I'm compiling this FAQ to help those who may have similar questions to those listed below. You may find some questions posted here have been taken from other threads in the Dev Folding section; I have done this to allow users to find all relevant information in one place.
Some questions may have already been answered at Stanford's Website, in which case I urge you to look at
their FAQ
As a supplement to some of the console ‘arguments’ listed in this FAQ (e.g. FAH502-Console.exe –config) I advise having a look
here for more useful arguments.
General
What is folding@home?
Folding at home (or Folding@home) is a distributed computing project designed to perform computationally intensive simulations of protein folding. It was launched on October 1, 2000, and is currently managed by the Pande Group, within Stanford University's Chemistry department, under the supervision of Professor Vijay S. Pande.
What is Dev Hardware's team number?
This information is clearly described
here
Folding@Home Client
Where can I download the Folding@Home Client?
The Folding@Home client if available
here
Which version should I get?
We recommend that you get the console version of the F@H client. While the graphical version may have a friendlier GUI it also uses up CPU clocks to display proteins being stimulated, even when minimized. The console version on the other-hand is a 'no nonsense' client specifically designed to do the job in hand, if you want to make a better contribution and move up the folding ladder for Dev'H then we strongly suggest using the console version.
Will the Folding@Home Client slow down my computer?
The F@H client (by default) uses only spare cycles so it has no effect on your computer's performance.
Can I run the Folding@Home client on multiple computers using the same user ID?
Yes, all of the WUs completed under that user ID will be combined and added to your user profile.
How can I hide the console version of Folding@ Home?
To hide the console version you need to use a program like
HideIt. Sometimes this method may fail in which case you can add the Folding@Home client as a ‘Windows Service’ which will run in the background upon boot up.
To do this run the ‘FAH502-Console.exe’ file with the –config argument i.e. FAH502-Console –config You can navigate from the command prompt or create a shortcut to the FAH502-Console.exe file. If you have created a shortcut then select the shortcut’s properties and then under the ‘Shortcut’ tab; change the ‘Target’ so it has the –config argument. Please see the images below:
In the console version, how do I change my settings after I have set them the first time?
You can create a shortcut to the ‘FAH502-Console.exe’ file and add the argument –config to the ‘Target’ box of the Shortcut’s options. For a better illustration refer to the question above.
I have added the console version as a service, but upon boot-up I’ve noticed it does not run. Why is this?
The most common reason for this is that the service may have failed to load on its first attempt, by default the service will not try to restart and therefore will remain inactive.
To correct this create a shortcut to ‘Services’ on your desktop or access services from the command prompt (I strongly suggest you create a shortcut to services as you can then manually start/stop/pause the folding process from your desktop). Choose your desired method and enter ‘%SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc /s’ as the target.
Once at the main screen look for the FAH@...service, right click and select properties, under the ‘recovery’ tab at the top of the new window make sure that the settings are changed to those seen in the picture below:
Do I need to be online the whole time that F@H is running?
No, you only need to be connected to download the work units and to send the results back to Stanford University.
Can I install the program on my computers at work?
Yes, but you must acquire permission.
Why does my CPU fold so slowly? I have a A64/P4(w/HT) etc.
The problem may actually lie with how your OS is configured. I have recently read that some users have found that ending many unwanted background applications e.g. killing Avast’s unnecessary providers will greatly increase Folding speeds.
By the process of elimination you can find out which background process(es) maybe hindering your folding potential, should this method fail then you are more than welcome to create a brand new thread with your question, but please do not post it here.
Multiple Instances e.g. Hyper-Threading
I have a P4 with HT technology, is it possible for me to run two instances of Folding@Home to boost my performance?
In short, it depends on why you are folding. If you are folding to gain points more then you should run two instances on your HT enabled processor to boost your performance and enable 100% CPU usage, however, if you are more concerned about the reason why you are folding then you should just leave on instance. The reason for having one instance running is available
here
If you want to run two instances then continue reading:
“This primarily for Pentium 4 machines with Hyper-Threading but also applies to all multi-processor systems.
1st create seperate directories for each instance of Folding; FAH1, FAH2.
2nd place a copy of the folding executable in both directories, create a shortcut for each.
3rd edit the shortcuts with the necessary command line switches, at least the -local switch
4th set the machine IDs to two different numbers [1-8], ideally use 1 and 2.
2 instances on a hyper threading P4 generally improve point output of the machine by 5-10%” [Adapted from memphist0’s
‘Folding Tweaks’ thread]
Work Units
How many points are awarded for each WU?
The amount of points awarded for each WU is pre determined and can be found
here.
How much time does it take to complete a Work Unit?
The time it takes to complete a WU depends on the speed of your computer, it can take as little as a few hours or as much as a few days.
Some of my Work Units go fast and some are much slower, what is the cause of this?
Some of the WUs are classified as Tinker and others as Gromac, the Gromacs will work faster because they are highly optimized while the Tinkers are not so they will go slower.
On average, how large are the work units?
The work units are usually anywhere between 100 and 400 frames in size.
I just received a WU that has 2,500 frames (or other large number), is this WU faulty and should I get another one?
This is actually quite common and no you should not get a new WU. If you pay close attention you will notice that your frame's finished will jump in increments of 25 (with a WU of 2,500 frames), 2,500 divided by 25 is 100, making your WU a 100 framer.
Monitoring Your Folding
What is the best way to monitor my console? I'm running console as a service on my computer
Please read this thread carefully. In conclusion I suggest using
FahMon.
How do I monitor my team/ personal folding progress?
To monitor your own/the team’s folding progress please click here locate your user name for your own personal progress or if using FahMon you can simply press ‘F2’ on your keyboard.
I’m using FahMon, but I keep getting an ‘Unknown Core’ and No ETA for this ‘Unknown Core’, how do I solve this?
On the FahMon main window, click the ‘Main’ tab and then click ‘Update projects’. Please see the image below:
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