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I'm offering a 50 BTC bounty for someone to make CGMINER work with the X6500 FPGA.
I'am donating 50 BTC to the devolper of cgminer in order to buy a X6500 board to to send to him so he can make CGMiner work with the X6500.  I'm 57 0 bitcoin short and was wondering if anyone else wanted to donate to get this mining software available for this fpga board.  This would be a nice step forward for this board.   If interested you can donate to

1N8qCkzjpJBP3MAqQTYMGGZA1c99SNhj8R.

What are they worth? If you can get enough BTC from others to buy one and send it to me, I'd do it myself.

They are about $580. I will donate 50 btc if anyone else wants to chip in.

Is this likely to end up working out? I thought there were issues with the ztex firmware that make this seem improbable?

If not, I'll chip in 10 BTC.

He said he can do it.  If you want send the coins to the address above. 

Sent 10 BTC to the address above. If we can't find others to get us up to the total price of an x6500, I can donate more.

Maybe we should get fizzisist onboard so he can send one of the recent rev to the cgminer dev? I know they've been hard to come by recently.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions concerning the protocol.

Basically this is an FT232RL chip in bitbanging mode, connected to two JTAG buses, which have one FPGA on them each.
Pin mapping, MSB(7) to LSB(0): TCK0, TMS0, TDI0, TDO0, TCK1, TMS1, TDI1, TDO1
See Xilinx's UG380 (http://www.xilinx.com/support/documentation/user_guides/ug380.pdf) for details on firmware upload and basic communication.
The FPGA firmware can be communicated with using the USER1 JTAG register, the specifics of which are specified here (https://github.com/progranism/Open-Source-FPGA-Bitcoin-Miner/blob/master/projects/X6000_ztex_comm4/hdl/jtag_comm.v).
Example code for accessing the FPGAs can be found here (https://github.com/TheSeven/Modular-Python-Bitcoin-Miner/blob/testing/modules/theseven/ftdijtag/driver.py).
The old ztexmerge bitstreams use a different USER1 register protocol, which is only implemented here (https://github.com/TheSeven/Modular-Python-Bitcoin-Miner/tree/testing/modules/fpgamining/x6500/util).
Temperature reading is done through some digital sensors on the CBUS pins, see the example code above for details.

While I would of course be happy to see support for this board in cgminer, I'm really curious what you guys don't like about MPBM :)

Be aware that you might need to factor in delivery to Australia in the bounty, since that's where I am. That was quite expensive for a GPU, but shouldn't be so bad for this board. Thanks :)

Your software is pretty good.  I just am so used to cgminer from mining with my gpus.  Both programs are equally good.  I just think this would also help the sales of X6500 board as alot of other people are more familiar with CGMINER.

I've sent 10.  :D

http://blockchain.info/tx-index/4242331/ac9efed27a7643c5b5f9d80a17ee50d22b007551811e6808d33147e933fd494c

Thanks for your awesome work conman!

Received 2 10 BTC donations.  37 still needed.

I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to backtrack on this as I've realised I don't have the time to dedicate to getting this working. I'd still like to see the x6500 support in cgminer, so you should put it back as a generic bounty as you originally planned and open it up for tenders again.

I've been out sick the last few days but finally catching up. I agree that MPBM has been working great for me, but more software options can't hurt. FPGA Mining LLC will pledge 20 BTC towards the bounty to get X6500 support in cgminer.

Kudos to hashking for getting the ball rolling on this, although I would have expected the hardware development/marketing team to at the very least, match his (hashking's) share of the bounty.

I'd have to say, this definitely sends me some mixed signals in regards to confidence in this FPGA project...... and who feels more of it.

fizzisist, don't take this the wrong way, but, you are being given the opportunity to open up usage of your product to larger farm miners who use CGMiner exclusively, due to it's network/monitoring functionality....not to mention, have a good chunk of the bounty paid by other people....not to mention, future maintenance allowing you to dump your software all together if desired.
While the 20 BTC offer you made is 'nice'....What is stopping YOU from offering a direct-from-manufacturer severely discounted unit for development purposes ?

Am I really off-base on this one ?

Yes, you are.

First of all, MPBM is not a product of FPGA Mining LLC, but of me personally. And it does support all kinds of monitoring as well. The X6500 being supported by cgminer would surely not be the end of MPBM development, and MPBM development is not paid by FPGA Mining LLC.
The only real advantage of cgminer is GPU mining support, and possibly also a bit lower CPU usage than MPBM. On the other hand, MPBM has lots of features that cgminer can't offer (yet). It also doesn't support the X6500 exclusively, but it does support all FPGA boards that are currently available on the market (except for the newest ztex firmware, which broke compatibility basically overnight without any prior notice, but this will be fixed soon).

Secondly, it isn't as if we had to place any marketing offers at this point. The contrary is true: We're struggling to keep up with demand.
FPGA Mining LLC is pledging approx. $100 to support cgminer development, while other board manufacturers (ztex and BFL, to my knowledge) don't offer anything at all.
While we basically offer a board below our own production cost, we did intentionally not tie this offer to buying a board for development, to also allow people who have already bought one to take up on this offer. I really can't see what's wrong with that.

Yeah, as a I said before, I don't see what anyone is missing with MPBM, except maybe more documentation to explain the depth of well thought out and useful features that TheSeven has written in to it. I suppose I can see the advantage of using it when you have a mixture of GPUs and FPGAs, though.

I used cgminer briefly before I shut off my GPUs for good last fall, so I've definitely missed some of the recent developments there. Does it have a WebUI like MPBM, allowing you to manage every single configuration option and monitor every stat remotely, even from a smart phone? Does it have better documentation? Have you seen the simple graphs TheSeven has built using an munin plugin for MPBM (one example of this visible at http://cognitivemining.com/)? Has anyone done that with cgminer?

That said, I'm frankly blown away by hashking's pledge, but wish he wasn't shouldering the burden on this bounty so much. Since he wants cgminer support and has been loyal customer, we want to help him get it. 20 BTC is a lot for us with our margins as they are and so much money tied up in our current production run. And, as TheSeven said, offering it as a straight forward bounty instead of a discounted board was intended to be more generous than just a board at cost because one can receive the bounty either without buying a board at all (e.g., remote access) or using a board that one already bought. At least that was the intention. The 20 BTC has been sent to hashking's address.

I hope this sounds fair and reasonable to everyone, especially hashking. Please let me know if you feel otherwise!

Personally, the appeal for me of having x6500 support on cgminer is the ability to add them to my existing GPU rigs without having to run a second mining program, or set up a independent rig just to run x6500s.

However, it's all a moot point to me since it seems to be impossible to be able to get a x6500.  But that is a whole separate rant.   ;D

It almost looks like you're taking this to heart too much, as though it's a vote against MPBM, which it isn't. I could ask precisely the same question about GPU mining apps as to why people use anything but cgminer, but I don't. People just want options, and one person's idea of what fits is never going to be the same for everyone. Almost certainly, the vast majority will want it to consolidate their software with GPU+FPGA miners, but it could just be they like cgminer and it fits.

This still stands by the way. However if you really can't find anyone and manage to put together the bounty, I will still do it, but there may be some delay in getting the support since I'll be busy and intermittently away.

I do understand why some people prefer some other software, and I do think alternatives are a good thing.
This particular guy, however, has asked me (or rather the company) several times now to just throw away MPBM and go cgminer-only ("consolidate"), which is of course unacceptable, not just to me, but probably to many other MPBM users. (I already had some long, troll-ish discussion with him in the GPUMAX thread, and I'm just tired of him. He seems to not even have seen some of the stuff he's talking about, and spreads a lot of FUD against both our company and MPBM.)

Anyway, we are willing to support cgminer, the company with a bounty, and me personally with knowledge and assistance where necessary.

I missed all of that so cannot pass judgement on it.

We only need 17 more bitcoin.

I sent 3 just now.

Hmm - I was given an Icarus for free for helping debug and get it working on cgminer.
(though that was a rather difficult thing to do without any hardware at all or the ability to even run the code :) )

I'd love to know a reason why larger developers consider that too much ...

(I also bought a full price 2nd one a few days later since it seemed to me a good idea to support Icarus also - I just didn't have enough BTC when I first helped with the Icarus.c code - and also thought that getting 2 sent together would be a good idea when I did have enough just after that)

... and an aside on that - xiangfu has the latest best Icarus code for cgminer.
The one that went into cgminer the other day is ... well ... not optimal.
(and I got really pissed off about having to argue with Luke-jr about why his icarus bugs were bugs - including the one that reduced the actual hash rate of the hardware - and have thus taken a break from cgminer software work for a while ... due to issues about the importance of FPGA mining code and it's reliability in cgminer ... and other issues ...)

I'd guess if this project went ahead and ckolivas got an FPGA also, he'd take interest in the FPGA code in cgminer ...

I thought you might be interested in coding up this x6500 support instead of me. I did not expect you to come here and complain about your relationship with Luke-jr, as this is not the thread for it. As far as I was aware he addressed everything you told him to address and have included his code on that expectation, while withholding his code that touched your API code unnecessarily. If you wish to discuss this further, talk to me in private, or in another thread. No point taking your frustration with Luke-jr out on this thread.

Why hasn't anyone responded to this comment? I'm trying to say I'd prefer not to do this as I can't guarantee any reasonable time frame.

By ignoring your statement that you don't want to do it, it forces you to do it.   ;D

I know that goddamnit LOL.

Sorry haven't been back to the thread, we are 14 BTC short now.  Thanks for offering to do this when you get a chance.  I talked to LUKE Jr.  and he said he would do it.  I told him I would message him back once I received all the funds.  I wasn't trying to start such a big debate over this, it's just that I have bought a number of the x6500 FPGA boards and cgminer is my favorite miner.  It's what I'm used to.  So hopefully we could get this done and this would be good for everyone.

I must admit that I was also given an Icarus board by ngzhang for free, for adding MPBM Icarus support. Which I actually consider way too much, because it just took me like a few minutes to implement that, given its similarity to a previously existing module, and given that I did already implement it before he even sent out that board, testing via ssh on someone else's board. I consider that very generous of ngzhang :)

FPGA Mining LLC paid me just a bit more than offered here for MPBM X6500 compatibility, and that was at a point where the pre-existing code was much less documented and streamlined, so this offer fits in comparison. And being close to the end of a batch, not being able to satisfy all orders currently, is certainly another point why we aren't just giving away a board.
Given the complexity of this task, I would really say that getting a board for it is well-deserved, on the other hand just piggybacking on this bounty was probably just too tempting for fizzisist :)

 5 BTC sent  ;D

I will repeat my last comment I made (that ckolivas mightn't like either :P)
He doesn't have any FPGA hardware, and I think if he did it would be better for all :)

I still have trouble caring about FPGAs, and am happy to leave that to outsiders to work on. GPUs are far more interesting to me. (No I wasn't trying to start a debate about the relative pros/cons of each as we're all well aware of them by now).

I'm doing ztex support on cgminer, and I can certainly do x6500 too if there is still a need for this.

how many left now hashking? guess i'll supply the rest

Well - since it is ckolivas' cgminer and also since you might be able to convince him ...
Try one last time and see if he will do it - even if it takes him a while - I still think it would be best if he had an FPGA device
(you'll need to ship it to Australia)

Especially after the discussion that's going on in the cgminer thread at the moment ...

Well I said I could do it, but the timeframe would likely be longer than someone else doing it.

Thanks to everyone for donating towards getting this project going.  We have received the amount needed and will update once we have everything set. 

Excellent, keep us updated hashking :D

I sent 97 bitcoins to Fizzisist and he offered to cover the remaining 10 bitcoins.  He is going to send a x6500 board to Nelinsky who offered to set this up with CGMiner.  Thanks again everyone for helping me put this together.  

Edit: Fizzisist put in an extra 25 bitcoins due to the shipping.

Yes, I received the BTC from hashking and will ship out the board to nelisky tomorrow. Just so everyone can see the accounting here, the total cost is $565 + 35 shipping, or 119 BTC (based on the 24 hr average at the time I received the BTC, $5.035). The individual contributions were (by my count, correct me if I'm wrong):

hashking: 50
FPGA Mining LLC: 41
freshzive: 10
gigavps: 10
Fefox: 5
rjk: 3

Thanks to everyone for contributing and for nelisky for doing the work. I hope makes it to you quickly and implementing this won't be too much of a headache! Please stop by #fpgamining if you'd like some help.

Just checking to see if Nelisky has any updates on this project. 

Well, I replied to hashking by PM but for everyone's benefit, I am not as advanced as I hoped to be by now, a mix of bad initial decisions and lack of work day time to dedicate to this. I do have some communication with the board already implemented and it just needs time/work. I'll try very hard to push this into something I can share this weekend.

any updates?

I pm'd nelisky but haven't received a response.  It's looking like it was a bad idea to send him the board. 

Must be some public Long-Long weekend? o_0

He has had the board for a long time and hasn't really made any progress on it.

cross-posting my bad news: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=40058.msg1008453#msg1008453

I had made quite a bit of progress, but now I'm just pissed with myself.

Can we have con look at this now. I have coins in the project and don't even use x6500s.  :-\

Think nelinsky is in over his head. Maybe he needs to ship the board to someone else. ^^

Yeah I was gonna post a rather scathing response earlier but ended up not clicking on "Post" ...

It doesn't take 2 months to do this, nelisky, you already wrote the ztex driver before anyway.
My guess is you haven't had the time to do it (coz I've no idea why anyone would have code that can go into their git with a single "git push" command, but never put into their git for 2 months)

I'm also not sure why you think someone should be paying you to send it to someone else ...

gigavps's suggestion is of course the best if ckolivas wants to do it.
Contact him and get it to him if he wants to do it - he's easy to find in #cgminer
(though he's away at the moment and back tomorrow)
He's shown more interest in FPGA recently ...

Would really love to see x6500 support, whatever it takes. Up to 11 of these boards and donated earlier as well. Keep us updated

heh, yeah, I was was in over my head due to lack of time, as I have posted multiple time. I'm still completely swamped and it seems like a new thing appears every day. Oh well, can't complain from excess work.

Anyways, I will return the board as requested by hashking, I am just trying to convince national customs service to refund the VAT I paid so I can return the board to the sender. If someone in EU will pick this up and refund my VAT I'll gladly send the board their way too.

Regardless, it doesn't take 2 months, I had already done ztex and a simple git push (I was working off a very dirty branch which is why I didn't, and anyone that can actually code will know what I mean with "I'll just do this one cleanup and then push") would have prevented me loosing all that code. Honestly, the x6500 code I had developed is the least of my problems with that dead harddrive...

It's a pitty, I wanted to help but I have no stakes in this particular fight. Next please...

I asked nelisky to send the X6500 board to Luke-Jr.  Luke was interested before on working on this project.  As soon as I hear back from him I will let everyone know what's going on.

Any updates?

I've received the X6500, but it doesn't have the stock heatsinks/fans, so I'll need to sort that out first. Any recommendations on the best (without going crazy on price) for the highest clockspeeds?

The best cooling I saw personally was with the Zalman "flowers" and an external fan:
http://fpgamining.com/content/03-documentation/01-hardware/04-power-measurements/power_test.jpg

The stock ones work pretty good too, though. If you'd like some of those, I'll send you a pair for free.

After you finish this project, maybe the TML would be a natural next step? That 25% commission (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=49971.msg1098402#msg1098402) seems like a nice bonus, too.

http://glari.ch:3000/attachments/download/13/LancelotQCinactions.jpg
best cooling solution: GPL QCool watercooling element spnsored by DVB :) Northbridge Mount
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=101559.msg1297225#msg1297225

fizzisist: damn we have quite a year behind the fpga development, and its just awesome! I think the Job from 2011 is accomplished, and a great next step is ahead of us.

it doesnt mather if it will be asic or 28nm fpga :) thanks again to all of you for all the hard work

Someone might want to update the OP. BFGMiner has had X6500 support since 2.9.0 released in November.