SETI@home Help File for Macintosh
May 1999
SETI@home, UC Berkeley, 1999
This document provides information on setting up and using SETI@home.
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Contents
Introduction
Logging in to SETI@home
Preferences
The blinking icon
Removing SETI@Home
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Introduction
Thank you for installing SETI@home. With your help and the help of hundreds of
thousands of other computer users like you, we increase the odds of detecting
signs of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. This Help file explains
how to configure and use SETI@home. You need not read it unless you have some
questions about how SETI@home works, how to alter its settings, or how to
remove it from your computer.
SETI@home actually runs in two ways: The application and the screensaver.
It can do its work in either of these modes: it downloads blocks of data from
through the Internet, performs the number crunching on that data (looking for
orderly patterns that might originate in outer space), returns the results,
and gets another block of data. The application is represented by a green
radio telescope icon in the Menu Bar (normally at the upper right of your
screen). You can open the application window by selecting Launch from this icon.
The screensaver program runs when you havent used your keyboard or mouse for
a while. It displays color pictures showing the data analysis process.
Normally the application processes data only when the screensaver is
running. Optionally, you can have the application process data at any time
by launching the application.
Logging in to SETI@home
To use SETI@home you must create an account on the SETI@home server. Your
account is identified by your email address. This lets us notify you in case
you discover ET.
If you run SETI@home on several computers, they can all run under the same account.
When you install SETI@home, you are asked whether you want to create a new
account or use an existing account. The account is verified or created on
the server, and SETI@home will run under this account indefinitely. If you
want to switch to a different account, bring up the application window, open
the Settings menu, and select Change/Create login. You will be shown the
name of the current account, and you can elect to switch to another existing
account or create a new account.
To switch to an existing account, you just type in the email address. If you
create a new account, you will be asked for
1. Name or nickname (handle)
2. Email address
3. Country
4. Postal code
5. Whether your computer is at school, work, or home
We will not give this info out to anyone. We use it to get statistical
information such as how many people in country X are participating in
SETI@home, how many users are at school, etc. This information is on display
at our Web site, http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu.
If you check the option to display your email address, your email address
might be shown on our web site if your screensaver finds something
interesting, or if you earn some other mention, such as by crunching more
data than any other user. The default for this setting is to NOT provide your
email address. Its up to you. You can also decide whether to have your name
appear on the web site.
Preferences
SETI@home lets you express your preferences for when it does data analysis,
and when it makes network connections. You are asked for your choices when
you install SETI@home, but you can change them later if you like. To do so,
bring up the application window, open the Settings menu, and select
Preferences.
There are three sets of preferences: Network Connection, Proxy Server and
Screensaver Options.
Network Connection:
You can choose either
Ask me before connecting to the Internet, or
Connect automatically whenever needed
You can choose whether SETI@home should ask your permission before setting up
an Internet connection to the SETI@home server. A connection to the
SETI@home server is only necessary when its time to retrieve a new block of
data. On a typical G3 computer, this will happen every one or two days.
Therefore, connection is not going to occur very frequently, but still you
may want to have the screensaver alert you before doing so.
Connect automatically whenever needed allows SETI@home to be more
productive. The screensaver will connect to the Internet whenever it
completes a work unit to send back results and get more data to analyze.
This makes sense if you have a full-time Internet connection such as a Local
Area network (LAN), ASDL or Cable Modem service, or if you have a dedicated
dial-up phone line used only by the computer.
If you choose this, don't be shocked when the modem suddenly begins to dial
the phone, seemingly out of nowhere. SETI@home probably just needs more data
to analyze.
If you have a dedicated line with a dial-up connection (modem or ISDN), you
must also set the following 2 options in your Systems Internet software:
Connect automatically when starting TCP/IP applications (allow applications
to open connection).
Disconnect if idle for xx minutes. This will allow SETI@home to dial the
phone and will hang up the phone after SETI@home is done transferring data.
"Ask me before connecting to the Internet" is the better option if your
computer shares a phone line with voice calls, a FAX machine, etc. This
setting will prevent the computer from interrupting another call. This is
also the correct choice if you do not wish to set your System's Internet
software to dial automatically.
The "Ask me" option does not allow the screensaver ever to connect to the
internet directly. Instead, the flashing SETI@home icon will alert you to
run the SETI@home application, where you can tell SETI@home to make its
connection. If you have not set automatic dialing in your system software,
remember that you must establish your Internet connection first before
telling SETI@home to connect.
SETI@home will connect to the Internet using the connection that is currently
selected in your PPP or FreePPP Control Panel. This should be the connection
that you use to access the Internet.
Proxy Server:
For increased security, some organizations use an "HTTP proxy server" when
connecting to the Internet. If you are not sure whether you need to use a
proxy server from your computer, ask your network or system administrator.
If your system does require an HTTP proxy for Internet access, check the box
labeled "Connect Via Proxy Server", and enter its name and port number in the
fields provided. When you enter the proxy server's name, do not type the
characters "http://" in the edit text field.
The port number is usually 80. If your proxy server has a different port
number, enter it in the port number field. This field accepts only numeric
digits 0 - 9.
Screensaver Options:
These let you choose when the screensaver runs. If you choose Never, then
SETI@home will process data only when you run the application from the menu
bar icon.
In addition to having the screensaver run after the system has been idle for
a while, you can also set a sleep corner. If you move the mouse to put the
cursor in this corner, the screensaver will activate. Note that if you have
more than one monitor on your Mac, the sleep corner is always on the main
monitor.
You can also activate the screensaver with a hot key. You can change the hot
key if the default (Command-Shift-S) conflicts with another program on your
computer.
If you wish, you may have the screensaver set your monitor completely black
after a period of time.
The Blinking Icon
Sometimes you will notice that the SETI@home icon is blinking. This means
that your attention is needed. Click on the icon and select Launch for
instructions. There are several possibilities:
SETI@home needs to connect to the Internet, and is waiting for your
permission to do so. If you do not have your computer set to dial
automatically, you will have to dial manually (by running your Internet
Dial-up connection for your ISP) before telling SET@home to go ahead.
There is a new version of SETI@home that you can download from our web site
(http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu).
SETI@home has encountered an error that you can fix. For example, you
might be out of disk space. Delete some files, then click on OK to have
SETI@home continue.
SETI@home has encountered an internal error. In some cases you may be
able to fix things by quitting the SETI@home application and starting it
again. If the same error occurs repeatedly, please report it to use via
our web site (http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu; go to Software Download
and Help).
Removing SETI@Home
Tired of looking for ET? Want to go back to flying toasters? Is SETI@home
causing problems, and want to turn it off? Here are the three options you
have:
If you want to temporarily disable the SETI@home screensaver, select
Preferences from the SETI@home icon menu in the menu bar. Select Never for
the Start After setting.
To select another screensaver, go to Control Panels under the Apple
menu and run the Extensions Manager. Check your desired screensaver
program. Then restart your computer. After you do this, SETI@home
will process data only when you run it as an application by
selecting Launch from its Icon menu in the menu bar.
To totally disable SETI@home without removing it from your hard disk, go
to Control Panels under the Apple menu and run the Extensions Manager.
Then uncheck SETI@home and restart your computer.
To remove SETI@home from your computer and hard disk, drag it from the
Control Panels folder (inside the System Folder) and drag it into the
trash. If you wish, you may also drag the SETI@home Preferences file and
the SETI@home Data folder to the trash from the Preferences Folder (also
inside the System Folder), as well as the SETI@home Documentation folder in
the root directory of your boot drive.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: How do I bring up the SETI@home application window?
A: Click on the SETI@home icon in the menu bar and select Launch.
Q: Why are the Preferences, Help and Login menu items sometimes disabled?
A: These are disabled while SETI@home is transferring data over the Internet,
as they could interfere with the transfer.
Q: Can I run SETI@home without installing it as a system extension?
A: Yes. Move the SETI@home icon out of the System Folder : Control Panels
folder, to another location (such as the desktop), and restart your
Macintosh. You can run SETI@home as a stand-alone application whenever you
wish. But if you have another screensaver installed, SETI@home will run very
slowly when the other screensaver is active, and the other screensavers
animation may be sluggish or jerky.
Q: Sometimes my computer seems to ignore mouse clicks or keystrokes while
SETI@home is running.
A: Response to user input may be a bit sluggish on Macintosh models with
slower processors (prior to G3), or with less than 32MB of physical RAM. You
may sometimes need to hold the mouse button over the menu bar for a few
seconds before getting a response.
Q: Sometimes I cannot get SETI@home to run from its icon in the menu bar or
using the hot key or sleep corner.
A: SETI@home will not launch if another application has a modal dialog
frontmost. The Standard File (Open and Save) dialogs are examples of modal
dialogs. You must dismiss the modal dialog for SETI@home to launch.