Folding Forum

I could not get Folding 7.6.21 to work completely under Ubuntu's current release, 20.04. I backed down to 19.10 which works and for a while still had security updates. Now the security updates have ended. The problem with ubuntu 20.04 I think is that it changed Python versions from 2 in lower versions to 3 in 20.04. I though about changing OS, but found the current versions of Red Hat and Fedora also use Python 3. Are there any plans to migrate the folding software to be compatible with the new Linux/Python versions?

Unfortunately it's not supported like compilers are. If you upgrade C++ (or another language) from version M to version N you'll almost always find that N contains new features but it will still compile code that was written to M's standards. Not so with Python.

I'm running one rig on Linux Mint Ulyana and couldn't get FAHControl working although I could fold and control the system from other machines. I then found a link to a new build of FAHControl that does work. I think it's a BETA version but it does work.

https://github.com/FoldingAtHome/fah-control/pull/70
https://www.reddit.com/r/Folding/commen ... untu_2004/

The fix for FAHControl is much simpler in Fedora. Once you install it, you will need to open a terminal (console session) and enter the following:

su -

<your root (Administrator) password>

gedit /usr/bin/FAHControl

Then, add the number 2 at the very end of the first line. Then click on save.

Exit out of gedit.

Then at the next two terminal prompts, enter the word exit, and hit the return key.

The next part of the setup, should you be using an NVidia card, will be to download the latest driver package from http://NVidia.com/drivers. Look for the short lived v455.45.01 run file, and download it to an external drive (you will copy that to the downloads directory in Fedora, as you will need it when following the steps at the link below).

For installing the NVidia drivers in Fedora, there is a process that I have found to work. It is located here: https://bit.ly/3aFaq3W (I have shortened the link, but the address points to a resource at the If Not True, Then False site). You might want to save a local copy of that guide to a flash drive, as you will need to be able to read it later from a second computer.

Caution: There is a step where it has one command for use with systems that have a UEFI based motherboard settings interface (most newer systems have this), and another for the older BIOS (legacy systems like the Dell PowerEdge T105). Please use only the command that is for your motherboard setting interface type to avoid issues.

Should I be of any further assistance, please let me know.

Paul

It should be possible to add the necessary python2 packages to make fahcontrol work on 20.04, as that is what I am currently running a variant of (linux lite 5), and have a functional fahcontrol.

https://linuxconfig.org/install-python- ... ossa-linux

Not sure thats what I did, but you can give it a go. EDIT: I did also use the fah packages mentioned above which make it easier to install on 18.04+

As I had disclosed on another thread, I am not familiar enough with Ubuntu (or the other non-Red Hat based distributions) to be of any help with those. So I gave my advice in case he wanted to try Fedora again.

Paul

BrianJB wrote:I could not get Folding 7.6.21 to work completely under Ubuntu's current release, 20.04. I backed down to 19.10 which works and for a while still had security updates. Now the security updates have ended. The problem with ubuntu 20.04 I think is that it changed Python versions from 2 in lower versions to 3 in 20.04. I though about changing OS, but found the current versions of Red Hat and Fedora also use Python 3. Are there any plans to migrate the folding software to be compatible with the new Linux/Python versions?

I'm have been running Folding 7.6.21 completely under both Ubuntu server & desktop since 20.04 was the current release. Although both my server x2 & desktop x2 Ubuntu installations have since been upgraded to the current release of Ubuntu (which is 20.10 btw) I have Folding 7.6.21 working completely on all four of them. If you can let us know in your reply what it is, exactly that isn't working I may be able to help you further from there.

@samcarboni

I am not the OP, but I am a long-time donor recently returned after an extended break due to unemployment and financial difficulties.

I set up a machine with Ubuntu 20.04 LTS but had the two following issues (from memory as I dropped back to 18.04.5 LTS to make it work):

1. The nVidia driver would not install due to an unsatisfied dependency, the required packages were not available or conflicted with critical system requirements, I don't remember exactly what. If I specified 'install proprietary drivers' at install time, the installer would crash (documented issue).

2. FAHControl would install if forced, but would not run due to unsatisfied dependencies, including (IIRC) an issue with Python and GTK.

Everything is working under 18.04.5 LTS, so I'm curious to understand how to make it work in 20.04, but not in hurry to change my setup.

Thanks!

Ben N1NP

Some of FAH's code depends on the specific version of Python and was developed when the older version was supported. That has been a number of years, now and the newer version of Python is commonly distributed with upgraded versions of the kernel and compilers. Both versions can be installed and can be installed concurrently but it's becoming difficult to find the installation package for older version.

My most recent install of Mint 20 wouldn't install Nvidia drivers due to an unsatisfied dependency until I did a system update after the initial install. The Nvidia drivers then worked after a reboot.

I've not yet got the Python2 issue resolved so am using the beta Python3 version of FAHControl.

I was not able to get Pyhton2 going on Ubuntu 20.04. Python2 actually comes with the OS, but is not installed by default. You also need to tell Ubuntu which version of Python is running. I installed Python2 and ran a python-is-pyton2 deb. Python was installed, but there were still 2 dependencies for the client that were not. I can't remember their names but the last version supporting them was also Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Not available for versions after that. I'm left with trying to run FAHcontrol from a windows 10 pc, but I have not been able to attach to the remote Ubuntu client yet. Where did you find the beta Python3 verson of FAHcontrol?

BrianJB wrote:Where did you find the beta Python3 verson of FAHcontrol?

https://github.com/FoldingAtHome/fah-control/pull/70