Folding Forum

After updating to 8.5.5 on my folding Macs, my Intel iMac is stuck on "No Work." I have tried reinstalling Folding@Home, but that did not resolve the issue. Is this an issue that I can address on my end? I have Pasted the log below.

Also, on my Apple silicon Macs, the "Only When Idle" setting has never seemed to work despite trying some troubleshooting recommendations I found on other forums/Reddit. Does anyone have any advice on how to enable this feature? It's not critical, but I figured since I am posting about the issue with the Intel Mac being stuck on "No Work," I'd ask about this.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. I am not the most advanced user, but I am consistent because I believe in this work and makes me feel like I am helping to do something to combat chronic diseases that have impacted my family members.

15:07:10:I1:Account websocket closed: PROTOCOL msg=Failed to read header start
15:07:10:W :CON46:DNS lookup failed for api.foldingathome.org
15:07:10:E :OUT46:Failed response: CONNECT
15:07:11:I2:REQ47:< GET /api/websocket HTTP/1.1
15:07:25:I2:OUT48:> GET /machine/niEWaEMeD-dSZuVwrv5cJZ-VgYqFE7MmztS9feRgrZA HTTP/1.1
15:07:25:I2:OUT48:< HTTP/1.1 200 HTTP_OK
15:07:25:I2:OUT3:> GET /ws/client HTTP/1.1
15:07:25:I2:OUT3:< HTTP/1.1 101 HTTP_SWITCHING_PROTOCOLS
15:07:25:I1:Logging into node account
16:38:01:I1:Account websocket closed: PROTOCOL msg=Failed to read header start
16:38:01:W :CON49:DNS lookup failed for api.foldingathome.org
16:38:01:E :OUT49:Failed response: CONNECT
16:38:02:I2:REQ50:< GET /api/websocket HTTP/1.1
16:38:16:I2:OUT51:> GET /machine/niEWaEMeD-dSZuVwrv5cJZ-VgYqFE7MmztS9feRgrZA HTTP/1.1
16:38:16:I2:OUT51:< HTTP/1.1 200 HTTP_OK
16:38:21:I2:OUT3:> GET /ws/client HTTP/1.1

You will tend to not get work unless you set at least 3 cpus. Or used to.

Please post the top lines of log which show hardware info.

Only idle on macOS is when the system blanks the screen or when you switch to login window. (By logging out or using menu item for loginwindow)

calxalot wrote: ↑Mon Dec 29, 2025 11:33 pm You will tend to not get work unless you set at least 3 cpus. Or used to.

Please post the top lines of log which show hardware info.

Only idle on macOS is when the system blanks the screen or when you switch to login window. (By logging out or using menu item for loginwindow)

I have it set to 4 cores. A lengthier log file is here:
00:36:43:I1: CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50GHz
00:36:43:I1: CPU ID: GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 158 Stepping 9
00:36:43:I1: CPUs: 4
00:36:43:I1: Memory: 16.00GiB
00:36:43:I1:Free Memory: 9.53GiB
00:36:43:I1: OS Version: 13.7.8
00:36:43:I1:Has Battery: false
00:36:43:I1: On Battery: false
00:36:43:I1: Hostname: imac.lan
00:36:43:I1: UTC Offset: -5
00:36:43:I1: PID: 686
00:36:43:I1: CWD: /Library/Application Support/FAHClient
00:36:43:I1: Exec: /usr/local/bin/fah-client

Is your system clock correct?
And timezone set?

The DNS errors should disappear after a while. If they persist something else is wrong.

calxalot wrote: ↑Mon Dec 29, 2025 11:50 pm Is your system clock correct?
And timezone set?

It is. The DNS errors along with the "No Work" status have been persisting for six and a half days. All other web/network related functions on the imac are working normally.

Also, in response to the "Only When Idle" advice, I have the computer set to turn off the display after 5 minutes, but never go into sleep mode. It then prompts me for the user password when I interrupt the screen saver or wake the display. Do I need to select "Log Out" user from the Apple menu for "Only When Idle" to work?

You don’t need to logout.
But if you don’t, idle folding will pause any time the screen wakes.

You also don’t need to logout to switch to login window. There is a checkbox somewhere in sys prefs to show a menu item in users and groups panel.

Do you have IPv4 networking enabled?

calxalot wrote: ↑Tue Dec 30, 2025 12:14 am Do you have IPv4 networking enabled?

Yes, I do. IPv4 is configured using DHCP.

Also, thank you for the advice on adding the switch user icon to the menu bar. When I select "Login Window..." from that dropdown menu, the "Only When Idle" feature works.

Please install 8.4.9 and confirm that it folds.
Finish work and install the debug build of 8.5.5.
Then post the log if that fails to fold.

I have the same problem on Raspberry Pi 5 (headless, so there is no monitor to turn on or off). It worked fine on version 8.4.9, but after upgrading to 8.5.5 it will work only if I disable "Only When Idle". If that option is enabled, it will show "No work" all the time.

A headless computer is never going to be user idle. Don’t try to use that option.

If it was working on 8.4.9, that was a bug.
There is no user to be idle.

calxalot wrote: ↑Tue Dec 30, 2025 10:18 am A headless computer is never going to be user idle. Don’t try to use that option.

If it was working on 8.4.9, that was a bug.
There is no user to be idle.

Thank you, that makes sense.

I had the same problem with an Ubuntu system after upgrading to v8.5.5 - turned out that the GPU was marked as "enabled" even though it's not actually supported (Arrow Lake-P [Arc Pro 140T]. Disabled it and work units started flowing.

I had the same problem on a 2017 iMac on Ventura 13.7.8. I had to roll back to 8.4.9, go to machine settings, disable the GPU there because it was not accessible in 8.5.5, then rolled forward again to 8.5.5, and now it’s folding.