GekkoScience Compac BM1384 Stickminer Official Support Thread

[orpington]

I run my 2 sticks on Windows10 with no problems at all.

Everything has been very straightforward and the sticks always perform wonderfully.

[orpington]

I am having the very same problems as Arnette99. I got the bitshopper.de versions, using windows 10 I can see them in cgminer when I connect them WHILE the cgminer is running (if I connect them before, it crashes after a little while after startup).

zadig driver installed,
zlib1 present
tried bfgminer, without any luck
both miners in USB2 ports on PC.
cgminer 4.9.2.

it says no hashes, then restarting, then failure - zombie, then the cycle repeats.

Please help :/

Did you try unplugging and replugging them while cgminer is running?

[Didldak]

No I didnt. That helps? O_O ill try asap.

Also, do you have the bitshopper.de version or version from novak/sidehack?

[orpington]

No I didnt. That helps? O_O ill try asap.

Also, do you have the bitshopper.de version or version from novak/sidehack?

Basically, it was necessary to make them start hashing.

I have the North American versions.

[daimen200]

my small bitcoin setup right now 

https://i.imgur.com/0WAUSJm.jpg

[zOU]

my small bitcoin setup right now 

pretty nice.

However I would swap the fan / sticks position so it blows on the part of the heatsink with the fins and directs airflow to both sticks.

currently your drok/USB doctor thing is kinda blocking airflow to the lower stick I think.

[daimen200]

Lol thx. It's all good man there is enough air is flowing through both miners

[Arnette99]

Just an update - got the miner replaced through the reseller and the new one works perfectly
Bought a second one too, which is also great.

[Mikestang]

Does anyone have a link to using the Bitmain R1 as a controller for these sticks?  Is it as simple as just plug the sticks' hub into the R1?  Any info provided would be great.  I'm sure it's here somewhere, but searching didn't turn up anything and I don't have time to dig through pages and pages of threads.

[RichBC]

Does anyone have a link to using the Bitmain R1 as a controller for these sticks?  Is it as simple as just plug the sticks' hub into the R1?  Any info provided would be great.  I'm sure it's here somewhere, but searching didn't turn up anything and I don't have time to dig through pages and pages of threads.

Yes not much more complicated than that, but I would upgrade the R1 with CrazyGuy's firmware first.

I've sold out of R1's, and as promised, I am releasing my customized firmware to the community. Please note that although I refer to this package as custom firmware, it is really just a patch file. If you reset your R1 to factory defaults, you will lose the customizations. In which case, you would just need to re-apply the patch.

Changelog for release 0.95:
- Opened up port 4029 for API access to cgminer-u3 instance
- Max frequency for U3 increased to 250M
- Max fequency for R1 increased to 250M (I have not personally tested freq past 125. Use at your own risk!)


Firmware Enhancements
- U3 zombie handling(Scripted auto-cgminer restarts and R1 reboot if necessary)
- Supports modifying R1 pools from UI, without losing the ability to use Bitmain's solo pool for R1.
- Detailed R1 stats page, including pool statistics
- Supports modifying R1 freq and voltage from UI
- U3 freq selection increased to 250M
- Cgminer-U3 API open for monitoring with 3rd party tools

WARNING: These customizations provide the ability to push your R1 beyond its intended limits. Because of this, it will likely void your warranty with Bitmain. Additionally, I provide this patch with no official support, and take no responsibility for any damage done to your R1 device or its surroundings. Use at your own risk! By downloading and applying this patch, the user is accepting these conditions.

Download Below
R1CGCustomFW_0.95_2015-12-28.tar.gz

Upgrade instructions
To upgrade your firmware, go to "Backup / Flash Firmware" under the "System" tab
- Click on the "Chose File" button to the right of "Restore Backup:" (NOTE: Do not mistake this with the "Chose File" button under Flash new firmware. - This is not a full binary firmware file)
- Choose "R1CGCustomFW_0.95_2015-12-28.tar.gz" from your PC and then click on the "Upload archive" button.

Your antrouter system will reboot and come back up with updated firmware!

Rich

[Mikestang]

Yes not much more complicated than that, but I would upgrade the R1 with CrazyGuy's firmware first.

Cool, I'll play around with it tonight.  I got my R1 from CrazyGuy to use when I had a U3 and I recently updated it with his current release.  Thanks!

I guess figuring out how to set the compac frequency greater than 250 (max in CG's firmware) will be the trick here.

[sidehack]

Gotta build cgminer-gekko for it, or see if someone else already has. I think it's been done.

[RichBC]

Gotta build cgminer-gekko for it, or see if someone else already has. I think it's been done.

Yes PM aarons6 he has done this and it runs well, it's what I have been using.


Rich

[ctrlbreak]

Hi there,

I have had 2 of these sticks running without issue on a solar powered RPi setup for about 3 weeks now.  (The setup is configured to burn off excess solar energy via these sticks once the battery banks are charged).

Unfortunately, it now appears I have 1 stick that just refuses to do anything? (No valid hashes for over 10 secs, etc. ).  Both LEDs stay solid upon connection to a USB port.

I've pulled both and tested them on a Windows 7 desktop with the proper cgminer build, and the same results.  One functions fine, the other does not.  Both were left completely stock and running at 150MHz.  There was *one* time when I manually hotplugged the stick where the LEDs changed and it appeared to start hashing for maybe 3 seconds... just enough for cgminer to register 700-900 MHash/s... then back to nothing.

Any ideas, or do I have a pretty paperweight?

[zOU]

Start cgminer without the sticks
Plug 1 stick
See what happens
Plug the 2nd
See what happens

Are you using a Powered hub ?
What is vcore set to ?

[ctrlbreak]

Can plug in 1 stick (root USB port on Windows 7 workstation) (SN ending 777) and it picks up and hashes fine (8-10GHash/s).  I test the other stick (SN ending 767 I think) and most of the time, nothing.  Both LEDs stay solid.  Once it seemed to initialize and flickered for maybe 3-5 seconds?  Just enough for cgminer to register a few 100 MHash/s... then it stopped again.

I pulled a meter out and probed VCORE on the back of the PCB... and both registered about 620mV?  The pots haven't been touched on either.

No powered hub on the bench at my workstation.  They *were* in service on a powered 10-port hub from bitcoinware.com powered via a regulated 12V DC supply, and hashing via a Raspbian RPi.  Again, this is not what I'm testing them against now... but where they had been running for the past 3-4 weeks.

Thanks for the reply.  Cheers!

[aarons6]

Can plug in 1 stick (root USB port on Windows 7 workstation) (SN ending 777) and it picks up and hashes fine (8-10GHash/s).  I test the other stick (SN ending 767 I think) and most of the time, nothing.  Both LEDs stay solid.  Once it seemed to initialize and flickered for maybe 3-5 seconds?  Just enough for cgminer to register a few 100 MHash/s... then it stopped again.

I pulled a meter out and probed VCORE on the back of the PCB... and both registered about 620mV?  The pots haven't been touched on either.

No powered hub on the bench at my workstation.  They *were* in service on a powered 10-port hub from bitcoinware.com powered via a regulated 12V DC supply, and hashing via a Raspbian RPi.  Again, this is not what I'm testing them against now... but where they had been running for the past 3-4 weeks.

Thanks for the reply.  Cheers!

600mv would be the minimum.. id plug that one in, and slowly turn up the volts until it starts up.. they make a special plastic screw driver to do it..

you can prob pick up at harbor freight tools if you live in us. or any hobby shop.


if you cant find one, then id unplug it each time and turn the pot..

[sidehack]

They can be adjusted hot with a metal screwdriver. Happens at least once to every single one of 'em before they go out.

[aarons6]

They can be adjusted hot with a metal screwdriver. Happens at least once to every single one of 'em before they go out.

good to know, i figured touching it might short it out or something.

[AJRGale]

They can be adjusted hot with a metal screwdriver. Happens at least once to every single one of 'em before they go out.

good to know, i figured touching it might short it out or something.

i can vouch for that, nothing bad can happen, unless you slip the driver off and knock a component off.. the pot cap basically covers the resistive material under it. unless you are rough with a driver and attempt to move it in other ways other then where it wants to go, I think you can be clear to even use a finger and some pressure..