Minimum parts requirements

the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1Indy Icrontian
edited October 2006 in Folding@Home
Hey all,

Just curious - what are the minimum specs you gouys are looking for? I might have some basic graphics cards or some very lightly-used hard drives around.

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    For graphics cards, any old thing will do, provided we can still find drivers for it.

    With hard drives, 3.2GB or better is preferred, though we'll consider smaller ones. Please test them thoroughly before wasting money on postage, though. I've got a stack of drives with one or two bad sectors which we won't ever use. :(
  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    profdlp wrote:
    For graphics cards, any old thing will do, provided we can still find drivers for it.

    With hard drives, 3.2GB or better is preferred, though we'll consider smaller ones. Please test them thoroughly before wasting money on postage, though. I've got a stack of drives with one or two bad sectors which we won't ever use. :(

    OK, I might have some graphics cards and hard drives for you. What about the rest? What is the 'minimum hardware required' for a SMx box?

    Processor generation/speed/cache/fsb?
    memory amount/speed?
    Optical drives?
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    Donations of parts can be made to profdlp, the team's part manager.

    Please mail parts to:
    Steve Thoburn
    1491 Hunters Chase Drive
    Apartment #1C
    Westlake, Ohio 44145

    Minimum specifications for donated parts:
    CPU - 2GHz or greater
    MB - Supporting 1.6GHz or greater CPU
    RAM - 128MB PC2100
    PSU - Not needed at this time
    HD - 4GB, ATA or SATA
    NIC - 10/100 (PCI Preferred)
    Video - Not needed at this time
    CD-ROM - Whatever works
    Floppy - Not needed at this time

    Please note that all donations (as the word implies) are final. We track who contributed various components for acknowledgement only. We appreciate your generosity!
    Our SMx Frontpage has all the info...
  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    QCH2002 wrote:
    Our SMx Frontpage has all the info...

    ah! thanks Q, didn't read that.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    Do you need RAM at all? I noticed that there is a patched Linux kernel now that will allow you to use defective memory modules by mapping out the bad bits and working around them (at no speed loss or anything other than the loss size of whatever is damaged) so that may be something to think of in future.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Enverex wrote:
    Do you need RAM at all? I noticed that there is a patched Linux kernel now that will allow you to use defective memory modules by mapping out the bad bits and working around them (at no speed loss or anything other than the loss size of whatever is damaged) so that may be something to think of in future.
    Wow - that would be something. Bad RAM is fairly easy to come by.

    What is your opinion as to how difficult it would be for the average schmoe to get this running? I'm not nearly the Linux expert that you are (frankly, I'm no expert of any kind when it comes to Linux), but I was able to get Centos running by using prime's guide. Could a Linux novice figure this out without having to battle it for days and days? :)
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    Not sure, I've never used it, but it may just simply be a case of using Prime's method using a LiveCD with the badram kernel and swapping out the normal install kernel withthe badram one. Shouldn't be too hard but I'll have to look more into the specifics of the kernel patch itself first.

    It may even be easier to make an SM Linux install and just clone it onto the drives, that way it would work with any hardware in any machine, meaning there wouldn't even BE any setup (one of the nice things about Linux drivers, the drive just has to exist and it will load, no actual "installing" like in Windows, they are just single files picked up by the kernel if they are needed and unloadable with one word).
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited October 2006
    Enverex wrote:
    ...It may even be easier to make an SM Linux install and just clone it onto the drives, that way it would work with any hardware in any machine, meaning there wouldn't even BE any setup (one of the nice things about Linux drivers, the drive just has to exist and it will load, no actual "installing" like in Windows, they are just single files picked up by the kernel if they are needed and unloadable with one word).
    If you could help me get something like that going, I would image it to every drive we send out with the new rigs.

    You game for a little collaborative effort? :D
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    Sure, just give me a little while to sort it out.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited October 2006
    Wow, that sounds like a winner!
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