F@H: Folding@Home Getting Started Links

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ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
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What does Folding@Home do?
Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases. We use novel computational methods and large scale distributed computing, to simulate timescales thousands to millions of times longer than previously acheived. This has allowed us to simulate folding for the first time, and to now direct our approach to examine folding related disease.

What are proteins and why do they "fold"?
Proteins are biology's workhorses -- its "nanomachines." Before proteins can carry out their biochemical function, they remarkably assemble themselves, or "fold." The process of protein folding, while critical and fundamental to virtually all of biology, remains a mystery. Moreover, perhaps not surprisingly, when proteins do not fold correctly (i.e. "misfold"), there can be serious effects, including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, and Parkinson's disease.

Getting started with Folding@Home...
General Folding@Home FAQ
Folding@Home Tweaker's Guide (remember to replace team number 11108 with 198 :D)
Graphical client installation instructions (from Stanford; a little harder to follow than narzy's, and contains no screenshots)
CLI (console) client installation instructions (from Stanford again; again harder to follow than narzy's, and no screenshots)
Folding@Home clients (both graphical and console clients for Windows as well as clients for MacOS X and Linux; installation instructions, including the ones referenced above, are available here)
Folding@Home service install guide

Remember: when installing the client, be sure to enter team number 198. That's us, Team AnandTech. :D

Results and statistics for Folding@Home...
Results taken from submitted work units
Stats Straight from Stanford
Statsman Folding@Home general team stats (Statsman has moved to a new site)
Folding@Home Team Anandtech stats
ExtremeOverclocking F@H Stats for Team AnandTech

Programs for monitoring the Folding@Home client
KDFold (jliechty's favorite)
Electron Microscope
Folding Spy

Programs for displaying 3D models when using the CLI
FoldinGL

Folding@Home Performance...
Measuring Folding@Home's performance impact

Where to go for help...
You can always ask here on AnandTech's Distributed Computing forum if you have a Folding@Home question, but if it's particularly technical in nature, or if you have a bug report or suggestion for a future version of the client, you might want to check out the Folding-community.org forums.


Hopefully, out of all of these links, one of them may help a potential TeAm Folder get set up and running.
 
N

nagger

Golden Member
Dec 26, 2001
1,429
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Here's a service install guide:

Your first step should be to download the folding@home console client from Stanford if you haven't already started folding. Here is the downloads page for those too lazy to look Make sure you grab the console version, and that you have entered a username and team number. Once it's downloaded a Core_65.exe and a protein to start crunching on, you can now shut it down. Now grab firedaemon from here

Scroll down a little, you will see it under the Download heading surprisingly enough Run and install the new firedaemon V1.5 BRC to the directory of your choice. Note that either the pro or the light version are suitable. There are no differences I am aware of at the moment between the two different versions, but there will be when firedaemon is final. There is a short explanation on the downloads page for those that are interested. I use the light version myself. Now, go to Start Menu --> Programs --> Firedaemon and click on FireDaemon Service Manager. You will be presented with a screen. Click New. Select the following options:

- Short Name: Folding@Home
- Display Name: Folding@Home
- Description: Anythinguwanttoputinhere
- Working Directory (select the F@H path): C:\Program Files\Folding@Home
- Select the Application executable: C:\Program Files\Folding@Home\FAH2Console.exe
- Parameters: -service
- Start up time: 3000

It is important that if you are setting the new V3 client up to run a service, that you include the "-service" switch in the paramaters box. This will enable the client to go on running after a user has logged of the machine. Quite a handy feature.

Now click on the settings tab. The only thing that requires changing here is the Auto restart. This is not as important as it once was tho, because the new V3 client also has another special feature built in. The ability to shut down both FAH3Console.exe and FahCore_65.exe when the service is stopped. Therefore, you can enable the auto restart option, tho I prefer it off. It will basically restart the service if the process is killed in some way.

CPU priority is not important in this section, and can be left as normal. This is because FAH3Console.exe does not have any effect, regardless of priority, as FahCore_65.exe controls the priority of folding@home. There is now also some priority options in the advanced menu of the new V3 console, so I suggest you set that accordingly and just use firedaemon to run the service.

CPU Bindings are also useful here but only if you have a Dual CPU machine as you can install two instances of folding@home and specify one to run only on CPU0 and the other to run on CPU1. Your settings page should look like this:

Now you're done. Simply click "Install" in the top left corner of the program. If all settings were correct you should get a little pop up box telling you that your service was setup successfully. Click OK, then close the Firedaemon service window. You should now be able to see your firedaemon service in your service manager.

Your service should have now already started, so you can click exit and close the service manager. To check to make sure your service is running correctly, check task manager. You can open the Firedaemon Service Manager anytime you want to add new services or view what services you already have installed. You can also remove services from here. You will also find your service present in Administrative Tools --> Services under Firedaemon Service. You can stop and start your service from there, or change auto or manual start up options.

To remove an installed service tho, please make sure you go to Start --> Programs --> Administrative Tools --> Services and STOP the firedaemon service before you click remove. You can then safely remove the firedaemon service without any nasty little messages popping up.

That's about it, hope that helps any people out there looking for a quick and easy way to install Folding@Home as a service. Firedaemon is by far and away one of the best tools available, and it is just getting better.
 
J

joinT

Lifer
Jan 19, 2001
11,172
0
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nice post jliechty - as usual nagger's posts are most helpful.

nagger, mind shooting me a PM about youknowwhat ;)
 
P

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
Originally posted by: nagger
Heads up people we're getting close to the 100k score mark :)
Click to expand...
We're getting quite close; I hope to be able to report the good news in tonight's stats. :D
 
P

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
Originally posted by: jliechty
Originally posted by: nagger
Heads up people we're getting close to the 100k score mark
Click to expand...
We're getting quite close; I hope to be able to report the good news in tonight's stats.
Click to expand...
Woohoo! We finally hit 100k. :D
 
P

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
Originally posted by: EnisDonKing
it would be nice if you could make this post like *sticky*
forum should support that?
Click to expand...
FuseTalk supports stickies, but it's up to the Moderators to sticky something. Usually they don't sticky something unless it is really important. If they wanted to sticky this thread, I assume they would have done that before now.
 
narzy

narzy

Elite Member
Feb 26, 2000
7,006
1
81
my guides my or may not be out of date, I don't know, haven't installed F@H for a wile.
 
Insidious

Insidious

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 2001
7,649
0
0
Usually they don't sticky something unless it is really important
Click to expand...

There are soooo many great posts here... They might not have seen it was so valuable

you might try posting a sticky request in the Forum Issues section......

-Sid
 
P

ProviaFan

Lifer
Mar 17, 2001
14,993
1
0
*Smack* goes the sound of jliechty's big, smelly trout as it slaps this thread back to the first page. :D
 
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