Joining the alt-hacker.org Bovine RC5-72 Attack team ===================================================== Contents: - Version history - Current position - Installation - Joining the alt-hacker.org team - Fine-tuning the client - Multiple clients - Moving work to machines - Networking and proxies - Submission history / member listing - FAQ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Version history ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2002-12-22 initial (Lissi) 2002-12-22 additions and corrections by (Kt) 2003-01-01 moved bits around, fixed some typos and added a section. (Kt) 2003-01-05 added a section, updated email flush/retrieval and stats (Lissi) 2003-05-21 added sections about firewalls and screensavers (Lissi) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Current position ----------------------------------------------------------------------- As of today (2006-01-15), the Alt-hacker.org RC5-72 Attack Team has 57 registered members. The team has been operating for 1124 days and we are positioned at 122 in the ranks, with little movement. As a team we have averaged roughly 2024 blocks (work units) per day. This rate has been declining lately. The current odds are 1 in 2680 that we will find the key before anyone else does. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Installation of the client ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First you need to download a client from http://www.distributed.net/download/clients.html There is more than one way to install the client. I'll describe the Windows version, since this OS is the lowest common denominator for all possible participants. If you choose to download the zipped file (the installer isn't necessary), create a directory and unzip the files into it. That's all there is to installation. Double-click the dnetc.exe program to run the client. It will show you a configuration menu and ask you to enter a "Distributed Net ID". This _must_ be a valid email address. Create one beforehand if you want a separate one. See also: http://www.distributed.net/docs/tutor_clients.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Joining the alt-hacker.org team ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you've submitted your first work unit, wait until you find yourself via the member search here: http://stats.distributed.net/projects.php?project_id=8 Once your name appears, you can click the "email me my password" link to retrieve the password. With that you can then edit your information here: http://stats.distributed.net/participant/pedit.php To join the alt-hacker.org team goto:  http://stats.distributed.net/team/tmsummary.php?project_id=8&team=28388 Look at the team stats and then select the "I want to join this team" link. You will be prompted for your "Distributed Net ID" and your password. Note that it takes up to 24h to be listed in the member search, and another 24h for the new team member to be listed on the team page. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fine-tuning the client ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's a working ini that you can copy and paste into your dnetc.ini file: [parameters] id=<your_distributed_net_id> [display] progress-indicator=auto-sense [misc] project-priority=RC5-72,OGR-P2=0 [rc5-72] fetch-workunit-threshold=100 Note the id=<your_ID>. This field should be a valid email address from which you can send and receive email. If you are lucky enough to find the key then Distributed.net will also notify you of your success via this email address. project-priority lets you choose which projects you work on and with which priority they should be worked on. Both members and teams exist in all projects, so if you want to work on other projects as well, don't hesitate to do that. The value to the left has the highest priority, that to the right the lowest. Notice that the project-priority line is set to RC5-72 and OGR-P2 is set to off. This is because we want you to work full time on cracking RC5-72. There's no prize offered for OGR ;) The fetch-workunit-threshold tells the client how many work units it should download and work on at a time. In the example above it is set to 1000 which means that the client will crunch its way through 1000 workunits (on a 600Mhz machine this is roughly 12 days of work) and when it finishes, it will send the completed work to the Distributed.net server.  You should set the fetch-workunit-threshold to a value that you can conveniently work on between updates. Don't set it too low, otherwise the client will have to update too often (which is a bad idea if you're on frisbee net or dial-up). Stats are updated once a day (around 0000h GMT), so the statistics freaks amongst you will want to submit/fetch work once a day. ;) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Firewalls and proxies ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You can connect through a local proxy if you want, and/or use HTTP encapsulation. Those are helpful if you (have to) use a proxy or a firewall. Caveat: If the firewall requires a username/password combination, do_not_ set them in the client's ini, since the settings are stored in plain text. Here's a part of the ini that you can use to connect through a local HTTP-proxy (such as WebWasher for example). [networking] firewall-type=http firewall-host=127.0.0.1:3128 If you use different proxies, you have to adjust the settings. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiple clients ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Running multiple clients significantly increases your chances of finding the key. It's also the only way to push yourself up to a respectable place in the rankings. You can run clients on other machines with the same configuration. All you have to do is make sure that your_distributed_net_id is identical in all of the clients dnetc.ini files. When running multiple clients, most of the time you can simply copy the files over to the other machine (if the OS is the same, that is ;) ). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving work to machines ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The easiest way is to have the machine connected to the Internet. The second way is via frisbee net. Yet another way is via email. If the client's connected to the Internet, it will fetch work when it has nothing left to do and send the keys it worked on at the same time. With frisbee net it's a bit more difficult (Windows example!): Client_A is connected to the Internet, Client_B is to be fed via disk. 1) have Client_A refresh the buffers 2) shut down Client_A 3) copy the files buff_in.r72 and buff_out.r72 to a disk. 4) shut down Client_B 5) move Client_B's buff_in.r72 and buff_out.r72 to a _different_directory 6) move the files from the disk to Client_B's directory 7) move the files from the different directory (5) to the disk. 8) start Client_B 9) move the files from disk to Client_A's directory 10) start Client_A 11) have Client_A refresh the buffers. With email: The section that was here is no longer valid. Please refer to the documentation at distributed.net's and if that doesn't help you, email their support. See also: http://www.distributed.net/docs/tutor_netopt.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Screensavers ----------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a "screensaver multiplexer" for the client, too. To the system it looks as if it was starting a screensaver, but the multiplexer is a clever little thing that starts your normal screensaver and moves as much of the screensaver's CPU time to the graphics card and thus keeps more CPU cycles for the client. The benefit of the multiplexer is that the client works only when the screensaver is active, so that it doesn't interfere with your normal usage. Of course, it also allows you to have a pretty screensaver to look at without diverting too many CPU cycles ;) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Submission history / member listing ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The listing of members and the submission history is set private to members. To see who's on the team and how much every user contributed, you need to send an email to lissi <at> dusnet <dot> de. That email _must_ contain a public GPG (PGP) key that has the user-ID you submit blocks to. The password necessary to see the listing will then be encrypted and emailed to the email address that submits work to the team. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Why ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Honour, fun, money. In that order, I assume.  Should the team win, 1000 $US will go to the team. The money will go to the person who hosts/admins alt-hacker.org. Until further notice that person is Gandalf Parker. Of course there's also the fact that the first person to find the correct key will get another 1000 $US :) Read here: http://distributed.net/rc5/ for details on the prize money awarded to the winner. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FAQ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where do I create a member ID? A: Your ID is created after you submit the first work unit. That is why it is important to use a valid email address. Q: I've submitted work but I don't turn up in the member listing or member search! A: That takes up to 24 hours. Be patient, young cow ;) Q: OK, I've been patient, but I _still_ don't show up! A: Check your .ini. Have you been working on another project? (see "Finetuning the client"). And: NO, you do _not_ select that by choosing another core, you find the setting under "buffer and buffer update options" -> "load work precedence". Set the value to RC5-72,OGR=0 or edit the .ini (see "Finetuning the client"). Q: Yes, I _have_ been working on RC5-72, I _have_ been patient. But I _still_ don't find any work of mine! A: Contact distributed.net's support then and make sure you give them_the_whole_ version number of your client. Q: I can't set my password in the client! A: That doesn't happen there. Wait until you turn up in the member search and click "email me my password". Q: I can't join the team! A: First of all you need to have a member ID recognized by distributed.net (that will be after you first submitted work and update of the statistics). After that you need your password, which will be emailed to your ID. Only _then_ you can join the team. Q: I want to have multiple machines, do I need a user-ID for each? A: No. See "Multiple Clients". Q: My machine is not connected to the Internet or behind a firewall. A: Since when does that stop hackers? See "Moving work to machines". Q: I can't see the submission history of the team! A: Of course not, that's team-members only (see "submission history" above) Q: I don't have GPG/PGP, can I still get the password? A: No. Passwords will _*N*O*T*_ be emailed unencrypted. Q: OK, I've got GPG, but can you send the password to another address? A: No. It's a matter or principle.