Folding Forum

I have an old machine that I just installed Ubuntu 10.04 on(32 bit version). The computer has an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ cpu, 2 gigs of memory and an 80 gig HDD. I'm going to be running FAH on this machine and hopefully learning about Ubuntu/Linux.

My problem is that I can't get the FAH client to install, after 2 days of trying I'm about to throw my computer through the window. I've followed the instructions outlined on the FAH website numerous times, I've reinstalled Ubuntu twice and nothing helps. I manage to get the client downloaded but when I type
"chmod +x fah6" I get an error: "cannot access 'fah6': No such file or directory".

Is there some obvious step I'm missing? I'm almost beginning to think the instrucions are intended to dissuade use of the Linux client by anybody that's not a Linux expert.

Welcome to the forum.

Make sure you are still in the directory where you put the client when running that command.

cd ~/folding

Then run it.

If you type in the commands exactly like on the install guide, it should work. It worked for me the last time I tried it on Ubuntu 9.x.

Hello and welcome distoor

Not sure about 6.02 but 6.34 needs a 64bit version of linux

Try this excellent guide You only need the info in posts 1 & 2 - the rest of the guide is for Multi cpu rigs. Hope it helps.

v6.02 is 32 bit only.

Distoor,
Have you resolved your questions? If not, let me know, as I had some trouble installing as well. The instructions are there, but not in the best of order and clarity. First of all, you are suffering from some confusion in that you have a 64-bit dual core processor and may need to revisit your choice of FAH client. You will want to get the most out of your setup, depending on whether you use it for other purposes.
Best,
Larry

If you have ideas for improving the Linux Install Guide, there is a link at the bottom of that Guides page where you can post feedback and suggestions.

I haven't resolved the problem, I've grown frustrated and turned off the computer for a couple of days.

I've considered running a 64 bit version of Ubuntu but I'm new to Linux and, as I understand it, the 64 bit version is more challenging. I just want to run a single instance of FAH like I do on my windows machine.

The instructions may be there but I can't find the one that gets it working on my comptuer.

distoor wrote:I haven't resolved the problem, I've grown frustrated and turned off the computer for a couple of days.

I've considered running a 64 bit version of Ubuntu but I'm new to Linux and, as I understand it, the 64 bit version is more challenging. I just want to run a single instance of FAH like I do on my windows machine.

The instructions may be there but I can't find the one that gets it working on my comptuer.

AFAIK its the same whether you install 32 or 64 bit Ubuntu - just like it sthe same whetehr you install 32 or 64bit windows

7im wrote:If you have ideas for improving the Linux Install Guide, there is a link at the bottom of that Guides page where you can post feedback and suggestions.

Following that link did indeed lead me to the Forums, and I assume this is the appropriate one, although it may be better to start a new topic. At any rate, a copied section of the Guide and my suggestions follow:

Note: All these listed commands can be typed or copied/pasted from this install GUIDE to the terminal (window) of your machine.

Example:

user@box ~ $ mkdir -p ~/folding
user@box ~ $ cd ~/folding

Of course it's obvious to experienced users, but the command prompt can be a $, #, or almost anything, hope that helps.
I struggled with some of these commands and tried some variants successfully:

user@box FAH $ curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... inux64.tgz
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 138k 100 138k 0 0 34461 0 0:00:04 0:00:04 --:--:-- 39789

I completely omitted the highlighted portion and I had some problems getting to the correct directory because I don't understand the command line all that well. However, I think I used user@box~folding$ (be sure to remember that user@box~folding$ will have your user name instead) and then the highlighted commands below:

user@box FAH $ tar xzf FAH6.34-Linux64.tgz
user@box FAH $ chmod +x fah
user@box FAH $ ./fah6 -configonly

Linux/Unix variants can be a real challenge because they all have different switches etc., but the Folding@Home instructions are not too difficult.
I'm out on a limb here, so please take this with a grain of salt, and 7im, please feel free to scuttle this whole post if you feel if confuses rather than helps.

Yes, the command prompt can vary. But that's pretty much covered earlier in the guide by this statement...

In the Terminal window you should see a prompt that looks something like this: yourusername@yourcomputername ~ $

That's also why the setup commands are provided plainly with out the prompts at the start, and with the prompts, as in the example you posted.

So other than removing this example text, which was mistaken for a command to be entered...

% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 138k 100 138k 0 0 34461 0 0:00:04 0:00:04 --:--:-- 39789

...I don't see where you've changed anything else from the guide. Did I miss anything else?

7im

I'm not certain this is correct - copied from the install guide: user@box FAH $

I definitely had to jockey the commands around and as I recall, it had to do with the fact that FAH appears between the username and command prompt as above. Unfortunately, I wasn't concerned enough that others might have the same troubles. My assumption when something goes wrong, is usually that it's something I've not read thoroughly or a mistake, so I will leave this to your expert opinion.

I'll fire up a copy of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS in a VM and confirm...

Okay, I made some updates. It is more informative (both ubuntu and fedora info). I added a cURL install to get rid of the cURL .vs wget confusion.

It's tough to balance simple and informative. It has to include enough detail that people can figure it out, but not so much it overwhelms new users.


Let's just boil this down to the basics. It really is very simply. Open a terminal window, and type these 6 commands.

mkdir -p ~/folding
cd ~/folding
curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... inux64.tgz
tar xzf FAH6.34-Linux64.tgz
chmod +x fah
./fah6 -configonly -smp

Answer the setup questions, and you're done. Fah is configured.
Now run fah with this command...

./fah6 -smp -verbosity 9

Now you are cookin' with gas.



Or, for the v6.02 user...

mkdir -p ~/folding
cd ~/folding
curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... -Linux.tgz
tar xzf FAH6.02-Linux.tgz
chmod +x fah
./fah6 -configonly

Answer the setup questions, and you're done. Fah is configured.
Now run fah with this command...

./fah6 -verbosity 9

That's it. In about a day or two, your points will start rolling in.

Thanks 7im, much clearer now.

7im wrote:Okay, I made some updates. It is more informative (both ubuntu and fedora info). I added a cURL install to get rid of the cURL .vs wget confusion.

It's tough to balance simple and informative. It has to include enough detail that people can figure it out, but not so much it overwhelms new users.


Let's just boil this down to the basics. It really is very simply. Open a terminal window, and type these 6 commands.

mkdir -p ~/folding
cd ~/folding
curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... inux64.tgz
tar xzf FAH6.34-Linux64.tgz
chmod +x fah
./fah6 -configonly -smp

Answer the setup questions, and you're done. Fah is configured.
Now run fah with this command...

./fah6 -smp -verbosity 9

Now you are cookin' with gas.



Or, for the v6.02 user...

mkdir -p ~/folding
cd ~/folding
curl -O http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegrou ... -Linux.tgz
tar xzf FAH6.02-Linux.tgz
chmod +x fah
./fah6 -configonly

Answer the setup questions, and you're done. Fah is configured.
Now run fah with this command...

./fah6 -verbosity 9

That's it. In about a day or two, your points will start rolling in.

This doesn't work for me. The command "chmod +x fah" gives a response; "chmod: cannot access 'fah': No such file or directory"