Guide to Installing SMP & Bigadv Folding With

This is a guide on how to install bigadv folding for RTW.


[u]What is bigadv folding you ask[/u]:

It's simple. Bigadv folding is folding bigadv WUs (work units) on your PC.

The advantage to folding bigadv WUs is that they net much higher points for the folder and thereby for the folding team.


[u]What is needed to fold bigadv WUs[/u]:

-A cpu with 8 threads (e.g. an i7 with Hyper Threading turned on)

-A minimum cpu overclock of at least 3.6ghz


[u]Who should fold bigadv WUs[/u]:

-Someone who is able to leave their computer on and folding for at least 19 hours a day


[u]Bonus Point[/u]:

Bigadv WUs (without bonus points) net approximately 8-9k points per WU. These WU's take on average 2.5 days to complete (note: time to WU completion depends on your cpu, overclock, etc.).

However, with bonus points a Bigadv WU will net approximately 70k points per WU. In order to qualify for bonus points you need to have folded at least 10 SMP (e.g. CPU) WUs with a passkey that you get from Stanford.

You can obtain a passkey from Stanford here (http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/getpasskey.py).


(If you already have a passkey and have been folding SMP WUs using it, then you can skip down to the section marked "Installing Bigadv")


[u]Steps to raking in bigadv WUs with bonus points[/u]:

1) Obtain a passkey (http://fah-web.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/getpasskey.py)


2) Install SMP folding. Here is a direct link to the console version of the SMP2 client (http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/release/FAH6.30-win32-SMP.zip)

-Download the SMP2 client and install it on your computer.

-Navigate to the folder where you installed folding and find the executable file "[email protected]" and make a shortcut of that file on your desktop.

-Right click on the shortcut, select "Properties," then in at the end of the "Target" field add a space and put "-smp" (without the quotation marks).

-Left click on the shortcut and run it. A black text box will now popup. Enter the answers to the prompted questions exactly as it is listed below:

-User name [Anonymous]? (Enter the foldign name you used for your passkey)

-Team Number [0]? 200713

-Passkey []? (Enter your passkey number that Stanford emailed to you)

-Ask before fetching/sending work [no]? no

-Use proxy [no]? no

-Acceptable size of work assignment and work result packets -- 'small' is <5MB, 'normal' is <10MB, and 'big' is >10MB [normal]? big

-Change advanced options [no]? yes

-Core Priority [idle]? idle

-CPU usage requested <5-100> [100]? 100

-Disable highly optimized assembly code [no]? no

-Pause if battery power is being used [no]? no

-Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints <3-30> [15]? 3

-Memory, in MB, to indicate [xxxx]? (hit enter)

-Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced scientific cores and/or work units if available [no]? Yes

-Ignore any deadline information [no]? no

-Machine ID <1-16> [1]? 1

-Launch automatically, install as a service in this directory [no]? no

-Disable CPU affinity lock [no]? no

-Additional client parameters []? (hit enter)

-IP address to bind core to []? (hit enter)


3) Now run the shortcut. A black tex box will popup (do not exit out of this text box because doing so will stop the CPU from folding). Congratulations, you are now folding SMP WUs. Remember, you must complete 10 SMP WUs in order to get bonus points. Once you have completed 10 SMP WUs you can switch to bigadv WUs and really rake in the points.


*******See below for different monitoring programs that will help you keep track of how many WUs you have folded, points calculations, time to completion of WUs, etc.*******


[u]Installing Bigadv[/u]:

If you are reading this then I assume that you have already folded at least 10 SMP WUs using your passkey from Stanford. If you haven't then see above for how to obtain a passkey and install the SMP client.


1) Navigate to your SMP client shortcut.


2) Right click on the shortcut and select "Properties"


3) In the "Target" field erase "-smp" and replace with "-configonly" (without the quotations)


4) A black text box will appear and you must enter the information exactly as it appears below:


-User name [Anonymous]? (Enter the foldign name you used for your passkey)

-Team Number [0]? 200713

-Passkey []? (Enter your passkey number that Stanford emailed to you)

-Ask before fetching/sending work [no]? no

-Use proxy [no]? no

-Acceptable size of work assignment and work result packets -- 'small' is <5MB, 'normal' is <10MB, and 'big' is >10MB [normal]? big

-Change advanced options [no]? yes

-Core Priority [idle]? idle

-CPU usage requested <5-100> [100]? 100

-Disable highly optimized assembly code [no]? no

-Pause if battery power is being used [no]? no

-Interval, in minutes, between checkpoints <3-30> [15]? 3

-Memory, in MB, to indicate [xxxx]? (hit enter)

-Set -advmethods flag always, requesting new advanced scientific cores and/or work units if available [no]? No

-Ignore any deadline information [no]? no

-Machine ID <1-16> [1]? 1

-Launch automatically, install as a service in this directory [no]? no

-Disable CPU affinity lock [no]? no

-Additional client parameters []? (hit enter)

-IP address to bind core to []? (hit enter)


5) Navigate to the shortcut, right click and select "Properties," Then in the "Target" field replace "-configonly" with "-smp -bigadv" (without the quotation marks)


6) Now run the client from the shortcut and you should download -bigadv WUs.


[u]Monitoring Programs[/u]:

-My favorite monitoring program is HFM. With that being said there are several different program you can use to monitor your foldign clients' progress (e.g. HFM, Fahmon, etc.). With that said, this guide will only instruct you how to install HFM.


1) Download HFM at this direct link (http://hfm-net.googlecode.com/files/HFM%20Release%200.6.1.251.msi)

2) Install HFM

3) Run HFM and navigate to Clients, then to Add Clients

-Instance Name= (the name you want to title your CPU client)

-CPU Frequency= (your cpu's speed in mhz)

-Log folder= (the location which you installed folding into)

4) Save the client monitoring file by navigating to "File" then "Save Configuration".

6) Navigate to "Edit" then "Preferences" then "Options" and check the box marked "Calculate Bonus Credit and PPD"

5) Navigate to "Edit" then "Prefernces" then "Startup Tab"

-Check the "Load Configuration File" box

-In the "Filename" box, enter the address for the client monitoring file you saved in step #4

-Hit OK


Congratulations you have now setup HFM!

really useful, thanks dude