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Fully working Batch 1- 4 firmware for the Z9 Mini unlocked with working temp and fan for the Batch 4 units. The only modification was to unlock cgminer  and the web gui. This release fixes the loud fan noise when using batch 1 firmware on the batch 4 units.

I am not asking for dev fee and only ask for donations if you find it helpful for your Batch 4 Z9 mini.

I am releasing this because the fan noise on the batch 4's is loud when using batch 1 firmware and some want an alternative to Payware/Dev-Fees. This version is based off the latest firmware from Bitmain.

Donations Zcash only, can be sent to:  t1e4Dmr5RBgnWqTN2mAmZ6JzGavW7qxA4P1

THIS IS FOR Z9 Mini's ONLY WILL WORK ON ALL MINI BATCHES 1-4

Updated: 12/02/2018
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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xeZjuA4KvpI0f1m4a933tLlbt5In3L7g/view?usp=sharing


Updated: 12/02/2018 2:07
With Status Page Auto-Refresh
Miner status page auto update status every 45 seconds

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iqtiWxn_BQHkw1jPYTuf8ukVtbIMsS-U/view?usp=sharing


Update: 11/28/2018 5:36
Repair/workaround when locked out of web gui. This bug can happen with any firmware you use on your miner unless the firmware author has resolved the issue. If you get locked out of the web GUI. If this happens to you it is not because you updated to my firmware version.

From a windows pc
Download WinSCP SSH File explorer    https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
Download PuTTy   SSH  Client             https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/

Most changes made to the files and file system using WinSCP are only temporary and will resort back to stock files after a reboot of the miner.

1. Connect to your miners with WinSCP (you must select  scp mode from the dropdown) use the username and password   root  and  admin
2. Find the folder named config by double clicking the .. at the top of the connection window
3. Look for the file    lighttpd-htdigest.user  and double click it to open it
4. Replace the info in the file with the following info:    root:AntMiner Configuration:d51b2dca12fa4b742ccf76681d4051cb
5. Click to save the file and close it.
6. Now find the same file in the   etc  folder and do the same step as above.

That's it, you should now be able to get back into your miner using the username and password of  root and root

This will get you back in, after that you need to change the password from the web GUI or reload the firmware image ( if you do this change the password after reboot from web GUI in order to create a new password file).

I suggest you do not leave the password as root and recommend you change it. This should also create a compatible file with the current htdigest from the machine hopefully preventing a future lockout for unknown reasons.

Some routers may automatically allow access to the web port without using port forwarding.

This can leave the door open to hackers since we do not know much information on security exploits the firmware may have it is best to shield your miner from hackers.

The SSH password should be able to be changed using the passwd command for the user root.

The ports open on your router waiting for connections are:
 
port 22 the SSH port
port 80 the web GUI port
cgminer-api port of 4028

I am sure there are a few more and will list them as I know them.

Update: 12/02/2018 1:45
Updated both versions to latest Bitmain firmware - Unlocked works on all batches 1-4

Please leave any feedback!

I'll get through reverse engineering this later, but so far it looks like the 'unlocked' part already existed and is not something you added.

Also, still uncool.

Jason

I will tell you so you can save some time. It is cgminer unlocked from the latest release from bitmain for the minis put into the batch 1 image. It took a few days to figure it out but the fix should work on future firmware release by bitmain the fix was similar to smartass1 fix for the fullsize that you didn't like being released.

Mine is just a little different and once I figured out what was needed the fix took 15 minutes.

The best part is all of it was done with freeware.

This fix will also work on other miners that are using cgminer as the asic software that cant normally be overclocked.

Unlike your releases I didn't add any callbacks to a server or anything like that it is just a few files swapped between firmware images with a tweak to unlock.

There are enough people out there who will benefit from your versions of the firmware I just wasn't going to hold people hostage for a fix for the batch 4's being able to overclock without the fan issues when they could overclock for free but had to deal with a noisy fan.

I am pretty straight forward I did it to fix mine and felt others could benefit from it. Where you are asking for beta testers and don't even offer them a fee license. They are testing your firmware which you get paid for and mining in dev mode paying you again and you say im uncool for fixing a fan issue for free. Sounds like your a little greedy. I read you claim you spent all this money on ida pro and a z9 just to do this is why you were charging for your releases then later in another thread you say you have 12 z9's in a matter of days you got 11 more z9's. Be straight with folks your in it for the money and that's it if you had all the big farms like you say buying your releases then why are you dealing with the little guys online.

It don't matter as I said I am willing to still consider buying future releases of yours if I need it on a machine, this freebee to the public was was just a fan fix

Smarty’s fix is incorrect. It causes miscalculations in other parts of the frequency handling around timeouts. This is why folk have issues with it in some circumstances.

I have zero miners other than two on loan so you clearly are off base.

The problem I had is that you posted it in my thread. Simple as that, not that you released a mod.

As far as “in it for money”, you are right I seek to have my time accounted for. As far as greed, you are simply wrong. One example is I have had a handful of users who purchased firmware and their machine could not handle an overclock; they were refunded. That is not greed.

Jason

You asked to start my own thread so I did and you come on it wanting to reverse engineer it, all you had to do was ask what I did and I would tell you like I did. As far as the fix not working on some units the same can be said about your release also it has bugs. I have been using various fixes on my miners and haven't had any issues with any firmware running. There will always be some units that run flaky no matter what fw is on it. I have no intention to rip your release apart as I said this was put out to help the batch 4 users with a fan issue when running batch 1 fw. You didn't have a problem with someone posting the stock fw on the thread but this one you did. It is always better to work together to overcome the manufacturers measures. Again didn't mean to offend you if you would have said something other then you weren't interested in the bacth 4 at this time I would have kept it to myself but you said you weren't interested in the units due to their availability. I guess we move on from here.

I have not downloaded your version, but gave you a merit for your work and for that fact that you giving it out for free. good luck

Chipless,

Fair enough. I apologize. Stresses are clearly showing... how I have responded to you is not my goal, ever.

Jason

Thank you.... I just want us all to work together to get the most out of our miners without the manufacturer trying to screw us.

Apology accepted …..The stress of the fans on the batch 4s put me over this weekend and I shouldn't have responded the way I did. As I said before I am here to help you if I can in any way testing or trying to get past some bugs.

I don't have any Z9 minis or interest in this firmware, but I appreciate reading the back and forth here, wish more developers in this sphere had your good attitudes :)

Dear firmware developers!

Thank you for your work. This is firmware really work!!!! As soon as I can make a donation.

Your welcome … If you can make a donation thank you if not I wont hold it against you :) I only hope your home is quieter for the holiday season. Happy Mining!!

With this fw is it possible to get above 657mhz and nit to loose one board?

You got the batch 4 to 737?
Regards

If you need to manage individual board frequencies, you’ll have to use mine. Losing boards will vary by machine, too. The only real way to answer your question on 657 is try....

Depending on what batch you have depends on how high you can go. The batch 1's I have goto 762 the batch 2's goto 662 and the batch 3's and 4's goto 737..

So far it don't seem to matter what firmware those are the levels I have made it to with my machines. I have 1 hashboard on the batch 2 that gets 1 x but it never loses speed. So I don't don't if this is a reporting error if there is actually something going on as long as I don't lose speed I don't worry about 1 or 2 x's

If you wish to try Efudd's when it is available you can try to set each board separately when I tried it didn't help any for my units but others have had different results.

hello

Downloaded your firmware for the z9 mini for all 5 mini´s and now i am unable to log on, the user and password are not working on any of them, have you had this problem before?

Kuno

ps i´m not even able to reset to factory...

The only time I have ever had a login issue was when I needed to close my browser and clear the browser temp files. The reset is power on the unit wait about 30 sec to a min then hold the reset button in until the fault and normal light flash ---about 10-20 seconds pressing the button.

Thanks man, will try that now.

Not working at all.

Hello, what is the password for the firmware? I can not go to the device

Ohh you too????

yes...found a solution?

No! i´m still having massive problems, reset, ip reset and other reset dont work. I´m lost!

bad things
so whats the problem? we were thrown?

Password is same as default user/pass  root  and  root  if you cant login clear your browsers cache. If you need to reset it press the reset for 10 seconds.   I don't know know why you cant login nothing was changed that would effect the login or a factory reset. If you changed your password on the unit before the upgrade then you would use that password.

nothing helps ... maybe your login and password are in the firmware?

the fan works 100%, even though it was standing on my machine, and the red light flashes as if there is no Internet.

When you try to login what does it do?  Also check your units IP to make sure it didn't change unless you had it set to static ip. Otherwise I don't know why you are not logging in. The only thing changed was cgminer and it has nothing to do with the units login or web gui. Sounds like a ip or a pc browser issue. All the login credential were never touched everything is factory user and passwords. Bitmain has a utility called iPreporter that you can run on your pc then you press the ip button on the unit and it will send the ip to the reporter or you can look for it under devices in your router  One of the first posts the user says it works fine so I don't know

I tried different browsers, in the list of clients of the router ip has not changed, the name of ASIC has changed from antminer to Unknown

That is a network issue of some sort. The router isn't getting the data it should be. What batch mini are you trying it on? and What version of the firmware did you last load to it?

Goodmorning. So the upgrade have been made from Smarass´s firmware ind it have been working flawless until i installed this firmware, it started fine, i adjusted the overclock a little and nothing was wrong, log on worked no problem right after upgrade, then i turned off the computer and went to work came back turned on the computer and it asked for the user and password, normal it just auto log on, so i tried all the things you have written og more, even a new computer, smartphone and tablets. so next step, reset, reset and another reset then factory reset, factory reset and last another factory reset, the same result. went on bitmain site to be sure that´s its done correct, and i´m sure it was the wright way. so, after factory reset the old ip is gone and a new has come up, so im on the network and i can see the unit is reset due to i not hashing on my pool, i can find the unit on the network and i also come too the log on screen but nothing i plug in is working. (Sorry for my english i´m Danish :)) Hope this makes i a bit cleare.   

right after your firmware, I started requesting a login and password ... and before the firmware I removed the tick "Keep settings:", that is, everything should have been on the standard settings

Before this was the May firmware bitmain

So if you had a static ip it would default back to dhcp mode which the router then may assign a new ip to it. I had weird issues with that on the stock firmware also. You may need to reboot your router to clear its cache and show the correct ip so you can access it. Or you can download the ipreporter software from bitmain's support area and run it then press the ip report button on the front of the miner control box it will send the correct ip to the software so you can verify it. Also the reset button is in the small hole on the front while the miner is running press a pin into it for about 10-20 seconds ...you will see red and green light flash.  This is still the may firmware with the cgminer replaced which has no affect on logging into it that is why I don't understand how you are locked out of it. There is no possible way the software I released can lock you out. I do know if you have it in a DMZ zone on your router you can get locked out and you have to reset it with the reset button. I don't know why this can happen I found that weird crap on the stock firmware when I was accessing it remotely. Don't know if bitmain somehow accessed it then or hacker but none of the default passwords would work until I did a reset by the front button then a few hours later it would happen again finally I took it out of the dmz zone.

I found a solution to the problem, I have already restored my z9 mini

https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006020914-V9-Z9-Mini-Control-Board-Program-Recovery

Thanks man, i will try it when i get home :) good job - and i think i will stay away from the firmware, despite the wonderful effort making it, but its not for my machines. 5 with that firmware and 5 not working. But Thanks anyway :)

chipless, trying to help with this response regardless what you may think....

I have not tried chipless' firmware, but the default http login is root/root and the default ssh login is root/admin. If the password is changed via the web interface, then the ssh and web logins are synchronized.

I disagree with the comments on this being network issues (ignoring IP changes) or browser caching -- that simply doesn't happen for HTTP Authorization requests.

If you do a _full_ factory reset using the V9 procedure, the MAC address on the unit will change and your router will assign a new IP address (Incidentally, I've had the instructions on this recovery at the bottom of my first post on the firmware thread from day one for worst-case scenarios).

Unless something has changed since the version of chipless' firmware I looked at, I'm going to agree with him and say I cannot see how this would happen. If you install firmware with the 'keep settings' unchecked, all configuration is removed except for the MAC address (which means IP address is likely to stay the same, even if using DHCP; this is part of my disagreement on the network issue comments).

If we assume that the passwords are out of whack for whatever reason, then yes, the V9->Z9 recovery process will work, 100%. Personally, I'd try to look at the ssh login and see if root/admin works (and root/root, in case something wacky has happened).

@chipless - in this scenario, I've worked with the users via teamviewer to understand and resolve the issues. That may be an option if you can get one of these users to work with you. Does not take long and goes a long way towards customer satisfaction as well as knowledge gained.

@Kunolyb -- I do not completely understand your response. smarty's firmware is for the Z9 and chipless' firmware is for the Z9Mini. How and why would you have upgraded from smarty's to this one?

Thank you,

Jason

Ahh brain fart Jason i wrote this early morning, sorry as you said it´s not smarty´s, then i cant remember, but it was one to unlock til freq. but all i know is that my mini´s worked flawless no matter what before the upgrade and after the upgrade and a pc shutdown i was unable to log on.
And to be absolutely clear i am thanking chipless´ for his work and i´m glad there are people like him. When we download and use costume firmware it is at our own risk, no matter what, i did just ask if he had seen this error before. So i may not understand code and my not be at "nerd" at these things, but i have really tried all that was out there to log in, i have the same user and the same password on all my asic - 4xZ9 - 4xA9 - 5xZ9mini and 2xX3, so i only upgraded 5 mini´s and they dont work? That is very strange i my world.     

I’m on the road at the moment, but I am willing to try to help via team viewer at some point if you would like.

Have you tried ssh or just http?

Thanks Jason, you are kind, but i did the V9 reset and its working for me, now im looking for at firmware to unlock the freq.

You could try mine, but try it on just one to make sure it works for you first.

Jason

Glad you got it working. As Jason said it is an issue some have seen after an upgrade. My brother has the same issue on a couple of his after an upgrade of fw..

I am far from an expert on these units and hopefully we can all learn as we move on.

I am looking into trying to port the V9 hashboards to work on z9 machines.....But that is a project that will take some time that is even if it is possible. So I may steer away from this project. If it is possible to do what I want a V9 should produce as much as 3 z9's if it is possible.


Jason you have any thoughts on porting the v9

Are you saying your plan is to take a "v9 hashboard" and make it do "equihash" as a Z9?... I'm just going to assume you are trolling at this point and get off of the chipless train. An ASIC cannot be repurposed like that.

Jason

Just for a point of clarity, I did not say that it is an issue some have seen after an upgrade. I said "I cannot see how this would happen", which is very different.

Yeah, the V9 utilizes the same ASIC design as the S7, Bitmain just ordered a new run of those chips under a new model number for whatever bizarre reason. Fundamentally impossible for it to handle equihash at the core level, nevermind the fact that there isn't any DRAM present either.

Actually an asic can be used for its non intended purpose.

I have worked in the past on a few projects where the code was rewritten. It doesn't mean you need or use the asic fully but instead use it to assist in your calculations.

I spent 20 yrs working with satellite code and devices where similar ports have been done. One big example would be the Atmel AVR devices. Biggest problem with them was eventually the code got too large for them, where with the antminers  you have much more space to use. As I said it is something I am going to look into. It is a theory I am going to look into for a bit. There are many ways to manipulate data and still get the same results for the output.

Jason I am not on no train, I can agree to disagree and can move past it. Fights, arguments and disagreement are part of the world. I will get with you in a pm at some point in the next few days to inform you of a few things I found in your release that you may want to address.

Please do. Thanks.

An Amtel AVR is not an ASIC.

Are you sure you have not mixed up "FPGA" and "ASIC"?

Jason

The AVR is not even a FPGA, it's just a standard CPU...

Aye, I know. :) .. I'm just trying to figure out some explanation.

No one said use and AVR it was an example of how one very complicated encryption code was converted to be run from an AVR and not the original ASIC and hardware. Come on guys really. Plainly put one type of code and hardware was said to never be able to run on anything else and they were wrong. Just like no one thought you could mine equihash or litecoin with an asic and now it can be done.

And yes you could mine equihash with a microcontroller type device if coded correctly don't know how much speed you can get but it could be done. Where as with the antminers you have a whole OS to work with. Who says you have to use cgminer, a replacement custom software could be placed on the miner instead. Basically you would turn another miner into a emulator of other miners.

Currently I am mining bitcoin and equihash from a the same Z9. By merging different parts of each OS/Firmware I have 1 hashboard from a V9 running with 3 hashboards of the Z9. I just started this last night but so far it has been running fine. I have 2 different weg gui's to access and monitor each type of board. I get 1.5-2.0 TH from the bitcoin board.

If it continues to work well I may release a version so people can make a few bits of bitcoin while they are mining equihash by just adding a V9 hashboard to the 4th plug on the main miner controller. I have 4 boards on another Z9 and it is pulling 74-80 k/sol @ 656 mhz

I have a Batch 1 Z9Mini running at 718 frequency (15.6KH @ 335W).  Maybe I can go higher, haven't tried.  Fan noise is fine even outside a supression box I made of pine and plush carpeting.

What benefits might I see with this firmware?  Voltage tuning?  Finally be able to run on Nicehash?
You say it's a basic mod with no Dev fee.  Just weighing benefits and risk.  Thanks for your help.

As of now it only has a fix for the fan and temps for the batch 4s and allows overclocking. Nothing more the it has no devfee I wanted to make sure people understood that. if people want to donate for a free fan fix then they can for the time it took me if not I don't need the money that bad. It was just a fan fix. If you need more features there is other firmware out there that could suit your needs.

Only fools thought it would be impossible. Anybody with a clue knew that it would just take time for the chip dev ROI to make sense.

You would still need the DRAM the algorithm requires, which is unlikely to even be addressable on a MCU.


Custom replacement software won't make a difference, because all the mining software is doing is sending jobs to the ASIC boards and receiving valid nonces back.


This is completely different from what you insinuated earlier, and would work perfectly fine, of course. The ASIC boards simply interface over serial ports, this much is universal to miners even from other vendors. There is a caveat preventing mixing and matching hashboards on Bitmain devices natively though, it would require new driver code for cgminer as Bitmain hardcodes most of their changes to be device-specific. If you run two copies of cgminer, as it sounds like you're doing, it should operate fine - although I don't know why you'd ever want to run a V9 hashboard unless you had free power. Even then, it's mighty slow.

Tell me please, is there a firmware on our z9 mini with a frequency setting for each hash board?

Sure there is it has a dev-fee or you need to buy a license if you search the site you can find it

So! I tried the firmware on one Z9 mini again from stock firmware, and it installe´s fine, but logs you out right away... now i have to do the V9 reset... somethings wrong.

Don't understand what a few of you are doing wrong to get locked out. Did you ckeck to save settings when you upgrade or is the box unchecked. What batch mini? what version of posted fw with refresh or without?

I and others don't understand the issue because not a single piece of code was changed from the factory file except cgminer and it has absolutely nothing to do with you logging in or getting locked out. So if there is an issue it has to do with the factory firmware not the 4 byte mod made to cgminer. With that said press and hold the reset button in...You can find it to the right of the network cable you need a pin or paperclip to press it then hold it until the red and green light flashes. It should reboot now and be back to factory settings. It must be powered on to reset it. Also there is updated information on my first post how to get in without doing all that.

Well , i am upgrading like it´s suppose to be done that´s for sure. never mind, just wanted you to know... have a nice day.

You never answered my questions about what batch and what versions or whether you checked save settings....

I am beginning to think there are some trolls around every time I ask for the details all I get is "I did a recovery".

I cant offer support if I don't know more information. These images have been tested over and over loading and the functions and not 1 time have I had any problems with being locked out. It is currently running on 46 minis right now without a problem.

Hello and godmorgen. I can tell you for sure, i started with the fault the first time, and i was just asking a question on, if you ever seen this before nothing else, some other found a solution with a V9 reset that worked for me, somebody told me that it was something that i did wrong on all 5 asic´s, the next step for me was to install orig newest firmware and get it working again, next step was to see if it was me doing something wrong, so i downloaded the firmware from your link again on one asic and wen it was done it started up fine and stated hashing (Yes to keep setting) and working like it should. after 2 min of hashing i pressed F5 for refresh and the log on screen came up with no way to log in... it´s batch 2 and 3 - i´ve tried with keep settings and don´t keep settings, i follow procedure like i always do when i spend a lot of money on something. I AM NOT A TROLL, I DON´T WANT TO TROLL, it was info i just wanted to give to you, i´m sad i can´t use your firmware and i don´t want to use Jason´s firmware because i don´t like the fact that i´m not in control of my own hardware, so i´m back to batch 1 firmware witch is working like a charme and hashing around 15. Again, it was a kind ment infomation to you my friend. (again sorry for my english)

Have a nice day.

Kuno   

Thank you .. Now I have a little more info to work with to track the problem down. I have batch 1's and 4's here to try it on the batch 2 and 3'sI will have to swap from the warehouse and test them some more.I have tracked doe that it has something to do with the password file on some machines all of a sudden becoming corrupt. Origionally the problem was found on stock firmware and has something to do with the htdigest authentication as far as I can figure at this point. Something I didn't touch but am going to still look into.

When you could not get back into the web gui could you get into it using ssh with user root and pass admin.
zso far all my tests let me in that way still and I can change the password file and I am right back into the web gui.

Give me a couple of days and I will do a new image built off the latest fw release from bitmain. This release was a hybrid built off batch 1 and 3 firmware.

Updated firmware images available.... updated base image to latest image from Bitmain. Unlocked for all batches including batch 4

The download links on my first post have been updated with the new download links

hi dear thanks for your information but
i test your first post auto updated file but when i upload this file in z9 mini has error for upload
whats the problem

What does the error say? What web browser?

Also you don't unpack the file you upload the package as it was downloaded. The file name should look like this:

Antminer-Z9-Mini-NAND-500M-201808311812-unlocked-Refresh.tar.gz 

if it looks like anything else the your web browser may be unpacking it to the sub files. If this is the case disable un-compress files option in your browser. I use chrome and IE11

If you unpack the first gz file and try to upload the other it will give you an error.

I just downloaded it and was able to upload it to a batch 4 machine just fine.

LOL almost 2 years later I downloaded it - got the login issue. I am able to get the prompt to go away somewhat by pushing escape, but looks like it won't work - I have batch 1. Going to have to try another firmware. LOL Zombie thread though LOL.

PS: I'm brand new here after lurking and created an account just to put this here.

I'm just going to edit this seeing as how no one will probably reply.

It seems to think my IP is static and X.X.X.99 when  before I had it set to dynamic and it keeps redirecting to that.