Folding Forum

I have had FAH installed on my son's computer for a while now and it was running fine, but I noticed that it had not been running lately. Rather than troubleshooting that install I just uninstalled and reinstalled. It began working again after the reinstall and completed a WU but then stopped working again. I took a screenshot of the client log (should have copied the log, sorry).



And if the image isn't working, here is the link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AsRQRc ... sp=sharing

My son is 11 and, frankly, I don't trust him from trying to install things on this computer so he does not have admin rights. He is the primary user of the computer though. I rarely log in. Is this causing the problem? If so, why did it just start recently? Is there a workaround?

I believe it is trying to download the core to a location that requires admin access and is failing as it is being run from a non-admin account. Are you running FAHClient from C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient directly? If so, that could explain it.

Running FAHClient in that manner will cause errors as it does not have the correct path to the data directory. I suggest running FAH using the shortcut created on the Desktop or letting FAH run as a service (not sure if the GPU works in service mode though, someone else may provide clarity on that). This will have the FAH data directory that does not require elevated access in the Start In location.

Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient\HideConsole.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient\FAHClient.exe"
Start In: C:\Users\yourson\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient

If you have enabled Controlled Folder access, you will need to see if Fah needs an exception. You can view blocked apps from the control panel and add an exception.

anandhanju wrote:I believe it is trying to download the core to a location that requires admin access and is failing as it is being run from a non-admin account. Are you running FAHClient from C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient directly? If so, that could explain it.

Running FAHClient in that manner will cause errors as it does not have the correct path to the data directory. I suggest running FAH using the shortcut created on the Desktop or letting FAH run as a service (not sure if the GPU works in service mode though, someone else may provide clarity on that). This will have the FAH data directory that does not require elevated access in the Start In location.

Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient\HideConsole.exe" "C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient\FAHClient.exe"
Start In: C:\Users\yourson\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient

For some reason FAH is not installing a shortcut on the desktop, nor the start menu anymore.

There is a bug in the installer that sometimes places the shortcut in the Admin account used during the installation to authorize placing of the executables in the Program directory. If that happened, just move a copy to the desktop of the account your son uses. You may have to edit the path for the "Start in" field.

Perhaps a similar situation, but I remember seeing the same thing on my systems,
It came as a result of improperly shutting down the client, either through hard resetting the PC, turning off the PC without waiting for the client to finish, or your PC entering into sleep mode, and shutting off..
The client (in my scenario), would take a hold over the directory, and lock it (read only).
Just shutting down fahclient, going to the FAH folder, and removing the 'read only' flag of the folder, fixed the issue.
If it doesn't, you could remove the work folder (located in C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient\) and it'll redownload a new WU.
It would be essentially the same as what you're doing, but without needing to reinstall everything. Points for that WU will be lost. So it's not an ideal solution.

OK, thanks for the advice. I reinstalled the software again tonight and did a "custom installation" instead of the express. I chose to install the client to the C:/ drive directly instead of the program files (x86) directory. I then noticed that it wanted to install the data folder under my user account, so I changed it to my sons account instead. We'll see how it goes, maybe it will have the permissions it needs now. Still didn't get any desktop icons or anything in the start menu, perhaps due to my changing of the client path?

Welcome to the F@H Forum Familyman_19,

Please note that I hoped you installed it in C:\FAHData since during un-installation, it will remove anything under that file path. If in doubt, can you please post the log file? Ensure you include the first 100 lines which will inform us of what the system configuration is and what the client settings are. If you require guidance, please view this topic: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26036

I am aware that the next release of V7 should fix this issue for all Windows users. There's no ETA on when it will be available for release.

FAHClient.exe and other installed programs are typically installed in "...program files..." and shared with all users by Windows, itself. FAHCores are downloaded into ../cores/.." by the logged on user with his own permission settings. Since that can happen whenever a new WU is downloaded, conflicts can arise if, from time-to-time, you use various usersIDs to process new wus. Probably the easiest way to resolve such conflicts is to (while FAH is not running!) simply delete "cores\*" Then log on as the everyday user and FAH will download fresh copies of the FAHCores with the preferred permission set whenever they're needed by the current WU.

The recent beta versions of FAHClient are working on some changes to how FAHCores are handled, but there's no need for him to be running beta client versions. (Some have been been published publicly at foldingathome.org causing unexpected support issues.)

PantherX wrote:Welcome to the F@H Forum Familyman_19,

Please note that I hoped you installed it in C:\FAHData since during un-installation, it will remove anything under that file path. If in doubt, can you please post the log file? Ensure you include the first 100 lines which will inform us of what the system configuration is and what the client settings are. If you require guidance, please view this topic: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=26036

I am aware that the next release of V7 should fix this issue for all Windows users. There's no ETA on when it will be available for release.

I installed the client to C:\FAHClient and the data folder to C:\Users\Colby\AppData\Roaming\FAHClient.

So far everything appears to still be working.

Okay, that's great to hear! That setup will work fine. As bruce mentioned, the next public release will ensure that F@H installation will work for all users without any issues since the new file paths are:
Installation: C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient
Data: C:\ProgramData\FAHClient

This computer was working fine until yesterday. My son sent me a picture of the error, it was FAHCore_22.exe stopped working. It popped up multiple times so I had him reboot the PC. FAH did not start back up when the PC started. I started the FAHClient.exe manually and it acts like a brand new installation, it didn't keep any of the preferences I had set nor did it retain my identity settings. It's just not running properly at all. When I bring up the advanced control the "dark" theme is no longer in use, the default theme is and I can't change it. Clicking the drop down does nothing. Any ideas?

You probably have two data directories somewhere and it decided to use a different one.

The software belongs in a read-only directory like "...Program Files..." where anybody load software and the data belongs in a R/W directory where anybody can store or update files AND where nothing else is stored since an uninstall of FAH will remove everthing that's there.

The shortcut(s) that start FAH have to point to those two places.

bruce wrote:You probably have two data directories somewhere and it decided to use a different one.

The software belongs in a read-only directory like "...Program Files..." where anybody load software and the data belongs in a R/W directory where anybody can store or update files AND where nothing else is stored since an uninstall of FAH will remove everthing that's there.

The shortcut(s) that start FAH have to point to those two places.

Therein lies one of the problems. Installing the client on this computer doesn't install shortcuts on the desktop or anything in the start menu. So I have to navigate to the folders in Windows Explorer, but anything I run from there doesn't "behave" like clients do on my other computers.

A standard Windows installation will create on the desktop a shortcut pointing to C:\Program Files (x86)\FAHClient\HideConsole
You could create such a shortcut manually and place it where you see fit.

BUT you have to modify the "Target" and "Start in" entries (in the Properties) of the shortcut:

Target: "C:\FAHClient\HideConsole.exe" "C:\FAHClient\FAHClient.exe" --open-web-control

Start in: C:\ProgramData\FAHClient

I'm curious to see if it would work?