Linux versus Windows - bigadv folding results

HELP!

I can finish the unit without issues and even write results (I have two results .dat files in my work directory now), but the client seems to hang after the results are written. -send all will not send anything. The client just sits there using 0% CPU and holding all of the memory it did when it was processing. I have no idea what to do at this point. This is twice now, so I am ready to say that this install doesn't work. Has anyone successfully uploaded a bigadv under Linux yet?
 
musky said:
HELP!

I can finish the unit without issues and even write results (I have two results .dat files in my work directory now), but the client seems to hang after the results are written. -send all will not send anything. The client just sits there using 0% CPU and holding all of the memory it did when it was processing. I have no idea what to do at this point. This is twice now, so I am ready to say that this install doesn't work. Has anyone successfully uploaded a bigadv under Linux yet?
Click to expand...

Ouch. Dumb question - if you moved the necessary files over to a windows box, could windows FAH upload them?

Doesn't help you ongoing of course... Shame Tobit is off the radar - he was posting screenies of linux on his SR2 doing very well - come to think of it - don't you actually own that box now? Any chance there is a Linux partition? :cool:
 
musky said:
lm-sensors as Patriot said, and gkrellm if you like a GUI front end for it.

Ax, can you check your resource monitor and see if you have all cores pegged? I am not able to with regular Ubuntu Desktop.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've got all 8 cores (4 physical / 4 HT) showing pegged with the resource monitor here.
 
may i be worthy said:
Ouch. Dumb question - if you moved the necessary files over to a windows box, could windows FAH upload them?

Doesn't help you ongoing of course... Shame Tobit is off the radar - he was posting screenies of linux on his SR2 doing very well - come to think of it - don't you actually own that box now? Any chance there is a Linux partition? :cool:
Click to expand...

There was...I just wiped it last week when I had another HDD die on me unfortunately.

Update on uploading - it works, just takes forever. Finished writing results:

[21:22:57] - Writing 100144965 bytes of core data to disk...
[21:23:12] Done: 100144453 -> 96427544 (compressed to 10.5 percent)
[21:23:12] ... Done.

Start sending results:

[22:13:06] + Attempting to send results [February 27 22:13:06 UTC]

Finish sending unit:

[22:26:37] + Results successfully sent
[22:26:37] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[22:26:37] + Starting local stats count at 1

So it takes 1 hour, 3 minutes to send the results - 50 minutes just for the client to stop after it finishes writing results. It is still a net gain - 1:30 faster x 100 frames = 2 1/2 hours time savings over Windows processing, so a net of around 1 hour 45 minutes faster.
 
musky said:
HELP!

I can finish the unit without issues and even write results (I have two results .dat files in my work directory now), but the client seems to hang after the results are written. -send all will not send anything. The client just sits there using 0% CPU and holding all of the memory it did when it was processing. I have no idea what to do at this point. This is twice now, so I am ready to say that this install doesn't work. Has anyone successfully uploaded a bigadv under Linux yet?
Click to expand...

quite a few... but I have other flags I use under the beta team...
 
a few things to check:

if you're using static IP addressing make sure your /etc/resolv.conf file is correct and you're able to resolve internet domains correctly. If you're doing the dhcp thing it should be auto-generated by dhcp (make sure it is)

run "netstat -r" this should return an instant routing table, if it takes more than a second to complete you may need to check your static route.

If you're running the software firewall/iptables you may need to disable it (seen this before, it can be pretty paranoid on security)

try those and let me know if you're still having problems
 
It is not the network part, it is the fact the the FAH client takes 50 minutes to stop before it starts trying to upload. The time from when it starts to when it finishes uploading is fine.
 
wild

I'll let you know how my uploads go when they complete.
 
Dear [H]orde,

I am totally ignorant of Linux, so can someone optimise the bejeesus out of the best Linux distro, that can run off a USB stick, and come around to my house and put it on SR2#2 and SR2#3, set it up so I don't have to do a thing.

I am available this afternoon. Thanks.

MIBW. :p
 
Since many seem to be making a mad rush to install Linux despite ongoing issues, I take it the consensus has moved away from Windows as the preferred OS champ for -bigadv?
 
APOLLO said:
Since many seem to be making a mad rush to install Linux despite ongoing issues, I take it the consensus has moved away from Windows as the preferred OS champ for -bigadv?
Click to expand...
edit. I'll lost in the poll

 
Unless you know what you are doing, i wouldn't go jumping on the Linux bandwagon just yet. I have 2 SR-2s running Linux. One is back down to the same frame times as Windows plus the hour it takes to upload results. The other I just lower the overclock to see if it can even get through a unit. After I don't even want to think about how many hours this weekend, and am running lower ppd right now than I have been for the last several weeks.
 
Yep. I'm firmly planted in my Windows home until I am pushed out.

And even then, it will only be my SR2 box, which at this point is just a file/backup server.

All my other boxes require Windows apps.
 
Well, if Tobit or Alan were here we could have obtained a wider gamut of Linux expertise, but both are gone. :(
 
Linux:
Step one = Use centos = http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/
Step two = dont use iptables/firewall

Tobit has his linux boxen booting off of an nfs boot if I remember correctly.

*edit* I'm using Linux b/c I'm a unix/linux guy by trade, I prefer Unix/Linux to Windows for everything but gaming.

Not trying to get folks to trash their PPD to jump to Linux, just want you to know why I'm jumping to Linux.
 
Mtnduey said:
Linux:
Step one = Use centos = http://mirror.centos.org/centos/5/isos/
Step two = dont use iptables/firewall

Tobit has his linux boxen booting off of an nfs boot if I remember correctly.

*edit* I'm using Linux b/c I'm a unix/linux guy by trade, I prefer Unix/Linux to Windows for everything but gaming.

Not trying to get folks to trash their PPD to jump to Linux, just want you to know why I'm jumping to Linux.
Click to expand...

Thats the boat im in...
 
I also have mine running command line only (no gui) and some other stuff that I just prefer, but again, I'm a unix/linux guy, I live in a command line world :D
 
Looks like my 6701 frame times are just a tad bit slower under Mint 10 Linux, and my clock speed is actually a bit faster than what I was running under Windows. :(

Mtnduey said:
I also have mine running command line only (no gui) and some other stuff that I just prefer, but again, I'm a unix/linux guy, I live in a command line world :D
Click to expand...


That's what I ought to try. Just don't have enough of a clue about the CMD line world of Linux to download the client, etc.
 
Mtnduey said:
I also have mine running command line only (no gui) and some other stuff that I just prefer, but again, I'm a unix/linux guy, I live in a command line world :D
Click to expand...

I run them in back terminals on rhel... stay logged out of gui...
 
if you knew DOS at all you can probably figure out the linux command line.

for example

df -h tells you disk usage, filesystems and makes it human readable (uses mb/gb instead of kb)

mkdir /fah
makes a directory under / called fah
cd /fah
navigates you to the /fah directory

etc...

I keep my fah files on a share from my Openfiler server which is accessible from CIFS (windows) and nfs (unix/linux) so I can configure HFM to auto-pull the logs and not have to worry about anything changing on the servers.
 
u nubs

I run all my apps in assembly language. I prefer to interface directly with the hardware.

 
Tobit mentioned to me about a year ago he had a custom performance build of gentoo that he was intending to make into a folding distro for the team when everyone was still using Linux before the A3 core was released. He gave up on the public version. Surprised both he and Alan were posting at EVGA, oh well....
 
APOLLO said:
Tobit mentioned to me about a year ago he had a custom performance build of gentoo that he was intending to make into a folding distro for the team when everyone was still using Linux before the A3 core was released. He gave up on the public version.
Click to expand...

Never having used linux I am curious about how much work it is to set up, and I suppose the above means making a distro is non-trivial?

APOLLO said:
Surprised both he and Alan were posting at EVGA, oh well....
Click to expand...

Hey I post there from time to time too... I like helping with SR2s or the odd folding thing. I still bleed [H]orde red. :)
 
may i be worthy said:
Never having used linux I am curious about how much work it is to set up, and I suppose the above means making a distro is non-trivial?
Click to expand...
It's very difficult for someone even with basic Linux knowledge like me and I wouldn't know where to begin. Apparently, there are some sites on the web where you can get info about creating your own distro but I never had the interest or the patience, or even the need for that matter.
 
Gentoo is terribly not newb-friendly, but if you can spare a day or two to learn your way around it, it's a great jumping in point. It's where I started when I decided to really learn.
 
Lord_of_Doors said:
Gentoo is terribly not newb-friendly, but if you can spare a day or two to learn your way around it, it's a great jumping in point. It's where I started when I decided to really learn.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I am looking for a bare minimum learning curve that will run from a USB stick - I do not want to mess with my slaves, and given that they are near identical, it would be awesome to be able to move between them/clone them etc.

If I win lotto and get a bunch of time, I will surely look up Gentoo. ;)
 
All my folding madness runs on Gentoo too. I agree that Gentoo isn't really a Distro to get started with if you are not into Linux already. On the other side, Gentoo will force you to learn alot :)
 
Just an update on Ubuntu Server - woke up this morning to a WU successfully uploaded and a new one cruising along at 11:30/frame and 157K ppd. As I watched it this morning, it slammed on the brakes and is back to 13:15/frame over the last few frames. I wish I knew what was going on here.
 
Could it be a wacky turbo on/off thing? Tobit stated " Turbo in Linux seems to work best when you have C-States enabled in the BIOS".
 
Ubuntu is just not a good choice.... the TPF hit that it takes with what musky is talking about is just bad.
 
Last edited:
It is a CPU usage thing - when running the best times, all 24 logical cores are loaded very near 100%. When it drops to where it is now, one full logical core is not in use. To make matters worse, the unused core bounces around. That kills performance.
 
Some example TPF's on my rigs recently switched over to Linux Bigadv

Dual Intel X5560 @ stock 2.8ghz running CentOS 5.5 running project 6901 (22 min TPF)
[09:23:49] Completed 100000 out of 250000 steps (40%)
[09:45:49] Completed 102500 out of 250000 steps (41%)
[10:07:50] Completed 105000 out of 250000 steps (42%)
[10:29:52] Completed 107500 out of 250000 steps (43%)
[10:51:55] Completed 110000 out of 250000 steps (44%)


Dual Intel X5560 @ stock 2.8ghz running Win 2008 R2 running project 6900 (29 min TPF)
[13:45:44] Completed 100000 out of 250000 steps (40%)
[14:14:39] Completed 102500 out of 250000 steps (41%)
[14:43:17] Completed 105000 out of 250000 steps (42%)
[15:12:09] Completed 107500 out of 250000 steps (43%)
[15:41:21] Completed 110000 out of 250000 steps (44%)



Dual Intel E5530 @ stock 2.4ghz running CentOS 5.5 running project 6901 (26 min TPF)
[07:20:09] Completed 15000 out of 250000 steps (6%)
[07:46:43] Completed 17500 out of 250000 steps (7%)
[08:13:19] Completed 20000 out of 250000 steps (8%)
[08:39:52] Completed 22500 out of 250000 steps (9%)
[09:06:27] Completed 25000 out of 250000 steps (10%)


Dual Intel E5530 @ stock 2.4ghz running WIndows 2008 R2 running project 6900 (38 min TPF)
[22:34:22] Completed 15000 out of 250000 steps (6%)
[23:12:28] Completed 17500 out of 250000 steps (7%)
[23:50:09] Completed 20000 out of 250000 steps (8%)
[00:27:53] Completed 22500 out of 250000 steps (9%)
[01:06:02] Completed 25000 out of 250000 steps (10%)
 
for giggles I also hooked up one of my slower rigs, here are the results from it:

Dual Intel E5420 @ stock 2.5ghz (33 min TPF)
[11:16:12] Completed 242500 out of 250000 steps (97%)
[11:49:45] Completed 245000 out of 250000 steps (98%)
[12:23:17] Completed 247500 out of 250000 steps (99%)
[12:56:51] Completed 250000 out of 250000 steps (100%)



Also here are the post results for Linux Bigadv (less than 3 min from WU complete to post success)

[12:57:01] DynamicWrapper: Finished Work Unit: sleep=10000
[12:57:11]
[12:57:11] Finished Work Unit:
[12:57:11] - Reading up to 52713120 from "work/wudata_01.trr": Read 52713120
[12:57:11] trr file hash check passed.
[12:57:11] - Reading up to 47028292 from "work/wudata_01.xtc": Read 47028292
[12:57:11] xtc file hash check passed.
[12:57:11] edr file hash check passed.
[12:57:11] logfile size: 195049
[12:57:11] Leaving Run
[12:57:15] - Writing 100106409 bytes of core data to disk...
[12:57:36] Done: 100105897 -> 96392652 (compressed to 10.4 percent)
[12:57:38] ... Done.
[12:58:15] - Shutting down core
[12:58:15]
[12:58:15] Folding@home Core Shutdown: FINISHED_UNIT
[12:58:19] CoreStatus = 64 (100)
[12:58:19] Unit 1 finished with 61 percent of time to deadline remaining.
[12:58:19] Updated performance fraction: 0.610606
[12:58:19] Sending work to server
[12:58:19] Project: 6901 (Run 1, Clone 17, Gen 0)


[12:58:19] + Attempting to send results [March 1 12:58:19 UTC]
[12:58:19] - Reading file work/wuresults_01.dat from core
[12:58:19] (Read 96393164 bytes from disk)
[12:58:19] Connecting to http://130.237.232.237:8080/
[12:59:24] Posted data.
[12:59:24] Initial: 0000; - Uploaded at ~1448 kB/s
[12:59:24] - Averaged speed for that direction ~1448 kB/s
[12:59:24] + Results successfully sent
 
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