FahCore_a4 and SMP on a Linux Box

[Sunny]

In the past, I have been successfully running FAH v6 on a linux box with the -smp option. It runs fine with FahCore_a3.exe using both cores of an old Pentium D.

From FAHlog.txt, it appears that -np 2 would indicate 2 processors:
Calling './FahCore_a3.exe -dir work/ -nice 19 -suffix 09 -np 2 -checkpoint 30 -verbose -lifeline 27050 -version 634'

I recently installed FAHClient v7 on this machine and I'm running FahCore_a4 (Gromacs GB Core), but I only see it using one core. It shows the following in the log file:

<!-- Folding Slot Configuration -->
19:54:22: <cause v='ANY'/>
19:54:22: <client-subtype v='LINUX'/>
19:54:22: <client-type v='normal'/>
19:54:22: <cpu-species v='UNKNOWN'/>
19:54:22: <cpu-type v='AMD64'/>
19:54:22: <cpus v='-1'/>
19:54:22: <cuda-index v='0'/>
19:54:22: <gpu v='false'/>
19:54:22: <max-packet-size v='normal'/>
19:54:22: <opencl-index v='0'/>
19:54:22: <os-species v='UNKNOWN'/>
19:54:22: <os-type v='LINUX'/>
19:54:22: <power v='medium'/>
19:54:22: <project-key v='0'/>
19:54:22: <smp v='true'/>

I also see this in log.txt:
Running FahCore: /usr/bin/FAHCoreWrapper ./FahCore_a4 -dir 00 -suffix 01 -version 703 -lifeline 28286 -checkpoint 30

It does not look to me like it passed any information to FAhCore_a4 regarding number of processors. I can tell from the processor activity that only one core is being used.

Is there something I need to configure in config.xml in order to get this to client to use SMP with both cores?

[patonb]

You need to set the process/folding level to "Full" By default it is set at low or moderate.. or whatever it is, which runs at n-1, so for you, 2 cores -1 = 1 core.

Its a slider in nthe windows version.

Oh oh..

See in your config it says power = medium... it needs to be full.

[Sunny]

Thanks for that suggestion ...

Per your recommendation, I set the "Folding Power" slider in FAHControl to Full and the folding slots now indicates cpu:2

From the log file when i restarted the client, it now shows:

22:09:07: <!-- Folding Slot Configuration -->
22:09:07: <cause v='ANY'/>
22:09:07: <client-subtype v='LINUX'/>
22:09:07: <client-type v='normal'/>
22:09:07: <cpu-species v='UNKNOWN'/>
22:09:07: <cpu-type v='AMD64'/>
22:09:07: <cpus v='-1'/>
22:09:07: <cuda-index v='0'/>
22:09:07: <gpu v='false'/>
22:09:07: <max-packet-size v='normal'/>
22:09:07: <opencl-index v='0'/>
22:09:07: <os-species v='UNKNOWN'/>
22:09:07: <os-type v='LINUX'/>
22:09:07: <power v='full'/>
22:09:07: <project-key v='0'/>
22:09:07: <smp v='true'/>

22:09:07:Enabled folding slot 00: READY cpu:2

However, when I look at my processor activity, it still appears that it is still only using one core.
(One core is 100% active and the other is just idle)
Is there something else that needs to be set or activated to get smp to work?

[calxalot]

The servers still distinguish between smp and uniprocessor.
Since you were cpu:1 when you downloaded a WU, you were probably assigned a uniprocessor one.
When it finishes, the next WU downloaded will use 2 cpus.

[Sunny]

That makes sense .... thanks for the help guys.

I'll let it finish this WU ... probably take it a couple of days as it's a rather ancient beast. It also runs a v6 GPU client (using wine), so it keeps busy.