Windows SMP (v6.30+) Client Installation Guide

The Windows SMP v6.30+ client installation and setup are much simpler than in previous SMP versions. However, it is still essential to read the whole guide first before attempting the installation. PLEASE follow the install guide carefully, or the client will not work properly.

Beta client warning

We often release clients early for donors to beta test. These beta versions likely have some rough edges, but we expect that they should work reasonably well for all donors.

As in the use of any beta software, please make sure to back up your hard drive before installing. DO NOT run a beta client if you or your machines cannot tolerate even the slightest instability or problems. Beta clients' and servers' performance may vary significantly from standard FAH clients during the development process, including but not limited to work unit shortages, server downtime for upgrades, short notice of client upgrades, and Points Per Day that differs a little or a lot from the developmental benchmark level.

Finally, note the beta clients may require a lot more maintenance due to their experimental or beta nature. If you would prefer to have a client which runs as smoothly as possible, we suggest you run our main public client, not a beta client. If you run a beta client, expect a much more complex experience and much more work to keep the client running.

Table of contents

- What is new in version 6.30 and above?
- Requirements for installation and running
- Installation
- Install Guide Updates
- I found a better way to install the SMP client, where can I make a suggestion?

What is new in version 6.30 and above?

  • With the release of the mutli-threaded a3 fahcore and work units, and the retirement of the a1 and a2 work unit projects, the MPICH or Deino portion of the SMP client installation is no longer needed. As a result, the client installer and the install.bat have been dropped from the install process. This also removes the requirement to use a Windows user account with a password, although it's always a good idea to use a password.
  • Installing the client as a service is also simpler. Editing the service login account is no longer needed.
  • The SMP console client now behaves much like the CPU and GPU console clients, although the SMP client is still considered a beta client.
  • v6.34 adds support for a new Fahcore_a5 for -bigadv.

Requirements for installation and running

Please review and confirm these requirements before beginning the installation:

  1. The system must have a recent dual core processor or better to run this client with the -smp switch in SMP mode. Four cores or more are strongly recommended. This means older single core processors cannot run this client with the -smp switch, and older dual cores will not meet the very short work unit deadlines. If after running this client with the -smp switch on an older dual or an older quad core system, and the client does not meet the work unit Timeout (formerly Preferred Deadline), please remove the SMP client and replace it with one or more instances of the CPU client and/or GPU client.
  2. Windows XP or newer is required to run v6.x clients. .NET 2.0 or newer is required in XP to run the SMP client. Windows Vista and newer meet both of these requirements. Windows 2000 is not supported.
  3. Use the -smp or -smp N switch at all times. If at any time you forget this switch, the client will probably be assigned a non-SMP WU. Without this switch, the client becomes a classic CPU client.
  4. Configure and use the big setting for "Acceptable size of work assignment" at all times. This 'BigWU' setting is hard coded in the client, so the configuration setting must match.
  5. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, installing the client to run as a service may be made simpler by temporarily lowering or disabling the User Access Control (UAC) feature in Windows.

Installation

First, create a new folder for the FAH SMP client. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, this location is suggested: C:\Users\[username]\FAH Please do NOT install the SMP client in C:\Program Files\FAH to avoid issues with permissions. Vista/7 have new security restrictions (not in Win XP) that prevent the client from running. In Windows XP, this location is suggested: C:\FAH and this location is used for the purposes of this guide.

Download and open the v6.34 SMP client executable file to the folder you just created.

To make the next steps easier to follow, renaming the client executable to something shorter and easy to remember is suggested. Right-click on the executable file, select Rename and change to fah6).

Note: Depending on the file name and folder display settings, the file extension may or may not be shown.
Rename Folding@home-Win32-x86 to fah6 or rename Folding@home-Win32-x86.exe to fah6.exe.

The next step is to configure the client. Open a Command Prompt and change directory to the location where you unzipped the FAH client.

Note: To install the FAH client to run as a service (a bit later in the setup), the Windows XP user account running the setup must have Administrator privileges. In Windows Vista and newer, the Command Prompt used to setup the FAH client as a service must be opened with Run As Administrator privileges. Do this by clicking on the Start button. In the Search box, type command prompt. In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, enter the password or provide confirmation. This would be a good time to change to a user account with Administrative rights, or to open a new command prompt using the Run As option.

Type this in the command prompt to begin (assuming you renamed the FAH executable to "fah6" or "fah6.exe" depending on the file view settings as noted above): 

 fah6 -configonly -smp

The client will display some information and then prompt you for answers to configuration questions. Note that for most answers, the default setting is the recommended setting. Here is an example of what is displayed on screen, with an explanation of each option: 

 Launch directory: C:\FAH
 Executable: fah6
 Arguments: -configonly -smp

 [16:25:22] Configuring Folding@Home...  

 User Name [Anonymous]?
Enter your FAH User Name (not the Windows user name). Or press enter to accept the default user name Anonymous. Almost everyone selects a personalized user name. 
 Team Number [0]?
Enter your FAH Team #. Or press enter to accept the default Team # 0 and go to the next question. You can join a team at any time by configuring the client again and entering the new team number. This applies to all client settings. 
 Passkey []?
Enter your passkey, or press enter to leave it blank and go to the next option. Use of a passkey is optional. However, a passkey is required to be eligible for the quick return bonus on SMP2 work units. You can find more information about Passkeys here. 
 Ask before fetching/sending work (no/yes) [no]?
Because of the short deadlines on SMP work assignments, persistent connections are strongly recommended and this option should be set to no. 
 Use proxy (yes/no) [no]?
If you are connected to a proxy, enter yes and configure the proxy options for proxy user name, password, address, etc. Or press enter to skip. 
 Acceptable size of work assignment and work result packets (bigger units
 may have large memory demands) -- 'small' is <5MB, 'normal' is <10MB, and
 'big' is >10MB (small/normal/big) [normal]?
This option states a preference for the size of work units downloaded and uploaded to the project servers. Note that all SMP WUs are large in size, so big is the required setting. Bigger units will also have bigger memory requirements. If you run on a slower broadband or dialup internet connection, small is the recommended setting to ease your bandwidth usage and you may want to switch to the CPU client instead. 
 Change advanced options (yes/no) [no]? yes
If you want to change the advanced options, enter yes. It is not mandatory but is recommended for SMP installs. 
 Core Priority (idle/low) [idle]?
This adjusts the FAH client priority level. This is similar to, but not the same as the Windows priority setting. In most cases, the default idle setting is recommended.
Note: For better performance when mixing CPU or SMP clients with GPU clients, raise the priority of the GPU clients by selecting the low priority setting. Do NOT change the Windows priority settings for the client or fahcore. 
 CPU usage requested (5-100) [100]?
This will adjust the percentage of CPU usage. The FAH client only uses spare CPU cycles not used by other programs, so reducing this setting is not typically necessary. However, if you want to lower system temperatures, or reserve CPU cycles for more intensive computer tasks, enter a number below 100.In the SMP client, changing this setting does not reduce CPU usage. 
 Disable highly optimized assembly code (no/yes) [no]?
If you are having issues running the client, disable this. For 99.9% of the users, leave this at the default setting since this reduces the client performance a lot. 
 Pause if battery power is being used (useful for laptops) (no/yes) [no]?
If you run a laptop, set this to yes to pause if the laptop is not plugged on the wall. This will avoid the client draining the battery.(if name WinSMP*:)In the SMP client, this setting may not behave as expected.(if name WinGPU*:)In the GPU client, this setting may not behave as expected. 
 Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints (3-30) [15]?
Number of minutes between each checkpoint where the client is writing the client progress to disk in case of unexpected interruption. 15 is the recommended setting. 
 Memory, in MB, to indicate (1013 available) [1013]?
Sets the amount of memory seen by the work servers. By default, it shows the full system memory amount. Note that reducing this setting does not reserve more memory for other programs. However, reducing this setting will prevent the client from downloading memory intensive work units. A setting too low may prevent the client from getting any new work. (if name WinSMP*:)In the SMP client, .5 GB per CPU core is the minimum, while 1 GB per core is recommended. 
 Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced
 scientific cores and/or work units if available (no/yes) [no]?
This is the same as using the -advmethods command line flag, except -advmethods will not appear on the arguments line in the fahlog. This option states a preference to request late stage beta work units, which may be less stable than regular work units. May cause work unit size and PPD to increase, decrease, or not change. 
 Ignore any deadline information (mainly useful if
 system clock frequently has errors) (no/yes) [no]?
Only set this to yes if your local computer clock is having issues keeping the correct date and time. 
 Machine ID (1-16) [1]?
This is the Machine Number of the client. If you are running more than one client under the same operating system, you need to have a different Machine ID for each client on that machine. If you are installing a single client on multiple computers, you do not need to change this since this is only for installing multiple clients on the same computer. 
 Launch automatically, install as a service in this directory (yes/no) [no]?
If you want the client to run as a service, say yes and it will install a new entry in the services list. The next time you restart the computer, the service will start automatically and run in the background. SMP as a service is only supported in v6.30 and newer.
Note: The current Windows user account must have Administrator privileges to install FAH as a service. And rebooting the computer to start the client running as a service is required. 
 The following options require you to restart the client before they take effect
 Disable CPU affinity lock (no/yes) [no]?
Not useful for SMP since it uses all cores. 
 Additional client parameters []?
You can enter the client flags here so you don't have to type the flag each time you run the client. We strongly suggest you enter the -smp flag, especially when running as a service. Do NOT enter -config or -configonly or any single-use flag in this field to avoid problems. 
 IP address to bind core to (for viewer) []?
For future use when the Viewer is working better. Specifies the IP address of the machine of which the viewer should display the client output.

When you press enter after the last question, the configuration will end and you will be back to the command prompt. You have successfully configured the client so the next step is to start the client. Here are 3 ways:

  • By clicking on the executable icon (this assumes you entered the proper flags during configuration).
  • By typing fah6 on the same command prompt window. Enter the necessary flags (including the mandatory -smp flag) if you didn't enter those during configuration.
  • Create a new shortcut to the FAH executable, and double click that shortcut icon (assuming you added all needed flags to the client setup).

Normally, if everything is done correctly, the client will be folding along fine. To verify the client is progressing, open the task manager and make sure there is one instance of the multi-threaded FahCore_a3.exe in the list. Or you can open the fahlog.txt file to see the client's progress.


Install Guide Updates

I found a better way to install the SMP client, where can I make a suggestion?

The install guides are written and updated by the folding community, and managed by the Pande Group. Please post any suggestions, corrections, or update recommendations to the corresponding Guides topic in the Folding Forum. And thank you for helping to improve the install guides.


For More Information, Please See:


Last Updated on April 26, 2012, at 01:03 PM by