Bitcoin Forum

Hello,

I have seen a couple of different setups, so I was wondering if anyone would be able to tell me for sure.

On at least one guide for Avalon 6, it listed several things besides the miner and PSU:
Ethernet cable
1 full size USB cable
1 mini USB cable
Raspberry Pi & SD card
AUC controller and the cord for AUC controller

Found here:
https://www.eastshore.xyz/tutorial-avalon-6-3-5th-1050w-bitcoin-miner/

Also AUC controller connection seen here:
https://youtu.be/WL6MAJQE0aI?t=5m4s

Question: is there any way to use the miner without this AUC controller and connecting cords?

I believe it usually ships with the miner, but if it doesn't, I can't find it for sale anywhere.
In that case, unless you can get one from somewhere, the miner's a doorstop. Correct?

You need the AUC no matter what as it is what converts the SPI signal into USB so the miner can talk to a controller of some sort. The cable is pretty standard you can just buy breadboard jumpers to use as the SPI cable but you will still need the AUC

Actually the AUC is a USB to I2C/SPI converter. Just Google AUC USB-I2C converter and you will find several. Just make sure the connectors on them look right.

Isnt that what I said?


I mean I guess you could buy your own and try to run cgminer on its own that way but why go through all that hassle to half ass run the miner without any of the controls that the Avalon RPi image offers?

Thanks to you both for your responses!

So, I did some looking around.

Notfuzzywarm, do you think this might do the job if I can't get a hold of one of the actual AUC adapters?

https://www.amazon.com/All-UART-Serial-Adapter-Converters/dp/B0723BDXGR/

This is the only one I've seen that:

1. looks correct
2. doesn't require further wire connecting/soldering on my part.

Thanks again.

How many AUC adapters are you looking for?

I might know a guy.

Well, I guess it kind of depends on how much they're charging, but I was thinking at least 2, possibly 4.

The only thing is, if they're the AUC from Avalon, I believe the Avalon 6 needs a different AUC (AUC2) from the Avalon 7(AUC3).
But, if you do have those or know someone who does, I'm definitely interested in at least a couple.

Maybe more, but it depends on what I end up with, you know?

Like NotFuzzyWarm said, you just need a USB to I2C

If you can't find original Avalon ACU's, try one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-to-I2C-IIC-TWI-SMBUS-master-Converter-4pin-ADC-Decoder-Program-24xx-EEPROM-/281920556383 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-to-I2C-IIC-TWI-SMBUS-master-Converter-4pin-ADC-Decoder-Program-24xx-EEPROM-/281920556383)
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9903 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9903)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-to-I2C-IIC-UART-TTL-Master-Adapter-Converter-STC-ISP-Download-Sample-Code-/121849891172 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-to-I2C-IIC-UART-TTL-Master-Adapter-Converter-STC-ISP-Download-Sample-Code-/121849891172)


This may be the housing Canaan is using for their AUC connector:
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/molex-llc/0050579404/WM2902-ND/115057 (https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/molex-llc/0050579404/WM2902-ND/115057)

Awesome. It looks like you found a couple of these that I had not found.
Thank you Elphamyto.  :)

elduderino,

Did you ever get this working? I have the Avalon6 and a Raspberry Pi. I bought this (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IV6S9S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), but still can't get everything working. Not sure if it's the lack of that AUC2 or something else.

Thanks.

Hello, I have a problem, I can´t buy the AUC2 adapter because it´s impossible.

I buy this adapter https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B01GRLZPKK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But I don´t use correctly this adapter.

I can use it? Do I have to install something? How do I configure it to work? can anybody help me?

Thank you, sorry for my english

I had the same problem with the AUC to USB cable being impossible to source.

The solution:

Use a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B and solder the I2C bus on the Pi itself directly to the connectors/AUC plug on one of your miners. You should solder pins 3/5 for SDA and SDL on the Pi, no pullup resistors required. And also GND (Pin 39 on Pi) to one of the GND pins on the AUC connector on the miner. (1 or 4).

You need to start cgminer with "--avalon4-iic-detect" for this to work.

I added this parameter to /etc/init.d/cgminer like this :

   if [ "$_pool1url" != "" -a "$_pool1user" != "" -a "$_pool1pw" != "" ]; then
       POOL1="-o $_pool1url -O $_pool1user:$_pool1pw --avalon4-iic-detect"
   fi

Thanks  lib1337 for your answer, can you tell me step by step how to do solder the I2C bus on the Pi itself directly to the connectors/AUC plug on one of your miners?

Thanks and sorry for my English.

You only need to solder 3 pins as I wrote above. Just google Raspberry Pi I2C bus. When looking at the plug on your miner, the 1st pin is GND the 2nd pin is SCL, the 3rd pin SDA and the 4th pin is also GND. You only need to connect one of the GND pins to pin 39 on the Pi.

Thanks lib1337. Can I use cable similar to https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B01NGTXASZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to connect the cable 4 pin to Raspberry Pi ?

The 3 pins to connect or soldier are the https://32414320wji53mwwch1u68ce-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Raspberry-Pi-GPIO-Layout-Re.gif?

Thanks Thanks & Thanks

Hi, I have the same problem - no AUC2 adapter. Ive tried others with no success and am now tryinh to connect directly to my Pi headers.

Still no luck, had anyone got around not having an AUC2?

Darn, someone beat me to it on rigging straight to the Pi board.

I got there in the end with my avalon 6. It’s runing direct from the Pi 3 board.

Would really like to know how you managed this.  ???

Yes, for sure. Is it possible to connect RPi headers using cables (such as https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B01NGTXASZ or https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dupont-Jumper-Wire-Cable-Female-Male-20cm-20pcs-for-Arduino/222709027859) so as to avoid solder?

Yes, there are a couple of postings in the forum on how to do this. Basically you attach sda and scl to the appropriate pins on the Pi, ensure ground is attached, then fire up cgminer with some sort of option to find the Avalon and go.

If people really need help I can find it, but search should be your friend on this one.

Here are the instructions how to do it without the AUC2.

https://www.cryptouniverse.at/run-avalon-6-miner-without-auc2-converter/

Thanks and thanks :)

Hello lib1337,

thank you for instuction. I have the same setup with Avalon 6 and Raspberry Pi 3. I have one question. How to configure the cgminer and add the "...iic-detect"? I have no idea and try a lot.

Thank you :)

Hi Jonesman439,

Here's what I did.

First you have to setup your mining i.e. you have flashed the latest Raspberry Pi firmware, connected the AUC to the Avalon 6, connected the I2C pins to your board as shown on this site: https://www.cryptouniverse.at/run-avalon-6-miner-without-auc2-converter/ , connected your power supply and ethernet cable to the Raspberry Pi, and connected the PSU to the miner. Then connect the Raspberry Pi to a monitor with an HDMI cable and connect a keyboard. Turn on the Avalon 6 and the Raspberry Pi. On the monitor you should see the boot-up and if you press the enter key you should see the BusyBox built in shell.

To edit the cgminer file type:

     vim /etc/init.d/cgminer

and press enter. This will allow you to edit cgminer. If you scroll down you will see the code:

     if [ "$_pool1url" != "" -a "$_pool1user" != "" -a "$_pool1pw" != "" ]; then
           POOL1="-o $_pool1url -O $_pool1user:$_pool1pw"
     fi

add the "--avalon4-iic-detect" so the code now reads:

     if [ "$_pool1url" != "" -a "$_pool1user" != "" -a "$_pool1pw" != "" ]; then
           POOL1="-o $_pool1url -O $_pool1user:$_pool1pw --avalon4-iic-detect"
     fi

I added this edit to POOL2 and POOL3. To exit vim just press :x and then enter. You can edit this in any SSH, such as putty.