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Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:38 pm
by Yesorno
Hi guys,


I'm trying to add my computer that is 1000+ miles away to my laptop's FAHControl panel.

The computer in question is my mini home (web) server running Ubuntu 18.04 with Folding@Home installed. I have TeamViewer installed on it and I can remote into it to change settings, if necessary. Obviously it's on a different network from my laptop, which I'm using right now.


Here's what I've tried:

1) Remoting into the computer using TeamViewer and port forwarding TCP 36330 on my router there.

2) Allowing TCP 36330 through UFW (Ubuntu's firewall)

3) Setting a password under "Configure" > "Remote Access" tab

On my laptop here, I'm opening FAHControl Advanced Control and clicking the "Add" at the bottom, typing in my IP address and password, then clicking "Save", but it just gets stuck on "Connecting". I've also tried using my domain name (which points to that same IP), and it doesn't work, either.

Any ideas?



Also, another question...

The server has a quad-core Xeon as well as a GPU. Is it normal for the folding slot for the CPU to say "CPU:3"?

I tried modifying the slot manually to make it "CPU:4" and there seems to be no performance difference. Even when it's on "CPU:3", I still have 100% CPU usage on all 4 cores.

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:46 pm
by ipkh
There's a few potential snags.
1. The ISP could be blocking inbound traffic.
2. Are you forwarding the port to the same port number? Sometimes routers can be setup to accept on 1 port and forward to another port, make sure it passes to the right port.

The 3 indicates how many threads are assigned to the slot.

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 6:50 pm
by Yesorno
ipkh wrote:There's a few potential snags.
1. The ISP could be blocking inbound traffic.
2. Are you forwarding the port to the same port number? Sometimes routers can be setup to accept on 1 port and forward to another port, make sure it passes to the right port.

The 3 indicates how many threads are assigned to the slot.
1) I don't think they're blocking anything. After all, I'm running an Apache web server off this computer and nothing's blocked on that.

2) It should be forwarded correctly. I remoted back in and went to an online port checker and it said port 36330 is open on my IP.


As for the threads, it's a 4 core 4 thread CPU, so does that mean that's the maximum I can use?

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:22 pm
by Rel25917
You need to leave a core free to run the gpu so 3 is the highest you should go.

Make sure fah has been restarted. The settings for network access won't take effect without a restart.

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2020 11:46 pm
by PantherX
In addition to that, CPU folding is rather sensitive to interruptions. If you use all 4 CPUs, then it means that the OS and other processes on your system will be interrupting folding. That causes a significant reduction in points. Reason is that 4 threads are folding and they need to be working on data simultaneously. If 3 threads finish work at X but thread 4 finishes at Y, 3 threads will also wait until Y before starting the next step. Thus, if the system isn't dedicated to folding, it would be nice to figure out what the baseline CPU usage is and then see what's the optimal configuration for F@H.

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 1:26 am
by Yesorno
Rel25917 wrote:Make sure fah has been restarted. The settings for network access won't take effect without a restart.
PantherX wrote:In addition to that, CPU folding is rather sensitive to interruptions. If you use all 4 CPUs, then it means that the OS and other processes on your system will be interrupting folding. That causes a significant reduction in points. Reason is that 4 threads are folding and they need to be working on data simultaneously. If 3 threads finish work at X but thread 4 finishes at Y, 3 threads will also wait until Y before starting the next step. Thus, if the system isn't dedicated to folding, it would be nice to figure out what the baseline CPU usage is and then see what's the optimal configuration for F@H.

Wow... okay.... restarting the server solved the issue. Thanks guys. Also, thanks for the explanation on the CPU thing. I guess I'll leave it at "-1" and let F@h decide. :e)

But I do have one more question...

What I am now trying to do is access the web control remotely. Ideally, I want to be able to go to mydomain.com:7396 and see the project I'm working on from anywhere. (7396 is the port used by web control)

I repeated the same steps as I said in my first post. I remoted back into my server and port forwarded 7396, just like I did with 36330. Then I allowed it through UFW.

However, when I go to mydomain.com:7396, I get an HTTP Error 403 (unauthorized to view page).

In the F@h logs, I see this:
01:22:59:WARNING:Denied 2:(my current IP address) access to URI: /


Any ideas? Is this even possible to do?

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 7:08 pm
by Joe_H
It is doable, I have seen directions on how to do that posted here. Don't remember details, but dome other item(s) needed configuring to enable the web service to connect from other than the local machine.

Re: Unable to add another computer to client

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2020 1:26 am
by Yesorno
Joe_H wrote:It is doable, I have seen directions on how to do that posted here. Don't remember details, but dome other item(s) needed configuring to enable the web service to connect from other than the local machine.
All I could find was a post by you from just a few days ago: viewtopic.php?p=320783#p320783

I guess if it's too hard, never mind, then.

Although I'm curious if there's anything I can add to my website to show that my computers are folding/what they're working on. Something similar to your signature, but live/real time.