Linux mining distro for the Raspberry PI - MinePeon

[pand70]

What is the deal with Raspberry PI and bitcoins?

Seems like everyone involved with bitcoins owns a raspberry pi or something.

[BitMinerN8]

What is the deal with Raspberry PI and bitcoins?

Seems like everyone involved with bitcoins owns a raspberry pi or something.

It's a much cheaper solution than running a PC to USB mine. (FPGA/ASIC)

[Foofighter]

Hi,

I also tried Minepeon out but I got some problems with an Icarus based device.

Minepeon doesnt detect my Lancelot FPGA device, is it supposed to work or is the Lancelot Board not supported?
Or are there other things to run or install in order to get the board detected?

Thanks
Best regards

Try the included version of bfgminer. It works for me.

ah ok, i will try this out.

THanks a lot!

regards

[mr2dave]

ah ok, i will try this out.

THanks a lot!

regards

You're quite welcome. Have a look at this post for some quick & dirty instructions: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=195052.msg2300891#msg2300891
Let us know if/when it works, and if you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask.

[BitMinerN8]

Sorry if this was already posted, I looked through the thread and the wiki, but is there a method to update cgminer/bfgminer to the current release? Thanks.

[Binford 6100]

if you want to see it happen .

This is very cool looking

and only costs a 1 day mining income of the jalapeno ; )

[johnny5]

Any idea if MinePeon would work on a cubieboard?  I believe some of the PI's OS's do via the berryboot util: http://www.berryterminal.com/doku.php/berryboot_a10.

[kano]

Sorry if this was already posted, I looked through the thread and the wiki, but is there a method to update cgminer/bfgminer to the current release? Thanks.

Well I have a binary of the current cgminer release here:
https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries/tree/master/RPi_32
usually not long after each release is out.
That's all that should need changing - that one file (renamed and) put in place of the previous 'cgminer' executable.
It's compiled with all USB device support (and nothing else)

[BitMinerN8]

Sorry if this was already posted, I looked through the thread and the wiki, but is there a method to update cgminer/bfgminer to the current release? Thanks.

Well I have a binary of the current cgminer release here:
https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries/tree/master/RPi_32
usually not long after each release is out.
That's all that should need changing - that one file (renamed and) put in place of the previous 'cgminer' executable.
It's compiled with all USB device support (and nothing else)

Perfect, thank you sir.
I do know how to compile it on my various rigs/pi with standard linux flavors, I just was wondering about the whole minepeon config, if there was a script to launch an update or whatever.

[MineForeman.com]

I just was wondering about the whole minepeon config, if there was a script to launch an update or whatever.

Not yet......  So much is changing/improving between releases at the moment it is easier by far to download the entire thing (you can sftp off your /opt/minepeon/etc/* and /opt/minepeon/var/rrd/* to save all of your configuration and stats though)

Future versions will be able to pull in updates using git though so you should be able to set them to update automatically or push a button on the WebUI to do it.

There is a lot of work to get that going though, not because it is hard but because when I release an update I have to take into account every single previous version just to make sure I don't end up bricking everyones mining rig's (MinePeon is now running literally hundreds of FPGA's and ASIC's if not thousands.  A mistake like that from me could drop the network hashrate by a few TH/s ) .

Neil

[BitMinerN8]

I just was wondering about the whole minepeon config, if there was a script to launch an update or whatever.

Not yet......  So much is changing/improving between releases at the moment it is easier by far to download the entire thing (you can sftp off your /opt/minepeon/etc/* and /opt/minepeon/var/rrd/* to save all of your configuration and stats though)

Future versions will be able to pull in updates using git though so you should be able to set them to update automatically or push a button on the WebUI to do it.

There is a lot of work to get that going though, not because it is hard but because when I release an update I have to take into account every single previous version just to make sure I don't end up bricking everyones mining rig's (MinePeon is now running literally hundreds of FPGA's and ASIC's if not thousands.  A mistake like that from me could drop the network hashrate by a few TH/s ) .

Neil

Awesome, keep up the great work. It's a killer product for the Pi.

[yantis]

I picked up 80 USB Block Erupters and 100 Lancelot FPGAs from Black Arrow and plan on running them on the Raspberry PI.

I couldn't get the latest version of minepeon to run the ASICs (haven't tested the FPGAs yet but will soon) with the installed software. By using the latest github version of bfgminer they work but not the latest cgminer (I have this same problem on my other machine which runs Arch Linux as well (x64 not ARM).  (though prefer cgminer out of personal preference but I had no luck getting it to work - (latest version from github)) but I could get the previous version of cgminer to work on Fedora 18.

Also noticed that on the PI using the same hubs and cooling (maybe even a little more cooling). They hardware error out double or triple that of a more powerful machine. I have a dozen or so PIs lying around so will try to distribute them a bit and see if the hardware errors go down.

Here is a screenshot of it running for 12 hours to measure it with 38 Block Erupter USBs (I assume it will run more just fine and will try that later). These block erupters must be cooled. The hardware errors go through the roof when they are not



Here is a screenshot of the CPU usage. Which seems pretty low considering how many units its powering.



Hopefully this is helpful to someone. If I can test anything for anyone or any questions feel free to ask.

Mineforman awesome job on this and I am so glad you used Arch linux as your base. Wonderful stuff. Donation of a quarter of a bitcoin sent for now. Thanks again!

Update: Was able to put 55 USB block erupters on the PI but the CPU was maxed at 100% and it barely worked. At 45 it seems to hover at around 85% to 92% and sometimes rarely peaks at 100%. Will run at test at 45 for a while.  Also experimented with different hubs. No USB 3.0 Hubs appear to work stable on the PI but worked fantastic on Fedora 18 and Arch Linux on PCs.

[Photon939]

From your website:

"I will be getting 25% of your generation capacity.  That works out so I get to use your hardware for 6 hours per day to generate Bitcoin’s for myself.  This way I don’t have to touch your personal Bitcoin’s or Dollars."

Is that a typo?

I could understand a percent or two fee to help fund your development efforts, but holy crap man.....

[yantis]

Photon939 That is in regards to this: http://mineforeman.com/services/ where he hosts your hardware.

[Photon939]

Thanks, I had assumed it was connected to minepeon hence the reaction

Never mind me herp derp

[yantis]

Its also worth noting to make sure to use a USB 2.0 hub. USB 3.0 hubs do not seem to work very well with the Raspberry PI. At least the couple brands I tired.

[MineForeman.com]

Update: Was able to put 55 USB block erupters on the PI but the CPU was maxed at 100% and it barely worked. At 45 it seems to hover at around 85% to 92% and sometimes rarely peaks at 100%. Will run at test at 45 for a while.  Also experimented with different hubs. No USB 3.0 Hubs appear to work stable on the PI but worked fantastic on Fedora 18 and Arch Linux on PCs.

Wow, thanks for the report.  USB support is a bit sketcy on the PI.  Hubs in the particular seem to have problems, any chance you can share what hubs you had sucess with (and failures).

Block Euptor USB support with MinePeon is an ongoing thing, I still have not had one to test with (I ran a group buy and I STILL did not end up with one of my own).  I hope to remedy that with my second group buy (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=219598.0 hint hint)

From your website:

"I will be getting 25% of your generation capacity.  That works out so I get to use your hardware for 6 hours per day to generate Bitcoin’s for myself.  This way I don’t have to touch your personal Bitcoin’s or Dollars."

Is that a typo?

I could understand a percent or two fee to help fund your development efforts, but holy crap man.....

Thanks for the idea .

Its also worth noting to make sure to use a USB 2.0 hub. USB 3.0 hubs do not seem to work very well with the Raspberry PI. At least the couple brands I tired.

Good idea, start posting the ones you try here and I will put them on the wiki.

Neil

[yantis]

I had fantastic luck with these hubs:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Port-Speed-Power-Adapter/dp/B003Z4G3I6

This last test is for 22 hours running 45 units. It seems to handle it decently well. (never mind the 1970 clock date. It keeps resetting itself to 1970 on reboot).

Screenshot here:

[yantis]

I forgot to mention. Those hubs above can only power 5 block erupters. I burned out two trying 6 and 7.

[tingwahk]

If the Erupters are drawing 510ma
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=212085.0

And the Raspberry Pi draws 515ma under load as stated here:
http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=6050&start=50

Than this is a rough calculation of how many amps you would pull in just powering Erupters:
Qty   Total Amps
1   0.51
2   1.02
3   1.53
4   2.04
5   2.55
6   3.06
7   3.57
8   4.08
9   4.59
10   5.1
   
And this is a this is a rough calculation of how many amps you would pull in powering Erupters and powering a Rpi off the usb hub also:
   
1   1.025
2   1.535
3   2.045
4   2.555
5   3.065
6   3.575
7   4.085
8   4.595
9   5.105
10   5.615