Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Discussions of function optimised hardware in the form of ASIC and FPGA
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#1 Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

For those of us that are going to get on this 'trend' post here with your hints, tips and questions on how to do it :?
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#2 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

First off, for the usb devices I believe this is required to get them to run.

Plug in your device. After a failed automatic installation go to:

http://zadig.akeo.ie/

download app for your system ( win 7 or greater, win XP or lower ). Run app.

select your device and install the driver for winUSB.

So far I can confirm that this works for Antminer U2, Bitfury USB, BifuryUSB.

Any different devices let me know.
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#3 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

updated below...
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#4 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

I'm mining. Here's the Ant Farm. They are Antminer U2 2 Gh/s devices. There are actually 6 now...
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NOTE: I started with a clean Bitcoin Utopia setup. It was not an active project on this PC yet. If you do already have it running, I'd clear all existing WU's and un-select GPU apps and computing option in preferences. Not sure it matters though. Just something to consider until getting to know these apps better.
Here's what I did...
1. Download the zadig program from the link in the previous post and run it. It doesn't do anything by just running it. It's just waiting for you to use it.
2. Plug in 1 USB ASIC into the a USB port/hub.
3. In the zadig window, the ASIC device should appear in the drop down list box. Select it. Mine appeared as CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller.
4. In the box below that, select the WinUSB driver. Mine had version numbers after it, but there was only 1 WinUSB option.
5. Click Install Driver and let it install.
6. If you have more ASICs, plug them into to USB ports.
7. After creating your Bitcoin Uptopia account, set the Bitcoin Utopia preferences. For this initial round of testing, I chose...
Use CPU: yes (must do this unless you run only the NCI app, which uses no CPU. That test is next)
Select either application cgminer (Campaign #1) (for 1.6+GH/s ASICs-multitasks): yes
Or select either application cgminer (Campaign #2) (for 1.6+GH/s ASICs-multitasks): yes
I chose just one to keep it simple at first.
8. I had all other GPUs and applications set to : no, then save the preferences
9. Add project Bitcoin Utoptia.
10. After the project initializes and the project folder is there, add an app_config.xml file to limit the number of tasks that run and read config files. Mine looks like this for now...
<app_config>
<app>
<name>A-cgminer-4.4.0</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>B-cgminer-4.4.0</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
</app_config>
11. WUs should download and start processing. On my ASICs, there is a solid red LED that stays on and there's a green LED that flashes occasionally while the ASIC is being used.
12. Watch the WUs finish and credits rack up.

I'm running a stock app config, no overclocking yet. With a single ASIC, WUs took around 10 minutes to complete. With 6 ASICs, they take on avg a little under 3 minutes. A single active WU will use all the ASICs with no special settings or config, but it appears not all 6 ASCIS are working full load. Optimization next.

I did have a hiccup where a WU got hung up. After 6 minutes, it had not finished and the green LEDs on the ASICs had not flashed for several minutes. Restarted BOINC and that WU went away and next started and finished normally.

The ASICs get hot. Put a fan a them.

We need a "Which ASICs work, which don't and what they're trying to get working".

Block Erupter USB 330MH/s, like these http://www.amazon.com/Asicminer-Block-E ... r+usb+asic will work. $3 used, up to $22 new. For just a little more money, you can get a 2 GH/s USB ASIC.

There are U1 1.6 GH/s and and U2 2+ GH/s USB stick ASICs, like these http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITD5NV6/ref ... 90_TE_dp_1. Run about $25-$30 US new, an find used ones cheaper. Both appear to run the same apps. Not sure if there's an issue with the U1's not finishing a WU in the 1 hr min all the time. If you want to run multiple ASICs, you need a USB hub that will provide the required power to all the ports. They each pull .5 amps of 5v, more if overclocked.

There are BLOCK ERUPTER BLADE 10 GH/S ASICs, like this http://www.bitcoinminerz.com/blade-erupter, but they require a back plane and PSU. Cost around $30-$50 per blade. Looks like work to put one together from scratch, but used multi-blade cubes 30-38 GH/s are available on Ebay for anywhere bewteen $20-$100.

There's Bitfury 11-15 GH/s USB stick ASICs, but they appear to cost over $75, more than the RockMiner R-BOX ASICs.

There's RockMiner R-BOX 32-37 GH/s USB (cable connected) ASICs. Run about $70 US new.
RockMiner R-Box is available through Ebay UK http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksi ... &_from=R40
and Amazon UK...http://www.amazon.co.uk/RockMiner-R-BOX ... iner+r-box
The offer to ship from US is still open though.

Remember, for the r-box, you'll need a USB 2.0 male to mini-B cable and power adapter like this..
UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C ... ZVB447EKA7
US http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TU ... 5I35FA61KI

There's a 180 GH/s AntMiner S1 Duel Blade ASICs. I almost jumped the gun and bought one. They've tested, but I don't think they have an app that will work on them yet.

They don't seem to express any hope for getting an app to work on the higher end ASICs.

Many questions on the Bitcoin Utopia message board about controlling the apps when multiple ASICs of different type connected.

This link has some info about how to setup ASICs for mining. The hardware install should be the same for BOINC. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=639030.0

Will update as needed.
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#5 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

My one little ant is lonely and not really working too well :( seems to need different drivers to work as well. Sure I will figure this out once i've had more than 2 hours sleep.
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#6 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

These are the ASICSs I bought...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITD5NV6/ref ... 90_TE_dp_1

What is it doing or not doing?
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#7 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Silver »

Looks a nice little set up there Scole! And it looks like you'll be knocking out some serious numbers :shock:
What kind of usb hub is that you've got?
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#8 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

This USB hub...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F3J9GLM/ref ... 10_TE_item

But I'm not sure it's worth buying a hub with more than 4 ports yet. There might be some type of bottleneck that prevents 6 ASICs from perform 6 times better than 1, I think. Not sure if it's the CPU, USB bus, power or nature of app using multiple ASICs. Don't think it's power though. This hub has 4amp 12v power adapter which is 9.6amps 5v and I figure it has to be able push 6 (or 10) x .5amp ASICs (at 5v). Only been a few hours and I'm changing things too quick to get a fair assessment. I've put 3 on another PC for the night.

Using one of these fans to cool the ASICs...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XN24GY/ref ... 90_TE_dp_1

I'm still anxious to try an r-box. At $70 US. I think those may be the way to go. Based on their hash rate, they're 5 times more cost effective than the 2 Gh/s USB sticks. And it's only one device on the USB bus which would eliminate that if the USB bus is the bottleneck.
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#9 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Finally .... some success :twisted: credits a flowing
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#10 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Megacruncher »

Some success?

You and scole have completely changed the game for TSBT. :shock: :shock: :notworthy: :D
We are outgunning UBT threefold. :wav: And unless I can get myself properly on the Bitcoin bandwagon my huge lead over you will be gone by next spring. :(

Anyway I've ordered myself some of these USB dongles. In the meantime my PCs are going at it with rather modest success. An awful lot of work - 90% - is declared invalid for no obvious reason. Should I persist or rededicate my CPUs and GPUs to more conventional projects while I wait for my dongles to arrive?
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#11 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Here's info about the different apps. http://www.bitcoinutopia.net/bitcoinuto ... php?id=303

Some have rather short timeout periods, despite what your BOINC manager tells you. CUDA Wus timeout in 7 min, but ATI Wus don't seem to have a limit. The ASIC WUs timeout in 3600 sec, 1 hour, so be careful how you download.

I'm going to reallocate my GPUs to other projects as very soon. Just not enough time to keep it all straight.

With the ASICs, be sure to create a preferences profile with apps suitable for your hardware. I'd only run 1 ASIC task at a time. It will use all the devices connected. You can run GPU and ASIC tasks at the same time though. Just make sure you have a core for each and set the preferences for the app combo you want to run.
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#12 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Mega, are you running cpu or gpu ? don't know why you have so much invalids, can you post a link to the units and we can look at the units and maybe see why . From what I have seen so far my 6990 rocks, guess this was what it was designed for as it spanks the 7970's :shock: My 750ti will not run them, don't know why. The cpu app is a waste of time, the gpu pays ok for gpu apps, the ASICs is where the real credit comes in. My 660ti's seem to tear through them to, but they are back on GPUGrid and Primegrid where they belong. As for spring ..... haven't even started to optimise or push the units yet ............. some users are pushing over 1 billion a day :shock:These ASIC units are Android level power usage but a massive jump in the credit level, if it lasts.
The antminers I have are ok, pain in the behind to set up on win XP as they require to leave the UART bridge drivers as is and install with zidag for the usb composite device. Win 7 is easier as you only have to change the driver for the UART bridge, the antminer doesn't show up as separate device.
I also have some bifury ASICs and if you can get them they are easier to set up and are more powerful than the U2 antminers. The 333 antminers and U1's are not worth the money compared to the U2's or the bi / bit furies.
The 333 mhs apps take almost as much time as the 1.6 Ghs units and pay far less. The U2's and the bifuries will not complete the 20 Ghs units in time repeatedly. The units run better singly using all the ASICs on the same unit rather than running 1 per ASIC. I stopped running the nci apps for this reason.
Scole, do you have an R-box yet ? I think they will be far superior. I think I am about to get my mitts on a 30 GHs Butterfly labs miner. I hope it will run here.
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#13 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Expecting an r-box early next week. Issue I'm having is getting the client to connect and upload completed Wus before they timeout and download new ones. Also, I'm not familiar with the app_info.xml file, but that's what you need to setup to overclock the ASICs. I have a template for the cgminer 1.6 Gh/s campaign 1 and 2 , but can't figure out how to add app info for GPU app to run them at the same time.
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#14 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

I haven't started overclocking yet, will be a task for over the weekend , if I bother. Not sure if the difference on the 1.6 GHs sticks is really worth the heat that pushing them will occur. What I have done is set the ASICs up on my systems that do not have GPU's just now ( basically dual core dell optiplex's ) and set them to use only 1 core so that all the ASICs are used at the same time. I have a butterfly labs 30Ghs miner on it's way , probably early next week to, but the system that will go into is waiting for a GPU so that I can use a HDMI connection before it can go out into the tech shed .
At the moment it's 3 antminer U2's and 3 bifury stick which are close to 4 GHs each in reality.

Set your systems to upload immediately .
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#15 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Scole, use this as a cc_config.xml , put it in the boinc folder under c:/ProgramData/BOINC


<cc_config>
<options>
<http_transfer_timeout>3600</http_transfer_timeout>
<http_transfer_timeout_bps>1</http_transfer_timeout_bps>
<report_results_immediately>1</report_results_immediately>
<skip_cpu_benchmarks>1</skip_cpu_benchmarks>
</options>
</cc_config>


more info here http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/client_configuration

for the app info, let me know what apps you want to run on the gpu's and which type of gpu's or PM me and I can knock one out for you.
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#16 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Alez wrote:Set your systems to upload immediately .
How? Never mind. Think I have it.

<cc_config>
<options>
<report_results_immediately>1</report_results_immediately>
</options>
</cc_config>
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#17 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Beware. I don't think using <report_results_immediately>1</report_results_immediately> is the right solution to make sure completed tasks upload before they expire. I now have over 900 outstanding tasks on one system. Way too many. Apparently downloaded a few more each time it completed one. They appear to be accepted and credit given even though they're now way past due. Should have set my Computing Preferences Network Usage to only keep enough tasks for .01 or .02 days.
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#18 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Alez wrote:I think I am about to get my mitts on a 30 GHs Butterfly labs miner. I hope it will run here.
Better check out if that will work first. Not miners will. So far, only the USB sticks, r-box and bit erupter blades work, I think. They tried to get a Antminer S1 to work, but determined there was no way to interface with it.

Just, took a peek at one. They are USB and should interface the same. It's the non-USB ASCIs they can't work with.
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#19 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

yes it's usb so should work ..... i hope :shock: It was actually the S1 that I originally wanted but so far I don't think they have got it to work sucessfully, but think they haven't given up on the idea yet.

I'll have a go at the app_config in a little bit. Think I should be able to do it in a far more elegant way as really there should be no need to pass all the command line parameters to the app and doing it that way means you have to rewrite it any time the project changes a parameter. Fine for an established project that is stable, but got a feeling things change here pretty often. I take it all you want to run is the ASIC 1.6GHs app for project #1 and the cgminer app for ati on project #1 at the moment ?
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#20 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Scratch that. Putting the cmdline in the app_config.cml doesn't work. Has to be in the app_info.xml file. Back to work...
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#21 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Should do as long as you are running boinc 7.0.28 or later I would have thought. app_config files replaced app_info files after that. Let me know if it works or not and I will rewrite the app_info file for you if that is needed, but that truly is ' old school ' Don't think I have had to write one of those in over a year :shock:
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#22 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

I'm running 7.2.33 and tested several times. That cmdline isn't getting picked up by the cgminer app. You can tell by looking in the stderr.txt file in the slots folder. You'll see the line used to start the app. Very long.

starts with...and ends with...wrapper: running cgminer.exe ( -o stratum+tcp://eu.multipool.us:9999
ends with...--no-submit-stale --anu-freq 250)

if you don't see --anu-freq 250, it didn't use that option. app_info.xml is the only way I can get it to do that. I have a good app_info for each of cgminer apps and I think for the sgminer app. Problem is if I try to describe more than 1 app, it doesn't read the app_info.xml correctly, doesn't use it and it dumps all the WUs.

Yeah! Finally crunching Milkyway campaign WUs. Now I don't feel so guilty.
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#23 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

ok then if it doesn't pass the cmd line to the ASIC then it is of no use though you can take out the command and still use it with the app_info.xml file to only run one ASIC app and one ATI app.
Guess it will have to be old school and anonymous platform. Have sent the new app_info by PM. Give it a spin and let me know if there are problems. It's been a while since I messed with them .

Because it is anonymous platform it will dump all the units you previously have in cache and will remove anything in the project folder before reloading according to the info contained in the app_info. If you have time set no new work and run the cache down before testing. Also a good idea to set a min cache so you don't trash too many if it has problems. I believe setting 0 days and 0 additional days will force the manager to only load 1 unit at a time as you need it.
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#24 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

It won't use the cmdline setting from app_config.xml, but it will use it if it's in the app_info.xml. I don't know what the difference is between the 2, but I've tried it both ways and can't get it to work unless it's in the app_info.xml. By the way, the sgminer section you sent works. Thanks, That was the 7990 I was anxious to get working on this project.
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#25 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

You're welcome :D Glad it works.
It should have worked from the app_config to but that is with GPU's etc. Guess the ASICs are just too different. app_config runs the project files etc as defined by the project and is far easier to work with. app_info is far more powerful and allows you to set up the client as an anonymous platform and put anything you want in the app, ie. a totally different client from what the project uses etc. etc. The downside of app_info is that you have to manually update it if / when the project changes app versions etc, whereas with the app_config you don't.
Have you still got an issue with the units backing up on yoursystem. Both of mine are uploading to the server every 20 mins or so with no problems. I don't have report immediately set but it should force the system in question to report the units back to the server immediately they are finished plus / minus the server backoff between connections. Maybe check how your client is set up to connect under computer preferences / network usage in the boinc manager. Maybe confirm before connect or usage has been specified ?

here's a link to the usage of the anonymous platform on boinc http://boinc.berkeley.edu/wiki/anonymous_platform
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#26 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Not sure what's happening, but I'm not seeing the same behavior or results as the past few days. Tasks taking very long, a hour. Messages in stderr.txt are different too, but not what they mean. Is there an issue with connectivity to the pools, problem with the hardware or is the party over?
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#27 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

the pool servers are down for campaign #1 and #3. units are timing out or not ending at the correct time. They are trying to remove the units from the server and move to new mining pools. Recommended that you attach to campaign #2 only at the moment and abort all line 1 and 3 units.

see here for more details http://www.bitcoinutopia.net/bitcoinuto ... d=347#2177
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#28 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Just a crunching power comparison. Here's a comparison of CPU vs. GPU vs. ASIC crunching power...

High-end CPU: less than 100 Mh/s; $300; 130 watts

AMD HD 7970 700 Mh/s; $200 used; 325 watts
AMD HD 7990 1,400 Mh/s; $400 used; 500 watts

Antminer U2 1,600 Mh/s; $27 new; 2 watts

Rockminer r-box 32,000 Mh/s; $70 new; 50 watts

Somebody check my math. This is sick.

{I double checked my sources and originally used litecoin hashrates on GPUs, not bitcoin hashrates, which overstated the SHA-256 ASIC power 1000x. Figures have been corrected}
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#29 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Can't argue with the math. My Butterfly labs 30 GH/s miner is running close to 34 GH/s and making huge credit. The antminers hit 1.6 GH/s without overclocking easily and the bifuries are hitting 4.8 GH/s constantly.
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#30 How do you use the app_config.xml to control WU downloads?

Post by scole of TSBT »

This project (ASIC apps) is a PITA trying to figure out how to get it to download WUs when another CPU project is active. After it completes all it's BU WUs, it refuses to download more BU WUs until the CPU projects are suspended. I've asked the BU message board but no answer yet. Anyone have suggestions? I can run other GPU projects and BU WUs will download, but if I run Rosetta, BU won't download new WUs. I get the Not requesting tasks: don't need message in the log. BU moderator mentioned the app_config but did say what setting would make it work. Any suggestions?
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#31 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Easiest way is to run the ASICs on a separate computer like I do.
Not the answer you want so here goes. The boinc scheduler is a piece of $hit concocted into Boinc by DA to help further the cause of credit new, where all projects pay the same crap credits to keep the Seti acolytes happy. Basically what he did was change it from how it used to work which was as you would think as a human makes sense and follow what you put in for project shares in your account page or far easier in Bamstats. What he changed was to base scheduler requests on RAC, so all projects scheduling is based on the principle that they all issue roughly the same credit. You have now ran into it's ridiculous consequences. The scheduler now see's the RAC on bitcoin and believes that every other project you are running needs time to balance the ' amount of work ' put into bitcoin. It will now completely ignore your wishes.
You will now have to set bitcoin to a ridiculously high resource share level compared to other projects to get the scheduler to request work. Also if you are running the recommended version of boinc I would update to a later test version as they have been working on the scheduler. I am running 7.4.8.
You can also force it to download manually but that involves babysitting the computer at least every day.
There is a third way which we might have to employ if this doesn't work where you have to edit the projects scheduler priority in one of the .xml files but I will have to do a search for it as I can't remember which one you need to edit to basically reset the scheduler priority on bitcoin.
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#32 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Megacruncher, are you running more than 1 BU task at a time? If so, you need to limit your PC to 1 active WU at a time. In the BU preferences, select only 1 1.6Gh/s campaign app. Then put this app_config.xml in your BU project folder...
<app_config>
<app>
<name>A-cgminer-4.4.0</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>B-cgminer-4.4.0</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>C-cgminer</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>A-cgminer-rbox</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>B-cgminer-rbox</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
<name>C-cgminer-rbox</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app>
</app_config>
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#33 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Silver »

Quick question to my bitcoin bashing buddies (hopefully!)
If one were to hypothetically ;) add another antminer what changes - if any - would you need to make to any configs?
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#34 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

No change needed to the config. Just need to make sure whatever you have it plugged into, that it can power all the U2s. If you have a powered hub, it shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure the total watts of the hub power supply exceeds the 2 x number of U2s. Note though, I've never been able to get more than 3 U2s working on a single PC. Not for lack of power, but with more than 3 connected, I kept getting USB errors.
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#35 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Just plug it in, install the driver, zidag it to the correct driver and it should be picked up and used, they are designed to hash together. They don't work as separate units like a GPU, each one just adds more hashing power to the pool you are connected to.
I have 4 ants, 3 bit furies and 1 bi fury attached to to powered hubs daisychained together ie 1 hub connected to the other, then connected to 1 port on the computer. No issues running them. I bought a £45 quid dell optiplex win 7 computer from the company I pm'd you on ebay so I don't have to bother with configs or anything as it only runs bitcoin and wuprop. I have three of them now running the ASICS.
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#36 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Silver »

Thanks chaps, thats pretty much what I thought. Plug and play usb after all :)
Not sure I'll be expanding my farm to anywhere near the level of you two credit junkies :D
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#37 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

tis an addiction :D any further issues, shout or pm
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#38 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Silver »

Thanks Alez, I always assume that your help is just a pm away :wink:
Once my postie has been next I think that will be my insect purchasing over for now.

I am tempted to look into running them on an Odroid though for the ultimate low powered credit crunching machine. I know that poeple have mined bitcoin using a raspberry pi as control but not sure how that would transfer to boinc, maybe it could be an odroid job and time to try linux :shock:
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#39 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

always, if I can mate. Not sure about the ordroid, sure it would be possible. I know there are images available for the pi that are preloaded with cgminer but that would only work using the command line. Far easier just to get a cheap win 7 machine since in reality there is no cpu use so the computer is on idle anyway.
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#40 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

For those with a r-box or considering a r-box, instead of powering it with a single 12v power supply like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TU ... 5I35FA61KI, consider powering from your PSU with cables like these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MAO ... UTF8&psc=1. The single stand alone power supplies generate a lot of heat, which means it's drawing much more power than just what the r-box is using. Your PC PSU should be much more efficient at converting to 12v power. I replaced 3 stand alone power supplies with a single 3 way cable that plugs into a PCI-E power cord. A lot of excess heat went away.
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#41 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

And if I can get the damn thing to work properly on the app I am helping develop, then you will also have the option of running gritseed ASICs here which are a lot more commonly available than r-boxs.
Don't suppose anyone knows how to put a delay on start into the Boinc wrapper ?
Got the app itself and the command options working perfect but the usb detect suxs :evil:
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#42 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Does it need to be done in the BOINC wrapper or in cgminer? Here's a list of cgminer command line options...https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer/blob/master/README

Here's a couple options suggested, in BU forum, to help with USB errors...

There are 2 options for cgminer but dont know if they are helping:
--minion-spidelay (Add a delay in microseconds after each SPI I/O)
--minion-spisleep (Sleep time in milliseconds when doing an SPI reset)
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#43 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

Command options are required in both.

The 2 options posted up don't work, at least not for gridseeds. They are not general cgminer command, but specific miner type commands. A lot of the stuff on the BU forum is not very relevant ... sometimes think some of the admins don't really have much knowledge ..
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#44 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

Do they use a custom cgminer version? If so, can't they add a command line option for number of seconds to sleep before initializing the USB devices? Do we have access to the source? I'm a java programmer, but I could probably sift though and suggest some code to add.
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#45 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

yes they use a custom cgminer as they are dual miners, capable of mining both BTC and scrypt simultaneously.

http://cryptomining-blog.com/1245-downl ... 355-asics/ is the version I am using as it works for a while before need ing a hotplug.

http://minerdesk.com/updated-cgminer-4- ... c-support/ is the version currently being run by the wrapper which again works perfectly except it fails to find the device nearly every time on starting a second unit.

https://github.com/gridseed/usb-miner/t ... re/cgminer github for cgminer.

I have no idea whether either of these versions have been compiled with icarus support or not. I suspect not as I have never seen an icarus message when hotplugging the gridseed unlike say the ants.
If you wish to look see if you can find icarus support or compile a version with gridseed support and icarus support or a delayed start of some form I can test it but I am not a programmer. I can just about hack some bits of Linux, last time I seen c+ was probably 25 years ago :D
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#46 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

I'm trying to build you a cgminer.exe from minerdesk.com, but taking a little work to get set up. Never coded or compiled C before, but getting there. Once I know I can build an exe that works the same as what you have, I can start to tweak it. What miner options do you want with it?
--enable-cpumining Build with cpu mining support(default disabled)
--disable-opencl Override detection and disable building with opencl
--enable-bitforce Compile support for BitForce FPGAs(default disabled)
--enable-icarus Compile support for Icarus Board(default disabled)
--enable-scrypt Compile support for scrypt litecoin mining (default disabled)
--enable-bitfury
--enable-bflsc
--enable-GridSeed
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#47 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by Alez »

unless it is needed would miss out cpumining, not worth it.
disable opencl, again no point.
probably enable scrypt as it leaves the option of LT

sounds good. Will pm you email to send it to and I will embed in wrapper.

Will also send the zip to you so you know what libs are including.
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#48 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by robmacagain »

HELP ME!!!

I canne get nae work lol.

I have 3 antminers installed (thanks Willie) got the zaidig thingy with the drivers installed my comp knows there there, says CP2102 USB to UART Bridge controller x 3.

Have it set to 1.6gh and 333 campaign 1, 3 and 4, have a app config in boinc Bitcoin Utopia project with
<app_config>
<app>
<name>cgminer</name>
</app>
<app_version>
<app_name>cgminer</app_name>
<cmdline>--anu-freq xxx</cmdline>
</app_version>
</app_config>

And a cc in project data with >
<cc_config>
<options>
<coproc>
<type>miner_asic</type>
<count>3</count>
</coproc>
</options>
</cc_config>

So what is wrong???
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#49 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by scole of TSBT »

To the best of my knowledge, you need to have BOINC 7.4.12 or better running.

Also, need this in your cc_config.xml...
<coproc>
<type>miner_asic</type>
<count>1</count>
</coproc>

Config options have changed frequently, but this is what my app_config.xml looks like...
<app_config>
<app>
<name>C-cgminer</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app_version>
<plan_class>asic</plan_class>
<app_name>C-cgminer</app_name>
<cmdline>--anu-freq 250</cmdline>
</app_version>
</app_config>

And on that particular system, I have to suspend all other projects before BU will download WUs. After I get a cache, I resume the other projects.
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#50 Re: Using ASICS miners etc on Bitcoin

Post by robmacagain »

Right thanks for the help.

I need to start again from scratch, so................

I need to put what where?

1-Program data>boinc>projects>www.boicoinutopia.net_bitcoinutopia what goes in here???

2- program data>boinc what goes in here???

This is what i have in
1. app_config>
<app_config>
<app>
<name>C-cgminer</name>
<max_concurrent>1</max_concurrent>
</app>
<app_version>
<plan_class>asic</plan_class>
<app_name>C-cgminer</app_name>
<cmdline>--anu-freq 250</cmdline>
</app_version>
</app_config>

2. i have a cc_config in boinc with this in

<cc_config>
<options>
<use_all_gpus>1</use_all_gpus>
</options>
</cc_config>
<cc_config>
<options>
<coproc>
<type>miner_asic</type>
<count>3</count>
</coproc>
</options>
</cc_config>

Am using 7.4.12
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