Bitcoin Forum

Content

• 1 Specs
• 2 Packaging
• 3 Setup
• 4 Web Interface
• 5 Update Firmware
• Where to Buy

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
1 Specs
The BTC-Garden AM-v1 miner is one of the quietest miners right now in the market. It has the noice level of 85 decibels*. Each miner has 2 mining blades and each blade contains 16 40nm ASIC chips developed by Friedcat.

Chips	32 (16*2) 40nm ASIC Chip
Hashrate	~310GH/s
Power Consumption	324W

2 Packaging
What you get in the package:

• 1 BTC-Garden AM-1 Miner 310GH/s 324W
• 1 Raspberry Pi Model B Revision 2 Board (http://www.raspberrypi.org/product/model-b/)
• 1 4GB SanDisk SD Card with RaspBian installed (inside Raspberry Pi package)
• 1 USB to Micro-USB cable
• 1 1A Mains to USB adapter (http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00wMnQESUtbobi/Power-Cord-Plug-for-U-S-Canada-YS-04-.jpg)
• 2 GPIO 26 pin to 8 pin wires

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/IMG_0027_zps6a06834e.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/IMG_0030_zps56b0f7fe.jpg
The foam paddings are strong and the cardboard box is tough. Overall the packaging is flawless for me.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/IMG_0031_zpsc0edb590.jpg
The miner got 2 130mm fans to blow the heat released from the heatsinks. Because of the 2 130mm fans, the miner is effective and quiet.

3 Setup
To setup the miner, all you need is a power supply producing a wattage of more than 324W. I will be using the Corsair CX750 Bronze 80+.

Firstly, you need to paper clip the green and the black pins of 24-pin connector, like below:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/IMG_0032_zps9382e7b1.jpg

As well as connecting the raspberry pi provided with micro-usb (for power), ethernet (for internet connection), SD Card provided (for OS) and the GPIO 26-pin to 8-pin wire (for the miner to connect to the internet and web interface)
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/image-154350_zps0da52a0c.jpg
Remember the 26-pin's red wires MUST be next to the yellow analog plug (on the right side from this view of your pi), otherwise it will not work!

There are 6-pin PCI-e plugs in each board, plug 1 6-pin PCI-e plug on each board in order to give power to the miner.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/IMG_0035_zpsf4214c92.jpg

Connecting blades together
The following part is extremely important and if you do this wrong, your miner won't work.
There are directions when connecting the two blades together: top to bottom or bottom to top. Connecting it top to bottom is different from connecting it bottom to top.

Bottom to Top method
If you want to connect the Rpi to the top blade, then follow the picture:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/toptobottom_zpsc45c20dc.jpg


Top to Bottom method
If you want to connect the Rpi to the bottom blade, the follow the picture:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/bottomtotop_zps418c3049.jpg

The wire must connect the blades diagonally, and remember that the wire that connects the blade to the rpi always has to be on the right side of the two wires.

4 Web Interface
The web interface is extremely easy to navigate. The default ip address for the miner is 192.168.1.123.

cgminer tab
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/cgminer-web_zpsb79dd1ba.png
What you need to pay attention to is the board num row. If you are mining with one board, change that to 1. If you are mining with 2 boards, type 2 like above.

network tab
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/network-web_zpsea73f29e.png
This is the default settings for the network tab. You have to change your router's internal ip to 192.168.1.1 in order to connect for the first time, at least. If you change the ip of the miner, you must remember it. If you forget it, then you will not be able to connect again.

cgminer status tab
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n196/pangn/status-web_zpsc5a0574e.png
This is the cgminer status tab. It's like any other web interface basically.
There is something wrong with one of my blades, but at least it's mining at 310GH/s. There is a high percentage of your miner working perfectly fine. Do not judge them with my stats.

Where to Buy
You can purchase the miner @ http://www.btcgarden.com
Some regions are starting to have resellers, please check the btcgarden am-v1 thread for updates: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622439.0
                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
Overall, my guide might not be as good as dogie's, but at least I tried :P Hope I helped.

5 Update Firmware
Updating the btcgarden firmware for Rpi is important if you want to control more units using 1 Rpi controller.

To update the firmware, you need:

• SD Card (should be given by BTC-garden along with the miner)
• SD Card reader (either external or internal/laptop)
• Internet connection
• Win32DiskImager

Download Win32DiskImager here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ We will need this to burn it into the SD card.

All the firmwares are at: http://pan.baidu.com/share/home?uk=3914243793

Download the latest compressed firmware (zip or rar) in the link above, and extract it using winRar, 7zip (etc.)

Then insert the SD card, and choose the .iso image in the Win32DiskImager as well as the correct drive to the card. Click flash -> yes.

Can you take a couple of close up shots of the wiring so people
can see which way the wires should face please?

Sure will do that asap.

Thanks

What a greate guide! Thank you cxboyminer for doing this for us :)

We are pretty sure the miner using in thie guide is our btcgarden-AM-V1

Thanks for the positive feedback.

Thank you for the guide. It makes an easy assembly even easier!

Excellent guide! A firmware update has been released which allows up to 4 miners running off of 1 RPi. I'm waiting on extra ribbon cables to test it out. These are very efficient machines at a great price.

Thanks, I have yet to update the latest firmware. I will add it as soon as possible when I am free.

Good night all for now!

Thanks for posting this guide. I will be utilizing it very soon!

Did I read that correctly that a 327w machine needs 6 pcie cables? Wow I am very surprised if so that there isn't a simpler way to connect each blade without requiring a psu with so many pcie output.

Steve

Hi,
No you are false, "There are 6-pin PCI-e plugs in each board" you must understand one PCI-e plug on each board.
This PCI-e plug is a 6 pin one, (existing 6 and 6+2 and 8 ).

http://www.materiel.net/live/198876.jpg

You can see the 2 wires on the top left, each wires has 2 PCI-e  plug. This is the power supply uses by cxboyminer. You can use 2 miners with this corsair power supply because you have 4 pci-e plug

 ;)

My English is bad sorry for the misunderstanding. Above post, who is wrong? Me or the other guy?

Thanks.

Expect more close up photos soon!

Non tu as raison cxboyminer, j'expliquais juste à Glizlack que tu disais que c'était un cable PCI-e à 6 broches par carte donc 2 en tout  et non 6 PCI-e par carte ce qui aurait fait 12 LOL

Merci pour ton guide, moi je tombe dans la rupture de stock. BTCGARDEN OUT of STOCK :-(

Translate to english: No you're right cxboyminer, I just explained to you Glizlack thought it was a cable PCI-E 6-pin card so 2 in total and not 6 PCI-e card which would have 12 LOL

Thank you for your guide, I fall into the out of stock. BTCGARDEN OUT of STOCK :-(

Thanks xtoff

I have a Silverstone Tek 500W(ST50F-ESG) that only has 1 PCI-E cable(2x 6-pin), question will that be enough to power the AM-V1 or would I neeed a MOLEX-to-PCI-E or SATA-to-PCI-E adapter? TIA.

Silverstone Tek 500W(ST50F-ESG)
Product link
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=460

Hi
I think it's enough but only for one miner.
 ::)

Thank you for the nice guide..it helped me set up my garden miners

You welcome. Did you get rejects?

Pics are super helpful!
Thanks!

Ok I understand now with the power cables! Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Next question is there a way to underclock these machines in the future. I am also curious about overclocking them of course in the present time frame.

Steve

I know it can be over clocked easily... can you tell me how?

OC section will be up soon.

I appreciate that, can you please PM me. I need to OC it today possibly. But I do not know the clock values...

Interested to see how they do... not exactly a lot of extra cooling comes installed out of the box.

I suggest not to OC for now, but will continue to make the OC section, since OC is very unstable right now. And as bobsag said, heat is an issue.

Bobsag and I have reported good luck overclocking to 320 and 330 (the default is 310) by simply editing the run.sh file.

Seems stable, cooling air output is still only warm so cooling doesn't seem to be an issue (bear in mind that I have upgraded the fans, though focused on noise not flow).

you need to edit also index.php and cgminer_update.php

anyway I am running mine at 340 very stable and happy ;) so far..

Which firmware are you running? I'm still running 7-05 and I get by with just editing the sh

yes 7-05 me too I want to try the new one

I wouldn't. Allegedly overclocking is not possible in the new firmware

See the quoted post from a different thread below:

I have a question if someone is willing to help. My discarded to accepted ratio is insane. Is there something I'm doing wrong or does it just happen this way?

It's the AM - V2 but this is the only place that I find any similar details.

My 3x AM-V1 miners are pumping 910 Gh/s with 37K+ accepted and 77K+ discarded and only 47 rejected. My miners have been going strong awhile and the reported hash rate on the pool I mine with is pretty much on point.

discard number is not relevant in garden miner. I got loads of discards but still mined at 310gh as well as making profit so i was happy with it.

Thanks for the response, gonna have to bother you again...

It's supposed to go to 610 is says, but I have never crossed the 320 mark, which makes me think only half is working. I have it on a Corsair CM1000 PSU and on the cgminer settings I have it on board nums as 8.  My thought is the link cables are not working correctly. But I'm not certain.

Thanks again,
Prof

Double and triple check your ribbon cable arrangement...you could have a bad ribbon cable but chances are they are not wired properly.

Hi you expect 610 you have 4 blades so you must have board nums at 4

 ;)

What he said! I totally looked over that part.

Magical, after changing the cables it went up a bit, then once I moved it to 4 it is where it is supposed to be. Thank you both. Had previously tried four but guessing there was a bad connection somewhere. It's working finally. Thanks again.

So if I purchase another one I need to have another raspberry I'm guessing, or is it possible to daisychain another 4?

I think you can have up to 8 blades (4 miners) on a single Pi. I currently have 3x AM-V1 miners on a single Pi (6 blades)

correct

Hi, bobsag3 is right  ==> 8 blades = 1 raspberry
You can ask btcgarden to buy a miner (4 blades) without RPI (40$ reduce).
He proposed that to me perhaps it's possible today too

I purchased mine from elsewhere and they kindly didn't supply one. I happened to have one floating around from back in the day luckily. But yes, if I get from the same suplier it would be the same and now I have more knowledge - thanks again - it should be quite easy.

Yes it is necessary to distrust, as they are not the truths shops they do not respect the law and sell in fragments the miner of BTCgarden. I am in France and I preferred to buy at the manufacturer's, it was cheaper than to one saying retailers in Europe.

Minersource.net
and
AsicPuppy.com

are both highly trusted and GREAT resellers of mining gear and they offer competitive prices and fast shipping as well.

I usually purchase from minersource, even still after they have screwed me over a couple of times as my first orders were delivered quickly and without issues. First impressions last it seems. But they are the ones who shipped without a raspberry unless I paid extra for it.

That aside, Is it at all possible for the miner to go on a rotation setup without having to do it manually? My guess is a no...

I vouch for minersource. They provide warranty and they ship quick and the package is padded well.

cxboyminer you are french, aren't you ?
Why you don't buy yourself in china like me ?

no I have an order for a set of 2 S3  ;D

And i hope that BTCgarden change it's price or introduce a new miner.
Complexity is now 19,74G

Hey man. I'm not French :) Im from Hong kong, China.

I will contact btcgarden and suggest that for you. Thanks

I'm sorry to do this but I am going to bother you gents again. Are you guys solo mining? if so could you please give me the details on how to do it. Even a link if possible.

Hi,
No one really solo mine anymore in bitcoin world.

Here is one of the guides: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=315477.0

The difficulty is insane, I know. Was just going to experiment with some other cryptos a bit just to see if I can do it. Then back to BTC I reckon. I just battle to leave things sitting. Patience problem I guess.

Thnaks

Hopefully the link i provided for you is going to work with other cryptos, but not sure.

BTCGarden is currently developing new miner. However don't expect to be announced soon.

Christmas present then...Thanks for the link, haven't played yet as I am battling the working world at the moment. But I will try over the weekend I guess. Will see what I can work out.

Thanks again,
Prof

Just got my AMV2x2 kit shipped and setup from Minersource. Looking to these as a more stable alternative to the S3 at the moment. 1.25th out of the box with barely any heat. What kinds of speeds are you guys seeing at 320 and 330?

Does anyone have the older firmware?

I'm also looking. 7-19 does not allow for any overclock.

I think I have an older copy...not sure where to host it...maybe time to crack open Bittorrent and do some seeding!

Found it! 0705 in .rar form. Gimme a lil bit and I will seed this copy and post up the info

Just posted the BTCGarden 0705 FW torrent! Not sure how to link it here...I am guessing you can just search using your client?

 :o

Hi dont forget the original thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622439.580
You have informations about overclocking

 ::)

Here's a link to the firmware torrent I just uploaded on the bay! (it may take some time to propagate)
https://thepiratebay.se/torrent/10801861

Me and btcgarden have made a deal, anyone ordering via me will get 5% off on their orders (excluding shipping).

Is there any ability to under-clock these to get better efficiency?

Clocking to 340 has been looking pretty stable.

https://i.imgur.com/EESO6Iz.png

Yes - I have mine clocked to 300, honestly the HW error rate is lower so it reduces power consumption and I honestly don't see a hashrate change poolside. But i might have unlucky units for HW errors? I never did seem to get over 600 poolside with two of the two board units no matter what clock I used.

What's the poolside hashrate? I'm wondering if most of that isn't lost to HW errors. Also do you have a bead on power consumption?

Poolside hashrate is stable between 1280 and 1297. .01 Rejects ATM.  :o

https://i.imgur.com/fNGQGTL.png

Does anyone know where to get the source for the CGminer that BTCgarden uses? I'm trying to figure out why the API implementation is incomplete.

I have several btc gardens for sale (10). I have them set up in 1.2 th units, with power supplies any one interested in buying one or all PM me. Will only use escrow.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/380983621408?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
danleuthner

Hi Guys, I got my 2x btc garden v2 about 5 days ago and I am having a very hard time setting it up. Can you please help me... I got my RBP setup fine I can bring up the interface, I think I got the cables done correctly. I feel that I have the network settings wrong... Here is a picture of my network setting, can anyone tell me what my RBP Network setting should look like ?. .... Thank you
https://i.imgur.com/G1DgNrG.jpg 

Hi, do you mean your cgminer status is always zero ?

Try to change your DNS, not the local router but put the DNS of your internet service provider.

 ;)

You have to fill out all pool fields and set the number of boards or it won't work

Ok guys we are making some progress, I changed my DNS to my ISP which is DNS Address #1:   47.55.55.55 / DNS Address #2: 142.166.166.166... I changes my ip to 192.168.1.206... And It work for a min then crash. What should my ip be set at ?

double post is not a good thing Marckus

can you close your demand in one thread

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=677707.msg9107638#msg9107638

Noticed on the pi that your default gateway is different

That a sign of a problem..?

My miner is turned off atm, btc prices too low for me ;_;

I have two BTC-Garden's 600 gh. Can someone help me get a copy of the pi firmware. The person who sold these to me had a bad sd card and the firmware will not work. Help!!!!

Thank you

Dan

Here (https://goo.gl/OHKnoJ).

Hey Dogie, does that/your mega version work with the pi2?

Unlikely. The stupidest thing they ever did was release a new pi which wasn't backwards compatible.

Ok I set the image file on a sd and that worked ok. I do see that the ip 192.168.1.123 is open but I can not get to the index.php page. Any ideas?

Dan

Ok I will ask again. Can some one tell me where I can get a firmware download that works with out all the extra stuff like the last one posted here.

Thank you

Dan