[LOCKED] cpuminer-opt v3.12.3, open source optimized multi-algo CPU miner

[felixbrucker]

im currently trying to understand the structure of cpuminer-opt/cpuminer-multi: i want to implement a basic cryptonight hashing function in javascript and/or port the C/C++ part of cpuminer-opt to js with asm.js, though im not sure what the best starting point for this basic task is

is there some documentation for devs which are not familiar with how mining software works?

i suppose writing this in js with libs is fairly easy

Not that I'm aware of. The first step is to identify everything needed for cryptonight.

If all you want is the bare hashing function look in algo/cryptonight/cryptonight-aesni.c.
If you need to rely on SW AES look in algo/cryptonight/cryptonight.c.

There's a lot more to it if you want to build a mining app: UI, stratum/networking, multithreading,
algo interface, algo support SW,  I'm probably missing a couple.

If you want to build a frankenstein you need to find the line between the core SW and the algo SW.
That line is primarilly scanhash, though it's a very blurred line. Almost everything above it is core
SW, and everything below is algo specific. The intent of algo-gate was to try to better define that
line, but you can still see when the line is crossed by the custom target functions the algo has to
give to the core. multi and ccminer have a bunch of algo hooks in the core code.

I'm not familiar with any other miner architectures but I presume there still exists that basic interface
where you input a message and get back a hash.

thanks will look into it

yes, im aiming for frankenstein, nothing pretty, it should just work

[joblo]

cpuminer-opt legacy version 3.5.9.1 is released with support for new algos from the master
branch. It may provide better performance on some algos using older CPUs that don't have AES NI.

Cloning from git requires the -b option to specify the legacy branch:

git clone https://github.com/JayDDee/cpuminer-opt -b legacy

Tarball: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZcDg0d0QzbzJBUDA/view?usp=sharing

Windows Binaries: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZT0tlY3o4ZjEycXM/view?usp=sharing

[joblo]

For cryptonight the 1800x seems to have an edge over i7-6800K with a slightly larger L3 cache
and 2 more hyperthreaded cores but also a higher price.

Cryptonight doesn't stress the cores, it would be nice to see performance on a well optimized compute
intensive algo like deep.

[nizzuu]

cpuminer-opt v3.5.12 is released with support for sha256t, 29% faster than ocminer version.

joblo, can u tell us the optimal -t (thread number) on this algo? Depending on CPU cache size(s), core count, thread (hyper-threading) count.

Tested on i5-4570 (Haswell, 4 cores, 4 threads, 6MB L3), seems that -t 4 is the fastest setting in time, while -t 5 or -t 6 gives maximum peaks (first 3-5 minutes).

P.S. The avg speed on my CPU is 4850... 5200 kH/s (sha256t)

Thanks.

[HexxoDev]

HexxCoin also moved to use lyra2z330 as algo name.
This is more easy as its algo name.

[woodaxe]

Hi
   took me a while to get the miner running  on xmr but mainly down to me not knowing what i was doing with bat files etc
 running a xeon E5 2670 v2  10cores 20 threads  was hashing at 340h/s using 12 threads
 What im looking for is a ZEC  cpu miner are you doing the algo  so that can be mined

   many thanks  for your  work

[joblo]

HexxCoin also moved to use lyra2z330 as algo name.
This is more easy as its algo name.

That was my intent. I prefer not to use the coin name as algo name.

[joblo]

cpuminer-opt v3.5.12 is released with support for sha256t, 29% faster than ocminer version.

joblo, can u tell us the optimal -t (thread number) on this algo? Depending on CPU cache size(s), core count, thread (hyper-threading) count.

Tested on i5-4570 (Haswell, 4 cores, 4 threads, 6MB L3), seems that -t 4 is the fastest setting in time, while -t 5 or -t 6 gives maximum peaks (first 3-5 minutes).

P.S. The avg speed on my CPU is 4850... 5200 kH/s (sha256t)

Thanks.

Try different combos and tell everyone what works best. For compute intensive algo it's usuallty best to run N threads.
For memory bound algo you'll reach a peak and adding more threads won't help. Cryptonight is special because it is
cache bound. There is a sweet spot when everything fits nicely in the cache. Add another thread and speed drops dramatically.

[joblo]

Hi
   took me a while to get the miner running  on xmr but mainly down to me not knowing what i was doing with bat files etc
 running a xeon E5 2670 v2  10cores 20 threads  was hashing at 340h/s using 12 threads
 What im looking for is a ZEC  cpu miner are you doing the algo  so that can be mined

   many thanks  for your  work

cpuminer-opt doesn't support zcash mining. There are a few miners available for zcash, refer to the pool's instructions.

[woodaxe]

Hi
   took me a while to get the miner running  on xmr but mainly down to me not knowing what i was doing with bat files etc
 running a xeon E5 2670 v2  10cores 20 threads  was hashing at 340h/s using 12 threads
 What im looking for is a ZEC  cpu miner are you doing the algo  so that can be mined

   many thanks  for your  work

cpuminer-opt doesn't support zcash mining. There are a few miners available for zcash, refer to the pool's instructions.

 thanks for the fast reply  i have looked at other miners  inc nheqminer  which only seems to run 2 threads no matter what i do
i have read the pools instructions as well

[cerebrum06]

This is the home of cpuminer-opt, The optimized CPU miner.

cpuminer-opt now supports over 50 algorithms with more than 20 optimized to use
AES_NI, AVX and AVX2 on capable CPUs.

cpuminer-opt v3.5.12 is now released and available for download.

Source code:

git: https://github.com/JayDDee/cpuminer-opt

tarball: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZbUgwcGRjUXlhYzA/view?usp=sharing

Windows binaries

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZbU5ydlhiYjk0SkU/view?usp=sharing

New in v3.5.12

New algo sha256t for Onecoin (OC), 29% faster than ocminer version.
Lyra2zoin algo renamed to lyra2z330, lyra2zoin and zoin still work as aliases.

Legacy version 3.5.9.1 May provide better performance on some algos with older CPUs that
don't have AES NI

Legacy branch updated with new algos from master branch.

git clone https://github.com/JayDDee/cpuminer-opt -b legacy

Tarball: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZcDg0d0QzbzJBUDA/view?usp=sharing

Windows Binaries: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0lVSGQYLJIZT0tlY3o4ZjEycXM/view?usp=sharing

Errata:

Users with older AMD CPUs have reported many problems with varius versions of cpuminer-opt.
The early versions of SSE2 on AMD are not always compatible with the code in cpuminer-opt.
This creates challenges both compiling and running cpuminer-opt on AMD CPUs. Some algos
jusy won't work on these CPUs and users will need a miner without SSE2 such as cpuminer-multi.

Bench stats collection enabled (-p stats) when mining timetravel causes miner to exit after
50 share submissions.

cpuminer-opt does not work mining Decred algo at Nicehash and produces only
"invalid extranonce2 size" rejects.

Benchmark testing does not work for x11evo.

Requirements:

1. A x86_64 architecture CPU with a minimum of SSE2 support. This includes Intel
Core2 and newer and AMD equivalents. In order to take advantage of AES_NI
optimizations a CPU with AES_NI is required. This includes Intel Westbridge
and newer and AMD equivalents. Further optimizations are available on some algos
for CPUs with AVX and AVX2, Sandybridge and Haswell respectively.

Older CPUs are supported by cpuminer-multi by TPruvot but at reduced performance.

2. 64 bit Linux OS. Ubuntu and Fedora based distributions, including Mint and Centos are known
to work and have all dependencies in their repositories. Others may work but may require
more effort.

64 bit Windows OS is supported using the pre-compiled binaries package or may be compiled
with mingw_w64 and msys.

3. Stratum pool, cpuminer-opt only supports stratum minning. Anything else is YMMV.

Hello. Please, can you give us static compilled binaries for linux64? I have user-accounts on some servers, but will never have a root access to compile your miner.
Need same as windows-binaries, but for linux64.
It is possible?
Thanks.

[woodaxe]

is there any particular reason as to why theres no zec algo with your miner

many thanks

[th3.r00t]

joblo, it seems that XEVAN is broken on all non-AES AMD CPU's

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3)
OS: Ubuntu 14.04 x64
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.12 / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.12 / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V)
OS: Win 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.12 / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.12 / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH

CPU: AMD FX-7600P (MMX (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, XOP, FMA3, FMA4)
OS: Win 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=native - XEVAN Works
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=native - XEVAN Works
v3.5.12 / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.5.12 / -march=native - XEVAN Works

[joblo]

joblo, it seems that XEVAN is broken on all non-AES AMD CPU's

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3)
OS: Ubuntu 14.04 x64
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.12 / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"
v3.5.12 / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > "Illegal instruction (core dumped)"

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 965 (MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V)
OS: Win 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.12 / -march=core2 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH
v3.5.12 / -march=btver1 - After miner and stratum start > APPCRASH

CPU: AMD FX-7600P (MMX (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, x86-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, XOP, FMA3, FMA4)
OS: Win 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
miner versions:
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.4.12-legacy / -march=native - XEVAN Works
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.5.9.1-legacy / -march=native - XEVAN Works
v3.5.12 / -march=bdver3 - XEVAN Works
v3.5.12 / -march=native - XEVAN Works

Illegal instruction pretty much tells the story. With a lot of help I can probably figure out which instruction AMD is
tripping over but I won't be able to fix. The instruction isn't implemented in the CPU, it's as simple as that.
This kind of imcompatibility is probably worked around by the compiler but that doesn't work for intrinsic
functions or assembly code.

The only alternative is to use a miner that is free of SSE2 code such as cpuminer-multi.

[joblo]

I'm looking at updating the errata for old AMD CPUs and would like more precision on which CPUs work
and which don't.

Athlon 64 x2 and Phenom II x4 are confirmed not to work. It appears anything less than Bulldozer, which
introduced AVX, will not work with all algos.

If no one has data that says otherwise I'll update the errata in the OP.

[Amph]

no support for solo mining right? there was a coin with very very low hash, i was thinking to give it a try with cpu, since with gpu would be overkill

but the miner only support stratum connection...

[joblo]

no support for solo mining right? there was a coin with very very low hash, i was thinking to give it a try with cpu, since with gpu would be overkill

but the miner only support stratum connection...

It's not really by intent, I just don't feel like installing wallets for every coin for testing. I have been told some
algos work but I have no idea which ones.

[joblo]

Edit: I just found a bug that would break getwork, It will be fixed in the next release. Until then
it's probably not worth it to try testing it.


I took a look at the getwork and gbt code and there are not a lot of algo hooks. It might be possible to fix it
for some algos. But this will require a lot of help from user testing and good reporting of test results.
Comparing to cpuminer-multi should make it easier.

For anyone interested in helping out please provide the following information.

1. Basic info on test environment: CPU, OS, algo, coin,

2. Information for each miner used: version, compiled from source or binaries, link if not well known

2. Does solo mining using the wallet miner work?

3. Does cpuminer-opt work solo mining? Provide details including console session showing command line options.

4. Is there another miner available that works solo mining? Provide details.

5. Any technical info available about the algo/coin that affects solo mining, ie similarities/differences with other algos
    that produce different test results

This will hopefuly identify the problem areas that need attention, Having a working model to compare
with should make it easier to fix them.

[th3.r00t]

I'm looking at updating the errata for old AMD CPUs and would like more precision on which CPUs work
and which don't.

Athlon 64 x2 and Phenom II x4 are confirmed not to work. It appears anything less than Bulldozer, which
introduced AVX, will not work with all algos.

If no one has data that says otherwise I'll update the errata in the OP.

These CPUs are working fine with legacy versions on zr5 algo.
I haven't tested other algos, since I have no interest in them.
m7m also works if I recall corectly - will test that on a weekend.

[joblo]

I'm looking at updating the errata for old AMD CPUs and would like more precision on which CPUs work
and which don't.

Athlon 64 x2 and Phenom II x4 are confirmed not to work. It appears anything less than Bulldozer, which
introduced AVX, will not work with all algos.

If no one has data that says otherwise I'll update the errata in the OP.

These CPUs are working fine with legacy versions on zr5 algo.
I haven't tested other algos, since I have no interest in them.
m7m also works if I recall corectly - will test that on a weekend.

Thanks, that helps localize the incompatible code, it's not in code used by zr5 or m7m.
Let me know if something is broken using an AVX enabled AMD CPU, that would be
unexpected.