FAH-Addict Releases an Optimized Linux Kernel for Folding

Anyone want to tell me how I can put that in a VM?

I'd love to give it a try.
 
Kendrak said:
Anyone want to tell me how I can put that in a VM?
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VM running notfred's? Probably not going to be possible. This kernel is for those running actual installations of Linux either via a VM or native.
 
Tobit said:
VM running notfred's? Probably not going to be possible. This kernel is for those running actual installations of Linux either via a VM or native.
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I'll do an install in a VM..... I have no clue how to do it..... I am however willing to smack my head into the wall a few time to figure it out.
 
Kernel... doesn't that mean this is an OS core, not a program? You are going to have to update the kernel of either Ubuntu of Debian (the two they tested), then run the standard folding app on top.
 
jeremyshaw said:
Kernel... doesn't that mean this is an OS core, not a program? You are going to have to update the kernel of either Ubuntu of Debian (the two they tested), then run the standard folding app on top.
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Yes, the kernel is the heart and soul of the Linux OS. They've only tested on Ubuntu and Linux Mint 7, not Debian. However, because Ubuntu is based on Debian, it will likely work fine on Debian as well. In fact, it should work on most distributions but installing it on systems that don't use the Debian package system might be difficult.
 
Are there any instructions on how to replace the kernel? I'll give this a shot on my secondary box which is running Ubuntu 9.04.
 
Zero82z said:
Are there any instructions on how to replace the kernel? I'll give this a shot on my secondary box which is running Ubuntu 9.04.
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No instructions provided. It's a standard .deb package though so I am guessing your typical "sudo dpkg -i package.deb" would work. Replace 'package.deb' with the filename of the actual package.
 
Here is the 'changelog' documenting what they've tweaked:
  • Optimized Subarchitecture : ScaleMP vSMP (Virtual machines optimizations)
  • CPU architecture optimization : Core2 / Xeon (instead of standard x86_64)
  • NUMA Enabled (Memory optimization)
  • Kernel timing set to 100hz (with 100Hz, kernel swaps processes every 10 ms (1/100). Default value is 1000Hz, every milliseconds. It reduces process swapping between cores, but might turn the system sluggish for everyday use, and using the computer might slow FAH down more than usual)
  • CPUfreq forced to Performance mode (which implies Turbo Mode always on on i7 CPUs and helps to keep CPU at full speed under reduced loads, ie A1 core)
 
jeremyshaw said:
Wait, with no x86_64, doesn't that mean AMD might not work well with this?
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Will not work at all. The release notes say AMD users will have to recompile. This is pretty much a kernel optimized for Intel Core2, Xeon, and higher processors.
 
As it was just released within the past few hours, I think it is too early to tell or have any kind of numbers. Because the kernel timings have been tweaked considerably, this optimized kernel will benefit dedicated folders the most. In fact, folding performance could actually decrease if it's used on a daily driver system depending on the load of other running foreground applications. Ones mileage is going to vary greatly with this kernel.
 
Very glad this thread came up. I was wondering the other day about Linux kernels and have a question that has been on my mind for about a week. Can we replace existing kernels in any Linux distribution for a newer, better one? I am running an older kernel in my distro that isn't as good for SMP WUs as some of the newer versions, and do not want to install a different distro. Can I make a kernel upgrade?
 
@Apollo: Most definitely. Which distro are you using? There is likely already a newer kernel package already compiled for it.
 
notfred's linux distribution uses a kernel that is optimized for stability and for a wide variety of CPU architectures. What we are talking about here is a kernel that has been optimized and compiled specifically for C2D, C2Q, Xeon, and i5/i7 CPUs.
 
Now only if someone would download the notfred source and remake it with this we would be cooking!!!
 
Tobit said:
@Apollo: Most definitely. Which distro are you using? There is likely already a newer kernel package already compiled for it.
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I'm using Fluxbuntu. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a new release in several years, and I think the current version is based on Gutsy Gibbon. Typing uname -r reveals the kernel to be v2.6.22-14-generic.
 
APOLLO said:
I'm using Fluxbuntu. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a new release in several years, and I think the current version is based on Gutsy Gibbon. Typing uname -r reveals the kernel to be v2.6.22-14-generic.
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Well, it's based on ubuntu so this kernel compiled by fah-addict just might work for you. There is actually not much wrong with 2.6.22 and many folks still swear by Ubuntu 8.04 for folding which comes with 2.6.24. If you are brave, give this optimized kernel a shot. I haven't checked out the package install yet but it will likely keep a copy of your current kernel and also retain the entry in grub if you need to roll back.
 
Tobit said:
If you are brave, give this optimized kernel a shot. I haven't checked out the package install yet but it will likely keep a copy of your current kernel and also retain the entry in grub if you need to roll back.
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I could try it in one of the spare VMs I have for testing purposes. Is kernel updating an automatic installation, or does it involve a lot of hands on? I never updated kernels before.
 
Just installed this kernel on a spare VM I had set up with Ubuntu 9.04. Everything seems to be working so far. I'll update tomorrow after I see if anything is changed PPD wise.



 
jimbowdang said:
Just installed this kernel on a spare VM I had set up with Ubuntu 9.04. Everything seems to be working so far. I'll update tomorrow after I see if anything is changed PPD wise.
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Awesome! Can't wait to see you results. I'll probably get around to update soon. Was it a simple affair?
 
It wasn't bad, I've never done it before but I'm pretty sure I did it right. Just opening the .deb file brought up the package installer, I tried installing it via the terminal with some commands I found with a google search but they didn't work.
 
Can you see anything yet? Better performance, better utilization of resources?
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APOLLO said:
Awesome! Can't wait to see you results. I'll probably get around to update soon. Was it a simple affair?
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I personally wouldn't suggest updating an old distro with this newer kernel unless your accustomed to manually compiling most of your stuff. The main OS will still likely work but many of your installed programs will require a recompile based on the new kernel.

Normally, when you update a kernel, you do it through the package manager from an official source for the distro. That kernel is made specifically to work well with other packages included with the distro. Because of this, a lot of stuff will not need to be recompiled or updated but the things that do need to be done will normally be done automatically by the package manager. Even then, some programs can and do break on occasion. Because of the nature of this kernel, you're not going to have this.

From the sound of things, this kernel is specifically made for a barebones Folding install and is best used for this only. It's probably best if used to replace the kernel in a brand new install rather than upgrading an older install.

That all said, I'm not a Linux expert by any means and could be wrong about this. I'm only speaking of what I have run into in my limited experience. I should also note that I'm not a fan of debian based distros and because of that, most of my experience is in the openSUSE distro realm. I've done a little messing around with different kernels included with openSUSE before and have had trouble. At one point I used Yast to replace the openSUSE optimized kernel with the vanilla kernel due to the vanilla kernel being a newer version which supported my hardware better. I had endless trouble with broken packages and programs even though I did all of this through Yast. I would expect to run into similar or even worse problems with what is basically an unsupported kernel. I do need to finish by saying this kernel replacement was done on my main system rather than something used for only folding which would obviously make my problems worse due to all extra programs and packages I had installed and needed working. Luckily it was easy enough to go back to the previous kernel.

 
Never before have I had to recompile any programs when I've recompiled, or installed, a newer kernel binary. If Apollo was looking at doing a major upgrade in kernel version, let's say 2.4.xx to a 2.6 release, then I would agree with what SmokeRngs has said. However, Apollo isn't looking at doing a big jump like this. He is looking at going from a 2.6.22 kernel to a 2.6.28 kernel. Very little will have changed to cause any of his installed applications to break.
 
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All I do on my Linux installations is fold really. Maybe the occasional browsing, but even that is mostly folding-related. I'm a big MS Windows user. Worse comes to worst I will have to reinstall a few programs if the kernel upgrade has issues. No biggie. This will be attempted on a test VM before my folding VMs get the work over.
 
For those thinking about using this on boxen with more than 8 cores, toTOW has posted the follow note about this kernel:

This kernel has some scaling problems on BigAdv WUs and more than 8 cores ... we'll try to build a new one using a different basis (2.6.31 for instance).
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So far absolutely no benefit. It's only finished two work units after 24 hours because the client hung after both. Both WUs were 2677 units and the first one got about 4700 PPD and the second got about 5250 PPD, which isn't that great compared to Notfred's which usually gets between 4900-5300. Maybe this kernel makes a difference for some A1 units or something, but i rarely get those anyway so it's back to Notfred's for now.



 
I wish they would get something that could crank out those big units one i7's, so much wasted power
 
I'm not so sure. I don't know anyone in their right minds who would buy a Core i7 for folding; A cheapo Athlon II X4 would work just as well for supporting 4 PCI-e cards, and would pump out much more ppd/$ than a similar Core i7 rig. And in any case, such an optimized kernel would completely destroy the Core i7 for any use other than folding; I sure as heck didn't get my 920 just for folding, which is why I'm still running Windows.
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
I'm not so sure. I don't know anyone in their right minds who would buy a Core i7 for folding; A cheapo Athlon II X4 would work just as well for supporting 4 PCI-e cards, and would pump out much more ppd/$ than a similar Core i7 rig. And in any case, such an optimized kernel would completely destroy the Core i7 for any use other than folding; I sure as heck didn't get my 920 just for folding, which is why I'm still running Windows.
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Its cost factor. When the Q6600 was released, you could get a Micro atx mobo and a case (NSK2480 is a good one) and run the folding client on it. ~4k ppd was the norm, and it was soley for folding. an I7 would prodoce ~10k on an overclocked 920, and still be able to be used in the same Nsk2480 with an aftermarket heatsink that would fit the case.
 
im not saying it is just for folding, but there is alot of i7's out there
 
jimbowdang said:
So far absolutely no benefit. It's only finished two work units after 24 hours because the client hung after both. Both WUs were 2677 units and the first one got about 4700 PPD and the second got about 5250 PPD, which isn't that great compared to Notfred's which usually gets between 4900-5300. Maybe this kernel makes a difference for some A1 units or something, but i rarely get those anyway so it's back to Notfred's for now.[/URL]
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Jim, could you give me some info about your system so I can pass the info off to toTOW. They need to know about this. All I need from you is your CPU, speed, and client type/version and how you were running it (command line). Thanks.
 
Did they make a definitive before and after comparison of the kernel upgrade with F@H?
 
They haven't published any numbers of any kind, no.
 
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