Folding Forum

Hello Folding at Home Support Forum,
For the last week I've not been able to connect to the F@H servers. I have (had) about a dozen computers on this project and every one I've checked is idle. Most of them are running XP, but I've got a couple of Win 7s and a few Macs in the mix. I don't even know if that matters. Other than a nvidia card that doesn't care much for folding, I've never had a problem. All the boxes are running 6.23. Here is a log file sample:

Launch directory: C:\Documents and Settings\open\Application Data\Folding@home-x86


[15:42:43] - Ask before connecting: No
[15:42:43] - User name: blacckbox (Team 1885016621)
[15:42:43] - User ID: 35A8BF70ED062EA
[15:42:43] - Machine ID: 1
[15:42:43]
[15:42:43] Loaded queue successfully.
[15:42:43] Initialization complete
[15:42:43] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[15:42:43] + Attempting to get work packet
[15:42:43] - Connecting to assignment server
[15:42:43] - Couldn't send HTTP request to server
[15:42:43] + Could not connect to Assignment Server
[15:42:43] - Couldn't send HTTP request to server
[15:42:43] + Could not connect to Assignment Server 2
[15:42:43] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[15:42:43] - Attempt #1 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[15:42:49] + Attempting to get work packet
[15:42:49] - Connecting to assignment server
[15:42:50] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[15:42:50] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[15:42:50] - Attempt #2 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[15:43:13] + Attempting to get work packet

etc.....

Here is Queue Info (copied to log):

Current Queue:
Slot 06 Fetching

Slot 07 Empty/Deleted

Slot 08 Empty/Deleted

Slot 09 Empty/Deleted

Slot 00 Empty/Deleted

Slot 01 Empty/Deleted
Project: 10425 (Run 32074, Clone 0, Gen 14), Core: a4
Work server: 171.64.65.84:8080
Collection server: 171.67.108.26
Download date: March 4 04:03:28
Finished date: March 7 17:10:08

Slot 02 Empty/Deleted
Project: 10424 (Run 49800, Clone 0, Gen 42), Core: a4
Work server: 171.64.65.79:8080
Collection server: 171.67.108.26
Download date: March 7 17:11:17
Finished date: March 11 01:11:05

Slot 03 Empty/Deleted
Project: 10424 (Run 49800, Clone 0, Gen 43), Core: a4
Work server: 171.64.65.79:8080
Collection server: 171.67.108.26
Download date: March 11 01:11:41
Finished date: March 14 12:07:58

Slot 04 Empty/Deleted
Project: 6887 (Run 62, Clone 15, Gen 42), Core: 78
Work server: 171.67.108.33:8080
Collection server: 171.67.108.26
Download date: March 14 12:08:56
Finished date: March 15 12:11:38

Slot 05 *Empty/Deleted
Project: 10425 (Run 8646, Clone 0, Gen 49), Core: a4
Work server: 171.64.65.84:8080
Collection server: 171.67.108.26
Download date: March 15 12:11:59
Finished date: March 18 19:44:51


I don't really know what any of this means, but this board seemed like a good place to ask. If anyone can get me back on track please lemme know what to do. It's also possible this issue is handled in an existing thread that I'm failing to see. If this is the case, please send me in that direction and I apologize for starting a new thread on this topic. Thank you -
Blacckbox

Welcome to foldingforum.org, blacckbox.

That's the reason that the top forum on the list is called "HELP: I don't know where to start"

The FAH client is probably being blocked by a firewall (which may be part of a security suite and not explicitly called a firewall). If you can open http://assign2.stanford.edu in your browser and FAH still cannot connect, then that's what it is. Start by disabling your security software and see if that allows FAH to connect. If so, you'll need to figure out how to configure an exemption in your security software that allows the FAH client to connect to the internet.

This is not a security issue or a firewall issue. I've been folding for close to a decade and have changed nothing on any of my machines. This is happening on 3 different OSs on 4 different networks in two (American) states.

There was a March 17th post on "Some classic clients not being assigned
There is a problem with the assignment of WUs to some classic clients. We are working on it.
UPDATE: Looks like the worst is over, but we are keeping an eye on this issue. In particular, the port 80 AS (assign2.stanford.edu) seems to be still having issues."

This is around the same time my machines started going quiet, but no one else seems to be reporting a problem like mine.

If you are behind a firewall that blocks port 8080 access, then you're forced to use the port 80 AS. It's not clear if that issue was ever fixed.

Most home users can use assign.stanford.edu:8080 instead of assign2.stanford.edu:80 so it's possible that few people other than yourself have noticed. (You can tell by looking at your log if that applies to you if you don't happen to know.)

I'll see if I can find anybody who knows if AS2 was ever fixed.

the port 80 AS is up and running fine (from what we can see). Its issue was resolved when we fixed the main AS. Sorry we didn't post an update on AS2.

A couple of the downed boxes aren't behind firewalls. I just triple checked two machines within easy reach by disabling their firewalls. Still nothing.
I uninstalled/reinstalled one client, but that didn't work either.

I have different error messages on different computers. This is from a computer that hasn't been powered off in a few months:

[20:48:22] Completed 250000 out of 250000 steps (100%)
[20:48:22] Writing final coordinates.
[20:48:22] Past main M.D. loop
[20:49:22]
[20:49:22] Finished Work Unit:
[20:49:22] - Reading up to 293448 from "work/wudata_01.arc": Read 293448
[20:49:22] - Reading up to 262584 from "work/wudata_01.xtc": Read 262584
[20:49:22] goefile size: 0
[20:49:22] logfile size: 22143
[20:49:22] Leaving Run
[20:49:25] - Writing 584083 bytes of core data to disk...
[20:49:26] Done: 583571 -> 562015 (compressed to 96.3 percent)
[20:49:26] ... Done.
[20:49:26] - Shutting down core
[20:49:26]
[20:49:26] Folding@home Core Shutdown: FINISHED_UNIT
[20:49:29] CoreStatus = 64 (100)
[20:49:29] Sending work to server
[20:49:29] Project: 6880 (Run 794, Clone 7, Gen 91)


[20:49:29] + Attempting to send results [March 19 20:49:29 UTC]
[20:49:42] + Results successfully sent
[20:49:42] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[20:49:42] + Number of Units Completed: 269

[20:49:46] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[20:49:46] + Attempting to get work packet
[20:49:46] - Connecting to assignment server
[20:49:47] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[20:49:47] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[20:49:47] - Attempt #1 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[20:49:58] + Attempting to get work packet
[20:49:58] - Connecting to assignment server
[20:49:59] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[20:49:59] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[20:49:59] - Attempt #2 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.

which goes on until now.........

[00:19:23] + Attempting to get work packet
[00:19:23] - Connecting to assignment server
[00:19:24] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[00:19:24] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[00:19:24] - Attempt #193 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.

I don't know why these logs are so different. This message probably makes more sense than the one in my first post.

Are the Macs old PPC Power machines, as they're not getting regular work anymore? Can you open http://assign2.stanford.eduin your browser as Bruce asked? Are the clients set up just for "small" work units?

All the Macs are intel machines and the assign2 address work fine. The more powerful machines are configured to process the more memory intensive WUs and the older ones are not.

Blacckbox, can you do us a favor to help troubleshooting efforts? Please stop one of the local clients, add the -verbosity 9 flag, and restart the client. Let it run a while and then post that complete log so we can see more specifics about what the client is doing. Thanks.

PS - if you are not sure about the flag, please see: http://fahwiki.net/index.php/How_do_I_a ... _client%3F

PPSS - I've never had much luck keeping XP running for long periods of time, certainly not a month. If that machine is local, you might try a reboot to see if that helps.

Added the -verbosity 9 flag to the newly reinstalled client I spoke of a few posts ago:

[13:51:46] - Ask before connecting: No
[13:51:46] - User name: blaccbox (Team 1885016621)
[13:51:46] - User ID: 35A8BF70ED062EA
[13:51:46] - Machine ID: 1
[13:51:46]
[13:51:47] Loaded queue successfully.
[13:51:47] Initialization complete
[13:51:47] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[13:51:47] + Attempting to get work packet
[13:51:47] - Autosending finished units... [March 26 13:51:47 UTC]
[13:51:47] Trying to send all finished work units
[13:51:47] + No unsent completed units remaining.
[13:51:47] - Autosend completed
[13:51:47] - Will indicate memory of 511 MB
[13:51:47] - Detect CPU. Vendor: GenuineIntel, Family: 15, Model: 1, Stepping: 2
[13:51:47] - Connecting to assignment server
[13:51:47] Connecting to hxxp://assign.stanford.edu:8080/
[13:51:47] Posted data.
[13:51:47] Initial: 0000; + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[13:51:47] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[13:51:47] - Attempt #1 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[13:51:59] + Attempting to get work packet
[13:51:59] - Will indicate memory of 511 MB
[13:51:59] - Connecting to assignment server
[13:51:59] Connecting to hxxp://assign.stanford.edu:8080/
[13:51:59] Posted data.
[13:51:59] Initial: 0000; + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[13:51:59] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[13:51:59] - Attempt #2 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.

>>PPSS - I've never had much luck keeping XP running for long...

XP-antispy and ccleaner seem to keep my M$ installs from fatiguing too easily, but yeah, machines that see regular use also see regular reboots. Sometimes involuntarily.

The mystery deepens.. I come home today and turn on my computer (it was off since it wasn't folding). F@H doesn't connect and doesn't fold for hours. Then out of nowhere I notice it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. I immediately turn on my other box and that client connects right away and starts folding as well.

This is from box one:

[21:03:29] - Attempt #13 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[21:51:35] + Attempting to get work packet
[21:51:35] - Connecting to assignment server
[21:51:44] + Could not connect to Assignment Server
[21:51:50] - Successful: assigned to (171.67.108.33).
[21:51:50] + News From Folding@Home: Welcome to Folding@Home
[21:51:50] Loaded queue successfully.
[21:52:09] + Closed connections
[21:52:09]
[21:52:09] + Processing work unit
[21:52:09] Core required: FahCore_78.exe
[21:52:09] Core found.
[21:52:09] Working on queue slot 01 [March 26 21:52:09 UTC]
[21:52:09] + Working ...
[21:52:09]
[21:52:09] *------------------------------*
[21:52:09] Folding@Home Gromacs Core
[21:52:09] Version 1.90 (March 8, 2006)
[21:52:09]
[21:52:09] Preparing to commence simulation
[21:52:09] - Looking at optimizations...
[21:52:09] - Created dyn
[21:52:09] - Files status OK
[21:52:10] - Expanded 373777 -> 1806864 (decompressed 483.4 percent)
[21:52:10] - Starting from initial work packet
[21:52:10]
[21:52:10] Project: 6887 (Run 863, Clone 4, Gen 85)
[21:52:10]
[21:52:10] Assembly optimizations on if available.
[21:52:10] Entering M.D.
[21:52:17] Protein: 2 PEPTIDE (1-42)
[21:52:17]
[21:52:17] Writing local files
[21:53:16] Extra SSE boost OK.
[21:53:16] Writing local files
[21:53:16] Completed 0 out of 250000 steps (0%)

I live in Brooklyn and left my office computers in Manhattan sitting idle this morning. I'll find out what they're up to on Monday, but I know that 4 computers out of state still refuse to connect. This is so odd...

AGH! I feel like I'm being punished! From the same machine quoted in the post directly above:

[16:14:25] Completed 250000 out of 250000 steps (100%)
[16:14:25] Writing final coordinates.
[16:14:25] Past main M.D. loop
[16:15:26]
[16:15:26] Finished Work Unit:
[16:15:26] - Reading up to 293376 from "work/wudata_01.arc": Read 293376
[16:15:26] - Reading up to 304536 from "work/wudata_01.xtc": Read 304536
[16:15:26] goefile size: 0
[16:15:26] logfile size: 46639
[16:15:26] Leaving Run
[16:15:27] - Writing 651243 bytes of core data to disk...
[16:15:28] Done: 650731 -> 578483 (compressed to 88.8 percent)
[16:15:28] ... Done.
[16:15:28] - Shutting down core
[16:15:28]
[16:15:28] Folding@home Core Shutdown: FINISHED_UNIT
[16:15:31] CoreStatus = 64 (100)
[16:15:31] Sending work to server
[16:15:31] Project: 6887 (Run 863, Clone 4, Gen 85)


[16:15:31] + Attempting to send results [March 27 16:15:31 UTC]
[16:15:41] + Results successfully sent
[16:15:41] Thank you for your contribution to Folding@Home.
[16:15:41] + Number of Units Completed: 11

[16:15:45] - Preparing to get new work unit...
[16:15:45] + Attempting to get work packet
[16:15:45] - Connecting to assignment server
[16:15:46] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[16:15:46] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[16:15:46] - Attempt #1 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[16:16:02] + Attempting to get work packet
[16:16:02] - Connecting to assignment server
[16:16:03] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[16:16:03] + Couldn't get work instructions.
[16:16:03] - Attempt #2 to get work failed, and no other work to do.
Waiting before retry.
[16:16:21] + Attempting to get work packet
[16:16:21] - Connecting to assignment server
[16:16:21] + No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.
[16:16:21] + Couldn't get work instructions.

I just had no trouble getting a WU as Anonymous.

Xenu would like to have a word with you...

+ No appropriate work server was available; will try again in a bit.

Have you tried changing configuration settings to see if it makes a difference?

WU Size: small/normal/big

With and without the -advmethods flag

This could complicate things: "- Will indicate memory of 511 MB"

If you look at the Server Status page you'll see a couple servers for classic WUs require more memory and could explain that message.