23 votes

Folding@Home is prioritizing users towards their Coronavirus projects

Posted by moocow1452
Tags: medicine, coronaviruses.covid19, folding at home, stanford, pc, technology, science.computer, computing.distributed
https://twitter.com/foldingathome/status/1238568504200253442?s=20
@foldingathome:
Do you want to help us fight #COVIDー19 ? Download our client from https://t.co/55uKn0rJem -> Install -> Set category to "ANY" #COVID19 is prioritized. GPU and CPU projects are up. Connect with us if you want to do corp collab or donate your time.

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Title
Folding@home on Twitter
Authors
foldingathome

51 comments

  1. [10]
    moocow1452
    Link
    Do we want to set up a team?

    Do we want to set up a team?

    4 votes
    1. [7]
      minimaltyp0s
      Link Parent
      I've set up Tildes as a team: 238330

      I've set up Tildes as a team: 238330

      10 votes
      1. [6]
        cfabbro
        Link Parent
        Too bad the stats page is borked at the moment. :( However that may indicate that a lot of new people have signed up for folding@home! :)

        Too bad the stats page is borked at the moment. :(
        However that may indicate that a lot of new people have signed up for folding@home! :)

        3 votes
        1. [5]
          moocow1452
          Link Parent
          That's probably why the web interface is borked too. @minimaltyp0s: Joined.

          That's probably why the web interface is borked too.

          @minimaltyp0s: Joined.

          2 votes
          1. [4]
            cfabbro
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            It looks like the assignment servers are borked now due to the increased traffic too, so some people (myself included) are struggling to get more Work Units. Supposedly they usually assign ~4k/hr,...

            It looks like the assignment servers are borked now due to the increased traffic too, so some people (myself included) are struggling to get more Work Units. Supposedly they usually assign ~4k/hr, but currently they are at >100k/hr.

            p.s. If you get stuck on "Downloading" in your Work Queue, just idle and un-idle the associated Folding Slot a few times until it connects and gets a new Work Unit.

            4 votes
            1. [2]
              Omnicrola
              Link Parent
              Hurrah, I guess? Both my wife and I installed it yesterday for the first time.

              Supposedly they usually assign ~4k/hr, but currently they are at >100k/hr.

              Hurrah, I guess? Both my wife and I installed it yesterday for the first time.

              1 vote
              1. cfabbro
                (edited )
                Link Parent
                Definitely "Hurrah" worthy! It's just unfortunately a bit of a PITA to use at the moment due to their servers being hammered, and so hopefully that doesn't discourage anyone from continuing to...

                Definitely "Hurrah" worthy! It's just unfortunately a bit of a PITA to use at the moment due to their servers being hammered, and so hopefully that doesn't discourage anyone from continuing to participate.

                1 vote
            2. moocow1452
              Link Parent
              Seems to work fine outside of Chrome, so either something changed or the web interface interferes with Chromium.

              Seems to work fine outside of Chrome, so either something changed or the web interface interferes with Chromium.

              1 vote
    2. [2]
      gpl
      Link Parent
      I think that would be pretty cool, but I’ve never used folding@home.

      I think that would be pretty cool, but I’ve never used folding@home.

      3 votes
      1. moocow1452
        Link Parent
        All you have to do is install the client and it will sort itself out, it has a new fancy web interface for customizing.

        All you have to do is install the client and it will sort itself out, it has a new fancy web interface for customizing.

        2 votes
  2. [9]
    kfwyre
    Link
    I've been running Rosetta@home. Should I switch over to this project instead?

    I've been running Rosetta@home. Should I switch over to this project instead?

    4 votes
    1. [7]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      They are very similar projects, but apparently Rosetta@home doesn't utilize GPUs, so I suppose the decision to switch over to Folding@home would largely depend on if you have a good GPU or not,...

      They are very similar projects, but apparently Rosetta@home doesn't utilize GPUs, so I suppose the decision to switch over to Folding@home would largely depend on if you have a good GPU or not, and if so whether you want to donate its use to something.

      3 votes
      1. [6]
        cfabbro
        Link Parent
        BTW @kfwyre, to put in perspective just how much more powerful GPUs are for this task, my Folding@home CPU instance (i5 8600K) can only complete ~2k credits worth of Work Units a day, whereas my...

        BTW @kfwyre, to put in perspective just how much more powerful GPUs are for this task, my Folding@home CPU instance (i5 8600K) can only complete ~2k credits worth of Work Units a day, whereas my GPU (980Ti) can complete ~136k/day. So if you have a decent GPU, it's probably worth making the switch.

        2 votes
        1. [4]
          arghdos
          Link Parent
          I was actually thinking about looking at their OpenCL implementation on AMD GPUs to see how well optimised it is -- seems like a good side project, as this is literally what I do for a living :)
          • Exemplary

          I was actually thinking about looking at their OpenCL implementation on AMD GPUs to see how well optimised it is -- seems like a good side project, as this is literally what I do for a living :)

          6 votes
          1. [3]
            cfabbro
            Link Parent
            Considering the huge uptick in processing going on right now, I'm sure even a minor improvement in efficiency could probably do a lot of collective good... so I say go for it!

            Considering the huge uptick in processing going on right now, I'm sure even a minor improvement in efficiency could probably do a lot of collective good... so I say go for it!

            3 votes
            1. [2]
              arghdos
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              Somewhat unexpectedly, F@H's code is not open-source, but uses GROMACS which... would be difficult for me work on for a variety of contractual reasons :/ I did see that they're working on a new...
              • Exemplary

              Somewhat unexpectedly, F@H's code is not open-source, but uses GROMACS which... would be difficult for me work on for a variety of contractual reasons :/

              I did see that they're working on a new version of their code as OpenMM, so I've been working on porting that to AMD GPUs using HIP, primarily so they can use our optimized FFT libraries, rather than that old monstrosity known as clFFT :)

              I've got it mostly building at this point :). Hopefully I can get AMD support into a future release.

              4 votes
              1. cfabbro
                (edited )
                Link Parent
                Oh wow... I assumed F@H would be totally open source too, so that's somewhat disappointing to find out that it's not. And I'm not entirely sure their rationale for not fully open-sourcing makes...

                Oh wow... I assumed F@H would be totally open source too, so that's somewhat disappointing to find out that it's not. And I'm not entirely sure their rationale for not fully open-sourcing makes sense either, since people potentially cheating for credits and sending bogus data can likely be done whether it's opensource or not.

                Regardless, it's awesome that you still found a way to contribute code that might eventually find its way into the project though! 🏆👍

                4 votes
        2. kfwyre
          Link Parent
          Good to know! I will switch over.

          Good to know! I will switch over.

          1 vote
    2. moocow1452
      Link Parent
      I'm not sure, Folding is the set it and forget it solution, but I don't know if Rosetta is working with their data as well/works better with my GPU/would be better for whomever's purposes.

      I'm not sure, Folding is the set it and forget it solution, but I don't know if Rosetta is working with their data as well/works better with my GPU/would be better for whomever's purposes.

      2 votes
  3. drawkcab
    Link
    From a few hours ago on twitter:

    From a few hours ago on twitter:

    AMA comming up. Join the fight vs #COVID19 #coronavirus . Also: A new partner is helping us with more work servers so you can get more work units.

    4 votes
  4. [6]
    Gyrfalcon
    Link
    Well after an adventure in seeing if I could get OpenCL going on an AMD gpu for Linux and failing that, I've got FAH set up to run on my CPU. I'm going to let it go while I am at work and see if I...

    Well after an adventure in seeing if I could get OpenCL going on an AMD gpu for Linux and failing that, I've got FAH set up to run on my CPU. I'm going to let it go while I am at work and see if I can contribute anything to the Tildes team, although it looks like there's still not enough work units to go around and my system hasn't been able to get one yet.

    3 votes
    1. [5]
      arghdos
      Link Parent
      I actually got it to run on my Radeon VII by manually including it in the /etc/fahclient/config.xml, e.g.: <config> <!-- Client Control --> <fold-anon v='true'/> <!-- Folding Slot Configuration...

      I actually got it to run on my Radeon VII by manually including it in the /etc/fahclient/config.xml, e.g.:

      <config>
  <!-- Client Control -->
  <fold-anon v='true'/>

  <!-- Folding Slot Configuration -->
  <gpu v='yes'/>

  <!-- Network -->
  <proxy v=':8080'/>

  <!-- Slot Control -->
  <power v='MEDIUM'/>

  <!-- User Information -->
  <team v='238330'/>
  <user v='arghdos'/>

  <!-- Folding Slots -->
  <slot id='0' type='CPU'/>
  <slot id='1' type='GPU'>
    <opencl-index v='0'/>
  </slot>
</config>

      It's not entirely clear whether I've successfully completed a WU with it, but... it at least seems to be asking for them.

      You'll also likely want to apt install ocl-icd-dev and rocm-opencl

      3 votes
      1. Gyrfalcon
        Link Parent
        Hmmm I'll have to try that out when I get home. Thanks!

        Hmmm I'll have to try that out when I get home. Thanks!

        2 votes
      2. [3]
        Gyrfalcon
        Link Parent
        I can get it to ask for work units as well. Unfortunately it never seems to load my GPU, and keeps spinning up the process again and getting this in return: 20:03:09:WARNING:WU01:FS01:FahCore...

        I can get it to ask for work units as well. Unfortunately it never seems to load my GPU, and keeps spinning up the process again and getting this in return:

        20:03:09:WARNING:WU01:FS01:FahCore returned: CORE_RESTART (98 = 0x62)

        I haven't been able to find anything online that looks like this issue, so I think I may just chalk it up to my GPU being a little weird already. Have tried a few times to install proper AMD drivers but they won't build against the newer kernel I've got installed, so I think that's why this won't work and some other stuff is a bit janky lol.

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          arghdos
          Link Parent
          Yeah, same experience here -- I'm pretty sure that it's because they're using clFFT in GROMACS, which ... is horribly outdated and doesn't work on modern cards (might run fine if you had one of...

          Yeah, same experience here -- I'm pretty sure that it's because they're using clFFT in GROMACS, which ... is horribly outdated and doesn't work on modern cards (might run fine if you had one of the old Hawaiian Islands or the like).

          What drivers / OS are you using? Our coverage is... fairly spotty. Ubuntu 18.04 and 16.04 should work with all ROCm versions (and probably those weird amdgpu drivers). Similar experiences with CentOS 7.7. On Debian platforms, you may be able to use the upstream kernel drivers;

          https://github.com/RadeonOpenCompute/ROCm#using-debian-based-rocm-with-upstream-kernel-drivers
          https://github.com/RadeonOpenCompute/ROCm#rocm-support-in-upstream-linux-kernels

          1. Gyrfalcon
            (edited )
            Link Parent
            I'm on Linux Mint 19.3 with MESA 19.2 before, just used a PPA to get it up to 20.1 I think, drivers are whatever comes with the 5.5 kernel? Not sure how to check what version those are... As far...

            I'm on Linux Mint 19.3 with MESA 19.2 before, just used a PPA to get it up to 20.1 I think, drivers are whatever comes with the 5.5 kernel? Not sure how to check what version those are...

            As far as I was able I configured according to the upstream directions for ROCm since that looked like what I needed. Going to try again with my newly updated packages from the PPA since it updated 90 odd things and see if that helped. I mostly did that since my GPU seemed to be falling over even when I was just letting the CPU fold and that's not terribly helpful.

            EDIT: FAHControl claims my driver is 3084.0, but also my computer took a hard crash right after I started folding so I'm not sure this is working well today.

            EDIT 2: I can still get WUs for my GPU but still no progress and no load on the GPU showing up on radeontop so I think it's not working :(. It looks like the core process is throwing out either SIGABRT or SIGINT which I don't think it's supposed to do. CPU is folding along happily!

            1 vote
  5. [17]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Yay, after 6 Work Units (mostly cancer ones so far), I finally got my first SARS-CoV-2 related one: https://apps.foldingathome.org/project?p=11759 Screenshot of the molecule:...

    Yay, after 6 Work Units (mostly cancer ones so far), I finally got my first SARS-CoV-2 related one:
    https://apps.foldingathome.org/project?p=11759

    Screenshot of the molecule:
    https://i.imgur.com/QgIhrnS.png

    2 votes
    1. [16]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      I also finally managed to get the team stats page to load (after about 100 attempts). Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/cKFTozf.png That's pretty impressive that we're ranked 13,590 / 234,162...

      I also finally managed to get the team stats page to load (after about 100 attempts). Screenshot:
      https://i.imgur.com/cKFTozf.png

      That's pretty impressive that we're ranked 13,590 / 234,162 already. And you better watch out @moocow1452, cuz I'm coming for that top spot! :P

      2 votes
      1. [15]
        drawkcab
        Link Parent
        I'm throwing my rig at the Tildes team also. Let's see what we can do. :) @cfabbro what is your estimated PPD? Did you get a F@H passkey? https://imgur.com/6lnt3GW

        I'm throwing my rig at the Tildes team also. Let's see what we can do. :) @cfabbro what is your estimated PPD? Did you get a F@H passkey?
        https://imgur.com/6lnt3GW

        2 votes
        1. [14]
          cfabbro
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          I turned off CPU processing because my CPU fan is far too noisy, so it's only ~110-130k a day strictly from my GPU. But TBH I will probably be lucky to get 40-50k/day, since I am really struggling...

          what is your estimated PPD?

          I turned off CPU processing because my CPU fan is far too noisy, so it's only ~110-130k a day strictly from my GPU. But TBH I will probably be lucky to get 40-50k/day, since I am really struggling to get new Work Units. Every time I leave it running unattended it gets through one WU then the next WU download attempt fails as does every automatic retry thereafter. The only way I have found to consistently get new WUs is to manually idle then un-idle my GPU Folding Slot until it actually manages to connect. :(

          Did you get a F@H passkey?

          I didn't know that was a thing, or that it added bonus points to the team, but I have one now. Thanks for the heads up!

          p.s. Damn nice specs on that rig of yours. I suspect you will be at the top in no time with that beast of a setup! :)

          Edit: Uhhh... now it's showing ~800k PPD. Does the passkey make that big of a difference?

          1 vote
          1. [9]
            drawkcab
            Link Parent
            Nice! Yes, the passkey makes a huge difference for point values. Obviously it changes nothing in terms of the work we are donating but it feels nicer in the stats and team efforts. :-) I just...

            Nice! Yes, the passkey makes a huge difference for point values. Obviously it changes nothing in terms of the work we are donating but it feels nicer in the stats and team efforts. :-) I just wanted to make sure the Tildes team is getting full point values for the work they are doing. This was their way of rewarding folks who could turnaround work units faster so that they can get their research done faster.

            I'm in the same boat as you now in terms of waiting for work units. My rig is sitting idle for quite some time. I know the F@H team is working on it so we'll have to just wait it out. I can't babysit my system throughout the day to pause/unpause so I'll have to let it try to manage on its own.

            2 votes
            1. cfabbro
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              Apparently the bonus points you get are based on how quickly/reliably you finish WUs, so it actually kinda does change things a bit, at least on F@H's end, since it allows them to figure out who...

              Obviously it changes nothing in terms of the work we are donating

              Apparently the bonus points you get are based on how quickly/reliably you finish WUs, so it actually kinda does change things a bit, at least on F@H's end, since it allows them to figure out who can be relied on to actually finish the work they are being sent.

              I can't babysit my system throughout the day to pause/unpause so I'll have to let it try to manage on its own.

              I can during the day, but since I am actually using my comp during the day I can't dedicate as much processing power to F@H, so was hoping to be able to leave it running over night. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be possible until they get more assignment servers up and running. Ah well, I'm sure under the circumstances every little bit helps.

              2 votes
            2. [7]
              cfabbro
              Link Parent
              Finally managed to snag another screenshot of the team stats: https://i.imgur.com/ArhDIZQ.png You're crushing it, @drawkcab. That machine of yours is insane! :P Also: Team Ranking 7456 of 235639 🥳🎉

              Finally managed to snag another screenshot of the team stats:
              https://i.imgur.com/ArhDIZQ.png

              You're crushing it, @drawkcab. That machine of yours is insane! :P

              Also: Team Ranking 7456 of 235639 🥳🎉

              2 votes
              1. drawkcab
                Link Parent
                Wow damn. I didn't think it would be generating that many PPD given the scarcity of work. I'm happy to contribute to my new team! My former team dried up years ago. I am also having trouble...

                Wow damn. I didn't think it would be generating that many PPD given the scarcity of work. I'm happy to contribute to my new team! My former team dried up years ago.

                I am also having trouble getting the team stats to show up. In the past I've tracked team and user contributions at extreme overclocking. I am guessing they are having just as much trouble collecting the stats for the same reasons. The Tildes team wasn't listed there yesterday so it may be catching up slowly.

                2 votes
              2. [5]
                arghdos
                (edited )
                Link Parent
                Some day, my insane # of work units will be rewarded :p. All credit to AMD for their employee discount which let me get a 16-core first gen Threadripper in my desktop! (also to AT&T for my 10-Gig...

                Some day, my insane # of work units will be rewarded :p. All credit to AMD for their employee discount which let me get a 16-core first gen Threadripper in my desktop! (also to AT&T for my 10-Gig connection :P)

                1 vote
                1. [3]
                  drawkcab
                  Link Parent
                  Keep making AMD great @arghdos! I'm loving my 3950X! Wow 10Gb Internet...I'm jealous, that rocks!

                  Keep making AMD great @arghdos! I'm loving my 3950X! Wow 10Gb Internet...I'm jealous, that rocks!

                  2 votes
                  1. [2]
                    arghdos
                    Link Parent
                    Austin's great like that :) Around the price I was paying for a 300 Mb connection in the Northeast!

                    Wow 10Gb Internet...I'm jealous, that rocks!

                    Austin's great like that :)
                    Around the price I was paying for a 300 Mb connection in the Northeast!

                    2 votes
                    1. drawkcab
                      Link Parent
                      I'm in the Northeast and was finally able to get 1Gb which I'm stoked about at around $115/month (for internet/cable/phone). I can't say I'd be better served by having your 10Gb but would love it...

                      I'm in the Northeast and was finally able to get 1Gb which I'm stoked about at around $115/month (for internet/cable/phone). I can't say I'd be better served by having your 10Gb but would love it if it was an option!

                      2 votes
                2. cfabbro
                  Link Parent
                  I don't think I could be any more jealous than I am right now. :P

                  I don't think I could be any more jealous than I am right now. :P

                  1 vote
          2. [4]
            arghdos
            Link Parent
            I tried getting a passkey, but never received an email. Time to check my spam folders again

            I tried getting a passkey, but never received an email. Time to check my spam folders again

            1 vote
            1. [3]
              drawkcab
              Link Parent
              I did see in the F@H twitter thread that the team is trying to get the passkeys out as quick as they can.

              I did see in the F@H twitter thread that the team is trying to get the passkeys out as quick as they can.

              2 votes
              1. [2]
                arghdos
                Link Parent
                Whoops, I assumed it was automated! Hopefully the double request doesn't peturb anyone too bad :p

                Whoops, I assumed it was automated! Hopefully the double request doesn't peturb anyone too bad :p

                1 vote
                1. drawkcab
                  Link Parent
                  It's not at all unreasonable to think this kind of thing would and should be automated. I don't know why it is a manual process. I wouldn't worry about it; you're donating your resources to help a...

                  It's not at all unreasonable to think this kind of thing would and should be automated. I don't know why it is a manual process. I wouldn't worry about it; you're donating your resources to help a cause, it's all good.

                  2 votes
  6. drawkcab
    Link
    I haven't run folding at home in a couple years but I had participated in this project since 2004. I can switch over to the Tildes team to band together with everyone. Has everyone registered a...

    I haven't run folding at home in a couple years but I had participated in this project since 2004. I can switch over to the Tildes team to band together with everyone. Has everyone registered a folding at home passkey to get the extra bonus points for the team?

    2 votes
  7. [6]
    drawkcab
    Link
    @moocow1452 is it possible for you to edit your original post to add some relevant F@H details so they are right at the top for potential new users? Folding at home: Coronavirus - What we're doing...

    @moocow1452 is it possible for you to edit your original post to add some relevant F@H details so they are right at the top for potential new users?

    Folding at home: Coronavirus - What we're doing and how you can help in simple terms
    F@H Download here.
    Tildes Team number: 238330
    Passkey registration
    Passkey information
    Team stats
    Alt team stats details

    2 votes
    1. moocow1452
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Topic is too old for edits, @cfabbro is right.

      Topic is too old for edits, @cfabbro is right.

      2 votes
    2. [4]
      cfabbro
      Link Parent
      At this point it might be best to just make a new topic with all that info in it.

      At this point it might be best to just make a new topic with all that info in it.

      1 vote
      1. [3]
        drawkcab
        Link Parent
        I can give it a try. Is the same category the most appropriate? ~health.coronavirus

        I can give it a try. Is the same category the most appropriate? ~health.coronavirus

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          cfabbro
          Link Parent
          That or ~tech, since F@H isn't just coronavirus related. Your choice.

          That or ~tech, since F@H isn't just coronavirus related. Your choice.

          1. drawkcab
            Link Parent
            Thanks! I started the new thread in tech and credited @moocow1452 here.

            Thanks! I started the new thread in tech and credited @moocow1452 here.

            1 vote
  8. SleepyGary
    Link
    For anyone having problems getting the control/viewer working on Ubuntu 16+ you need a couple extra packages since it doesn't ship with Python v2 anymore wget...

    For anyone having problems getting the control/viewer working on Ubuntu 16+ you need a couple extra packages since it doesn't ship with Python v2 anymore

    wget http://launchpadlibrarian.net/109052632/python-support_1.0.15_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i python-support_1.0.15_all.deb
sudo apt install python-gtk2
sudo apt --fix-broken install
    2 votes