SETI@HOME FAQ's

Seeing as though there have been alot of questions about S@H and the ATS Team, I've decided to put together some FAQ's from the SETI site, Hopefully this will be usefull to anybody intrested in joining the ATS Team.....
The SETI@home program is a special kind of screensaver. Like other screensavers it starts up when you leave your computer unattended, and it shuts down as soon as you return to work. What it does in the interim is unique. While you are getting coffee, or having lunch or sleeping, your computer will be helping the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by analyzing data specially captured by the world's largest radio telescope.

What do I need to participate in SETI@home?
For Windows systems (95/98/NT) you'll need a computer with at least 32 MB of RAM, the ability to display 8-bit graphics in 800x600 resolution, 10 MB of disk space, and an Internet connection (dialup is OK). For Macintosh systems you'll need the above, as well as a PowerPC processor and Mac OS 7.5.5 or later. You can use SETI@home on a laptop that is connected sporadically. We also support many versions of UNIX, including Linux on various CPUs. We hope to eventually support other systems such as OS/2 and BeOS. We won't support WebTV. There are no CPU speed or modem speed requirements. It doesn't matter where in the world you live.

Why are you doing this as a screensaver instead of a background task that runs all the time?
SETI@home uses a lot of memory while it's running, and it would cause swapping on some computers. We want to make sure it has zero impact on your normal computer work. So, for PC and Mac, the default mode is screensaver. However, if you already have a favorite screensaver, or prefer not to run a screensaver, SETI@home can also be run as a background program that computes all the time and has no graphics. The UNIX version works like this.

What about security?
The client/screensaver is available for download only from this web page - we do not support SETI@home software obtained elsewhere. This software will upload and download data only from our data server here at Berkeley. The data server doesn't download any executable code to your computer. All in all, the screensaver is much safer than the browser you're running right now!

Does SETI@home work through firewalls (or proxies)?
SETI@home uses the HTTP protocol, and work through any semi-transparent firewall that allows outgoing Web traffic. The latest versions of SETI@home should work through more restrictive firewalls and proxies. If you are having problems connecting from Windows through a SOCKS proxy, you could also look into SocksCap by NEC at www.socks.nec.com... and Hummingbird Socks at www.hummingbird.com... Both let you use software as if it were "directly connected to the Internet". If you're STILL having trouble connecting through an HTTP proxy server and you are running SETI@home on an older version of Windows 95, Microsoft has an updated Winsock 2 driver which corrects the problem, and lets the SETI@home client connect. Search for "Windows Socket 2" in the Product Information section of the Microsoft web site. The file is about 986 kbytes, and post-dates Windows 95 Service Pack 1.

Can I run this on as many machines as I like using the same SETI@home login?
Yes, you can - and as long as you use the same login on each machine, you'll get credit for them all. Please note that you can (currently) only run one SETI@home process on a Windows or Mac machine (except for the Windows 2000/NT command-line client, which can run multiple processes), and if you are running multiple SETI@home UNIX processes, they must be running out of different directories. To setup these directories simply install the UNIX client as you normally do, but install into a different directory each time. Now you can run multiple SETI@home UNIX processes by starting one instance of the client from each SETI@home directory.

How do I change my login address/user info?
If you need to change anything other than your e-mail address, you can use this web-based form: Account Change. If you need to change your e-mail address, you must have access to the old account, since this is where we'll mail your password. If you don't have access to your old account, or you mis-typed your e-mail address when first logging in, you will have to log in again as a new user with the correct e-mail address. For both security and administrative reasons, we cannot process any account changes unless you use the Account Change form.

What will happen if an extraterrestrial signal is detected?
A Declaration of Principles has been agreed upon by SETI researchers around the world. First, other SETI researchers will independently verify the signal. If the signal is real and can't be explained by man-made sources (satellites, reflections etc.) then press agencies and governments will be notified in a systematic way.

Will I get credit if the signal is detected using my computer?
Yes. Our software keeps track of where each piece work is done. If your computer is involved in the detection, you will, if you wish, be listed as a co-discoverer.

Will running SETI@home overload or burn out my CPU?
No. The CPU on most computers is always executing instructions (often the operating system's "idle loop") whenever the computer is turned on. It's no additional strain to execute SETI@home.

How can I make SETI@home run as fast as possible?
Select the "Blank screen after 1 minute" option under Screensaver Settings, and select "Data analysis always runs" in the Preferences dialog. Minimize the application window.

Will SETI@home run faster with more RAM (e.g., 256 MB instead of 128 MB)?
SETI@home uses about 16 MB of RAM while it's running. Beyond a certain point (typically 64MB, more if you run memory-itensive applications) more RAM won't make it run faster.

What can I do to make SETI@home run faster?
Here are some suggestions:
Each time SETI@home launches, it optimizes itself for the current monitor color depth (256 colors, Thousands, Millions). If you change the color depth while SETI@home is running, it may slow things to a crawl.
It should run reasonably at any screen depth, but it will run somewhat faster at lower screen depths (256 colors) than higher ones. Screen resolution (800X600, 1024X732, etc.) should have negligible effect on speed.
In screensaver mode, SETI@home runs fastest if the screen is blanked, so for maximum speed set the preferences to blank the screen after a short time.
In application mode, SETI@home runs fastest if its window is collapsed, using the Windowshade feature under OS 8.0 and later.
Many Macintosh models are equipped with the Energy Saver Control Panel. This can put the computer's processor, hard drive, and monitor in a low-power sleep mode if the mouse and keyboard have been idle for a period of time. Although SETI@home can continue to run when the computer is in sleep mode, it will run much slower. You may want to change the settings in the Energy Saver Control Panel to let SETI@home have more time. Some people prefer to have the computer never sleep so it can analyze more signals, while others prefer to save electricity. The choice is up to you.

Moving SETI@HOME to BOINC

Again, Hopefully this will help in some of the Questions I have seen. I have been running it for over a month now, and I have not even noticed it is running. I have never had any security problems, crashes, malfunctions, etc... If anybody has any other questions please feel free to U2U me, as I am still new to this, I will try to answer and or help find the answers to any of your questions. The only stupid questions are the ones not asked!! Now lets start crunching those WU's and Find ET!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trick

Hi TMT!!

Thanx for putting this together, my friend!! With all our new users, it's going to be a useful resource!!

I'be been thinking of producing an "index" to the things we've discussed in the boards, as recently (and this isn't a criticism!!) some people have asked questions, where the answers are already available from the topics, and we've been able to provide threads.

However, sometimes it's difficult to remember *what* thread to recommend, as sometimes we've gone off thread, because we're all fascinated by the project!!

So, I'm thinking of looking at all the messages we've posted so far, and producing a sort of index/ bibliography as a "lead" page, but it would make sense to use *this* thread for such a project, perhaps??

Just a thought...

Let's go team!!

Yes that would be a great idea. I found out myslef that it is easier just to stay on ATS to find answers, rather than having to click here, click there. If you, or anybody else can think of any basic questions I may have Missed, please U2U me or post it and I will add it, rather than starting 20 different threads having to do with the same thing.

thanks for the FAQ TrickMaster, I'm sure it will be useful for many members. It should be sticky really.

Originally posted by earthtone
thanks for the FAQ TrickMaster, I'm sure it will be useful for many members. It should be sticky really.

Yeah, thanks a bunch TMT, it should be a "sticky".

Good post Trickmastertrick

Hi team!!

Just to say that I've "topped" this thread (my *first* Moderators job!! ) as I'm sure all will agree that with DJDOHBOY's tutorial and this FAQ's page from TMT, we're just about "sorted"?

Hope you're all well - let's go ATS SETI@home team!!

I have a Seti@home or general Seti question I haven't really heard any answer to so far. Hope no one minds if I post it here since this is about seti FAQ.

Anyway here goes, If an alien civilization was producing radio signals similiar to our civilization, how far away would we be able to detect them using Seti or would we even be able to detect them at all? I once heard the aliens would have to beam signals towards us in some manner on purpose or accidently for us to receive a sufficient strength signal. I'm just wondering if there could be another civilization similiar to ours on a planet just 10 or 40 light years away but we simply can't detect them yet. I believe if an alien civilization was 40 light years away and similiar to our civilization, not many radio signals would be spewing out since I don't believe we had as much radio 40 years ago as today. I understand it would take 40 years for the signal to travel that far (just explaining this to anyone who isn't familiar). Any answers?

[edit on 21-10-2004 by orionthehunter]

Hello Friends:

eehhh, A simple question. Is S.E.T.I still runing
out of Aresibo, Puerto Rico??

Yes, Arecibo Is Still Used.

And, despite the facts its a few versions old now:

The guide to switching yourself to BOINC:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

hoping this is in the right thread:

i'm putting my work computer to work on seti @ home, and wanted to put my work computer to team up wirth my home computer which is already well established in task crunching.

anyone know how i can join the two??

thanks in advance!

I haven't ran SETI since it changed over to BOINC. Don't like the program structure, just me and my opinion.

I had more than several computer running at home with SETI. Produced about 11 units a day. Was in top 10 in my join date for all users and in top 100 of all home users. Had 1000's of units submitted.

A question a few post back about radio. The Earth, or Mankind more specifically , sends signals strong enough to travel to distant stars everyday, it's television (FM radio also has this capability, but it has lower transmitter power). Those signals on these frequencies doesn't bend with the atmosphere as high frequencies do, they are straight line of sight for the most part. There are conditions which will bend these waves which doesn't occur very often. This is why they are called sporatic-E ( E skip ) for that reason. Lower frequencies such as VHF and UHF fall in these frequencies that have interstellar consequence.

Still have no interest in going back to SETI.

Just thought id try to help here, i recently saw a movie called 'Contact' it was about a signal from vega and it was a great movie so here it comes.

Probleys a stupid question, but where do i download this seti screen saver program ?

ProTo Fire Fox