• Folding@EVGA
  • AMD 4P / Quad Socket Design and Build Guide (p.2)
2012/06/15 00:59:32
bowlinra

Hardware Decisions and Discussions - Case / Mounting

Case or run Naked (w/o a case). That is the question. I still have mixed feelings on this one. I guess my visions of granduir lead me to think, I might have more than one of these setups, needing some form of a wooden homemade rack. (EDIT 7/20/2012: I did build a homemade rack guide on a separate thread here Home Rack Garage Build - Beating the Folding Heat of Summer). I also had concerns with the weight of the CPU Coolers on a vertical mounted motherboard. I'm not so concern with this anymore (see note in the Heat sink / CPU Coolers section). I also thought the heat displacement would be better horizontally placed. 
If you wanted a case the #1 issue is the size of the motherboard is just huge (16.48" x 13" (41.9cm x 33.0cm)) it NOT going to physically fit in most cases, virtually all case will have to be modified somehow. The Supermicro H8QGi motherboards have 13 screws to properly attach to the case, I would guess 6 of those screw in standoffs will have to be drilled and tapped. Even large case like the popular full case Cooler Master HAF 932 will need move fans to the outside of the case for the side, top and back. Details reference ChelseaOilman's New 4P Build 

Still Under Construction - Check Back for Updates

For addition Pics look in the Pictures section 
Musky's Mounting PC's on wood instead of cases 
Bowlinra's Home Rack Garage Build - Beating the Folding Heat of Summer
Spotswood's Tech Tray
2012/06/15 01:05:31
bowlinra

System Pictures (Everyone love hardware)

R-Type post on 2P and 4P system guide
chaandan's Muskymod
Linden's G34 4P Supermicro Pics
tuigi69's 4p systems - Cases and Case Mods 
Norcalsteve's The Thing 
harlam357's Project Quadteron 
Bobc36's Something good happened! (Scroll down for pics)
Barbarossa's 4P & 2P Systems
NerdGZ's 2P AMD
Kazenagi's My Waterlogged Folding 4Pie Goodness (WIP)
Texinga's Mint-4P photos of my finished case
Tanner2's ARG..... not another one of hese posts!!
David12857's New member of the EVGA 2P family.
 
Please send me a PM, if you have additional good pictures post to include.
2012/06/15 01:07:18
bowlinra

BIOS Settings

For OverClocking BIOS on the Supermicro boards, the reference is Tear's post Supermicro H8QGi/6 and H8QGL Next Generation OC BIOS 
 
  • The [H] OCNG BIOS settings by loading Optimal Defaults via (F9)
 
These recommendations apply only to non-OC BIOSes (e.g. stock SM or Tyan). Reference to Musky's post Multiple Processor G34 Checklist
BIOS settings to check for 61xx (MC CPUs)
- PowerNow set to Disabled
- NUMA/SRAT set to Enabled
- Node Interleaving set to Disabled
- Bank/channel interleaving set to Auto or Enabled
- C1E Set to Disable
- Tyan boards - Ungang DCTs set to Always
BIOS settings to check for 62xx/63xx (IL/AD CPUs)
- PowerNow set to Enabled 
- NUMA/SRAT set to Enabled 
- Node Interleaving set to Disabled - Bank/channel interleaving set to Auto or Enabled
- C1E Support Set to Disable
- CPB/Turbo Set to Enabled
- Tyan boards - Ungang DCTs set to Always
 
 
*Note Updated 12/8/13 to Add C1E Disabled and Changes to MC,IL, and AD
2012/06/15 01:09:37
bowlinra

Software 

- Ubuntu Installation
- Folding Configuration and Utilities
- Hardware Monitor Tools
- Useful Ubuntu Stuff

 
2012/06/15 01:17:24
bowlinra

Software  

I highly recommend the [H] Folding Appliance. If your not sure about Ubuntu or Linux, this is for you. Here is the Cliff Notes:
  1. Download Image File (788MB compressed, 5.2GB Uncompressed)
  2. From a Windows Desktop use RMPrepUSB utility to write the image to Any drive (Hard drive, SSD, and USB thumb drive)
  3. Take the drive to your rig and boot
  4. Set Timezone, and Setup fah client (via script fahinstall)
  5. Reboot (sudo reboot) and start folding
Note the fahinstall setup the /fah directory to run on a ramdisk, so once your passed the initial boot and fah start, there is very very little hit on slow disk performance. Which make running on a 8GB USB thumb drive, cheap (under $10) and very little power required. Also the ramdisk does provide another 10+% PPD over traditional method.
 
It took me ~25 mins to write the image to a 8GB USB stick and under 15 mins to shutdown (sudo poweroff), swap drives, reconfigure fahinstall and back up and folding.
 
If your running several rigs with the [H] Appliances let me know, I've got another script to make repeated setup even simpler.
 
Complete details are found on the link below.
[H] Ubuntu Folding Appliance -- alternative approach to Linux folding
Updated FAQ is here
 
2012/06/15 01:18:56
bowlinra

Folding Configuration and Utilities

- If you're using the my recommended [H] Folding Appliance it covered in steps #17 - #22
  •  In the terminal window, type: 'sudo fahinstall' (remove quotes) and press Enter.
This script will set up everything you need to run Folding@Home on a ramdisk, including various OS tweaks, disabling automatic updates, thekraken wrapper, backup/restore scripts, and samba file sharing for remote access. The client will starts to allow you to configure F@H. You only need to set your user name, team, and passkey. The appropriate run parameters (-smp, -bigadv) will be set for you in the config file based on your machine configuration. 
 
Here a list of FAH commands I've found helpful:
-------------------------------------------------------------
How to shutdown folding client
pkill fah6

To check the FAH Checkpoint files
ls -l ~/fah/work/*.ckp

To Backup fah client & Checkpoints from ram disk (Already run with poweroff & shutdown cmds)
fahbackup

Look at current FAH Log
cat ~/fah/FAHlog.txt | pastebinit

 
List of Langouste Logs
ls -lrt /dev/shm/langouste-horde

Use Langouste to block additional downloads of new WUs
service langouste3 enable-oneunit

To allow downloads of new WUs, after being blocked
service langouste3 disable-oneunit

Gives Langouste3 Operational Status
service langouste3 status

 
To update FAH Appliance Tools (while folding is fine)
sudo fahinstall

 
What to Post, if having problems
fahdiag | pastebinit
cat ~/fah/FAHlog.txt | pastebinit

 
To Delete a WU from 6.34 clients
cd ~/fah
rm machinedependent.dat
rm queue.dat
rm -r work


 
2012/06/15 01:20:03
bowlinra

Message Place Holder / Still Under Construction


Software 
- Hardware Monitor Tools 

 
2012/06/15 01:21:54
shrekdaklown
well for a standered case you can use the xigamatek elyisum http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811815013
if your running more than one server you could use a cabinet and use either a piece of would or plexiglass as a mobo base like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816133032
2012/06/15 01:22:02
bowlinra

Software - Useful Ubuntu Commands 

 
Here a list of command I've found helpful:
Hardware Commands
-------------------------------------------------------------
To shutdown
sudo poweroff

To Reboot
sudo reboot

Processor Speed:
sudo clockspeed

Memory Timings
sudo tpc -dram

Show Temperatures
sudo tpc -temp

Constant Updated Temperatures
sudo tpc -mtemp

Show voltage
sudo voltcheck

Runs HT Retries every 60 seconds
sudo ht-retries

Repeat Command every every 60secs
watch -n 60 sudo tpc -temp

Filters Logs for Errors
sudo zgrep -Ei 'mcelog|machine.check|hardware.error|detected.stall|lockup|oops:' $(ls -rt /var/log/{messages,syslog}* 2> /dev/null) |pastebinit

Hardware failures:
dmesg | tail -n 20
 
Modify Startup script
sudo nano /etc/rc.local

 
Use pastebinit:
command | pastebinit
or pastebinit (what ever you type with Ctrl-D to complete)
-------------------------------------------------------------
 

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