How to link/setup 2 machines on F@H dialup connection

[leconc]

Posted similar question on F@H forum and didn't get much info. I run XP on both machines and have a nic card in both. First, my 1 computer is not set right for dialup, its always "attempting to get work packet", even when I'm online. What are the correct settings in "configure" for dialup. And once that is done, what is the easiest way to link the 2 computers?

 

[amdxborg]

Don't know much about the dial-up on F@H, but to connect the 2 pcs is easy. Just give each of them a ip address like 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2 and connect them with a crossover network cable. Or you could get a hub and plug both of them into a hub with two stright network cables.

If you want a detailed explantion, no problem, just let me know. 😉

 

[Unforgiven]

yeah you will definately need a crossover cable if you dont get a hub or a switch. if you do indeed go the crossover cable method you can use built in windows xp internet connection sharing and it should lead you through the process of linking the 2 together. it gives the 'host' machine an ip of 192.168.0.1 and the 'client' machine 192.168.0.2 and then they should in theory be able to talk to one another. internet connection sharing is a real pain in the ass and only is successful about half of the time (if that). good luck.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Unforgiven
yeah you will definately need a crossover cable if you dont get a hub or a switch. if you do indeed go the crossover cable method you can use built in windows xp internet connection sharing and it should lead you through the process of linking the 2 together. it gives the 'host' machine an ip of 192.168.0.1 and the 'client' machine 192.168.0.2 and then they should in theory be able to talk to one another. internet connection sharing is a real pain in the ass and only is successful about half of the time (if that). good luck.

ICS always worked ok for me. The main problems with it are that the main computer must not only be turned on, but also someone must be logged in, for it to be able to autodial. Windows 200? Server systems can use RRAS and not have this limitation, but that is obviously not a possibility for everyone.

I would try going into advanced settings and telling it to use IE settings. Also note that a server or two have been down recently, so that could also affect things.

 

[leconc]

"crossover cable"? Is that the same as a cat5 cable? So. phone line to main pc, then cable between pc1 and pc2 NIC cards, and set up in XP? I still have a router from the dsl days. That make it any simpler, I asumed I couldn't use that on dialup.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: leconc
"crossover cable"? Is that the same as a cat5 cable? So. phone line to main pc, then cable between pc1 and pc2 NIC cards, and set up in XP? I still have a router from the dsl days. That make it any simpler, I asumed I couldn't use that on dialup.

If you can disable the router part of the router/switch combo (I'm assuming...), then you can use the switch, combined with two Category 5 or 5e (or 6) patch cables to connect the systems to the switch. If you would rather keep it simpler with fewer pieces of hardware, then you can get a Category 5 (or...) crossover cable. This is different, in that the transmit wires on one end are "crossed over" to the receive pins on the other end, and vice versa, so you can hook up two NICs together without a switch in between. It should go without saying that using a plain old patch cable will not work between two systems without a switch.

If you need help with the software part of this, shoot me a PM or be patient until I have time to give you a more detailed response tomorrow. Or for that matter, you might be able to find a thread stickied in the networking forum (or perhaps search the Howtos on the main AnandTech site), as I'm sure that setting up a simple home LAN with ICS on one system is covered somewhere by someone already. This part will be the same without regard to whether you're using a switch or crossover cable.

 

[leconc]

Made major progress today. Got crossover cable, got ICS set and can connect to internet with both computers. Now what I need is:

1) The best way to get the dialup connection for F@H set right. On pc#2, what should be set in tools, internet connections, area. Nothing is there now.

2) How do I purge a old wu?

3) Since this is a shared dialup line with my phone, how do I keep both computers from dialing while I'm on the phone? They can download and send stuff while I'm online, I don't care about that.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: leconc
Made major progress today. Got crossover cable, got ICS set and can connect to internet with both computers. Now what I need is:

1) The best way to get the dialup connection for F@H set right. On pc#2, what should be set in tools, internet connections, area. Nothing is there now.

If IE works from the second computer, I would set F@H to use the same settings as IE (in other words, the default ones) via the advanced preferences of F@H config.

2) How do I purge a old wu?

Before doing any of this, make sure your F@H client is shut down. Now, to attempt to resend stuck WUs, run the F@H CLI with the "-send all" flag (don't try too often, like more than a few times per day, because if the server the WU came from is down, you'll only make the problem worse). If there's a genuinely stuck WU, then use the "-queueinfo" flag to find out what number it is, and then use the "-delete ?" flag, where ? is the WU number, to remove it.

3) Since this is a shared dialup line with my phone, how do I keep both computers from dialing while I'm on the phone? They can download and send stuff while I'm online, I don't care about that.

There ought to be an item somewhere in the properties for your dialup connection (I think it's on the second tab, but I don't have a system with a dialup connection now to check) that says "wait for dial tone" or similar. That works perfectly for most people, but sometimes my computer would still try to dial while I was online. As a precaution, make sure your redial attempt settings aren't insane (perhaps 3 times to try redialing, and give 30 seconds between tries) so if the system doesn't work and wants to dial anyway, you won't be too annoyed.

 

[leconc]

ProviaFan, thanks for your continued support. The old wu issue is an unit that is only half complete and I'm afraid too old to be of use. I don't care if I lose credit, I just want to start seeing if this setup is working as far as loading/downloading. How do I just toss it? You lost me with all this flag and que stuff. I don't even know where you type it or enter it.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: leconc
ProviaFan, thanks for your continued support. The old wu issue is an unit that is only half complete and I'm afraid too old to be of use. I don't care if I lose credit, I just want to start seeing if this setup is working as far as loading/downloading. How do I just toss it? You lost me with all this flag and que stuff. I don't even know where you type it or enter it.

I'm sorry about that... First, are you using the CLI client? If so, you would go to Start > Run > cmd.exe (or find the Command Prompt buried somewhere under Accessories), and use the CD command to change to your F@H directory (as in "CD \Program Files\Folding@Home"). Then, you would type the name of the F@H executable (use "DIR" to list the files if you're not sure) and the flag you want, as in this example: "fah502.exe -queueinfo"

If you have the graphical client, I'm not sure if this will work. You could go ahead and try the same steps; if it would work at all, and if it can't be done through the menus, then I'm fairly certain that this is the only way to do it (other than uninstalling and reinstalling the client).

 

[GLeeM]

Originally posted by: leconc
ProviaFan, thanks for your continued support. The old wu issue is an unit that is only half complete and I'm afraid too old to be of use. I don't care if I lose credit, I just want to start seeing if this setup is working as far as loading/downloading. How do I just toss it? You lost me with all this flag and que stuff. I don't even know where you type it or enter it.

Hey leconc 🙂

If deleting the old WU is the problem - delete the "Work" folder in the folder where the program file resides. The client will just make a new one on the next start and get a new WU.

You can set the dialup computer to check for a dial tone before trying to connect. I'm not sure if the other computer will check.

Because my wife didn't like the computer using the phone whenever it wanted to, I set the client to "Ask before connecting" = yes. After finishing a WU, a small always on top dialog box with an OK button opens that says Ready to Connect. When that happens I start another all ready to go client, wait for the wife to get off the phone, and then dial-up and click the OK button to send the results.

By having another client ready to run, I avoid the down time while the other client sends and gets WU. (which for me with a BigWU is about 50 minutes) It takes more of my time though because I have to stop the client or I will have too many running.