News of a mini RasPi for 5$ How could this change bitcoin mining?

[VirosaGITS]

https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-zero/

Would sure make for cheaper Controller replacement costs?

Not only could Bitmain use these, maybe, in their miners but it just made running USB miners even cheaper. Hopefully it has enough processing power to run the OS and cgminer ~

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[nepaluz]

It does change the miner controller-scape only as far as the manufacturers are willing to embrace it. Bitmain walked away from the ar9331 modules (which would have cost them about the same) to the BB which, with their volumes, costs them about the same.

The Pi ZERO, though, is quite limited in terms of connectivity, aka ethernet and / or wifi, without further spending on enabling it, thus the $5 would end up being more like $15+ in medium volumes, even $30+ in small volumes. I can not see it below $10 with the connectivity added (to say the conrol board).

That said, the Pi ZERO will only change the controller-scape if an independent developer can fashion a drop in replacement controller board that it can host but most importantly, can run bitmain boards.

[notlist3d]

It does change the miner controller-scape only as far as the manufacturers are willing to embrace it. Bitmain walked away from the ar9331 modules (which would have cost them about the same) to the BB which, with their volumes, costs them about the same.

The Pi ZERO, though, is quite limited in terms of connectivity, aka ethernet and / or wifi, without further spending on enabling it, thus the $5 would end up being more like $15+ in medium volumes, even $30+ in small volumes. I can not see it below $10 with the connectivity added (to say the conrol board).

That said, the Pi ZERO will only change the controller-scape if an independent developer can fashion a drop in replacement controller board that it can host but most importantly, can run bitmain boards.

Some miners like Avalon have a chance as it's close to B/B+ number's.   They use RPI as controller, so I would disagree with just independent devloper can use RPI's.

I do agree bitmain will not work due to using custom controllers.  I still hope one day they switch over to RPI's.  But it seems unlikely at this point they will ever do that.

[goxed]

This version of RasPI has no ethernet connectivity; just an USB data port and GPIO.

[nepaluz]

In terms of changing the controller-scape, Avalon can only be mentioned as a detail to Bitmaintech, for all the good things Avalon that may be. I can not see the appeal of a Pi ZERO over Bitmaintech's chosen BB derivative, not even price (and not to mention connectivity, or the lack of it - USB to ethernet considered).

[notlist3d]

This version of RasPI has no ethernet connectivity; just an USB data port and GPIO.

Could you not use a USB ethernet adapter or wifi?  I missed the part if you truly can have no Ethernet that would be a big issue if so.

In terms of changing the controller-scape, Avalon can only be mentioned as a detail to Bitmaintech, for all the good things Avalon that may be. I can not see the appeal of a Pi ZERO over Bitmaintech's chosen BB derivative, not even price (and not to mention connectivity, or the lack of it - USB to ethernet considered).

How many Bitmain miners have you had?   Wait till one day you have trouble with one or brick it.... sadly it can happen. With RPI you can go to local store and buy one quick and if you have backup flash it and be up in no time.  But with custom bitmain controllers you have to wait for it to be shipped to you through RMA process, unless they are nice and let you buy it without sending back.

RPI has lots of advantages.

[toptek]

In terms of changing the controller-scape, Avalon can only be mentioned as a detail to Bitmaintech, for all the good things Avalon that may be. I can not see the appeal of a Pi ZERO over Bitmaintech's chosen BB derivative, not even price (and not to mention connectivity, or the lack of it - USB to ethernet considered).

if your good at doing custom oases on any pi, give it time you will be able to use any type Pi, you want with Avalon's,with bitmain you can but can' t, you take a very big risk of messing up that new 1.7 k  US miner, not just the controller, if you try some kind of modded controller in place of there BB, you all most can't mess up any miner with a stand alone controller that uses one, so the benefits of a stand alone out weigh a built-in one any day.

I have  brick  a few bitmain controllers the miners still worked but it was disabled/useless till i could get a replacement controller,  it made me want my own off unit controller.

 with Avalon's it's just a mater of setting up there openwrt server on another PI type. it's very possible and safe to do.

[VirosaGITS]

I mentioned it as possibly viable substitute to save on controller costs, because just like how the BBB is being used, it run a daughter board anyways. I'm not a hardware expert, but i don't see why it could not have a Ethernet ported added there, leaving the base cost of the mini computer to 5$ instead of 30$+

I reckon without a Ethernet port, the cost would have to be over 5$, but really, how much more expensive could it be to make a batch of thousands RasPi0+ for a manufacturer or for the Bitcoin mining community?

[toptek]

I mentioned it as possibly viable substitute to save on controller costs, because just like how the BBB is being used, it run a daughter board anyways. I'm not a hardware expert, but i don't see why it could not have a Ethernet ported added there, leaving the base cost of the mini computer to 5$ instead of 30$+

I reckon without a Ethernet port, the cost would have to be over 5$, but really, how much more expensive could it be to make a batch of thousands RasPi0+ for a manufacturer or for the Bitcoin mining community?

i agree but give time some one will be selling a plug in Ethernet port for USB Hub's for this. in fact you can buy one now plug in port, if it works on this, no idea.

[nepaluz]

You can add ethernet to the Pi ZERO by simply plugging in a mini USB to ethernet dongle which costs about $10. But the cost difference between a BB and a Pi ZERO is not even that (reportedly the BB costs bitmain $7) and both will require a daughter-board (even for Avalon).

That is the reason I said the Pi ZERO will not be of interest to Bitmaintech, however, for an independent developer, there definitely is some scope. Technically on a simplistic level, it is merely a matter of serial interfacing with the hash boards which can be achieved with the Pi ZERO as much as it is with the BB.

With regard to bricking, for the S1 and S3 that was an issue in the ealy days, but unless there is damage to components, recovery from bricking is a breeze and aside from time, costs a meagre $3 for a USB to TTL dongle. Ofcourse with the BB, you can always pop down your favourite webstore for a replacement so bricking and time to RMA is moot.

[VirosaGITS]

You can add ethernet to the Pi ZERO by simply plugging in a mini USB to ethernet dongle which costs about $10. But the cost difference between a BB and a Pi ZERO is not even that (reportedly the BB costs bitmain $7) and both will require a daughter-board (even for Avalon).

That is the reason I said the Pi ZERO will not be of interest to Bitmaintech, however, for an independent developer, there definitely is some scope. Technically on a simplistic level, it is merely a matter of serial interfacing with the hash boards which can be achieved with the Pi ZERO as much as it is with the BB.

With regard to bricking, for the S1 and S3 that was an issue in the ealy days, but unless there is damage to components, recovery from bricking is a breeze and aside from time, costs a meagre $3 for a USB to TTL dongle. Ofcourse with the BB, you can always pop down your favourite webstore for a replacement so bricking and time to RMA is moot.

I understand that, but if the RasPi is 5$ to the end user, a big batch could be 3$ or less. Not that i would know. But maybe saving thousands of dollars on many thousands of Miner produced could be of interest to Bitmain, SP, Avalon too, maybe, who knows.

[nepaluz]

I've seen reports of the new Pi ZERO being sold by authorised resellers for EURO 12+ plus shipping ...
But yes, volume purchases normally result in lower pricing, but notwithstanding the Pi ZERO using the "older" processor, I am not sure how far below the listed price the price can go. Are they getting the processor for free? The footprint of the PCB would itself cost about $2 at a dirt cheap PCB fabricator (OK given that would not be for volumes)!

[notlist3d]

I've seen reports of the new Pi ZERO being sold by authorised resellers for EURO 12+ plus shipping ...
But yes, volume purchases normally result in lower pricing, but notwithstanding the Pi ZERO using the "older" processor, I am not sure how far below the listed price the price can go. Are they getting the processor for free? The footprint of the PCB would itself cost about $2 at a dirt cheap PCB fabricator (OK given that would not be for volumes)!

I looked into ordering one it appears what a lot are doing is bundling it with cheap items.  This allows them to sell the 5 dollar item for much greater profit.  They include cheap accessories... and double the price if not more it seems.

So could be a bit till truly can get just the pi zero for 5 bucks.  It's kinda scummy of so many to add accessories to get greater profit... but guess that is buisness.

[alh]

I think this will have zero impact on the choice of SBC (Single Board Computer) that is used for any mining gear by Bitmain, or anybody else. The cost of the SBC is such a small part of it, that this just wouldn't register.

As I read it, it roughly a Raspberry B-, with a different form factor and reduced ports. The CPU and memory infrastructure look to be straight out of the Raspberry Pi "B series". Even the existing Raspberry Pi B+ costs $20 at MicroCenter to the retail customer. That's got plenty of ports and Ethernet, and would make way more sense.

Yes I think the Pi Zero is a cute and interesting device, but it's impact on the Bitcoin universe will be negligible at best.

[hurricandave]

The only thing I can think of that would work is the BTCGarden miners. They utilized the RPi GPIO pins which could easily be soldered onto the PiZero, but to connect to the internet you would need a router with USB to internet built in. Of course there may be a couple other miners that work with GPIO but can't think of them right now. Mind you, I'm only talking about limiting the PiZero to operate in a strictly controller function without adding other shields or adapters to reach a pool.

[QuintLeo]

No Ethernet = no effect as nobody building Bitcoin miners is likely to bother even looking at it.

[Finksy]

Why couldn't you use a cheap adapter like this: http://amzn.com/B00AKXE59E  for ethernet? If purchased in bulk for hardware application, surely you could get pricing <$1.

[Biodom]

Why couldn't you use a cheap adapter like this: http://amzn.com/B00AKXE59E  for ethernet? If purchased in bulk for hardware application, surely you could get pricing <$1.

I wonder if there is a mini HDMI-to-USB adapter (if that is even possible). HDMI port is useless for mining, otherwise.
AS far as micro usb to Ethernet-it does not make much sense to me because there are only two micro USB ports there with one dedicated to Power as far as I understand (maybe it cannot do data?), which leaves just one micro USB available for data. I assume you would want to connect micro USB (m) to USB (f) adapter there, then hook up a usb hub, THEN connect a usb to ethernet adapter to that hub. I am not sure that this concoction would work, but it might, however all these adapters would reduce the appeal (since raspberry pi B+ could be had for $19.99 with all connectors already present). However, that tiny thing looks appealing just for trying it out.

[Finksy]

Micro-USB sockets for data and power

From the spec sheet.  Does anyone know if you can set data transmission to run through through the GPIO headers on previous models? Obviously that would be the cheapest solution if used with a dedicated controller board on a miner.

[hurricandave]

Micro-USB sockets for data and power

From the spec sheet.  Does anyone know if you can set data transmission to run through through the GPIO headers on previous models? Obviously that would be the cheapest solution if used with a dedicated controller board on a miner.

The header can be used to add a Wi-Fi shield. That bumps the cost up to model B prices, hence why use it?