[Windows 7] Complete HFM Guide

HFM guide

Files Needed:

1) HFM - On the left, under "Featured Downloads".
(Direct Link)

Prerequisites:

Have at least one Folding client running (Unicore, SMP, VMware, GPU2).

Installation:

1) Doubleclick the .exe and install to a location of your choice.

It should look like this when you first open it:



Configuration:

1) To start adding clients, go to Clients> Add a new client:



2) You'll be presented with a screen to add the name of the Instance (folding client) name, the MHz, not GHz, of the core you're folding on (this is for the PPD/MHz column), and the Log Folder (location) of the client. You can leave the other choices at default:



There are 4 different clients you can use; Unicore, SMP, VMware (all for CPU) and GPU2. Here are how you configure HFM for each (use the corresponding location for Folding clients on other computers):

Unicore:
Instance Name: [Your Choice]
Client Processor MHz: CPU frequency in MHz
Log Folder: C:\\Users\\[Your User]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Folding@home-x86



SMP:
Instance Name: [Your Choice]
Client Processor MHz: CPU frequency in MHz
Log Folder: C:\\Users\\[Your User]\\Folding\\



VMware:
Instance Name: [Your Choice]
Client Processor MHz: CPU frequency in MHz
Log Folder: Depending on the VMware, this can be:
\\\\[IP Address]\\c\\etc\\folding\\1\\
or
\\\\[IP Address]\\fah
(Note the "Virtual Machine" box is checked)



GPU2:
Instance Name: [Your Choice]
Client Processor MHz: GPU Shader clocks in MHz
Log Folder: C:\\Users\\[Your User]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Folding@home-gpu



3) Now we need HFM to load those location every time it runs. To do this, go to File> Save Configuration As:



Save the file wherever you'd like, but remember the location. Now go to Edit> Preferences> Startup Tab (second Tab).
Under "Configuration File", check "Load Configuration File" and go to the location where you saved the file:



Aesthetics:

1) This section is optional, but you can change some settings to make HFM look/run better for you.

In the picture directly above, you can set HFM to load at Windows startup, and minimise to the system tray automatically.

Now, go to Edit> Preferences> Options. Here you can change a few options. The common ones are:
• Check the "Auto Save Configuration when Changed" box
• The number of decimal places used for PPD
• Under "Docking Style" show HFM in the system tray or Taskbar
• Important for SMP2 WUs with bonus points:
• The first 10 "bonus enabled" WUs you fold with the passkey will not give you bonus points. However, HFM will still calculate PPD including those bonuses. Until you qualify for bonuses, it would be better to uncheck the "Calculate Bonus Credit and PPD" box.



Now go to the "Scheduled Tasks" Tab. You can change the refresh rate of HFM to a different number of minutes. This depends on how often you check HFM. You cna also force HFM to update by pressing F6 (or Clients> Refresh all) on the main screen.



Finally, if you rightclick the columns, you cna choose which columns you wish to display. Since it's a personal choice (and I like the information it shows ) I won't give any examples:



2) There we go! Your clients are all configured, and HFM should now look like this:
(NOTE: Don't run multiple clients on the CPU; the SMP or VMware will each use all available cores. Demonstration purposes only.)



Some notes on the coloured boxes:

Green: The client is running fine, and the PPD calculation is up to date.

Yellow: One of two things. Either the client is fine, but has only just started, so the PPD hasn't updated (as in the picture). Let it complete +3% and it will go green.
Or, the client has crashed. In this case, check the "Errors" section below for more information.

Red: The client is not running. If you didn't turn it off youself and the box is red, see the "Errors" section below too.

Purple: The client is attempting to download a new WU.

Orange: The client is paused (GPU system tray only).

Black: The "Location" was typed in wrong/to a wrong place, and there is no client for HFM to monitor. Check for typos, or if using a VMware, post a thread with your installed VMware image.

Errors:

As we all know, Folding can bring up some errors. In the case of your client crashing and you don't know why, you can always check the FahLog. Simply press F8 to open the Log:



If you got an "EUE" errror, and are told the client is pausing for 24 hours, do the following:

1) Close the client.

2) Doubleclick the client in Fahmon; this will open up the client's folder.

3) Delete the "work" folder and the queue.dat file:




4) Restart the client. If the client is still getting errors, or you don't recognise the error, post a thread with your FahLog (either uploaded or in [CODE] tags) and someone will be able to help out.

Community Service:

Finally, we come to the end of the guide. Hopefully everything went smoothly and you know have a fully functioning client.

It would be appreciated however, if you would submit your results to our Database:

GPU PPD Database
CPU PPD Database

To do this, press CTRL+B to open the Benchmarks windows. Under each Project number, you'll see credit (the points for eeach WU) and various values. Use the Ave. Time/Frame value for PPD:

Understanding HFM

This section of the guide is to help you understand what the numbers and columns on HFM actually mean.

1) Status


The colour of this bar is an indication of how your client is running:

Green: The client is running fine, and the PPD calculation is up to date.
Yellow: One of two things. Either the client is fine, but has only just started, so the PPD hasn't updated; let it complete +3% and it will go green. Or the client has stopped Folding, but is still running.
Red: The client is not running. If you didn't turn it off youself and the box is red, see the "Errors" section below too.
Purple: The client is attempting to download a new WU.
Orange:The client is paused (GPU system tray only).
Black: The "Location" was typed in wrong/to a wrong place, and there is no client for HFM to monitor.

2) Progress


How much of the WU your client has completed, in %.

3) Name


The name you gave to the client entry. Helps to differenciate between clients on different computers, or different GPUs.

4) Client Type


The type of client you're monitoring. It can be:

GPU - Either the GPU2 or GPU3 client.
SMP - The multithreaded SMP client (includes -bigadv).
Standard - The single core, Unicore client.

5) TPF


"Time Per Frame". Equates to the time for the client to advance by 1%.

6) PPD


"Points Per Day". A measurement of the performance of your client. You can have it with no decimal places as I have it, or you can have up to 5 places:



7) Credit


The amount of points your WU is currently worth. GPU WUs have the same amount of credit from start to finish, but SMP/-bigadv WUs change, depending on how fast you will finish the WU.

8) MHz & PPD/MHz


When adding a client, you can enter the speed (in MHz) of the CPU or GPU. This will then show you how many PPD you are getting for each MHz. It is not connected to the client at all. If you wish, you can hide the column.

9) ETA


The time HFM calculates your WU will finish. It is based off the TPF and amount of the WU you have still to complete.
These number are, in turn, based on the last 3% of the client. So if you speed up your client (by changing the priority, or closing a program), it can take up to 3% for the TPF and ETA to reflect that.

10) Core


The type of Core your WU is Folding. Can be:

GRO-A3 - SMP
GROGPU2 - GPU2
OPENMMGPU - GPU3
Anything else - Unicore/poorly configured SMP

11) Core ID

The number/value of the FahCore_xx.exe that your WU is running.

a3 - SMP
11/14 - GPU2
15/16 - GPU3
ax - Unicore/poorly configured SMP

12) Project


The Project number of your WU. If your client is running, but something is wrong (high TPF/low PPD), quote this number when asking for help.

For more info on your project, use this page.

13) Complete & Failed


The number of times you have completed/failed a WU. It does not count all WUs, just the current Project (for example, if you have completed 10 WU, but only 2 P10632s, next time you're Folding a P10632, the "Complete" column will show 2.
Unfortunately, this value depends on your local files, so if you reinstall your client, or your client crashes, this number resets.

14) User Name


The User Name that your client is Folding under.

NOTE: When you first install HFM, the User Name column will be orange, like this:



This is because HFM is reading the online stats from another member (the creater of HFM). To change this, Go to Edit> Preferences> Web Settings:



Your Extreme Overclocking User ID can be found by going here and searching for your user. When you find it, the last numbers in the URL are your ID:



15) Download Time


The time you downloaded your current WU.

16) Deadline


The time of your Preferred Deadline. Once the Preferred Deadline has passed, it shows the time of the Final Deadline.

Additional Features

1) Client Path


The path of the highlighted client, as well as any active flags in brackets.

2) Folder's Information


Folder's own stats. You must make sure the settings are configured to your user though. Go to Edit> Preferences> Web Settings:



Your Extreme Overclocking User ID can be found by going here and searching for your user. When you find it, the last numbers in the URL are your ID:



3) Clients and PPD


The number of clients, and overall PPD.

You can also hover over the HFM icon in the system tray, and see active/inactive clients and PPD:

'Tis, once you select the Virtual Client, it shouldn't show up blue anymore. Blue just means the times aren't in sync.

HFM needs ~3% to start showing values. Since each % is taking ~45 minutes, you'll need to leave it running a bit longer.

Another Staff member on board.