Avalon ASIC users thread

[phoenikx]

21C atm, unit is sitting on a table humidity is very low

...

I dont think the chip damage is whats causing the instability in my system. Talked with another person who has the same cycling issue with no chip damage. The following crontab script on the miner is a stop gap measure to keep it mining and correct the issue. By cycling the disconnect/connect of the USB controller to the tp-link i can reset my hashes to max.

*/10 * * * * echo "1-1.1" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/unbind ; sleep 2 ; echo "1-1.1" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb/bind ; /usr/bin/cgminer-monitor

The chip on the left also does not seem to be in such a good condition.

[1714036727]

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[1714036727]

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[senseless]

Think I found the problem and the reason my chip fried. Good news is it wasn't damaged (still works fine).


The TP-Link is powered via USB. I reduced the power usage of the tp-link by turning off the wireless modem. The unit has been running for 2 hours now without so much as a fan hiccup. No more -71 or -32 errors in the logs.

I would recommend everyone do the same on the v1.5 controller, disable and delete the wlan interface.

[drakness]

Senseless:  Sorry for your troubles and these neophyte questions, trying to understand... you are recommending using the ethernet port, but not the wifi?

You suggest that perhaps the TPLink adapter drawing enough power to run both ethernet and wifi, concurrently, might have damaged the chip?

To use ethernet port, is there anything involved besides setting a static IP, other than 192.168.0.100; so you know how to access the web interface?

[senseless]

Woot, My cgminer has now been running for 6h 41m 50s without even so much as a cgminer restart.

Senseless:  Sorry for your troubles and these neophyte questions, trying to understand... you are recommending using the ethernet port, but not the wifi?

You suggest that perhaps the TPLink adapter drawing enough power to run both ethernet and wifi, concurrently, might have damaged the chip?

To use ethernet port, is there anything involved besides setting a static IP, other than 192.168.0.100; so you know how to access the web interface?

Correct, just disable the Wifi but leave ethernet in-tact. Wifi is really the only thing you can disable to reduce power.

Yes, that is my current thought that the damage from my chip resulted from the tp-link drawing to much power.

There is nothing else to it other than what you describe.

[WinTame2012]

Woot, My cgminer has now been running for 6h 41m 50s without even so much as a cgminer restart.

Senseless:  Sorry for your troubles and these neophyte questions, trying to understand... you are recommending using the ethernet port, but not the wifi?

You suggest that perhaps the TPLink adapter drawing enough power to run both ethernet and wifi, concurrently, might have damaged the chip?

To use ethernet port, is there anything involved besides setting a static IP, other than 192.168.0.100; so you know how to access the web interface?

Correct, just disable the Wifi but leave ethernet in-tact. Wifi is really the only thing you can disable to reduce power.

Yes, that is my current thought that the damage from my chip resulted from the tp-link drawing to much power.

There is nothing else to it other than what you describe.

I think one can just power TP-LINK from PSU via micro-USB connector on it leaving Wi-Fi operating. For many users Wi-Fi is a critical option while running the miner.

[xiangfu]

Hi

This is the last serial firmware released (Version: 20130519)
  Please read the ChangeLog before reflash, here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#20130519
  How to reflash: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#How_to_reflash

If you have any problem on Avalon, please read this page first: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon.

There are 2 sections you may want to read:
  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#About_.5Busb_1-1:_clear_tt_1_.288030.29_error_-71.5D
  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#V1.5

Please donate some BTC to the developers, those people make your Avalon as 7x24 golden miner.
  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#Donation

Best Regards
Xiangfu

[WinTame2012]

  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#V1.5

Thanks for the update! One question regarding this line in Wiki

Remove the F1(Fuse) for fix the USB-HUB chip overheat, if you are batch2 user and your received Avalon between Apr 26 2013 ~ May 31 2013, your FPGA contoller board still have F1 mounted. you need do this by yourself.

How to do this at home properly?

[senseless]

 https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#V1.5

Thanks for the update! One question regarding this line in Wiki

Remove the F1(Fuse) for fix the USB-HUB chip overheat, if you are batch2 user and your received Avalon between Apr 26 2013 ~ May 31 2013, your FPGA contoller board still have F1 mounted. you need do this by yourself.

How to do this at home properly?

You cant/shouldnt just rip it off. You'll need to have a soldering iron to do it properly. Heat up the solder and then pull it off once it's free.

Note: I don't know of anyone who has done the F1 fuse removal as of yet. Xiangfu said all new controllers shipped will have this done. I'm scared to do it heh.

[mrb]

The description that the TP-LINK is "drawing too much power" is actually incorrect.

The USB hub chip does not overheat because the TP-LINK draws too much power. The TP-LINK is powered via a 5V line that does not even come from the USB hub chip.

Instead, the hub chip overheats because of a flaw in the control unit v1.5 design which I found while poring over the schematics: they accidentally feed 5V to one of the pins of the chip instead of 3.3V. This overvoltage is what causes the chip to overheat. I pinged Yifu who confirmed it, and I filed a bug quoting his response: https://github.com/BitSyncom/avalon-ref/issues/5

Removing the fuse F1 merely cuts voltage to this pin. It leaves the USB type B port (which powers the TP-LINK) completely unaffected.

[senseless]

The description that the TP-LINK is "drawing too much power" is actually incorrect.

The USB hub chip does not overheat because the TP-LINK draws too much power. The TP-LINK is powered via a 5V line that does not even come from the USB hub chip.

It was just a guess on my part I have no meter or the necessary tools on hand to find out for sure. I couldn't think of any other explanation on why my unit became stable after disabling the wifi. The only thing disabling the wifi is going to do is reduce EMF and power draw. I currently have the F1 in place and my unit has been mining solid for the last 12 hours without a reboot or issue after disabling the Wifi.

[drakness]

Looking closely at that fuse (F1), you can see the fuse (the squiggly line).  It is encased in what looks like clear blue/green plastic.  Perhaps so you can see it... it is a fuse after all.  I am wondering if an exacto knife type blade could just slice through it, breaking the connection.  Granted, you would have to be careful not to damage anything else... but I trust myself more to do that than to de-solder a component.

[spiccioli]

So to better understand and be sure, the better thing to do is to remove the fuse, I've never used a solder in my life, so this is a BIG problem for me.

Otherwise I can just power off wireless ethernet and this is enough, isn't it?

From mrb description I'd say it is not enough, though.

spiccioli

edit: upon further reading, no, powering off wireless ethernet is not the correct thing to do, the problem is that 5V are fed to a pin which should receive 3V.

[-ck]

The new version of cgminer, with full direct USB support for Avalon is out:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.msg2326320#msg2326320

Xiangfu will likely make new firmware for testing soon.

[mrb]

I am not saying that disabling wifi won't help. There is definitely what seems to be a second problem, that is taken care of by disabling wifi, which is a good thing to do in addition to removing the fuse F1. I have a hunch that it is because there is no decoupling capacitor close to USB-B1 (C44 is too distant), and the power consumption of the TP-LINK with wifi enabled is very variable, causing ripple across the internal 5V rail of the control unit...

[senseless]

I am not saying that disabling wifi won't help. There is definitely what seems to be a second problem, that is taken care of by disabling wifi, which is a good thing to do in addition to removing the fuse F1. I have a hunch that it is because there is no decoupling capacitor close to USB-B1 (C44 is too distant), and the power consumption of the TP-LINK with wifi enabled is very variable, causing ripple across the internal 5V rail of the control unit...

Thank you for the explanation. Another question that I haven't been able to find an answer for. Why does removing the fuse matter if there is nothing plugged into the port? Is it feeding a 3.3v on the usb-hub or the port itself? I would have thought there would be nothing flowing over that path if there is no completed circuit (usb cable plugged in), is that not correct?

(I can't see the PCB designs as I dont have altium viewer installed.. Their site seemed broken on the 3 browsers i tried to register with...)

[spiccioli]

mrb,

thanks for the explanation, do you think that disabling wireless is enough to prevent overheating that chip and if I remove that fuse can I use wireless or is it better to disable wireless in any case?

spiccioli

[loshia]

I am not saying that disabling wifi won't help. There is definitely what seems to be a second problem, that is taken care of by disabling wifi, which is a good thing to do in addition to removing the fuse F1. I have a hunch that it is because there is no decoupling capacitor close to USB-B1 (C44 is too distant), and the power consumption of the TP-LINK with wifi enabled is very variable, causing ripple across the internal 5V rail of the control unit...

Or just to put usb powered hub get 5V for the hub from PSU - molex whatever and plug both TP-link and controller in it:)
and remove Fuse of course
And yes disable wireless (delete wifi modules) not because of power issues (solved with usb hub already) but to free about 10M of RAM  

[johnyj]

I want to change the fan on Avalon to a high CFM model, but I'm not sure the fan plug can provide enough current, the existing fan is drawing 1.3A maximum and I'm getting a 3.0A fan, will it cause overheat or burn some part on the controller unit?

[spiccioli]

Now,

let's see, how difficult can it be to desolder F1 if someone has never used a solder in his whole life? 

If I try such operation, do I really risk to destroy the control board?

Is there something I (we) really need to know before starting to desolder F1?

spiccioli

[goxed]

Now,

let's see, how difficult can it be to desolder F1 if someone has never used a solder in his whole life? 

If I try such operation, do I really risk to destroy the control board?

Is there something I (we) really need to know before starting to desolder F1?

spiccioli

my tips.

a) Use a weller soldering station or equivalent. Set temp to 75% of max range or more.

b) use rosin cored solder on both sides of the fuse and alternate every 0.5 seconds and the component will slip off. Flux / rosin is must or else solder may spill to other components and cause a bridge + frustrations.

c) practice on a dead video card / modem / etc