[gmx-users] GROMACS 4.5.4 keep crashing all the time

chris.neale at utoronto.ca chris.neale at utoronto.ca
Thu Aug 18 03:11:27 CEST 2011


run an EM with flexible water. I often find that this is the only way  
to get a stable system. 500 steps of steep with define=-DFLEXIBLE (or  
different depending on your water model I think) should be enough.

Chris.

Hi Chris and Justin,

On 18/08/2011, at 9:36 AM, Justin A. Lemkul wrote:

>
>
> chris.neale at utoronto.ca wrote:
>> You'll need to provide a much better report than this if you want  
>> to receive any useful help.
>> Copy and paste the exact commands of what you did
>> Copy and paste the exact log file and error messages
>

The command I had used (for both 4.0.7 and 4.5.4) are:

pdb2gmx -f 1EXR.pdb -o 1EXR.gro -water spc -ignh -p 1EXR.top -i 1EXR.itp
editconf -f 1EXR.gro -o 1EXR_box.gro -c -d 1.4 -bt cubic

genbox -cp 1EXR_box.gro -cs spc216.gro -o 1EXR_solv.gro -p 1EXR.top -seed 5

grompp -f em.mdp -c 1EXR_solv.gro -p 1EXR.top -o ions.tpr
genion -s ions.tpr -o 1EXR_solv_ions.gro -p 1EXR.top -pname NA+ -nname  
CL- -np 17 -seed 66

grompp -f em.mdp -c 1EXR_solv_ions.gro -p 1EXR.top -o em.tpr

mpirun mdrun_d_mpi -v -s em.tpr -x 1EXR_em.xtc -e 1EXR_em.edr -g  
1EXR_em.log -c 1EXR_em.gro

grompp -f pr.mdp -c 1EXR_em.gro -p 1EXR.top -o pr.tpr

mpirun mdrun_d_mpi -v -stepout 1000 -s pr.tpr -x 1EXR_pr.xtc -e  
1EXR_pr.edr -g 1EXR_pr.log -o 1EXR_pr.trr -c 1EXR_pr.gro

grompp -f md_start.mdp -c 1EXR_pr.gro -p 1EXR.top -o md.tpr

mpirun mdrun_d_mpi -v -stepout 10000 -s md.tpr -x 1EXR_md.xtc -e  
1EXR_md.edr -g 1EXR_md.log -o 1EXR_md.trr -c 1EXR_md.gro

The em.mdp:
integrator           =  steep
maximum number of steps to integrate
nsteps		     =  50000
;Energy minimizing stuff
emstep               =  0.001
emtol                =  100.0

; OPTIONS FOR BONDS
constraints          =  none


; OUTPUT CONTROL OPTIONS
; Output frequency for coords (x), velocities (v) and forces (f)
nstxout              =  1000
nstvout              =  1000
nstfout              =  1000
; Output frequency and precision for xtc file
nstxtcout            =  1000
xtc-precision        =  1000
; Energy monitoring
energygrps           =  system

; NEIGHBORSEARCHING PARAMETERS
; nblist update frequency
nstlist              =  5
; ns algorithm (simple or grid)
ns-type              =  Grid
; nblist cut-off
rlist                =  0.8

; OPTIONS FOR ELECTROSTATICS AND VDW
; Method for doing electrostatics
coulombtype              = Reaction-Field
rcoulomb                 = 1.4
; Dielectric constant (DC) for cut-off or DC of reaction field
epsilon-rf               = 62
; Method for doing Van der Waals
vdw-type                 = Cut-off
; cut-off lengths
rvdw                     = 1.4
; Apply long range dispersion corrections for Energy and Pressure
DispCorr                 = No

; Center of mass control
nstcomm              =  1000
; Periodic boundary conditions
pbc                  =  xyz
; Mode for center of mass motion removal
comm-mode            =  linear
; Groups for center of mass motion removal
comm-grps            =  system

the pr.mdp:
define               	 =  -DPOSRES

integrator           	 =  md
dt                   	 =  0.002	; ps !
nsteps               	 =  50000	; total 100ps.

; OPTIONS FOR BONDS
; Constrain control
constraints	         =  all-bonds
; Do not constrain the start configuration
continuation      = no
; Type of constraint algorithm
constraint-algorithm     =  lincs

; OUTPUT CONTROL OPTIONS
; Output frequency for coords (x), velocities (v) and forces (f)
nstxout                  =  100000
nstvout              	 =  100000
nstfout              	 =  100000
; Output frequency and precision for xtc file
nstxtcout           	 =  5000
xtc-precision        	 =  1000
; Energy monitoring
energygrps           	 =  Protein	Non-protein
nstenergy	         =  5000

; NEIGHBORSEARCHING PARAMETERS
; nblist update frequency
nstlist              	 =  5
; ns algorithm (simple or grid)
ns-type              	 =  Grid
; nblist cut-off
rlist                	 =  0.8

; OPTIONS FOR ELECTROSTATICS AND VDW
; Method for doing electrostatics
coulombtype              = Reaction-Field
rcoulomb 		 = 1.4
epsilon_rf		 = 62    ; As suggested at J Comput Chem. 2004 Oct;25(13):1656-76.
vdw-type                 = Cut-off
; cut-off lengths
rvdw                     = 1.4
; Apply long range dispersion corrections for Energy and Pressure
DispCorr                 = no

; OPTIONS FOR WEAK COUPLING ALGORITHMS
; Temperature coupling
tcoupl                   = berendsen
; Groups to couple separately, time constant (ps) and reference  
temperature (K)
tc-grps                  = Protein     Non-Protein
tau-t                    = 0.1	       0.1
ref-t                    = 300	       300
; Pressure coupling
Pcoupl                   = berendsen
Pcoupltype               = isotropic
; Time constant (ps), compressibility (1/bar) and reference P (bar)
tau_p                    =  1.0
compressibility          =  4.5e-5
ref_p                    =  1.0
; Generate velocites is on at 290K - do not get velocity from gro file.
gen_vel             =  yes
gen_temp            =  290
gen-seed            =  -1



; Center of mass control
nstcomm              =  1000
; Periodic boundary conditions
pbc                  =  xyz
; Mode for center of mass motion removal
comm-mode            =  Linear
; Groups for center of mass motion removal
comm-grps            =  system

and the md.mdp:
integrator           	 =  md
dt                   	 =  0.002	; ps !
nsteps               	 =  2500000	; total 5ns.

; OPTIONS FOR BONDS
; Constrain control
constraints	         =  all-bonds
; Do not constrain the start configuration
continuation         =  no
; Type of constraint algorithm
constraint-algorithm     =  lincs

; OUTPUT CONTROL OPTIONS
; Output frequency for coords (x), velocities (v) and forces (f)
nstxout                  =  100000
nstvout              	 =  100000
nstfout              	 =  100000
; Output frequency and precision for xtc file
nstxtcout           	 =  5000
xtc-precision        	 =  1000
; Energy monitoring
energygrps           	 =  Protein	Non-Protein
nstenergy	         =  1000

; NEIGHBORSEARCHING PARAMETERS
; nblist update frequency
nstlist              	 =  5
; ns algorithm (simple or grid)
ns-type              	 =  Grid
; nblist cut-off
rlist                	 =  0.8

; OPTIONS FOR ELECTROSTATICS AND VDW
; Method for doing electrostatics
coulombtype              = Reaction-Field
rcoulomb 		 = 1.4
epsilon_rf		 = 62    ; As suggested at J Comput Chem. 2004 Oct;25(13):1656-76.
vdw-type                 = Cut-off
; cut-off lengths
rvdw                     = 1.4
; Apply long range dispersion corrections for Energy and Pressure
DispCorr                 = no

; OPTIONS FOR WEAK COUPLING ALGORITHMS
; Temperature coupling
tcoupl                   = berendsen
; Groups to couple separately, time constant (ps) and reference  
temperature (K)
tc-grps                  = Protein	Non-Protein
tau-t                    = 0.1		0.1
ref-t                    = 300		300
; Pressure coupling
Pcoupl                   = berendsen
Pcoupltype               = isotropic
; Time constant (ps), compressibility (1/bar) and reference P (bar)
tau_p                    =  1.0
compressibility     	 =  4.5e-5
ref_p               	 =  1.0
; Generate velocites is on at 290K - do not get velocity from gro file.
gen_vel             =  yes
gen_temp            =  290
gen-seed            =  -1

; Center of mass control
nstcomm              =  10000
; Periodic boundary conditions
pbc                  =  xyz
; Mode for center of mass motion removal
comm-mode            =  Linear
; Groups for center of mass motion removal
comm-grps            =  system

The error message we got are LINCS related, eg:
Step 40941, time 40.941 (ps)  LINCS WARNING
relative constraint deviation after LINCS:
rms 0.000021, max 0.000112 (between atoms 981 and 982)
bonds that rotated more than 30 degrees:
  atom 1 atom 2  angle  previous, current, constraint length
     981    982   34.0    0.0998   0.1000      0.1000

Step 40942, time 40.942 (ps)  LINCS WARNING
relative constraint deviation after LINCS:
rms 0.000140, max 0.001170 (between atoms 981 and 982)
bonds that rotated more than 30 degrees:
  atom 1 atom 2  angle  previous, current, constraint length
     981    982   31.7    0.1000   0.1001      0.1000

Step 40943, time 40.943 (ps)  LINCS WARNING
relative constraint deviation after LINCS:
rms 0.000106, max 0.000860 (between atoms 981 and 982)
bonds that rotated more than 30 degrees:
  atom 1 atom 2  angle  previous, current, constraint length
     981    982   30.2    0.1001   0.1001      0.1000

Step 40944, time 40.944 (ps)  LINCS WARNING
relative constraint deviation after LINCS:
rms 0.000053, max 0.000571 (between atoms 979 and 981)
bonds that rotated more than 30 degrees:
  atom 1 atom 2  angle  previous, current, constraint length
     981    982   35.2    0.1001   0.1000      0.1000

Step 40945, time 40.945 (ps)  LINCS WARNING
relative constraint deviation after LINCS:
rms 0.000225, max 0.001915 (between atoms 981 and 982)
bonds that rotated more than 30 degrees:
  atom 1 atom 2  angle  previous, current, constraint length
     981    982   36.4    0.1000   0.0998      0.1000

-------------------------------------------------------
Program mdrun_mpi_bg, VERSION 4.5.4
Source code file: ../../../gromacs-4.5.4/src/mdlib/constr.c, line: 176

Fatal error:
Too many LINCS warnings (1000)
If you know what you are doing you can adjust the lincs warning  
threshold in your mdp file
or set the environment variable GMX_MAXCONSTRWARN to -1,
but normally it is better to fix the problem
For more information and tips for troubleshooting, please check the GROMACS
website at http://www.gromacs.org/Documentation/Errors
-------------------------------------------------------

  Now, I think that there is some problem with gromacs 4.5.4 because  
the same system, using the same run parameter was successfully  
simulated using 4.0.7. I used GROMOS53a6 with SPC water whenever  
running this protein. The only difference between a crash and a  
successful run was gromacs version.

> I'd also add that we need a detailed description of the system,  
> including force field used and any other special considerations  
> (distance restraints, modified parameters, etc).  An .mdp file would  
> also be useful for the run that crashes.

The only constraints I had in the system LINCS of all bonds. I didn't  
modified the FF in anyway.

Best,
Itamar

>
> -Justin
>
>> Do this for 4.0.7 and 4.5.4, for which I trust that you have been  
>> using exactly identical test systems. If not, then please try it  
>> again while conserving the system.
>> Chris.
>> -- original message --
>> Hi Matthew,
>> Thanks for the reply. First, I don't thinks it is poorly compiled bin, as I
>> used both GROMACS compiled by me (on my machine) or by the sys-admin on
>> Linux cluster or blue-gene.
>> The simulations using 4.5.4 crashed giving LINCS error, which is not the
>> case with 4.0.7 (using the same mdp and pdb files). Second, I don't thinks
>> it is poorly compiled bin, as I used both GROMACS compiled with me (on my
>> machine) or by the sys-admin on Linux cluster/blue-gene.
>> cheers,
>> Itamar
>> On 18 August 2011 01:48, Matthew Zwier <mczwier at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Could be a system blowing up, or perhaps a mis-compiled binary.  What
>>> error messages do you get when the crash occurs?
>>>
>>> On Tue, Aug 16, 2011 at 9:48 PM, Itamar Kass <itamar.kass at monash.edu>
>>> wrote:
>>> > Hi all GROMACS useres and developers,
>>> >
>>> > I am interesting in simulating a small protein (~140 aa) in water, with
>>> and without Ca ions. In order to do so, I had used version 4.5.4. I had
>>> solvate the protein in water, add ions to naturalise the systems,
>>> equilibrated the systems and then tried productive runs. Now, no  
>>> matter what
>>> I did, it crashed after few ps's of free MD or during the PR runs.
>>> >
>>> > Few of the things I had tried are:
>>> > 1. Running the simulations on different systems (OSX, linux or
>>> blue-gene).
>>> > 2. Using single or double precision versions.
>>> > 3. An equilibration stage, 1ns long with a time-step of 1fs, during which
>>> the restrained forces where gradually reduced from 1000 to 50 kJ  
>>> mol-1 nm-2.
>>> > 4. Running part of the equilibration stage as NVT and then switched to
>>> NPT.
>>> > 5. Started from different x-ray structures, with resolutions differ from
>>> 2.5 to 1.7 Angstrom.
>>> >
>>> > Finally I had moved back to 4.0.7 which worked like charm. I wonder if
>>> someone else had encounter something like this. Attached please  
>>> find the mdp
>>> files I used.
>>> >
>>> > All the best,
>>> > Itamar.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >





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