Avalon ASIC users thread

[Despi]

Hello,

I have 8 Avalon Asic miner.
4x Batch 3
4x Batch 2

I have some questions.
Is it possible to move an module from Batch 3 to Batch 2? As I read, only
the case design is different between the batches?

Can I get more performance if I build
3x Batch 3 (4 Modules)
3x Batch 2 (4 Modules)

And which power supply do I need for this configuration?
Is 1000 Watt enough?

[1713843575]

1713843575

[1713843575]

1713843575

[1713843575]

1713843575

[1713843575]

1713843575

[smoothrunnings]

Hello,

I have 8 Avalon Asic miner.
4x Batch 3
4x Batch 2

I have some questions.
Is it possible to move an module from Batch 3 to Batch 2? As I read, only
the case design is different between the batches?

Can I get more performance if I build
3x Batch 3 (4 Modules)
3x Batch 2 (4 Modules)

And which power supply do I need for this configuration?
Is 1000 Watt enough?

Not sure about moving a blade from the different batches.

4 blade system do about 107GH/s, you could go higher there is always a risk to doing that.

[Despi]

so there are no differences between 3 or 4 modules right?

[el_rlee]

so there are no differences between 3 or 4 modules right?

What should make the difference?
The opposite is the case as you need to run all 4 modules at the weakest module's frequency and will make cooling more difficult.

[driksson]

so there are no differences between 3 or 4 modules right?

I've read that the mounting screws on b2 and b3 are placed different, so you cannot easily plug a b3 board in a b2 unit and vice versa.
Also, if you can run them 3 per unit, i think its preferred in terms of overclocking and power supply. You will need 1000W+ for 4 units.
Its a lot of amps running through a small control unit. But i will leave an engineer to answer that fully..

[xiangfu]

Hi

There is a new Avalon firmware released (Version: 20130923), update your Avalon to latest firmware is always better.
  Please read the ChangeLog before reflash, here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#20130923
  The firmware test plan: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#Test_Plan
  You can find the firmware here: http://downloads.qi-hardware.com/people/xiangfu/avalon/latest/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory.bin. don't forget compare the chksum.

The biggest update was the Cgminer. you will have the best mining software in your Avalon after upgrade. hope we have 45% Avalon upgrade in 72 hours.  .  also I have update the Openwrt to latest release. means your Avalon will gain some more open source power(OpenWrt r37008, Linux 3.10.12 ...)


Xiangfu

[jermwerty]

Hi

There is a new Avalon firmware released (Version: 20130923), update your Avalon to latest firmware is always better.

Xiangfu

Thanks Xiangfu!  My question is what are the major differences between ckolivas' 20130821 and this new xiangfu 20130923?  I did run xiangfu's 20130723 for a bit on my Batch 3 just fine, but I've been happy with 20130821 so I am not exactly itching to change...  

Seem like both Xiangfu and cklovias use OpenWRT r37008 but the new one upgrades cgminer 3.4.0 to 3.4.4?

[xiangfu]

The major differences is OpenWrt update to r38031 and update Cgminer to latest(Version: 3.4.3 Latest commit: d5f61e9, Sep 22 2013) you can see that at the ChangeLog
  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#20130923

Thanks Xiangfu!  My question is what are the major differences between ckolivas' 20130821 and this new xiangfu 20130923?  I did run xiangfu's 20130723 for a bit on my Batch 3 just fine, but I've been happy with 20130821 so I am not exactly itching to change...  

Seem like both Xiangfu and cklovias use OpenWRT r37008 but the new one upgrades cgminer 3.4.0 to 3.4.4?

[tarui]

can someone tell me whether the batch one's controller board can handle 4 pwm fans?

the delta afc121de?
my PSU is on the outside so no issue with PSU being suffocated

[jarhed]

Accessing ava via browser now takes longer. What may be the issue?

[SolarSilver]

Accessing ava via browser now takes longer. What may be the issue?

define longer. Does it take a while to start loading?

If you ping the machine, do you see high latency or dropped packets?

You might just suffer from a DNS issue (timeouts before load)

[tarui]

can someone tell me whether the batch one's controller board can handle 4 pwm fans?

the delta afc121de?
my PSU is on the outside so no issue with PSU being suffocated

bump......

[jarhed]

Accessing ava via browser now takes longer. What may be the issue?

define longer. Does it take a while to start loading?

If you ping the machine, do you see high latency or dropped packets?

You might just suffer from a DNS issue (timeouts before load)

.....longer to load any page after login.
Everything seems to work fine now.

I'd recently update firmware to 20130923 and changed default Chip Frequency (on Cgminer Configuration Page) to 300. I lower the Frequency to 285. Unit access via browser interface now load as it should.

A fresh firmware update had the Chip Frequency at somewhere below 300 (don't remember exactly), so because "Default: 300" is stated right there on the Cgminer Configuration page, and the previous firmware was at 300 CF, naturally, anything < 300 was unacceptable.

[allinvain]

Anyone here good at troubleshooting or reviving a possibly dead hashing card? I had the "red light" issue with a batch 3 unit and while I disconnected the power supply to replace it I found out my replacement power supply was missing a second EPS 12v connect (ie CPU connector) so I plugged in a power supply from a batch 2 unit. When I tried to start it up the typical giving up the ghost smoke came out of the the third card - not a lot of smoke but it was noticeable. The unit of course refused to power on. With the third module disconnected the unit powers up just fine. It even power up just fine with it's original PSU.

Could I have killed it trying to swap the power supply or was it most likely already dead (due to the red light warning) before I tried to mess with it?

If anyone had this happen to their batch 3 unit I'm wondering if you can tell me what the exact cause was. Was it blown capacitor(s)? I looked at the exposed side of the board and no obvious burn marks or dead caps are visible. The smoke appeared to have come from the top of the backplane near where the power connector is, but from underneath.

[exahash]

Anyone here good at troubleshooting or reviving a possibly dead hashing card? I had the "red light" issue with a batch 3 unit and while I disconnected the power supply to replace it I found out my replacement power supply was missing a second EPS 12v connect (ie CPU connector) so I plugged in a power supply from a batch 2 unit. When I tried to start it up the typical giving up the ghost smoke came out of the the third card - not a lot of smoke but it was noticeable. The unit of course refused to power on. With the third module disconnected the unit powers up just fine. It even power up just fine with it's original PSU.

Could I have killed it trying to swap the power supply or was it most likely already dead (due to the red light warning) before I tried to mess with it?

If anyone had this happen to their batch 3 unit I'm wondering if you can tell me what the exact cause was. Was it blown capacitor(s)? I looked at the exposed side of the board and no obvious burn marks or dead caps are visible. The smoke appeared to have come from the top of the backplane near where the power connector is, but from underneath.

I doubt you killed it swapping the psu, more likely it was already dead and finally burnt when you turned it back on.  I found my damaged b3 units off with only the red lights on, and when I turned each back on got the smoke and some sparks.  A few pages back I posted pics and people told me what the parts were.  I don't know if mine were burnt at first because I didn't open them up, just toggled the psu power switch.  I was able to find the burnt components and simply segregated the affected workers by bending the pins so they wouldn't plug into the bus (the top board that the cables plug into).

If you can't see anything burnt on the face of the module, try unplugging the module from the bus and looking for signs of damage on the underside of the bus or around the edge of the module where it meets the heatsink.  The smoke had to come from somewhere and usually leaves residue that's fairly easy to spot.  If the bus itself is damaged you'll probably have to get it repaired, not just bend some pins.

[mitak64]

So you had 2 PSUs hooked up at the same time ?
I always wondered if that would work.
Can you post a photo of the damage ?

[nanobit]

So you had 2 PSUs hooked up at the same time ?
I always wondered if that would work.
Can you post a photo of the damage ?

Two PSU's shouldn't be an issue. I think quite a few people who've OC'd their box are using two, me included.

[ste0024]

i m sure to understand but i can read

Not Electrically Conductive:
Arctic Silver 5 was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

good paste or not ?

Correct, as5 is not conductive, the only question I have regarding as5 is that it is capacitive unlike arctic silvers mx2 or mx4.
I don't know if that would be an issue in this application so I chose mx4 over the as5.

thermal paste change and there needed.

the thermal paste used by avalon Were dry. would no longer have anything.

Temp 2 before 69 or 70 °
Temp 2 after 58 to 62 °

Temp 3 before 60 or 62 °
Temp 3 after 50 to 52 °

the ventilos not running any more. 2500 instead of 3000rpm

think has tighten the screws that hold the radiators. on mine there was a lot of screws loosen and poor contact and poor heat disipation.

after having tighten the plate is hot

Conclusion: if you want your living avalon still a lot of time,

change the thermal paste.

for 4 modules I have used 60gr of artic silver 5. there was just enough.

I put 6 hours to do everything. disassembly and reassembly test

Now it runs at 110 instead of 108 gh -  less error HW

that happiness

and all this with Firmware Version => 20130723

next step update Firmware

before



after

[Bogart]

So you had 2 PSUs hooked up at the same time ?
I always wondered if that would work.
Can you post a photo of the damage ?

Two PSU's shouldn't be an issue. I think quite a few people who've OC'd their box are using two, me included.

Two power supplies can be bad mojo if you ever happen to have one powered on and not the other.  Sometimes a power supply in the off state will short +12V to GND.  If this happens while the other is trying to keep things at 12V, bad things will obviously happen.

[shmadz]

The major differences is OpenWrt update to r38031 and update Cgminer to latest(Version: 3.4.3 Latest commit: d5f61e9, Sep 22 2013) you can see that at the ChangeLog
  https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#20130923

Thanks Xiangfu!  My question is what are the major differences between ckolivas' 20130821 and this new xiangfu 20130923?  I did run xiangfu's 20130723 for a bit on my Batch 3 just fine, but I've been happy with 20130821 so I am not exactly itching to change...  

Seem like both Xiangfu and cklovias use OpenWRT r37008 but the new one upgrades cgminer 3.4.0 to 3.4.4?

If anyone has tested this new firmware, please report your findings.

It will have to be quite impressive for me to switch from con's 20130703