU client, the demands on the processor are very different, and so HT actually works well.

[Matress_of_evil]

I *think* i've actually managed to get both versions working. The normal graphical client (Running on the CPU) is still loading fine when I start Windows, but the service (Running on the GPU) is also running according to the task manager.



I haven't gained any points yet since I created this thread, so I don't know is this is working out for me or not, but i'll keep checking out Kakaostats and hope for the best.

[7im]

From the looks of that screen capture, the GPU client isn't using any resources. So will it make be running, it is not doing anything.

Please post examples of your fahlog.txt file from each client. First 30 lines of each, plus any sections that show an error message. Thanks.

[Matress_of_evil]

Oh...I thought the GPU version was supposed to have a low resource requirement simply coz it's working off the GPU?

Where do I find the files for the GPU service? I've got the folding@home folder in my program files folder but that contains the files for Graphical client. (Running on the CPU)

I have had problems with the current work unit, but these problems are completely unrelated to the fact that i'm trying to run multiple copies of folding@home - Google Earth causes my computer to blue screen of death and the last time it happened I lost my progress on my current unit. (Which annoyingly was about 50% done) For that reason the first 30 lines etc won't be of any use to you because it's a fairly long file, so i've uploaded the entire thing for you to look at instead Here.

Like I said though, I have no idea where the files are stored for the service though, (What is a service anyways?) which is why I would prefer to be able to run the Graphical client for my GPU - but that unfortunately is impossible because i'm being told the downloadable version has expired.

*Edit-

You need to install the clients in separate folders (example /Folding and /FoldingGPU), use two different Machine ID (1 for the CPU and 2 for the GPU for example). Then, add the -local flag to both shortcuts to avoid conflicts.

The graphical client (Version 5.03, running off the CPU) is currently in my Program Files\Folding@home folder. I don't know how to set a machine ID for this version, but it says MachineID: 1 in Fahlog.txt so I assume it is set up correctly. What do I need to add the -local flag for though? I've not heard any mention of a flag needing to be set before. I need to right-click the program and add -local to the shortcut box in properties, right?

The service (Version 6.01, beta 3, running off the GPU) is set to a machine ID of 2, but that's because it asked me whether to do this in the black MS-DOS box that came up after it had installed. I don't like the MS-DOS boxes which is yet another reason why I prefer the graphical client. I have no idea how to set the -local flag to the service though since I have no idea where the files for the service are being stored. There is no link in my startup folder for the service either so I have no idea how it knows to start up with windows.

[John Naylor]

Excessively long link on how to modify the service