SetiHide Manual

Thanks to Markus (aka Krauty) and Steve for putting quite a lot of work in here. Note that this document is open to any kind of suggestions. Drop a note if something is missing.

There is one very important rule about the new SetiHide version: be patient!! SetiHide is written in a way that makes sure as little CPU time is taken away from the SETI client as possible. One of the ways to obtain this, is to raise the time between file- and status checks. So, whenever you find yourself asking, "Why is SetiHide not doing, what I just told it to?" then simply give it a little time!

Manual Revisions


Table of contents

1. Installation

1.1 First time
1.2 Updating from version 1.4.x

2. Settings

2.1 Windows Startup
2.2 Display mode
2.3 Client priority
2.4 Connection mode
2.5 Connection timeout
2.6 Proxy settings
2.6.1 Socks proxy
2.7 Seti client name
2.8 PC Name
2.9 Processors
2.10 Network cache
2.11 Network cache path
2.12 Auto restore
2.13 More options

3. Work-unit caching

3.1 Main frame
3.2 Scheduling
3.3 set cron job
3.4 Cache count
3.5 Importing
3.6 Exporting

4. Main page

4.1 Resource
4.2 Progress
4.3 User info
4.4 Work-unit info
4.5 The performance chart

5. Log page

5.1 The log

6. FAQ

6.1 Installation issues
6.1.1 Where to get the DOS-client for Seti@Home?
6.1.2 Special .ini settings
6.1.3 The "halt_if_running.txt" file

6.2 General problems

6.2.1 Seti cli won't start
6.2.2 clicked SetiHide.exe, but won't run


1. Installation top

1.1 First time installation (NOTE: SetiHide does NOT work with the screensaver version of the client. You must obtain the command-line client). If you already have the SETI client and a work-unit present on your PC, go straight to section 1.1.3

1.2 Updating from SetiHide version 1.4.x

1.2.1 Get the update program, unzip it to your SetiHide folder and run it.
1.2.2 Run SetiHide.exe. Proceed to section 2 for customization.


2. Settings top

2.1 "Run SetiHide on Windows startup" [ yes | no | run, launch SETI client and exit ] (Supported on Win95/Win98/WinME only at this time. Next version will come in two flavours, one will be a service for WinNT/Win2K/WinXP. Currently, SetiHide.exe can be placed in the startup folder. Note that SetiHide was succesfully tested with AppToService!)

2.2 "SetiHide display mode at startup" [ normal | run in tray | invisible ] - This sets how SetiHide is displayed when first run either at startup or by user command.

2.3 "Seti client priority" [ idle | normal | high ] - This setting controlls how CPU resources are allocated to the SETI client and applies to all installed CPUs.

2.4 "Connection mode" [ online | offline ]
2.5 "Connection timeout" [ 120 sec | 240 sec | 360 sec | 480 sec | 600 sec ] - Specifies how long (in seconds) SetiHide tries to connect to the Seti@Home server in Berkeley before it gives up.

2.6 "Use a proxy server" [ yes | no ]
2.6.1 "Socks proxy" [ yes | no ]
2.7 "Seti client program name" - Specifies the name of the executable of the SETI client itself. During setup SetiHide will detect the SETI client itself. If this was changed or if the automatic detection failed, simply enter the name of the SETI client executable here. If you didn't change it, it's probably "setiathome-3.03.i386-winnt-cmdline.exe"

2.8 "SetiHide referrs to this PC as" - Each installation of SetiHide is considered as a resource with [X] processors, where [X] can be 1 up to 4. This field specifies how SetiHide will refer to an installation. If you don't use a network cache, you can choose a desired name here. Otherwise, SetiHide will select the assigned computer name. If you use a network cache, every installation must have it's own unique resource name.

2.9 "Number of processors to be used" [ 1 (default) | 2 | 3 | 4 ] - If you change this option, be sure you have at least as much local work units cached as the number of CPUs you selected. You must exit and re-start SetiHide to apply the new setting. You're able to use more processors than the number of processors that are present in your system, but this will not give any performance advantage.

2.10 "Use a network cache" [ yes | no ]
[ yes ] - SetiHide will use network wu-caches or at least (if cache count is zero) it will keep a central log file and charts. Also, this will enable remote controling of other SetiHide resources. Please note: You need to add two new, empty directories to your network cache directory before using it for the first time: "files" and "charts", e.g., let's pretend you want to use "seti" as the network cache directory. The structure has to look like this before using the network cache for the first time:
\\SERVER\VOLUME\seti\
\\SERVER\VOLUME\seti\files\
\\SERVER\VOLUME\seti\charts\

[ no ] - SetiHide will only use local caches.

NOTE/WARNING ABOUT NETWORK CACHING: The greater the number of network caches available, the more resources SetiHide requires to update the caches screen, e.g., an 800MHz Athlon with 256MB RAM on a 100MBps network requires approximately 25% of CPU resources every five seconds to update the caches screen with 66 caches present EVEN WHEN MINIMIZED! When on the main screen viewing local or network resources, there is little or no additional CPU demand detected on the example system.

2.11 "Network cache path" - This specifies the location of the network cache. It is recommended to use a server name instead of a drive mapping, e.g., "\\MyServer\data\seti\setihide". SetiHide needs read/write/delete/modify rights to this directory. You can use any kind of connection mode that Windows supports, so this will also work: "\\172.20.40.3\data\user\oli\private\setihide\".

2.12 "Auto restore" [ yes | no ]
[ yes ] - If you chose to use a network cache, but the connection is not available when SetiHide is launched, SetiHide will try to restore the network connection - very helpful if SetiHide gets started before user logon. Again, please note that the encryption for the password is weak.

2.13 "More options"
Note: done followed by Apply Settings will update the setihide.ini file. In order for the changes to take effect, restart SetiHide.


3. Work-unit caching top

3.1 Main frame

3.2 Scheduling frame

Clicking [ OK ] finalizes the schedule settings.

3.3 set cron job

One may specify that at a given hour on a given day of the week, SH will flush/fetch all WU in ALL caches (local and network). This may be done up to seven times a week, once for each day of the week. Click done to accept changes. This option has been added to allow users to schedule WU transfers when a connection is available or during periods of low connection utilization.

3.4 Cache count frame

3.5 Export frame - Left click cache(s) to export in main frame, click path field to browse for a destination and click export to export the selected WU(s) to the chosen destination.

3.6 Import frame - Left click cache(s) in main frame in which to import, click path field to browse for a source, choose local or network cache, click import and select WU(s) to import into to the chosen destination.


4. Main Screen top

4.1 Resource to display - If there is more than one CPU or there are other systems set up to use network caching over a LAN, that resource can be selected and it's data displayed. The "Last time up" indicates the last time SetiHide updated the progress data. If this value varies by more than a few minutes from your system time, something may be wrong. Terminating the client and restarting SetiHide might be prudent or even a full system restart. With the "delete from list" item network resources can be removed from this list.

4.2 Progress - This frame displays the progress of the current WU for the selected resource in % completed. ("Status) indicated the status of the client for the selected resource, active or inactive. While active clicking on the status displays the following options:
While not active, clicking on the status displays the following options:
The "Processing rate (now)" indicates the actual processing rate of the currently crunched work unit (how long does it approx. take to finish this wu). "Processing rate (avg.)" indicates the average processing rate of work units crunched with the current resource. "Time left" is an estimate of the time remaining for the current WU. "CPU time" is the total CPU time consumed by the current WU.

4.3 User info - User name, user number and total WU completed by user are displayed here. "update" will update these fields. Clicking on the user number (name) will open your browser and load the SETI@home status page for the user. Note: if SetiHide is not able to update, edit the "user_info.sah" with a text editor (e.g., notepad) in the SetiHide directory. Enter the correct e-mail address in the "email_addr=" field, and SetiHide should be able to accurately update the data.

4.4 Work unit info - The name of the work unit, when it was recorded, etc. are displayed here. For a detailed list of all the information presented, visit the Berkeley site here. Clicking on the name of the work-unit will display the sky map (1024x768 or greater resolution recommended).

4.5 The performance chart - The chart plots the current processing rate of the client processing the work unit for the selected resource. Options are as follows:

5. Log page top

5.1 The log - No, we're not talking about a hunk of wood here. Here the results of all crunched work units (local or network) are displayed. SetiHide displays the name and the date/time it finished/stopped. An asterisk (*) in the work unit name indicates the active work unit. An asterisk in the date finished column indicates SetiHide has not logged all data for the corresponding work unit. For details on the other values reported, visit the Berkeley site here. Other options are as follows: Chart navigation buttons are identical to the main screen 4.5.


6. FAQ top

For general questions relating the command line client, visit the seti@home help page. Don't be impatient! In order to take away as little CPU-time as possible, SetiHide does not perform checks every 5 ms, e.g., after a WU is finished, SetiHide might report not active for a few seconds. This does not mean it has failed to load the next WU. It likely means that SetiHide has not internally detected that the SETI client is finished with the previous wu and subsequently updated the display information.

6.1 Installation Issues

6.1.1 You can download the required dos client for the seti@home project here! In case this link is broken, please check here!

Note: SetiHide does not work with the screensaver client!

6.1.2 Special .ini settings:
"ASKBEFOREEXIT=1" - Adding this line to setihide.ini forces SetiHide to prompt the user before exiting. This was incorporated for users accustomed to the behaviour of SetiHide 1.4.x, which would minimize to the system tray when clicking the "X" on the right top corner.

6.1.3 The "halt_if_running.txt" file
Enter path and filename of any application that is supposed to pause the SETI client. Recommended for disk defraggers, scan disk utilities or even taskmgr.exe on NT... ;-)
e.g.:
c:\windows\defrag.exe
c:\windows\scandskw.exe

6.2 General problems

6.2.1 SETI client won't start
6.2.2 Clicked SetiHide.exe, but it won't run.
Check the ..\files\ directory. If "setihide_is_hidden.txt" is present. If so, delete it, and SetiHide will become visible. This option is selected here.


Launch SETI client manually


Exiting the client manually

There are four principal ways to stop the SETI client:

Manual Revisions