Bitcoin Forum

EDIT 2/12/16:

99.99% sure it's dead.  Not a peep from Bitmain in nearly a year.

EDIT 6/15/15:

I'm keeping this thread bumped until Bitmain responds.  Surely 4 months is enough time to say something.

EDIT 3/11/15:

http://www.miningpool.co.uk/bitmain-announces-antminer-s2-upgrade-kit/

And this:

https://www.facebook.com/Bitmain/posts/859782150729679


Am I the only one that thinks that's kinda lame?  I get that price has been on the rise and all, but this just feels like taking advantage of your customers.  "Oh, we heard that another company isn't moving as quickly, so we're gonna hike the prices up even though production costs are unaffected by this.  At least blame it on the rise in BTC price or something.

Original post 2/18/15:

Now that the S2 is getting pretty long in the tooth, when are we going to see an upgrade kit built on the BM1384 chip(S5)?

I remember reading a post from Bitmain saying that it was coming some time ago...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=515448.msg6693886#msg6693886 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=515448.msg6693886#msg6693886)


https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitmain-announces-1-8-ths-2-ths-upgrade-path-antminer-s2-owners/ (https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitmain-announces-1-8-ths-2-ths-upgrade-path-antminer-s2-owners/)

But then this was posted:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796839.0


Are we going to have an S2 kit released alongside the S6?  BITMAIN, can you come tell us what you're up to? :)

Don't expect anything before the end of vacation.

I did the math, if they get it down to 0.4w/gh then yea it'll be 250gh per blade.  so it should just be a firmware upgrade and good to go.  but the way they are charging for TH I doubt it will be cheap.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=728068.msg10435170#msg10435170

That's the only "official" word I've seen so far, but then I wasn't looking very hard.

Ah nice!  Guess I'll hang onto these two S2s that I have then.

If you want to get rid of one of them, I might buy it. Been meaning to track down a stock S2 for the museum (all I have is the kit version). Probably nobody's gonna sell now with the upgrade looming though.

Have you posted pics of the museum anywhere?  Where is it, anyway?  I'd like to check it out.

EDIT: btw, mind leaving me trust for the cables I bought last week?

Is it really worth the upgrade for 0.4W/Ghash ?  Don't we have miners right now at 0.5W ?

It doesn't seem right now like its worth buying any miners or even manufacturing them with what is going on with the BTC price.

Maybe if it was 0.25W/Ghash or so.

For 'native' S2 0.4 Wt/Gh means that efficiency has improved twice...

Nearly 3 times.  The two that I have consume 1100-1200w for just over 1TH, so they're basically 1.1w/GH

But they have other equipment right now thats 0.5W

I highly doubt that it will be cost effective to upgrade the S2.

You save on shipping, heatsinks, fans, case, controller, and PSU.  Don't see how it couldn't be...

I agree! I think it will be a good deal...

I sold my S2's when S4's came out and Bitmain said there would be no upgrade path.   >:(

+1.
that said, bitmain might still try to overcharge for the kit.  Id love toupgrade my S2 units since they are basically breaking even right now and were losing money just a week or two back

They never actually said there would be no upgrade path. They said there would be no 2nd-gen upgrade since the S2 was still profitable when S4 was released, and S4 wasn't that much of an improvement over S2. They said they might develop an upgrade with the third chip generation.

Please keep in mind that chip's efficiency and power consumption of the whole S2 "at the wall" are different things.  ;)

True. In this quote they said <.4 at the wall, so I'm hoping that's accurate!

"S2-replace PCB will be released after Chinese Spring Festival, and it will be serial powered too, and its power consumpiton at wall will be less than 0.4W/G"

Weren't the S1 upgrade kits nearly as expensive as an S3 when released?  Price would need to stay under $350 if indeed they will output 2th.

No idea, I was mining Scrypt back then.  I've only recently finally started mining SHA256.  I'd be interested to know, though.

If I read the latest stats right, its seems antpool has increased hash power quite a bit. Pure speculation, but it could indicate they have upgraded any S2 they still had. If there's a business case for it, why wouldn't they upgrade their own miners first? So we may be seeing official news on the upgrade at the beginning of March?

Again, pure speculation.  ;D

What also could affect the change in pool is Bitmain putting all there stock that didnt ship before the holidays on the line.

The Holiday is over Bitmain; show us the kits.

My S2 is awaiting an overhaul.  Come on show us what your workin with.   Please....

dogie promised "more info soon"...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=902305.msg10588108#msg10588108 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=902305.msg10588108#msg10588108)

Could we get a lil hint of when anouncement will be.  Checking these pages every 1/2 hour.

Yes.  The savings for getting an S1 upgrade kit were only BTC.12 cheaper than buying a full S3+ back in August, or $60 (20% savings vs an S3). Based on the price of the S4 and S5's, I would predict between $500 and $600 for the upgrade to 2.25-2.5 TH/s.  Purely speculation until they release it though, and I hope they sell it for cheaper.

Yes, for you maybe not.  But if the specs are what they presume and they learn their lesson from the S1 kits it could be the most efficient miner currently.  Could be a good thing for those of us that have S2's.  They failed with the S1 kits.  But it also may be an announcement for upcoming tech.

I could also see bitmain wanting the kit's for them self. If they still have any data centers with S2's it would make sense they would want to upgrade machines.

Up...paging BITMAIN! :)

Dogie hinted maybe monday for some info.  Are we still looking at > .4 w and 1.8 - 2 th for the upgraded blades?

A bit of PR....

Some Hashing PCB may show up in Berlin, Germany at the Inside Bitcoin Conference. March 5 & 6

No, we do not have them produced yet for the mass production and the recent spike on hash rate is not unshipped S2 upgrade kits.  (I wish but that is not the case...  :'()

How many of you are actually interested in the S2 upgrade kits?  I mean, purchasing them to use on your existing S2 unit.  In order to use the kit, you have to have the existing S2.

Power Consumption...  will be a nice improvement from S5

Also, how many of you who has S2 but the Control PCB, Beagle Bone, or the bottom Power Plain PCB is damaged or the fans are damaged?  It will kind of give us an idea what we should prepare.

Any volunteers who lives in Berlin to assist Yoshi with German Translation?  I'm sure he needs help finding a bowl of rice with a good German Beer ;D


*S2 Upgrade kit is still a speculation!!
*Yoshi will take care of the volunteer's lunch and dinner for 2 days and get you inside the conference
*Volunteers will receive a free Bitmain T-shirt (large) x 1
*Warning: Yoshi may make you work your butt off at the booth  ;D ;D ;D


1 last thing....  If you own the S2 and interested in purchasing the upgrade kit, show us some support and email support @ bitmain . zendesk  . c o m   with subject "S2 Upgrade Kit List" and how many working S2 you own now.

I still have 5 s2 units that I will consider upgrading dependent on the price.  All 5 of my machines are completely intact and functional....   Everything works the same as it did coming out of the box.

i still own 2 s2, and i know the owner of other 2 s2's of mine will like to upgrade too ;D

if the numbers are right, we might upgrade ;)

Thanks!!

Wish Count: 13


If you own the S2 and interested in purchasing the upgrade kit, show us some support and email support @ bitmain . zendesk  . c o m   with subject "S2 Upgrade Kit List" and how many working S2 you own now.

I have 2 S2's needing an upgrade.  Extra parts are a smart call but my 2 are fully functional.  Will email @ support shortly.  Please don't keep bringing this subject up if don't indeed intend to build these.

I currently have 3x fully operational S2's plus some spare parts; I will get more if these are a reality.  Emailing now.

Hmmm....you guys need to coordinate your PR.
The following clearly says that S2 upgrade WILL be done, no ifs or buts.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=728068.msg10435170#msg10435170

I don't think that getting a few emails will show you the potential market size.
Don't have any S2, but was interested in getting some used IF the update is coming at a reasonable price.

Email sent. Please can you give us some more updated specs., these seem to match the same specs. you were going to release last year.

I think the entire S2 and UMISOO market on Hashnest will be interested in the upgrade option aswell, perhaps you could offer this for a small extra fee to upgrade them and keep them hosted at Hashnest :)

E-mail sent for the amount I own :)

I am sure that most of miners at Umisoo and Hashnest would like to move to upgrade kits as recently BitFury announced working 0.2W/GH chips, so we can expect rise in diff and 1W/GH will be terminated in 10 days.

I am sure that if most of miners would like to do upgrade by themselves, saving most of transportation costs and recycled parts is great way to keep Bitmain's business running customer-friendly. Forcing your customers to come back to you instead of thinking which new machine they wish to buy. Spondoolies and KnC announced their 14/16nm technology, why to make customers think about it? In case I have S2 upgrade kit, I will take it even it has not best W/GH.

not spondoolies, their 12u 16kw machine will be a 28nm, at least initially, which incidentally does not mean that it would not be <0.4w/Gh.

It is not exactly what I mean. Spondoolies stated that they will produce 28nm chips and 14/16nm together (weeks or month later). This is because 14/16nm will be very expensive and 28nm can make ROI in shorter view. 28nm will be for small/home miners which can upgrade their hardware often, 14/16nm will be for datacenters who set-up hardware and leave it unattended working.

That is incorrect.

I would probably buy an upgrade kit. Just throwing that out there. Maybe not right away, depends on the price.

I have 5 right now and if the price is right would likely pick up more on eBay and through the forums.

email ??? ??? ???

what for ??? just make the s6 on the s2 case!

some ideas: 1600w psu enters fine in that case(EVGA SuperNOVA 1600)
                     use 38mm thick full fans not the screamy ones from s5
                     maybe keep compatibility with syscooling waterblocks

My recommendation is, if you want 1600W of 12V power, don't use a super-expensive ATX supply. Get two 800W server PSUs and load-balance.

Please keep compatibility with watercooling kits from syscooling. This is the only option to mine in an apartment.

s2 boards are same dims as s5?  I think not?

i know man! i got dps2000bb with the mini-board& 16awg cables from you ;)

Ah, groovy. I've had one of our prototype-batch DPS2K boards powering an S2 continuously since June or so.

I'd really like to see more large-form-factor miners with server PSUs instead of no-name ATX supplies running 95% capacity. I'm really surprised the one in my Dragon hasn't smoked out yet.

I'd like to see more large miners with provisions for external PSU's, so we have the flexibility to power it with whatever server PSU fits the need, and we stop having to pay retail for PSU's that are over-priced and/or poor quality.

The Enermax in my S2 quit a couple weeks ago, going to have to rig something up for it soon.

S2 upgrade is coming, but until the hardwares are mass produced in the assembly and tested for specs for each item, we can't say what the spec is...

But it should be less than 0.4w/GH.  (ants on the engineers floor tells me it would be in 0.3x in range)

Official Confirmed Spec may be available at Berlin, Germany Conference or after the conference.*

PSU upgrade should not be needed.  Existing 1000W PSU will be more than sufficient.
(Including the under performing PSU that can't hash the 10th hashing PCB but works with 9 PCB)

If there is a clear need of spare parts, then it will help us determine what we need to prepare!

email to support @ bitmain . zendesk  . c o m if you are seriously considering to show support!!!


*This is why it is still marked as "Speculation"

** Aaaand.... Please remember, ANTS are always in-stock sale, not future unknown shipping date when it is announced for sale.  HASH NOW is more important than waiting for weeks/months for 0.2Xw/gh miners that may come out in a few months.  ;D



;D ;D  And as always a little PR  ;D ;D

If you visit our new staff Jake Smith and Yoshi from Bitmain at the Inside Bitcoin Conference on March 5 & 6th in Berlin, Germany, you may get to see the actual Hashing PCB with chips on them!!  (Good German Beer Donation is always WELCOME!!)

Sample Hash PCB may show up in Amsterdam on the 7th at the Bitcoin Embassy as well if ants can cross the border  :P

Yes, you can take ant porn with your cellphone in Berlin or Amsterdam as long as you are willing to share with others!  :o

Bitmain, Will you offer to upgrade S2's on the hashnest market aswell? (UMISOO + S2 Market)

There are propably alot of people that would love to upgrade them and don't mind to pay a small extra fee for the upgrading process :)

thanks for the update Bitmain, my own thoughts follow:

1) sounds like it will achieve ~2.5TH using the 1050W PSU, assuming your <0.4w/GH is at chip level, and not at the wall. I assume each hashing board would thus contain 16-18 BM1384 chips to achieve 250GH/90W.
2) sounds like doing this could provide some room to overclock the frequency if using a 1200W PSU (maybe 2.8-3.2TH) depending how many chips and what voltage is used

3) the only ANTS currently in stock are 0.8w/GH C1 units at >1BTC/TH not counting power supply and cooling kit. IMO thats a bit high.
3b) I emailed yoshi a few days back and the S2 upgrades were predicted for late march, and very little info was available about the S5 or any further units. I want to add 10TH+ of hardware to my collection this week, but the C1 is perhaps the least interesting option available.   With the S2 upgrade path, will an S6 be available?

I would like to see bitmain produce 4 things:
a) S2 upgrade kit, consisting of 10 hashing boards that directly drop into a S2. hopefully 0.7-0.9 BTC/TH considering the small weight and minimal # of components
b) an S6, either built like the S2/upgrade-kit, or built similarly to an S4 but using S5 boards. At this point in the mining 'game' it doesnt make sense to run dozens of 1TH units, each with thier own control board and case. combining 3-10TH into a single unit would be cost-effective for customers who mine in dedicated locations
c) an barebones S6 kit without PSU, fans, or case. I have a lot of fans, PSUs, and shelf space to run a barebones unit if the small size/weight means a significant price discount
d) more S5 units

BitmainWarranty , Your request (273). Thank U. Looking forward information!

I don't expect Bitmain to release the info directly on those dates.  But from other sources after the conference.

Any news? :)

Waiting patiently..I do think news will be filtered and not a direct response from Bitmain until next week.  Hope I'm wrong.. have another S2 showing up today or tomorrow.  Production was to be finished before end of the month.  Since they dont do presales we have a couple weeks.

Website is down as of 1:15 pst.  Hopefully updated info coming.

up

This thread is not going to make them release information or hardware any faster, no need to bump it.

It won't hurt either...

Keep the thread alive!  :o  Hopefully this week will shed some news.  Nothing like saying you'll release info and then.........neh. >:(

I am sure Bitmain will make the upgrade kits, but will they be priced well enough to be worth it? I am really doubting they will make it a very good deal for us  :-\

I think/hope they have come around to being more reasonable and competitive with their pricing.  The S5 was well priced compared to the S1 & S2.   Bitmain please release some info and be leniant with your pricing.

1 s2 sold!

the upgrade doesn't look speedy enough for me :-[

You have any more that you're looking to get rid of?

one and the last! but i prefer to sell it locally :)

Talk to cheeseater; I think he has 3 or 4 he was looking to put on eBay this week.

Romania! sold 1 today for 275$ without shipping and the buyer told me i ask too low for it :) most of the s2 are still priced above 500$
crazy prices in here! s1 goes for ~60bucks!

Anything over $300 w/psu is too much for an S2.  Bought 2 off ebay for less.

Seems as though we probably will pay an arm and a leg for this upgrade due to Bitmains' latest price hikes.  Here's my response for info.
   
Bitmain (Bitmain)
Mar 10, 05:44

Hi,
Sorry, we haven't got details either, pay attention to BITMAIN's official announcement later:)

Any idea when later is?  That's all we are asking since it was due out after the holiday.  Back to their old games.

http://www.miningpool.co.uk/bitmain-announces-antminer-s2-upgrade-kit/

Good news!  :)

Urgh, in before the "I plugged 8 boards in and my motherboard and power supply melted". I was hoping there would be something to prevent that, currently we're looking at 3 boards per S2. Also not enthused about the cooling with large amounts of empty space in a 3 blade S2.

Will reserve judgement until we know the tdp of the boards.

The same S5 boards/chips...  :-\ But what about their new chip, all that 0.3-0.4 Wt/Ghash?....

I hope they at least will offer this "upgrade" boards by the piece, 'cause I think that my S2 case can bear 4 of that boards with Corsair AX1200i Platinum PSU...

I think that such a possibility (to choose desireable quantity of the boards to buy) will be very, VERY convenient for all S2 owners. One would like to buy 3 boards, another (like me, with advanced PSU) would prefer to buy 4 boards... May be someone will buy 5 boards?..

May be, if it's not too late, this new boards should contain one (or two?) additional PCI-E connectors to avoid melting on the backplate?.. Dogie, please do something for us! let Bitmain hear us!..

PSU can be replaced by the owner with some cheap server PSU, it's not a huge problem if he want to occupy most (or all) of available slots on S2's backplate.....

S2 Upgrade is certainly good news, but I still feel disappointed.

we are listening and taking info but R&D team is working to make it happen as much as they reasonably can...

S2 upgrade kit uses more chips than S5, but it is the same chip BM1834.

PSU wise, original 1000W PSU should be more than sufficient. (That is the plan)  Even the slightly under-performing S2 PSU that could hash 9 PCB but not 10, would work as well.

lets wait for the R&D to say, let it open the flood gate for the sale

These are the S2 upgrade kit hashing PCB displayed in Burin, Germany and Amsterdam, Netherlands last week.

https://i.imgur.com/urLMhWH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/cD4yPsV.png
https://i.imgur.com/O5UyxuG.jpg

Yeah I guess it could be worse. Certainly not the chipping I was expecting (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=977292.msg10680225#msg10680225) especially comparing S1 and S2 chip densities, but the numbers are still approximately okay.

If you want an independent third-party review (and by independent I mean I'll give an honest opinion even if it offends the manufacturer) it appears I have a windfall S2 chassis I wasn't expecting, and some 2KW PSUs and stout fans available, so I could build up a machine to test until it catches fire and see how good I think it is. Might even be able to voltmod and test lowerbound efficiencies and put up a forum review.

Can you tell us about the controller? Will the factory S2 controller work for the upgrade, and will you have controllers available for anyone who has some that are faulty?

Posted this after pictures and additional details were added to Bitmain posting.

Ah, so it is a 2x18 string and the news people that said it was the same configuration as an S5 (which is to say 2x15 string) don't actually know. A 2x18 string should work just fine.


I like those numbers. Now I really want to play with one. Please may I have a set of blades to test the crap out of and post a review?

Since the S2 controller is a BeagleBone at its core, I'm guessing the only requirement would be a firmware update?

Only thing needs to be replaced/swap is the hashing PCB.

Unscrew and remove the heatsink from the old hashing PCB, then attach the heatsink to the new PCB with thermo paste.  Slide these baby into the slot and use the same control PCB and the bottom power management PCB.

Currently, no news on spar parts purchase possibilities.

Dogie mentioned three pcb's for the kit, will it be possible to squeeze four into chassis with a larger psu?  The cooling is more than sufficient.

I've crossed out my reply for now, I was just speculating. It appears these are probably lower power than S5 hashing boards. BitmainWarranty will be able to tell you if they want to reveal at this point.

Dogie mentioned 3 PCBs when the assumption was they were the same configuration as the S5 boards (as stated in the previously linked article), which means a 2x15 string clocked high and drawing 250-300W per board. A 2x18 string clocked a bit lower will pull 100W per board, so a 10-board S2 is what you'll get, expecting around 3.6TH from the included 1KW PSU.

not that much hashing powre!!!  Wish it is the case...  :'(

total hashing PCB is not finalized but 1 short of lucky 7?  may be???  the 3 hashing PCB were displayed so multiple customers could pick them up and hold it and take a closer look.  and no space for more on the table.

if all goes well, the total power consumption is well under 1000W so there is no need to buy a bigger stronger PSU.  Thermo paste, yes, please get that ahead of time and MUST BE NON-CONDUCTIVE!!!

Ah, guess my numbers were a bit off when I was looking over that config a couple days ago. Let's go back over that...

According to the chart in the first post of your S5 thread, 10GH per chip should be possible at 0.67V (12V/18 string) which should put up 360GH per ~100W board. Is that chart wrong, or am I overlooking something?

edit:

Assuming the W/GH is linear between 0.65V and 0.70V, at 0.667V you'd see right at 0.3W/GH so a 100W board with 36 chips at 0.667V would max at 333GH or 9.25GH per chip. This gets a 3.3TH miner at 10 boards 1000W but probably means underclocking to do it. If they're looking more like 12GH per chip at 6 boards, that'd be 430GH at 130W per board, 2.6TH at about 800W. That's a ballpark based on some assumptions. Bitmain, am I close?

my used s2 is shipping to me today  :D  i almost wish i grabbed that cheap one on ebay with 9/10 boards able to function after reading this won't be slapped full.


i also think this is a great idea.

^sounds about right. Bitmain has said the new chips can do around 0.3w/GH at lower speeds (probably at the PSU, not at the wall), so easch board running at something like 320GH would allow 3.2TH by filling all the slots in an S2.

however, It would be pretty sweet if it was setup to do ~3TH/1kW using only 7 boards or so, giving the option for those with bigger power supplies to buy an extra 1-3 boards to turn the S2 into a maximum of 4.2TH/1.4kW system.

Ive sold off my S2 units already since this upgrade took so long to produce, but hopefully bitmain can make a high-density, externally-powered S6 or equivelent that could be somewhat comparable in specs to an SP31

I bought a PSU-less stock machine for the museum, and it looks like the guy that was giving me one is actually giving me two (one of which may not work?) in exchange for some service so I might have a spare to jack with and see how far it'll push. Externally powered for an S6 would be nice, as long as the backplane traces are good for high current.

From what I can speculate from the lack of definates is 6 pcb's with 18 chips per board (same chips as S5) running underclocked to achieve >.4 wgh. :o
Come on Bitmain R&D we want to help test these.  So at these presumed specs are we closer to 3 th for the kit?

1) Is it easy to remove the heat sinks from the old S2 hashing boards?
2) Is it easy to apply thermal paste to the old heat sinks and screw them to the new hashing boards correctly?
3) Any advice on what to do with the old S2 hashing boards?

I have a single S2 that's powered off, collecting dust in anticipation of the S6 upgrade option becoming available.

I suspect it will probably be the last miner I ever buy :|

Haven't taken the heatsinks off before but a few screws and done.  The paste is another matter.  Messy and sticky but do remove and clean all the old paste before applying the new.  Use the highest % of Isopropyl Alcohol you can find, usually at most RiteAids or Walgreens or any drug store.  The old boards put on Ebay for others needing working boards.  They've been selling around $30 a piece currently but that's with the heatsink.  Easily a couple hour job depending on how many pcb boards are in a kit. 

What will be the price for that S2 upgrade kit? At least roughly?..

I am almost ready to buy second S2, but if Bitmain set the price, for example, 700-900 USD per one kit....  :-\

I was going to buy a third one as well but was waiting on price.  I was thinking it won't be more than the S5 currently.  Cuz that wouldn't make sense.

after the rise of prices at bitmain and the limitation of 1kw psu, i sold all my antminer s2!
waiting for some spondoolies atm

Our S2's have been working virtually non stop since replacing the PSU's over year now. And an S1 tucked up on the top shelf working as well.

I can't believe how stable these Bitmain miners are. Mining FRC of course with a single reboot a year hope it pays off in a few years should prices spike again.

We will run these until they die. Upgrade kits... that be cool but


Are they close to doing it though? Given the Bitmain post?


Maybe Sidehack could build something to fit S2's? Bitmain certainly will work with you on chips for something like that. Our group has some Bitmain chips but not a lot.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee106/PFC4L1FE/2015-03-13%2007.27.20_zpssjiii5zf.jpg (http://s230.photobucket.com/user/PFC4L1FE/media/2015-03-13%2007.27.20_zpssjiii5zf.jpg.html)

Are those Technobit boards down there ???  :D :D :D :D

Not my server room.

Not my purchase.

Likely Asicminer blades right?

"Garden 8ghs units if i remember" - My partner in Norway.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee106/PFC4L1FE/2015-03-13%2007.53.55_zpszx96ienk.jpg (http://s230.photobucket.com/user/PFC4L1FE/media/2015-03-13%2007.53.55_zpszx96ienk.jpg.html)

They are powered down... too power hungry.

If Bitmain bails on S2 Upgrade kits, I might look into it. I've already got some BM1384 on the way to play with, we're looking at making a set of boards that'd strap to an S1 chassis. Bitmain's Janet has been pretty helpful so far but I haven't been given any documentation on the actual data protocol for their chips so Bick, if your group have access to any of that info would you mind sharing?

I think our EE has some specs and hasn't he already contacted you?

If not PM me and I will give you his email.

Someone mentioned a Spondoolies board to me, and asked about firmware dev. Since I'm not interested in SP chips at present and Novak's the programmer, I handed him over to Novak. He's been talking to another one of the guys about a BM1382 project I think. Are they signal-compatible? The best thing Janet could give me as far as data protocols was "look at the U3 code". I'm hoping I won't have to do the hardware and software both, but it's possible.

Fair enough ... but which U3 code? the one in cgminer or is there a github repository where its been published by bitmain.

No idea. I haven't had time to follow up on it, and I haven't gotten an answer yet when I asked the same question.

The S2 was priced at a premium vs the S1 when it came out.  The S2 kits will may be as well.  Only thing that will for sure improve the overall cost vs S5 is the lower shipping cost.

waiting for an upgrade. has someone experience delivery to Ukraine?

Just teasing you  ;D  Couldn't resist  ::)

10 foot pole. Never ever going to touch Moskvitch style boards and fabrication. Pure crap.

https://news.pn/photo/a81fb55c10066e5f311c38e01d40e197.i567x319x446.jpeg

Bitmain, my S2's are hungry and tired...... please release some more info.


https://i.imgur.com/VAXShH1.jpg

Why are you running your S2 topless? Mine always ran hot when I did that. Also, why is it blasting directly at a wall? :P

For me they seemed to run cooler with the lids off.  The ambient in the garage is about 68f and both S2's are at 53c.  The
fans are running at 2280 rpm.  They are further from the wall than you think from pic. about a foot or just shy. ;)

I just want to know if that is the VHS box set of the star wars trilogy from 1998?

 ;D  Yes Sir, Special Edition!

Any news? My S2s are aching for some new internals :)

Bitmain, need some love here.  Some news has to be available about the kits by now especially if the plans were to sell by the end of the month.  Nothing like chiming in about something then not delivering, sounds like same old story we've encountered through other suppliers.  You know this forum likes teasers and for that matter deserves them. 8)  Just let us know if anything has changed in the schedule that's all.

I would also like to hear some updates on this so I'm keeping the thread alive :)

Yes, please wait a bit more.  No additional info is available at this time.

Hi BitmainWarranty,

Could you go over to the S4 thread and address the broken firmware issue?

Thanks

Yes Sir!

But we can't code...  I wish I was that smart  ;D

I guess the correct answer to my questions is....
Is it a go? Or not.  Was going to buy at least one more S2 if this was for sure going to happen.  Just would like a nod, yes or no.  The specs speculated warrant the interest.

Well, I've just bought 2 Antminers S2, just in case...  :)

After following and reading this thread for a while, I'm sure enough everything is a fact
and just a matter of time know.

To bad one of the 2 miners, that I picked up both fully running, was dead when I arrived home.
But the problem is solved, those damned crappy Enermax PSU's have lots of problems.

Let's hope Bitmain can pull off a 3TH S2 upgrade kit, that would be really nice...

2-3 th would be awesome, info hopefully will come out this next week.  I enjoy running them, they're fairly quiet ( 2 @ 67db ) and the cooling is adequate. 

How are they compared to an S3+

I'd say real close.  Same type of sound ( low hum ) not high whine.  I had five S3+'s and my 2 Ant S2's are about the same in db.

Ahh perfect. Thanks. There are no Youtube videos and most people say they are either very quiet and some say they are very loud. Don't want my wife to be upset.

Personally I prefer the S2's noise. If you can give it 25C air its very reasonable. I felt that the S3's high RPM fans were always audible over the S2 which is a feature of them being 120mm rather than 140mm.

Keep the mining gears out of your HOME!  Keep them in the MAN CAVE in the GARAGE or a SHED outside!  AWAY from your Girlfriend or Specially WIFE or Mother in Law!!!

If they are happy, everyone stays HAPPY  ;D

Noise and Heat is something you can not get away with mining Bitcoin with ASIC.  Try to use the heat in a meaning way, than try to get rid of them like a hot potato!

Some businesses are implementing ANTMINER as a heating device.  (Plants care about noise too but so far, it seem to work at the REAL FARMs)

At this point, I don't know how to use the noise.... but hummmmmmm

https://scontent-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/t31.0-8/11043261_864906140217280_1645236100173123712_o.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CDD_gmcbaF8/maxresdefault.jpg

Nice!  Can we expect any info this week on the kits?  And are they on schedule?

Thank you for shipping S5's early!

Looking forward to any new information about S2 upgrade kits.

BitmainWarranty any updates?
Like a time range? like in 1-12 months?

No info at this time...  Please wait for the official announcement

Anything yet? ;D

I guess what we're asking is a time frame for this announcement.  You now have prolonged and teased us with possibilities of the kits being ready for shipment by the end of this month.

It's obvious it's not their high priority.  Testing was started 2 weeks ago.  If released soon with those specs and a decent price it could be profitable but time will tell.

Undervolting has become more and more important.  Get it run full blast when new, and it's almost a second life on ones that have good underclock.  I really hope we hear some info from here :).

My guess is Bitmain will finish sales of S5's this week and wait a week before launching either new tech or S2 kits.  I also think a S4 kit possible.  Hope not.  I want S2 kits before I shut them down.

Dang.  I thought I'd been following this closely.  Where did they say they were testing?  Thanks.

I don't understand why everybody is so eager for these S6 upgrades. They probably will cost as much as a new S6  and buying 2/3x S5 seperately will be cheaper probably like it was with the earlier upgrade.

It must be cheaper. You should not pay for shipping of the case, PSU and so on.

it will still not be a new miner. most of the components will be old and morally used.

and from all the bitmain's posts, it is not an s6, just an s2 upgrade

I agree for such upgrade. The main point is hashing chips AFAIK. ) All other S2 components (especially if you have already change the PSU) are reliable as a tank.  ;D

+1. shipping weight and size will be about 1/4 that of shipping an S2 because there is not the weight of a PSU, case, fans, etc.

however, the S2 is still a practical miner in a lot of environments as it can run at 1w/gh. by upgrading it you would end up with a stack of old hashing boards that are likely worth $100-150 in hashrate.

ideally bitmain will come up with a clever way to sell a lightweight kit consisting of a backplane/beaglebone and a way to mount a few fans so that the old S2 boards are not just junk

Hi Guys,

How big is the chance that the Antminer S2 upgrade set will be using the same (newer) asic chips as the Antminer S6.
I truly believe there's a great chance.
I would be to expensive to create faster hashing chips in such a small timeline between S2 Upgrade an S6.
Using the same chips for S2 Upgrade and S6 gives them some extra space developing 16nm for future.

Definitely the same as the S5.  Given Bitmain's track record of creating one tube and one rack mountable miner with each chip generation, I'd say highly likely that the chips in the S2 kit will be the same as the S6.

From what I've heard from the people receiving batch 5 of the S5, some are receiving clearly used miners, so the educated assumption would be that bitmain are not simply testing the next-gen chip to feature in the S6, they are actually replacing their S5 rigs with the newer S6 in their facilities. What has that got to do with the S2 upgrade kits I hear you ask? Well, I bet top dollar that they will have the chips in the S6, seeing they could have released an S5 chip based kit by now.

Agreed.  That's why they tried this before and are willing to lower the price of the S5.  Do you really think they did a huge batch run of thousands of S5's just to end it.  New tech soon I hope.  Us S2 owners may be in the sweet spot.

Many of Russian Bitcoin enthusiasts do receive definetely used S5s.

You have to bear in mind that even bitmain themselves were unsure of whether the S5 had a place in the bitcoin mining-scape prior to releasing batch 5 (aka post 2015 Chinese new year). In fact, I'll go as far as suggesting that batch 5 of the S5's was merely a hedge against the supposed impending release of next gen chips by their competitors, that has turned out to be the only in-production rig on the market at the moment. In the event and in effect, it has become their unheralded cash-cow .... massive cash cow infact! But events will mean that the S5 will naturally retire as more efficient chips come onto the market.

And seeing they are shipping their used miners, I have no doubt the S6 is a lot more faster and efficient than anything we've seen. It may turn out to be a re-engineered S5 chip (just like the S5 chip is a re-engineered S3 chip), but the signs are it is going to be a decent step up and that bodes well for the S2 upgrade kit.

FTFY  ;)

As much as I'd like to see these just like everyone else, remember how the S1 upgrades went. They were some time (months?) after the S3 release, and the price difference was around 20% less than a fully assembled S3+.  Granted, the S2 case and PSU should be worth proportionately more than the S1 frame and fan, but don't hold your breath on these being amazing value. 

Also, along the same train of thought, it was mentioned in a thread that the cost of the chips amounts to somewhere around 80% of the entire miner, whether that was true or not I'm not sure, but would explain the seemingly high price of even simple board upgrades.  I guess time will tell, if they do release them.

It's good that they have been silent in the threads the last few days ... may mean they're preparing for announcements.  
I think we have a general estimate what to expect from the kits, all positive, except for cost.  The cases and psu's must cost them a small fortune alone to ship, usually 2nd day air to U.S..  The S1 kits weren't much of a savings and appeared late in the S3 life cycle.  One saving grace is Bitmain seems to have paid attention to their customers concerns on cost.  Except for their recent price hike and the "Look at us, we are the only one shipping" mentality.  "Good things come to those who wait"  "Great things come to those who don't!"

I'm not looking for an S6 upgrade... since there's not even a released S6 to be able to upgrade.

A lot of us are eager for an upgrade path for the S2, since it's been a great workhorse.  Probably... could be... I bet they.... is all speculation.  Which is all we have at the moment.  It might be costly, it might be cost-effective.  So we're anxious to see exactly what Bitmain will have to offer.

Having said that, Pekatete has some great logic on the concept (and others). 

If we're looking at a 36-chip board (18x2 string) and 6 boards per S2, I think that's between $500-600 in chips. Since at those numbers an S5 has about $150 in chips and the thing costs about $350, less than half of an S5 is chip cost. However, for a lower-clock more chip-dense miner like the S2 it would likely be a higher proportion of the total price. And a much higher proportion of the total price if they didn't have to worry about literally anything except the PCB with chips on it.

Something's going on.
Bitmain's antpool went from 60PH to 30PH, and it doesn't seem to be under DDoS again.
Could this be them taking offline a big batch of S5's and replacing them with the newer chips?
I guess we'll see when the pool is "back" at 100%.

Umisoo.com sent out some e-mail notifications to the customers their miners are offline due to the facility move and Spring Dust Cleaning of each miner.

All umisoo hosted miners are turned off and being moved out of Umisoo.com to Bitmain owned facility but that process would take physical hardware move and may take a few days.  (The new location to be in a remote area of China and, the Power outage and very limited internet bandwidth be reported as of 2 days ago)

Currently S5 is our primary miner that is the most power efficient.

No wonder the network seems slow today in findsolving blocks ..... this should spike up the BTC value in the short term!
I also do not believe the S5 is bitmain's most efficient miner, else how would you explain shipping used S5's to a growing (reported) number of people? Too many orders for batch 5?

Updates please.  A week out or two?  Something..  gonna unplug my S2's "for cleaning".

Currently china is in the famous Sand Storm Seasons. 

I really can not believe you just gave that as an explanation .... sandstorms in your factories? Well being April 1st I can understand overlook a silly response to a serious allegation, but and I suppose you believe your market dominance allows you that level of slack.

Just a word of advice, in some legal jurisdictions, you can be taken to court in absentia and convicted despite you not being domiciled there for being in breach of the trade descriptions act, or similar laws, if indeed you are shipping used miners for new. Any of your agents could then be imprisoned without warning if they ever stepped foot there!

Why are you still talking about it. It is useless. Bitmain has its own strategy, Hashnest is just frontend with exchange, it has nothing to do with real miners. They are running S2 on hashnest frontend and charge you 1W/GHs electricity, but it is already or right now upgraded to new BM1384 chips. You will not see it. Once Avalon and Bitmain release new chips, they will be one step forward and ready for new efficiency network target. Maybe they will offer customers "upgrade" for their S2 at reasonable charge, but they will have already upgraded their S3 and S4 with a new BM1386 chip.

Don't think it is not fair. They are manufacturer and developper, it keeps them to continue forward. Selling used machines is the best way how to clean outdated hardware from Hashnest. Bitmain wins, customer wins.

Same reason you are talking about it really .... cause this is a public forum and I (we) can!


It is also criminal to ship used equipement sold as new in some legal jurisdictions (clearly not in China!). Bitmain certainly wins, but I doubt the law would look at it as though the buyer also wins.

But we digress, the point was about speculating on the specification of the S2 upgrade kits promised by bitmain, and the assumption was that it will most likely be based on a new chip seeing bitmain were already shipping out their used S5's to batch 5 buyers (who believed they were buying new units). Recall when they started shipping their used S3's ..... that was just before the S5 came to market, so in case you missed the crust of the assumption, there you have it.

It's wrong in so many ways just sell the as used like they did with the S4's.  Being up front is good business not just on top.

Looks like no news this week due to another Holiday.  After tuesday next week there should be some hopefully.  Still believe this price point with assumed specs. should be around $350-$400 mark.
Edit- S5's sold out ...  Looks to be an interesting next week maybe.

So unofficially the S4+ will be released soon, about the same time as these invisible S2 upgrade kits.  So that tells me they probably are going to be near the same specs. of each other.  Looks like the next gen will be late summer then for a so called S6.  All speculation of course.

I'd be surprised if a 6-board kit came in under $500, and honestly $600 seems more likely. Looking at around 2.6TH at about 0.3W/GH would be a steal at under $400, when you'd have to put down about $750 for that hashrate (at worse efficiency) from S5.

Nice... looking forward for these

There should be a little price break for the kits, no heatsink and no case assembly from workers.  Granted the efficiency alone makes you drool.  Hopefully gone are the miners which are $2 k plus when released.

Maybe I ought to keep my last 2 S2's in case new PCBs are coming...

We should hear an announcement this week.

I hope so.

I've shut down my 4 S2's.  The wait for this news is making me wish I would have sold them and picked up an S4+ when announced.  Just feel the S2 is solid and quiet, but very inefficient now.

I'm about ready to throw mine in the garbage.  If bitmain wants to keep my business they best get with the program or I'm done.   Idle threats, I know, but for every person voicing their opinion, there are a number who aren't but feel the same.  I knowingly overpaid on the premise they would have an upgrade path, but so far that turned out to be a complete failure.

Please do not throw away your S2s. Send it to me. I'll pay for shipment.  8)

If you're seriously going to pitch them, let me know.  I'd gladly give you some bits for each and cover shipping costs.

So another week is almost over and still nothing ... ???

They haven't learned not to tease their customers aparently.  If they want these kits to sell they need to give a better heads up on some info or announcement date.

If I end up going that route I'll be sure to let you two know.

I, too, am glad s2. Send to Kiev)

While my S2's are off I'm cleaning them and will post shortly a teardown of the S2 and it's components.  Removal of the heatsink and reapplying thermal compound in preparation of the upgrade kits.

I was first! Wait for your turn.  :P


Every S2 owner already know how to do it.  ::)

to me this upgrade won't be worth it the S1 to S3 was , why you may ask.

IF it only upgrades to a S5 whats the point in it . even if you own a S2 unless it has a price tag of say 150 USD < just a example I 'm sure it will be more, to me just not worth it, the S3 upgrade was . but if it upgrades a s2 to say a S6 then hell yea id be looking for cheap or even non working S2 .




to add last thought if they had done it like S1 to S3 > s2 to s4  . in the first place  it was poss just to them at a profit stand point it wasn't, i tend not believe it when a company say at the customer cost unless they prove it,  the company is losing not the customer and the company does whats in there best interest not ours, they all ways look at there profits first . and bitmain is no diff < no disrespect  .



They must make a lot or enough to still justify selling to the public or they wouldn't.

There was questions in other posts by owners of S2's and others that wished to buy an S2 to upgrade.  It would be just like making another S5 review wouldn't it? ;)

The silence is deafening...

yes... we the techs were told, S2 upgrade is on the way but no further information.

Please wait for the official announcement!

Bitmain has no interest in selling any hardware.  They built up their capacity with sales and they only care about the antpool now.

How else could you explain wanting $340 US for an 1155 Ghs S5 PLUS their outrageous shipping cost? There is no possible way to ever break even on that device.  If you have FREE electricity it's 250+ days! lol

I have the idea too, that Bitmain is fucking us S2 users over again...

Why is it for such a Company so hard to act "normal" and give some real info,
instead of acting like they are creating a new world-wonder? pfff...

I don't get it, but I am almost done with them. The more users fleeing from
Bitmain because off this, doesn't seem to bother them.

i have a gen 1 s2... didn't know about ordering it direct from bitmain then, so no coupon... picked up a 2nd one post berlin or amsterdam conference... lolz at me. i'm just waiting on the price for the final nail in the coffin.

I beleive (what else can I do?..) that they will once send me this upgrade kit for testing and review.  :) They can't fool us twice I guess.

Indeed...

I'm sure all is finalized with S4+ and even the S2 kits but they have inventory on the S5's still.  More over is with the rapid price of Btc in decline they accrue more Btc in waiting.

I'm guessing they aren't heavily speculating on the price of BTC.  I'm sure they hold some, but I'd bet that most of the BTC they get as payment for hardware is sold for fiat of some kind rather quickly unless their suppliers are accepting payment in BTC...

oh yeah s4+, s7 or s89super charged!

lucky me i sold my 4 s2 ~1month ago ;D

Haha, who do you think is driving BTC down? What do you think they will do with UMISOO and HASHNEST S2's? How many people want to pay shipping for useless HW? They sell some BTC and get all their HW for free. Why do you think they still didn't sell already done upgrade cards?!

They will sell their hardware right in time it is the most profitable for them, not to customers.

Just think about Bitmain is your company, what will you do? Sell best HW to customers or make best profit? Or make big profit and make another big profit selling your used hardware?

It's going down in theory because it's less a commodity and more a currency currently.  The largest shares aren't held by the hobbyist any more.

If it were my company we'd do what we said we were going to do. There's enough profit to be made from being trustworthy and reliable, no need to squeak margins by screwing people over. It sucks how much greed there is in the bitcoin economy (not just from manufacturers - nigh every participant is steeped in it), but greed is a basic tenet of human nature and few people ever see past it.

So 2 weeks late for the release per Bitmains initial post.  End of March maybe you meant end of April?  Please we need an update.

Wait two weeks when UMISOO and S2 contract will be terminated, I am sure we will see upgrade cards when Bitmain close shipping of terminated S2.


Yes, you are right, there is enough profit, but it is all about money. If we count 5k S2 units, we can guess Bitmain will save about 2M USD on new hardware by dropping BTC price and terminating contracts. We will see if they have enough power to keep the price low for ten days.

I am not understanding the above, nor do I understand why Bitcoin is more of currency and less of a commodity. While I have a pretty myopic view, it doesn't seem any more of a currency now than it was 12-months ago. While it's been less volatile in some ways, it seems to have settled in at $220-280 range in terms of price.

I also don't get the hobbyist miner connection either.

Care to elaborate on your theory here?

Well a commodity, stocks for instance are of course traded and sold much like Btc was and still is.  In the last year with big business adopting it as a form of payment has been huge.  It has had the opposite effect than most thought.  Bottom line if it's being spent and not held it is dropping in price.  The huge jump in price was due to many factors but was at that time being held from circulation and bought at an enormous rate.
Hobbyist or home Miners compared to large business and farms which at the height of it's climb there were very few of the latter.
12 months your right.  You have to look further back.

Im so glad i sold my 3x S2 over a month ago. I was on the fence, waiting for the upgrade - but got a good price for them :)

Part of the reason Antminer gear is hard to upgrade is they do a pretty good job of having a value.  That is a credit to Bitmain.

Most gear you can sell to someone with cheaper electricity or "free" electricity.  And Antminer is something a lot of Ebayers search for.  Brings a good price on used equipment.  I personally have always had good luck on selling my older Antminers, and they bring a decent amount of cash.

For whatever reason I'm still holding on to mine.  If no news in 2 weeks (end of April) off to Ebay they go.  My hopes was that these would have been out and at a decent price.  Since no new equipment except maybe Sfards or the S4+ are coming out in the next three months I deemed the upgrade feasible.  The Bitmain info blackout either proves it's almost here for announcement or they ran into troubles.  Either way it's BS to release the news and be available for comment on the forums then be told to wait for the someday announcement.  A timeframe would be nice so we can spend our money elsewhere.

Maybe this week is the lucky week? Maybe?

So we got the S4+, which means that S2+ upgrade is very close, right? Right? ...

man the s4+ sucks... who is gonna drop 1000 dollars for shittier performance than a couple s5 lol

The fact that they released the S4+  with old chips and not so nice specs makes me wonder if their original specs on the S2 upgrade kits are doable.

I think Bitmain has demonstrated a keen sense of the Bictoin mining market, and will price an S2 upgrade accordingly. I mean by that it will NOT be cheap, nor represent any kind of huge leap for cheap. After all, once all the engineering and stuff is done, the easiest thing to do is adjust the price. I expect it will appear pretty pricey, and IF (and only IF), they need to respond to a competitive problem, they'll drop the price. Why else would they do anything different?

I don't own an S2, and am just looking at their pricing over the last 12 months.

Still waiting on those S2 Upgrade kits

S2's run like a miner should and they're quiet, 55-60db.  Bitmain's original spec goals deemed these worthwhile to have but time is ticking by.  I think they ran into a kink or don't want to interfere with the S4+ launch.

Dont get me wrong they are rock solid and very quite but the chips are dated its been overdue for an upgrade since he skipped the Update and offered Coupons for S4 now this time around the boards exist we know they do picures were posted on the forums but still not for sale? he knows hes got the market cornered now so he doesn't have to do the right thing for the customer anymore

Exactly, for awhile they play ball when competition is there, the minute it's not they think only about $$$$$$.  The fact that they have hushed about the kits on the forums makes you wonder if they have abandoned the whole thing to promote the S4+.

*crickets*

and an wonderful sky!

good that i sold mine! now i'm looking for ''summer miners''

I see a lot of S2 Boards for sale on ebay so some people have to either be trying to sell the boards now or have upgraded there S2's

Maybe this week we'll hear something? Maybe? ...

I am patiently waiting I am trying to sell my 6 X S2's but if the upgrade kit comes out ill take them off the market and go the upgrade route instead

Why?

I doubt the upgrade will come.

Selling them?

Maybe to someone looking to mine some alts?

Got a price in mind?

Companies can be shady for sure.  But even Bitmain can't weasle out of this upgrade kit twice.  Well at least I hope.

Selling because I am downsizing my mining farm we lost one of our locations we kept miners in

The problem with these things is the shipping I prefer to sell them to someone local I had a few get destroyed by UPS I am located near NY city and am willing to meet someone within 100 mile radius looking for 1 BTC each or best offer for all 6

I wish they'd at least say if they are going to release the upgrade kit or not.
At this point, the kit has been in the hands of their "engineers" for almost 2 months, they should know something, either "can't release at all" or "release within 30 days".

i just hope it better then a s5 or I'll go buy another s5, then do the upgrade fun it's more fun to me but the upgrade it self really won't be that great unless it more in line with a S4 even if its a little less then a S4 +.



to me the S1 to S3 upgrade was fun to do and a nice upgrade .

Sorry for the no news...  

Possibly in MAY.  (yes I know... we said same thing in Feb, may be in march....)

april 28th message... possibly may. weak sauce, but thank you for updating us... sorta.

Still looking at the 18x2 string boards we saw in March? What's the issue you're seeing keeping them from being marketable?

Well, at least Bitmain is here with us and keeps promising. It's better than nothing...

If i would ask for advice, to buy another S2(s) or not to buy - what would Bitmain answer?  :D

Possibly a post containing nothing but wink emoticons. Or are they not doing that anymore?

If I had to venture a guess, I'd say they don't want to cannibalize S4+ sales. 

Betting this is a decision driven not by a technical reason, but a business one.

Maybe Bitmain will chime in though...

But the S4 sucks and everyone knows it. Those chips are a year old. Maybe they are a lot cheaper to produce in bulk so they'd rather run high-density old chips than high-density new chips (at reduced power consumption) but not adjust the margins accordingly? With 204 of the BM1384 in a 3x17 string they could get the same hashrate from less than 1KW wall. It is fairly impressive that they can get the efficiency out of the BM1382 that they have, but I'm not sure I understand what economical reason there is to pull up a new design with year-old chips and price it higher than people would pay for the same design with the better chips you brought to market four months ago. Why would anyone buy an S4+? How it's priced, it's actually better to buy nothing, even when no other hardware is available. And selling S2 kit is so much easier than building and shipping a whole new product - chuck half a dozen bare boards in bubble wrap, label it and send it out. DONE.

Actual ASIC Hashing PCB production as an upgrade kit is not that simple.  It is a lot more complicated and extensive man power is required.

Wow..  coming from a company that has pushed this upgrade further and further out.  Can you at least comment if you hit your spec goal from original post.  A good many of us are betting on this upgrade as long as the original specs can be met.  You should have that info by now. 
We understand you don't want to sell an upgrade kit that beats your new shiny S4+ but come on the S2's life is about over.  Any further wait and you won't have any sales from us.  Your competitors new products are knocking at the door.  Time is money...... and it's time are money is spent elsewhere.

Well May is almost here.  So mid May or end of May?  Does make a huge difference to us.  Dogie can you chime in?  Tech support still says wait for announcement.

Bullshit.  You expect us to believe there's more overhead in one component of a system than the system as a whole?  Quit making excuses (lying), be honest with us.  You've done nothing but kick the can down the road for months.

2nd that!  What Bitmain means is it's hard and they need more manpower to take apart their existing S2 miners in the farm to test the boards.

"TEST the boards"  ;)

Its another Chinese Holiday.  Staffs will be back to work starting on May 4th  ;)

So?..

Hopefully the news will be out but not yet

I believe no one gives a shit about Bitmain's "soon", "but not yet" announcements anymore.  Come back when you have something concrete, like say, upgrades in stock ready for shipping.  Before long no one is even going to want to upgrade an S2, so all of Bitmain's "soon" and "not yets" will have been a complete waste as they'll have blown their opportunity to rake in more sales via upgrades..

Please remember, none of these items are pre-order.  Our sales team and the Marketing team will make the announcement when it is ready.  we are just the techs assisting you guys with the need. 

I didn't say they were pre-order.  I'm saying Bitmain told S2 buyers paying inflated prices that they would gave an upgrade path.  I'm saying Bit main has made TWO new chips and not a single S2 has been upgraded.  I'm saying that for the better part of a year S2 owners have been told "xyz month", "soon", "not yet".  Maybe after Bitmain has put out the NRE on the upgrade and paid the up front costs for the first run all the S2 owners can start saying "soon", "not yet",  "maybe next month" to Bitmain when they ask why people aren't buying.  Wouldn't that be something.

Still have some S2s running on Freicoin be interesting to see what upgrade does come out if any these things never die they are the 'energizer bunny' of mining. Waiting.

so you're saying you totally overstepped your boundaries 2 months ago while hyping the upgrade to us?

What do you think an upgrade will do? Magically make an S2 profitable? Even 2 months ago it wouldn't have.

I get people want to push Bitmain to follow up on their promises but somehow I just don't see any value in an upgrade now nor 2 moths ago. You pay more to mine how much more?

If it comes let me know the price given the current strategy Bitmain prices for miners are in predatory territory and highly doubt anyone will be happy about the price of an S2 upgrade kit anyhow and then there will be a whole host of people complaining about that if it ever ships. The only reason to put this upgrade out is for Bitmain to turn a profit on the kit. That profit maybe be fair but it certainly doesn't make an S2 profitable to a miner.

What are you really fighting for? Or are you just taking the piss out of Bitmain? If you are ok keep going don't let me stop you.

They're great rigs too bad they stopped being cost efficient to run a couple months ago.  Bitmain,  that's why we're hounding you.  These upgrade kits could be great for S2 owners but time is important..... as always.

Hey BitmainWarranty, had a good holiday? Great ... how about them S2 upgrade kits? Sure would be swell to get some news about them (release date / price point / specs).
Thank you!

Yes.  Actually it could be profitable.  With the supposed specs currently it would be the most efficient miner.  Just have to buy the new boards.  Who knows when next gen chips will be out but the kit is almost here without the need of buying a whole new miner.

Dear Bitmain representatives!

Should we keep waiting for these upgrade kits or we can leave even the hope of getting it?.. Please tell us clearly - YES or NO? To wait or not to wait - that is the question...

Every time Bitmain launches a new product the Bitcoin price is getting significant lower.
It was so with the S1's, S2's, S3's, S4's and so on...

I follow the Bitcoin price 24 hours a day, 365 days a year an we can see that there is
somebody pulling the price lower and lower for over 2 months, after a 2 month correction
going up againg. (I think these are whales manipulating the BTC price so they can buy
new ASIC as cheap as possible, pushing the price up again, just before selling there
second hand hardware for the max. and then dropping the Bitcoin price again so they
can pull of this trick again, and again, and again...

I think the Bitcoin price will be pushed, maybe, under 180\160 euro?? So the whales
can Upgrade their S2's as cheap as possible.

So maybe another 2 weeks of lowering prices and maybe then the S2 Upgrades will arrive?
I personally think that very big Whales have information that will never find its way to
the mass. I think this is a very bad influence in the Bitcoin world, but greed is the first
problem I think!    GREED is NOT GOOD  >:(

For now, we'll just keep waiting...

Bitmain units are priced in dollars, but you can pay in BTC, every time the exch. Rate drops the miners cost more BTC, so why would a miner whale want that?

Price is dropping from speculators playing in illiquid markets with margin to extract $$$ profits, and a shift from hobby miners who's aim was to hold BTC to new and corpo miners who are looking for a $$$ payday.  The average participant has moved from the geeky type interested in the blockchain tech and what it could do for society, to people looking go extract value.

A new hope for Capitalism wasn't what the blockchain was intended for I'm sure.  Large corporations profitting from the middle class.  Oh well, too bad there wasn't something implemented in the structure to deny this.

Most idiotic theory one can imagine, what's your IQ dude? Can you calculate 2+2?

It's quite possible to see it in that range.  What's idiotic is your theory why it couldn't.  People (companies mainly) can't afford to hold it at it's current value forcing them to sell which in turn can force the price down.  When it climbed in late 2003 we bought and held.  There was very few ways of spending it, plus the difficulty was ripe for the new asics.  It will rise again.  Take comfort while it's still low to buy in. 

I think the guy that is "pulling BTC price lower" is named Adam Smith.

Look him up on Google....  :)

Bitmain you may want to rethink your strategy for releasing information sooner than your ready to release such a product.  From a customer service standpoint this looks real bad since this is the second time you have done this for the same product.  Get your ducks in a row and this week give us some info.  Good or bad we need to know if you've dumped the program or fine tuning it for deployment.  Believe me it will be refreshing to see new products from other suppliers soon so we don't have to rely on your theory "We're the only ones shipping so we can do what we want" campaign. 

News? Updates?

I've tried to be patient with "just the techs".  The problem is that "just the techs" started more than 2 months ago telling us there will be an upgrade soon.  That has been quite some time now.  You are Bitmain.  You made this thread.  You have not told us anything here except "soon", "hopefully" and lots of other garbage responses (including: we're going on holiday, again!)

I used to think Bitmain was a rising star.  Looking at how you have treated customers this year, you are more of a shooting star - a quick, bright showing, but off in the distance, never to be seen again.  First the ever changing pricing tricks.  Now a second go around at an S2 upgrade, that has been more months without real details of any kind.

Do something.  Say something of substance about this upgrade.

Well, technically, I made this thread.

It's been over 2 months since the kit was showcased, and no real information has come out since.
Will Bitmain just release the S2 upgrade kit when then new wave of miners come out?
I wouldn't be surprised after the S4+ joke.

Indeed you did.  Though I have read the entire thread, over time, since its start.  I forgot who the originator was. My apologies about mispeaking on that point, of who made this thread.  Thanks for the correction.

I'm guessing may be after June when the last S5 batch goes on sell on or  is gone, i sure hope they do more then the  S5 does as a upgrade if we ever see them .

Emailed support.... again.... the same comment "No news".  This gets old real quick.  First there's Hype about it and dates and the it just dwindles from there.  From a PR stand point wouldn't you think at least bi-weekly updates are in order?

Don't hold your breath.

Tamada... Why do they promise at all?..  :-\

They are just hoarding them for there farm until something substantial comes out which with the exit of knc and spondoolies from any new machines bitmain kind of has us all by the balls and can do what ever he wants

still waiting bitmain...

any update on the info???

That would be the thousand dollar question right now.  End of May.... June upon us, March was months ago when they were only a couple weeks away from release.  Remember them saying their in the testing stage of R&D back then.  Bullshitters are everywhere in Crypto World, didn't think Bitmain would take another backdoor to this kit again.   :P

bump for bitmain sucking and deceiving us

big like!

from february till now....

sold my s2 in march! happy about that :)

still waiting here whats the deal is bitmain going to shit like the rest of them?

I am waiting with you, guys.  :-\

It seems pretty conclusive that they will not release this after all, 3+ months of testing and not shipping yet?
Unless, they are using the kits themselves (for "testing" of course) and when someone releases something better, they'll ship these kits as new for a crazy inflated price.

I agree with your statement in full. They are "testing" kits I believe and they will not ship or properly announce them until someone offer better and efficient miner on the market. Things are like that because there is no competition yet.

I'm going to keep this thread near the top until we get an answer from Bitmain.  It's been 4 months with nothing more than "yeah, we're working on it".

Up we go!

You sir, are a most persistent optimist (in my opinion). It feels "Waiting for Godot" to me.  :)

Perhaps.  Maybe some community pressure will pop out some news... ?  Dunno.

i for one really look forward to sfards rolling out more chips for mining. they truly seem to be the new company to keep an eye on while this shit train crashes after the laughable s4+ release.

I hope Bitmain comes out with another decent chip so I can play with it. I really want to like SFARDS and they do seem pretty open to working with the community, but I just really hate BGA.

But yeah, S4+ definitely caused a double-take. And who knows, maybe they'll make S2 upgrade kits next generation?

*crickets*

Yeah, the S4+ and that PSU they came out with recently both threw me for a loop.

up

I've given up on any S2 upgrade kits. I suppose I should just toss mine into the electronics recycling bin along with all my old Bitfury gear next weekend...

They are trying to maximize profit and an S4+ is a much better way to do that than to deliver S2 upgrade kits.. Like any commercial enterprise they are balancing customer satisfaction against profits..

If you're in the USA I'll pay shipping as well as a few bits for you on those S2s rather than just pitching them!

How about sending it to me?  ::) Bitmain promised (!) to provide us with S2 uprade kits twice, so I still hope...

Bueller?  Bitmain?

.........

*crickets*

.............

indeed

Wait, the S4+ is good for something? But I thought it was an overpriced inefficient machine made with tech about two generations old. If they wanted to maximize profits they should have built something actually worth buying.

They're maximizing profits, alright.  But not ours.

I just kinda feel sorry for anyone that bought S4+. I mean 0.6W/GH is pretty great for a year-old chip, but the same machine with BM1384 could have run six strings instead of four off the same PSU and gotten 1.5x the hashrate. Depending on the specifics, it probably wouldn't have cost much more. Just seems kinda strange to me to have the best chip available for half a year with no competition and not make any new products with it, while rolling out stuff that's not as good with old technology. I guess they're taking advantage of having no competition to burn off old stock maybe? But that still doesn't make it cost-effective for anyone at their selling price.

I do hope they roll out some S2 kits with the 18x2 strings. 10 of those clocked moderately could get over 3TH off the 1KW PSU. Or maybe they'll retool the design for a new chip soon and get even better?

Me too, at this point I wish they'd just say something, one way or the other.

Obviously bitmain isn't coming in here... We should migrate to them and start an answers on s2 upgrades Twitter and Facebook campaign

Sure seems that way.

Posted on their FB page.

Lets see if they respond. Still have an S2 collecting dust since they announced upgrade plans a while back.

-Christian

I'm feeling like it's almost too late to roll these out unless they go for cheap.  And we know that won't happen.  It really is BS that they say 3 months ago they are in the final stage of testing and then nothing at all.  Makes you keep repeating their own words spoken in the forum...."Bitmain is a for profit company".  Of course you are, duh... but acting hush on the matter only makes us look elsewhere.

As if there really is an elsewhere. I suppose when you are one of the very few companies that has endured, and there is no real competition remaining in consumer sales, you no longer have to be accountable. I can't say it's refreshing, but it's as true a representation of a free market as we'll ever see. 

It's alright Bitmain, a time will come when the price of coins rises, and you will see competition again.  People don't forget.

True Dat Homie! ;D

up

the silence is deafening...

They are too busy price-raping customers by selling "brand new" S5's for $378 each to give a shit about this project.

Time to give up on it.

Yet another lie and broken promise from Bitmain.

Think I'm going to take my S2 out to the gun range next weekend and fire off some .223 rounds into it...

I am surprised they haven't released this product because a few pages back they posted a few photos. Maybe they didn't think it would sell.

If you're getting rid of the S2 anyways, I might know a guy that would buy it - contingent on it not being riddled with bulletholes.

I have two of them, any idea on pricing?

Maybe if Bitmain is not going upgrades for the S2, we can see if someone else is will to do them with Bitmain's blessing of course cause the chips would need to be bought from them.

Bitmain, pleeaase...  :'(

I think silence speaks for it's self sometimes.   This is one of those times.

I could be wrong and later they say something.  But does not really seem to be a priority, I think the thread shows this much.  Which I can understand some reasons for it.

The best use I can think of for my dormant S2 is to use the power supply for a S5 or S7.

Rude!  That's all I have to say to Bitmain.  Money hungry Pigs!  Great products for the most part but selling PreMined equipment is just uncool!  We're fools if we don't believe they have the tech but choose to upgrade their own farms first, then try and sell them as S7's.  May be wrong but the silence would tell anyone that this is the course. 
Don't ever again advertise a product you don't intend to ship, not just once but twice. 

Honestly I would sell it whal it still has value.   Either buy btc or a new miner.   

The longer you wait for upgrade kit the lower the miner will be worth.   So good deal... not really.  But this has been quiet so long I would go selling route vs waiting and hoping for something that might not come.

Besides, S2 PSU's were shit and tend to get weak after a while, mine wouldn't maintain all hashing boards after many months.  Better off selling the miner whole, or the PSU off separately and buying a real PSU for the S5/S7.

I'd give $100 shipped for an S2. Just throwing that out there.

On the PSUs, I got the S2 Kit and built my own case for it so it's been running on a DPS2K. But last week I helped a guy that had bought an S2 second-hand that dies after about five minutes running all boards. We ended up downclocking it to about 185MHz before the PSU could keep up with the power draw. If you only need something to run 800W or less, the 1000W PSU in one of those would probably do okay but for how long if it's already been run at 100% for most of a year?

I already gave up waiting for the upgrade. I've already retired the miner and will probably put it in storage with my retired S1's. Even with my cheapish power at 8cents/kwh, it would only clear $10/month. I figure shipping would be too costly and time consuming. Maybe I could ship everything minus the case? I haven't had any issues with the psu. I ran it less than 1 year. I think 9-10 months??

One of the cards has a faulty temp sensor and 1 card seems to fail if it gets to hot(maybe the slot tho), you can reinsert the card while running and it starts working again. I also have trouble getting it to boot. I think it's the microsd card slot pins causing the issue.

Look into shipping entire thing.  If you ship all the parts you will have a mess, or a lot in of time making packing.

Sell and have buyer pay shipping.  I'm willing to bet you get more then you think.   Can buy BTC direct or put twords new machine.   

I am glad someone agree's with me.

Cost of shipping these is $40 minimum, I know........  and they don't travel well.  I have one on CL now, Ebay takes too long to pay, another with 1 bad hashing board and no psu.  Been keeping these ones just in case a miracle happens, but seeing how Bitmain is that miracle won't be cheap.  Too bad these run like a champ and are fairly quiet.

It was really tedious waiting.... months ago.  Now it is far beyond rude.  It's a total slap in the face to customers, to wait so long without any real statements (except "soon" "wait")

we will get the answer in the year 2115.
 

Why don't we just SPAM them, with the question; IF and WHEN they this S2 Upgrade comes?

How many people are following this Topic? 100, 200 or more...
What if we start emailing Bitmain every day -twice- with lets say 100+ people?
If the arrogance of Bitmain is this high, they need a good lesson!
Believe me, after a while they will answer!

ps. soon LKETC.com is offering 5TH \ 1000watt  (maybe it's time to walk away from Bitmain...)

Bitmain has grown away from the communities appeal.  If you can go back they actually were looking for feedback on the forum but not now.
Emailing would just give a repeat answer as "Wait, we will be releasing info shortly".  This whole thread was created to do just what you ask.
When was the last time they posted in here?  My point exactly.  Twice on the same product promising an upgrade and not delivering is wrong and follows many of the companies that failed.

omg....you are right
http://lketc.com/enindex.aspx

Does anyone know the price yet ?

The price and release dates are not known I do not believe.  I'm guessing they are still working on this chips myself.

You would think they would respond with something. Any response is better than none. WTF!!!

The none response speaks for itself.   I think the S2 is not the easiest upgrade they need to make 10 blades, instead of lets say S4 only 4 blades.   I'm sure they did cost analysis to see what profit margin would be.

My guess and its a total guess is they found other things they can make more money off of then an upgrade kit.

They were shooting for 6 or 7 blades.

It was possibly a design, but I don't think it made it farther then that.  I'm guessing it never made it to prototype phase.

I still think they are working on other things.  If they ever come back and do a S2 upgrade... doubt it.... but who knows.

No, it was prototyped over four months ago. If I'm thinking right, 8 of these boards clocked at 200MHz would get you over 3TH off 1KW from the wall.

sidehack, may be you can produce these boards? It will be faster anyway.  :-\

It probably wouldn't, since I don't really have the resources to prototype something that large anytime soon. I also currently know almost nothing about the socket pinout or the protocol or the driver code. I'll worry about the four miner boards and USB hub and PSU boards and hosting I'm already doing, but if all that goes well I might look into it later this year?

I did not realize it was 3T on 1 KW.   That is more impressive then I thought it was.   I could have seen them wanting to sell out of S4+ before releasing them if those specs are close.

But with S4+ sold out.  I'm not sure what they are really waiting for.   I think the silence still means a good chance they will not end up doing this.

200MHz would be 3168GH proper. It's probably closer to 1100W wall once you do the math a bit better and factor in fans. But that's still pretty decent.

Can anything help you to start sooner? May be any donations campaign?  ;)

You could talk a company into selling him lots of chips at a good price.   I think Bitmain was not really responding to chip orders unless it changed.

I hope when he does this big of gear he does ground up, like he did with usb drive.  I really would love to see a GekkoScience big miner that is not an upgrade.

I'll try, it's better than nothing.  :)

Why not make a big miner with hashing boards completely compatible with S2's backplate?

Because I may not like how they do comms. Why limit my own design to the framework of someone else's? I'd rather make something a bit more universal.

We need standardized designs for miners IMO, with a few different form factors.  1x USB stick, 1x Grid-seed sized-styled, 1x Asicminer Tube or S1/3/5 sized-styled, and 1x SP30/S2/S4 sized-styled.  I don't understand why the cooling, framework, and board communication can't all be re-used in further generations at this point, if the design parameters are taken into account.  That way once the miners are worthless, you can just scrap the boards and be back in business with the latest tech, without having to worry about re-selling redundant hardware, and trying to ship it.  That would be a huge benefit to the consumer. 

Also as a benefit to the manufacturers, when they are pricing new hardware they have to take potential ROI/income into account, and sell units for as much as possible so that the customer MAY have a chance to break even and make money on them.  If they did not have to fabricate, assemble and ship heat sinks, fans, controller boards or PSU's with every new miner, the savings could be partially added to the selling price to increase their mark-up while maintaining the same level of profitability to the customer.

Creating and distributing small form factor miners for every generation does not seem like an efficient process.  I can only imagine that Bitfury's hardware, since it is designed strictly to be used in mines, does not resemble typical miners like we have seen from SP-T or Bitmain whatsoever. I also feel like home mining would have a greater chance at survival if design elements are made more efficiently.

We're working on boards with a USB interface per board. This works well for using a board as standalone, but works just as well for using multiple boards in a larger unit. Avalon uses SPI, where Bitmain uses UART, but both have $1 USB converter chips readily available. If a standardized form-factor of board existed with such a ridiculously standard interconnect, piecewise upgrades and competition from multiple companies would be trivial. We're looking at S1/3/5 formfactor as a standard small machine to work with, and we're looking at boards the size of Prisma as a larger set which could easily be bladed into something S4-sized - and all of them would have a standard USB interconnect. Internal hub, simple controller, power cabling direct to the blade, done.

If we end up being able to do what we're wanting to do, and it turns into something we can continue with future generations, we'll continue building boards to the same formfactors. If other folks want to get in on that we can release the standards when it's ready.

Working with the S2 platform would be nice, but since it was sorta purpose-built for a specific power range and specific comm protocol, it's kinda limiting. I'd rather start from scratch to make a framework that can cover a more flexible range using fairly standard tools. I'm very much in favor of reusing the heavy parts of things, and I hope Bitmain shifts more toward that with the S[odd] series using a bit more generic/standardized controller connection and making upgrade hashboards available - in addition to the S2 upgrade path.

Once again, a very smart approach Sidehack.  Thank you for being willing to at least think about making an S2 upgrade option in the future.  Thank you for your support of the community, by actually coming up new miners.  Congratulations GekkoScience!

<shameless plug>If you want to thank me, buy some stickminers (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1126705.0)</shameless plug> - of course made with Bitmain chips because those guys are alright.

It appears that I currently own two S2, one stock unit and one "kit" which I built a case for, so I've been looking forward to the prospect of an S2 Upgrade as well. The numbers are really promising with BM1384 - just like with the BM1380, high density low clock efficiency is about twice that of the high-clock low density of the S5. Maybe when they start moving an S7 with new chips around 0.35W/GH (I hope) they'll be more inclined to release a 0.3W/GH S2 upgrade. They've already demonstrated with the S4+ that they're willing to run out new designs with previous-gen chips; unfortunately they also have been demonstrating a willingness to sell things for much more than they're realistically worth (which is funny because they also sold out of everything even at those prices...) so I'd expect the upgrade kit to cost about as much as 2x S7 if the hashrate and efficiency are maybe 10% better than a pair of S7. Remember the S3 upgrade kit only cost about $40 less than just buying an S3. All the expensive-to-manufacture parts are being replaced but all the expensive-to-ship parts aren't, so they'll use that logic to keep customer savings marginal.

Even so, I'd buy one if they made one. It'd be pretty sexy. A GekkoScience-built upgrade kit is not impossible, but also not what I'm looking to work on until a few other projects are finished. Although... I just had an interesting idea so I'm gonna have to spend some time probing the backplane and see if it's even possible. Each board has specific data lines run to its socket and they're all multiplexed together on the control board. If I could use a pair per socket for USB signal (will require testing, noise and such being a big concern) I could cook up a new control board with a basic SBC attached via USB to some hub chips and still use a generic interface, just with the specific form-factor and backplane connection. If I'm thinking right, the WASP guys were looking into a USB-pairs backplane standard a while ago, and not because it was a bad idea. New boards could be built in the same shape with whoever's chips, with a standard USB converter chip to whatever base protocol the chips use and a few additional tie-ins like temp monitoring and voltage control. Updating cgminer on the control SBC would get new drivers for new boards, but the controller hardware itself wouldn't need to change at all. Hm... a lot of that would inherit from TypeZero design work so it might not be too bad to append something like that to the list of potential projects - unless anyone else wanted to work on it.

In my area an Antminer S2 is highly sough after because we have low electricity rates and can make more money with an S2 then with one S3.

And I am sure in your area there are people who live in apartment buildings or get free electricity at work and would take the S2. You're best bet is to just sell them. You might be able to get $100-$200 for them. They sell like CRAZY on ebay and amazon.

Try $200 plus still on Ebay.  Posting another one today but hate dealing with the shipping - they don't travel well unlike the S4.  Just impatient in the long wait that may never come.  It would still be wise for Bitmain to release these kits as their are far more S2's in the world than S4's or S4+'s.  The hashing power of the kit was suppose to be around 2+ th when they first announced it.  And like beating a dead horse, would have been great back in the first quarter of this year.

That sounds really interesting.  I've always thought that modular miners with standardized and easily replaceable hashing boards was the way to go.

Novak and I talked for an hour or two yesterday, ironing out some dimensioning and such for what we want to do for a big miner. We're probably going to end up publishing the mechanical and electrical standards we'll be working within in case someone else wants to make boards for the same platform. But that discussion has digressed farther from the point of Bitmain putting out an S2 Upgrade, so it should probably be taken up somewhere else.

You've gotta admit the S2 being a larger 4u case allows larger/quieter fans and with the backplane the simplest upgradeable design.

True but it also has 10 pcb's of bords compared to 4 with good sized heatsinks.   So I could see pro's and con's on both sides.

I don't think it really matters though..... as I personally dont see a upgrade kit coming at this point.

I think at this point they would rather sell a whole miner vs an upgrade kit.   I could guess some of the reasons for it.  Most likely higher sales for entire unit, lowers costs of making it.  Have more large scale buyers on whole miner.

As a small customer a kit would be great if you could upgrade.  But I just don't see it, they have been quiet to long.

Why can't the "entire unit" be arranged like S2, i.e. backplate+blades? In that case the blades can be produced at the same factory both for some new miner and (since the blades are compatible) for S2s?.. The more quantity of produced items - the less unit cost, right?

not wanting to grow the network unnecessarily?

Any updates on the S2 Upgrade?  ??? ::) :-\

Be great to get the upgrade! Have my S2 running off a wind turbine, would be nice to be able get more hashing power out of it  ;D

I'm assuming at this point that it won't happen.  We're likely only a month or two from the S6/S7s, so it doesn't make much sense to retrofit S2s at this point.

Denis

It would be nice if Bitmain gave those of us who bought S2's a coupon.  I would forgive this failure if they give me some S5+ coupons. ( real coupons meaning at least 2% off , preferably 5% or more off)

They already gave us a coupons for buying S4s.

And then they lied to us about these kits.

The only shame they bring on themselves is for the second time saying it's in the works, it's almost available and then nothing.  Companies grow too large the greedier they get and lose transparency.  The only hope is they come when they release their new offering.

...so it should stand to reason that they can find out which former customers let all those S4 coupons lapse.

When I've asked about lapsed coupons they were more than anxious to sell me something that moment for a deal rather than reissue new coupons.  Very excitedly through email they only wanted to know how many and when and replies ceased after asking about coupons.

Some of us didn't buy them direct from shitmain. We get nothing lol

Well, it seems this is where Antminer was working on...  The S5+

I think they let the S2's bleed to death  >:(

http://shop.bitmain.cn/goods.php?id=47

May be one day... Once... They... Will...  :-\

i think we can kiss the S2 upgrade kits goodbye

With the announcement of the new Bitmain BM1385 chips it could be possible for some upgraded boards for the S2.  Depends on what interface the new boards take.  I thought I heard them comment they would like to get back to the pci-e backplane.

The interface of the boards for S2 upgrade kits depends just on BITMAIN's decision to keep their word about that upgrade kits. I do think so.  8)

So this is the semi-official S2 upgrade kits dismissal. Game over. Now we can use our S2s as a dryer for mashrooms, for example...

I think I agree game over on the S2 upgrade

S7 is out ... s2 is officially dead ...

yup I see it on the site now looks more like the S5+ designed controller boards

If you are located in Canada and are interested in selling your S2, let me know.

Um, wasn't this a dead topic a year ago?

Bitmain themselves brought it back by showing off some BM1384 prototype boards this spring and getting people's hopes up. Of course they slipped some details, some potential timelines, and then apparently dropped the whole thing without a word.

Maybe they will try again with the new BM1385 Chips but like the last one that may never see public release and only be sold to private farms

lol  ;D

yep, not a first company to do it too (cough-KNC-cough).
I also think that some people started buying used S2 in anticipation, so it could have been a double whammy. I almost bought one.
S2 probably did spectacularly in some places with very low electricity.

I just turned my kit build off a couple months ago. I didn't get in anywhere near early on 'em and still ran it for a year.

I bought a second, a stock unit, for the museum earlier this year. I'd have bought a third to upgrade if the kits hadn't evaporated.

Yup, I picked up a couple.

Picked up 5 from a nearby Data Center and sold 4 after eventual news of no upgrade kits. 
Will run the last one as a heater this winter.

i would go for something quieter like an s3 or s5 with the option fan on 0%
better efficiency too


u guys still dream of upgrading your s2 ??? ::) :D

BITMAIN promised us. I hope they will keep their words.

p.s. fortunately I have an access to free electricity, that's why I haven't sold my S2 yet.  :D

p.p.s. how about e-mail attack, like several months ago about GPL terms?..  ;D

Not worried about efficiency when my electric wall heaters are rated at 1200w and during the winter run almost 24/7 anyway.

At this point I would suggest selling the S2.  It's just going to go down in value.   I recently sold some of my equipment that needed to go to lower priced electricity areas.  Worked pretty good I was happy with end result.

But I don't see a upgrade kit coming at this point from them.   Sometimes promises get broken when it comes to business.  I'm guessing they added up cost, and man power guessing to help some through it.   And chances are long ago decided to kill project.

And it is entirely possible they did a S2 upgrade at some point and kept it internal.  That would make sense for their personal data centers. (just speculation). 

It might make the most sense to figure out what you could get for the S2 if you sold it today. Use that as a cost figure, and churn the numbers on how long it will take to break-even with 0 running cost.Can you wait that long? Do you want to?

I think continuing to wait for Bitmain, or harping at them is a waste of time. They have forgotten about this months ago.

The graphic above from Finsky sums it up.

One thing I could not tell who is in the graphic above?   I do agree time to let go.

I feel I can sell my S2 freely. There will no be any kind of upgrade for S2s...

Please correct me if I am wrong...

Just DO IT!
       nike


:)))))

s7.....

It has been some time sinca ny upgrade kit was sold the only one was and S1 to S3 upgrade kit I wonder when the next one will be available maybe once they refine the S7's chips they will release some sort of smaller miners using the same chips or possibly an upgrade kit I hope at least  ;D

I still have 1 S2' I held onto just for Winter heating as well other then that its a large heavy paperweight not even worth shipping

I just couldn't let go of this, so I sent an e-mail to Bitmain asking if they are planning on any sort of upgrade kit  :D

... Maybe they will sell you their prototypes with S5 chips.

Well, answer was as predicted..

"Hi,

We dont have anything to previous models already! we can assist on RMA, repair hash boards. but no any kits

Best Regards

BITMAIN"

I guess it's time to sell the S2's!  :-\  Such a pity!

https://i.imgflip.com/y1d70.jpg (https://imgflip.com/i/y1d70)via Imgflip Meme Maker (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator)

Brilliant  :D :D :D

I gave up on this a long time ago.  Sold my S2s.

The S7 design is very optimized for both shipping (light), and rma (individual hashboards can be sent).  I don't see why Bitmain would change its current design, or design S2 upgrade kits for BM1385. 

It would be nice to see a single board S7; or at least the sale of the aluminum enclosures so we can make our own.   ;)

There is a much larger market for ~450 watt miners than for ~1300 watt. 

Ditto I saved one for sentimental value to put in my museum some day it cost more to ship it then its worth these days  ;D

S2? I use that as a lottery machine on ckpool solo :)
Its a shame it cant be upgraded tho

I sold all 5 of mine when everyone still thought kits would be available, at a price that basically got the same hashrate in S3 units

I got a decent enough price for mine, all things considered.  I actually talked to Yoshi at a conference about the upcoming hardware kit and how it was progressing, which was why I was fairly sure that it was coming.  Not to mention the prototype boards that were revealed at a different conference.

I understand that nothing is guaranteed, but I can't be the only one that held onto S2s for far too long in the hopes of making them useful again at my electric rate :(

Maybe some day a 3rd party like sidhack could make some new boards with what ever chips are must efficient at the time. As of right now mine are retired and sitting on a shelf until I find a place with free power to just stuff them

The S2 design isn't worth it; S1/S3/S5 style boards make more sense.

What are you talking about?  The S2 design was great.  Modular, 4U rackmount...  What wasn't great was when they decided to fuck all the people Bitmain (repeatedly) promised upgrade kits to.

I haven't bought a single piece of HW from them since because of it, and I most likely never will again.  I'll see what Bitfury has when that comes about.

I don't trust chinese anymore even though I am chinese.. lol. Everybody likes rackmounts! Server style racking is great for data centers and shit. Now, though, Looks like the only good rack bitmain has left is the s4 and its already out with roi.

The batch 4's were ok; before that if you got an intact S2 it must have been a miracle.

Yes Bitmain lied to us about the kits, and didn't even apologize.

It's been over a year.

I think it would make more sense for Bitmain to make a 6U enclosure for 3x S7 plus powersupplies, but I don't see that happening. 

I received many S2s in pristine condition.  The trick is to purchase after the initial batch.

The trick is to hire engineers who understand anything about structure.

I ordered batches 2, 3 and 4; 8x total S2's. 

They didn't even begin to address the problem until the last of the batch 3 (first with the metal guides, which were slightly improved and more effective with the batch 4's).

My LCD display blew out, and received a brand new one  a looong time ago, still in the box with ribbon cable if anyone is interested in buying it.

Ill try to get a pic of it up tomorrow.

thanks!

The s2! the good old times :D
Put one on top of other until it's starting to tilt as Pisa tower ::)

Bitmain, how about your promises to your customers now?  8)

I threw my S2 in the trash, was taking up way too much room.

Still have the PSU and fans however.

I actually picked up a couple used ones when they announced this lie... bitmain hasn't got a satoshi from me since.

I saw on another thread someone is trying to create new hash boards for and S5 Using newer chips, i always wished that would happen to the S2 I hung on to 2 of these oldies for hope that some day it would happen

It's better to scrap the psu and sell blades at this point, there's likely going to be no further upgrade path to these new miners in the future, and the PSU can be worth quite a bit in good condition. We have hope, but it seems for now the classic miner design is more popular than the rack.

I agree the S2 was dead long ago but I saved them because they were rather quiet and if I ever come across a place with free electric I figured I could always run them and make a few extra pennies a week  :o

Better to make it solo mining.  ;)

Wow! The topic still continues..... I thought it was 2014-15 again.  Still have 1 which I just stole the fans and grills to encase my gpu miner/heater.

Yeah the PSU+Fans and that Ethernet extender plug are all used in my GPUs now.

Really crazy those cost $4000 when new. Talk about depreciation.

Just yet another reason why we all switched to mainly GPU mining. :) They don't depreciate nearly as fast as ASICs, and remain useful after they stop making you anything. They were the best miners at the time, and back then people saw the successes of the people who bought the S1, so naturally the S2 sales were huge.

Speak for yourself, dude. And probably in the Altcoin mining section.

Ah be like me  do both and float back and forth.

If alt is hot do 60-40 alt

If btc is hot do 40-60 btc

BTW  since your new gear allows for software clocking (like gpus)  it is easy to shift  the power to btc or to alt.

I am looking forward to you gear as  managing the BTC to Alt power ratio will be much easier to do.

Not knocking anyone that wants all alt or all btc   , but I want both.

The problem is there really is little reason to shift back and forth. BTC is just not worth it on so many levels right now.

The gear is overpriced, bad warranty, loud, ROI is almost a year, and if you got limited power a 280x performs better than a S9. I threw my S2 literally in the dump about 1.5 year after it was introduced and cost $4000 brand new. You won't be doing that with any new GPUs.

Until ZEC crashes and ETH goes POS, many won't look twice at an Antminer. The only advantage that BTC asics has is that its more user friendly and stable for the less experienced.

Another advantage is that sha-256 ASIC miners are able to catch a block in solo bitcoin mining. At least in theory.  ;)

I like that bitcoins have an actual economy of utility, where they can be directly exchanged for goods and services in a variety of ways. Most altcoins don't have that, most of 'em never will, and it's really the only thing I care about.

I believe it is foolish to hold any altcoin long term.  No matter what any developer claims; you know they store their value in BTC.

shapeshift.io very effectively enables cross chain transactions; effectively creating one economy out of all supported coins.  I can confirm their api and skeleton implementation are well designed, and their customer support will resolve an issue; if you have one.

While I have always felt it is the responsibility of every miner to only use pools that represent less than 12% of the total Network hashrate; it is also important that: the Network be distributed geographically. 

Currently too much of the total Network hashrate is geolocated in China.  Bitmain has repeatedly claimed they support a distributed Network; but they like any corporation, will always be motivated by profit.  Splitting their pool into 2 distinct pools; is proof they are aware of the situation.

Buying miners from a Chinese Manufacturer will ultimately only increase the geographic centralization of the Network in China.  Bitmain will have a new miner to populate their own mines, and or sell to us; in early March.  Please don't support Bitmain unless they start actually supporting the distribution of the Network.

I would rather make GPU rigs and mine altcoins, than support the centralization of the Network in China.  Hopefully your new Bitfury miners will be complete soon; and I will be able to get some new miners in good conscience.

I like the way you think  ;D

But nothing will stop the "Centralization" of Bitcoin,well a algo swap would but that will never be allowed to happen.......

I've gone back to GPU's too...................after spending all my btc on ASIC upgrade after ASIC upgrade to keep up with ever increasing diff/power consumption ratio  ::)

Here's hoping an "altcoin" takes over  ;)

BTW,it makes NO matter if the Chinese,Americans or Russians end up centralizing Bitcoin,ANY centralization is BAD............