Noob having a heck of a time with Modminer Quad

[JonSnow]

I am a noob to mining.

Yes, I realize I won't be getting rich at all with this method, but it just sounds like a fun hobby, so getting rich isn't the point anyway.

A friend and I recently each ordered one of the Modminer Quad units from BTCFPGA.  I received mine this week with one broken card (for which Tom is sending out a replacement this week).  I've managed to get the hardware set up correctly so that the remaining three cards are able to be powered up.  I've also installed Ubuntu - my first foray into Ubuntu/Linux - and BFGMiner.

That's about as far as I've gotten.

When I attempt to run BFGMiner, it gives me an error about OpenCL and not having any gpus present.  I'm not trying to mine with gpus though, so I'm totally stuck at this point and clueless as to how to proceed.

The three units run with the fans just fine, though one of the units is missing some pieces:



On that card, the red LED also does not light up.

Does that mean this card is also damaged?

In the brief documentation, it says that the MMQ should be automatically detected by BFGMiner.  Mine are not.

I know that part of the problem is that I'm not sure how to proceed.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, and please understand that I already know I'm a noob!

Also, please don't post just to tell me that I won't make money, or that when (if?) ASICs come out this will all be pointless.  I've already heard it.

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[JonSnow]

Any input?  I went ahead and started from scratch and was able to get everything compiled and working with BFGMiner 3.0.0 and Ubuntu.  It won't recognize my modminer quad FPGAs though. 

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get my computer and BFGMiner to recognize that there are two FPGA cards attached via USB? 

[nomabitva]

I think I am going to join the FPGA hobby club and get a modminer too, JonSnow.  Any updates on solving your issues?

Also, have you thought about running yours off of a raspberry pi?  Seems like it would be trickier to set up but simpler, less power, more portable, and more stable.
 

[JonSnow]

I think I am going to join the FPGA hobby club and get a modminer too, JonSnow.  Any updates on solving your issues?

Also, have you thought about running yours off of a raspberry pi?  Seems like it would be trickier to set up but simpler, less power, more portable, and more stable.
 

Well, Tom has sent out 2 replacement fpga cards, but I'm still having trouble getting the computer to recognize and mine from them.    Another member on the forums - battmann - is running his off of a Raspberry Pi, like you mention, but hasn't been able to get it to work on his system yet either. 

[Signus]

Did you compile BFGminer specifically to support the MMQ? In programs like cgminer, you just just use cgminer-fpgaonly. However in BFGminer you actually have to specifically compile BFGminer for it.

First, check that you have all of the following dependencies, and install them if you don't. And check that your user is able to run USB devices (only a problem if you're on a networked computer on a campus or whatnot).

Code:

apt-get install build-essential libncurses libcurl4-gnutls-dev libncurses5-dev

and

Code:

apt-get install automake autoconf libtool

Then you're going to download the tarball, extract it, and then cd to that directory.

Then to compile it you need to use the "--enable-modminer" switch that was built into the program.

Code:

./configure --enable-modminer
make
make install

And all of that lovely junk. Let me know if you aren't clear on any steps or if you did these exact steps before.

As far as that picture goes, can you get a better focus on each of those capacitors? It just looks like the SMT capacitors were ripped off.

[JonSnow]

I will try that again, Signus, though I feel like I've tried everything about twenty times at this point!  Here are the latest things I've tried:

Here are the instructions Tom gave, which I've followed:

Code:

only install the non optional dependancies

then do this

sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo passwd root

change the root passwd

su root

then do  apt-get install git
git the latest bfgminer

git clone https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer.git

then cd bfgminer
./autogen.sh
sudo make install

and then when you run bfgminer
run it as root

and it should detect the mmq

I've done all of that exactly, but I get stuck at the "sudo make install" line toward the end.  I'm running Linux Mint now (Tom said I needed to do a fresh install - I did that) and it doesn't seem to recognize the "sudo make install" command.  Furthermore, ./bfgminer doesn't do anything.  There are no usb devices recognized when I try ls /dev/ttyUSB* but ls /dev/ttyACM0 works.

I have no clue what to try at this point and am still waiting to hear back from Tom.

This is so frustrating.  Also still haven't received the second replacement fpga.

[Signus]

Personally try my method. The autogen.sh may not compile correctly. If you run ./configure --enable-modminer you can see if any errors are thrown.

And what do you mean it doesn't recognize sudo make install? Can you give us the exact output you're getting?

Be sure to "ls -l" the directory so we can see all of what is in the bfgminer folder you downloaded, and then make sure you are in the sudoers group, otherwise you have to be root.

[JonSnow]

Then to compile it you need to use the "--enable-modminer" switch that was built into the program.

Code:

./configure --enable-modminer
make
make install

And all of that lovely junk. Let me know if you aren't clear on any steps or if you did these exact steps before.

As far as that picture goes, can you get a better focus on each of those capacitors? It just looks like the SMT capacitors were ripped off.

Thank you!  I've done this and when I try to start it using the ./bfgminer command, I get the error "Failed to load OpenCL library, no GPUs usable [...] All devices disabled, cannot mine!"

Which is pretty much what every attempt at this has led to.

[Signus]

Try using --disable-gpu or -G to turn of it checking for GPU's. There is also a --scan-serial <arg> command, which searches for FPGA devices, where arg is the device to scan for. In Ubuntu you'd just go try /dev/usb or whatnot. Not sure what you'd input if you were using Windows, but luckily enough you're not using Windows.

[JonSnow]

Try using --disable-gpu or -G to turn of it checking for GPU's. There is also a --scan-serial <arg> command, which searches for FPGA devices, where arg is the device to scan for. In Ubuntu you'd just go try /dev/usb or whatnot. Not sure what you'd input if you were using Windows, but luckily enough you're not using Windows.

another awesome member here SSH'ed in to my machine and was not able to get things working either.  he did have slightly more success with cgminer.  the computer recognizes that there is a btcfpga plugged in to the usb, but doesn't "see" any of the actual mining devices plugged into the plate.

he did save a debug file with the errors - i can paste it here.

[Signus]

Try using --disable-gpu or -G to turn of it checking for GPU's. There is also a --scan-serial <arg> command, which searches for FPGA devices, where arg is the device to scan for. In Ubuntu you'd just go try /dev/usb or whatnot. Not sure what you'd input if you were using Windows, but luckily enough you're not using Windows.

another awesome member here SSH'ed in to my machine and was not able to get things working either.  he did have slightly more success with cgminer.  the computer recognizes that there is a btcfpga plugged in to the usb, but doesn't "see" any of the actual mining devices plugged into the plate.

he did save a debug file with the errors - i can paste it here.

Yes, please do that. So is it working now in cgminer?

And if you need a second look let me know and I can SSH in as well and check it out. Just PM me.

[JonSnow]

Yes, please do that. So is it working now in cgminer?

And if you need a second look let me know and I can SSH in as well and check it out. Just PM me.

Nope, it didn't work in cgminer either.  Here is the error we were receiving:

Code:

[ 3975.532122] usb 5-2: >new full-speed USB device number 8 using uhci_hcd
[ 3975.699200] usb 5-2: >New USB device found, idVendor=1fc9, idProduct=0003
[ 3975.699209] usb 5-2: >New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 3975.699216] usb 5-2: >Product: ModMiner LJRalpha
[ 3975.699222] usb 5-2: >Manufacturer: BTCFPGA
[ 3975.699229] usb 5-2: >SerialNumber: 09091A17535804B84FA22B29F5000007
[ 3975.701358] cdc_acm 5-2:1.0: >ttyACM0: USB ACM device

./cgminer --usb MMQ:5 -o pool.50btc.com:8332 -u 1CryptoCo47ZHjDzphSw6rVtesYjSB5hAA -p 1

 cgminer version 2.11.4 - Started: [2013-04-19 19:11:55]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  U:0.0/m  WU:0.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 4  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to pool.50btc.com diff 1 with LP as user 1CryptoCo47ZHjDzphSw6rVtesYjSB5hAA
 Block: 01b820163503b8d7...  Diff:8.97M  Started: [19:11:54]  Best share: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [2013-04-19 19:11:53] Started cgminer 2.11.4
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] No devices detected!
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Waiting for USB hotplug devices or press q to quit
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Probing for an alive pool
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Long-polling activated for http://pool.50btc.com:8331/LP
 [2013-04-19 19:12:00] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:05] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:10] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:15] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:21] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:26] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:31] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:36] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:42] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:47] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:52] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:57] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:02] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:08] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:13] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:18] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:23] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:29] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:34] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:39] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:44] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:49] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:55] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:00] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:05] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:10] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:16] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)

Signus, I will probably take you up on that offer!  I'm going to reinstall the OS - probably a Debian variety this time, and then I'll PM you soon!  Thank you!

[Signus]

Yes, please do that. So is it working now in cgminer?

And if you need a second look let me know and I can SSH in as well and check it out. Just PM me.

Nope, it didn't work in cgminer either.  Here is the error we were receiving:

Code:

[ 3975.532122] usb 5-2: >new full-speed USB device number 8 using uhci_hcd
[ 3975.699200] usb 5-2: >New USB device found, idVendor=1fc9, idProduct=0003
[ 3975.699209] usb 5-2: >New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 3975.699216] usb 5-2: >Product: ModMiner LJRalpha
[ 3975.699222] usb 5-2: >Manufacturer: BTCFPGA
[ 3975.699229] usb 5-2: >SerialNumber: 09091A17535804B84FA22B29F5000007
[ 3975.701358] cdc_acm 5-2:1.0: >ttyACM0: USB ACM device

./cgminer --usb MMQ:5 -o pool.50btc.com:8332 -u 1CryptoCo47ZHjDzphSw6rVtesYjSB5hAA -p 1

 cgminer version 2.11.4 - Started: [2013-04-19 19:11:55]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  U:0.0/m  WU:0.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 4  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to pool.50btc.com diff 1 with LP as user 1CryptoCo47ZHjDzphSw6rVtesYjSB5hAA
 Block: 01b820163503b8d7...  Diff:8.97M  Started: [19:11:54]  Best share: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [2013-04-19 19:11:53] Started cgminer 2.11.4
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] No devices detected!
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Waiting for USB hotplug devices or press q to quit
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Probing for an alive pool
 [2013-04-19 19:11:54] Long-polling activated for http://pool.50btc.com:8331/LP
 [2013-04-19 19:12:00] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:05] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:10] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:15] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:21] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:26] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:31] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:36] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:42] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:47] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:52] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:12:57] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:02] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:08] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:13] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:18] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:23] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:29] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:34] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:39] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:44] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:49] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:13:55] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:00] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:05] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:10] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)
 [2013-04-19 19:14:16] ModMiner detect (5:8) no version reply (-7)

Signus, I will probably take you up on that offer!  I'm going to reinstall the OS - probably a Debian variety this time, and then I'll PM you soon!  Thank you!

I'll look into what's generating that error. Gotta love open source.

I'd suggest going back to Ubuntu for simplicity. But Debian based is the easiest for most people. It just makes sense. Let me know when you need help!

[JonSnow]

I've reinstalled everything from scratch, the LED blinks consistently, but I'm still getting the following error from --scan-serial:

Code:

ModMiner detect: zero FPGAs reported on /dev/ttyACM0
ModMiner detect: zero FPGAs reported on /dev/serial/by-id/usb-BTCFPGA_ModMiner_LJRalpha_09091A17535804B84FA22B29F5000007-if00

[JonSnow]

Well, it has been over a week since Tom said he sent my 2nd replacement card and I still haven't received it or had any luck getting the miner to actually mine.  Tom also hasn't responded since Wednesday.    This is getting frustrating.

At this point, I would be willing to pay someone a bounty for getting the miner to work.

[nomabitva]

Received two modminer quads yesterday from Tom (?).  They are working.  Took a little while to find the right drivers for them (lots of broken links).  Eventually found them at https://www.modminerquad.com/index.php?title=64x_Windows_Drivers.

Bummer your board was broken.  Try calling Tom on the phone?

[JonSnow]

Tom has said he sent out the replacement two weekends ago, and calling him won't do anything in my case because I'm waiting for him to SSH in to see if he can get them working.

I'm using Linux though, so I don't require windows drivers.

Tom emailed last night to say he was ready to SSH in, I responded about 10 minutes later and then never heard back from him and he never did SSH in. 

[Signus]

Tom has said he sent out the replacement two weekends ago, and calling him won't do anything in my case because I'm waiting for him to SSH in to see if he can get them working.

I'm using Linux though, so I don't require windows drivers.

Tom emailed last night to say he was ready to SSH in, I responded about 10 minutes later and then never heard back from him and he never did SSH in. 

Well I am still available to help you if you need. PM me if you'd like.

[nomabitva]

I am now getting the same error message with cgminer.  I have two modminer quads.  Maybe I should try resetting the bitstream on the fpgas?

Code:

[2013-04-23 22:49:48] ModMiner detect (6:1) no FPGA count reply (0:-7)
[2013-04-23 22:49:49] ModMiner detect (6:2) no version reply (-7)
[2013-04-23 22:49:54] ModMiner detect (6:1) no version reply (-7)
[2013-04-23 22:49:55] ModMiner detect (6:2) no FPGA count reply (0:-7)
[2013-04-23 22:50:00] ModMiner detect (6:1) no version reply (-7)
[2013-04-23 22:50:01] ModMiner detect (6:2) no version reply (-7)
[2013-04-23 22:50:06] ModMiner detect (6:1) no version reply (-7)
[2013-04-23 22:50:06] ModMiner detect (6:2) no version reply (-7)

[JonSnow]

Tom has said he sent out the replacement two weekends ago, and calling him won't do anything in my case because I'm waiting for him to SSH in to see if he can get them working.

I'm using Linux though, so I don't require windows drivers.

Tom emailed last night to say he was ready to SSH in, I responded about 10 minutes later and then never heard back from him and he never did SSH in. 

Well I am still available to help you if you need. PM me if you'd like.

PMing now.