Linux and mprime pre-newbie questions

eepiccolo · 2003-02-10, 19:08

OK, I call my self a pre-newbie when it comes to Linux because I've never used it before :( . Anyway, I'm interested in building a computer solely for GIMPS and overclocking experimentation (something else I've never done

), and want to make it a Linux box because Linux is free, and should have less overhead than windows.
First off, I'd like to know what sort of differences there are between mprime and Prime95. How do the user interfaces differ, and how does the PrimeNet communication differ? And are there any other pertinent differences I should know about?
Also, only loosely related to GIMPS, what would be a good way to share an internet connection from a Windows box over a LAN to a Linux box, specifically for PrimeNet communication?
Thanks in advance for any help on this.

QuintLeo · 2003-02-10, 20:50

mprime is a more menu-orientated rather than windowing-orientated user interface.
Otherwise, it's pretty much the same.

Watch the command line switches, though - mprime defaults to a "quiet" display if you don't tell it to display details, that's the one noticeable big difference IMO

vader · 2003-02-10, 20:57

I use the FreeBSD version of mprime but I suspect that everything I will tell you about it also applies to the Linux version. FreeBSD is also a pretty nice alternative to Linux for your purpose. Try them both, and see what you like best!

If you are familiar with the contents of prime.ini and local.ini you should have no problems with mprime. The only differences there are some options for the graphical client which do not apply to the text-only mprime client. Running "mprime -m" brings up a menu with all the same options as in Prime95. This includes getting work from primenet, which works the same way as in Prime95.

As for sharing the internet connection: Depending on which version of Windows you are using it may have a kind of "connection sharing wizard" which will configure the windows machine and also tell you the proper parameters for the other machine. Somebody else probably knows more about this than I do, since it has been quite a while since the last time I did this. Now I have my FreeBSD machine connected to the internet, and the Windows machine on the inside LAN. In my opinion that solution works better, once you learn enough about Linux or BSD. (This may depend on your method of connection.)

eepiccolo · 2003-02-10, 21:11

I'm kind of familar with the Windows Internet Connection Sharing, I just don't know if it will share the connection with non-windows systems. However, the posibility of sharing the connection through a Linux or FreeBSD systems seems feasible. Does someone have a good resource I could look at to learn more about this?

vader · 2003-02-11, 09:20

Windows Internet Connection Sharing works fine with non-windows clients. This is probably the best way to start, because when you first begin playing with Linux or FreeBSD you will want to have another fully functional system with an internet connection to give you access to mailing lists, online documentation and things like that.

I learned pretty much all I know about FreeBSD from the FreeBSD Handbook at http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html

Once you have learned to configure your kernel, you can take a look at section 19.12 - Network Adress Translation, for a recipe on how to share the connection through the FreeBSD machine.

2003-02-10, 19:08	#1
eepiccolo Dec 2002 Frederick County, MD 2·5·37 Posts	Linux and mprime pre-newbie questions OK, I call my self a pre-newbie when it comes to Linux because I've never used it before :( . Anyway, I'm interested in building a computer solely for GIMPS and overclocking experimentation (something else I've never done ), and want to make it a Linux box because Linux is free, and should have less overhead than windows. First off, I'd like to know what sort of differences there are between mprime and Prime95. How do the user interfaces differ, and how does the PrimeNet communication differ? And are there any other pertinent differences I should know about? Also, only loosely related to GIMPS, what would be a good way to share an internet connection from a Windows box over a LAN to a Linux box, specifically for PrimeNet communication? Thanks in advance for any help on this.

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2003-02-10, 20:50	#2
QuintLeo Oct 2002 Lost in the hills of Iowa 2⁶×7 Posts	mprime is a more menu-orientated rather than windowing-orientated user interface. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same. Watch the command line switches, though - mprime defaults to a "quiet" display if you don't tell it to display details, that's the one noticeable big difference IMO

2003-02-10, 20:57	#3
vader Aug 2002 5 Posts	I use the FreeBSD version of mprime but I suspect that everything I will tell you about it also applies to the Linux version. FreeBSD is also a pretty nice alternative to Linux for your purpose. Try them both, and see what you like best! If you are familiar with the contents of prime.ini and local.ini you should have no problems with mprime. The only differences there are some options for the graphical client which do not apply to the text-only mprime client. Running "mprime -m" brings up a menu with all the same options as in Prime95. This includes getting work from primenet, which works the same way as in Prime95. As for sharing the internet connection: Depending on which version of Windows you are using it may have a kind of "connection sharing wizard" which will configure the windows machine and also tell you the proper parameters for the other machine. Somebody else probably knows more about this than I do, since it has been quite a while since the last time I did this. Now I have my FreeBSD machine connected to the internet, and the Windows machine on the inside LAN. In my opinion that solution works better, once you learn enough about Linux or BSD. (This may depend on your method of connection.)

2003-02-10, 21:11	#4
eepiccolo Dec 2002 Frederick County, MD 101110010₂ Posts	I'm kind of familar with the Windows Internet Connection Sharing, I just don't know if it will share the connection with non-windows systems. However, the posibility of sharing the connection through a Linux or FreeBSD systems seems feasible. Does someone have a good resource I could look at to learn more about this?

2003-02-11, 09:20	#5
vader Aug 2002 5 Posts	Windows Internet Connection Sharing works fine with non-windows clients. This is probably the best way to start, because when you first begin playing with Linux or FreeBSD you will want to have another fully functional system with an internet connection to give you access to mailing lists, online documentation and things like that. I learned pretty much all I know about FreeBSD from the FreeBSD Handbook at http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html Once you have learned to configure your kernel, you can take a look at section 19.12 - Network Adress Translation, for a recipe on how to share the connection through the FreeBSD machine.