[Windows 7] Complete Client v7 Guide

Table of Contents:

Post 1 - Introduction and set up
Post 2 - Setting up HFM to monitor your client

Post 3 - Adding/Removing Folding slots

Post 4 - Additional client configurations ("flags")

WIP:

Post 5 - Connecting multiple rigs to one client
Post 6 - Configuring separate passkeys for individual slots

Post 7 - Understanding Client v7 (for experienced users only)

What you'll need to begin:

3) An AMD GPU, with Catalyst v11.1+. Or a CUDA supported nVidia GPU (list here), with 266.xx drivers or newer.

Client Setup:

1) Run the install file for the Folding client. When prompted, choose "Custom install".



 

Now, install the client to the default location, but save the Data Folder to C> Program Files (x86)> FAHData.

  


For the next screen, leave all settings on the "Recommended" options.



2) Next, you reach the initial configuration screen. Enter the following:

• Donor: [Your Folding Name] (Check here to see if your preferred name is in use.)
• Team: 37726
• Passkey: [The passkey you requested earlier]
• Preferred Mode: GPU & SMP (This will install set clients for all CPUs and GPUs; go to post something or another to edit these)

 

Complete the installation, and the client will start. (You may get a Windows Firewall notification; allow access and move on.)

3) You should see something similar to this:



 

NOTE: If you wish to view the log of this client, you must first switch from "Novice" to "Expert" mode, by clicking the drop down menu. You also need to do this to see which slot is CPU and which is GPU (though 01 is usually the SMP).

Setting up HFM to monitor your client:

1) Install HFM using the file you downloaded earlier.

2) You should have a blank program opened now. Click on Client> Add Client (v7):

3) For the information, enter the following:

Client Name: [Whatever you want; I enter my rig name]

Address: 127.0.0.1 (local client; when we add remote clients in post 5, you can use those IPs to add all of them to one HFM instance)

Port: 36330

Password: [Leave blank]

Then click "Ok".

*These are all default values. You can change them in Configure> Connection if you wish.

4) If this is your first installation of HFM, you'll also need to update the projects file. Go to Tools> Download Projects From Stanford:

5) Next, you need to save a config file. Go to File> Save Configuration As. I save it as "config.hfmx" in the HFM installation Folder.

6) Go to Edit> Preferences> Startup & External. Check the "Load Configuration File" box, and browse to the file you just saved:

7) Finally, head to Edit> Preferences> Web Settings. By default, this is set to the info of the developer of HFM. To set it to your own info, search for your username on EOC (link here). The number at the end of the URL is your ID. Your user ID is your Folding name, and the team number is 37726.

8) And you're done. :) Feel free to rightclick on some of the columns to make it look a bit more compact. Here's the info I keep (you can remove decimal points in Edit> Preferences> Options):

If you wish, you can also export your stats to a website through DropBox, using this guide:

http://www.overclock.net/t/865541/guide-making-a-website-with-dropbox-hfm-dyndns/0_100

Adding a Folding slot:

1) If you initially only set up one CPU or one GPU and want to add the other to your client, first you need to switch from "Novice" mode to "Expert" mode:

You now have access to a lot more information. For now, ignore that and we'll add a GPU slot.

2) Click the "Configure" button in the top left of the client. Then go to the "Slots" tab. Now, you can add an additional client. Assuming you set up with the SMP client initially, you can now add as many GPUs as you have available.


 

3) Click the "Add" button, and you are brought to a screen where you can add further clients. For the GPU, simply select the "GPU Index" box.

If you have multiple GPUs, you can either manually set the GPU to ID 1, 2, etc. However, for ease, you can leave it at -1, and the client will figure it out itself. Click "OK" to add the client.
For now, ignore the other sections.



4) Repeat this for however many GPUs you have.

Removing a Folding slot:
 

1) If you accidentally set up too many clients initially (or want to get rid of one for another reason), the sets are as follows. As above, switch to "Expert" mode, and go to Configure> Slots.

2) Highlight the slot you wish to remove (in this case, I'm removing the GPU slot), and click on "Remove". Then simply click "Save", and you're done.

Now that you've configured your Folding slots, you can leave the client on "Expert Mode" (which has more info), or switch it back to "Novice Mode" (which looks a bit sleeker).

Here are examples of both for reference:

Additional client configuration ("flags"):
 

This section will cover both how to add flags, and a list of available options (at the bottom of this post).
 

1) First we change from "Novice" to "Expert" Mode. Simply click the drop down arrow next to "Novice" and choose "Expert".

2) Click on the "Configure" button and go to the "Slots" tab. Highlight the slot slot you would like to add the flag to, and click the "Edit" button.

3) At the bottom, under "Extra slot options (expert only)", click "Add".

4) Enter the flag and its value. For example:

Name: client-type
Value: advanced



 

Here is the full list of available flags for the v7 client:

Multiple Passkeys


This section is primarily for the Team Competition Folders, but anyone who wishes to use more than one passkey will benefit from this guide.

1) Switch to "Advanced" or "Expert" mode, and then click the "Configure" button and go to the "Slots" tab.

Now, highlight the slot you'd like to add a different passkey to, and click "Edit".



2) At the bottom, under "Extra slot options (expert only)", click "Add". Enter the following:

Name: passkey
Value: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (32 characters)



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Connecting multiple machines:

The new client also gives you the option to connect other machines to each client. You will then be able to monitor each computer's client, as well as having basic client options, such as pausing/restarting one of the slots.

NOTE: I am assuming both computers are on the same network. "Remote" remoting connecting clients would use the same principles though.

1) Make sure both computers you want to connect have the client installed. Switch your clients to "Expert" mode.

2) On the main computer, on the left "Clients" panel, click "Add" at the bottom.



3) Enter the name you wish to call the client, the IP address, the port number (you can leave 36330 as default), and the password (choose your own).



To get the IP address of the computer you wish to monitor, go to the secondary computer and open command prompt. Type "ipconfig", then find the following line:



4) You should now have two clients in your Clients list, and you can monitor them both as if they're local. Simply rightclick the specific client slot (not the client itself) and then you can choose from one of the options there.



I don't believe monitoring remote clients creates a new log folder, so if you're using HFM/Fahmon, you will need to connect them (if on the same network), or use a hosting site as usual to monitor them too.

Understanding the client:

This section is for experienced Folders only. Much of the information here is not needed if you just wish to run the client.

So, you've added slots for all your CPUs and GPUs. Now, assuming you've kept "Expert" mode on, this is what you see before you:



So, we'll split it up into 4 parts:

1) Configure (Click to show)

Clicking this button will bring you to the advanced settings options, with the following tabs:
a) Connection (Click to show)

Here you can change the client name, IP address, port, and the password used to start the client. This will be explained further in the "Clients List" section below.

b) Identity (Click to show)

This tab is used to change your Folding@home username, team number, and passkey used.

c) Slots (Click to show)

Here it lists all client slots you have running; all SMP, Unicore or GPU clients. You can also press the "Edit" button, and change some of the settings, such as changing the number of cores the SMP client uses (beware; doing this mid-WU will cause the WU to reset).

List of possible flags.

d) Remote Access (Click to show)

This section allows you to secure remote accessing of your clients. You can set a password, a port to use, as well as allow/deny IP addresses.

e) Advanced (Click to show)

This tab is rather similar to the old "Advanced" tab for the GPU/Unicore clients. It's pretty straightforward; you can change the priority and CPU usage of the FahCore_xx.exe file. You can also edit the "Checkpointing frequency", saves a checkpoint of the WU periodically.

For the "Optimizations" setting, you can ignore the first option, unless you have an old, old CPU. For semi-modern CPUs, there's no issue with the instructions. You can also ignore the "CPU affinity locking" option. Since you can't specify which core you're locking the core to, it's better to use another program instead.

The "Power" option gives you the choice of pauing the client when Folding on a laptop not connected to a power supply, to preserve battery life.

"Verbosity" specifies the detail in the log; 1 is basic info, 5 is full detail. It is set to 3 by default.

f) Expert (Click to show)

The final tab allows you to add additional commands to your clients. Since most commands are added by default (such as the old "-smp", "-forcegpu", "-gpu x", "-verbosity x" flags), you probably won't need to use this section too often.

2) Preferences (Click to show)

Here, you have rather basic client settings.

Startup & Shutdown. Whether you want the client to start up minimised, and whether you want the client to quite when closed (by default, it minimises when closed, and you must quit from the systray).

Local Client. Whether you want the client to start when you log in, and what command to use.

Visualization. What command to use for the viewer, whether it's fullscreen or not, and the resolution to use, as well as which style of visualisation to use.

I have yet to determine whether the viewer hurts the client as the old one did.

3) Fold/Pause/Finish (Click to show)

Options to change the client status.

Fold. Continue Folding if the client has been paused.

Pause. Pause all client slots.

Finish. Pause all client slots after they finish their current WU. Similar to the -pause and -oneunit flags of the old clients.

These options affect all client slots. To change just one of the clients, rightclick it and choose the option.

4) Viewer (Click to show)

The button to open the Folding viewer:



Options for the viewer can be found by going through the "Preferences" options (outlined above).

By default, the viewer will show the visualisation (and WU information) for the first slot in the client. If you wish to see info and visualisations from one of your other slots, highlight the preferred slot.

Again, I have yet to determine whether the viewer hurts the client as the old one did.

5) Hide/Quit (Click to show)

What it says, really.

"Hide" will minimise the client to the system tray, while "Quit" will close the client completely.

A list of all clients being monitored. The local client is the only one there by default, though you can add more clients (outlined in post 4).

1) Status (Click to show)

a) Identity (Click to show)

This section of the client shows the name you are currently Folding under, as well as which team. If you click on your Folding name, it will take you to the Stanford stats page for that username.

Next to the team number, you have a drop down menu. From there you can choose this stats site clicking the team number takes you to (username will always go to Stanford though). Your options are:



The most popularly used Folding stats site on OCN is Extreme Overclocking.

b) Folding Slots (Click to show)

This part of the client lists the slots you have running on your client; your SMP, Unicore and GPU clients.

The information given is:

• The ID of each slot
• Whether it is running, paused, or hung.
• The description. For SMP slots, it will list the number of cores/threads being used. For GPU clients, it will list which number GPU it is in youu rig (starting at 0), the GPU core, and then the GPU itself.

c) Work Queue (Click to show)

This section is similar to HFM/Fahmon/other Folding monitoring program, with the notable exception of PPD and Time Per % values. It gives the following information for each slot:

• The ID of each slot
• Whether it is running, paused, or hung.
• The amount of the WU it has completed.
• The estimated time remaining to complete the WU.
• The credit of the WU (including bonuses for SMP/Unicore WUs).
• The Project number, and the in brackets, the Run, Clone, Gen values.

When comparing PPD and performance, the Project number alone is needed. When there is a problem with your client, all PRCG values are needed.

2) System Info (Click to show)

Just a complete dossier on your system.

A couple of things to note.

1) Build. The "Platform" will be "win32 Vista" whether you have Vista or Windows 7, and the "Bits" will be "32" regardless of whether you have an 32-bit or 64-bit OS. This is because the client itself is natively 32 bit.

2) System. The GPUs your have set up will be listed here, as well as their CUDA capabilities. You'll also see where all the logs and work folders are stored under "CWD".

3) Log (Click to show)

The standard log of your client, listing the status and progress of each slot. You won't need to worry about it too much unless you're having trouble with your WUs (it keeps crashing, never starts, etc).

Similar to the "Work Queue" section above, but with a bit more information:

• The FahCore being used (FahCore_a3, _15, _a5, etc).
• How many attempts to connect to the server have been made (when trying to upload/download a WU).
• Time of download and final deadline.
• Server the WU was downloaded from, and will be uploaded to.
• Unique WU ID.

Multiple Passkeys


This section is primarily for the Team Competition Folders, but anyone who wishes to use more than one passkey will benefit from this guide.

1) Switch to "Advanced" or "Expert" mode, and then click the "Configure" button and go to the "Slots" tab.

Now, highlight the slot you'd like to add a different passkey to, and click "Edit".



2) At the bottom, under "Extra slot options (expert only)", click "Add". Enter the following:

Name: passkey
Value: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (32 character passkey)



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