Folding@home Client Control

Advanced Control, also known as FAHControl, is the new Graphical User Interface for experienced donors. It is used to control the FAHClient which manages the folding slots. For convenience, folding slot is shortened to slot. Moreover, FAHControl is now capable of running on Windows, Linux and OSX. Thus it provides similar interface and options across all supported operating systems. As the name implies, it is meant for those donors who are familiar with F@H and would like to fine tune their folding contribution.

Main Screen

Shown below is the main screen of FAHControl.

The following buttons are present:
Configure -> Allows you to change settings for the selected FAHClient.
Preferences -> Read the Preferences section.
Exit -> Closes the FAHControl window but will not exit FAHClient. Thus, folding will continue.
About -> Read the About section.

At the bottom of the screen, the following is present:

• Total Estimated Points Per Day -> If you have multiple FAHClients being monitored from the same FAHControl, this will display the sum of Points per Day of all of those FAHClients.
• UTC -> This displays the current time in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)/Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Clients Panel

Regardless of what tab is chosen in the main screen, this panel on the left hand side will always be present. It contains:

• Name -> The FAHClient's name.
• Status -> Can be any of the following:
  • Online -> FAHControl has successfully connected to FAHClient.
  • Updating -> FAHControl is updating based on the information that it is receiving from FAHClient.
  • Connecting -> FAHControl is trying to connect to FAHClient.
• Address -> The IP Address or hostname of FAHClient followed by the port number.

You can add FAHClient(s) by clicking the Add button which will display this:

The Client Connection panel contains:

• Name -> This isn't the F@H Username, rather it the name of the FAHClient.
• Address -> An IP address or hostname and port number of FAHClient.
• Password -> It prevents unauthorized access to FAHClient if configured.

Status Tab

There are multiple panels present, each one will be described below. The following buttons are present:
Fold -> All slots will start folding.
Pause -> All slots will be paused.
Finish -> All slots will finish the current Work Unit (WU) and enter paused state.
Viewer -> Please read the FAHViewer article.

Folding Power Panel

The slider has three settings and each one is described below:
Light -> Number of CPUs used for folding will be half of the total CPUs present in the system. GPU will not be folding even if it is supported. It is the default for laptops.
Medium -> Number of CPUs used for folding will be one less than the total CPUs present in the system (Please read Note 1). If supported GPUs are present, they will be configured to fold when the system is in idle state (Please read Note 2). It is the default for desktops.
Full -> Will use all CPUs present in the system for folding (Please read Note 1). GPU folding will start even if the system is in use.

Note 1: By default, if a GPU Slot is configured, one CPU is reserved per supported GPU. Thus, if you have 8 CPUs and 2 GPUs, your CPU Slot will use either 5 or 6 CPUs depending on the slider setting. This can be overridden by tweaking the settings in the CPU Slot.

Note 2: In Windows, if there’s no user input on the mouse or keyboard for a defined time period (varies on the system configuration), the FAH screensaver can activate, the power management settings can turn off the monitor, or Windows can decide that it’s in away mode, whichever comes first will be used as an idle trigger. In Mac OS X, the system is idle if there’s no user activity for around five minutes. In Linux, the screensaver and a lack of user input are used to determine idleness.

Identity Panel

It contains:

• Name -> The configured F@H Username. Clicking it will open the configured website.
• Team -> The configured F@H Team. Clicking it will open the configured website.

Points Per Day Panel

The Points Per Day (PPD) will be displayed. If you have multiple slots, it is the sum of PPD from each of those slots.

Folding Slots Panel

It contains:

• ID -> Slot number. It starts with 00
• Status -> Indicates the slot's status which can be:
  • Running -> The slot is folding the WU.
  • Paused -> The slot isn't folding a WU because it is either paused by the donor or is waiting for idle state (Please read Note 2).
  • Finishing -> The slot will finish the WU and enter Paused status.
  • Ready -> The slot is either uploading or download a WU and is ready to fold a WU.
  • Stopping -> The FahCore has been sent a termination signal and will exit within few seconds.
  • Failed -> The slot has encountered a serious error and has stopped folding. Troubleshooting is required by the Donor.
• Description -> The type of slot configured. It can be:
  • CPU:X -> The slot will use the configured number of CPUs, represented by X, to process the WU.
  • GPU:Y-> The slot will use the GPU, represented by Y, to process the WU.

Right click any slot and a menu will appear:

The following options are available:
Fold -> The selected slot will start folding.
Pause -> The selected slot will be paused.
Finish -> The selected slot will finish the current WU and enter pause state.
On Idle -> The selected slot will will only fold when the system is idle (Please read Note 2).
Viewer -> Read the FAHViewer article.

Note 2: In Windows, if there’s no user input on the mouse or keyboard for a defined time period (varies on the system configuration), the FAH screensaver can activate, the power management settings can turn off the monitor, or Windows can decide that it’s in away mode, whichever comes first will be used as an idle trigger. In Mac OS X, the system is idle if there’s no user activity for around five minutes. In Linux, the screensaver and a lack of user input are used to determine idleness.

Work Queue Panel

It contains:

• ID -> This indicates the queue position of the WU that is folding.
• Status -> Indicates the status of the WU which can be:
  • Running -> The WU is folding.
  • Ready -> The WU is ready to fold.
  • Send -> The processed WU is being uploaded to the Server.
  • Download -> A new WU is being assigned by the Server.
  • Update_Core -> The WU needs the FahCore and will automatically attempt to download the required version.
• Progress -> A progress bar indicating how far the WU has been folded, displayed to the nearest 0.01%.
• ETA -> Estimated Time for the WU to finish.
• Credit -> Indicates how much points the successfully completed WU is worth (Please read Note 3).
• PRCG -> The Project Run Clone Generation of that WU.

Note 3: For this feature to work, the Work Server should have the latest Server Code. If it doesn't, the value "unknown" will be displayed. This can be safely ignored as eventually, all Work Server Codes will be upgraded to fully support this feature.

Selected Work Unit Panel

Once you select a WU from the Work Queue, you get:

• PRCG -> The WU's Project W Run X Clone Y Gen Z
• Folding Slot ID -> The Slot ID in Folding slots.
• Work Queue ID -> The WU ID for that slot.
• Status -> The status of the WU which can be:
  • Running -> The WU is folding.
  • Ready -> The WU is ready to fold.
  • Done -> The WU has finished folding.
  • Send -> The processed WU is being uploaded.
  • Download -> The WU is being downloaded.
  • Update_Core -> The WU needs the FahCore and will automatically attempt to download the required version.
• Progress -> A progress bar indicating how far the WU has been folded, displayed to the nearest 0.01%.
• ETA -> Estimated Time of when the WU will finish.
• Base Credit -> Depending on the WU type, it has two distinct meanings:
  • Bonus WUs -> It is the base points and will increase rapidly the faster the processed WU is returned (Please read Note 4).
  • Non Bonus WUs -> Donor will get these points as long as the processed WU is returned before the Expiration Date.
• Estimated Credit -> Calculates how much credit the WU is worth (Please read Note 3).
• Estimated PPD -> Calculates how much points will be make in a day by assuming that the slot is running 24/7 with WUs from the same Project (Please read Note 3).
• Estimated TPF -> Calculates how long it takes to finish 1% of the WU.
• Project -> The Project number to which the WU belongs to. Clicking it will open a website of the Project's description page. Visiting this website very frequently may get your IP address banned.
• FahCore -> The FahCore which is required to fold the assigned WU.
• Waiting On -> If the WU is waiting for any operation which can be:
  • Send results -> It is waiting for the processed WU to be uploaded.
  • FahCore run -> Waiting for the FahCore to start processing the WU.
  • WS Assignment -> Waiting for the slot to be assigned to an appropriate Work Server so it can receive the WU.
• Attempts -> How many attempts have been made to the above mentioned operation. A 0 value means that the WU isn't waiting for any operation to finish.
• Next Attempt -> When will the next attempt occur of the aforementioned operation. It will display "unknown" if the number of attempts is 0.
• Assigned -> Date the WU was assigned to the system.
• Timeout -> Date when the WU will be reissued and bonus points will not be assigned to bonus WUs. (Please read Note 3)
• Expiration -> Date when the WU will be discarded from the system and no points will be awarded.
• Work Server -> IP Address of the Server where the WU was downloaded from and will try to upload the processed WU. Clicking it will open a website of the Server's log. Be careful since it may load a lot of text.
• Collection Server -> If it is present, then the processed WU will be uploaded to it if the Work Server is unavailable. If it is unassigned, it will display 0.0.0.0. Clicking it will open a website of the Server's log. Be careful since it may load a lot of text.

Note 3: For this feature to work, the Work Server should have the latest Server Code. If it doesn't, the value "unknown" will be displayed. This can be safely ignored as eventually, all Work Server Codes will be upgraded to fully support this feature.

Note 4: Not every WU assigned is a Bonus WU. Currently, Bonus WUs are only available on certain Projects. In order to take advantage of the Bonus WUs, the donor must qualify for it ( Details). Projects supporting the Bonus points can be identified by a non-zero value in the Kfactor Column (it is the last one on the extreme right) in  Project Summary.

System Info Tab

This tab shows information about the FAHClient and the system that it is running on.

A brief overview is:

• Folding@home Client -> Information about the developer and location of FAHClients' configuration files.
• Build -> Information regarding the version of FAHControl being used.
• System -> Information about the system that FAHControl is running on.

Log Tab

This tab is where the donor can view the log since FAHClient has started.

The Filters panel contains:

• Slot -> Shows all messages related to that Slot ID.
• Unit -> Shows all messages related to that Unit ID.
• Warnings & Errors -> Shows only warnings and errors that are in the present log file.

Additional options are:

• Refresh -> Reloads the entire log file into the log tab. This will take time if the log file is large.
• Clear -> Wipes the log tab clear and will display data from the current time onwards. Data is still present in the log file and is not deleted.
• Copy -> Copies only the log section that is loaded in the log tab.
• Follow -> Shows the latest section of the log file.

Right click in the log tab and a menu will appear:

The following options will be available only:
Copy -> Copies the selected text to the clipboard.
Select All -> Highlights all the text in the log tab.

Configure

This section covers the available tabs under Configure.

Connection Tab

It displays connectivity information about FAHClient.

It contains:

• Name -> This isn't the F@H Username, rather it the name of the FAHClient.
• Address -> An IP address or hostname and Port Number of the FAHClient. It can be left at default values and in some cases, can't be changed.
• Password -> It prevents unauthorized access to FAHClient if configured.

Identity Tab

This tab allows the donor to change the details that they use for their contribution to the F@H project.

This tab contains:

• Name -> Your F@H Username. The default setting is Anonymous.
  
• Team number -> The F@H Team that is configured. The default setting is 0.
  
• Passkey -> It can be considered as a password attached to the F@H Username. A passkey is required only to obtain bonus points on certain F@H Projects. It is optional and is recommended to use due to security reasons. For details, please read the passkey article.

Slots Tab

Each slot uses the CPU or GPU, depending on how it is configured. A list of running slots will be shown in this window.

Do note that additional slots can be configured if the system supports them by clicking Add which brings up:

There are only two kinds of slots:

• CPU -> Uses a minimum of 1 CPU. It could use a noticeable amount of system resources, depending on how many CPUs are allocated to it. Monitoring the slot might be needed.
• GPU -> Uses the supported GPU and will use a noticeable amount of system resources. Monitoring the slot might be needed.

Extra slot options should only be added if needed by the donor. It can be done by clicking Add:

Incorrect settings may render that slot as unstable or cause unexpected results.

Below are the commonly used options:

Name	Value	Description
client-type	advanced	Assigns WUs in late-stage beta if available
client-type	bigadv	Assigns bigadv WUs on capable systems if available
next-unit-percentage	X	X should be between 90 and 100. It tells when the next WU should be downloaded after the current WU reaches X percentage

Below are some values that are not commonly changed from the default settings:

Name	Value	Description
max-units	X	X can be any number; 0 is unlimited. It tells when to pause the slot after X WUs are completed
checkpoint	X	X is a value between 3 and 30. It will request the core create a checkpoint after X minutes. Not all core support this option.
core-priority	idle	Sets the priority of FahCore to idle
core-priority	low	Set the priority of FahCore to low
pause-on-start	true	FAHClient starts the slot in the pause state
pause-on-start	false	FAHClient will start the slot normally
max-packet-size	small	Configures the slot to get small WUs (~5MB)
max-packet-size	normal	Configures the slot to get normal WUs (~10MB)
max-packet-size	big	Configures the slot to get big WUs (~500MB)

Below is the table containing some common default values. For a complete list of available options, please read this  post.

Name	Default Value
client-type	normal
max-packet-size	normal
core-priority	idle
next-unit-percentage	99
max-units	0
checkpoint	15
pause-on-start	false

Remote Access

This can be used to configure the FAHControl for remote access.

This tab contains:

• Password -> Allows you to configure a password for remote monitoring.
• Port -> Allows you to configure what port to use for remote monitoring.
• IP Address Restriction -> Allows you to restrict monitoring to limited IP Addresses.
• Passwordless IP Address Restriction -> Allows remote monitoring without password for those IP Addresses.

Proxy

This tabs allows the FAHControl to connect through a proxy if needed.

This tab contains:

• Proxy -> The details of connecting to a proxy server.
• Proxy Authentication -> Additional details required to connect to a proxy server.

Advanced

This tab reveals some additional settings meant for donors that have experience with how slots work.

This tab contains:

• Cause Preference -> Allows you to select what type of WUs you prefer to fold. This feature is dependent on Work Server so may not be applicable to every donor.
• Folding Core Priority -> The priority of FahCore to be used.
• Checkpoint frequency -> How often the FahCore will write checkpoints. Not all FahCores use this setting.
• Power -> Allows to enable/disable folding while on battery or Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS).
• Verbosity -> How much information is logged. Any value above 3 makes it hard to troubleshoot so don't increase it until you have a specific reason to do so.

Changing any settings without knowing what it does may have an undesired effect on all the slots.

Expert

Changes should only be done here if fully understood by an experienced donor. Please exercise extreme caution when changing any setting.

The left hand side is for additional settings for the slots and will be global, i.e. it effects all slots on the FAHClient. The right hand side is for additional settings for the FahCore. However, the global setting can be overridden by configuring a slot specific setting.

Clicking the Add button under Extra client options will display this window:

Clicking the Add button under Extra core options will display this window:

Preferences

The following options are available to tweak FahControl.

For details under Visualization panel, please read this FAHViewer section.

The Stats Link panel contains:

• Donor Stats -> It is the link to the webpage which opens when the F@H Username is clicked from FAHControl. Drop down menu contains:
  • Folding@home -> The Official (Standford's) statistics which is the default.
  • Custom -> The link that the donor configures.
• Team Stats -> It is the link to the webpage which opens when the F@H Team number is clicked from FAHControl.
  • Folding@home -> The Official (Standford's) statistics which is the default.
  • Extreme Overclocking -> A popular 3rd party Stats ( Homepage).
  • Kakao Stats -> A popular 3rd party Stats ( Homepage).
  • [H]ard Folding -> A popular 3rd party Stats ( Homepage).
  • Custom -> The link that the donor configures.

The User Interface panel contains:

• Theme -> Read the Themes section.

About

This window displays information about current version of V7 and additional details.

Data Files

Please note that the files and folders present will vary according to the Operating System, installation options, etc. The default data paths are:

• Windows -> They are:
  • Data path - %AppData%\FAHClient
  • Program path- C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient
• Linux -> They are:
  • FahControl database - /home/anonymous/.FAHClient
  • Data files - /var/lib/fahclient
  • FAHClient configuration - /etc/fahclient
• OSX -> They are:
  • Data path - /Library/Application Support/FAHClient

Brief descriptions of the files and folders located here are (will vary according to Operating System):

• configs -> Contains previous configurations of FAHClient. With default settings, it will store a maximum of 16 previous configurations. (Please read Note 5)
• cores -> Where FahCores will be saved once it is downloaded from the Server.
• logs -> Contains previous logs. Under default settings, it will store a maximum of 16 previous logs. (Please read Note 5)
• themes -> Folder which contains various F@H Themes.
• work -> Contains the downloaded WU.
• config.xml -> Contains the latest configuration of the FAHClient.
• FAHControl.db -> Contains the settings of the FAHControl window.
• log.txt -> It is the current log. A new log will be created whenever FAHControl is restarted.
• sample-config.xml -> Contains all default values and gives a brief outline of the file structure.

Note 5: The files names will be amended with the date and time in GMT/UTC when it was moved in that folder. Here are two examples:
config-20110115-173133.xml
log-20110123-205858.txt
The "log" and "config" part is self explanatory.

The first string of numbers, "20110123" mean:

• 2011 -> The first 4 digits are for the year
• 10 -> These 2 digits are for the month
• 15 -> The last 2 digits are for the date.

The second string of numbers "205858" mean:

• 20 -> The first pair digits is the hour in 24 hours format.
• 58 -> The middle pair of digits is the minutes.
• 58 -> The last pair of digits is the seconds.

Notification Area

FAHClient icon is present in the notification area. Right-clicking it will open up a menu:

Available options are:
Web Control -> It will open Web Control in the default browser.
Advanced Control -> It will open up Advanced Control/FAHControl.
Protein Viewer -> Read the FAHViewer article.
Full -> Read the Folding Power Panel section.
Medium -> Read the Folding Power Panel section.
Light -> Read the Folding Power Panel section.
On Idle -> Read the Folding Power Panel section.
Pause ->All slots will be paused.
About -> Read the About section.
Quit -> Exits all slots and closes FAHClient.

When the cursor hovers over the notification area icon, a pop-up appears:

The pop-up shows if the slots are folding or not.

Themes

Application of themes are instantaneous and doesn't require restarting of FAHControl. Below are the list of themes which can be chosen by the donor. Click on the theme name to preview it:

Windows	Linux
Aero	Ambiance
Aero-Ion	Clearlooks
Calla	Crux
Candido-Calm	HighContrast
Cillop	HighContrastInverse
Clearlooks-DarkLime	Industrial
Clearlooks-Vista	LowContrast
Darkilouche	Mist
Darklooks	Radiance
Enchanter	Raleigh
Evil-Mac	Redmond
Foresight	ThinIce
Khali
Murrina-Brown
Outcrop
Phasex-Dark
Smooth-Mech
Spreen
Unity
Water-Vapor
Wii-Black
Win7-Basic

Links

Below are links to some useful pages that can be referred for further information:

• ( Feedback Thread) -> You can give your feedback here.