That's working fine now -ck, also using de.ckpool.org:3333   If i may ask you.... or anyone else out there, if I were to add my U3 (or any other miner for that fact), would i need to adjust the "suggest-diff"  : value?  I.E if i were to go up from the current ~7.2Gh/s to lets say 68Gh/s, how much would i need to increase from 5 or decrease from 5?  Is there a formula?  How proportional is suggest value in relation to 1K Diff?  Sorry if it seems a dumb question but i would like to understand.

Also, can I “uncomment” or “comment out” lines in a the configuration file, in order to add my own notes and help me navigate around code? And if so, how is it done?  Do i just drop the speech marks?

Thank you again.

Thank you -ck, CornishPixie, and hodedowe, you are true gentlemen for helping me out.
I will tip you if i solve a block 
Finding 25btc in my wallet would be life changing for me and my fella,
I know its a long shot but you've got to be in it to win it i guess!
fingers crossed hay?.
Warm wishes,  Paula

 
Hi all, can anyone help me out?
(I hope i am posting this in the correct place, I don't want to upset anyone here, so if wrong, i will try remove it, anyway apologies in advance as i am new to bitcoin, computing and mining)

So....I just pointed a couple of my small miners at solo.ckpool but things don't look right.
my cgminer.conf looks like this:  (i am in UK by the way)


cgminer starts ok, loads conf file and displays this:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cgminer version 4.9.2 - Started: [2016-01-14 20:22:56]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5s):6.809G   (1m):2.801G   (5m):627.8M   (15m):231.4M   (avg):7.88Gh/s
A:0  R:0   HW:0  WU:114.0/m
Connected to solo.ckpool.org  diff 1K with stratum a user 15z9mzGXqSY3hpprvU7Ai
Block: 32a6008f...   Diff: 113G  Started: [20:22:56] Best share:  176
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(U)SB management (P)ool management (S)ettings (D)isplay options (Q)uit
0:  BXM 0           :                                    |3.879G / 3.647Gh/s  WU:52.6/m
1:  BXM 0           :                                    |3.357G / 4.124Gh/s  WU:61.4/m
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2016-01-14 20:22:42] Started cgminer 4.9.2
[2016-01-14 20:22:42] Loaded configuration file cgminer.conf
[2016-01-14 20:22:45] Probing for an alive pool
[2016-01-14 20:22:54] Pool 0 difficulty changed to 1000
[2016-01-14 20:22:55] Waiting for work to be available from pools.
[2016-01-14 20:22:56] Pool 0 message: Authorised, welcome to solo.ckpool.org 15
z9mzGXqSY3hpprvU7Aiah3rr5Jf1j4n7!
[2016-01-14 20:22:56] Network diff set to 113G
[2016-01-14 20:22:56] Work available from pools, resuming.
[2016-01-14 20:23:01] API running in IP access mode on port 4028  (1528)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's it.  the log window just stays displaying as above and does not move onto mining.
there is no:
Accepted xxxxxxxxx Diff x.xx/xxxx XXX 0 pool 0
Accepted xxxxxxxxx Diff x.xx/xxxx XXX 0 pool 0
Accepted xxxxxxxxx Diff x.xx/xxxx XXX 0 pool 0 ..... etc

Where am i going wrong?  If i take the solo.ckpool out of the conf, it mines to slush ok but i want to solo
I need to get this right before i add my U3 or any more miners
Thank you in advance for your time,
Warm wishes, Paula
(maybe i will bring blocks and luck too!)

thanks, that sounds good advice.
I thought i may add, the rig in question is for mining only, i have another laptop that i use for email, forums, banking, watching you tube etc.
So the old Dell will be on for mining and node 24/7 thus leaving my slightly newer machine for everything else.  Maybe i can get a raspberry to run the U3.  Failing that, i sell the U3 and put the money towards another S3 which has no demands on my old Dell.
If anyone has any old hardware they want to donate to my node project, it would be appreciated. I will pay postage.

Thank you hodedowe.  That means so much to us both. Maybe after the supply of money has been decentralized, Government policy making will be next. Or... those that declare war will be the first to lead their solders into battle rather than hide behind their desks.  Freedom has a price, but some pay more than others. But we are O/T.

Yes I think you are right 1.7Ghz is a little small.  I would like to contribute to the network though with a full node (social conscience an all!). After all, we all use them.  Maybe Karma will reward me with the privilege of solving a block.
But yes, the laptop runs full time in order to run the Bifury's and the U3 which it copes with ok. Also, the mining takes the chill off the living room plus, the cat likes to sit on top of the warm laptop when the lid closed.
I will keep you informed what works and what does not when the bc-qt sync finishes. I may be able to underclock the U3 and use my node as a backup option to solo.ckpool.  I think the U3 will give 10Gh/s when at set at 100 MHz and 725mV, but yes thanks to solo.ckpool and good people like -ck anyone can solo mine. 

Thank you for your input.

Good luck Belligerent Fool 

Hello all using this thread.  This is my first post on a bitcoin forum plus, I am also new to Bitcoin.  I have educated myself as best I can given that the info is so distributed around the net as it is and, I have been mining in Slush pool for a month.  I have read some of this thread but it is 441pages long so apologies in advance for asking stupid stuff.

I have two Bifury x2 with active cooling that run at 4.2Gh/s each, and one AntMiner U3 giving 60Gh/s and powered by an old Fujitsu ATX, all running on an old Dell Inspiron 6000, laptop 1.7GHz processor / 2G RAM / Win7 with two instances of cgminer-4.9.2. (one instance for the two Bifury x2 & the other for the AntMiner U3 )
I also have a S3+ 444Gh/s.  That is a total of 512Gh/s pulling 445watts at the wall (including the laptop an external drive and a exsyx powered USB hub).

It has bee a big learning curve.  I have more than 20years experience in electronics but no real computer experience (well no more than the average housewife has), but I can now write .bat & .conf files. I am also out of work as there is no call for PCB assemblers now that pick and place machines can surface mount components so quickly.  I now care full time for my disabled partner who is an army veteran without a pension and is quite unwell.  We live on a very tight budget with little prospect of me working again due to my age.  If I could find a block, we could have a holiday and eat well for a while and I could afford to see a dentist too.

So...  I am looking for advice and this is where you guys come in.    Up until now I have had my ~500Gh/s pointing at Slush giving me 10mBTC every 4 days at the current difficulty of 113G . (No holiday there!)  So solo may give me a chance?

I am currently downloading the blockchain with bitcion-qt on to a 120Gb external drive with the old Inspiron (currently 3+ days in and now have 28.8Gb on the drive and still syncing... 1 year and 7 weeks to go).

I had planed to still run the S3+ on slush to help pay for the electric and solo mine with the rest via my full node but, I think I have to open port 8333 on my hub once the blockchain downloads - hmmm more to research I guess)

However, now that I have discovered solo.ckpool.org I could point the U3 and  Bifury x2s at solo.ckpool.org:3333 or de.ckpool.org:3333 (not sure which one as I am in south west of UK) and use my full node as backup as it will have UPS too... and also give me a some deference against ckpool going down.

Also, I don't know if the 1.7GHz possessor will run the U3 and the Bifury x2s as well as bitcion-qt. Maybe I will run only one instance of cgminer-4.9.2.
I had to shut down the U3 once the blockchain started to download because it had lots of HW errors. The two the Bifury x2s run ok though.

I know this is a ckpool thread and sorry for throwing so many of my problems out here but.... Ideas, critique welcome! 
Is a ~68Gh/s solo mining rig futile?  Am I just some mad old woman trying to work a miracle with a load of old junk? 
I know finding a block is a long shot, but its the best I can mussel up at the moment and my only chance of a holiday for myself and my man.
 
Thank you all in advance.