Answers to: Reasons for not using F@H.

[Trivolve]

My friend gave a classic answer: "I don't give a damn about science. I'm just a bad ass."

[John Naylor]

hahaha... maybe I should add that one as an example of when you're better off giving up

[dittopb]

Hot summer is a folding killer.

[Gemseeker]

Hi. I hope somebody who can help sees this post soon as I am worried about having to leave my laptop running on and on. I am a newbie, having lots of trouble understanding much of the terminology here but I have struggled along by reading posts and faq's and have managed to complete 5 WU's. The first few were good, using the AMBER core and then I got one using GROMAC, but now I have the problem where it just says "waiting for core" and shows the steps. The first time I got this a few days ago I had to shut down my computer after several hours and at that point it was up to over 2,000 steps and still no other information. When I started it up again it did not continue on from there but had to start over again, which I understand probably was somebody else got it or I had to start over with a new one. That happened a couple of times and today I decided to let it go on as long as I felt I could leave my computer on, and it is now up to almost 5,800 steps and still no other information as to what core it is or how long it might take. I can't find any help and I have looked through the forum until my brain wants to explode and when I try to go into the wiki it doesn't work. I managed to get into a wike through a link in one of the other posts on the forum but when I tried to go to an area where I could find answers I ended up in the global wiki site and I got lost. Please somebody help me. I don't know where to look to find out anything else and my computer skills are limited, not to mention I have a hard time following many of the discussions here due to lack of experience with the terminology. Please advise. I am using a Dell Inspiron laptop Core Duo with 1.99 Mgh processer and 2 gigs of ram and hope the poor thing is not going to overheat. I don't want to lose the hours it has taken to get these thousands of steps towards getting the anonymous core.

[bruce]

Welcome to the folding forum, Gemseeker

We're happy to help with whatever you're having trouble with and if the terminology isn't understandable please ask for more information until we make it clear to you.

There are better places to ask these questions than this topic, but I won't do anything about that issue until I'm sure you will be able to find your discussion. The first challenge will be to find your way back here and if you do, we'll go from there.

Folding@Home does require a lot of computer time, so your worry about leaving your laptop running continuously is not an unreasonable issue. I have two laptops that do run almost continuously so it's a safe thing to do as long as it isn't wrapped up in a case or something like that. Other folks run FAH a few hours per day. FAH is a voluntary program and science will benefit from almost any level of involvement that fits your personal style.

You didn't specify which client you are running or which OS you're running. I'll guess that it's Windows but if that isn't right, we can switch to MacOS X or Linux in the next part of the discussion if that's what you've got.

There are several choices of clients but there are a number of commonalities so I can talk about those first and we'll go deeper in a future discussion it you're still seeking information. AMBER and GROMACS are both analysis methods used by specific work units (WUs) which may be assigned to your client when it asks for a new assignment. They're quite different, but not in any way that matters to you, at this point.

Under normal circumstances, the client should resume work a almost the same point it was shut down. What's important is that it be able to find the files that were left by the previous client. Since you mentioned 2000 steps, I'm going to assume that you're running the v5.03 GUI client. If so, you'll find what looks like a red gear in the systray area of your screen. If you hover the mouse over that icon, it should tell you a fraction which represents how far the current assignment has progressed. That also means that you probably got the client running by using a windows installer and you probably accepted the defaults at least up to the point that it asked for your name and it suggested "anonymous"

See, that wasn't so bad. How else can we help you?

[Gemseeker]

Hi there ... thank you so much for answering me so quickly. I got so tired looking for a topic that was close to my problem that I just posted here on impulse so I wouldn't fall asleep before trying.
Anyway, you are right that I am running the 5.03 client, (what is GUI?) and I do have the red gear icon which I do use to get information. It still tells me it is "attempting to get work packet" and since previously it didn't take too long I have been letting it go on and on not realizing there was something else wrong. I finally remembered to look at the log and it showsapparently something must have changed in my configuration because it was working ok before. I previously had the problem of getting the finished work sent back so I tried to follow the suggestions given to others about not using the IE connection etc. and I tried making a proxy and adding an exception to my firewall to allow FAH and then I got the results to be accepted. Now when I look at my configuration the boxes for checking what connection to use are both blank and I don't remember unchecking both of them ... I had tried unchecking the IE one before but that didn't work so I put it back in and it worked ok then. Should I try the proxy again or recheck the IE connection box?
Here is a section of my log file that shows the Work Unit having an invalid address. Is this from the omission in my configuration? I forgot to tell you I am using Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Thanks in advance for your help, and let me know where is a better place to post my inquiry.

Linda (gemseeker)

P.S. I tried to post the log but it kept getting refused even though I tried putting "code" around it so I deleted it.

[Beremat]

GUI means Graphical User Interface, or that you can see something like a protein floating around. If not, you are using the Text-based client, which looks like this:
http://wiki.digital-digest.com/images/b ... config.png
Did you post your log like this?
[CODE]
Put your log here...
[/CODE]
Also, always leave the IE box unchecked, as it is messed up and submits the same work many times over to the Stanford server, because it never recieves a message that "Okay, I recieved the work."

[alancabler]

Hi Gemseeker ,
Welcome to the folding forum.
GUI means Graphical User Interface.

You'll usually have the best results by not checking either "Use proxy" or "Use IE connection Settings"
If you're having firewall issues (software firewall?) then usually just giving FAH permissions works. Router/firewalls generally don't need any extra instructions.
Just copy/past your log into your next post- that should work.
New folks can't post links as a security measure against spammers, sorry.

[Gemseeker]

Hey guys, thanks. I'll try to post the log again as I see by your example that I should remove one of the double "code" words on either side of the link.
Here goes

Code: Select all

[22:26:38] + Attempting to get work packet
[22:26:38] - Connecting to assignment server
[22:27:01] - Successful: assigned to (0.0.0.0).
[22:27:01] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[22:27:01] Work Unit has an invalid address.
[22:27:01] - Error: Attempt #5  to get work failed, and no other work to do.
             Waiting before retry.
[22:28:33] + Attempting to get work packet
[22:28:33] - Connecting to assignment server
[22:28:34] - Successful: assigned to (0.0.0.0).
[22:28:34] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[22:28:34] Work Unit has an invalid address.
[22:28:34] - Error: Attempt #6  to get work failed, and no other work to do.
             Waiting before retry.
[22:31:20] + Attempting to get work packet
[22:31:20] - Connecting to assignment server
[22:31:21] - Successful: assigned to (0.0.0.0).
[22:31:21] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[22:31:21] Work Unit has an invalid address.
[22:31:21] - Error: Attempt #7  to get work failed, and no other work to do.
             Waiting before retry.
[22:36:54] + Attempting to get work packet
[22:36:54] - Connecting to assignment server
[22:36:56] - Successful: assigned to (0.0.0.0).
[22:36:56] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[22:36:56] Work Unit has an invalid address.
[22:36:56] - Error: Attempt #8  to get work failed, and no other work to do.
             Waiting before retry.
[22:47:46] + Attempting to get work packet
[22:47:46] - Connecting to assignment server
[22:47:47] - Successful: assigned to (0.0.0.0).
[22:47:47] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[22:47:47] Work Unit has an invalid address.
[22:47:47] - Error: Attempt #9  to get work failed, and no other work to do.
             Waiting before retry.

I went to the settings and unchecked the IE box again. Is it possible that "Work Unit has an invalid address" is the fault of the client and not on my end?
I do have the little simulated protein writhing around and I like to watch it a lot.

[Xilikon]

Did you configure to work on units without deadlines ? If yes, set this to no since there are no deadlineless units for a few years now.

[Gemseeker]

Yes, I did and I will change that now. Thanks.

[Gemseeker]

Wow!! A couple of minutes after I changed the preference from "deadlineless" the graphics screen showed that I was working on the AMBER core and it was ticking away very nicely. Thank you, thank you so much for that tip. I will stop bothering people now and try to find a more suitable topic if I need to post again.
I am so happy to be told that even my small contribution is of value. I joined FAH a few years ago but my computer was so inferior I only got one unit done before it died and when I got this laptop recently I decided to try again. Much better luck this time and since I am retired I needed to find something worthwhile to use some of my free time.

[John Naylor]

Updated: Added a question about the "lack" of results, and posted verbatim most of Vijay's post here... sometimes it just works better to quote from the source

[sdack]

It is nice to see that my question got added to this list (...), but I would like to comment on another one:

Won’t running my computer at full usage/100% all the time damage it?

It is very likely that a good computer lives longer when run 100% at all times than one that gets turned on and off once a day. Most faults in electronics - it does not matter if it is a computer, a TV or a microwave oven - are in fact temperature related. Some are the result of overheating (and a bad environment or a hardware design is to blame) but others are the result of thermal stress, and are simply unavoidable. Because different materials expand differently when exposed to heat they then build up tension and cause friction, also known as thermal stress. Whenever a computer is turned on and off its components change in temperature by as much as 40c to 60c, causing thermal stress in all contacts, cables, PCBs and solderings. Given enough time will it cause most materials to break - like a piece of plastic or metal that is being bend too often. A computer which is running at full speed 24/7 and producing a constant heat will receive a lot less thermal stress than one that is being turned on and off once a day, and therefore live longer.

Again, this implies a good computer as well as a good environment! With computer components getting hotter each year, requiring more cooling than ever before, they also tend to die earlier because of over-heating. A computer on a dusty carpet in a crowded office will most-likely die of dust before any thermal stress can kill it.

[7im]

IMO, the answer is even simpler. A well built and well maintained computer will age and be considered obsolete well before it breaks down, regardless of whether it runs 24/7, or cycles power 3 times a day. We don't really need to debate which is less damaging, unless it better answers the question.