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1  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo II/BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 18, 2024, 09:13:32 AM
Another one of my old Apollo BTC units is doing strange stuff.

It does not have  a SBC and is connected to another Apollo by USB cable, started with a terminal command.

This Apollo will only sometimes hash at the requested power level, at other times it seems to be stuck doing about half as much work as it should. This is confirmed by on-the-wall power measurement and by what hashes arrive at the mining pool over time.

Once it's in that lazy mode, it stays that way even after several reboots and when using the same command from the memory of the terminal.

In this 'lazy mode' it shows this:
*** BOARDS SYS INFO (1 boards, 44 chips):
BRD  FOUND      REV   SPI     PWR  CHIPS  ON  ON_T  inOhOsc  OhOscN  OhOscT  OhN  OhT  loI  Tc  Th    T, C              TA  RevADC   OCP     HE  osc  OSChip               U, mV               I, mA  P, Wt
  0      1  BREV:20  1x 4  2x2x11     44   1     1        0       0       0    0    0    0   0   0   41  0    0( 0)  0( 0)    4004  0x00  0 (0)    0  0:3:10   U0: 9863 U1: 1302   I0:12983 I1:12975    144


after having been started with these settings:

./apollo-miner -host... -port.... -user..... -password.....  -comport /dev/ttyACM0 -brd_ocp 80  -osc 50 -ao_mode 1 -fan_temp_low 65 -fan_temp_hi 70 -fan_pwm_low 1 -fan_pwm_hi 100

I'm heating the bedroom with that Apollo, and I'd like it to churn through around 250W.

It has a large aftermarket PSU and a 200mm fan and a different 80mm fan that spins slower than the original, is therefore very quiet, but now also very low hashrate and very low heating.
2  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo II/BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 09, 2024, 10:31:33 PM

Hmm looks like current control and/or one of the voltage controllers has gone bad on the main board. Unfortunately stuff like that is hard to fix without a full hashboard replacement. What mode were you running it on?

Not sure exactly what it was set to. It stopped working some time about a year ago, I did not have time to muck around with it at the time. I think it might be the OrangePi that stopped working, because it just did not boot any longer. It was running the FutureBit OS from SD card, with a second Apollo connected to it by USB cable, both with 200mm fans on top and stock fans replaced with something that spins down to 1500rpm when not hot. Set to minimum noise to heat the bedroom at night and to start mining by flicking the power switch on (no monitor attached).

I had tried all sorts of settings before using it as the bedroom heater and it was running quietly for several months before it stopped booting up.


3  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo II/BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 09, 2024, 08:34:42 AM
One of my Apollo BTC's is misbehaving in a strange way. 

It's few years old, Model # : FBA2001 is written on the cover. Powered by an after-market PSU, which is good, 'cause the stock PSU would have issues with what it's doing....

No matter what command I use to start it (in a terminal on a Linux SBC and also on a Linux laptop), it will always run at full bore.

That means sucks 350W (measured at the wall) and produces around 3.5 TH/s, while the terminal claims this:

BOARDS SYS INFO (1 boards, 44 chips):
BRD  FOUND      REV   SPI     PWR  CHIPS  ON  ON_T  inOhOsc  OhOscN  OhOscT  OhN  OhT  loI  Tc  Th    T, C              TA  RevADC   OCP     HE  osc  OSChip               U, mV               I, mA  P, Wt
  0      1  BREV:20  1x 4  2x2x11     44   1     1        0       0       0    0    0   33   0   0   67  0    0( 0)  0( 0)    4007  0x00  0 (0)   50     N/A   U0: 9999 U1: 7662   I0:    8 I1: 8106     62

The command to start it was something like this:  sudo ./start_etc..etc..etc.sh

And the text in the .sh file is this (but with proper pool and user info):
./apollo-miner -host Xxxx -port xxxx -user Xxxxxx -pswd x -comport /dev/ttyACM0 -brd_ocp 50  -osc 50 -ao_mode 1 -fan_temp_low 65 -fan_temp_hi 70 -fan_pwm_low 1 -fan_pwm_hi 100

Any idea what has gotten into it and how to exorcise whatever is bedevilling it?
4  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo II/BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 08, 2024, 04:33:51 AM
Looks like I fried my Apollo, I'm after advice on how to diagnose if it's worth trying to repair it.

This is what happened before I let the magic smoke out:

I dug out the unused Apollo to use it for a bit of heating. Powered it up with a monitor, running Armbian on the OrangePi and starting the miner via the sudo ./start etc etc command prompt in a terminal, all worked well.

Then I plugged it into a 2kW PSU but I used cables that came from a different (650W) PSU. Nothing seemed to happen except it smelled a bit funny....

The I used the cables that are the correct ones for the 2kW PSU, and now the Apollos fan turns on, the all lights are out and it's dead as a door-nail.


I already disconnected the OrangePi and tried to power the miner via laptop and USB, but same result, fan spins, nothing else happens.


I find it hard to believe that they make cables labelled PCIe on one end, with an 8 pin connector at the other end that will it into different PSUs that use different pin layouts at the PSU end, but that seems to be what happened. Bastards!

Any idea what part of the Apollo would have fried due to this and if it can be repaired?

And is it possible that the OrangePi may have survived the 12V getting connected to the wrong pins?
5  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 21, 2023, 09:54:42 PM
Hi Everyone. Just received and setup my Apollo Full Node miner. Its running fine, and connected to the pool but the whole OS will freeze after about 45-60 minutes. No mouse control, no keyboard input. The red light on the Apollo is still blinking, but it doesn't connect to the pool anymore, no hashing being reported. The only way to get it back is to flip the switch off, and then flip it back on. It freezes even if the miner is off, and yes its still syncing the blockchain, but if its going to keep freezing even without the miner running its going to take more than 48 hours to sync this blockchain. Its not hot to the touch really, but with the miner on its temp is about 76 C.

Any ideas on why this would be freezing and what can be done to fix it?


I think I may have figured it out. It appears that the thermal/temp sensor was flopping around inside the case, as in it was just dangling near the bottom, so it wasn't taking proper readings of the temps. I took off the right side panel, and sort of wedge it in as best as possible next to the plate that the CPU heatsink sits on. Not really sure if that is where it goes or not, but so far the miner has been running without issues for a few hours now. I ordered some thermal tape  and plan on taping it into place so that it doesn't start flopping around again.

Anyone have any ideas where exactly the sensor is supposed to be located so I can put it in its proper place?

I think you might have moved the WiFi antenna, not a temp sensor.

You could be right although I've never seen a wifi antenna like that before. Thanks for the help I guess...
Is it wrapped in black shrink-wrap with 2 segments under the wrap? Can you put it outside of the metal housing through the rubber plug in the hole in the metal? If so, that the antenna.
And if you put it out of the metal box and orientate it vertically up or down, you might get much better connection.
6  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 21, 2023, 09:42:24 PM
Hi Everyone. Just received and setup my Apollo Full Node miner. Its running fine, and connected to the pool but the whole OS will freeze after about 45-60 minutes. No mouse control, no keyboard input. The red light on the Apollo is still blinking, but it doesn't connect to the pool anymore, no hashing being reported. The only way to get it back is to flip the switch off, and then flip it back on. It freezes even if the miner is off, and yes its still syncing the blockchain, but if its going to keep freezing even without the miner running its going to take more than 48 hours to sync this blockchain. Its not hot to the touch really, but with the miner on its temp is about 76 C.

Any ideas on why this would be freezing and what can be done to fix it?


I think I may have figured it out. It appears that the thermal/temp sensor was flopping around inside the case, as in it was just dangling near the bottom, so it wasn't taking proper readings of the temps. I took off the right side panel, and sort of wedge it in as best as possible next to the plate that the CPU heatsink sits on. Not really sure if that is where it goes or not, but so far the miner has been running without issues for a few hours now. I ordered some thermal tape  and plan on taping it into place so that it doesn't start flopping around again.

Anyone have any ideas where exactly the sensor is supposed to be located so I can put it in its proper place?

I think you might have moved the WiFi antenna, not a temp sensor.
7  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: August 14, 2023, 09:25:42 PM
Hi, I have an Apollo full node and miner that dropped from about 10 inches and now will not power up properly.

It will show the red light on the front and the fan will spin for 20 seconds but I can't find it on my router map with the ethernet plugged in.

Any ideas what the problem may be and how I can validate and fix it?

I tried taking it to a PC repair dude but he didn't want to touch it.

I've also tried plugging in an external monitor and it gets no signal.


I would check if all connectors are still on properly.
8  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: July 01, 2023, 07:40:09 AM
What is the best process to tune an Apollo miner?

I have a more powerful PSU available and have reduced the noise to low enough to run 2 Apollos in the bedroom.

How do I find the maximum heat output and hashrate without drastically reducing the durability of the ASICs?

I can easily find the highest power setting that allows me to run the miner with an acceptable noise level, but how do I determine the best hashrate for that power level?
9  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: June 02, 2023, 02:38:33 AM
One of my Apollo's has a problem and I want to figure out how to fix it or at least diagnose what is wrong.

...
I can temporarily get rid of the problem by unplugging the USB cable to the standard unit, then plug it in again and then restart the miner.

Then it will run for maybe half a day before becoming erratic again, as shown below:


It seems to me there is something wrong, either related to the USB ports (they are fickle and often don't work) or maybe related to total power requirements of the OrangePi not being met at times, so that either an extra USB plugged in, or the HDMi cable plugged in will kick it over the edge into malfunction.



10  Bitcoin / Hardware / Re: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread on: May 29, 2023, 11:26:42 PM
One of my Apollo's has a problem and I want to figure out how to fix it or at least diagnose what is wrong.

I think the fault is in the OrangePi, because the Apollo still mines as it should when I connect it as a Standard unit.

It had been hashing and node-ing away happily until it suddenly stopped to send hashes to the pool, so I had a look.

Turning off the power and turning it back on did not lead to the usual unsupervised resumption of hashing and sharing operations.

Then, it started working again for no apparent reason and I did not post this, that was a few weeks ago.

But now it's playing up again, the connection to the pool is strangely intermittent, see image. Its a full node and a standard node.




The other issue is that the HDMI does not reliably connect to a monitor, and the resolution is all wrong and very grainy.

Another miner is running fine on the same pool and WiFi connection.
11  Other / Meta / Re: Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ on: April 18, 2023, 09:41:56 PM

If you want rules to be made in regards to AI posts, your going to have to petition theymos about it (e.g. make a thread requesting a change in forum policy).

But how would you assess if the rule has been broken?

Pretty much impossible to do in my opinion.

Even just using search engines to collate content for a post is use of AI. (Maybe not the search engine in THIS forum  Grin )
12  Bitcoin / Mining software (miners) / Re: Braiins OS+ support thread on: March 27, 2023, 09:57:13 PM

Yes, Bitmain is using cpus designed for real time video processing with AI acceleration for identification of people... A bit of a waste IMO.
My inner conspiracy-theorist is having a field day with that!  Grin
13  Bitcoin / Mining support / Re: Need help for cooling a closed room on: March 26, 2023, 10:30:28 AM
Hello,

My situation is this: my rigs are in a closed rood with only two vents for AC coming in.
AC is stuck at 20C/68F.

The room is closed: no windows and no way for the air to get out.
The room also cannot be modified, since it's not my house and the owner has refused any modifications I proposed.
...
...
Leave the door open?

The obvious solution would be to convert one of the two aircon inlets into an outlet. Might be very easy if you are handy, or a complete disaster if it goes wrong.

But as others wrote already, you need to let the heat out, somehow.

How about a few extra washers placed on the door hinges to lift it off the floor to create a leak?

What is above the room?
14  Bitcoin / Mining software (miners) / Re: Luxor Technologies releases LuxOS, the first new custom mining firmware in years on: March 26, 2023, 10:16:16 AM

they claim 111th and 1149 watts for the firmware.

seems too good to be true.

If I had firmware that made a 100th j pro go from 100th and 2900 watts to 111th and 1149 watts I would be looking to do a private sale for a few million dollars.

So I simple do not  think they are good.

note I disabled links

I could not find where the claim is.

Could it be that they claim a maximum of 111TH/s and a minimum of 1149W, but of course not both at the same time?
15  Bitcoin / Mining software (miners) / Re: Braiins OS+ support thread on: March 25, 2023, 11:21:55 PM

There is a new control board which is under study, it also comes with a microSD slot in the front, so no, it is not a safe method.
There will be an announcement about AmLogic, you should keep them. Only the aml has the usb port so its still easy to recognize from the outside. And only the bbb has no port at all, its also easy to recognize from the outside.

If it has a microSD slot, then hopefully it has a sticker with Zynq/Xilinx/7007 on top. Else you need to remove the metal cover and see for yourself.
Thanks again!

Regarding the new control board with SD card at the front which is not a Zynq board: How new is that board? Is a used miner that was initially bought in mid-2022 certainly a Zynq board miner if it has the SD slot at the front? Or when is the cutoff date?

16  Bitcoin / Mining software (miners) / Re: Braiins OS+ support thread on: March 25, 2023, 08:13:13 AM
What does it mean on the BraiinsOS+ page under "Choose Miner" where it lists "Antminer X19" ?

Do you mean it includes all S19 and T19 models?

Thanks for your 'Yes' reply earlier!

However, I have another related question which may seem redundant, but I want to be certain a miner will run on BraiinsOS+ before buying it:

I am looking at an Antminer S19 with this sticker: " Ctrl_Board: Amlogic "

Is that control board going to be a problem?

EDIT: I think I found the answer: " does not have an SD card slot, only a microUSB " from https://braiins.com/blog/bitcoin-mining-control-board-variations

I suppose that still means no BraiinsOS+ for such a miner?

When shopping around for a miner, how best can I get a reliable answer from a potentially clueless vendor to figure out if the miner has a zynq or a BBB or a Amlogic control board?

And how could it be verified, eg is there an easy way to take a photo that shows a relevant part of the control board, so that even an uninformed vendor could show me a photo that answers if it is a BBB or a Amlogic board?

The external SD card slot is easy enough to verify the zinq variant.
17  Bitcoin / Mining support / Re: Repairing Antminer S9j on: March 25, 2023, 12:53:09 AM

OP, since you like fixing stuff, the issue with that bad hashboard is kind of straight forward, the kernel log states

Code:
driver-btm-c5.c:13522:bitmain_c5_init: retry Chain[J7] has 15 asic


This means that the test signal stops at chip 15, it either reaches there and doesn't move to the next one, or simply just doesn't get there, so you are going to need to check chips 15 and 14, here is a good guide on how to proceed.

https://www.zeusbtc.com/manuals/Antminer-S9-Hash-Board-Repair-Guide.asp

Thank you very much, I'll have a closer look at it when I take the miner apart the next time. At the moment the broken hashboard is in the running miner (not powered or connected to the control board, just for stopping air from finding an easier way past the 2 running hashboards).
18  Bitcoin / Mining support / Re: Repairing Antminer S9j on: March 25, 2023, 12:50:23 AM
Sounds like the PSU overheats and triggers some kind of protection. You can check if it is full of dust or the fan runs to slow. The issue with the very loud PSU is a general issue with the standard PSU and can be solved with aftermarket Computer PSUs. If you open up the PSU be careful, it contains power even if not plugged in!

Thanks, I had already cleaned the PSU before it failed and it is still clean.

What ever made it fail (10VDC instead of 12vDC) did not revert by just cooling down again, it was still broken hours or days after the drop to 10V.
But then after weeks in the 'naughty box', when I decided to investigate, it was making 12VDC again.

I have since then powered the miner (with only 2 instead of 3 hashboards) for a day or so with the dodgy PSU and it has continued to function as it should.
Interestingly, I cannot detect a difference in efficiency (measured at the wall) between using the beat-up and noisy old PSU and my almost brand new 2050W PSU, except that the new one is practically silent.

The old PSU is back in the 'naughty box' for being too loud (but I am quite certain that the noise level is the same as when it was new. The noise would not matter if the miner was operating by using it's stock fans, but the miner is now very quiet due to the Phresh 8" 240V fan).
19  Bitcoin / Mining software (miners) / Re: Braiins OS+ support thread on: March 21, 2023, 12:59:42 AM
Is there a thread or page where BraiinsOS+ tuning results are collected?

I'm wondering what results to expect, just roughly, for certain miners, to help decide which ones to buy.

Specifically, I would like to know:

- what is the lowest hashrate or power level that the miner was able to be tuned to?
- what is the best J/TH efficiency that has been achieved?
- what is the highest hashrate that has been achieved?

In case there is no such page, at the moment I'm interested specifically in results for an Antminer S19 90TH/s.
20  Bitcoin / Mining support / Re: Repairing Antminer S9j on: March 18, 2023, 03:44:44 AM
Bugger me, but the old PSU is suddenly working again!

After it has been sitting in time-out in a cardboard box for over a month, I decided to have a look why it is producing 10VDC instead of 12VDC, and it is again making 11.97VDC.

I wonder if there is some component that fails when used for some hours, and then slowly recovers while resting?

Any ideas what this 'self-repairing' part may be?

To find out, I have connected the old PSU to the miner with it's 2 functioning hashboards. It is now running BraiinsOS+ so I have much control over the power consumption.

The old PSU is at least several times louder than the entire miner with the 200mm Phresh fan cooling it! It is impossible to hear the miner because of the PSU noise.

I start testing the old PSU by running the miner on 900W setting, which will actually use about 657W because of the missing hashboard. This setting is the most efficient one I have found so far, using 74J/TH at the wall, including PSU, fan and WiFi extender.

I'll crank up the power until the PSU fails again and then see if anythings is obvious as the cause.
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