Newbie needs advice on BFGMiner

[Sector7G]

Hi,

I'm just starting out with Bitcoin mining.  I have been doing a lot of reading and watching YouTube up to this point.  I have a few questions I hope the community can answer. 

I started out with a USB eruptor.  It's an Ice Fury.  It's advertised at 2 Gh/s, and could be overclocked at 2.6 Gh/s.  I understand these probably won't be as profitable as something like the units from Butterfly Labs or similar.  But I'm starting out small so I can learn the basics.  If I like it, then I may invest in better hardware.  I got everything up and running.  But as I watch the screen for BFGMiner, I'm concerned by what I see. 

First, I've tried searching here and Google.  But I'm not quite sure how to interpret what I see.  As I look at the speed, I see the line that says: 1.73 / 1.59 / 0.95 Gh/s.  So which one is my actual hash rate?  Second, it looks like my error rate is out of control. It has actually dropped to 12% since I took the screenshot below.  But that still sounds out of control.

So how do I determine my actual hash rate?  What part of the status window should I be watching?  And how can I lower my error rate?  I have a fan blowing on the USB stick.  When I measure the temp with an infrared thermometer, it reads 77 F on the heat sink, and 85 F on the other side.  So it is not overheating at all.


http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/vv14/TI-6143/coin/BFGMinerHash10.jpg

[nwoolls]

But I'm not quite sure how to interpret what I see.  As I look at the speed, I see the line that says: 1.73 / 1.59 / 0.95 Gh/s.  So which one is my actual hash rate?  Second, it looks like my error rate is out of control. It has actually dropped to 12% since I took the screenshot below.  But that still sounds out of control.

So those three hash-rates (1.73, 1.59, and 0.95) are as follows:

• Average of past 5 seconds
• Average of total time mining
• Computed hash-rate of work done, including the HW error % you are seeing

So that third number takes the high HW% you are seeing into account. The HW % does sound very high. For Bitfury-based devices it should really be at or under 5%. I would contact the person you bought it from if the HW% doesn't go down over time.

[Sector7G]

Thank you  nwoolls!

I contacted the eBay seller.  He was very helpful.  We believe the problem is a poor quality USB hub.  It is a powered hub, but he doesn't think it's providing enough juice.  He offered to send me a hub that he has tested and knows will provide enough power.

[nwoolls]

I contacted the eBay seller.  He was very helpful.  We believe the problem is a poor quality USB hub.  It is a powered hub, but he doesn't think it's providing enough juice.  He offered to send me a hub that he has tested and knows will provide enough power.

Too true - hopefully that helps. Under-powered USB hubs can definitely cause issues.