GekkoScience is now dabbling with 16nm ASICs for new designs

[sidehack]

Pod ETA is an unknown at this time because the hardware hasn't been prototyped. I have a first draft PCB arriving at the same time as the 2Pac prototype PCBs. I have enough stuff around the shop that vh can probably get a head start on coding but until the actual PCB is in hand there's no guarantees. Hopefully he can build off the 2Pac driver pretty easily.

Regarding 2Pac purchases, go ahead and start sending. Make sure to PM me (or email sales at gekkoscience) with your forum handle, shipping address and the transaction ID. I'll start a list like I did for the original Compacs, and probably set up the same queueing structure for large and small orders.

[1714149872]

1714149872

[ZACHM]

PM sent and Payment sent for 2 sticks. 

Thanks, can't wait to get these.

[leowonderful]

Pod ETA is an unknown at this time because the hardware hasn't been prototyped. I have a first draft PCB arriving at the same time as the 2Pac prototype PCBs. I have enough stuff around the shop that vh can probably get a head start on coding but until the actual PCB is in hand there's no guarantees. Hopefully he can build off the 2Pac driver pretty easily.

Regarding 2Pac purchases, go ahead and start sending. Make sure to PM me (or email sales at gekkoscience) with your forum handle, shipping address and the transaction ID. I'll start a list like I did for the original Compacs, and probably set up the same queueing structure for large and small orders.

Okay, thanks for the info. Any is appreciated at this point, possibly the most exciting project I've seen since the S1/S3 USB connection boards back in '14. If it's anything like the Compacs, these sticks will sell pretty quick.


Also, about shipping- how much'll it be for the lower 48? Guessing it ain't free, just looking for an approximation.

[aarons6]

wait, the 2pac is a 1384? just like the other usb sticks with the s5 chips but with 2 instead of one??

sorry i thought you were making s7 or s9 chip usb sticks.. must have miss read somewhere..



is the pods going to be s5 chips too??

[Unacceptable]

wait, the 2pac is a 1384? just like the other usb sticks with the s5 chips but with 2 instead of one??

sorry i thought you were making s7 or s9 chip usb sticks.. must have miss read somewhere..



is the pods going to be s5 chips too??

The pod is going to be Bitfury chips....if he can get Bitfury to cough any up 

[ZACHM]

No, the first pod won't be the BF chips, it will be the BM1385 chips.

sidehack has mentioned this several times earlier in the thread.

The short-term projects are

2-chip stick using BM1384, wholesale price about $30, estimated 15GH/5WDC
10-chip BM1385 pod, wholesale price about $70, estimated 250GH/60WDC

Longer-term projects are

2-chip stick using BF16, wholesale price around $40, estimated 60GH/5WDC
11-chip BF16 pod, wholesale price around $125, estimated 650GH/75WDC
33-chip BF16 S1/3/5 refit board, wholesale price unknown, estimated 2TH/200W

[hurricandave]

Your pictures from earlier are not loading for my browser. Probably doesn't matter as they were proto-types anyhow. Soo to be clear, how is the 2 chip BM1384 powered? Barrel Jack, USB Jack, PCI-E, 12volt or 5volt? I have several Rockminer PSU Power distribution boards but those were meant for 12volt output mainly, as well as the 2 BlackArrow boards that I have.

[sidehack]

The 2Pac has always been BM1384 chips, since it would be quick and easy to bring to market and raise money for Bitfury development.

The pod I'm currently working on alongside it is using BM1385 chips from the S7. Whether or not it ends up getting mass-produced is a matter for another day. Hopefully once the prototype is assembled it'll be mostly a software thing.

I have a prototype PCB for a 2-chip Bitfury 16nm miner which is going to require a lot of firmware and driver code development to get working. Once it works I have most of what I need to build an 11-chip pod and a 33-chip S1 refit board.

Once I have news about that, I'll make it very obvious.

Most of the discussion from the last dozen-odd pages has been BM1384 2Pac stuff. The 2Pac has only ever been a BM1384 design, and anyone who told you otherwise was mistaken.

I enumerated everything clearly in this post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1651958.msg17065895#msg17065895

[aarons6]

The 2Pac has always been BM1384 chips, since it would be quick and easy to bring to market and raise money for Bitfury development.

The pod I'm currently working on alongside it is using BM1385 chips from the S7. Whether or not it ends up getting mass-produced is a matter for another day. Hopefully once the prototype is assembled it'll be mostly a software thing.

I have a prototype PCB for a 2-chip Bitfury 16nm miner which is going to require a lot of firmware and driver code development to get working. Once it works I have most of what I need to build an 11-chip pod and a 33-chip S1 refit board.

Once I have news about that, I'll make it very obvious.

Most of the discussion from the last dozen-odd pages has been BM1384 2Pac stuff. The 2Pac has only ever been a BM1384 design, and anyone who told you otherwise was mistaken.

I enumerated everything clearly in this post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1651958.msg17065895#msg17065895

ok cool, i guess ill wait for the other pods.. i already have a few of your usb sticks.. thanks

i think i was just mistaken and thought you were talking about making 1385 usb sticks..

[NotFuzzyWarm]

PM sent with order/payment info for 2x of the 2Pac's

[IntroVert]

Congratulations sidehack and big ups to vh!

Payment & PM sent for 2 x 2Pac.

[sidehack]

Yeah for sure. I don't know how much time VH has put into this honestly, but it's been a lot. I've been feeding him raw HEX dumps and kernel logs and he's somehow making enough sense of it to have pretty much completely reverse-engineered how S5s handle chip communications, even some of the hairy particulars. None of the projects discussed in this thread would have gotten very far without his labors.

[takagari]

Yeah for sure. I don't know how much time VH has put into this honestly, but it's been a lot. I've been feeding him raw HEX dumps and kernel logs and he's somehow making enough sense of it to have pretty much completely reverse-engineered how S5s handle chip communications, even some of the hairy particulars. None of the projects discussed in this thread would have gotten very far without his labors.

I understand it's a pain, but maybe updating the original post with data/prices/updates as you go would save a lot of repeat questions? I follow the thread but still miss or forget stuff
Hassle but may save some time. lol

[in2tactics]

Yeah for sure. I don't know how much time VH has put into this honestly, but it's been a lot. I've been feeding him raw HEX dumps and kernel logs and he's somehow making enough sense of it to have pretty much completely reverse-engineered how S5s handle chip communications, even some of the hairy particulars. None of the projects discussed in this thread would have gotten very far without his labors.

I understand it's a pain, but maybe updating the original post with data/prices/updates as you go would save a lot of repeat questions? I follow the thread but still miss or forget stuff
Hassle but may save some time. lol

Concur. Sometimes I miss a few days.  Then, I am left trying to figure out where I left off to see if any important updates happened.

[sidehack]

I'll get to it tomorrow, around when I do the Group Buys thread and whatnot. Probably after sandwiches.

[isoneguy]

if tomorrow is sandwich day...what day is today?

you should start a pizza, sandwich and maybe a cake fund for those of us that want you to get fat...

how many people are there on the gekkoscience team?

[sidehack]

Tuesday is sandwich day, and Friday night is burger night (so the only day I'm guaranteed to take off work by 5PM). Those are the only "days".

Currently, GekkoScience is a one-man operation. Novak got a real job as a rocket scientist so that's keeping him busy. VH is basically contracted, not an official employee. My last cable minion moved to another state so I'm doing all that as well, but I have better tooling now so that saves a buttload of time.

Bulk manufacture of stickminers is a huge timesink though, since there's a lot of testing and assembly and more testing once they come out of the oven. I'll definitely be bringing in some help when it's time to start batching so we can get these guys out quicker.

[ZACHM]

I don't know if you did last time... But can/did you take any pictures of the manufacturing process?
I would love to see it. 

[gt_addict]

I don't know if you did last time... But can/did you take any pictures of the manufacturing process?
I would love to see it. 

Definitely!! I have no idea about how these kinds of things are made but have always wanted to see it. Especially seeing as its something rather bespoke for the Bitcoin community.

[Biodom]

The short-term projects are

2-chip stick using BM1384, wholesale price about $30, estimated 15GH/5WDC
10-chip BM1385 pod, wholesale price about $70, estimated 250GH/60WDC

Longer-term projects are

2-chip stick using BF16, wholesale price around $40, estimated 60GH/5WDC
11-chip BF16 pod, wholesale price around $125, estimated 650GH/75WDC
33-chip BF16 S1/3/5 refit board, wholesale price unknown, estimated 2TH/200W

I have, perhaps, a naive question. It might have been mentioned somewhere already, my apologies.
Say, 10-chip BM1385 pod needing 60W. What would be the proper/best way to power it?
I get the sticks, you connect powerhub's little brick to powerhub via round connector, then power the stick via USB port.
the hub would have the same type of connector (round), PCIe or something else altogether?
EDIT: OK so round powered USB connector=barrel jack, so i assume that as long as it provides 60W, it should be OK to just re-purpose the powered hub power supply.