How to run SMP client as a Service Successfully: No Headaches, No Problem

[mike8913]

First and foremost: this works great. If you're a vista user I can't make any guarantees though as I am running on xp.

First step, launch windows update and download/install .NET framework 2.0 if you have not done so already. NOTE: 3.0 is available and you could install that as well but for SMP it does not supersede 2.0 and you need to install 2.0 anyway.

After you've done that go to your user accounts and select "set up my account to use a .NET passport" (this step may or may not be necessary but I figure better safe than sorry.)

Now all thats done; let's go get the SMP Client. Head over to the Download Page and download SMP client 5.91. Now your should run the self extractor and unpack the files into your chosen directory.


Go to the install directory and run the "install.bat" file. Windows fire wall or any given firewall will most likely bring up a allowance message which allows you to unblock the SMP connection. Choose Unblock.


When opened, you will be prompted to enter your user name and password for the account on which you're running the client(i.e. Administrator Password: default). If you've entered the information correctly you will see 2 lines for a confirmation message.

Next, we must run fah.exe in a configonly text like so:


Enter your user name and team number. Make sure to say yes to the service question and to accept large work units and hit enter to the their default questions. You only need to open advanced options if you wish to run at less than 100% cpu usage.


Once completed open up your services control panel by running this command:


Once opened find the Service FAH@f:+fah.exe


Now, double click on that service and select the Logon tab at the top of the new window. Enter in the user name and password for the account you're on after you've selected the bubble which says "this account". It should look like this (aside from the user name).


And finally you can apply those settings and exit out of the Services control panel.

Now, we need to open the registry editor by doing the following.


Now expand the menu to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\F AH@f:+fah.exe


Double click on the string that says "Image Path" and then enter in the following flags after -svcstart: -advmethods -forceasm -verbosity 9


And there you have it!!!

Now reboot the computer and happy crunching

NOTE:if for any reason your computer reboots while the SMP service is running (i.e. crash, automatic restart ...) you may find it necessary to manually start the service on boot in the "services.msc" menu

NOTE: if running a dual core INTEL CPU, be sure to use the SMP Affinity changer which can be found here. Do not install for AMD as it simply slows down the production.

NOTE: on a quad: make sure to install 2 separate directories of the SMP client (download 2 separate installs) and be SURE to run the Affinity changer which is found here.


FOR VISTA DO THE FOLLOWING:Found Here

[Ugly n Grey]

Does this actually work? I mean the SMP client uses MPI and the above only starts one thread does it not? I sure hope I'm wrong as this would be super. Who;s using this method?

[mike8913]

I found it directly from the F@H FAQ at first and then found more users running it successfully on their forums. When I bring up task manager I am seeing both cores being utilized. Apparently the MPI issues have pretty much been worked out.

[Ugly n Grey]

very cool, I have work units going back today so will try it out after they complete, thanks for the post

[mike8913]

yea no problem. And just about 5 minutes ago I had a system crash because my voltage wasn't up enough. I rebooted, back into windows and the service started almost instantaneously and right where it left off. This is perfect in my opinion.

[Sparky]

Oh SWEETNESS they have SMP service mode functional now!

Last time I tried to do it all it did was crap out on me and do nothing.

[sc00p]

Excellent post Mike! This could mean a lot of borging SMP-clients suddenly coming up (not me doing that of course not)

Clear guide btw.

[mike8913]

I also found this SMP Affinity Changer. Apparently, every 10 minutes this service checks to see how the SMP WU's are distributed among your cores. It loads 2 processes per core on a dual and per core on a quad. They claim a 10% increase in speed. I'll let you know if this is successful, it sounds like it may even add a bit of stability.

[mike8913]

I've been doing a lot of forum rummaging today and I've come across numerous occasions where I'm seeing people with quad cores running 2 instances of SMP.....is that common? UnG; do you run 2 instances?

[Ugly n Grey]

No, I have one running, though I've read the argument for multiples. I like scoring high but I also like making sure the results conform to the expected science at Stanford so I tend to "tow the company line". My folding takes place on an old dual socket 940 with 2 dual core CPU's with local memory access for each proc so it puts up pretty reasonable numbers (1840 ppd average when it's running). Considering the age of it, that's not bad for an old stock box.

[[XC] 4X4N]

I will have to try this later after a finished wu. Do you think it will work with an already installed client? I think I will just run the configonly flag and try to set it up.

As for running 2 smp clients, I don't understand why you would want to do that. Running one client maxes all four cores. I have been running the smp client with the quad in my sig for months. I average about 3200 a day.

[Sparky]

8 core boxes for if you want more than one SMP client IMO

Hmm I'm so tempted to try this service mode thing but then I'm afraid to mess with it since it is working so beautifully

[wickedld9]

I will have to try this later after a finished wu. Do you think it will work with an already installed client? I think I will just run the configonly flag and try to set it up.

As for running 2 smp clients, I don't understand why you would want to do that. Running one client maxes all four cores. I have been running the smp client with the quad in my sig for months. I average about 3200 a day.

Even though task manager says it's at 100% doesn't make it so.

I ran two clients on a quad for a few weeks and the points were nice, but if one client closes the second crashes and corrupts the work unit. Since it uses a lot of memory and every bit of all 4 cores it's tough to get things done on a machine that you actually use, and especially if you want to game on it, so you have to close the clients down....there are ways around keeping the unit from corrupting but it's a hassle. If it was a dedicated folder maybe you could make the argument, but you'd be better off running a Linux installtion anyway.
It did add a nice point boost but not worth it IMO. It scores almost the same as running two Linux SMP's in VM ware.

[mike8913]

This might be worth stickying. I've been running since 10am today and just shut down my computer because I have to go back to school tomorrow. I had no stability issues so I think this might be a viable advertisement on how folders can generate more WU's. Just a suggestion.

[Sparky]

Yeah I have no stability issues either, I haven't had an EUE for a long time now. Just school was screwing with the internet here (renewing all our IPs every 4 hours wth!) which we know trips up the SMP client for some strange reason. Well I fixed that, I set my IP, subnet, gateway, and DNS servers all manually to what the DHCP had given me and guess what, no more IP address refreshes and no more tripped up SMP client So I suppose this might make more sense to try now.

[Daemonfly]

FOR VISTA

I just tried this guide, and it didn't work for vista, due to one main problem - you need to run install.bat as an administrator. Not so fast though, right-clicking and selecting "run as administrator" doesn't work. :P

Instead of the OP's install.bat procedure, do the following.

Run install.bat

The install.bat file installs the SMPD service, and registers MPICH2 with your user name and password, as needed by the SMP client.

* Click the Start button. Click All Programs, then click Accessories, then right-click the Command Prompt. Select Run As Administrator.

* If asked, click Continue or Run at any additional UAC or FireWall prompts, etc.

* In the Command Prompt, type C:\Users\%username%\FAH\install.bat and press Enter (where %username% is your user folder you created earlier).

* When prompted for a user account name, do not type anything, just press Enter.

* When prompted for the password, type in the password and press Enter. Do not be concerned, no characters or asterisks are displayed as you type in the password. Type in the password again to confirm, and press Enter.

* You should see prompts like this:

C:\Windows\system32>C:\Users\%username%\FAH\instal l.bat
MPICH2 Process Manager, Argonne National Lab installed.
account (domain\user) [(yourhostname)\(yourusername)]:
password:
confirm password:
Password encrypted into the Registry.
If you see this twice, MPI is working
If you see this twice, MPI is working
Press any key to continue . . .

* Close the Command Prompt window.

* If you do not see this line twice If you see this twice, MPI is working, do not start the client. MPI is not successfully installed, and the client will not run successfully. Please review the steps above. If all steps were followed correctly, please post on the Folding Forum for assistance.

Quoted from http://fahwiki.net/index.php/How_do_...ndows_Vista%3F

[mike8913]

Thanks, I added it at the end of the guide.

[Ugly n Grey]

I did this and it worked fine with one exception...

When using regedit, the appropriate key is only under Controlset001 IF you are logged in as administrator. If You install FAH under another account, it still works fine, but the appropraite key will be under ControlSet002 or 003 etc.....

As a general point I only log into my computer with a user level privilege account unless I'm installing something like updates or whatever that requires those privileges, thus I found this little bump.

The format is great, it's just how we used to do it two years ago (see my old guide) lol..

Works Perfect
UnG

[mike8913]

I pretty much used your old guide as a base to figure out how to do this properly. I don't think running in under a non-administrative account is a good idea anyway.

[Ugly n Grey]

It doesn't require administrative privileges to execute, I'm using a local account with no problems. Only installing .NET framework (if needed) requires admin privileges.

Stanford has put this product together to need very little security access beyond a place to execute.

Anyhow, I know most guys log in as admin , so whatever works

[twiggy]

I will have to try this later after a finished wu. Do you think it will work with an already installed client? I think I will just run the configonly flag and try to set it up.

As for running 2 smp clients, I don't understand why you would want to do that. Running one client maxes all four cores. I have been running the smp client with the quad in my sig for months. I average about 3200 a day.

From what I've seen on my quad, running 1 SMP client its does ~9min per frame and when running 2 SMP clients it does ~12min per frame on each.

[sc00p]

Funny thing though... I had (again) once one weird install...
...anything else but logging in with the name Administrator wouldn't let me go through Install.bat
Yes, well of course after successful run could switch back to normal user account.

[sc00p]

From what I've seen on my quad, running 1 SMP client its does ~9min per frame and when running 2 SMP clients it does ~12min per frame on each.

Has it been constant? And if not have you tried that neat Affinity changer? Might help on that.

[mike8913]

I'm running at 12:47 seconds per frame on average on my dual core (with affinity changer) and you're quad does about 9minutes with one client. Does that sound accurate?

[twiggy]

I'm running at 12:47 seconds per frame on average on my dual core (with affinity changer) and you're quad does about 9minutes with one client. Does that sound accurate?

I ran 1 SMP client without the affinity changer, I didn't find it till after I installed 2 clients. Maybe I'll switch back to 1 client and use the affinity changer and see if it helps. Because if it gets it down to ~6min a frame then I'd just run 1 client.