GekkoScience Compac BM1384 Stickminer Official Support Thread

[gt_addict]

Ive got a bitshopper version of the stick and I occasionally have the same problem. I have to hotplug it sometimes upto 10 times and restart cgminer before its recognised. But once it is will happily run 250m.

Strangely enough ive found its most tempermental when its cold. Once its warmed slightly, even if you hold it in your hands, it starts up the first time the majority of the time.

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[CjMapope]

Well i killed one of my Gekko Sticks today ;\
if i can get it to register long enough to give me the batch number again maybe we can make a graveyard thread ;p
i believe i let it get too hot, total noob move.
i have 2 sticks that run on a powered hub with fan (16.5gh/250mhz), but last night i decided to see what i could get out of tweaking my 3rd stick
needless to say at about 450mhz and 20+gh/s i heard a long whine then a sharp "POP!"
she's dead. took all of 3mins without proper cooling, let that be a lesson ! ;p
can't find a burn mark or any noticeable damage on the stick, but she's dead alright lol (my guess is resistor blew, would that sound right?) ;p
green light, but "no devices found" for cgminer now lol
R.I.P little guy, you were the shit!

[gt_addict]

Impressive to get it to hash at that without cooling   

See if sidehack can do a repair for you for a btc donation 

[CjMapope]

Impressive to get it to hash at that without cooling   

See if sidehack can do a repair for you for a btc donation 

ya i don't recommend running them above 400 ;p
i have this FrankenRig made from an old desktop that runs usb hubs and such that i use to test these little guys
i am not sure if i will bother with a repair, tho maybe the chip might be worth saving, as i mean their just hobby miners and i don't really want to put another shatoshi into them, my plan all along was to max them out till they literally burn, just to see what happens and what they can do
tho i changed that to taking better care of them, as i grew attached heehee

she's stuck on zombie mode, but in case someone ever makes a graveyard thread so see where these sticks are i got the batch #
10000895   

[jk99243]

Any one tell me plz how to set up gekkoscience compac USB BM1384 for ltc or xmr mining and tell me full detail how to set in Windows 7 64 bit .I will try in bfgminer but it saw no device found so what can I do? Tell me please

[CjMapope]

Any one tell me plz how to set up gekkoscience compac USB BM1384 for ltc or xmr mining and tell me full detail how to set in Windows 7 64 bit .I will try in bfgminer but it saw no device found so what can I do? Tell me please

hi. the gekkoscience stick chip ONLY runs the SHA256d algo.    it CANNOT mine ltc or xmr (ltc is scrypt algo and xmr is Cryptonote algo, a cpu algo)
if you read the OP here it has dedicated instructions, best of luck!
*note* look into a "multipool"  (google it) for sha256, you may find alternate algo coins you can get paid in

[sidehack]

There shouldn't be any resistors capable of blowing on the stick. I think the highest resistor draw is about 5mA and that's temporary on the LED flash. If it still enumerates the device in cgminer but gets zero hashrate the CP2102 is probably fine, so the issue would be in the power circuit or the ASIC itself. Even though the ASIC is heatsinked and the power is not, without additional cooling the ASIC would blow first. At 400MHz you would expect about 13A into the ASIC; the inductor is rated for 17A and the FETs for about 100 with adequate cooling. If you heard a pop but don't see any damage, I'd take the heatsink off and see if there's some nice blackening around the sides of the ASIC.

PS the next version of the Compac will have an even stronger power circuit, not because of more extreme overclocking but because new ASIC technologies are running lower voltage at higher current and I want the same overclocking headroom.

[cavaliersrus]

yea i still have to find some time to get back out there to the shop hack to get this one stick worked on from phil

[gt_addict]

she's stuck on zombie mode, but in case someone ever makes a graveyard thread so see where these sticks are i got the batch #
10000895   

Ive got 10000031 but shes still alive   (not sure if the serial is specific to bitshopper or across the whole gecko market). Cant get her past 250m without her throwing a wobbly and not starting up. But shes happy at that so I leave her be

[sidehack]

I believe both Bitshopper and I started from zero. I have bitshopper number 051 (currently running on vh's test cgminer), so 031's even older. Sweet. But my bitshopper stick has never been pushed past 200MHz to my knowledge.

My first batch started at zero; the second run started at 2000 and 2200 was the first made with pulled chips. The third run will start at 3000. New version sticks, I'm not sure. I might preface the 10K's place with the major version number, which means the new batch would start at 30000. That only becomes a problem if I make more than 10K of a particular stick, which seems unlikely.

[CjMapope]

There shouldn't be any resistors capable of blowing on the stick. I think the highest resistor draw is about 5mA and that's temporary on the LED flash. If it still enumerates the device in cgminer but gets zero hashrate the CP2102 is probably fine, so the issue would be in the power circuit or the ASIC itself. Even though the ASIC is heatsinked and the power is not, without additional cooling the ASIC would blow first. At 400MHz you would expect about 13A into the ASIC; the inductor is rated for 17A and the FETs for about 100 with adequate cooling. If you heard a pop but don't see any damage, I'd take the heatsink off and see if there's some nice blackening around the sides of the ASIC.

PS the next version of the Compac will have an even stronger power circuit, not because of more extreme overclocking but because new ASIC technologies are running lower voltage at higher current and I want the same overclocking headroom.

heya sweet haha thanks for the info, ya i was totally guessing it was a resistor ;p
taking off the heatsink i don't see anything obviously blackened, bit o what looks like thermal paste on there but about it ;p
ill upload a pic here to see if theres anything i missed. its 4k resoulution so may be able to see something ;p

[kupan787]

Ive got a bitshopper version of the stick and I occasionally have the same problem. I have to hotplug it sometimes upto 10 times and restart cgminer before its recognised. But once it is will happily run 250m.

Strangely enough ive found its most tempermental when its cold. Once its warmed slightly, even if you hold it in your hands, it starts up the first time the majority of the time.

Interesting. I'll try leaving it in my garage for awhile, it usually warms up in there compared to the rest of the house. See if a "warm start" can get things going again.

General question, if the light is green, and it pops in cgminer enough to get the serial and start cycling (reset, zombie, no hash, reset, zombie, no hash, etc), is that generally a sign there is hope it's not dead? Is there any other way to probe it or check to see if there is any hope?

[sidehack]

If you've got a volt meter, measure the voltages on the testpads on the back. Measure the core voltage when it's first plugged in, and then when cgminer tries to start mining with it, and see if it changes. That'll let you know whether it's an ASIC issue or a power issue.

[kupan787]

If you've got a volt meter, measure the voltages on the testpads on the back. Measure the core voltage when it's first plugged in, and then when cgminer tries to start mining with it, and see if it changes. That'll let you know whether it's an ASIC issue or a power issue.

Just purchased one in Amazon. I'll report back what I find. Hopefully it's not an ASIC issue.

[gt_addict]

CjMapope, did yours have a green or black heatsink? Id like to stick a second one on the back of my bitshopper gecko if I can as shes now running 275m and getting 15ghs but shes a bit hot even though shes ontop of my psu fan with a nearby arctic breeze fan.

[zOU]

CjMapope, did yours have a green or black heatsink? Id like to stick a second one on the back of my bitshopper gecko if I can as shes now running 275m and getting 15ghs but shes a bit hot even though shes ontop of my psu fan with a nearby arctic breeze fan.

I have 6 spare green heatsinks.... since I upgraded mine...

[gt_addict]

CjMapope, did yours have a green or black heatsink? Id like to stick a second one on the back of my bitshopper gecko if I can as shes now running 275m and getting 15ghs but shes a bit hot even though shes ontop of my psu fan with a nearby arctic breeze fan.

I have 6 spare green heatsinks.... since I upgraded mine...

Although I do like the green zOU I will have to kindly pass on the offer as I'd like to keep it to at least black like the one it's got already

[CjMapope]

CjMapope, did yours have a green or black heatsink? Id like to stick a second one on the back of my bitshopper gecko if I can as shes now running 275m and getting 15ghs but shes a bit hot even though shes ontop of my psu fan with a nearby arctic breeze fan.

 all 3 of my sticks are green heatsinks
i turned my sticks down a bit , now running at 250mhz about 13.5gh/s ;p

[zOU]

Although I do like the green zOU I will have to kindly pass on the offer as I'd like to keep it to at least black like the one it's got already

And the green heatsink is bigger

[gt_addict]

Although I do like the green zOU I will have to kindly pass on the offer as I'd like to keep it to at least black like the one it's got already

And the green heatsink is bigger

  that is an idea. Think I'll get a self adhesive one for a raspi and stick it on the underside. Then see what I can get it up to.

On a slightly different note. I've got my gekko hooked up to a USB splitter so draws from two ports. The powered hub is rated for 2.5a. But obviously only delivers 500ma per port according to the specs. If I was to get a 12v-5v 3A step down USB board that I can run from a PSU breakout board, would it draw power equally from the two leads or would it draw more from the side of the splitter connected to the 3a supply?