Noob i7 980x Bigadv Folding Questions

[Zero82z]

Have you ever folded A3 units with the SMP client before? If not, you should remove the -bigadv flag and fold 10 normal SMP units first so you will qualify for the bonus. Otherwise, you will only receive the base credit for each unit until you complete 10.

[bkh2]

Oh, I've never folded with the SMP before. Just so I understand, I must complete 10 A3 units before getting bonuses, and A3 units require using SMP, therefore requiring me to use the SMP flag (folding in the regular client without using any flags does not count?) to fold 10 units before using the bigadv flag? Should I just run the config again and remove the bigadv, and if so, will I lose the progress I've gotten so far (not that much, so it doesn't really matter either way)?

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by bkh2

Oh, I've never folded with the SMP before. Just so I understand, I must complete 10 A3 units before getting bonuses, and A3 units require using SMP, therefore requiring me to use the SMP flag (folding in the regular client without using any flags does not count?) to fold 10 units before using the bigadv flag? Should I just run the config again and remove the bigadv, and if so, will I lose the progress I've gotten so far (not that much, so it doesn't really matter either way)?

Yes, you will need to move back to regular smp units.

Problem is, not that you have that bigadv downloaded, nobody else will get it until after your deadline passes. So you should finish the WU. If you just remove the bigadv flag, I think it will simply finish.

[Zero82z]

Originally Posted by bkh2

Oh, I've never folded with the SMP before. Just so I understand, I must complete 10 A3 units before getting bonuses, and A3 units require using SMP, therefore requiring me to use the SMP flag (folding in the regular client without using any flags does not count?) to fold 10 units before using the bigadv flag? Should I just run the config again and remove the bigadv, and if so, will I lose the progress I've gotten so far (not that much, so it doesn't really matter either way)?

-bigadv units are also A3 units and count toward the 10-unit requirement. The thing is that they take a long time to complete, so waiting for 10 -bigadv units to finish so you qualify for the bonus will take far longer than completing 10 normal SMP units (which should take about 2-4 days on your machine).

Removing the -bigadv flag shouldn't flush the unit you have now. It will just prevent you from picking up future -bigadv units.

[Aix]

Originally Posted by bkh2

Alright, I have followed to guide linked by 10e and the client is running, but I think there is a problem. Apparently, it downloaded a new core: FahCore_a3.exe and then it does a whole bunch of other stuff. When it goes into the "Entering M.D." part, it's supposed to start working on the unit, right? But then it just says "Going to send back what have done" which is 0/500000 and then it says "Done." It sends results and proceeds to do this again, minus the downloading of FahCore_a3.exe. Should I post the log? I'll check my configuration parameters to make sure I didn't make a mistake.

Edit: I just restarted the client and it fixed itself... Not sure what happened, but it is definitely working now. Thanks so much guys!

What exactly did your client say when it did this? Did the client send results and then download a new WU for you every time, or did it just say "attempting to send results...no unsent work units"?

The client will only download the FahCore_a3 when you don't already have it, but it downloads new WUs in a much more subtle manner (i.e. just a simple line of text instead of the wall of text that the core download generates).

If you look at your EOC stats it says you sent back 27 work units for a total of 450 points (10.05, 9pm update). If you're sending back a lot of unfinished WUs due to either an unstable overclock or a bad -smp # value then you will have to work back up to 80% completion in order to qualify for bonus points.

[bkh2]

A copy of my log:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[21:33:25] + Attempting to send results [October 6 21:33:25 UTC]
[21:33:26] + Results successfully sent
[21:33:26] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[21:33:30] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[21:33:30] Cleaning up work directory
[21:33:30] + Attempting to get work packet
[21:33:30] Passkey found
[21:33:30] - Connecting to assignment server
[21:33:30] - Successful: assigned to (171.64.65.54).
[21:33:30] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[21:33:30] Loaded queue successfully.
[21:33:37] + Closed connections
[21:33:42]
[21:33:42] + Processing work unit
[21:33:42] Core required: FahCore_a3.exe
[21:33:42] Core found.
[21:33:42] Working on queue slot 01 [October 6 21:33:42 UTC]
[21:33:42] + Working ...
[21:33:42]
[21:33:42] *------------------------------*
[21:33:42] Folding@Home Gromacs SMP Core
[21:33:42] Version 2.22 (Mar 12, 2010)
[21:33:42]
[21:33:42] Preparing to commence simulation
[21:33:42] - Looking at optimizations...
[21:33:42] - Created dyn
[21:33:42] - Files status OK
[21:33:43] - Expanded 1765537 -> 2254429 (decompressed 127.6 percent)
[21:33:43] Called DecompressByteArray: compressed_data_size=1765537 data_size=2254429, decompressed_data_size=2254429 diff=0
[21:33:43] - Digital signature verified
[21:33:43]
[21:33:43] Project: 6062 (Run 1, Clone 52, Gen 30)
[21:33:43]
[21:33:43] Assembly optimizations on if available.
[21:33:43] Entering M.D.
[21:33:49] mdrun returned 255
[21:33:49] Going to send back what have done -- stepsTotalG=500000
[21:33:49] Work fraction=0.0000 steps=500000.
[21:33:53] logfile size=0 infoLength=0 edr=0 trr=25
[21:33:53] logfile size: 0 info=0 bed=0 hdr=25
[21:33:53] - Writing 642 bytes of core data to disk...
[21:33:53] ... Done.
[21:33:53]
[21:33:53] Folding@home Core Shutdown: EARLY_UNIT_END
[21:33:56] CoreStatus = 72 (114)
[21:33:56] Sending work to server
[21:33:56] Project: 6062 (Run 1, Clone 52, Gen 30)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~

It repeats itself a few times after that, then it starts to work on a WU. I'm using -smp 11. I've shut down all my folding and am currently running more stress tests (IBT) for the case of an unstable overclock.

[Zero82z]

Try running -smp 10 and see if that fixes it. The client doesn't like certain values for that flag and will constantly fail units with some of them. 11 might be one of those magic numbers.

[bkh2]

Sure, I'll try that. Also, how many passes of IBT should I run? I'm currently working on 100 passes (50% done). Will that suffice?

[Zero82z]

100 passes is definitely enough. I usually do 5 for a quick check and 20 for a final stability test.

[Charloz24]

Try also just running with -smp 12. My i7 980x fold bigadv for more than 6 months perfectly, But for some unknown reasons, if I try -smp 11 it error on all non bigadv unit. With -smp 12, everythings runs fine.