Moose, if you're still considering using linux, I have some instructions that might help you. I just set up a mining rig last week with 3x 7950s. I'm getting about 620 kH/sec on each card with modest overclocks (no overvolting). I documented my entire installation process and sent these instructions to two friends with zero linux experience, and they were able to get up and running on their own boxes in a matter of hours.
IMO, linux gives you a few advantages: you don't need a HDD (a $5 USB stick works just fine), better remote administration capabilities, better stability (subjective perhaps, but cgminer has been running for just over 1 week now with zero issues for me on linux, and my single stock-clocked 7950 sitting in a windows desktop crashes cgminer about once a day).
Anyway, here are the instructions I sent my friends. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!
1) Configure BIOS settings:
- disable everything we're not using (audio, serial port, firewire, etc)
- change power options to automatically start system whenever power is restored (in case power goes out while you're away, also makes it easier to power on with no switch...)
- make sure that USB flash stick is first in boot order
2) Install Xubuntu desktop x64 from temporarily-connected CD drive (or another USB stick) to your USB stick
- get the installation image here:
http://mirror.anl.gov/pub/ubuntu-iso/CDs-Xubuntu/12.10/release/xubuntu-12.10-desktop-amd64.iso - use 8GB+ USB stick, partition 5500mb for root (/), 315mb for swap, and the remaining amount for home (/home)
- make sure to check auto-login box during install
- boot into desktop when done
3) Install AMD Catalyst drivers:
(open terminal)
sudo apt-get install fglrx-updates fglrx-amdcccle-updates fglrx-updates-dev
sudo aticonfig --lsa
sudo aticonfig --adapter=all --initial
sudo reboot (after reboot, check that everything works:)
sudo aticonfig --adapter=all --odgt (you should see all of your cards with hardware monitoring enabled)
*Important: you will likely need to have something plugged into each video card to prevent the OS from idling it. The easiest way to do this is to make a dummy plug for each card. Instructions:
http://www.overclock.net/t/384733/the-30-second-dummy-plug If you add/remove video cards later, re-run this: sudo aticonfig --adapter=all --initial
4) Install SSH, curl, & update all packages
sudo apt-get install openssh-server byobu (the rest can be done via SSH if you wish - make sure to forward port 22 on your firewall to the box if you want to connect from outside your network)
(As for an SSH client, I recommend Putty - you can copy each of the remaining commands and then right-click them into your putty window instead of typing them manually)
sudo apt-get install curl
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
5) Install CGMiner:
wget http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer/cgminer-2.11.4-x86_64-built.tar.bz2
tar jxvf cgminer-2.11.4-x86_64-built.tar.bz2 (optional - delete the archive)
rm *.bz2 (optional - check if cgminer detects all GPUs properly:)
cd cgminer-2.11.4-x86_64-built
export DISPLAY=:0
export GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS=1
./cgminer -n6) Create cgminer startup script:
nano mine_litecoins.sh (enter the following into the editor:)
#!/bin/sh
export DISPLAY=:0
export GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT=100
export GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS=1
cd /home/[your xubuntu username]/cgminer-2.11.4-x86_64-built
./cgminer --scrypt -I 19 -g 1 -w 256 --thread-concurrency 21712 --auto-fan -o stratum+tcp://notroll.in:3333 -u [your notroll.in workername] -p 12345 --failover-only -o stratum+tcp://coinotron.com:3334 -u [your coinotron workername] -p 12345 (save the file & quit nano)
chmod +x mine_litecoins.sh 7) Create auto-start scripts
nano miner_launcher.sh (enter the following into the editor:)
#!/bin/bash
DEFAULT_DELAY=0
if [ "x$1" = "x" -o "x$1" = "xnone" ]; then
DELAY=$DEFAULT_DELAY
else
DELAY=$1
fi
sleep $DELAY
su [your xubuntu username] -c "screen -dmS cgm /home/[your xubuntu username]/mine_litecoins.sh" (save the file & quit nano)
chmod +x miner_launcher.sh Add this line to /etc/rc.local :
/home/[your xubuntu username]/miner_launcher.sh 30 & (will need to run nano as sudo, put the line above "exit 0")
8. Create an alias to easily check on cgminer:
sudo nano .bashrcscroll to the end of the file and add these lines above the line that reads "# enable programmable completion ..."
alias monitor_cgminer='screen -x cgm'(note that you'll need to restart your SSH connection for this to take effect)
9) Management/info:
- The miner will autostart after 30 seconds after linux is booted every time the box is powered on.
- If you want to monitor output, SSH into the box and type "monitor_cgminer" at any time to jump to cgminer's screen output. When you're done, hit ctrl-A, ctrl-D to leave the screen session (and leave cgminer running on the box).
- use ./miner_launcher.sh to manually start the miner (if you kill it, or quit out of it, etc)
- Info on cgminer's various settings is here (scroll down):
https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer
