another ubuntu cgminer scrypt question

[mroy1300]

I am trying to switch from mining BTC to LTC at this point its all for fun. I have run into a problem getting scrypt to work.

I am running a AMD Radeon HD 7900 series at about 700 Mh/s
     I did notice that it drops the difficulty down to 8 before it starts accepting anything

When I try to mine on any pool beside BitCoin I just keep getting restart requests. I noticed my card is still reading out at 700 Mh/s So I assume it is submitting SHA resulting in the restart request from the server. I also noticed all the tutorials start with "cgminer --scrypt" however that results in a unrecognized option. I am running cgminer 3.7.2 on a ubuntu 14.04 system.

I looked at the cgminer man page and it lists the "--scrypt" option so I'm not sure if my build is missing it or if it was taken out of 3.7.2

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.   

[tanoury]

Here is my Ubuntu 14.04 command line for cgminer 3.7.2 with an AMD RADEON HD 7970 GPU:

./cgminer --scrypt -o scrypt.ltcrabbit.com:3333 -u your_workers_name -p your_workers_password -I 13 --gpu-fan 100 --gpu-engine 1050 --gpu-memclock 1400 --shaders 2560 --thread-concurrency 10240

cgminer 3.7.2 needs the --enable-scrypt option when compiling to be able to run scrypt.

[mroy1300]

Thank you I remembered I had a problem when compiling so I left out the --scrypt option. recompiling did the trick 

BTW what hashrate are you getting with that 7970. your clock speeds seem kinda low. but I'm pretty new to this stuff so I could be wrong. I can't seem to push my card past 700KH/s on scrypt, just wondering if that seems normal.

[tanoury]

Thank you I remembered I had a problem when compiling so I left out the --scrypt option. recompiling did the trick 

BTW what hashrate are you getting with that 7970. your clock speeds seem kinda low. but I'm pretty new to this stuff so I could be wrong. I can't seem to push my card past 700KH/s on scrypt, just wondering if that seems normal.

Terrific job! I have not mined scrypt in ages with my GPU. I remember only getting about 570KH/s, so I would say 700KH/s is very good 

Happy mining!

[Mr Bungle]

I'm new here, actuallu my first post, I see in your post, Tanoury ,that you have reference the command line for cg miner 3.7.2 with an AMD RADEON HD 7970 GPU, I'll probably be using the same GPU to start my mining experience... I just have a question about choosing a version of cgminer:

I've got ubuntu 14.04 LTS set up on my rig and getting ready to install cgminer, but there are only version 4.0 through 4.9 available from ck.kolivas.org official site, seems to be the place to get the cgminer, but no version 3.7.2 is there, I found a link to get it from highoncoins's website on his helpful tutorial for getting started, but not sure which version I should use for the older gpu's... been looking all over for some clarification on this- which version to seek out and why, and have reading a ton of posts but most are 1-2.5 years old and am combing the forums looking for some new info, so I figured I'd just ask,

Does it make a difference for a hobby miner getting started  to use version 3.7.2 or go with a newer version?

I have 3 Pci-e slots on my mobo, so I won't be using more than 3 video cards on it

I am aware that I'm looking at the end of profitability for home based gpu mining, but want to play around a bit with an old rig and some gpus i have or can get cheaply, them maybe then, i'd get an add on asic for scrypt mining with higher hash rates if i like it, and maybe go after some newer/younger coins that may still have some profitability potential as I learn more. I see gpu mining isn't really worth much, when a $100 used ASIC can do 20-30 Mh, where a $100-200 used Radeon video card can only do about 1/25th of that at ~700-1000(if lucky)Kh/s.

I do have the added benefit of free electricity, which has greatly influenced my decision to dabble in mining

Any advice would be helpful in the next step for me, in deciding which version of cgminer to use,

Thanks much !

[sp_]

Don't mine scrypt. Mine etherum. 25-28MHASH for one 7970

[Mr Bungle]

Thanks for the advice, sp_,

I'll definitely start looking into Etherum before I go any further with scrypt.

Are the hardware requirements about the same for it ether? Would 7970 and r290 give the best results, GPU wise, as they do in scrypt mining? I'll look around for some tutorials on etherum, any specific ones that you could recommend?

As far as my question about cgminer, I studied some GPU performance charts and it seems all rigs were configured using 3.7.2 or older, or GUIMiner-scrypt. So I guess that answers my question about the proper cgminer version for GPU mining, I think.

I also have a pair of 6950's they get half the hash rate of the 7970, would they also work OK for etherum?

It does seem a little late to try to get into mining scrypt, without a ton of hashing power, just wish I'd discovered mining a few years back.

Free electricity in my apartment is the only reason I'm even considering getting into mining, plus I already have some usable hardware laying around collecting dust most of the time..

Thanks again

[sp_]

You find the information you need on cryptomining blog.

1. create a wallet with an adress
2. download Etherminer
3. run on a pool like this one:


http://cryptomining-blog.com/5444-weipool-one-more-new-mining-pool-for-ethereum/


And start collecting. The ether coins can be sold for BTC on cryptsy or bittrex. There are many exchanges.

I think the etherminer requires 2gig of memory on the graphic card, so the 6950 with 2 gig should work.

If you mine ether you get 2-3  USD per day per graphic card (7970) (enough to cover the power bill and mine with a profit)
If you mine scrypt you get 0.05 USD per day per graphic card.

[tanoury]

Does it make a difference for a hobby miner getting started  to use version 3.7.2 or go with a newer version?
.
.
.

Any advice would be helpful in the next step for me, in deciding which version of cgminer to use,

Thanks much !

Don't mine Script or SHA256 with your GPU and don't bother with cgminer. Get sgminer and use http://www.coinwarz.com/cryptocurrency to determine the most profitable coin to mine.

Best wishes mining 

[Mr Bungle]

Thank you for your advice sp- and Tanoury,

So, Etherum looks like it has a potential for profit with as little as 2 active gpu's mining at this stage in the game. Looks intimidating to setup, but after watching some tutorials it looks easier than I originally thought. 2 more questions:


1. With mining Etherum, does it make a difference how much RAM you have on your MOBO? For ETH, does system RAM make any difference , or would it be better to have a minimum 4-8 GB installed to help performance of the rig in general? I now have 4 x 1Gb sticks, and even though I won't be using cgminer, I read that when running cgminer and similar mining sw on a linux setup, that you really don't want to have any more than 2 gb on board, any more is just pulling from the system unnecessarily. But with GPU cards -more RAM is better, of course. Just trying to see if system RAM is all that important for mining the newer ETH.

2. I planned to keep my OS on the thumb/usb drive to keep it fresh and safe from malicious sw, I understand the concept of starting with a fresh and clean install of the OS whenever you start or restart mining LTC or other SCRYPT coins...
-Would that be good to do w/ an Eth mining setup as well?
I have a HDD with Ubuntu on it as well which I could use, instead of booting from USB if that speeds up the returns at all or makes life easier. I just cant seem to find that out anywhere, if that USB safety advantage would apply to ETh mining as well, or if its better to just have the OS permanently on the HDD with a 4GB swap file to match the size of the RAM on the MOBO.

I appreciate the time you've taken to reply to my previous questions. I'm excited to get started mining sooner than later.

[tanoury]

Thank you for your advice sp- and Tanoury,

So, Etherum looks like it has a potential for profit with as little as 2 active gpu's mining at this stage in the game. Looks intimidating to setup, but after watching some tutorials it looks easier than I originally thought. 2 more questions:


1. With mining Etherum, does it make a difference how much RAM you have on your MOBO? For ETH, does system RAM make any difference , or would it be better to have a minimum 4-8 GB installed to help performance of the rig in general? I now have 4 x 1Gb sticks, and even though I won't be using cgminer, I read that when running cgminer and similar mining sw on a linux setup, that you really don't want to have any more than 2 gb on board, any more is just pulling from the system unnecessarily. But with GPU cards -more RAM is better, of course. Just trying to see if system RAM is all that important for mining the newer ETH.

2. I planned to keep my OS on the thumb/usb drive to keep it fresh and safe from malicious sw, I understand the concept of starting with a fresh and clean install of the OS whenever you start or restart mining LTC or other SCRYPT coins...
-Would that be good to do w/ an Eth mining setup as well?
I have a HDD with Ubuntu on it as well which I could use, instead of booting from USB if that speeds up the returns at all or makes life easier. I just cant seem to find that out anywhere, if that USB safety advantage would apply to ETh mining as well, or if its better to just have the OS permanently on the HDD with a 4GB swap file to match the size of the RAM on the MOBO.

I appreciate the time you've taken to reply to my previous questions. I'm excited to get started mining sooner than later.

1. I would think 4 GB should be sufficient, however, more will help general rig performance. I have not read anything indicating ETH requires more RAM. I've always been a believer that more is better though. More performs better and also lets me do more other computer things while I'm mining.

2. I am running 3 computers with ubuntu 14.04 (HDD) and find it much more convenient than a thumb/USB drive for security updates, upgrades, speed etc. I've never required a fresh OS install for mining performance and my hashrates have always been top tier! I've also never had and problem with malicious sw and I've been mining almost two years.

I've used this guide when installing ETH https://github.com/ethereum/webthree-umbrella/wiki/Building-on-Ubuntu but keep in mind coin profitability is constantly changing so be prepared to quickly change Algorithms and pools.