Mac Pro 8 Core Setup

I have just done a test on a Mac Pro 8 core 2.8GHz.

I loaded the console client 6.02 and installed it into 4 different directories, set the ID for each and started them up.

I was going to try and install using the system prefences version 6.20 but I could not see quickly how to mod anything to allow multiple versions to run.

It all started up with no problems and used the a2 core, all initial WU's just finished and uploaded and new ones started.

The first projects on the a2 core where all 2669 which gave 1920pts each for a machine total of about 8,900ppd the next projects are on the a1 core are 3064 for 1753pts for a machine total of about 6,400ppd hope it gets more a2 projects before I have to stop it folding.

The machine did not go into any crazy wind tunnel mode like the G5 does when it works hard.

Sounds cool John, why do you have to stop it folding?

because it is a Mac

seriously though that sounds like one killer setup you got there John

That machine is in our edit suite (which I just upgraded) and when it is used for edit jobs it cannot be folding. The edit jobs are income generating for our little business and I would lke more jobs in there, it has a lot of extras in there that make it an expensive setup.

8TB Very high speed RAID 6 Array capable of online capture, output and editing at up to HD 4:4:4 or 2K.

2 x 5TB Medium speed RAID Array.

Broadcast quality 24" LCD monitor with HD SDI for edit vision, 30" LCD as main Screen.

Blackmagic Eclipse HD SDI Interface, 8GB RAM, Wacom Tablet, SPDIF external dolby sound system, Harmon Kardon USB Speakers, Sony HDV Deck, DVD REcorder, VHS Recorder 2 x19" Racks....... and the list goes on along with alll of the editing software in there Final Cut Studio 2, Adobe After Effects CS3, Shake, Adobe Creative Suite CS3........

Update on 2nd WU on 8 core.

First started SMP just had a error 'Warning long interaction comms error (0)' at 72% and restarted the WU and is back to 5%, the other 3 are still folding and up to 76/74/75% respectively.

OK, now I understand.

I'll have to give that a shot John. My 8 core Mac is for video editing too. I can normally run to clients when working, but maybe I will try and run three at night.

Sonds like a nice way to get some extra points

I need to work out a script to start each SMP console up, so when I stop them it is easy to start them again.

Just had to stop them for some tests, it will be good to see if they start back up OK.

One plus is they do not send the fans into a frenzy like on the G5.

Gook luck and it loks like it is worth the exercise for some good points when the machine is not 'working'

An update on the Mac PRo folding.

I have played with nFoldman on the machine and I it allows me to start and stop each cleint on the machine.

This has been done for a few days now and it does not seems to loose work units doing the stop/start and the machine has also been restarted several times.

nFoldman looks like a great utility for controlling your mac folding consoles, you do not need to load a console session it does it for you.

There are some startup options that I have not looked at, which will probably help even more, I would recommend people wanting to run more than 1 mac client, install several console clients and try nfoldman to load/start/stop them.

More updates on Mac Pro Folding using nFoldMan.

I have set it up to auto start on startup which works, but it seems to only load 1 of the SMP clients that I have asked it to.

So for now I just need to go in and select each of the other 3 manually when I want to start it.

If I exit it seems to stop them all OK.

Had my first problem the other day - one client hung.

Just did a rstart and it seemed to get itself back into gear again.

Running the OSX console clients through nfoldman certainly seems to be much easier than other methofds I have tried.

For some reason it does not report status details on each WU correctly, but progress bar does work which is all I really need.

I still monitor the clients from my machine using fahmon so get the details and expected ppd.

The Mac Pro has been used to fold off and on for some time now.

In terms of ease of use and reliability (folding wise) when used together with a great utility like nfoldman to start stop console clients this is a great way to get some good points from your mac.

nFoldman is the key to easily being able to start/stop anyone of your SMP clients (I have up to 4 running on the Mac Pro 8 core). I makes using the machine or other purposes easy to do and getting folding going again is also easy, since you do not have to open console sessions or run scripts.

This should apply equally to your other intel based mac machines (MacBook, MacBook Pro or iMac) to easily have them folding 1 or 2 SMP clients when convenient. I have found it much easier and a more reliable method than the straight console or preferences control panel.

If you have any questions on configuration or setup post or PM me and I will try and help. Happy Folding