Raspberry Pi 3 Mining

[Biodom]

TBH, I'm probably earning more bitcoin by lending on Poloniex.

stick mining is just for fun.

Re lending on Polo, i am not sure how can anyone make any money there as current rate is 0.01%, so you earn $4 in two days on $38000 bitcoin at risk, which is almost nothing.

[nelsonmurciia]

Hi folks,

I've been wanting to get my feet wet in SHA-256 mining as a hobby, so I went with the Raspberry Pi 3 with USB ASIC miners.  I originally started within a $300 budget, but was able to spend only half that.

ASIC miner:
2x 2Pac Miners $60.00 + $10.00 shipping
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1718358.0

Raspberry Pi 3:
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition - $74.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6Q2GSY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A30ZYR2W3VAJ0A
**Includes 32GB, Class 10 Micro SD Card with NOOBS and CanaKit 2.5A USB Power Supply with Micro USB Cable

HDMI Cable:
Premium HDMI-HDMI Cable,1 meter 3 feet - $2.24 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000M87F0I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1DUHA28EIRWGN

USB Fan:
ARCTIC Breeze Mobile, USB-Powered 92mm Portable Fan, Portable Cooling Solution, Quiet Fan, Mini USB Fan, Mini Gooseneck Fan for laptop and PC - $7.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN24GY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

USB Hub:
Superbpag 7 Port Portable Multi USB Charger 70Watt 14A with USB 3.0 Hub - $35.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013OK10YM/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AX8GYIG6RXC4

MicroUSB to USB 2.0
AmazonBasics Micro-USB to USB 2.0 Cable - 3 Feet (3 Pack) - $6.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013PVKQHC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo, Logitech Wireless Mouse USB (Black) - $24.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-MK270-Wireless-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/B00BP5KOPA

All in, this setup should have cost ~$220, but $70 was taken off due to signing up for and using Amazon's credit card, so it ending up being ~$150.

After getting a crash course in Debian/Raspian, everything is up and running!  In hindsight, I didn't end up needing the microUSB cables because some came in with the Raspberry Pi kit, and the powered USB hub connects by USB 3.0.  Oops.  The RPi3 kit is pretty neat since it comes with some accessories and the NOOB, but I find that the case included to be a bit too wide to plug in the power cable without taking the RPi3 out of the case.

The "2pac" ASIC miners, at 125Hz, are cranking out about 13-15GH/s each but I hope to upgrade in the months to come.

Hi friend, your list helped me a lot, I would like to know if you managed to buy things and make your miner, how was it ?, I want to do the same and I already have the Bpi3 to start.

Thank you so much.

[NiHaoMike]

I have a Pi 3 hosting an Avalon 4 and it works nicely. (At least after I got a SD card image that actually boots...) But it's misleading at best to say that you're mining with the Pi. That would be akin to saying that you can "run" at 200MPH when you're in a race car.

As for mining with a Pi 3 by itself, Bitcoin is clearly out of the question. I did try using a Pi 3 to mine earnhoney and it actually got a decent amount of revenue, but it proved too unstable to be worth running.

[nelsonmurciia]

Thank you for responding, 1. When you mine with the Avalon, how much H/s?
2. When you talk about mining by itself with the rpi3 you do with the bitcoin or with another currency?
Thanks.

[NiHaoMike]

Thank you for responding, 1. When you mine with the Avalon, how much H/s?
2. When you talk about mining by itself with the rpi3 you do with the bitcoin or with another currency?
Thanks.

Avalon 4 does a little more than 1TH/s. It can be pushed up to 1.3TH/s, but then it wouldn't be particularly quiet.

Since Bitcoin can only be mined with ASICs as of the last few years, only altcoins can be mined with a Pi. I haven't found any altcoin that is worth mining with a Pi. Earnhoney comes close but the (lack of) stability of the mining software prevents it from being worth running.

[NiHaoMike]

What altcoins can be mine with a Pi and what hardware and software should be used?

The only altcoin I have ever mined using a Pi by itself is earnhoney, but it was too unstable to be worth it. The difficulty has gone up dramatically so now it's even less worth it. Pi, by itself, just isn't for mining.