Bitcoin Forum

So I am interested in getting started in Bit coin mining as part of a pool (Slush's Pool), just to see how everything works. I want to use my Alienware m14x computer for this (it has a Nvidia 650m 2gb), which I know is not the best, but I just want to see how everything works, and then I can upgrade and such if I think it is worth it. (I'm using Windows)

Anyway, my problem is is that when I open GUI Miner, it shows the little GUI Miner minimzied window at the bottom of my screen, but when I click on it, the it disappears, and I can only see it running in my bottom right taskbar. What do I need to do in order to be able to get the actual window to appear on my screen so that I can start mining? Do I need to have finished downloading all the blocks or something for it to work?

A popular reply I saw out there is change your pbolmc.ini (something similar to that) to a value of 0, however when I search the guiminer folder, I can only find it in the .exe format.

Looking for any help, and thanks ahead!

I would delete the extracted folder and download a fresh copy from here

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3878.0

Right-clicking on the task-bar icon hopefully gives three options - pause, restore and close. Restore should open it up for normal interaction.

I'm on Slush's pool, and that option should be in the 'server' drop down box. This will put the relevant info into some of the boxes for you.

Fill out your user.worker name e.g. psipower.worker1, and your password for that worker (which you have created in your account with Slush), select the relevant device - presumably your graphics card - and click 'start mining'. You may see it connect to api2.mining, but get transferred automatically to the stratum servers (more efficient, less fees).

You can save this configuration using File, save settings. Then if you re-start the program anytime, you just need to click 'start mining'!


Then it's time to play around with the other bits and find out what gives you the best rate!!!!


I found setting a CPU affinity box improved my rate.


You may find this helpful for various flags to improve your rate:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison)

Good luck!

Hi, if still not working, try this:

In the taskbar, left-click once on the folder icon so it gains focus
Now, press "ALT-Space" (you will see a menu appear on the folder)
Press "M" to choose the Move option (your cursor will now turn into four arrow points).
Press any of the cursor keys once (this will move your folder on the screen and it will be captured by the mouse)
Move your mouse about and you will see the folder moving with it
Left-Click to "drop" the folder onto your desktop.

Hope it helps (thanks to pixilated8)

K.

Did not work, but thank you so much for trying!

Try Kruncha's fix. Also, having a desktop shortcut to guiminer is awesome. Right click guiminer.exe in the extracted folder and "send to desktop".

delete contents of ../appdata/roaming/poclbm

Thank you!

+1 that outta do it.

Thanks for the help, I will keep the later information in mind after I get it working, but for now, I tried the restore button, and it put the icon on the bottom, but when I clicked the icon, it just disappeared again.

Thanks for the advice will do.

I got to as far as the press any of the cursor keys once (which I assume means press the right or left click keys when the four-arrow thing appears). However, after doing that the folder did not appear, so I don't think it was captured by the mouse?

I could not find that folder on my computer.


Thank you everyone for the overwhelming support and quick replies, I really appreciate it. However, sadly I still have not managed to solve the problem, so I am still looking for more help. I really appreciate you guys taking your time to try and help me get started though, it really means a lot!

it means the up,down,left and right on the keyboard.

K.

Thanks. But now the move button is not highlighted anymore:(. Any advice on that?

"BitshireHathaway" ha ha :) What-a-nick ! I love it !

Anyway - I would like to join ASICminers. Any1 knows where to buy shares ?

Search for file poclbm and delete. In windows, click start and type poclbm into search box. Delete and try running guiminer again  :P

note: this will delete any mining info you've saved, so for slush, you'll need stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 and your log-in info. Good luck

Just follow the whole instructions from the beginning.

K.

Off topic but anyway, here is where you can buy it: https://btct.co/security/ASICMINER-PT

A quick google search should give you all the options.

I just tried it, it didn't work.

I did follow it from the beginning, but now the move option, or when I hit m, I no longer get the four-pointed cursor. I find that really strange, do you have any idea what could have happened?

I would also like to point out, if it helps, that this is something happening over time, because originally it worked, and then after that it did not work, but I could hit the move button, and just now, I can not hit the move button anymore. I am really interested in getting this working, so I would really appreciate your guys help!

If you are on windows7, the file 'poclbm' is in the directory C:/Users/YourUsernameOnTheComputer/AppData/Roaming/poclbm.

It contains the information saved using 'File, save settings' about your various workers as well as the window position when saved. You can delete the file (thereby losing the saved setups, but also getting rid of any strange window positioning), and this is a safer option that trying to edit the file directly! It's easy to setup the information again for Slush!

Edit: assuming the window appears in a normal position when you restart it!

Note: Use the 'close' option on any gui-miner icons in the righthand tray thingy as you don't want to be restoring the mystery missing instance of the program!

End Edit

That's what I meant. I deleted the program, and closed everything, and it still did not work. However, I go to my username on the computer folder, and I don't see any app data/ roaming folder, nor can I access it through command prompt, so what should I do then.

Ohhhh i just take for granted everyone has hidden files shown lol

Go to control panel and select "appearance and personalizalition" amd then "folder options" check the box "show all folders" and under the view tab, choose to "show all files/folders and drives". click ok and look for appdata/roaming again. Bet its there now  ;)

Errm, now I'm lost! If you didn't go to AppData/Roaming/poclbm - what did you delete? :)

If you open a command prompt it puts you in C:/Users/YourUsername, so you should be able to do directly:

cd appdata
cd roaming
cd poclbm

and then a 'dir' should list the files, including poclbm.

and a  'del poclbm' command should get rid of it.   (Caveat - it is 'del' in windows isn't it, not 'rm'?)


Addendum: Or as auseeker has jsut posted, show those hidden folders!!!!

Well, I finally got it! Thank you so much for your help, it popped up now:).


I'd also like to thank everyone else who provided me with advice, you guys all responded very promptly with helping me solve my problem.

Found with the hidden folders. However, I searched poclbm in the start menu, and I found poclbm.exe in there and thats what I deleted.

Maybe time for a quick visit to the Recycle Bin to restore it - it may be useful!!!