Points Per Day: Windows SMP

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Comments

  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    The latest suggests about an hour per 1% and it'll miss the final deadline by 3 hours+. It also says there have been 8 improper shutdowns, due to setting up etc, and it is using standard loops so I assume the next one will be quicker?
  • QeldromaQeldroma Arid ZoneAh Member
    edited November 2007
    Maybe. Keep an eye on it- it should settle down. If you're playing any games, that will definitely slow it down- be sure to quit your game before retiring.

    That 8 improper shutdowns message isn't worth the pixels it's written on. Don't worry about it.
  • SPIKE09SPIKE09 Scatland
    edited November 2007
    Yup you got the extra sse boost message, after the message regarding improper shutdown. I still use the -forceasm flag, a holdover from the bad old early beta days of win SMP folding
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    bothered, let me emphasize what some others have written and add a little bit:

    * to shut down, ensure you use Ctrl-C
    * before shutting down either the client or your computer, copy the contents of the client folder to a client backup folder. the 2653s have actually become quite stable compared to some other units, and compared to what 2653s were previously, but backup is still well advised
    * add -forceasm to the startup properties
    * if using a wireless adapter for home network connection, turn off all power saving and sleep modes - invocation of reduced state can wreck a WinSMP work unit

    WinSMP is leaps and bounds better than it was a few months ago, but it is still a hippo on a highwire - it's a beta that was forced to work with Windows (kudos to the engineers who rigged this!)
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    One thing has me stumped. If I look in task manager I find these entries. I have looked and searched for FahCore 82 but can't find it! I can right click and stop it but 1 minute later it's running again. I deleted all/most of my 'old' folding stuff, work folder and any exe's I could find, after SMP started running but this one is slowing it down.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited November 2007
    There is an option to minimize to the system tray.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    mmonnin wrote:
    There is an option to minimize to the system tray.

    Sorry mmonnin,I don't understand. The folding that FahCore 82 is doing is from my old folding that I thought I'd deleted when I got SMP running. I'd like it stopped permanently, not minimised.
  • SPIKE09SPIKE09 Scatland
    edited November 2007
    Was the previous install a service at start up install bothered ?? you may have to some more work than just deleting files if that is the case.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    It was. Like I say I can see it in task manager, right click and stop it but it starts right up again. I cannot find it to delete it but I want it to stop. Even clicking search won't find it.

    Edit. I have just found a FahCore_82 in C:\windows\prefetch. Can I delete it?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    I would remove it as a service first. I mean remove it properly then delete it.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    I have disabled it in computer management and it appears to have stopped. My entries in task manager for SMP folding now show more CPU usage. Now maybe my time per frame will go down a little.
    Thanks all, I'll keep you informed.
  • SPIKE09SPIKE09 Scatland
    edited November 2007
    You might want to a look here bothered the fahwiki entry on removing console as a service.
    http://fahwiki.net/index.php/How_do_I_uninstall_the_console_client%3F
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    Cheers, I'll have a look.
    Since I disabled it though my time per frame has shot down to 17 mins from 40. Looks like I'm on my way to folding heaven.
    Thanks again all.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited November 2007
    Woo hoo!
    Just got in from work and I've handed a 1700+ pointer in and am a third way through another.
    Methinks I like this SMP.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    Feels good, doesn't it!
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited November 2007
    bothered wrote:
    Sorry mmonnin,I don't understand. The folding that FahCore 82 is doing is from my old folding that I thought I'd deleted when I got SMP running. I'd like it stopped permanently, not minimised.

    Oh I was refering to a previous post about using trayit for fahmon. fahmon has an option to minimize itself to the systray.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    my e2140 @3.2ghz is doing project 2653 at 17 mins per frame.

    1760/(17*100/60/24) = 1490 ppd :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Very good! Nice performance out of that CPU.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    good ol' $75 cpus :)
    Leonardo wrote:
    Very good! Nice performance out of that CPU.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Leo et al,
    Pardon my ignorance here for a moment and my reviving a dormant thread, but it's been awhile since I was contributing work units to Team 93 and I intend to correct that on my desktop (Opteron 185) and laptop (Core2Duo 2.0GHz). Since both CPUs are dual core, it would seem the best option would be to use the SMP client found here:

    http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-SMP

    Other than following that FAQ, installing FahMon and Trayit, is there anything else I should be aware of?
    Preacher
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Ensure you have .Net Framework 2.0 installed. .Net 1.0 is not sufficient. You need 2.0 or higher.

    Do not install as a service. There are ways to do that, but I wouldn't recommend it.

    I recommend the MPICH version rather than the DEINO.

    Set the following flags in the startup icon's properties: -smp -verbosity 9 -forceasm

    Do NOT us 'X' out of the open program to close it. Use Ctrl + C.

    The Windows SMP client is very sensitive to network connections, specifically network interruptions. The newer version is much improved, but if you have problems with Early Unit Ends (EUE), please let us know right away. The rest of the linked guide looks pretty good.

    Thanks for lending power to Team 93 again. We welcome you back with opened arms. Please don't hesitate to report any problems, well, your successes also!
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Thanks, Leo.

    I renamed the .exe as the Install Guide suggested, but the program kept crashing when I went to set the "acceptable size" work unit. SO...I tried again without renaming the .exe which worked fine. All parameters were set in the command line ("-smp -verbosity 9 -forceasm") as you recommended.

    The Opteron 185 has started up fine and I'm using Trayit to put the icon in the system tray. I do have two questions before I start on the laptop...

    1. Do you just put a shortcut to the FaH .exe in your startup folder to have it start automatically along with Windows' start?
    2. If an Opteron 185 has two cores and I'm using the SMP MPICH client, why do I have 4 separate FahCore_a1.exes showing up in Windows Task Manager? Is that normal? It would seem logical to have only two.

    Preach
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    1. Do you just put a shortcut to the FaH .exe in your startup folder to have it start automatically along with Windows' start?
    No. My experience, with both D9XX series (65nm Intel dual cores) and Q6600 has been that if you try and start SMP Folding clients before the computer is settled down after Windows start, the work units will crash. Create startup icons. It is very important that that your network connections are stabilized and active before the FAH client starts.
    I have 4 separate FahCore_a1.exes showing up in Windows Task Manager? Is that normal?
    Yes.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    I'm assuming you mean create a shortcut when you say "Create startup icons." So I have to start it manually....after the computer starts.

    Also, after 30 minutes all I see in the CMD window is:
    "Completed 0 out of 250000 steps (0 percent)
    Timered checkpoint triggered.
    Timered checkpoint triggered."

    Is that normal?
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    As we say in the Naval Service, "Belay my last, Shipmate!"

    It took 37 minutes, but I completed 1% of the WU (2500 of 250,000 steps).
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    At that rate, you will need to run that computer 24/7 to complete work units on time. What's the core frequency of an Opteron 144?
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Leo,
    I have an Opteron 185...I though the progress seemed slow...the tech specs are:

    Name Opteron 185
    Operating Frequency 2.6GHz
    Hyper Transports 1000MHz
    L1 Cache 128KB+128KB
    L2 Cache 2 x 1MB
    Manufacturing Tech 90 nm
    64 bit Support Yes
    Hyper-Transport Support Yes
    Virtualization Technology Support No
    Multimedia Instruction MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, 3DNOW! Professional


    UPDATE: Now when I restart the SMP client, I get the following message and the F@H core shuts down:
    "Folding@home Core Shutdown: MISSING_WORK_FILES
    Finalizing output
    CoreStatus = 1 (1)
    Client-core communications error: ERROR 0x1
    This is a sign of more serious problems, shutting down.

    Any ideas?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    MISSING_WORK_FILES
    Unfortunately, that can be a problem with shutting down SMP. Are you closing the client with Ctrl + Alt? If not, you should. I have come into the habit of backing up the Folding client folders before shutting down the computer or restarting. It has saved quite a few thousand points.
    Client-core communications error: ERROR 0x1
    Take a look in the FoldingForum.org. There are a number of causes for that error. Sorry, I can't remember them all for this thread.
  • PreacherPreacher Potomac, MD Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Leo,
    I used the advice found here and got the SMP client working again...I had been using CTRL+ALT, however, someone else in the family very well could have been rebooting.

    http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=4609

    I did find out that "CoreStatus = 1 (1)" indicates a EUE error. I'm going to let it run for a day to see what happens.

    Is there really a big boost from the SMP client over just running two instances of the normal one?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Is there really a big boost from the SMP client over just running two instances of the normal one?
    Enormous difference. Night and day.

    Sorry, I should have written Ctrl+C instead of Ctrl+Alt. With my machines that process that two SMP clients per processor, shutting down or restarting the computer without doing anything - not shutting down the FAH clients at all - works perfectly.
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