Its a VERY VERY large -IF- ...... for me .... to jump on the S9 bandwagon

If BTC's value starts to go to the moon...
&
If the cost of the S9 drops....
&
If I start building a solar array to supplement power.... $0.13111/kWh is not cheap....

Till then, my S7's are sitting awaiting a solar array.... realistically, they may never mine again.... --I-- many never mine BTC again, just too many ifs to line up to make it profitable again with a half-way decent ROI on any new equipment purchased....

well over a year not including the diff increases (in Wisconsin with $0.13111kWh electric rate )







edit: WE Energies residential rate is $0.13111 ... not $0.14111 as originally posted. ( damn fat fingers )

They are pushing the lower hash rate units to the end users because Bitmain is filling their farm with the good full hash rate units and also taking the full hash rate models and shipping them to their large customers .... We the little miners, we get the scraps... the QC failed units.

I'm pretty much done mining BTC with the S7's till I get solar panels... till then, I'm cranking up GPU mining on Ethereum and Dash

I plan to go with Ubuntu Server and do everything CLI. Since I'm new to the GPU mining scene, I'm simply using Ubuntu desktop for simplicity while I play around with the commands where I can copy off a web page and paste the command into Terminator... when I settle on a setup, I'll then print out my CLI commands then install Ubuntu server and type in the commands. All that is hanging me up is this issue with how cammand Ubuntu to use a specific card or use the onboard vga as the default video so I'm not using one of the mining GPUs as the default display.

Switching to Ubuntu server is probably tonight's project to see what other problems I'll shake loose.

What I would like to have is the the Ubuntu GUI on the X700 where I then use Terminator for multiple terminal windows within one window, where I run run ethminer and control/monitor the mining GPUs via CLI commands within the Terminator windows. This will leave the mining GPUs free for 100% mining duty.

No, I have not moved the X700 to the now default slot.  I believe that will just result in the default slot changing again. Therefore I'd like to command Ubuntu to always use slot 0 as default, where the mining GPUs will be in Slots 1,2,3,4 ...... or better yet, command Ubuntu to use the onboard VGA as default video so I can stuff in another mining GPU in the would be then open PCI-e slot since I would not be using the X700 then.

A multiple GPU issue.

I'm trying something different for stability while mining with multiple GPUs...

I'm using a system that has 5 PCI-e slots and an onboard VGA. The bios allows me to set the onboard VGA to ALWAYS ON even if there is a PCI-e GPU plugged in. On startup I can see the POST scrolling along etc, I can see Ubuntu start up and then go to the ubuntu "loading" splash screen. Ubuntu finishes loading, but the onboard VGA remains at that ubuntu splash screen, but no longer has the "loading dots" moving. The active screen is now one of the mining GPUs.

So I tried using an old ass PCI-e Radeon x700 video card, I did a fresh install of Ubuntu 15.04 and I did have it running the way I want it to run, the mining GPUs with no monitors attached, and with the X700 as the active display card, but I had a R9 270X card kroak (a mining card) and when I removed the dead card, Ubuntu automatically changed the default display to a mining GPU card instead of keeping the default display on the X700 card. I cannot see the X700 in Control panel>Displays either but the post and ubuntu loading shows on that card...

So the idea would work.... The problem is, I don't know how to command Ubuntu to use the X700 as the default video ...

I've been using Ubuntu for something like 10 years... I'm still learning the nifty CLI commands ..... so could someone list the cli command(s) to switch the default card?

Thanks

Oh and by the way.... Ubuntu 16.04 does not support the FGLRX software needed for ethminer .... ... has anyone figured out a work around yet?

Ok, another mining question....

ETH requires a gpu 2gb or greater, actually I think it will soon to be 3gb or greater because of something with the size of the DAG

Now with ETC, looking at the difficulty and the network hashrate.... would 1gb and 2gb gpus still be able to mine ETC???

note: I dont really know what the DAG is... is it tied in with the diff and hashrate or is it a block number thing or

ETC or ETH.... I don't care.... as long as they pay for the electricity and puts a little play money into my account since Bitcoin is no longer profitable to mine in Wisconsin ( damn electric rates )

With that said.... I have a question about mining.

Is there a way to automatically pool switch? Like in CGMiner mining for other altcoins, one would use the --rotate <arg> command to switch between pools every x hours.

Does ethminer have a command like that so I can mine both ETC and ETH without having to manually plug in the changes - I'd like to automatically have ethminer switch every 12 hrs from ETC to ETH, and back ....


Thanks



4 Radeon R9 295X2 GPU's
1 DPS-2980AB power supply
-- clock and memory : 1175,1375
-- around 280MH on Dwarfpool

I was kinda thinking ETH was the old principal since it retained the identifier, but reading news and forums about both forks is abit confusing.... kinda like a soap opera, person W sleeping with X to backstab person Y who just murdered Z all because person T framed person V for a crime that person didn't commit because all along it was person S 's sinister plan.

I'm kinda tempted to build another mining rig just to have the bases covered.... ETC + ETH or BUST....

in the past, it was simple... mine ethereum. Then some hooplehead came along and hacked DAO which set in motion a fork.... and now a war between fork sides.

All I want to do is mine, cash out some to pay for the electric and hold onto the rest.... I don't care which one it is, as long as its not going to have someone say fookit and unplug the whole damn thing.

I have enough reality and stress in my life, so in my hobby of crypto mining, I tend to tune out and ignore the bickering, fighting and politics... because, its a hobby and hobbies are suppose to be fun,,, right?

Therefore, I'm abit concerned which fork to go with... my gut feeling has been "stick with the ETH" after all, it was Ethereum that began with the ETH identifier. Now, I'm getting a bit confused.... due to my curiosity and reading a few of these bickering posts...

Which fork now, has the same principals as when Ethereum was created? ETH or ETC?

Now that the actual code for Ethereum is in the courts - something about stolen intellectual property - Which fork does that effect or will it kill both forks?

Has anyone done a Pro - Con breakdown for both ETH and ETC? if so, please post it. It could be a very nice summary to have.

As I said, I was loosely following this topic - not reading every little tidbit (think speed reading) ... so my understanding of what you are trying to achieve is probably a wee off. It just seemed like a lot of reverse engineering and experimenting to come to the result of having control over the voltage regulator, not to mention the purchase of an interface to get that access.. hence my comment of bypassing the regulator altogether. I'm sorry if that was of any offense or sounding abit ...derrrr

So its simply undervolting the chip chains to obtain a more efficient Hash/watt ratio? No cgminer tweaks? No bitmain controller tweaks?, just the PIC tweak to undervolt.

If anyone gets bored ... could you make a posting with the step by step how to - minus the theory, whys and results for each step. That page 4 posting is very informative, then reading around the whole topic to gather other tidbits;  for some people, that may seem a little too much info and become discouraged to even try because it seems too complicated and technical. I can understand it, but putting myself in someone else's shoes, some of the screwdriver and duct tape wizards out there just may have a hard time grasping the concept, let alone have the patience to read all the details.

you know, a simple summary,

1) plug in miner
2) plug in PICkit
3) download file xyz
4) press flash
5) reboot

Kind of instructions post for the modifications. Maybe stickied to the first page....

I have been loosely following this topic and thought of this...

All this work, hacking, specific hardware, coding etc .... wouldn't it be easier to literally bypass the whole regulator circuit and supply the chains with a dialed down voltage directly from the power supply? I've been able to get DPS-1200FB power supplies to operate in the 10.5VDC to 11VDC area. There has to be some large solder traces that once the green epoxy is cleaned off, can become a solder point for injecting voltage -after- the regulator circuit.

I did something similar when the connectors for the Avalon miners -- way back when --- roasted the connectors and burnt the boards - I soldered directly to the boards to get them mining again.

Just an idea, I have not looked at the S7 boards to see if it actually can be done space/location wise - the only times I have looked at them were to clean and verify nothing is getting cooked. But with the S7's becoming un-profitable in WI because of electrical rates, I just might take one out of production and play with it.

Unless I find a hashboard or a whole S7 I can play with...

Thanks.... there's my goal for mining rig hardware... ;-)

Solo mining ETH....

What would be a good hashrate to have to see at least 1 block found daily?

I'm just curious...

....it popped into my mind while putting together a mining rig with 4 - R9 295x2 GPUs, powered by a DPS-2980AB (2980 watt) power supply--- it was going to be 5 - R9 295X2 GPUs, but I decided to give the power supply some headroom...

ah ha  I must be blind

Thanks

dmwardjr ...

What value is that resistor??? with the insulating tube on it, I just cannot make out the color bands.

I have a 2980W power supply........ the solder tracing looks abit different, I hope the pinout for that resistor is still the same.

Slightly off topic ... sorry

I know some of you guys are running them with your S7's and S9's.....

I'm looking for the pinout diagram for the IBM 2880W / 2980W power supply. I'm not looking for a breakout board, I'm looking to solder pigtails and eliminate the friction contact losses/heat of a breakout board. Plus save $ by not buying breakout boards.

Thanks

I finally picked up a few of these beasts...

IBM 2980W Power Supply
IBM p/n 39Y7414
Model DPS-2980AB A

I know many use this mega power supply, I'm guessing many are using the "break out board" to get the voltage out.

I'm --NOT-- looking for the breakout board - I would like to HARDWIRE and not have friction contacts carrying the amperage.

I'm looking for the pin out / connection diagram / pin description etc.

**** More Specifically, what pin is the +5VDC and what pin turns on the power supply? I've been using DPS-1200FB power supplies where a resistor between two pads turns on the power supply so I'm assuming that this power supply has something similar to turn it on.

I did a search on the forum and a quickie Google, but I have not found what I'm looking for. Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology or being too specific in my searches. Who knows.

So, if someone has this information, could you post it?

Thank you

bbOOmm

Ok, Thank you for clarifying that.

I'll keep my miners right where they are then.... they are well above that dust threshold.

 I was under the impression of the " last 5 n shares "... or something like that is what screws up the mining efficiency if you don't mine continuiously.... Every day now, I mine 8pm to 8am for a cheaper rate of electricity, i'm pretty certain that when the timer shuts down the system, its not right exactly when the block is found that I was last mining. I mined a portion of that block, but I wasn't mining till it was found. - doesn't the pool have some sort of "pool hopping" deterrent - that effects my mining because in a sense, the pool would think that I'm a pool hopper since I there for a little bit then gone?