Is your Folding at home GPU not running? If your GPU won’t fold, there may be several reasons for it. Here’s how to troubleshoot your GPU, and how to know when you just need to be patient and wait for the work.
Opencl.dll not found
The first thing to check is the system info tab in the advanced control. Scroll down to the GPU and look for errors. If you see any reference to missing DLLs, such as Opencl.dll not found, the problem is Foldingathome doesn’t have the drivers it needs. The WHQL drivers that Windows installs automatically don’t always have all the functionality enabled. Installing a driver directly from Nvidia or AMD for your card solves that problem.
After installing the driver, reboot and let Foldingathome restart. Open the advanced view again, and look at the system info. Now you should see driver information in the two lines below your GPU info. If you still don’t, try deleting your GPU slot in Foldingathome, then add it back in.
I’ve only had this happen to me twice, on two different systems, so your mileage may vary. One time when the problem was just the driver, I didn’t have to delete the GPU slot. Another time when the system had a GPU and I replaced it with a 1030, I did have to delete the GPU slot. But that’s a very small sample size, so don’t take that as absolute.
Recognized doesn’t mean supported
While Foldingathome recognizes lots of GPUs, it doesn’t support all of them. I don’t have a GT 730 to test, but you can pretty much assume anything less powerful than an Nvidia GT 730 isn’t supported anymore. If you paid less than $90 for your video card, it probably won’t work. If it wasn’t a very expensive card and you bought it before 2017, it’s even less likely to work.
My GT 1030 will fold. But it generally seems to take 9-11 hours to get through a work unit. That means a lesser GPU might get through 1-1.5 work units a day, at best.
Patience
Sometimes the card is working fine, there’s just not enough work to go around. My 1030 sat idle for most of the week of April 12. Then, on Friday, it picked up a work unit and that turned into a string of work units that extended into Saturday.
Discussing this with friends, we noticed the log shows it checking for whether the system has a battery. I have a UPS, but the cable came unplugged the last time I worked on the system and I hadn’t plugged it back in. I thought that might make a difference, but the Folding at home client still didn’t recognize the UPS as a battery after I did, so I think it’s only a coincidence that my GPU’s work picked up right around the time I plugged the USB cable back in.
Using a passkey may also help, because FAH can track you accurately and knows your track record. If you’ve been getting work done reliably without interruption, you’ll get priority over someone whose power and Internet connection may not hold up long enough to finish a long GPU unit.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.