# Start Here > Ron Paul Forum >  Charity and Potential Ron Paul Publicity via ::Folding@home::

## specialkornflake

*What is Folding@home?*
Folding@home is a program by Stanford University in which you contribute directly to scientific research by donating your computer's resources. The scientists send your computer work involving the way proteins fold together. Then, your computer automatically processes the work and sends back the results. When us Ron Paul supporters group together we can process a lot for charity/science and with enough support we can be in the top 10 or 100 of groups participating in the program!

*To Participate*
Download the program from the Folding@home Homepage and read the instructions.
_Username:_ Make up a username not already in the system (check here to see if it is already used)
_Group/Team ID for Ron Paul 2012:_ 182919

The process to participate with multiple computers is the same as the first, just simply input the exact same username and Team ID as you put in the first one.

*How is our team (Ron Paul 2012) doing?*
These are the official stats for our team.
These are more detailed, independently created statistics.
Another set of statistics.

*Using your computer*
If your computer already has a hardware problem running the program might help make the problem more evident and it will cause normal wear and tear. If your computer has software problems like running super slow, adding this program might incrementally add to those existing problems. Your computer temperature should be monitored for overheating. Laptops are more prone to overheating with continual, heavy processing and should be closely monitored. The program will use your CPU (called SMP if you have multiple CPU cores) and Video Card (called GPU) if it is new enough. The CPU is designed to give priority to other programs but the GPU does not have that ability, so if you are going to game or something similar pause the GPU work. I had to update my video card drivers for the program to start using my GPU.

*Please Participate!*
By joining you will have fun by contributing and seeing our team do great! Please post any of your questions about participating so we can get more people to join!

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## JuicyG

Nicely done! There was another thread on folding@home but here people can get all info in one clean post, without browsing through all the pages.

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## specialkornflake

We are up to 22 users!

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## Texan4Life

> For example, when my video card started processing it makes an extra high-pitched noise that might be a sign of a start of a problem.


Could also be "capacitor whine"  which is harmless. Though it could be annoying or worrying so totally up to you. 
-----------

Another tip in general is if it has been awhile since you have blown out the dust on your computer it would to be good to do so to help lower temps. You can use the pre packed dust cans. Or even better (and free) is a blow nozzle if you have an air compressor. Just take the side panels off and have at it. If using the dust cans, I would just concentrate on the cpu/gpu and other heatsinks. If you have any left over be sure to get into the power supply as well.

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## cornell

Can anyone comment if this is safe to run continuously on what amounts to a budget ($400-$500) laptop? I downloaded the regular one since I don't have a video-card GPU.

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## specialkornflake

> Can anyone comment if this is safe to run continuously on what amounts to a budget ($400-$500) laptop? I downloaded the regular one since I don't have a video-card GPU.


A new budget laptop is as fast as a high-end laptop two years ago (or something like that) so that's not a big consideration. This program runs just fine on computers that are 10 years old. It will simply just run slower. If you read the considerations in my post and the discussions in the other thread (one poster had concerns about laptops towards the end) and are comfortable with things then go for it!

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## PolicyReader

thanks for consolidating this all into one clear source

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## JuicyG

> Can anyone comment if this is safe to run continuously on what amounts to a budget ($400-$500) laptop? I downloaded the regular one since I don't have a video-card GPU.


You can try the beta as it uses all CPU cores. I believe the regular version only works single core. 

Doesn`t matter you don`t have a video card. It will run just on CPU but use all the cores unlike the regular version.
If you have an onboard video card, software will just ignore it and use CPU only.

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## specialkornflake

I've updated the original text to better reflect the advantages of the new Beta version that takes full advantage of your multi-core CPU and the graphics card. I'm trying to balance the first post between information and simplicity, let me know if you guys have any questions and I'll try to answer. On a side note, anyone know what's going on with Sullivan on our stat page? 186 WUs but no points.

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## specialkornflake

We've broken into the top 4,000! Exactly: 3987 of 209711! We need more help to keep rising as fast as we have been!

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## specialkornflake

I've cross-posted this to Daily Paul, I don't know how to make it more visible there: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/215651

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## specialkornflake

My 400th Post!

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## JuicyG

Going up  Team Ranking(incl. aggregate) 	3758 of 209734

Still 22 members only. Any other volunteers?

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## specialkornflake

I've been working hard to get people to join spread the word! I installed the Beta Client on my dual core laptop and I can tell that it's running hotter, so I've got it propped up so it should cool better. If you have a good video card that is an extremely effective way of helping.

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## steel-the-deal

Thanks Kornflake for the help!

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## specialkornflake

> Thanks Kornflake for the help!


No problem looking forward to seeing you on the rankings!

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	3610 of 209762. 
Making progress but we`re  still only 22 active users.

Number of active CPUs jumped to 80, which is another milestone. We basically have 4CPUs/user on average. Not bad but imagine what we could do with few hundred users.

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## specialkornflake

New member joined last night! We are Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 3576 of 209763!

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## glennpat

We are up to 24 users now. We keep growing almost every day!

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## specialkornflake

I was running the standard client on my laptop and it was running well. I installed the Beta Client which takes advantage of both core's of the CPU and have found the laptop is running hotter. I think it shut down due to the heat one time. I've positioned it so it gets more air and will watch it closer. It's a 5 year old laptop with some fan problems so this is no surprise. Keep an eye on your laptops! But I also just submitted a huge WU off of it, 2000 points!

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## LopTarDaBoo

Does anyone have advice for running the GPU client and not having it hinder desktop performance?  As soon as I turn it on my desktop nearly locks up.

Windows 7, 64 bit, GeForce 560

If Folding can't co-exist with my general usage then I can't run it.

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## JuicyG

> Does anyone have advice for running the GPU client and not having it hinder desktop performance?  As soon as I turn it on my desktop nearly locks up.
> 
> Windows 7, 64 bit, GeForce 560
> 
> If Folding can't co-exist with my general usage then I can't run it.


Hmm. Maybe turn down the desktop graphic settings?

Go to Control Panel, System&Security,  System and click on Advanced System Settings. Click on the Settings in the Performance tab. There you can click on "Adjust for best performance". You might want to leave "smooth edges of screen fonts" activated but can leave all rest disabled.

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## specialkornflake

> Does anyone have advice for running the GPU client and not having it hinder desktop performance?  As soon as I turn it on my desktop nearly locks up.
> 
> Windows 7, 64 bit, GeForce 560
> 
> If Folding can't co-exist with my general usage then I can't run it.


Try updating your Video Card drivers. Turn off Aero and the Clock thing that appears if they are on. In general, decrease the number of running background programs. Do this and let us know the results and we will go from there!

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## LopTarDaBoo

Generally speaking the computer itself is not taxed.  Plenty of RAM (8 gig), few running programs, etc.  It's just that when I kick off Folding on the GPU it seems to want to use ALL of the GPU--to the exclusion of general desktop work.

I did try turning off the graphical fancies and the video drivers were updated last night, but it's still slow.

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## specialkornflake

> Generally speaking the computer itself is not taxed.  Plenty of RAM (8 gig), few running programs, etc.  It's just that when I kick off Folding on the GPU it seems to want to use ALL of the GPU--to the exclusion of general desktop work.
> 
> I did try turning off the graphical fancies and the video drivers were updated last night, but it's still slow.


Just to check to be sure, your computer was fast and then folding at home was installed and then it is much slower? By general desktop tasks you mean like microsoft office and moving files and stuff? I'll look at this more tonight and see if I have any ideas. If all else fails, you can pause the folding while you are working and run it overnight.

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## JimInNY

I have an old Dell pentium 4 with 2 gigs ram, that I keep running just to access certain files I may need once in a while. If I clean up all the crap that might be running in the background on that thing, would it be worth using in this effort?

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## specialkornflake

> I have an old Dell pentium 4 with 2 gigs ram, that I keep running just to access certain files I may need once in a while. If I clean up all the crap that might be running in the background on that thing, would it be worth using in this effort?


2 Gigs RAM is actually a lot for an older computer. And really pentium 4 is not that long ago in my mind. Of course, I recommend backing up anything on your old computer (as you should do anyway), and sometimes an old computer is good to do a full Operating System reinstall to clean up. By participating you will be contributing, the whole idea of distributed computing is you don't need an amazing computer to help! It's fun to participate!

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## JimInNY

> 2 Gigs RAM is actually a lot for an older computer. And really pentium 4 is not that long ago in my mind. Of course, I recommend backing up anything on your old computer (as you should do anyway), and sometimes an old computer is good to do a full Operating System reinstall to clean up. By participating you will be contributing, the whole idea of distributed computing is you don't need an amazing computer to help! It's fun to participate!


I have some programs on there that I cannot (or donot know how to) move to my new computer, so I don't want to mess with it too much, but it does sit there idle 24/7  doing nothing. I may as well put it to good use. I'll go fiddle with it in a few and see what happens. 

Thanks!

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## JimInNY

I'm up and running. Hopefully my old machine with be able to handle it. lol

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## JimInNY

I have a question for the super geeks doing this...

Do I have to open port 80 on my firewall for this to work? I use McAfee Internet Security Suite.

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## JimInNY

ok, since that was so painless, now I'm running it on my new computer too. I can see I am going to get addicted to this.

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## JuicyG

> ok, since that was so painless, now I'm running it on my new computer too. I can see I am going to get addicted to this.


Cool. 

Making nice progress, getting closer to top 3k: Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	3318 of 209816

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## JimInNY

Why don't I show up on the team yet? hmmmmm....

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## GunnyFreedom

I'm going to bump this thread so I can find it on my mini

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## JimInNY

My new computer is kicking ass here. The old one is about 10% done with one project in twice the time.

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## specialkornflake

> Generally speaking the computer itself is not taxed.  Plenty of RAM (8 gig), few running programs, etc.  It's just that when I kick off Folding on the GPU it seems to want to use ALL of the GPU--to the exclusion of general desktop work.
> 
> I did try turning off the graphical fancies and the video drivers were updated last night, but it's still slow.


So if you pause it then it runs fast? Pause the CPU and then check, then pause the GPU then check. Look for solutions at this link: http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-NVIDIA




> I have a question for the super geeks doing this...
> 
> Do I have to open port 80 on my firewall for this to work? I use McAfee Internet Security Suite.


When the program started it requested to get access through the firewall. If you are having problems let us know.




> Why don't I show up on the team yet? hmmmmm....


You won't show up until the stats update and I think you need to have submitted 1 WU.

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## GunnyFreedom

OK, added the mini.  Should be another 2 cores bringing me up to 10 cores.  That little thing might have 4 tho which would bring me to 12 cores.  it'll be way slower than the Pro tho.  Still, should at least put me in the top 10 for the team.    Geek power!

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## GunnyFreedom

Oh wow, I broke top 10 on just the one client and didn't even know it lol 

Quad dual core processors FTW!

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## specialkornflake

> Oh wow, I broke top 10 on just the one client and didn't even know it lol 
> 
> Quad dual core processors FTW!


Congrats! You have any more to add? I find the GPUs to be far more effective than my Cores.

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## glennpat

> Why don't I show up on the team yet? hmmmmm....


Your showing up now. Just took a bit. Welcome to folding on here.

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## JimInNY

> Your showing up now. Just took a bit. Welcome to folding on here.


600 points, 1 unit! Woooot! 19th place...  with a bullet! lol

Glad to be here. Two more units going on this machine and one on the old one. Let's get this team into the top 100!

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## JimInNY

I have to say that I see no difference in my computers performance with two units running at once on here. And it's like like this thing is all that special. It's an AMD A4-3400 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 2.7o GHz.

Anyone shying away out of fear or something shouldn't really have to worry too much. If I can do this stuff anyone can.

Now join the team dammit!

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## specialkornflake

> I have to say that I see no difference in my computers performance with two units running at once on here. And it's like like this thing is all that special. It's an AMD A4-3400 APU with Radeon HD Graphics 2.7o GHz.
> 
> Anyone shying away out of fear or something shouldn't really have to worry too much. If I can do this stuff anyone can.
> 
> Now join the team dammit!


By two units running at once, you mean one for the CPU/SMP and one for the GPU? You are running the Beta client? You are very correct, even 15 year old computers can contribute, the whole point of distributed computing is you don't need to be powerful! Yet, the GPUs are probably the most effective from what I've seen.

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## gerryb

Why is the GPU thread worth 1835 base pints, but my 4 CPU core thread is only worth 108 points?

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## specialkornflake

> Why is the GPU thread worth 1835 base pints, but my 4 CPU core thread is only worth 108 points?





> High-performance clients often require more computing resources. GPU clients typically run on dedicated systems, 24 hours a day, and use more processing power, more disk space, more network resources, more system memory, etc. Also, a major part of the scientific benefit is dependent on rapid turnaround of work units; hence we assign short deadlines for GPU work units. To reward those contributors for donating resources beyond the typical CPU client, for completing these work units very quickly within the short deadlines, and for contributing to the development of our next-generation capabilities, we currently set a benchmark value proportional to these demanding GPU work units. Without the GPU clients and your additional contributions, we would not be able to complete many important projects.


http://folding.stanford.edu/English/...IA-GPU3#ntoc22

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## GunnyFreedom

> Why is the GPU thread worth 1835 base pints, but my 4 CPU core thread is only worth 108 points?


Different processes requiring different numbers of cycles to return work units. Some work units require 10x the processor cycles of other work units, project depending.  The 'points' are more tied to processor cycles, while the work units are more ties to the given project that your client is processing.  

You could be doing Alzheimer's one day, cancer the next.  I'm doing Huntington's Disease on my monster machine right now, which apparently requires massive cycles because it's worth a lot of points.  The client will examine each macine's capabilities and assign projects to suit.

The beta client does not seem to be using my GPU like it's using everyone else's.  it recognizes my GPU, but I only have one folding slot instead of two.  Maybe both my CPU and my GPU are on the same folding slot, or maybe the MacOS client just acts differently, no idea, but it seems that every processor I have is all on the one project, which is probably why my WU's have such ridiculously high scores.

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## specialkornflake

> The beta client does not seem to be using my GPU like it's using everyone else's.  it recognizes my GPU, but I only have one folding slot instead of two.  Maybe both my CPU and my GPU are on the same folding slot, or maybe the MacOS client just acts differently, no idea, but it seems that every processor I have is all on the one project, which is probably why my WU's have such ridiculously high scores.


Consider updating your video card drivers. This resembles a problem I had, although if you are using a Mac I don't have any experience.

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## GunnyFreedom

> Congrats! You have any more to add? I find the GPUs to be far more effective than my Cores.


Is there something special you have to do to enable GPU processing?  I have a recognized graphics card, but my work que seems to be my cores only.  it doesn't act like it's talking to my GPU even though to alleges to support it.  MacOS.  MacPro quad core dual, better yet, here:

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## GunnyFreedom

> Consider updating your video card drivers. This resembles a problem I had, although if you are using a Mac I don't have any experience.


Allegedly my video card updates to the latest and greatest via automatic system updates, so if I don't already have the latest revision then something is wrong.

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## specialkornflake

> Allegedly my video card updates to the latest and greatest via automatic system updates, so if I don't already have the latest revision then something is wrong.


My first thought was for you to go to Configure, Expert and add two name/value pairs- smp true and gpu true. That's how my computer running both is configured. After some research, I can't find any evidence that Folding@Home supports GPUs on Macs. I know very little about Macs, my only idea would be to try and run all of this through Bootcamp on your mac with a windows installation.

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## JimInNY

I am running the beta client, yes.

I'm not sure what I mean about 2 units running at once, I just know that on the beta client screen I see two working at one time.

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## specialkornflake

> I am running the beta client, yes.
> 
> I'm not sure what I mean about 2 units running at once, I just know that on the beta client screen I see two working at one time.


That looks good. Our GPUs seem to be frequently assigned 1835 credits so I can assume you are running your GPU and CPU effectively. Switch your view to Expert in the top right and you can see a lot more information. If you posted that picture we would know even more.

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## GunnyFreedom

Strange, I went into configure and all I had to do was select to use GPU and viola, there it is.  Says ready, and download is at 0% with unknown WU's so we'll see if it takes.

And I would not curse my POSIX box with Windows to save my life!   I especially would not use Boot Camp to operate entirely in Windows just to run F@H.  As a networking and server professional, M$ gets plenty of my blood sweat and tears in the field, they don't get a dime of my personal money for any reason whatever. 

It looks like the client recognizes the GPU as ready to fold, but the work cue is just stuck at download zero with no assigned project.

I guess I'll wait until tomorrow to see if it ever downloaded any work for the GPU.

ETA: 5 attempts, waiting on WS Assignment

So it looks like the GPU is ready to fold, but the work server doesn't know what to do with the request.  How odd.

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## JimInNY

> That looks good. Our GPUs seem to be frequently assigned 1835 credits so I can assume you are running your GPU and CPU effectively. Switch your view to Expert in the top right and you can see a lot more information. If you posted that picture we would know even more.

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## GunnyFreedom

Log text:

05:40:14:WU00:FS01:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080
05:40:15:WU00:FS01:News: Welcome to Folding@Home
05:40:15:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from 'assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080': Empty work server assignment
05:40:15:ERROR:WU00:FS01:Exception: Could not get an assignment
05:42:51:WU00:FS01:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:80
05:42:52:WU00:FS01:News: Welcome to Folding@Home
05:42:52:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from 'assign-GPU.stanford.edu:80': Empty work server assignment
05:42:52:WU00:FS01:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080
05:42:52:WU00:FS01:News: Welcome to Folding@Home
05:42:52:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from 'assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080': Empty work server assignment
05:42:52:ERROR:WU00:FS01:Exception: Could not get an assignment
05:44:27:WARNING:Caught signal SIGPIPE(13) on PID 51
05:44:28:WARNING:Caught signal SIGPIPE(13) on PID 51
05:44:28:Server connection id=7 ended
05:44:30:Server connection id=8 on 0.0.0.0:36330 from 127.0.0.1
05:47:06:WU00:FS01:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:80
05:47:06:WU00:FS01:News: Welcome to Folding@Home
05:47:06:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from 'assign-GPU.stanford.edu:80': Empty work server assignment
05:47:06:WU00:FS01:Connecting to assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080
05:47:07:WU00:FS01:News: Welcome to Folding@Home
05:47:07:WARNING:WU00:FS01:Failed to get assignment from 'assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080': Empty work server assignment
05:47:07:ERROR:WU00:FS01:Exception: Could not get an assignment

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## JimInNY

> That looks good. Our GPUs seem to be frequently assigned 1835 credits so I can assume you are running your GPU and CPU effectively. Switch your view to Expert in the top right and you can see a lot more information. If you posted that picture we would know even more.


On my other computer, my older pentium 4 I am running the simple client. Would there be any advantage to using the beta client on that machine, and if so, do I have to wait for the current unit it is working on to finish?

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## GunnyFreedom

I'm guessing it has something to do with the GPU work server assignment IP 0.0.0.0

ETA -- no, that IP would be set by assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080  depending on the project that was assigned.  It's just really confused why I'm asking for GPU work it seems

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## specialkornflake

> On my other computer, my older pentium 4 I am running the simple client. Would there be any advantage to using the beta client on that machine, and if so, do I have to wait for the current unit it is working on to finish?


I don't think there would be much benefit because the Beta Client is good for using your GPU and multi-core CPUs and a Pentium 4 is not multi-core I don't think. You should instruct your current WU to "Finish" or "Pause when finished" before switching.

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## specialkornflake

> I'm guessing it has something to do with the GPU work server assignment IP 0.0.0.0
> 
> ETA -- no, that IP would be set by assign-GPU.stanford.edu:8080  depending on the project that was assigned.  It's just really confused why I'm asking for GPU work it seems


This thread might apply: http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=18295

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## GunnyFreedom

You were right the first time.  GPU processing only works on Windows.  Found the answer in the folding forum.  People have tried enabling GPU on MacOS before but the client does not support it.  I'll just have to wait until they enable GPU processing on POSIX compliant systems before I can GPU fold, because I am NOT buying and installing Windows to do this. 

ETA - found it here: http://foldingforum.org/viewtopic.ph...20459&start=45

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## specialkornflake

Active CPUs within 50 days	 103        -- We broke 100 Active CPUs! If anyone knows Sullivan his client is misconfigured (probably needs a driver update) and is sending back WUs without completing them. Also, a few people on here only submitted 1 or 2 WUs and are no longer active, so join back!

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## specialkornflake

And we reached an even more impressive milestone! Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 2990 of 209871!! Top 3,000!

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## specialkornflake

And already we are Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 2829 of 209909

Remember though guys it gets a lot tougher from here so we need more help!

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## cdc482

I'm currently doing folding@home. I don't know much about how it works, but its installed on my computer. How can I join the Ron Paul team?

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## specialkornflake

> I'm currently doing folding@home. I don't know much about how it works, but its installed on my computer. How can I join the Ron Paul team?


Teams each have their own number. Read my original post. Since you have been doing it for awhile you probably have an older client, so it might be a good idea to finish your current work unit, right click it and select finish or pause when done. Then uninstall it and install the beta client linked in my first post. If you told me more about your computer etc. I might be able to provide better instructions.

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 2795 of 209916

Let me know if anyone has any questions and I will do my best to answer them!

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## GunnyFreedom

Make Stanford issue a GPU client for POSIX 

I am rocketing up based on my 8 cores alone (the mini is mostly irrelevant) if I added GPU folding I might well make top-5 in the team with only the two clients. 

Finally, something is using the monster crunching capabilities of my desktop.  That machine is a _beast!_

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## specialkornflake

> I am rocketing up based on my 8 cores alone (the mini is mostly irrelevant) if I added GPU folding I might well make top-5 in the team with only the two clients.


It really is amazing how far along our young team has come in such a short amount of time. In large part it is because of machines like that!

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## JuicyG

> It really is amazing how far along our young team has come in such a short amount of time. In large part it is because of machines like that!


Yep and we were only 5 not long ago. 

	Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	2711 of 209932

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## specialkornflake

The more detailed team statistics are now up and running again. They've been down for a few days: http://stats.free-dc.org/stats.php?p...ah&team=182919

We are starting to pass universities and other important groups, keep it up!

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## JimInNY

top 1000 by the end of the week?

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## specialkornflake

> top 1000 by the end of the week?


I think we've been ambitious but maybe not that ambitious, lol. In order for stuff like that to happen I need more people spreading the word and crossposting this on other places where Ron Paul supporters will see this.

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## gerryb

> I think we've been ambitious but maybe not that ambitious, lol. In order for stuff like that to happen I need more people spreading the word and crossposting this on other places where Ron Paul supporters will see this.


put it in your signature

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## specialkornflake

> put it in your signature


Okay I set up my signature let's see!

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## cdc482

> Teams each have their own number. Read my original post. Since you have been doing it for awhile you probably have an older client, so it might be a good idea to finish your current work unit, right click it and select finish or pause when done. Then uninstall it and install the beta client linked in my first post. If you told me more about your computer etc. I might be able to provide better instructions.


Cool man. I'll wait for it to finish. Uninstall it. Install the beta one, and follow your instructions.

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## cdc482

I'm on the team now. Instead of uninstalling and reinstalling, if you already have it installed, it's faster to right click the tiny icon in the bottom right hand side-->configure...-->Team Number and type in 182919.

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## GunnyFreedom

At 2566 now, I think we just passed the Wikipedia team!

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## specialkornflake

> I'm on the team now. Instead of uninstalling and reinstalling, if you already have it installed, it's faster to right click the tiny icon in the bottom right hand side-->configure...-->Team Number and type in 182919.


Welcome to the team! The reason to uninstall your client is because you don't have the newest client which, depending on your computer hardware, might be much more efficient.

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## specialkornflake

Just read the fascinating wikipedia article on folding@home: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home

I was very surprised to learn that only 30,000 GPUs are participating. That's why we are doing so well! Because so few GPUs are participating, each GPU WU returned is given a very high point value. Most of us are using the new Beta Client and that allows excellent GPU processing!

The same is true for Playstation3 Processing. Only 26,000 are doing the protein folding, I guess because it's been awhile since the PS3 came out. So those are worth a lot too.

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 2465 of 209997
Good work!

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## Nirvikalpa

SWEET we're movin' on up.

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## Ilhaguru

Can someone shed a light on the power consumption of this?

Also, can this cause any "wear and tear" on the computer? I have a macbook air, and even converting some videos from one format to another gets the machine working hard and hot, which makes me nervous (not a cheap machine, even the basic model).

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## specialkornflake

> Can someone shed a light on the power consumption of this?
> 
> Also, can this cause any "wear and tear" on the computer? I have a macbook air, and even converting some videos from one format to another gets the machine working hard and hot, which makes me nervous (not a cheap machine, even the basic model).


Yes, you will use more power and your laptop will run hotter. Video reformatting is intensive and I expect it would run as hard and hot. It is designed to not slow down your computer by using idle CPU cycles only. My original post gives a particular caution about watching laptops for overheating. Maybe give it a try and see if you like it!

I should add that by reading the wikipedia article on the subject, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home, you get a sense of the importance of this work.

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## GunnyFreedom

> Can someone shed a light on the power consumption of this?
> 
> Also, can this cause any "wear and tear" on the computer? I have a macbook air, and even converting some videos from one format to another gets the machine working hard and hot, which makes me nervous (not a cheap machine, even the basic model).


I'm a big fan of F@H, and I want to see our team rocketed to the top, but much to the chagrin of our fellow team members I wouldn't run it on a MBA.  You could actually build a shyt-hot Linux box (or run open source Darwin and X-Windows for compatibility with the MBA) for like $350 and outperform the MBA on F@H specifically anyway.

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## specialkornflake

> I'm a big fan of F@H, and I want to see our team rocketed to the top, but much to the chagrin of our fellow team members I wouldn't run it on a MBA.  You could actually build a shyt-hot Linux box (or run open source Darwin and X-Windows for compatibility with the MBA) for like $350 and outperform the MBA on F@H specifically anyway.


You certainly have more experience with the macs than I do! Just like the internet they are a fad! =)

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	2401 of 210023

We`re getting closer to top 2k.

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	2222 of 210053

Nice jump to 124 active CPUs but still just 31 users.

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## specialkornflake

I've been reading more about this project. Apparently if you have a really good computer you can get Bonus Points. You need like 16 cores to get the really good points. If anyone has a hardcore good setup let me know and I'll work with you to get these massive points!

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## Nirvikalpa

bump!  this is potential people

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## specialkornflake

> bump!  this is potential people


Are you folding under a different name? It only shows 1 WU returned for you. Yes, not to jinx things, but soon we'll break into the top 2000 of over 200 thousand teams!

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## specialkornflake

We are now top 2000!  http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/...teamnum=182919

We have our own URL: http://fah-web.stanford.edu/teamstats/team182919.html

Congrats!

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## JimInNY

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	1996 of 210152

In the top 2000 now. 1000 to go.

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## Nirvikalpa

> Are you folding under a different name? It only shows 1 WU returned for you. Yes, not to jinx things, but soon we'll break into the top 2000 of over 200 thousand teams!


I may be

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1899 of 210194

We`ve made a huge jump in just a few days from 2400 to 1899. 

Active CPUs are now at 142. Too bad we`re only around 30 users. Imagine what we could achieve with 100 or more.

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1782 of 210268
Yay!
About to pass or already passed where I went to school, Florida State University!

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## JuicyG

Huge move up the chart Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1698 of 210315 

C`mon people, install this and start folding. There`s only around 30 of us doing it. We`d do wonders with a team of hundred dedicated folders.

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## Sullivan*

I figured out why I was submitting work units with no points awarded (something like 4200 WU after a week).  I've got it fixed now, unfortunately I think my desktops GPU has been dropped from F@H support.

Also, don't get too worked up over how high the team ranks - some of these teams have been folding for a decade, and have thousands of individual donors, some with multiple processors/GPU's.  It would be nice to be in the top 100, but don't get your hopes up.  Top 1,000 would be a milestone I'd flip out at!

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## Trigonx

i just signed up, got 4 cores running plus GPU

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## specialkornflake

> i just signed up, got 4 cores running plus GPU


Excellent work! Keep a close eye on things for a bit and make sure everything runs smooth! You should start racking up major points! I can see you submitted what appears to be your first GPU WU, 1835 points!




> I figured out why I was submitting work units with no points awarded (something like 4200 WU after a week).  I've got it fixed now, unfortunately I think my desktops GPU has been dropped from F@H support.
> 
> Also, don't get too worked up over how high the team ranks - some of these teams have been folding for a decade, and have thousands of individual donors, some with multiple processors/GPU's.  It would be nice to be in the top 100, but don't get your hopes up.  Top 1,000 would be a milestone I'd flip out at!


Yes I noticed that and was super happy to see you actually get some points! What do you mean your GPU was dropped from F@H support? If you are having problems I think we can work through them here. Honestly, if our team gets a lot of GPUs and multi-core CPUs working with the Beta Client we can do quite well!

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1612 of 210377

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## gerryb

I was having trouble with the program so I stopped using it.

When my laptop would go to sleep(or hibernate, not sure which), it would not come back up without a hard reboot.  Windows 7 64 bit with beta F@H client.

Any simple fix to this, or how do I submit a bug report?

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## specialkornflake

> I was having trouble with the program so I stopped using it.
> 
> When my laptop would go to sleep(or hibernate, not sure which), it would not come back up without a hard reboot.  Windows 7 64 bit with beta F@H client.
> 
> Any simple fix to this, or how do I submit a bug report?


The easiest thing to do perhaps would be to not let your laptop go to sleep. You can change the battery/performance settings in windows to prevent the laptop from going to sleep on its own. Even before I did Folding@Home I would do this because my laptop stayed in one place usually and was plugged in. You can also change it so that your computer doesn't sleep when you close the lid.

The Folding@home forums are here: http://foldingforum.org/    And you are using the V7 FAHClient Open Beta and based on your point count you must have a good GPU ie both slots are contributing. In fact, you are doing quite well and we need you back! So try the forums before we look into a bug report.

One more thing to check. Under Configure, check to make sure on the first tab "Connection" that under local client it doesn't say start. If it says start, just push that button upon waking and that might do the trick.

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1601 of 210384

1 step away from top 1600.

150 CPUs folding; we`ve broken another record and managed this with only around 30 users. 

We need more volunteers!

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1587 of 210395

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1529 of 210439

I'm thinking of rewriting the first page some just need to do it!

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## JuicyG

13 steps away from top 1500 

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1513 of 210452

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## gerryb

You can set the CPU usage in the "Configure -> Advanced" tab

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1467 of 210478 Top 1500!

You can lower the CPU usage but it only uses idle cycles no matter what. It may be a good idea to lower the CPU usage on a laptop though, for overheating concerns?

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## JuicyG

Top 1400 is Nigh; Come join the fold!

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1404 of 210568

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1396 of 210581

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## cdc482

> Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1396 of 210581


Woot! Got a desktop icon and a shortcut right on the menu bar next to my browser. I run version 6 pretty much every time I turn on my computer.

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## specialkornflake

Folding at home has released the version 7 client for everyone and updated their website. Check it out!

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## specialkornflake

To clarify my previous post, the following things have happened:
1. The Beta client that many of us are using is now released to the front page of the folding at home website. The client is still in Beta, but is now the recommended client on the front page of the main website!
2. The folding at home website has been updated.

I need to update the first post to reflect these changes I think and other things I have learned since I started.

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## specialkornflake

I've updated the first post and the title as well!

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## specialkornflake

Is there a way to update the title of the thread?

----------


## specialkornflake

Getting lots of new people to join! Anyone know how to update the thread title? Eventually I think we can change it to the one I have as my first post title, if you guys agree.

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## cdc482

Have you guys checked out the freerice Ron Paul team?
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...d.-Please-join!

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## specialkornflake

> Have you guys checked out the freerice Ron Paul team?
> http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...d.-Please-join!


I gave it a quick look over but no time at the moment! I agree with the one poster, that Folding@home is cool because it doesn't take any significant time really! But your thing does sound like a cool educational resource.

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## specialkornflake

Grand Score	 5069268 (certificate)
Work Unit Count	 10000 (certificate)
Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1320 of 210734

Exactly 10000 WUs done!

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## PauliticsPolitics

I just finally got around to addressing this thread.

I put one of my old bitcoin mining computers on this.
Should add an extra few hundred points per day.

EDIT: Looks like that will be a few thousand points per day!

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## specialkornflake

> I just finally got around to addressing this thread.
> 
> I put one of my old bitcoin mining computers on this.
> Should add an extra few hundred points per day.


Welcome to the team! Make sure you show up on our team's stat page so you know everything is working! If it works well consider adding more computers!

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## PauliticsPolitics

> Welcome to the team! Make sure you show up on our team's stat page so you know everything is working! If it works well consider adding more computers!


Yea, I am not appearing on the stat page yet.
But I am confident that it is all configured properly, so we will see when it all decides to catch up.
Seems like a fun project.
I'll probably add some more computers later, once I know it is all working.
I used to mine bitcoins back when that was profitable a few years ago, so I have some optimized rigs with higher-end GPUs just laying around.

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## specialkornflake

> Yea, I am not appearing on the stat page yet.
> But I am confident that it is all configured properly, so we will see when it all decides to catch up.
> Seems like a fun project.
> I'll probably add some more computers later, once I know it is all working.
> I used to mine bitcoins back when that was profitable a few years ago, so I have some optimized rigs with higher-end GPUs just laying around.


I see you are on the list and have already submitted 4 WUs! You will find those GPUs will rack you up an incredible amount of points quickly!

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## PauliticsPolitics

> I see you are on the list and have already submitted 4 WUs! You will find those GPUs will rack you up an incredible amount of points quickly!


Yea, looks like I pulled 4233 points in my first 24 hours.
Not bad.
Thanks for running this project. I wish I had delved into this thread sooner!

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## PauliticsPolitics

Out of curiosity:
How does our one user (Sullivan) have 4567 points but 4179 WUs? 
That ratio is quite inconsistent with all other users.
Anyone know the science behind Sullivan's numbers?

EDIT:
I think I figured it out. Apparently Sullivan has been doing this for years, so the MUs shown are the cumulative total - but the points shown are only the points Sullivan has earned in the couple months since the switch to our team. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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## PauliticsPolitics

Also...
We are now at: *1286 of 210767

*Top 1000 is in sight.
If anyone here isn't doing this and has some computers with headroom, now is the time to jump in!

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## specialkornflake

> Out of curiosity:
> How does our one user (Sullivan) have 4567 points but 4179 WUs? 
> That ratio is quite inconsistent with all other users.
> Anyone know the science behind Sullivan's numbers?
> 
> EDIT:
> I think I figured it out. Apparently Sullivan has been doing this for years, so the MUs shown are the cumulative total - but the points shown are only the points Sullivan has earned in the couple months since the switch to our team. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


Sullivan had a misconfigured client and was returning WUs before completing them. He has since fixed the problem and that's why he started to get points. WUs and points stay with the group.

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1253 of 210836

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1230 of 210903

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## specialkornflake

We are now in the top 1200!!

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## gerryb

A browser based client would be awesome -- wonder if they will ever come up with one of those?

----------


## specialkornflake

> A browser based client would be awesome -- wonder if they will ever come up with one of those?


I wouldn't expect one, this V7 client they just released is the way they are going. Today, only a small percentage of users run anything but the uniprocessor client. The next great thing is getting lots of people using their multi-core CPUs and Video cards for the project. This thing is going to get big too because they are working on speeding up their calculations. The wikipedia article is fascinating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home

Also they blog is great too!
http://folding.typepad.com/news/

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1174 of 211026

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1125 of 211119

We're doing well, keep it up!

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## malkusm

Is there a tutorial or something on this? I'd contribute but I'm very lost on what this is....do you download a client that just runs in the background? Do I need to adjust any settings on my PC? (I'm hardware-illiterate.)

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## specialkornflake

> Is there a tutorial or something on this? I'd contribute but I'm very lost on what this is....do you download a client that just runs in the background? Do I need to adjust any settings on my PC? (I'm hardware-illiterate.)


Yes, you just download a client that runs in the background. You probably don't have to make any setting changes, except you need to choose a unique username (something to do with RP or liberty is probably free!) and put in our team number: 182919   Maybe give it a try and let me know how it goes or let me know if you have any other questions!

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## Nirvikalpa

BUMP!

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1100 of 211196

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## specialkornflake

Hey guys, I'm leaving to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in about two weeks so I need others to take over for me! Feel free to take any of the content I've written if you need to make a new thread. I'll still be around for a bit more. We really are doing quite well, almost about to break into the top 1000 teams, some of which who have been doing this for 10 years!

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## JimInNY

at 1080 now. We've come a long long way in a short short time! WTGOOOOO!

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	 1045 of 211388

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1034 of 211446

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## row row fight da powah

Is there a certainty that they can't use that program to spy on your computer? Is Stanford not run by the government or reports to them?

----------


## specialkornflake

> Is there a certainty that they can't use that program to spy on your computer? Is Stanford not run by the government or reports to them?


Stanford is a private university; the government is ultimately in charge of school accreditation. A lot of the people who use this program are uber-nerds who would probably be able to detect such an event. The program sends specific information between the Stanford Servers. Installing any program on your computer can make it less secure, including your operating system, but I don't think you have much to worry about. I don't have any concerns in this area.

----------


## row row fight da powah

> Stanford is a private university; the government is ultimately in charge of school accreditation. A lot of the people who use this program are uber-nerds who would probably be able to detect such an event. The program sends specific information between the Stanford Servers. Installing any program on your computer can make it less secure, including your operating system, but I don't think you have much to worry about. I don't have any concerns in this area.


ok thanks.

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## specialkornflake

Ok, as I said in my previous post above, I'm going to be gone in about a week for a long time so let's have everyone join in!

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## JuicyG

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	1002 of 211580

2 places away from top 1k. Come join!

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 1000 of 211601

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## specialkornflake

And we've done it! We are in the top 1000 teams! Out of more than 200000!

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 998 of 211602!!!

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## specialkornflake

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 971 of 211706

Will be gone as of this Thursday, good luck team!

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## specialkornflake

My last post for awhile, we leave to drive to the trailhead today, good luck team!

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## Nirvikalpa

Movin on up!

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## JuicyG

We`ve gone down in terms of folding CPUs from 150 to 104. We need more ppl to join in and stay active!

Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	920 of 211980

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## Delivered4000

Isn't a better idea to make all that computing power to mine bitcoins, then donate to campaign?

----------


## specialkornflake

Good work guys! Keep it up in my computing absence!

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## JuicyG

Top 900 almost...
Team Ranking (incl. aggregate) 	902 of 212159

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## specialkornflake

Top 900 congrats! With the Ron Paul campaign changing this could mean some energy directed this way!

----------


## specialkornflake

Congrats the team has amassed over 10 million points!

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## specialkornflake

Regardless of the status of the RP presidential campaign I think this is a great charity thing to do. Perhaps we start again under a new name or something, but I'd love to see RPF still help in this matter. (And keep growing the amount we help!)

----------


## specialkornflake

Since I'm hiking the AT now I don't have the ability to get this restarted but when I return I'll see about getting something set up again if someone else doesn't do it first!

We're actually about to break top 800 for the group, that's pretty cool!

----------


## malkusm

I've been working on a humongous project for at least the past week. 1 hour 48 min TPF. Still have an ETA of 4.22 days. Definitely not getting enough credit for this one

----------


## DanK22

Totally forgot about F@H! I've been mining bitcoins with a 4850 and a 6870 for over a year, but I'll switch them to F@H to help out.

----------


## specialkornflake

> I've been working on a humongous project for at least the past week. 1 hour 48 min TPF. Still have an ETA of 4.22 days. Definitely not getting enough credit for this one


It's always cool to see what the projects are folding! I liked the huge projects when I was running them on my computer that didn't have internet. Every few days I would upload the results to the server.



> Totally forgot about F@H! I've been mining bitcoins with a 4850 and a 6870 for over a year, but I'll switch them to F@H to help out.


Cool thanks! Post if you have any problems and next time I'm online I'll try to help out!

----------


## DanK22

We've lost 11 active CPUs since I started watching our stats and yet we've managed to break into the top 800!

----------


## specialkornflake

I'm looking forward to getting home from hiking to start up my computers again!

----------


## JimInNY

It's nice to see we're still folding away.

----------


## specialkornflake

Over the last 7 days, 5 of us appear to still be returning points. Hopefully we can have more people come back, because this work is still important. 

I just returned from hiking the Appalachian Trail and have my computer up and running again! My points are coming in quickly!

Apparently, folding for the PS3 has been suspended.

----------


## specialkornflake

I've made major changes to the original page. I was thinking about changing the name of the team but I don't know who the team owner is, so until I make progress on this it will still say Ron Paul 2012. We are up to 7 people returning work! Computers make great heaters in the winter!

----------


## LopTarDaBoo

It doesn't take much to help.  I have a single i5 and don't even run it 24x7, and that's good enough for 8th slot on the team.

----------


## specialkornflake

> It doesn't take much to help.  I have a single i5 and don't even run it 24x7, and that's good enough for 8th slot on the team.


That's right, make sure you request a Passkey to get bonus points for your work units! The link to get this done is under Configure, then Identity for the latest version of the client 7.2.9

----------


## specialkornflake

I wanted to bump this topic to let everyone know I'm folding again with an awesome new rig! We had a good team going so I wanted to see if anyone else was still folding or interested? Right now I'm still folding under the Ron Paul 2012 team but I might create my own so I have control over the name. For example, if I had owned Ron Paul 2012 I could change it to team "Liberty" or something.

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.c...hp?s=&t=182919

----------

