Folding@Home

[jtang613]

UPDATE: 2006-08-08

Tean Number: 37988

The original howto has been quoted below for posterity, but I now recommend using the finstall script instead. This script automates the installation of the Folding client software and provides a handy init script to allow it to run on boot. Here is a quick-start to get folding@home (FAH) up and running using the finstall script.

1) Open a terminal and 'su -' to root.

2) Create a 'fah' user with a private group. (running FAH as root could pose unnecessary security risks)

useradd -c "Folding@home User" -d /home/fah -m -s /bin/bash fah
passwd fah

3) Switch to the fah user

su - fah

4) Download and run the finstall script

wget -c http://www.vendomar.ee/~ivo/finstall
chmod +x finstall
./finstall

This script will walk you through the FAH client installation. When prompted for the team number, make sure to use 37988. Once complete, you should have a /home/fah/foldingathome directory.

5) If you wish to run FAH on each boot, copy the 'folding' init script to /etc/

su -
cp /home/fah/foldingathome/folding /etc/init.d/
chkconfig --level 35 folding on
service folding start

6) Make sure to visit and/or bookmark these useful sites:
Folding@Home http://folding.stanford.edu/
FedoraFolders Team Page http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/...&teamnum=37988
FedoraFolders Stats http://folding.extremeoverclocking.c...php?s=&t=37988
FAHwiki finstall howto http://fahwiki.net/index.php/The_finstall_script
FAH community http://forum.folding-community.org/

Regards,
Jason

... continued from wibble ...

Distributed computing is one of the most significant technologies to arise from the widespread use of the internet. It allows a large number of computers to work toward a common goal. Many of you have heard of the Seti@Home distributed computing project; the largest of its kind. However, there is another project that you may not have heard as much about; Folding@Home.

Instead of processing radio data in hopes of finding distant civilizations (noble, but unlikely), Folding@Home computes the numerous configurations of protiens and how they move from one to the other; or Fold. This data has real-world implications to the medical community. Providing information critical to the search for new cures, new medicines, and giving researchers a better understanding of life, as it exists on this planet.

A better explanation, and more details can be found at the projects' home page:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/

All you need to start contributing your spare CPU cycles to the cause is the Linux Client software. This small program runs in the background without interfering with your work -- It only uses the CPU, when no other programs need it.

Start by downloading the Linux Console Client from:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandeg.../download.html

You'll notice that there is no fancy screensaver like those available for Windows... Some may see this as a drawback, but I personally don't miss it. And since the client software runs contiinuously, you can still run your normal screensaver.

There are generally two ways to install the client software: as a user, or as root. Installing as a user is ok for testing, but when you're ready for everyday use, I'd recommend installing as root.

To install in normal user mode:
- create a directory in you home directory: mkdir ~/fah
- copy the client to that directory: cp FAH4Console-Linux.exe ~/fah
- make sure the client has exec permissions: chmod +x ~/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe

Now whenever you want to run the Folding@Home client, simply open a terminal window, move to the client directory, then execute ./FAH4Console-Linux.exe. Don't let the .exe fool you, it's not a Windows executable (I don't like the extension either). The reason the client should have its own directory is that it downloads and creates several 'work' files that need to exists for the program to function correctly. And it's best to keep them all in one place.

However, this type of install won't run on boot, and will only run when the user is logged in. For a cleaner install, we'll need to switch to root:
- switch to root: su
- create a directory for the client software: mkdir /opt/fah
- copy the client software to that directory: cp FAH4Console-Linux.exe /opt/fah
- make sure the client software has exec permissions: chmod +x /opt/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe

So far, pretty much the same as the normal user installation. Now we need to set it to execute on boot.
- add the following line to your /etc/rc.local file:
cd /opt/fah; /opt/fah/FAH4Console-Linux.exe > /opt/fah/myfah.log &

This should execute the Folding@Home client in the background (hence the '&') at boot and forward all messeges to /opt/fah/myfah.log. The prepended 'cd /opt/fah;' *should* run the client from the proper directory, so that the work files don't end up in the top level directory '/'. However, if I'm wrong, let me know.

Important If installing as root, you need to run the client once before it will run on boot:
- change to the client directory: cd /opt/fah
- run the configuration routine: ./FAH4Console-Linux.exe -config

This will create the config files needed to run correctly.

Don't forget to edit your client.cfg file!

Change your team number to: 37988 for the FedoraFolders Team.

You can view your current info by opening the file /opt/fah/MyFolding.html in your web browser.

Hopefully this little howto will provide some insight into getting this nifty little piece of software up and running. If any info I've provided is incorrect, vague or mispelled, go to ... er, I mean, let me know

[marks_linux]

Have switched teams to FedoraFolders.

only 48295905 points needed to be number 1 team

Join, join, join. Since we all run Linux which means are machines are probably running 24/7- let it do something usefull while youre aleep!

Is there a way to 'sticky' this thread to encourage people to read it?

Mark

[jtang613]

Hey, it's slowly catching on! We now have THREE team members!

C'mon folks -- If you join the team, marks_linux will send you $5!!!


Hehehe... Just kidding

But seriously... Join the team, chicks dig it.

[marks_linux]

marks_linux pulls himself off the floor after trying to stop the moths flying from his wallet (most of them half starved from the lack of paper to feed on!)

Hey how comes you guys keep getting the hefty work units?

1 jtang613 417.0 6
2 marks_linux 317.0 8
3 Jman 242.0 1

my params: -advmethods -forceSSE -verbosity 9

tried wiith -forceasm with no difference

Seems strange I get loads of small work units, never had a 100+ pointer like you guys.

Mark

[Thoreau]

Yay, i got it. Don't know what i did, but it works now. I did make my team number the same as in the 1st post. That's right isn't it?

[marks_linux]

crikey - more comptition!

Now if you get a huge work unit first time round, I'm going to think its personal

Welcome to the team from me!

Keep folding

[Thoreau]

[17:46:48] Protein: p731_BBA5_md
[17:46:48]
[17:46:48] Writing local files
[17:46:48] Extra SSE boost OK.
[17:46:48] Writing local files
[17:46:48] Completed 0 out of 10000000 steps  (0%)

is that alot? I have been crunching on my windows machine with (www.grid.org) for about a year now, i always wanted to do it on linux, but sadly they don't have a *nix client. This is the next best thing.

[marks_linux]

how long does it take per step?

Some of the work units appear large but take onyl a few hours to complete. I've yet to get one that takes a couple of days and give 100+ points.

The work unit I have now is 250000 steps and each step (2500 in this case ) is taking about 4 minutes on my machine

Mark

[Picomp314]

i joined team #37988

[jtang613]

Welcome to the team

If all goes well, then our new teammates will appear shortly after their first work units are uploaded to the server. It usually takes an hour or two for the server to update after upload.

37988 is the correct team - FedoraFolders

[jtang613]

Well, we now have 5 team members appearing on our Team Stats page. Our current progress can be followed from this page:
http://vspx27.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/m...&teamnum=37988

The Folding@Home team info page also has a spot for the team web page. If anyone out there feels like throwing one together - maybe a logo, a few links, and our stats - that would be great.

[marks_linux]

youv'e got another one of those monster work units haven't you jtang613 ;(

[jtang613]

Hehe, yeah

5,000,000 steps... about 48 hours total. currently at 79%. another 10 - 12 hours to go.

[marks_linux]

You'll be leap frogging my top spot pretty soon then

[Thoreau]

what's this about

[18:29:26] Finished a frame (102)
[19:37:46] Finished a frame (103)
[20:38:46] Finished a frame (104)
[21:36:49] Finished a frame (105)
[22:31:08] Finished a frame (106)
[23:25:10] Finished a frame (107)
[00:19:29] Finished a frame (108)
[01:13:34] Finished a frame (109)
[02:07:34] Finished a frame (110)
[03:01:58] Finished a frame (111)
[03:56:53] Finished a frame (112)
[04:52:19] Finished a frame (113)
[05:47:19] Finished a frame (114)
[06:41:49] Finished a frame (115)
[07:36:28] Finished a frame (116)
[08:30:51] Finished a frame (117)
[09:24:48] Finished a frame (118)
[10:18:53] Finished a frame (119)
[11:13:30] Finished a frame (120)
[12:08:11] Finished a frame (121)

Just trying figure out what it's doing now. The last work it did didn't look like this. They were called steps, not frames eg.

[16:50:23] Completed 8400000 out of 10000000 steps  (84%)
[17:06:42] Writing local files
[17:06:42] Completed 8500000 out of 10000000 steps  (85%)
[17:23:03] Writing local files
[17:23:03] Completed 8600000 out of 10000000 steps  (86%)

I'll just guess everthing is okay