Also be aware that the s7's report only board temps. I take it the temps you are concerned about are the chip temps - not boards right? Can't compare the 2 as the chip temps are always high on the s9's. As in from mid 80's to yes even around 100C.

So far from info in the Hardware thread, voltage and freq are stored in the PIC on the miners from batch 16 on up. After Auto-tune runs and BMminer 2.0 looks at the metrics the results for best speed/voltage are sent to the PIC. So, the restart info is hopefully stored in it on the hash board and sticks at least through a soft boot. (someone verify please?).

Edit: I looked up the datasheet for the PIC they use http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/PIC16F1704 and it only has 128bits of NV memory in the cpu and 7k total flash. Seems too small to store the needed data so perhaps there *is* a conf file in their software that either sets per-chain as found during auto-tune or - maybe - via a hardware ID.

Folks there have also said that if you update older (pre batch 16) to use the 'apply to all' firmware updates, yes things still mostly work as before but -- if you lose a hashboard and get a replacement, guess what?

The original older boards do their thing though with a more limited choice of freq but the new replacement board(s) auto-tune and then remain locked at what they think is best. Definitely hardware version checking going on...

Also from the same poster in the HW section https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1493601.msg17012772#msg17012772 seems that with this weeks flavor of Bitmain's latest Firmware, on Factory reset/install the freq for auto-tune s9's might be able to be set. so I'd think that with a little of Awesome's software majik you might be able to give us better s9 control back no?

The 'Failed socket connection' is referring to the miner software not being able to being able to open a communications port to the hash boards while they are starting up or auto-tuning. Perfectly normal. The s7 does this as well, just for a much shorter time.

Been almost 3 years since I've ran my BFL cubes so is best to move your questions to the mining >software thread. This is the start of BFG miner part. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=877081.msg9686533#msg9686533
Considering FTDI is the company that created the original USB/UART chip and standard (which everyone promptly started counterfeiting) I'd think that would do fine.

BFG is only command line but was painless to find the miners and set the pools info. At least back then CG was utterly confusing.... Just look for versions from around early-late 2014 as they should have the BFL drives active in them. Later versions you may have to select/compile to have them available.

Yes you can run private blockchains if that is what you are referring to. There are lots already in use, for one, contract recording in some EU countries and probably in the USA as well along with the biggest app I'm aware of - Public lighting. As in tracking smart streetlights -- from installation location/crew/date/time to verifying data from the associated sensors that can be part of them eg cameras, microphones for shots triangulation...

As Sidehack said, it's just a matter of formatting the data and having nodes spread around for redundancy, then either opening the actual work to the public as some kind of reward or run data tanks to do it internally and keep it entirely private enterprise.

Can 'normal' miners be used for them -- don't know.

I will say this, last week one of my engineering blogs point to a whitepaper from Intel on Blockchain and it's application to the screamin' new FPGA line they are introducing. BTC of course gets mention but the paper dealt with blockchains for medical records, contracts and such. Not to mention a huge elephant in the room -- Banking. And before it's brought up as a negative -- why FPGA? Programmability with near etched-in-stone ASIC performance.

If they are still available in Jan and Canaan sticks with the $25USD fee for taking Bitcoin I'll probably get a couple. The fee is quite comparable, possibly less,  to what it would cost me to use Coinbase > Fiat to my bank > wire xfr so works for me. Wish it had occurred to them sooner to do that....

Does it use USB? Sounds like a smaller version of the lil 10GHs cubes I have. Never could get them to work with Easy Miner nor CGminer. But - pick up a version of BFGminer from around their time. The Driver for most/all BFL miners is built in. Was painless to run my 2 cubes from Feb through Nov 2014 with it.

Nowadays that speed is only good for lottery solo mining.

I'm definitely game for several of the BF pods.

Autotune started with Batches 16 & 17. I got a 17 and had verification from a batch 16 user his was the same. I'd have to look back but think it was late Sept for those?

Look at the system info. Batch 16 and later will report BMminer v2.0.0, also look at the controller. I think 16/17 were the first with no BeagleBone.

I think achtung's point not specific to Bitcoin as much as it is about both buyer and seller having no advantage over the other in paid for/received goods.

Wire or BTC xfr without 3rd party escrow = you send the money and trust you get what was promised, when it was promised. If ya don't get it - good luck resolving the issues... The seller has your money and is gonna wanna keep it.

PayPal, credit card, and escrow even the playing field. Seller knows the money is there and they want to get it/keep it meaning they are under much more obligation to fulfill the order as promised. If they don't the buyer can often/does get their money back.

That said, when it comes to miners so far the ONLY companies I will/would do non-escrow BTC buys with are in same order Bitmain and Avalon. Why? Proven track record with real products delivered when stated they would be when sold. Wire xfr is just out period because it is a pain in the ass to deal with vs BTC, PayPal, or CC.

The PWM signal is not analog (from a pot). It is digital Pulse Width Modulated signal, I think around 1kHz, that drives a switching circuit inside of the fan that handles the power side of the equation. The on-time vs off-time determines fans speed. Just to confuse the issues, there are 2 different schemes used... Most common one is no signal (always Lo) puts the fan at full speed in case the signal wire opens. Also seen is the reverse - no signal means slowest but usually not zero speed.

Query: What does the fan do with the blue wire disconnected? Full speed or slow?

Ditto to that. I was just looking for a quiet ATX supply to run an undervolted s7 space heater and was rather distressed to see that when you actually look at the specs for the ATX suppies:
1. Not enough 6-pin PCIe connectors. Is typically only 6 on a supply >1200w
2. Current per-rail is marginal at best, typically a couple @30A and the rest are 20A
3. Remember - a PC style supply wattage ratting is for ALL of its outputs together. The 3.3 and 5v portions account for between 150-200w of that rating so don't count on that all being available on the 12v rails.

Frankly, if you are going to spend >$300 on a PSU(s) - get Bitmain's APW5. Will run a s9 on 110v just fine.

Batch 16 is when the autotune was introduced so any after that are autotune only.

As I've said earlier on here IMHO Bitmain forced autotune boost the # of chips they can actually use instead of scrapping under performers. I have a batch 18 with wildly different speeds per-board but in total the miner runs at advertised 11 TH/s. Barely. My guess is they stuff the boards then test to get speed ranges for binning. After that they pick combinations of fast/slow boards to make the miner reach target speed.

ref that b18 miner to the b23 I just got -- on this newest one all boards are running 649.7 to 649.9 MHz to produce 14.129 THs. Obviously the b23 boards were cherry-picked for them.

Per the info on their website their solo pool is geared to sticks and other very low yield miners for lottery mining.

Ja. The '132 and '134 were laid out using standard automated chip design tools for the 28nm node - nicely functional, faster/cheaper to use but far from the best way to do it. Usually the biggest thing that suffers is timing of data to/from the cores. In other words - speed.

The '135 circuits layout inside them was 'hand-optimized' for pure performance. In other words people actually looked at the layout tools output and ran it through simulations, go back to the tools and tweak, re-sim, etc. several times to get highest throughput. Hell, given that by then 28nm tech was pretty much mature (read: lowish-cost) Bitmain no doubt had several runs of test wafers ran to verify results each time.

As a result he '135 was still 28nm node but performed much better than its 'quick and dirty' precursor. OF course also helped that Bitmain started using the 2-sided heat sinks with the s7 and were able to push more power into them but still able to keep a good GHs/J spec...

For a current (last October) write up of node-size What's To Come, http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/leading-chipmakers-eye-euv-lithography-to-save-moores-law

They say 'maybe as soon as 2018' (emphasis mine). Not specifically said is that those chips will first be destined for SOC's integrating high-end CPU, GPU and FPGA-style processing with all attendant support circuits in one chip. Eventually will trickle down to boutique chips but don't hold your breath.

And just pray tell who Bitmain would have making 14nm chips for them?
TSMC does not and will not have anything at that node, their next target is around 10nm. Intel and IBM Foundries are for-internal-use only and Samsung mostly is as well which leaves GloFo and they would be the first to announce someone is using them... There are NO other Foundries on this planet able to produce 14nm chips much less anything smaller.

^^ Could not have put it better myself.
I am hoping that BitFury dragging their feet is due to the X5/X6 or LightningASIC project others are doing. Possibly an agreement to not step on their toes until a miner is released? As a businessman I can understand that but if so then I'd think that obstacle should be removed once an X5/6 or other one gets into the wild (soon?). If not BF should at least have the courtesy to tell you what the problem is...

And since this thread is already seriously de-railed, a closing(?) idea just occurred to me: s2 case, 2x s9's sans fans but instead using upgraded 140mm fans the s2 used... might be quieter... need to look at case depth mayanna and see if needed ducting will also fit...

Yep, it was. From time to time it drops a board. Could be a few times in a week or weeks between. Cycle power and happy again.. Of course it usually dropped a board when I was abroad ... Thass why it was a freebe to ya . I still have 2x s4's (why I asked if I could put your boards on their sinks). It really is a nice looking miner.