Our Folding @ Home Team... is it still alive?!

[unisteve]

First of all, I hope you guys can welcome me back here after my being away for such a long time. (It's been at least a year since I've posted on this site, but it feels good to be back! :) )

The reason I'm posting this thread is that our F@H Team (you can read about protein folding here (http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/science.html)) is not doing very well.

Basically, we need more people to join the team. Back when we broke 1 million points we were producing over 2600 points a day, now we're just about 1600 per day. We're going to be overtaken by a bunch of teams if we don't get in gear.

How can you help? Well, you can start by downloading their folding client from Stanford University. It runs in the background on your computer and uses unused CPU time to do its calculations, then sends the data in when it's done. It doesn't slow your computer down and it's a great way to contribute to science. It is completely free of charge and does not contrain spyware of any kind. You can download it here. (http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/download.html)

Thank your very much for reading this, and please consider joining the team! :)

[Fuego]

I'm folding all the time, but I never get any wu done because my compy's slow and I'm not on much, so the deadline happens. My dad's doing a bunch though.

Join!

[mboulanger]

I jumped on board.

[Victory]

Originally posted by Fuego
I never get any wu done because my compy's slow and I'm not on much, so the deadline happens.

1-If using the text only console version (as a service):

- create a shortcut and add -config to the target line

- under advanced options you can choose to only work on "timeless" wu's which it doesn't matter how long it takes they have no deadline and still count.

2-If using the graphical version:

- in the config/settings choose genome@home or gah which used to be used for a different project but the gah project came to an end so now that setting gives you timeless wu's.

[phil]

I'm* still chugging away, at just under 4 units a month. Woooooooooosh, and all that...

Phil

* Well, not me personally, my brain isn't overclocked enough yet

[sevenasterisks]

I was seriously just about to make some mention of this. There are currently only about 14 people actually still folding. Everyone who has ever been folding needs to start again. And new people starting is good too! We could be doing ALOT better than we are.

original thread about this (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33976)

just make sure you join team CPUniCycles by entering in 13392 for your team

[Catboy]

Sorry, but I've stopped folding for quite some time. I was doing a ton of WU's for a while and by now would have been in something like 2nd on our team, but I took it off for my own reasons. Maybe someday I'll start workin it again.

[unisteve]

Well, I've got a 2.7+GHz Athlon 64 folding 24/7 (except when I'm gaming), and my Dad (Dan_Cyndy_Winterburn) has 3 Athlon 64s of varying speed working 24/7. It's not a huge contribution, but every bit helps, right? :)

Mboulanger, it's good to have you on the team. :)

If anyone can convince anyone else to join the team, please do so! I know we can get into the top 100 if we get some more people. :cool:

EDIT: I would also like to apologize for not posting this in the Folding @ Home recruitment thread. (I should have used the search function.)

[UniTyler]

I just joined and will keep my 3 GHz Pentium 4 processor going 24/7. My username is unicyclist_tylercox.

[UniTyler]

w00t!!!

[UniTyler]

It says my first WU should end by tomorrow at 7:15 am! Cool! So how long do WU's usually take? What does WU stand for?

[Catboy]

Originally posted by tylercox
Cool! So how long do WU's usually take? What does WU stand for?

WU's can vary from a few hours to a few weeks. They all vary in size, but they are worth different amounts of WU's in them. Also WU stands for Work Unit.

[john_childs]

Originally posted by tylercox
It says my first WU should end by tomorrow at 7:15 am! Cool! So how long do WU's usually take? What does WU stand for?
WU stands for Work Unit. It's a work assignment that gets sent out for you to compute.

Some work units are faster than others. Some may take less than a day while others can take a week or more. It also depends on the speed of your computer and how long you leave the computer running each day.

There are a bunch of different projects going. Each project is folding a different protein. You'll get assigned a WU from one of the active projects.

The work units that take longer are worth more points. They try to set the point value so that all work units are pretty much equal. A work unit that takes48 hours to compute will be worth about twice as much as a work unit that takes 24 hours to compute.

There is a stats page (http://folding.stanford.edu/stats.html) that links you to some stats.
There is a project summary page (http://vspx27.stanford.edu/psummary.html) that gives info about each project.
There is a FAQ (http://folding.stanford.edu/faq.html) that answers some questions about the projects and software.

The WU you have is from Project p1803. It is worth 69 points. It uses the Amber core to do the calculations. It has 1116 atoms. It has a final deadline of 21 days until the WU will expire. All this info is on the Project Summary page.

You want to make sure you get the work units done before they expire. You'll have no problem getting them done before the deadlines, but people with slower computers may be close to the deadlines.

[Dave Lowell]

Wow, unisteve is back and Catboy is being nice to Tyler. What a very nice day, indeed!

I stopped Folding some time ago (sorry). I guess I re-installed Windows and forgot about our team (13392).

I'll start folding again tout de suite.

[Catboy]

Originally posted by Dave Lowell
Wow, unisteve is back and Catboy is being nice to Tyler. What a very nice day, indeed!

I stopped Folding some time ago (sorry). I guess I re-installed Windows and forgot about our team (13392).

I'll start folding again tout de suite.

Is it a nice enough day for you to sign on AIM... I miss ya man!

[Dave Lowell]

Tomorrow night. I'll be on AIM. 10 PM New York time.

I have to go to bed now. And so should dogbowl because he needs to rest up for our long ride tomorrow.

[UniTyler]

Okay, on the folding app, I just finished my first WU and now it's acting weird. It says that it's finding the core or something. What do I do?

[UniTyler]

Screenshot of the messed up folding thing:

[sevenasterisks]

It is basically getting the next work unit. It usually only takes a couple of minutes or so. If it stays that way for a long time try closing the program and restarting it, or rebooting your computer or something.

[UniTyler]

Now sometimes down in the bottom it will say "closed connections" and then it'll say "Welcome to Folding" and then it'll say "Working..." and it just repeats. I think I'll try rebooting....

[john_childs]

Sometimes the assignment servers go down. When that happens you won't be able to get a new WU right away. Just wait. It'll time out after a couple of tries and then try a different server.

[UniTyler]

Well, it worked after the restart. Now my WU is going to take until Friday at 6:00!!!

[unisteve]

I've got some tips for making folding run faster here:

1. If you've got 1GB of RAM or more (maybe 512MB if you don't mind a bit of slowdown sometimes) check the "Allow reciept of work assignments and return of results greater than 5MB in size" box. It'll use more RAM than normal and you'll get huge WUs, but you'll also get a ton more points.

2. In the Properties (right-click, Properties) of your F@H shortcut in the Startup folder in your Start Menu, add the following switches to the "Target" box with spaces in between each word: -local -forceasm -advmethods

-local makes the program run in virtual memory more than usual, making it use less of your vital (and faster) system memory. -forceasm forces folding to use optimizations that your processor might have (such as the SSE instruction set) to get work done faster. -advmethods makes folding always get the latest core version so that you can actually make use of your optimizations.

I hope that makes sense, and happy folding! :)

[john_childs]

Bumping this up to see if any of the new forum members want to join the Folding@Home team. We're falling in the stats. It's all for research and a good cause.

[maestro8]

Bumping this up to see if any of the new forum members want to join the Folding@Home team.
I didn't know there was a team... seems like I'm the only one FoldingLaundry@Home :(

[phil]

I have, alas, stopped folding. A few weeks ago my pooter was looking rather poorly, throwing up disk errors and the occasional complete freeze; since removing Folding@Home it appears to have stopped.

It probably means it's on its last legs; this is highly likely, given its age and the use it gets, and if Folding@Home is accelerating its demise then it's time to stop.

When I'm feeling less tight I will upgrade, then I will resume. Not until then.

Phil

[phil]

Dammit! I've just been overtaken by that pesky uni57 chap, too! Really... who does he think he is...

Phil

[john_childs]

I have, alas, stopped folding. A few weeks ago my pooter was looking rather poorly, throwing up disk errors and the occasional complete freeze; since removing Folding@Home it appears to have stopped.l
The Folding@Home program does run the CPU at near 100% and is very good at stressing the CPU and making it run hot. It will increase the CPU temperature and also the temperature inside the case. If you have any cooling issues the Folding@Home program will let you know. I run a temperature meter just to keep an eye on things but it has always stayed within bounds.

Anyone thinking of running Folding@Home should a quick dusting inside the computer case. Make sure the CPU heat sink is free of dust and clear away the dust on all of the fans and air vents. Most computers should handle the load just fine. However, if you have an odd case with little ventilation then you probably don't want to run Folding@Home unless you know it's going to stay cool enough. I've been running Folding@Home for a couple years with no issues on my computer. Well, except for the power supply failing but that was not the fault of Folding@Home. Since the new power supply I can't even remember what a blue screen looks like and the computer stays running 24/7 for weeks at a time with no issues.

[Catboy]

Dang, I remebr when i was getting some major WU's done. Mostly because I had illegally harnessed the powers of nearly 50 computers at my school to fold for me.

Maybe I need to do it again.

[sevenasterisks]

Everyone who can should put this on their computer. Our team really needs the help, and every person makes a huge difference. It is very fun watching as your progress as you get more and more WU done. It seems really slow at first, but if you just keep it running you get a lot done :)

[UniTyler]

I didn't know there was a team... seems like I'm the only one FoldingLaundry@Home :(

Ha, my memberless team's name is folding_clothes!

[uni57]

Dammit! I've just been overtaken by that pesky uni57 chap, too! Really... who does he think he is...What do you mean by the word "just"??? Do you mean "May 2004"?

This is what it says about me... "Date of last work unit 2004-05-13"

Have you been stuck in a transporter beam for over a year, Scotty? Have you fallen asleep, Rumplestiltskin?

Surely the statute of limitations (do you guys have those too?) has run out for the misdemeanor of being "pesky".

[phil]

What do you mean by the word "just"??? Do you mean "May 2004"?
Ah! I didn't read that bit. So I was catching you up then. Never mind the computer overheating, I might have to do a few more units just so I can move my name above yours... :p

Phil

[Victory]

Dang, I remebr when i was getting some major WU's done. Mostly because I had illegally harnessed the powers of nearly 50 computers at my school to fold for me.

Maybe I need to do it again.

Not a good Idea!!!

About a year ago someone had coded a dummy program that circulated p2p networks which secretly installed f@h on machines using his username and team #.
People ended up finding it on their machines and thought it was a virus and the antivirus companies almost put it on their "virus" list.
Here's the official announcement. (http://forum.folding-community.org/viewtopic.php?t=8213)

Always get permission.

I'm just curious why you guys don't install it as a service(w2k&xp)? You download the text only client -> put it in a folder ->run it -> it'll ask username and team and ask if you want to install as a service ->type "yes" and next time you reboot it'll run completely stealth.
It also won't affect gaming as the graphic client is known for.

And guys don't be shy to install it on friends and families computers with permission as it ups your #'s and goes to a good cause. (I noticed in your stats (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/team_summary.php?s=&t=13392) that most of this team only folds on one computer)

[toddw9]

still folding? I am.

[unisteve]

Keep on foldin' in the free world.

I only took the F@H stuff out of my sig so I'd have enough lines to say that Harper is my hero.

[john_childs]

I stopped folding a month or two or so ago because I did a big Windows cleanup and didn't get around to getting Folding @ Home configured again.

I just bought a new computer today, so as soon as I get that computer set up I'll be folding again better and faster than before.