Some questions about Folding

DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
edited January 2004 in Folding@Home
I have been Folding for about a week now. And I've got a couple of questions.

First off, a big thanks to mmonnin, for the help in getting up and running!

I have -advmethods and -forceasm put in. When I checked my log file, it says "extra 3d boost OK". Am I running in 3D mode, or is that the SSE? I am running an XP 2100. Not sure if this helps, but it also says "assembly optimizations manually forced on"

I have Time Warner cable, connected 24/7 to the Folding computer, but it always seems to have trouble connecting to Stanford, when it's time to send or recieve work. Is it normal to have to try to connect 2 or 3 times?

In the week I've been running, I have 7 WU's finished. Is this the normal pace?

Thanks;
Dragstk

Comments

  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited January 2004
    Change -forceasm to -forcesse and you will be running with SSE optimizations.

    I have RR as well and it usually connects the first time. Are you using a firewall?
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited January 2004
    mmonnin wrote:
    Change -forceasm to -forcesse and you will be running with SSE optimizations.

    I have RR as well and it usually connects the first time. Are you using a firewall?

    Ok, I'll make the change. Yes, I'm running Zone Alarm. I've allowed Folding full access. Is it neseccary to run a firewall?
    Thangs again;
    Dragstk
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    No, full access should work. I send manually so I can't really help you.

    Your production looks about right. I don't track by machine but I have 3 boxes (5GHz) that turns in 1000-1200 pts/wk.
    If you are loosing a lot of time on connect problems you might want to create a second folder and install another instance of fah. You give it machine #2. When two run at once they share the cpu so wus take twice as long. But when one is out of work the other gets 100% of the cpu.
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited January 2004
    I've been having the same connection problems across my entire network and I'm not sure why. The connection seems to fail 3-6 times and then work suddenly. This has been happening for about a week for me. Welcome to the team :D.
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited January 2004
    I am assuming that the column on the left, in the log file is a time log. If so, I'm not losing much time. It seems to retry about every 30 sec. But it usually takes 2-3 try to connect. But it has always been sucessful in sending. Maybe it's this damn cold weather!
    edcentric-you said your putting out 1000-1200 pts a week w/ 3 machines. When you say points,do you mean WU's?
    Dragstk
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited January 2004
    Each WU is assigned a certain number of points which you can see here: http://folding.stanford.edu/psummary.html Most WU's are worth somewhere between 30 and 70 points so if you're doing 7 WU's / week you're somewhere between 200 and 400 points. You can view your stats either on stanford's stat page or on one of the many 3-rd party stat pages such as:

    http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/member_overview.php?UserID=68236
  • DragstkDragstk Syracuse, N.Y.
    edited January 2004
    Thanks for the links, qparadox. Very cool.
    I'm glad to see that Team 93 is not a threat...whats a threat?
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited January 2004
    Hmm...

    What if you use both forceasm and forcesse?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Dragstk wrote:
    Thanks for the links, qparadox. Very cool.
    I'm glad to see that Team 93 is not a threat...whats a threat?

    It couldn't be a threat to itself. A Threat is a team that is going to overtake you (or person if you are looking at individual stats) at some point.
    Hmm...

    What if you use both forceasm and forcesse?

    Most likely forces on SSE and 3DNow!
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    TheSmJ wrote:
    Hmm...

    What if you use both forceasm and forcesse?

    no need for forceasm that issue was fixed with 4.0 ...forcesse only has an affect on AMD's that have SSE capability to use SSE. 3Dnow! is the default optimization so to speek.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Why doesn't the client just check for supported instruction sets and use them, rather than having to force commands all the time?
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Um, not totally. It will force on what the CPU can handle. And, weird thing, on a P4 the -advmethods switch forces assembly options on, but the -forceasm does on the Barton. -forceasm means force assembly. I use -forcesse on the P4 and on the Barton. but what the Barton does is as close to SSE2 as it can get, ie 3DNow plus extensions.

    There were some comments on the folding communtiy forum that -forcesse forces 3DNow on the AMD chips. The Barton gets all three here, for yours depends on the chip and generation. -padvmethods, on the Barton, seems to work mostly as a switch that when on has folding send new WUs if new client qand core are present, but on the P4 I do not need the -forceasm switch and it has no effect. However, on the P4 I use both -forcesse and -advmethods switches (NO -forceasm, but client says assembly is forced on anyway, only on the P4 box).

    This may not be exactly what is supposed to happen, but it is what IS happening.

    John.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Ageek wrote:
    Um, not totally. It will force on what the CPU can handle.

    So why do AthlonXP owners need to use the -forcesse flag if it "will force on what the CPU can handle" anyway?
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Enverex wrote:
    So why do AthlonXP owners need to use the -forcesse flag if it "will force on what the CPU can handle" anyway?
    In many instances where overclocking is concerned SSE will cause issues with the folding process.
    For a complete list of flags and their purpose see this thread here.

    -forceasm
    Instruct the core to use SSE/3DNow assembly instructions if possible, even if it has previously made the determination that the machine may not be handling this well.
    -forceSSE
    On machines with an AMD processor, Core_78 gives priority to 3DNow over SSE -- this overrides that.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Makes sense, though surely if you start getting problems, it shows the the overclock isn't actually as stable as it seemed...
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited January 2004
    Enverex wrote:
    Makes sense, though surely if you start getting problems, it shows the the overclock isn't actually as stable as it seemed...

    not necessarily ...AMD is looking into a few issues as well as Stanford ...if you incur freezing while using -forcesse on your AMD you should report to this thread: http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8427
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