Readme.txt

Language:	English  • Deutsch

Welcome to the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search!

To use this program you must agree to the terms and conditions,
prize rules, etc. at https://mersenne.org/legal/

The GIMPS web site is at https://mersenne.org
Help is available at https://mersenneforum.org
My email address is woltman@alum.mit.edu


FILE LIST
---------

readme.txt	This file.
prime95.exe	The windows program to trial factor and primality test Mersenne numbers.
mprime		The Linux program to trial factor and primality test Mersenne numbers.
libgmp*		A library containing the GNU multi-precision math package.
libhwloc*	A library containing routines to analyze your hardware (cores, cache sizes, etc.)
libcurl*	A library containing routines to send and receive internet messages.
libcrypto*, libssl*	Libraries required by libcurl.
		On some OSes you may need to copy libraries to the system library directory.
whatsnew.txt	A list of new features in prime95.exe.
stress.txt	A discussion of issues relating to stress testing a computer.
undoc.txt	A list of undocumented and unsupported features.
prime.txt	A file containing your preferences.  The menu choices
		and dialog boxes are used to change your preferences.
local.txt	Like prime.txt, this file contains more preferences.
		The reason there are two files is discussed later.
worktodo.txt	A list of exponents the program will be factoring and/or Lucas-Lehmer testing.
results.txt	Prime95.exe writes its results to this file.
results.json.txt Prime95.exe writes results to this file in an easy-to-parse JSON format.
results.bench.txt Prime95.exe writes benchmark results to this file.
gwnum.txt	A file containing benchmark data.  Used to tune FFTs for your particular machine. 
prime.log	A text file listing all messages that have been sent to the PrimeNet server.
prime.spl	A binary file of messages that have not yet been sent to the PrimeNet server.
mprime.pid	Linux only.  The PID of the currently running mprime.
cNNNNNNN,cNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced during certification runs.
pNNNNNNN,pNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced by prime95.exe to resume computation where it left off.
pNNNNNNN.residues	Large intermediate file produced during PRP test for constructing a PRP proof.
pNNNNNNN.proof		PRP proof file.
eNNNNNNN,eNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced during ECM factoring.
fNNNNNNN,fNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced during trial factoring.
mNNNNNNN,mNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced during P-1 factoring.
nNNNNNNN,nNNNNNNN.buN	Intermediate files produced during P+1 factoring.


WHAT IS THIS PROGRAM?
---------------------

This program is used to find Mersenne Prime numbers.  See
https://primes.utm.edu/mersenne/index.html for a good
description of Mersenne primes.  Mersenne numbers can be proved
composite (not prime) by either finding a factor or by running
a PRP (PRobable Prime) or Lucas-Lehmer primality test.