How to set up FahMon to monitor Folding@home progress

[chriskwarren]

Here is a quick guide to show you how to set up FahMon in Windows.

Most of the guide will be done in Windows Vista 64-Bit, but the instructions will be the same for Vista 32-bit. I will provide screenshots for XP users that will show how to select the proper directory for that OS.

Step 1: Enable viewing of hidden files and folders

Folding@home saves files in a directory that Windows likes to hide from users. You need to be able to see these directories in order to set up FahMon properly. I will offer more information on these directories later, but for now, lets make it possible to actually see the directories first.

This works slightly different for Vista and XP. First, I will cover Vista.

Windows Vista:
Go to Start->Control Panel


Then, select "Classic View":


Then select "Folder Options":



Select the "View" tab:



Select the "Show hidden files and folders" option:



Press OK and exit the Control Panel.

Windows XP:
Double-click on "My Computer", select "Tools" and "Folder Options":



Select the "View" tab, and then select "Show hidden files and folders" and press OK




Step 2: Download the Fahmon application here:
Download | FahMon

Note: If you are using a virtual machine to fold (ie. Notfred's vmware diskless linux setup), then you need to make sure you use FaHMon 2.3.99.1 or higher).


Step 3: Install the program, using all defaults.










Step 4: Start FahMon by going to your Start Menu->FahMon->FahMon



Step 5: Add Folding@home directory to FahMon

FaHMon does not search your computer to see if you have installed Folding@home or not. You need to add the folder of the client you have installed manually. When FahMon first starts, it will look like this below, with no clients added:



Right-click in the FahMon "Main Window" as shown below, and click "Add a new client":



You will see the following window:



First, type in the Name you want to give your client (yellow highlight in the picture above). This name is for your own personal reference only, so you can type what you want. However, if at some point you want to fold with multiple clients (ie. using your GPU/Video card, and CPU folding as well later on), you might want to name the client you are about to select something meaningful.

In this case, I will name my client "GTX260", as that is the video card this particular client runs on in my computer:



Next, we need to select a location of our client. This is the directory that Folding@home downloads and saves all data. This directory changes depending on whether or not you use Vista, XP, the CPU client (also called the X86 client), or the GPU client.

These directories are listed below (and remember, you should have "Show Hidden Files and Folders" enabled in "Folder Options" as outlined in Step 1 before doing this, or you won't see the folder):

Windows Vista/Windows 7 GPU client:
C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-gpu

Windows Vista/Windows 7 CPU client:
C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-x86

Windows XP GPU client:
C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name)\Application Data\Folding@home-gpu

Windows XP CPU client:
C:\Documents and Settings\(your user name)\Application Data\Folding@home-x86

The above directories are for the "System Tray" client. If you installed the Console client (when you run it you see a small black "Dos" like window), you need to point FahMon to the folder in which you downloaded and ran the Folding@home console client. This could be anywhere on your computer. For example, if you are like me, you may have put this download on your "Desktop". In that case, you would have to point FahMon to C:\Users\(yourusername)\Desktop\Folding@home-Win32-x86-623

If you use the SMP beta client, and used Xilikon's excellent guides on the FaH site or [H]ordeguides, you should point FahMon to C:\FAH . This is a suggested folder, especially in Vista, to avoid permissions issues.

--------------

In the following example, I will add the GPU client I am using on Vista.
Click the directory list box, select your client folder, and press OK:







Then, press OK again. You should see your Folding@home work progress as in below:



Above, I highlighted the "PPD" section. This means "Points Per Day," and the higher it is, the better your totals will be. In this case, my GPU is getting 5588.66 points per day. This changes depending on the type of work your computer has received from the Folding@home servers.


Notfred Virtual Machines (not GPU or SMP folding)

Some people use vmware machines (virtual machines that run Linux inside of Windows. See this sticky for more info). If you do, make sure you have the latest version of FahMon. Then, as the virtual machine boots, pay attention to the IP address your router or gateway assigns your virtual machine as below:



You can see in the above example, my virtual machine was assigned the address 192.168.1.115 automatically. You do not login to your virtual machine. Simply look for the IP address (arrow above). In the "Location" field of the FahMon window below, you would type in exactly as shown:

\\192.168.1.115\c\etc\folding\1\




Also, please ensure that you have "Client is on a Virtual Machine" only if you are running the virtual machine client.

Linuxrouter's Bigadv Virtual Machine

If you are running the Linuxrouter '-bigadv' virtual machine, the default location to type in would be \\FAH\fah .

Step 6 (Optional): Show the Fahlog

There is still one more thing that is helpful to do. Folding@home creates a log file for each client you have running. This log file contains useful information, including your progress, and any errors you may be getting. These error messages are useful if you need help, as you can copy and paste the error into any forum threads you are asking for help on.

FahMon can display this log file for you. In FahMon's menu, just go to "View" and select "Show/Hide Fahlog" as below:



You should now see the log file as in below:



I highlighted the progress being shown in the log file above. Prior to this, in the log file you can see where I suspended the folding task, started it again, etc. If I scrolled up, I can see where I downloaded the task, and other instructions Folding@home carried out.

I hope this will help you get started folding with the HWC team!

Go team 54196 !

[chriskwarren]

holding

[CasheKicker]

I think my problem is I installed the Windows Vista GPU Console client 6.23. It did not actually install but is running in the DOS style black window. Perhaps I have done something wrong once again but it is not in my program folder but is at 45% complete it's 1st job so far. I left the window open so I cold see it. I am guessing I should have installed Windows XP/2003/Vista GPU System tray client (installer msi) or Windows: V6 GPU2 (ATI 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx; nVidia) clients

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by CasheKicker

I think my problem is I installed the Windows Vista GPU Console client 6.23. It did not actually install but is running in the DOS style black window. Perhaps I have done something wrong once again but it is not in my program folder but is at 45% complete it's 1st job so far. I left the window open so I cold see it. I am guessing I should have installed Windows XP/2003/Vista GPU System tray client (installer msi) or Windows: V6 GPU2 (ATI 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx; nVidia) clients

If you use the console then you need to point FahMon to the directory in which you have run the console client.

Ie. I downloaded the console to my Desktop (where I tend to dump my downloads), which created a folder on my desktop (ie. C:\Users\(your user name)\Desktop\Folding@home-Win32-x86-623\

This is the folder that I would need to point FahMon to. So, when you ran the console for the first time, what location on your computer did you download and run it?

[3.0charlie]

Well done Christopher - stuck.

[LCB001]

Windows Vista CPU client:
C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Roaming\Folding@home-x86

Great job on the Guide, should make it a lot easier to help the new Team members.

One change, the vista SMP client now installs in C:\FAH
It used to install in C:\Program Files (x86) but they changed it because of Vista UAC permissions conflicts. As far as I know the AppData\Roaming only applies to the GPU default location...

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by LCB001

Great job on the Guide, should make it a lot easier to help the new Team members.

One change, the vista SMP client now installs in C:\FAH
It used to install in C:\Program Files (x86) but they changed it because of Vista UAC permissions conflicts. As far as I know the AppData\Roaming only applies to the GPU default location...

Thanks for the help guys! I just confirmed that the regular cpu client installs in the appdata\roaming folder like the gpu does.

LCB001 I'll add C:\FAH directory for the SMP client. Thanks!

[LCB001]

Originally Posted by chriskwarren

Thanks for the help guys! I just confirmed that the regular cpu client installs in the appdata\roaming folder like the gpu does.

LCB001 I'll add C:\FAH directory for the SMP client. Thanks!

Glad you checked that, I don't use the regular CPU client. This is why I don't try and write guides, I usually miss something...

[CasheKicker]

Well this was helpful.

Thank You have it working now.

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by CasheKicker

Well this was helpful.

Thank You have it working now.

No problem! Many people ask this including yourself so I am glad it helped.

Again, welcome to the team Cache!

[Eagle Eye]

Thanks Chris worked perfectly, much appreciated.

EE

[stoanee]

Is there a way of monitoring folding done with linux & virtual machine under windows?

[chriskwarren]

Originally Posted by stoanee

Is there a way of monitoring folding done with linux & virtual machine under windows?

You would have to share the folder in which the work files are located in your virtual machine. However I have not done this on Linux or a virtual machine. I know a couple of members here have tried folding on Linux, and would know more than I.

[3.0charlie]

(from my Ubuntu crib sheet)

system->administration->shared folders

The first time you go down this path you will be prompted to download and install sharing software ... since my main rig is wxp, i leave samba selected and deselect nfs.
Once it downloads and install samba then you can continue ( no reboot necessary)

add your home folder and deselect 'read only' checkbox so you can copy to this from another machine - leave read only if you prefer since it is good enuf for fahmon.
I also select general properties and change the domainname to 'WORKGROUP' since this is my default domain on my WXP rigs. If you use WXP home then i expect the default MSHOME is good for you.

now open a terminal window: applications->accessories->terminal
in the terminal window type : 'sudo smbpasswd -a [username]' and then you will have to enter your password once for the sudo override to authenticate you, and then twice more for the smbpasswd command.

You should now be able to share files with all your other rigs. For convenience i use the same userid and password on all my wxp and linux installs.

[5ILVgeARX]

Hey chris, you might want to add, how to used FAHmon for the console version too, it took me at least a hour googling to find out that you select the whole folders for it to show PPD for the console version