How to get v8.3 to only fold on the GPU

[prcowley]

I have finally decided to upgrade to FAH 8.3.17. It was a bit of a nasty experience and didn't go well but eventually I got it running.

How do I tell Fah to fold only on the GPU and NOT the CPU?

I have not been able to find a way to do this. Help appreciated

Cheers
Pete

[calxalot]

Set to finish. Once all paused, change CPUs to zero. Fold.

[calxalot]

You can also create a resource group with just the GPU, leaving the default group for occasional cpu folding, but leave CPUs zero so you won’t accidentally start cpu folding.

Set cpus zero on any group that is just for GPU folding.

You need to click the lock icon at lower right on settings panel to create groups. This is in the client guide.

[calxalot]

Please share your experiences installing v8, so software, guides and support can be improved.

[prcowley]

Thanks Calxalot for your answers.

Some things were so obvious it's a wonder they didn't slap me on the face - i.e. the slider with the number of CPU cores. Duh!

On the Start Folding page, I should have read though the 8.3 Client user guide. It was even in a bigger font I went straight into download the software. Didn't RTFM so shot myself in the foot there as well.

The thing that caused me drama was that V7 was finishing up a largish work unit - 11 mins to go. So I thought I would download and install the v8 version but not actually start it up until the V7 work unit was completed (I had it on finishing). Unfortunately, It not only installed the V8 software but also started it up as well which killed the V7 client. I think there needs to be a bigger warning about that. It created a zero length config.xml file (didn't copy anything from the previous version - maybe it was locked because it might have still been open). But worse was it deleted the V7 config.xml file even though it was in a different directory. Just as well I had an old backup.

So I am going to try to complete the V7 work unit bu finishing the V8 unit and restarting the V7 client not that I have copied the config.xml back to its config directory. We will see if it works or not and the hope is it wont cause any other drama.

Cheers

[calxalot]

Did you use the default data directory when you installed v8?

[prcowley]

Yes I did.
The config directory for V7 is /etc/fahclient
and for v8 /etc/fah-client

same deal with /var/lib so I hope I can start V7 service and complete the unit. Seems such a waste to let it expire, although it may be too late. Worth a try.

Cheers
Pete

[prcowley]

well, trying to run v7 with v8 installed failed.
The upgrade to V8 actually removed the v7 client and trying to reinstall it says it is in conflict with V8 - they are not independent of each other. Such is life but seems to be going against me memory of folks saying they could, in theory, be run together. Seems NOT to be the case.

Cheers
Pete

[calxalot]

They cannot be run together, unless you are manually running one from the tarball and configure them to use different ports. Or for v7, you can configure web-enable false so port 7396 is not taken. More trouble than it's worth.

The v8 linux installer deliberately removes v7 and copies the config, because a new install or upgrade is assumed.
A purge of v7 is optional after installing v8.
If you don't purge, all the data and config should still be there, allowing you to uninstall v8 and reinstall v7. I have not tested this on linux. It works on macOS. At least save your config.xml before experimenting.

The v8 Windows installer might move things, so you can't freely downgrade. I think.

[prcowley]

Thanks Calxalot for your update,.

Defiantly more trouble than it is worth! I have given up on the idea. I just can't seem to get rid of the V7 service in systemd but it is not running and disables so "oh well!"

I thought the V7 control was well laid out but suitable for only one machine at a time. Change is hard. LOL but I am getting used to the V8 web control and can see it is better for running multiple machines. I can see a lot of thought has gone into it and s l o w l y warming up to it.

Kudos to all those who have are are continuing to work on V8.

Thanks for your patience when a read of the manual would have answered a few of the issues I had.

Cheers
Pete

[calxalot]

My understanding is that the v8 install disables but cannot properly remove the v7 service files.
A purge does that and more.
I think the optional purge would be (danger -- not tested)

Code: Select all

sudo apt purge fahclient

Note v7 is fahclient, v8 is fah-client

[Marcos FRM]

What you described is all expected, but:

It created a zero length config.xml file (didn't copy anything from the previous version - maybe it was locked because it might have still been open). But worse was it deleted the V7 config.xml file even though it was in a different directory. Just as well I had an old backup.

It appears there might be a race condition. Due to a broken init script, the v7 client keeps running after receiving a stop command. To mitigate this issue, we're forced to send a SIGTERM signal to terminate all its processes in v8 preinst. Maybe the v7 client is attempting to rewrite its configuration file (at shutdown) concurrently with our attempt to copy it.

The cause of the empty (or missing) v7 configuration file is unknown to me. v7 data in /etc/fahclient, /var/lib/fahclient and /var/log/fahclient should remain intact unless you explicitly purge fahclient package.

I'll attempt to reproduce the issue.