Having trouble using Landshark's SMP hide the command box feature...

TommyHolly · Mar 28, 2008

Can someone write down the steps a little more in detail? I just bought a new Dell PC with Vista on it. I went through the sticky for new SMP folders and followed the instructions.

So far I:
1. Turned off UAC
2. Unblocked everything from the Firewall and Windows Defender
3. Successfully started the SMP client
4. Downloaded cmdow

Now I want to have it automatically start up (for any user, just like a service) like Landshark was talking about. I'm having trouble with:
1. Figuring out this 'cmdow' program.
2. I don't know where to find the fah.bat file? (I don't even know what that is?)
3. I don't know what the "same folding directory" means? I made my own directory called C:/FAH/ So do i just simply extract the compressed Zip folder called 'cmdow' and drop it in the C:/FAH/ folder???
4. How do I enter the code so this runs on startup every time?
5. Can I turn UAC back on once I'm done with this?
6. This is my Mom's PC that I bought for her... What if she changes her password to log in a few weeks from now? Will I have to go back in and change that registry encryption?
7. Also, when I was installing FAH SMP, I'm wondering if I installed it correctly? In the command prompt it already said C:/user [MOM]: and then it asked for a user name... So I just put MOM again, hit enter, and the next line it asked for the passcode so I put that in. I'm wondering if I did that right because I'm installing all of this while logged into her account to make sure SMP works when SHE logs on.

LandShark said:
and since putting it as service is not recommended yet.

here you can put it in the startup folder to have it auto start at start up and also hide the cmd box!

put cmdow in the same folding directory of the WinSMP along with the fah.bat file. create a shortcut of the fah.bat file and put it in the startup folder. and that's it. WinSMP client will start on start up and will also hide the cmd box from the task bar too!! this method works fine on both XP & Vista.

cmdow.exe:
http://www.commandline.co.uk/cmdow/

fah.bat file:

Code:

start cmdow.exe /RUN /HID fah.exe -verbosity 9 -forceasm -advmethods

and a bonus of using cmdow is you can hide or unhide the cmd box at will with these two bat files!! I like it better than service as I could have the cmd box pop back up to check on the folding status/log, especially when it's still in beta stage. and I could also hide the cmd box back too when done!!

to unhide:

Code:

cmdow.exe "C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01\fah.exe" /VIS

to hide:

Code:

cmdow.exe "C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01\fah.exe" /HID

TommyHolly · Mar 28, 2008

Also:
8. Was I supposed to say 'yes' or 'no' to the "Use Internet Explorer Settings?" I chose yes...
9. Was I supposed to say 'yes' or no' to the "Use advanced settings?" I chose no...
10. I have not closed the Command Prompt since installing it 30 minutes ago and it still says "Completed 0 out of 50,000 steps [0 %]" But the task manager says I'm working on 4 FAH cores simutaneously at 100% PC power and using 1.08 GB of memory. So is my PC slow or is there a way to check on it in the CMD prompt without messing with it?

(Don't worry, I at least got my name right and especially Team 32!!!)

Adak · Mar 28, 2008

8. Always choose NO to IE settings, unless you're particular setup absolutely requires it. (Never seen one that did, but it's possible). You won't be able to get work with that setting. Delete your client.cfg file after stopping FAH, and then I'd run your fah.bat (if you haven't run it once already), and then restart FAH. You'll need to answer your questions, again.

9. Probably doesn't need anything in Advanced settings

Did you answer Yes to Allow Big Packets > 5MB? That's usually the question just before "Change Advanced Options?". All SMP WU's are "big packets". No big packets allowed, and you'll get no work.

Do you have a work sub-directory of your FAH directory? Does it have data in it for a WU?

4 Cores are fine. Your fah.bat should be in your FAH directory. It's a small executable file. Just double click it to make it run. (be sure fah is stopped before running it!)

Edit: Sorry, there is no FAH.bat. It's name is install.bat.

TommyHolly · Mar 28, 2008

Adak said:
8. Always choose NO to IE settings, unless you're particular setup absolutely requires it. (Never seen one that did, but it's possible). You won't be able to get work with that setting. Delete your client.cfg file after stopping FAH, and then I'd run your fah.bat (if you haven't run it once already), and then restart FAH. You'll need to answer your questions, again.

9. Probably doesn't need anything in Advanced settings

Did you answer Yes to Allow Big Packets > 5MB? That's usually the question just before "Change Advanced Options?". All SMP WU's are "big packets". No big packets allowed, and you'll get no work.

Do you have a work sub-directory of your FAH directory? Does it have data in it for a WU?

4 Cores are fine. Your fah.bat should be in your FAH directory. It's a small executable file. Just double click it to make it run. (be sure fah is stopped before running it!)

FAH.Bat what is it and where do I find it.... (It was my Question #2)

Also, how do i go back and change that Internet setting to No?

Adak · Mar 28, 2008

TommyHolly said:
FAH.Bat what is it and where do I find it.... (It was my Question #2)

This is in your install instructions that came with your d/l package from Stanford.

Quick install for Windows XP and 2000

Install the Microsoft .NET framework v2.0 before installing the SMP client. Next, run the self-extracting installer to choose an installation directory and install the files there. Then run install.bat in the installation directory to complete the install process. Running the fah.exe binary starts the client. More detailed instructions are at the bottom of this page. The quick version is:

1. Make sure .netframework 2.0 is installed. If you let Microsoft update your Windows version, or are using Vista, you will have this installed, already.

2. Make sure you have an account with a password set up (FAH SMP on Windows won't work if your account doesn't have a password associated with it). The account must have full priviliges, (be in the Administrator group), and you must be signed into that account when you try to install the SMP client.

3. Install FAH SMP client, by double clicking on the self-extracting SMP file you downloaded from Stanford.

4. Run the install.bat file.

5. Run fah.exe

Click to expand...

Also, how do i go back and change that Internet setting to No?

Stop FAH (Ctrl+c) and give it a minute to close down the threads. Delete your client.cfg file in your C:\Program Files\Folding@Home... directory.

Now re-start FAH. It will immediately see no client config file, and go into setup mode again to make a new one.

We've all tried cutting the corners and getting sloppy on this - hasn't worked worth a dayumm, and I'm sure it won't for you, either. We have to get serious on SMP installs - like it or not.

LandShark · Mar 28, 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by LandShark View Post
and since putting it as service is not recommended yet.

here you can put it in the startup folder to have it auto start at start up and also hide the cmd box!

put cmdow in the same folding directory of the WinSMP along with the fah.bat file. create a shortcut of the fah.bat file and put it in the startup folder. and that's it. WinSMP client will start on start up and will also hide the cmd box from the task bar too!! this method works fine on both XP & Vista.

cmdow.exe:
http://www.commandline.co.uk/cmdow/

fah.bat file:
Code:

start cmdow.exe /RUN /HID fah.exe -verbosity 9 -forceasm -advmethods

and a bonus of using cmdow is you can hide or unhide the cmd box at will with these two bat files!! I like it better than service as I could have the cmd box pop back up to check on the folding status/log, especially when it's still in beta stage. and I could also hide the cmd box back too when done!!

to unhide:
Code:

cmdow.exe "C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01\fah.exe" /VIS

to hide:
Code:

cmdow.exe "C:\Program Files\Folding@Home Windows SMP Client V1.01\fah.exe" /HID

- just download cmdow file, unzip it into the same directory as your F@H SMP folder.

- open notepad, copy and paste this, for example:
start cmdow.exe /RUN /HID fah.exe -verbosity 9 -forceasm -advmethods
on notepad, same it as fah.bat file and same it into the same F@H directory. repeat the same for HIDE.bat and UNHIDE.bat from the above code.

- put the fah.bat file into your startup folder. double click fah.bat will start and hide F@H SMP CLI box. double click unhide.bat will unhide it, run hide.bat will hide it again.

TommyHolly · Mar 28, 2008

I'm trying to keep up but you are skipping steps... (Plus finding things in Vista is a pain in the arse)

Pasted it into notepad...what do I save it as? So you are saying just simply having cmdow in the same folder as my new fah.bat file will automatically tell cmdow to run the bat file I just saved? Hmmm...I don't know? I tried clicking on cmdow but a bunch of code pops up and then the programs closes immediately before I can read anything.

Where do I find the startup folder?

You said the same as the bat file and the same as the folder? huh? Same as what? Make 3 different files then that are all the same? Also your code simply says HID fah.exe and not HIDE...and on the next line you typed HIDE.bat is that a typo? (and if so, which one?)

||Console|| · Mar 28, 2008

I use a program called Tray it worked great

LandShark · Mar 28, 2008

ok, download this zip file, unzip it into the your F@H SMP folder (usually is inside C drive --> program files)

cut and paste the "shortcut to fah.bat" file into the startup folder (right click "start menu" --> then "open all user" --> programs --> startup), reboot the pc. that's it!

you could see if F@H is running from the task manger.

the zip file also contain a hide.bat & unhide.bat file. this two files is use to bring the command box back up from hiding or to hide it again. you can also create a shortcut of these two files and put them on the desktop for easy access.

TommyHolly · Mar 29, 2008

I downloaded the new zip file you made and placed it into my C:/fah/ folder.

Then I copied (not cut) the fah.bat into the startup folder and rebooted. Now there is an error that pops up that says:

"Windows cannot find 'cmdow.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again."

LandShark · Mar 29, 2008

TommyHolly said:
I downloaded the new zip file you made and placed it into my C:/fah/ folder.

Then I copied (not cut) the fah.bat into the startup folder and rebooted. Now there is an error that pops up that says:

"Windows cannot find 'cmdow.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly and then try again."

make sure everything in that zip file is put in the same folder as your F@H (not a folder inside the F@H folder)! and then, try to double click the fah.bat file and see if it will start F@H? at least we can make sure the fah.bat file could start the folding first. (check it via task manager)

if it runs, then create a shortcut of the fah.bat file and put it into the startup folder. reboot and see if it starts.

TommyHolly · Mar 29, 2008

Man this is aggravating... :bang head

Thanks for helping me though. :beer:

OK I started completely from scratch and deleted everything. Here are the steps I took in order: (*Note any quotes are only for this thread and were not typed into any command prompts)

1. Deleted the entire file called FAH.

2. Followed the steps in the sticky, "Beginner's guide to SMP Folding on Vista."

3. Double checked I had Admin rights and that UAC was turned off.

4. Because I tried installing this before I folled the directions and opened a command prompt and typed smpd -remove AND mpiexec -remove

5. I then checked the task manager to make sure neither is running like it says in teh directions.
5a. **Note, the process called smpd.exe never dissappeared even if I right clicked on it and tried to delete it. A window popped up saying shutting this down could affect other programs... but even after clicking yes, it still never deleted. I did not see any actual CPU power going to it at any time though?

6. From a command promt I typed, smpd -install, then mpiexec -register and made sure I put in my Mom's name (which is the user account I am running this in) and her password.
6a. **Note, I saw some information about Argonne National Labratory pop up in the command prompt? That happens to be a few miles down the street. Is this program connected to them somehow or is that some internet thing/coincidence?

7. I then checked the task manager to make sure both instances were running.
7a. **Note, again I only saw the smpd.exe listed in the Process tab under the Task Manager ONLY... I never saw either of these in the Services tab?

8. I then double clicked on the "Folding@Home Windows SMP Client" Install file I downloaded from the link you guys provided at Stanford University and installed the program.

9. I chose these options: Name > TommyHolly, Team > 32, Startup Automatically? > yes,
Use internet options? > no, Use proxy server? > no, Download work packets larger than 5MB? > yes

10. The FAH program then downloaded a WU and I watched my system performance in task manager go to 100%

11. I then downloaded the cmdow.zip link from this very thread that you posted at reply #9 and placed the contents into the C:\fah\ folder.

12. I then opened up notepad and copied, "start cmdow.exe /RUN /HID fah.exe -verbosity 9 -forceasm -advmethods", that you posted in this thread at reply #6 and then saved it as "fah.bat" in the C:\fah\ folder

13. I right clicked on the fah.bat file and created a shortcut

14. I opened up the All Users > Programs > Startup folder and dragged the "shortcut to fah.bat" into the startup folder.

15. I then restarted my PC...and nothing. No errors this time but the FAH program does not start up by itself? I litterally typed out everything I did step by step so you can see if I am doing anything wrong?

I just bought this PC brand new for my Mom. I want to make sure that when I give it to her next week, that the PC works fine and more importantly, that Folding@Home SMP starts up with or without her. What am I still doing wrong?

Adak · Mar 30, 2008

Sorry Tommy. Thought I might have an answer for you, but I hadn't read your post carefully enough. You have an amazing amount of detail in there!

LandShark · Mar 30, 2008

TommyHolly said:
Man this is aggravating... Thanks for helping me though. OK I started completely from scratch and deleted everything. Here are the steps I took in order: (*Note any quotes are only for this thread and were not typed into any command prompts)

1. Deleted the entire file called FAH.

2. Followed the steps in the sticky, "Beginner's guide to SMP Folding on Vista."

3. Double checked I had Admin rights and that UAC was turned off.

4. Because I tried installing this before I folled the directions and opened a command prompt and typed smpd -remove AND mpiexec -remove

5. I then checked the task manager to make sure neither is running like it says in teh directions.
5a. **Note, the process called smpd.exe never dissappeared even if I right clicked on it and tried to delete it. A window popped up saying shutting this down could affect other programs... but even after clicking yes, it still never deleted. I did not see any actual CPU power going to it at any time though?

6. From a command promt I typed, smpd -install, then mpiexec -register and made sure I put in my Mom's name (which is the user account I am running this in) and her password.
6a. **Note, I saw some information about Argonne National Labratory pop up in the command prompt? That happens to be a few miles down the street. Is this program connected to them somehow or is that some internet thing/coincidence?

7. I then checked the task manager to make sure both instances were running.
7a. **Note, again I only saw the smpd.exe listed in the Process tab under the Task Manager ONLY... I never saw either of these in the Services tab?

8. I then double clicked on the "Folding@Home Windows SMP Client" Install file I downloaded from the link you guys provided at Stanford University and installed the program.

9. I chose these options: Name > TommyHolly, Team > 32, Startup Automatically? > yes,
Use internet options? > no, Use proxy server? > no, Download work packets larger than 5MB? > yes

10. The FAH program then downloaded a WU and I watched my system performance in task manager go to 100%

11. I then downloaded the cmdow.zip link from this very thread that you posted at reply #9 and placed the contents into the C:\fah\ folder.

12. I then opened up notepad and copied, "start cmdow.exe /RUN /HID fah.exe -verbosity 9 -forceasm -advmethods", that you posted in this thread at reply #6 and then saved it as "fah.bat" in the C:\fah\ folder

13. I right clicked on the fah.bat file and created a shortcut

14. I opened up the All Users > Programs > Startup folder and dragged the "shortcut to fah.bat" into the startup folder.

15. I then restarted my PC...and nothing. No errors this time but the FAH program does not start up by itself? I litterally typed out everything I did step by step so you can see if I am doing anything wrong?

I just bought this PC brand new for my Mom. I want to make sure that when I give it to her next week, that the PC works fine and more importantly, that Folding@Home SMP starts up with or without her. What am I still doing wrong?

9. I chose these options: Name > TommyHolly, Team > 32, Startup Automatically? > yes,
Use internet options? > no, Use proxy server? > no, Download work packets larger than 5MB? > yes

startup automatically should be NO. it's mean for setting it up as service! you might wanna check Leegend's WinSMP service method....

11. I then downloaded the cmdow.zip link from this very thread that you posted at reply #9 and placed the contents into the C:\fah\ folder.

the zip file that I've created for you above is already contain all the bat files!! no need to use notepad to create again.

your steps seem right to me. only thing is you setting startup automatically to yes which essentially is setting it up to run as service! and it might conflict with my hide command box and auto start using startup folder....

nitteo · Mar 30, 2008

LandShark said:
ok, download this zip file, unzip it into the your F@H SMP folder (usually is inside C drive --> program files)

cut and paste the "shortcut to fah.bat" file into the startup folder (right click "start menu" --> then "open all user" --> programs --> startup), reboot the pc. that's it!

you could see if F@H is running from the task manger.

the zip file also contain a hide.bat & unhide.bat file. this two files is use to bring the command box back up from hiding or to hide it again. you can also create a shortcut of these two files and put them on the desktop for easy access.

Ok I just tried this on my Vista Machine:

>I downloaded the file, extracted everything to my folding folder, extracted everything EXCEPT "Shortcut to fah.bat"

>Right clicked and made my own shortcut of FAH (with the little gear on it), it made a file called " Shortcut to FAH" (I think the .bat is confusing the link)

>Placed it on my desktop, copied another one to my Startup Folder.

>I rebooted, and Vista somehow blocked the shortcut in the startup folder. (still trying to figure this out)

>I clicked on the one on my desktop and it worked.

I made sure by checking the Task Manager and I have all 4 Fahcorea1 at 25% to make 100% load!

I did the same thing for my XP machines, and it worked from Startup.

Thanks Gary! now I know my employees cant close SMP...they have been complaining it slows their computer. Now without the window they wont know any better and I will probably have no complaints....ah! the psychology!

LandShark · Mar 30, 2008

hmmmmm...... I've been using this method on both XP and Vista without any problem..... I might need to take a look at Vista again and see why or how to let it go through on startup....

TommyHolly · Mar 30, 2008

Adak said:
Stop FAH (Ctrl+c) and give it a minute to close down the threads. Delete your client.cfg file in your C:\Program Files\Folding@Home... directory.

Now re-start FAH. It will immediately see no client config file, and go into setup mode again to make a new one.

We've all tried cutting the corners and getting sloppy on this - hasn't worked worth a dayumm, and I'm sure it won't for you, either. We have to get serious on SMP installs - like it or not.

OK I'm gonna change the automatically startup option like Landshark was talking about to > no.

I shut down my Command Promt using Control + C but I don't wanna lose my work by starting over again. I deleted the client config file but when it starts back up it instead of asking me who I am, it defaulted on "Anonomous" and "Team 0"?? If I have to I'll start from scratch but I had almost 4 cores completely finished.

EDIT: OK for some reason I had to do this a few times but it finally started asking me my name and team again? I'm not sure why it would do that... Anyway, it is now asking me something slightly different...

"Do not launch this program automatically, remove the service <no/yes> [no]?"
So I chose "yes" as in, yes I do not want this as a service and you can remove it. (LOL, why would they chose the negative form of the sentance?)

TommyHolly · Mar 30, 2008

nitteo said:
>Right clicked and made my own shortcut of FAH (with the little gear on it), it made a file called " Shortcut to FAH" (I think the .bat is confusing the link)

>Placed it on my desktop, copied another one to my Startup Folder.

>I rebooted, and Vista somehow blocked the shortcut in the startup folder. (still trying to figure this out)

I just tried the same thing after reading this... IT WORKED!! I think that was it... the "Shortcut to fah.bat" was the problem. Either the fact that it had fah.bat in the title OR maybe it's just shortcuts don't work unless you make the shortcut?

I am experiencing the same problem though. At startup a window immediately pops up saying, "An unknown program is trying to run at startup.
Do you want to run this program? [Run] [Cancel]
[] Always ask before trying to run this type of program?"

I guess I could click the box to tell the PC not to ask anymore... But that might be a problem because my Mom would accidentally install other programs because that box wouldn't pop up anymore. I tried it again once more after checking out that UAC was indeed shut down and that Windows Defender and the Firewall both recognise FAH and cmdow.exe but no luck

The good thing is I AM MAKING PROGRESS!! haha

TommyHolly · Apr 2, 2008

For a final update... I ended up clicking on the little box that says "Don't ask before trying to run this type of program." That way the only thing you see when you log on is the command prompt popping up momentarily and the dissappearing.

Just this Dual Core Dell PC makes as much points in 1 day running SMP then all of my other PCs combined in 3 days!!!

Thanks everyone and here is a link to my new progress: http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?s=&u=4633

Having trouble using Landshark's SMP hide the command box feature...

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