Additional tips on folding...

[sbohdan]

I thought I would make a sticky for new folders, with some tips that might help in their folding venture... anyone having usefull tips, just post them and I will add those to the sticky. this thread will grow as I find more tips that are helpfull.

Tip 1. Forcing a WU to send:1. If you have a shortcut to your folding client on your desktop, right click it, select send to desktop to make a new shortcut. It will have a "2" after the name, right click it and rename it to Send WU. If you do not have a shortcut to folding on your desktop, go to the folder where you installed folding, right click the red "gear" and select send to desktop. Be sure to rename it to Send WU.

A. Right click your Send WU shortcut and select properties. In the line that says "target" you should see something to the effect of: "C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\FAH502-Console.exe" at the end of that line, click after the last " hit the space bar on your keyboard, then type in -sendall. Your new target line should look similar to this:
"C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\FAH502-Console.exe" -send all Click apply and close the box.

B. Click on the "Send WU" shortcut to run it. It will open FAH, send everything in the queue slots, then close.

*Tip- if you get an error "The name "C\Program Files\Folding@Home\FAH502-Console.exe"-sendall' specified in the target box is not valid. Make sure the path and file name are correct most likely means you did not put a space between exe" and -send all

2. You can also just shut the client down and then restart it. It will automatically try to send any unfinished w/u's on restart.

Tip 2. SMP folding: If you have at least a dual core machine (best for core2duo), use SMP folding because SMP was optimized for C2D and thus will give you more points faster.

Tip 3. making the SMP client run as a service:
while you install the client, say yes to changing the advanced options and when asked to make the client to run as a service choose yes. after the SMP clent is installed, go into the control panel, choose administrative tools, than services. find the F@H service, double click (this will bring up properties) and choose the LOG ON tab. here switch to the second option (this account) and here enter the same data (login name and password) as when you logon to your windows account. now click enable, apply and OK. you will have to reboot for the service to run automatically in the background.



Installing the SMP client (instructions)
Summary of instructions:
1.Install Microsoft .NET framework
2.Install Folding@Home SMP client
3.Run install.bat from the F@H directory
4.Start the F@H client

Detailed installation instructions:

Normal users can run the client, but administrator privileges are required
to install some of the required components (smpd service and.NET
framework).

The account under which the client runs MUST have a password. Blank
passwords will cause the FAH cores to fail.

Required component:
Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework. The version 2.0 framework is required;
it can co-exist with other versions, but this version must be installed.
Administrator privileges are required for install.

Client installation:

After the installer finished, run install.bat in the Folding@Home directory
*before* starting the client. This will install MPI services that the client
needs. If you have Windows Firewall enabled, you may get a pop-up
window asking if you should give access to the smpd and mpiexec
programs. Grant access. If you use an alternate firewall product, you
will likely have to make a similar exception for smpd.

**NOTE** The username and password you provide for mpiexec should
be your Windows login that you will run the client under. This is used for
authentication on your local machine. It is cached in encrypted form in
your Registry and is not transmitted to FAH servers.

At the end of the install process, you should see two lines of output:
If you see this twice, MPI is working
If you see this twice, MPI is working

If you do not see these lines, do not start the client. MPI is not successfully
installed, and the client will not run successfully.

Running the client:
Run fah.exe to start the SMP client. You will get another pop-up firewall
window. Note: SMP does not currently allow running FAH as a service.

Troubleshooting:
If the client reports an error code -1, it is likely due to an mpi problem.
Try re-registering mpiexec by running mpiexec –register or install.bat.