GekkoScience Compac BM1384 Stickminer Official Support Thread

[sidehack]

I'm gonna do some playing around with anodize one of these days.

Have you looked at any of my other projects?

[ab1jx]

You mean at gekkoscience.com?  Yeah, I was there this morning on my phone.  I've still got a couple Eico VTVMs but my scope is a Tektronix (analog).   I don't know who's who really, but I've been looking at this deal: http://holybitcoin.com/product/gekkoscience-2pac-dual-bm1384-stickminer/  I also found some Avalon Nano3s for $10.26 at http://www.bitmainminer.com/avalon-asic/11-avalon-nano-3-newest-usb-36gh-s-asic-bitcoin-miner.html

I have an itch to get into Bitcoin mining, sort of.  I've been into Litecoin for a couple weeks.  Did CPU mining for a week, bought one of these Gridseed G-Blades: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Free-shipping-Gridseed-G-Blade-ASIC-Scrypt-Blade-Miner-5-2-6MH-S-100W-Scrypt-Blade/227686_1834929913.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000023.13.6fYgra  The gc3355 chip was designed to do either Scrypt or SHA256 but first I saw a rumor that they run hot doing SHA, then I find it marketed for doing only Scrypt then finally in the gc3355 datasheet it says the power consumption is 10 times as high doing SHA.  Looking at the way it's built, there's no heatsinking on the tops of the chips, only on the underside of the board.  I've got enough 1/8 inch aluminum sheet to make a heat sink cover for them, goop them up with heat sink compound and have the chips sandwiched between heat sinks.  But it would still eat a lot of power and run slow.

I'll turn 63 in a few months, my eyesight is barely good enough for DIP packages, let alone surface mount.  I used to be an electronics technician for 20 years, then got more into software.  So if working on tiny stuff didn't kill my eyes enough I stared at monitors since about 1990.  I've got a resume at http://devio.us/~ab1jx/files/resume.pdf.  My main web site is http://ab1jx.1apps.com/

I should have started at least CPU mining Bitcoin back when I first heard about it, it didn't sink in at the time that it gets harder.  If my extrapolations are right I should have 1 Litecoin finished in 50 days and who knows what they'll be worth then.  Bitcoin seems like more of a sure thing, even if it takes longer.  I could maybe supplement my Social Security more reliably trying to sell prints of my photographs but I decided photography was too unreliable when I was about 18.  https://images.nikonians.org/galleries/showgallery.php/ppuser/535619/cat/500

[sidehack]

To tell the truth, the website hasn't been updated in about three years. Most things are discussed here on the forum. I've reasoned extensively about not using BM1385 or BM1387 for new projects and am actively working on <100W miners.

[AJRGale]

Because silver is the bare aluminum, it's cheaper to make them slightly bigger than go through a painting step.  Actually anodizing would probably be better since it's thinner.  I built this power supply about 40 years ago, it mostly ran hot until I painted the heat sinks black.  Nothing else I built 40 years ago is still running.


Anyway it's too bad there isn't a BM1387 stickminer, or something in the < 100 watt range.

I know this is out of context to the original subject..

if you did a finger test to see if the heatsink is colder to say its running cooler, you have done it wrong.

paining a heatsink puts a layer of insulation on the thermal conductive material. you are not "Black bodying" the heatsink. the hotter the heatsink, the better it is conduction the heat away from the source.

you need convection of the heat to the air, not radiate it, its not in vacuum.

now if you google black body radiator, there is plenty of people talking about black painting heatsinks for radiating heat..

[ab1jx]

To tell the truth, the website hasn't been updated in about three years. Most things are discussed here on the forum. I've reasoned extensively about not using BM1385 or BM1387 for new projects and am actively working on <100W miners.

I skipped from something like page 10 of this to 2 pages before the end because I didn't want to spend a week reading.  So are you involved in chip design?  I read once somewhere that all it takes is the cash to place a certain size minimum order.  Efficiency seems to always be behind getting CPUs at least to market.  I like the current generation of ARM chips like what's in this Pi 3B.  Way back in the 70s/80s I used to read Electronic Engineering Times, before they decided I didn't warrant a free subscription.  Bingo cards and free samples.

Interesting industry that's pushing itself to extinction.  But old web pages are as bad as obsolete documentation in Linux stuff.  And something 2 years old can't hash fast enough anymore. You're not just facing competition but the increasing difficulty.  You almost need to standardize the boards and make just those replaceable by themselves so you could pop in new boards every year, keep the old case and heat sink.  Stick miners all have about the same form factor, an Antminer T9 is about the same physically as my G-Blade from 4 years ago.  The chips change.  Make it like replacing motherboards in computers.  That way you could also switch algorithms according to what was profitable that year.  Be more like Asus and Tyan than Dell and Compaq.

[sidehack]

One of the things you've missed is that for the last 2 years I've been working toward being able to build new boards with current-gen chips to mount on S1, S3 and S5 chassis. Those models were before Bitmain decided to basically only support industrial customers who didn't really care as much about noise or, apparently, reliability.

Take some time to sniff around here, run a few keyword searches and you'll find good detailed discussion over most everything you're talking about. I'm not gonna get into it all here. If you look at threads I've started, or anything with GekkoScience in the title, you'll see the kinds of things I'm working on. And no I'm not doing chip design, to do anything competitive requires probably a team of experts and a seven-figure budget minimum.

I honestly don't really mind that my website is out of date. Means the only customers I have to bother with are the ones who try a little harder to find what they're looking for, which weeds out a lot of idiots. Not dealing with idiots all day means I have more time to do the actual job.

[dreon]

Hi~
I have a question.

I bought this product to study the block chain.
So I deployed serial communication directly without using cgminer.
First, finding nonce was successful. (Ref. bm1385 datasheet document)
But there are no results when searching for a block without nonce.
So I don't know when to send a signal to find the next nonce.

How do i know that the work of finding nonce is finished? (without timeout)

[ab1jx]

I bought this product to study the block chain.
So I deployed serial communication directly without using cgminer.

Wow, neat, I didn't know you could do that.  Sounds right up my alley.  I don't have an answer to your question though.

[sidehack]

Gotta calculate timings based on how fast the chip goes through the nonce range at given clock speed, then feed new work into the buffer before it runs out.

55 cores per chip means 55 million nonces per MHz. So for a full 32-bit nonce range, 2^32/55*F seconds. Might want to double-check that for units but that's the idea.

[just1question]

anyone have an estimated profit day/month running one of these? Figure based off being in a pool ofc

[zumpbond2000]

Hello, I need help! I Just bought a GekkoScience Compac BM1384, but I´m facing a lot of problems.


Let´s start saying it doesn't work under Windows 10, both with CGminer or BFGminer. For otherwise CGminer worked few times in windows. (Cgminer 4.9 built by Novak)

Well, Under Linux I got it working in my notebook (Direct Connected to USB Port) (Build my own 4.10 Version). But it haves a really low Hash Rate compared to others people report. I´m reaching an AVG 500 MH/s
Now, the strange thing, BFGMiner won´t work on linux even by adding -S compac:/dev/ttyUSB0 which points to my Miner, but this command actually make my miner flash the blue led all the time, which means it´s point to the right place, now the funny thing, if I mess around with the voltage screw (to be more precisely, when I set it to the point between 0.5V and 0.9, I mean, this is the point where nothing is set) while bfgminer is ruinng, it does start mining!

Ok now the hash rate under BFGminer is much bigger, it´s under an AVG of 5 Gh/s, some times it reachs 11 Gh/s and even 20 GH/s. But also it does a lot of heat, (Measured 75º Celcius or 167 ºF)

I´ve tried to connect a USB powered HUB, with less success  than before, Both CGMiner or BFGMiner won't recognize it unde Linux or Windows.

I´m facing Hardware problems?

[sidehack]

Step 1 - download VH's cgminer from the 2Pac thread. It's got better support for Compacs as a side effect of the 2Pac being built from the original Compac design.

Step 2 - learn a bit more about what the volt-setting pot does. Also look into what the default operating frequenc is if you don't specify one; this is software-dependent.

Step 3 - Windows 10 sucks and you should probably get rid of it.

[ZedZedNova]

Step 3 - Windows 10 sucks and you should probably get rid of it.

bwahahaha, can't say I disagree, but then I do own multiple machines from the fruity company, so I guess that's an altogether different issue.

Back on topic: @zumpbond2000 do what sidehack suggested and load VH's new cgminer; plug the Compac into a USB2.0 port (they don't like USB3 ports); get a good powered USB hub; get a small fan to cool the Compac to ensure a long life.

Regarding the USB hub and cooling fan, search back through this thread for some suggestions for both. There is at least one other thread for powered USB hubs, too.

Edit 1:
USB Hub Thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1779423.0

Edit 2:
This is the setup I use: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1173963.2420

[zumpbond2000]

Step 1 - download VH's cgminer from the 2Pac thread. It's got better support for Compacs as a side effect of the 2Pac being built from the original Compac design.

Step 2 - learn a bit more about what the volt-setting pot does. Also look into what the default operating frequenc is if you don't specify one; this is software-dependent.

Step 3 - Windows 10 sucks and you should probably get rid of it.

Thanks a Lot, It´s working now, I have compiled the VH's Cgminer, it works fine. I managed to compile it for windows and it´s working either, with the excpetion that in my PC I can´t manage to get it working with more than 100MHZ, might be some low power USB problem.

Step 3 - Windows 10 sucks and you should probably get rid of it.

bwahahaha, can't say I disagree, but then I do own multiple machines from the fruity company, so I guess that's an altogether different issue.

Back on topic: @zumpbond2000 do what sidehack suggested and load VH's new cgminer; plug the Compac into a USB2.0 port (they don't like USB3 ports); get a good powered USB hub; get a small fan to cool the Compac to ensure a long life.

Regarding the USB hub and cooling fan, search back through this thread for some suggestions for both. There is at least one other thread for powered USB hubs, too.

Edit 1:
USB Hub Thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1779423.0

Edit 2:
This is the setup I use: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1173963.2420

Thanks a lot, probably I´ll get rid of this hub shit I have, it´s a non expensive shit! Good setup , I´ll be looking into that thread to more info of next USB HUB I will be buying!

[cavaliersrus]

yea most of the time the pc ports on a computer are crap at giving good power you need a good usb hub and youll be set i bet

[Biggum73]

I have a raspberry Pi 3 with a gekkoscience usb stick miner.  I am running cgminer 4.9.2.  How do I know if my miner is working?  From cgminer, I am getting....Pool 1 difficulty changed to 2048...Pool 0 successfully negotiated resume with the same session ID.  What does this mean? 

Also, I dont have the cgminer header when i launch cgminer.

Biggum

[lucc]

I just bought 4 of stick.

now i'm running on cgminer. but I can't set freq.

cgminer -o stratum.antpool.com:3333 -u x -p x --compac-freq 200

I set like this. but it doesn't work. I add my cgminer screen shot.

Do I something wrong? why I can't set freq.
http://imgur.com/WfTnMvJ

[sidehack]

1st - are you sure you bought Compacs and not 2Pacs?
2nd - you're using a wrong cgminer version, or at least not with the right stuff compiled in, if it won't recognize the sticks.

Check the first post of the 2Pac support thread for better cgminer.

[lucc]

1st - are you sure you bought Compacs and not 2Pacs?
2nd - you're using a wrong cgminer version, or at least not with the right stuff compiled in, if it won't recognize the sticks.

Check the first post of the 2Pac support thread for better cgminer.

re...

omg. I got 2pac. Thank for your advice. I will try the 2Pac installation.

[Kommandotolken]

I am running cgminer-gekko win32. I have installed the zadiq winUSB driver. When I start cgminer and try to enable the gekkoscience it says  [2017-06-22 15:17:38.210] Icarus detect (1:11) failed to initialise (incorrect device?)
 [2017-06-22 15:17:38.434] USB init, open device failed, err -3, you don't have privilege to access - GEK device 1:11
 [2017-06-22 15:17:38.439] See README file included for help
 [2017-06-22 15:17:38.440] Gekko detect (1:11) failed to initialise (incorrect device?)
Sometimes it says "AMU" instead of "GEK".

Why is that? I have trouble looking upp err -3.