Raspberry Pi / cgminer for your BFL BitForce

[crazydownloaded]

fpf > I just integrated rpi-update, I'll post a new image soon

allinvain > I just added icarus+modminer+ztex support to cgminer (compilation options), will be in the new image. However, I can't guarantee every other things will work (I don't have those and don't really know what they need), however I think everything should be OK.

moreporknz > I'm using Transcend class 10 SD cards (8GB) and never had a crash so far

heavyb, allinvain > Correct, there is no wallet embedded. If you wan't a wallet, go to https://blockchain.info/ and sign up. You'll also need some mining pools (In case some fails), I personally use http://ozco.in (which is great but fails a lot), https://mining.bitcoin.cz, https://www.btcguild.com and https://deepbit.net

heavyb, allinvain > I've no idea how to shrink the image too. The problem comes from the fact I used a 8GB SD Card (best value at the moment, 4GB are 6.50 € and 8 GB only 8 €, taxes included) and the way the disk imager is working (doesn't care about size used on the card neither the size of the partitions, it simply copies everything as on the card).
I released a full step by step on how to get the same result I did (http://pastebin.com/2J8BDHRB) if you wan't to do it all by yourself.
I unsuccessfully tried to find a 2GB SDCARD at a normal price (those I found were more expensive than 16GB class 10 cards!). However I've a 4GB card, I will do the image again on it and post it here.

Stay tuned!

[allinvain]

Awesome. Thanks crazydownloaded! My Pi just shipped today. I can't wait to put that little thing to work.

I think I will go with a 8 gb or 16 gb sd card too. 16 GB ones are like $15 CDN here.

[crazydownloaded]

Image updated (see first post)

[crazyates]

If someone wanted to make an image like this for another piece of hardware that wasn't the rPi, say an MK802 II, would you mind posting a few more details about what you did, specifically the watchdogs and such? Thanks!

+ cgminer launched at startup
+ Logging with "btc" user will automatically show you the cgminer screen, press CTRL+A then D to go back to shell
+ root and pi features config files in their own directory as links to btc's config files, so it's easy to change them
+ Security upgrades are automatically installed (apticron)
+ cgminer miner is started on a "screen" so you can always see what's happening on cgminer my typing "screen -r btc/cgminer"
+ if cgminer exits, the screen is kept for 5 minutes so you can see what's wrong
+ Features an "Update.sh" script (in /root) that upgrades your cgminer to the latest version, run it regularly to keep your cgminer up to date; the script also runs "aptitude update" to update your packages list, so you can run "aptitude dist-upgrade" right after if needed
+ Features 3 watchdogs :
+++ Hardware watchdog, if system is totally freezed (I'm away from my mining rig, so I'm not here to "reboot" the system if it fails!)
+++ Software watchdog, that feeds the hardware watchdog and reboot the system if cpu usage too high (max-load-15 = 18)
+++ Software watchdog, that looks if cgminer is running and restart it if not (logs restarts to /tmp/) (check is every minute)

[allinvain]

Just thought I'd mention that the link on the first post still points to the old image. Use this link until the author updates it or you can just copy the URL and copy and paste it in a new broker window/tab (ie don't just click on it)

http://rapidshare.com/files/3214579155/2012.12.22%20-%20debian%20wheezy%20configured%20-%20public.zip

[crazydownloaded]

If someone wanted to make an image like this for another piece of hardware that wasn't the rPi, say an MK802 II, would you mind posting a few more details about what you did, specifically the watchdogs and such? Thanks!

See first post, I posted a detail of everything I did.

allinvain > thanks, link updated in first post, sorry about that

[BTC-engineer]

allinvain > thanks, link updated in first post, sorry about that

Download ist not working ->File owner's public traffic exhausted.

[crazydownloaded]

Download ist not working ->File owner's public traffic exhausted.

Just added an alternate link: http://dl.free.fr/hmpSyVjcg

[allinvain]

Well I got it going just today. The only issue is that it seems to me that something is flaky. I'm getting communications errors from one of the BFL singles. Closing cgminer forcibly and waiting for the watchdog script to restart it seems to work...as to how long it will work until it poops out again I'm not sure - I guess I'll have to keep an eye on it and see. I don't think it's caused by the Single throttling as normally if that was the case eventually the single would come back online once it's done rebooting - that and the temp is not even high at all (44 C)

[allinvain]

Well this sucks. The comm error from one of the singles happened again. I guess it takes a hour or two before this manifests itself.

[2012-12-29 12:54:58] Accepted 12a670c7 Diff 13/2 BFL 2
 [2012-12-29 12:55:00] BFL0: Comms error
 [2012-12-29 12:55:05] BFL0: Comms error

Anyone else have any clue as to what is going on?

The fpgas are connected to a powered USB hub.

[crazydownloaded]

I'm getting this too, very strange...
I'll try to investigate on this.

[allinvain]

I'm getting this too, very strange...
I'll try to investigate on this.

I think this is happening only when you log into the btc account and then detach from the screen session. I was logged into the session (ie I saw the cgminer terminal output) and it did not happen the whole time. I just screen'ed out of the session and I will wait and see if one of the fpga miners craps out again. I have a very strong feeling it will as this seems to me the only common pattern.

[crazydownloaded]

I updated cgminer (simply run Update.sh script) and it seems I doesn't have this issue anymore (no comm error so far, running for more that 3 hours).
Give it a try and share.

[allinvain]

I updated cgminer (simply run Update.sh script) and it seems I doesn't have this issue anymore (no comm error so far, running for more that 3 hours).
Give it a try and share.

Hmmm, ok I'll give it a try but I thought the current image is running the latest build.

Also I don't think this issue manifests itself right away or with regularity. I've been running it for 4+ hours and no comm errors and I did not update cgminer yet.

Either way I'm running the update script. Let's see how it goes..

[allinvain]

Ok, well, operation was successful and I'm now running cgminer 2.10.4 (previous 2.10.3). Time to detach the screen and see if the problem manifests itself again. Hopefully not

[allinvain]

[2012-12-30 02:18:05] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:06] Accepted 5a03aed4 Diff 2/2 ICA 0
 [2012-12-30 02:18:10] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:12] Accepted 74c98fce Diff 2/2 ICA 0
 [2012-12-30 02:18:15] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:20] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:25] Accepted 6222264c Diff 2/2 ICA 2
 [2012-12-30 02:18:26] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:27] Accepted 61a22b72 Diff 2/2 ICA 2
 [2012-12-30 02:18:27] Accepted 6d4d902e Diff 2/2 BFL 0
 [2012-12-30 02:18:31] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:36] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:38] Accepted 58f98beb Diff 2/2 ICA 1
 [2012-12-30 02:18:41] BFL2: Comms error
 [2012-12-30 02:18:43] Accepted 6a42c394 Diff 2/2 BFL 0

problem still persists

This time it occurred with a different single..

[allinvain]

Hmm check this out:

https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer/issues/105

This bug was reported with bfgminer a while back....I think this may be an issue with the raspberry pi itself and not the mining software or the OS.

[allinvain]

root@raspberrypi:/opt/vc/bin# ./vcgencmd version
Nov 22 2012 18:12:01
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 352766 (release)

I'm not sure if this is relevant but could someone else run that command and tell me what firmware version you've got?

I'm running rpi-update right now..taking a long ass time..read somewhere that it could take up to 20 min..

Maybe that will fix this issue..

[allinvain]

root@raspberrypi:/opt/vc/bin# ./vcgencmd version
Dec 28 2012 11:22:54
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version 359904 (release)

latest firmware running..let's hope this fixes it..

Some tips for you folks that are thinking of doing the same thing. First the rpi-update script passes a bunch of command argument (git, etc) with the --quiet flag. If you want to know what it's doing edit the script (rpi-update is a bash script) and remove the "--quiet" flags.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y
sudo sync && sudo shutdown -r now
sudo wget http://goo.gl/1BOfJ -O /usr/bin/rpi-update && sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/rpi-update

If you get an error message regarding certificates

sudo apt-get install ca-certificates

and then rerun rpi-update

[allinvain]

Shit it's still doing it..

This sucks..