10.5 and SMP

[4JNA]

i am REALLY into folding and have tried most every client on most every OS. just as background info.

i could never get the OS X SMP client to run under 10.4.X and i tried every client/config on almost every Mac intel system. really.

loaded 10.5 and the current beta client, and it all just 'magically works'. mini, good. imac, good. mac pro, good/Great!

so, the only point to the post is, if you tried the X SMP client before and couldn't get it to work, and have upgraded to 10.5...

TRY IT AGAIN! it just works.

 

[miniConvert]

That's interesting... I tried to get it to work on my mini a while back, which uses 10.4. It did nothing. I'll have to remember to take another look after I upgrade.

Thanks

 

[Consultant]

The Intel SMP client is controlled from System Preferences. Not very intuitive. I was looking for an installed app in the beginning. You have to turn it on.

The SMP client does not show % status anywhere. 1 work unit (about 1000 to 1500 points) takes about a few days to a week on intel core 2 duo 2.16 ghz imac.

 

[4JNA]

quoth the raven, nevermore.

...You have to turn it on.

ok, my bad. for everyone that already knew to 'turn it on', now when you do, it actually works, and completes WU's and stuff.

 

[4JNA]

...The SMP client does not show % status anywhere...

Statistically speaking, you can find 'unitinfo.txt' and 'fahlog.txt' in the;

for you finder users... /users/'your user name'/library/folding@home/

directory, and the 'unitinfo.txt' file will show you percent complete.

i recommend creating an alias, drag it to the desktop, and then right click and 'quicklook' to check on progress. in 10.5.x of course.

as a bonus, the application 'fahmon' is currently being ported to X. sweet! see the news/site HERE. best of luck folding to all.

 

[Consultant]

'unitinfo.txt' and 'fahlog.txt' ...

'unitinfo.txt' file will show you percent complete.

Thanks for info on "unitinfo.txt", it's at the right location mentioned, or you can just spotlight the file.

They should just make a status button in the client that open the text files.

The Folding SMP client works in both 10.4 and 10.5 by the way.

 

[twoodcc]

so i have it running on my mac pro, but it doesn't use all my resources for some reason. like with SETI, it uses tons of resources, but not to much that i can't use the computer.

any ideas? what i mean is that in activity monitor, it's not full. but with seti, it was.

 

[4JNA]

...any ideas? what i mean is that in activity monitor, it's not full. but with seti, it was.

don't know right off, but will do some research. hope someone else with 10.5.x and SMP might chime in as i only have it running on 2 mac mini systems right now.

i haven't loaded it on the MP due to several apps that still won't run under 10.5, but will toss in a separate drive, load up 10.5 & SMP, and let you know what i get.

on the mini systems, both cores are near 100% most of the time. with 2 cores, one side might drop to 95% or so, but the other stays pegged at the top. they seem to load balance, in that only one side will drop at a time, it tends to follow a 'left, right, left, right' pattern if you see what i mean. of note is that both systems (2.0 c2d, 1.66 cd) are both usable while running the SMP client. as soon as i launch anything else, folding seems to get out of the way. as designed, but on windows systems, i can tell you that is not always the case.

i was just so happy to see the cores engage and actually do something after fighting through every intel system with 10.4 and no results! i'll post what i find when the kids give me a minute to test with...

 

[twoodcc]

don't know right off, but will do some research. hope someone else with 10.5.x and SMP might chime in as i only have it running on 2 mac mini systems right now.

i haven't loaded it on the MP due to several apps that still won't run under 10.5, but will toss in a separate drive, load up 10.5 & SMP, and let you know what i get.

on the mini systems, both cores are near 100% most of the time. with 2 cores, one side might drop to 95% or so, but the other stays pegged at the top. they seem to load balance, in that only one side will drop at a time, it tends to follow a 'left, right, left, right' pattern if you see what i mean. of note is that both systems (2.0 c2d, 1.66 cd) are both usable while running the SMP client. as soon as i launch anything else, folding seems to get out of the way. as designed, but on windows systems, i can tell you that is not always the case.

i was just so happy to see the cores engage and actually do something after fighting through every intel system with 10.4 and no results! i'll post what i find when the kids give me a minute to test with...

thanks for the help. i mean, on my first work unit, i'm only 66% or something complete, and i'm coming up on 24 hours soon. granted, i leave other programs running all the time with it, but with seti, it was still cranking out results.

unless there's some other setting or something, i'll just have to go back to seti i guess.

 

[mc68k]

here's what mine looks like on a c2d imac-- pretty close to '200%'

edit: just realized this was 10.4, i dont have a 10.5 and SMP intel to test on

 

[Consultant]

thanks for the help. i mean, on my first work unit, i'm only 66% or something complete, and i'm coming up on 24 hours soon. granted, i leave other programs running all the time with it, but with seti, it was still cranking out results.

unless there's some other setting or something, i'll just have to go back to seti i guess.

When run on intel Macs, the deadlines are really tight. No problem using C2D 2.16 iMac if running 75% of the time, but if the computer isn't up that much, then it will not finish the work units.

 

[twoodcc]

When run on intel Macs, the deadlines are really tight. No problem using C2D 2.16 iMac if running 75% of the time, but if the computer isn't up that much, then it will not finish the work units.

but what i'm saying is that it doesn't use all of my cpu's

 

[Consultant]

but what i'm saying is that it doesn't use all of my cpu's

If you add up the 4 processes (see graphic in #10), it adds up to about 200% for a dual core machine, which is full processor power.

 

[twoodcc]

If you add up the 4 processes (see graphic in #10), it adds up to about 200% for a dual core machine, which is full processor power.

right, but i have 4 cores. and right now they all say 0

 

[Consultant]

right, but i have 4 cores. and right now they all say 0

Perhaps: Repair Permission? Uninstall and install it again?
(don't forget to turn it on in System Preferences)...

Did you check out this page:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/MacSMPInstall

 

[twoodcc]

Perhaps: Repair Permission? Uninstall and install it again?
(don't forget to turn it on in System Preferences)...

Did you check out this page:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/MacSMPInstall

yeah, i guess i could repair permissions. i did complete 1 WU, but it took forever and wasn't using all my machine. does it slow down if i use the mouse or something?

 

[Consultant]

yeah, i guess i could repair permissions. i did complete 1 WU, but it took forever and wasn't using all my machine. does it slow down if i use the mouse or something?

On an iMac C2D 2.16, 3gb ram, no problem running it.

Doesn't feel like it's running at full processor load.

1 WU takes 1 to 2 days typically.

 

[twoodcc]

On an iMac C2D 2.16, 3gb ram, no problem running it.

Doesn't feel like it's running at full processor load.

1 WU takes 1 to 2 days typically.

yeah i give up. i'll stick to seti i guess

 

[4JNA]

folding findings...

ok, late i know, but better than never. findings/stats first, ramble after.

installed base OS X on a clean drive from my MP restore set, all defaults, no apps. installed SMC to bump the fans, and iStat as a widget to watch temps. as installed was 10.4.7, no updates, no changes, wireless networking. went and got the current (6.00 beta 1) smp client from stanford and installed, all defaults, no changes. started under preferences, added user/team info, and it started and engaged straight off!

activity monitor is showing all 4 cores working with an interesting spread. 1 at 90ish, 1 at 80ish, 1 at 50ish, and 1 at 40ish percent. cpu idle stays around 30% based on other apps being opened closed, etc. using SMC, i am running the cpu fan and exhaust (rear) fan at 900rpm, and the cpu temps are stable at 28-29 degrees celsius. system is totally usable, i can't even tell anything is working, same speed opening apps, burning discs, playing music. if i hadn't installed it, i would never know it was there. beautiful!

also wanted to try sleep, so set the system to sleep after a couple minutes, and it was able to enter sleep with no problems. when waking up, it took about 15-20 seconds after spinning up to restart folding, but then went right back to work. only thing i noticed was that the cpu and rear fans spun up to around 2000rpm for 30 seconds, but then slowed back to the 900rpm i have them set at. don't know if it's related, but its not happened before when waking, so thought i'd mention it.

wiped the drive, installed 10.5 from a retail DVD and got the same exact result, temps, cpu percentage, etc.

stats for folding i pulled from the 'FAHLog.txt' file. it's taking about 11.5 minutes to complete a percent with no others apps running, not using the system. so unless i am nuts, 11.5 * 100 / 60 = 19.2 hours to complete a work unit. that's really freaking fast. for comparison i pulled stats off a couple other systems. 1.66 CD mini, 46 minutes per percent. 2.0 C2D mini, 21 minutes per percent. 2.66 E6700 C2D peecee, 16 minutes per percent.

the xp box tends to average around 1550-1600 points per day depending on the work unit. running the math on the MacPro, 1760 points (SMP unit) / 19.2 hours to complete = 91.67 points per hour * 24 hours = 2200 points per day on average. while showing 30% cpu idle. amazing.

so, for the ramble part. tried again installing the current smp client on my current install of 10.4.11, and again, would install fine, start fine, and sit idle until i turned it off. lots of mods and tweaks, and this was an image that was originally built on my previous G5 and moved over the hard way. not recommended indeed. i have seen several apps that refuse to run after running Monolingual, and i had used that. so probably something i did/didn't do that caused my issue, as a clean 10.4/10.5 install appears to work fine.

i also don't know if wireless vs. wired networking might be part of it. as an example, with fah working, if i turn of wireless, fah stops folding. i am not able to test it currently with ethernet, so don't know if that issue is resolved. i know i tried the MacPro with a clean install before using the previous client and ethernet with no success. now using a clean install, the current client and wireless and presto, it works...

anyway, hope it helps. best of luck, and thanks to all for folding!

 

[twoodcc]

ok, late i know, but better than never. findings/stats first, ramble after.

installed base OS X on a clean drive from my MP restore set, all defaults, no apps. installed SMC to bump the fans, and iStat as a widget to watch temps. as installed was 10.4.7, no updates, no changes, wireless networking. went and got the current (6.00 beta 1) smp client from stanford and installed, all defaults, no changes. started under preferences, added user/team info, and it started and engaged straight off!

activity monitor is showing all 4 cores working with an interesting spread. 1 at 90ish, 1 at 80ish, 1 at 50ish, and 1 at 40ish percent. cpu idle stays around 30% based on other apps being opened closed, etc. using SMC, i am running the cpu fan and exhaust (rear) fan at 900rpm, and the cpu temps are stable at 28-29 degrees celsius. system is totally usable, i can't even tell anything is working, same speed opening apps, burning discs, playing music. if i hadn't installed it, i would never know it was there. beautiful!

also wanted to try sleep, so set the system to sleep after a couple minutes, and it was able to enter sleep with no problems. when waking up, it took about 15-20 seconds after spinning up to restart folding, but then went right back to work. only thing i noticed was that the cpu and rear fans spun up to around 2000rpm for 30 seconds, but then slowed back to the 900rpm i have them set at. don't know if it's related, but its not happened before when waking, so thought i'd mention it.

wiped the drive, installed 10.5 from a retail DVD and got the same exact result, temps, cpu percentage, etc.

stats for folding i pulled from the 'FAHLog.txt' file. it's taking about 11.5 minutes to complete a percent with no others apps running, not using the system. so unless i am nuts, 11.5 * 100 / 60 = 19.2 hours to complete a work unit. that's really freaking fast. for comparison i pulled stats off a couple other systems. 1.66 CD mini, 46 minutes per percent. 2.0 C2D mini, 21 minutes per percent. 2.66 E6700 C2D peecee, 16 minutes per percent.

the xp box tends to average around 1550-1600 points per day depending on the work unit. running the math on the MacPro, 1760 points (SMP unit) / 19.2 hours to complete = 91.67 points per hour * 24 hours = 2200 points per day on average. while showing 30% cpu idle. amazing.

so, for the ramble part. tried again installing the current smp client on my current install of 10.4.11, and again, would install fine, start fine, and sit idle until i turned it off. lots of mods and tweaks, and this was an image that was originally built on my previous G5 and moved over the hard way. not recommended indeed. i have seen several apps that refuse to run after running Monolingual, and i had used that. so probably something i did/didn't do that caused my issue, as a clean 10.4/10.5 install appears to work fine.

i also don't know if wireless vs. wired networking might be part of it. as an example, with fah working, if i turn of wireless, fah stops folding. i am not able to test it currently with ethernet, so don't know if that issue is resolved. i know i tried the MacPro with a clean install before using the previous client and ethernet with no success. now using a clean install, the current client and wireless and presto, it works...

anyway, hope it helps. best of luck, and thanks to all for folding!

thanks for all of that. i'll try to uninstall it and then install it again. we'll see. but in the meantime, my ps3 is folding

 

[twoodcc]

so what happens when you don't meet a deadline?

 

[4JNA]

...i'll try and uninstall it...

from the SMP faq...

TO UNINSTALL

To completely uninstall, you want to delete these 4 things...

1. /Applications/Folding@home.app/
2. /Library/LaunchDaemons/Folding@home.plist
3. /Library/PreferencePanes/Folding@home.prefPane/
4. ~/Library/Folding@home/

All are easy to get to with Finder. Removing the last one has the expected permanent loss of config and WU's.

so what happens when you don't meet a deadline?

client will delete the past due work unit, and request a new one. no points.

all the current SMP work units (i've seen anyway) have always been 4 day (96 hours) to complete.

on a different note, if the client get hung/stuck/can't continue, it will error out and submit the current results for partial credit, and request a new work unit.

 

[twoodcc]

client will delete the past due work unit, and request a new one. no points.

all the current SMP work units (i've seen anyway) have always been 4 day (96 hours) to complete.

on a different note, if the client get hung/stuck/can't continue, it will error out and submit the current results for partial credit, and request a new work unit.

thanks. i think this is where mine got messed up.

 

[4JNA]

thanks. i think this is where mine got messed up.

cool. hope it helped. for what it's worth, looks like you completed at least one SMP work unit, as there is a big (1760) spike on the 11'th. stats HERE

great job with the ps3, those things are amazing, and fun as hell. best of both worlds! if you get the MP folding as well, you will be in the team top 10 producers easy.

happy to try and help if i can, and best of luck.

 

[twoodcc]

cool. hope it helped. for what it's worth, looks like you completed at least one SMP work unit, as there is a big (1760) spike on the 11'th. stats HERE

great job with the ps3, those things are amazing, and fun as hell. best of both worlds! if you get the MP folding as well, you will be in the team top 10 producers easy.

happy to try and help if i can, and best of luck.

thanks. yeah it did do one WU, but that's it.

yeah, the ps3 is nice. i might just stick with ps3 folding, and MP for SETI right now.