Problems installing SMP client, and a formal introduction.

[tel0004]

My name is Travis, I've been with hardforum.com for a while now, but for the longest time I had laptop, which I couldnt fold on, due to heat issues. I recently got a new computer, (Vista, 2 gigs of ram, E6750, 8800GT, and I'm ready to start folding. I finished my first workunit today about 8 hours ago, but I'm running the Graphical client, which is only using one core. I'm trying to install the SMP client, but I'm having some issues. Do I have to uninstall the Graphical client first?

When I try to run it, this is the error I get.

So I tried to run the bat like it says, and I get this message.

What am I doing wrong?

Also, how many PPD should I expect on an E6750 running Vista 24/7.

 

[aldamon]

Turn off UAC and then install it. You can re-enable it after it has installed. I'm sure actual Vista users will chime in. I've only read about this solution.

 

[schenks]

In Vista, you'll want to turn off the User Account Control BEFORE you install folding at home....also, you generally will not want to install it in program files since Vista has some added protection on there....otherwise, the install FAQ is as stanford says

 

[Killer[MoB]]

~1600 points per day running at stock speed.

 

[ND40oz]

Like everyone else said, turn UAC off and make sure you have administrative rights on the box.

Here are some good instructions, Windows SMP is half way down the page: http://www.teamwtfonline.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134

 

[tel0004]

Ok, I got it installed, but I don't know how to start it up. If I click on fah.exe, it starts up, and runs great, but i have an icon on my taskbar.

If I got to services in the control panel, then it says starting, but it won't go to the 'started' step.

 

[ND40oz]

Ok, I got it installed, but I don't know how to start it up. If I click on fah.exe, it starts up, and runs great, but i have an icon on my taskbar.

If I got to services in the control panel, then it says starting, but it won't go to the 'started' step.

Did you follow the instructions and change the service to run under your login?

 

[Celerator]

Welcome aboard, tel0004. It looks like you're getting put onto the
right path by our resident experts. Let us know how that E6750 does.

Fold on!

 

[APOLLO]

Welcome aboard the [H] express...

Ok, I got it installed, but I don't know how to start it up. If I click on fah.exe, it starts up, and runs great, but i have an icon on my taskbar.

What does the icon look like?

If I got to services in the control panel, then it says starting, but it won't go to the 'started' step.

Did you install the SMP client as a service?

 

[Tigerbiten]

Getting the Windoze SMP to run as a service is not supported by Stanford but do-able.
You need to go to where the services start and add you user name and password to it otherwise it does not pass them on to the mpciexe service.
Thats why it does not start as a service now.
Sorry, I dont run mine as a service in Windoze so cannot give more detailed instructions but they are out there.

Luck ............

 

[tel0004]

Welcome aboard the [H] express...

What does the icon look like?

Sorry, icon wasn't the best description. Its a tab, similar to what you would see if firefox or any other program is open.

Did you install the SMP client as a service?

It asked me if I wanted it to run as a service, and I said yes. Is there anything else I have to do.

 

[ND40oz]

It asked me if I wanted it to run as a service, and I said yes. Is there anything else I have to do.

You have to follow the instructions to the letter. You also can't start the service manually, it has to be started upon bootup.

Windows SMP as a service: (XP)

1. Required component for XP & 2000 (not Vista, as it is built in): The Windows SMP client requires the Microsoft .NET framework v2.0; please install this prior to installing the client. The version 2.0 framework is required; it can co-exist with other versions, but this version must be installed. It can be obtained from Microsoft at the following URL: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en. Administrator privileges are required for install.

2. Unpack files. Run the self-extracting installer to unpack the SMP client files.

3. Client installation. You must have an account that has Admin rights on the PC and has a password before you proceed with the next portion of the install. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01. Run install.bat from within the SMP install directory to complete the installation. This will install MPI services that the client needs. If you have Windows Firewall enabled, you may get a pop-up window asking if you should give access to the smpd and mpiexec programs. Grant access. If you use an alternate firewall product, you will likely have to make a similar exception for smpd.

**NOTE** The username and password you provide for mpiexec should be your Windows login that you will run the client under. This is used for authentication on your local machine. It is cached in encrypted form in your Registry and is not transmitted to FAH servers.

At the end of the install process, you should see two lines of output:

If you see this twice, MPI is working
If you see this twice, MPI is working

If you do not see these lines, do not start the client. MPI is not successfully installed, and the client will not run successfully.

4. In a command prompt, navigate to the directory you installed the client to. By default, this is “C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01\”. From there, run “fah –configonly”

5. Configure as usual, make sure you say “yes” to “Install as a service.” I recommend also saying “yes” to “Allow large work units,” however, this will let the client use more memory and potentially slow down the system it is on. On public systems, this should probably be left off.

6. Don’t start the service yet. Go to the Services management console (Start->Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services) and look for the service that starts with FAH. Open the properties for that service and go to the Log On tab. In this tab, check “This account” instead of the default “Local System account” option and fill in the account you used to install the client. The account used to install the client must have administrative privileges for this step to work.

7. This step is optional, but recommended for the SMP client. Enter the registry editor (Start->Run->regedit.exe) to edit the registry entry for the FAH service. The default location for this is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\FAH@C:+Program Files+Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01+fah. If you installed in a place other than the default, the key name will be different, but it will still be in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ and will still start with FAH@. Select this key and edit the ImagePath key and append “ –forceasm” to the “Value data” field.

8. Close the registry editor and reboot. Trying to start the service without rebooting will not work, you must reboot.

***If you change your password when running the Windows SMP client as a service, you will need to change the password for the account that the service runs under and reinstall MPI using the install.bat file and input your new password***

From: http://www.teamwtfonline.org/forum/showthread.php?t=134

 

[APOLLO]

Sorry, icon wasn't the best description. Its a tab, similar to what you would see if firefox or any other program is open.

Then, that is normal. My clients are visible in the taskbar as well.

It asked me if I wanted it to run as a service, and I said yes. Is there anything else I have to do.

In all honesty, if I were you I would not run the client as a service. It can be done as others mentioned, but it involves additional steps. I would reinstall it and choose no for that option.

 

[tel0004]

Thanks for the help everybody. WIth the graphical client, I was only getting around 300 PPD, and I'm getting 1400. I'm happy with that, it should be a small boost for the team.

 

[Pocatello]

I would just run the SMP and un-install the graphical.

Glad you got it running.

I always make a folder just for folding, like this:

c:\folding

You can turn UAC back on after you are done installing the SMP client.

You can turn it off by hitting control-c and that will stop it. Don't pay attention to error messages on restart that say, "8 consecutive shut downs were bad..." or something like that. Restarting it will almost always start things without any problems or lost work.

Some games do not play well with the SMP running, but others are fine.