GekkoScience 2Pac/Compac BM1384 Stickminer Official Support Thread

[sidehack]

I'd try increasing the voltage a little bit. How to do so is referenced in the first post.

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[Patrick03]

Just picked up a used stick.  Just my luck, there is a hardware problem.  I've read the first several pages, but admittedly have not read them all.  I'm getting a max of .45 v on one of the chips (and at the same voltage pot setting) getting 1.1 v on the other one.  They both decrease/increase in step with the changing the pot, but always have a big delta voltage between them.  I'm handy with a soldering iron.  Any suggestions on what part to replace or other trouble shooting to do?

Thanks,
Patrick

[sidehack]

So it always reads low on the one chip, even after plugging it in with a good high voltage (1.4 or so) across both?

[BTCdiggy]

Hello Guys,
I'm new here. I didn't read all the 78 pages...to much, but get the same problem discussed on page 78 - different core voltage.

I'm using a Raspberry Pi3 with Raspbian Stretch. Installed succesfully cgminer (vthoang) and driver, as described in the Gekko 2Pac manual. I have 2 Gekkoscience 2Pac available.
Regarding the power consumption, I'm using an older frontpanel 10xUSB2.0-hub, which I customized to connect it directly to a external power supply. Data connection is soldered to connect to Raspberry USB. I checked every USB-connector of the Hub via Memorystick to the Raspberry, every connector works (data connection is present).
Additionally, I soldered separate power wires on the USB-Jack of the 2Pac's (on the solder pins on the 2Pac-Board). So I can connect the 2Pacs directly to the power supply - no bad connection resistances over the USB-Hub and so on. The power supply is at the moment a laboratory power supply, which can support 3.3A maximum.

I'm starting cgminer with plugged off 2Pac's. After the start, I plug in one 2Pac (hotplug, but first plug in connection to power supply). 2Pac gets recognized and starts working, for example at 200MHz (LED flashes). When I measure the vcore on the two capacitances, I have 2x0.67V (symmetric, only small diffenerence of 0.02V). Single miner works stable during the night with no hardware errors.

When connect the second 2Pac only on the power supply, I can measure also a vcore of 2x0.67V (symmetric). Then I plug in the USB-connector to the hub (data connection). 2Pac gets recognized, but after some minutes he is named as ZOMBIE. When I measure then the vcore, I measure 0.52V and 0.88V for example, a total asymmetric behaviour. Why? Is there a problem with the voltage regulator or some single items on the board (capacitance, resistor, diode)?
When I plug off this stick from the Hub and from the power supply and connect it only to the power supply (after some minutes), the vcore is still asymmetric. Only after a longer time, vcore is symmetric again.

I marked the 2Pacs with numbers - #1 and #2. I tested it in different sets. When #1 is plugged in and works, #2 gets into Zombie with asymmetric voltage. When #2 is plugged in and works, #1 gets into Zombie with asymmetric voltage. Seems to be no hardware issue on the sticks... some kind of software failure.... I will also test a more powerful power supply - but current limit was not detected yet (2.98A with two sticks at start).
Read a lot of this issue here in the forum and the internet, but there seems to be no solution, yet.

  

[sidehack]

Dang, if only the first post had a Troubleshooting section with a bullet point about Zombies...

It's fine if you didn't read all 78 pages. But nobody should ever post an issue here without having first read Page 1.

[der_wasi]

I have been going over this conversation that was started by thehypnominer.  I have a situation that precisely mirrors this person's issue, but after going through this thread I don't see that his issue was resolved.  I have an ongoing problem that my miners go into a ZOMBIE mode, and sometimes an OFF mode.  But most of the time it is ZOMBIE.

It happens anywhere from 1 hour to 12 hours after I plug them in.  I have tried different computers and different USB hubs.  I have not increased the voltage and don't even know how at this time.  They are running at 100 MHz.  And I have even decreased the freq parameter down to 100 in cgminer.  Whether I plug in both USB miners at the same time, or separately, this happens. 

The only thing that I can think of is that there must be some recommended USB hubs that I should be using.  I have read that some USB hubs don't give the amount of power that they seem to tout on their packaging.  If that is the case, can you please suggest a particular USB hub that I should purchase?  If this is not the solution, could you please let me know what to do?   Like thehypnominer, I had been planning to buy 10 or more of these things, but the first 2 that I purchased seem to give me a never ending road block. 

I'd try increasing the voltage a little bit. How to do so is referenced in the first post.

Wouldn´t decreasing be better? With zombie issues it´s more of a to less power issue, isn´t it?

[sidehack]

Only if your hub sucks.

The zombie issue happens more frequently when your ratio of speed to volts is too high. As VH says in the first post, in the troubleshooting section, about Zombies - either increase voltage or reduce speed.

[Skubasteve]

I’ve always loved this thread and tremendously benefited from it in the past. From install and setup, to troubleshooting and overall support this community has been awesome. Sorry to randomly chime in, but just wanted to say that the information learned here is gold!!

Twitter: @dummiesbitcoin

[BTCdiggy]

Thanks @sidehack for your great learning sesson about reading forum!  
When I read the post of neowhere on this page 78 - the problem seems to be still there! And your answer "try adjusting the voltage a little bit" sounds not like the final solution....So why I should read page 23...37...56...?

I read page one, found issue depening links and get not the right answer... Also I googled my problem and hit some pages, here in the forum, in the middle between page 1 and 78... Problem is only get more questions, but no answers... after 2 replies, the forum changing in a totally different theme. Thats the problem of this one-thread - al lot of themes and issues in one chain.... So I need first of all 2 weeks exploring the forum....

But back to my ZOMBIE issue. I made the following steps and seems to get it solved. I tested it only with my two 2Pac's, named #1 and #2 and get no ZOMBIE stats at the moment.
1. Plugin #1 on power supply, only with the customized soldered power lines.
2. Measuring the ASIC-voltage at the two capacitances and adjusting it to 0.68V and 0.7V (slight diffenrence of 0.01..0.02V still present). --> voltage level recommended for 200..250Hz in the manual.
3. Plug off #1 and plugin #2 on power supply (seems to be importand that every stick is alone on the power supply --> if not, one gets into zombi (asymmetric asic voltage)).
4. Measuring the ASIC-voltage on #2 at the two capacitances and adjusting it to the same level and difference as #1 = 0.68V and 0.7V (slight diffenrence of 0.01..0.02V still present). --> seems, both stick should use the same asic voltage levels, despite there should independent from each other

After this symmetric adjustment of both sticks, I made the following observation:
5. starting cgminer without any plugged 2Pac.
6. When I plugin #1 to the power and then to usb-hub (data connection), this miner starts working (LED flashes).
7. when I add the second stick #2 to the power and to the usb-hub, one of the sticks getting into zombie, most of the time the first plugged stick gets into zombie, second starts mining --> seems to be a voltage volatilitiy during plugin or something....ASIC-voltages of the zombie sticks gets immediatly asymmetric...the first working stick seems to get a problem, when the second is plugged to the power supply.

So I made the connection in the following way:
8. power off power supply and usb-hub (are on the same power connection).
9. connect both sticks to the power connection and to the data connection (usb-hub).
10. power on power supply, so sticks starting at the same moment, also the connection via usb-hub
11. both sticks are getting recognized and starting work with running cgminer.
At the moment this setup runs without any ZOMBIE stats at 200MHz (tested only for the last night and some hours today).

But there is still a problem - the Raspberry gets freezed sometimes (the whole Raspberry, not only cgminer).
I read the link at page 1 about kernel debug mode. But not modified and tested at the moment.

[sidehack]

Ah, so you would fall under the "only if your hub sucks" clause wherein powering on the second stick causes a bit of a voltage sag and something trips.

That's the kind of thing I'd expect someone who knows as much as you seem to to have figured out on his own in about five minutes.

[marousi]

I have a bit of a mystery. I have eight 2pacs, cooled, no HW errors, running for 16 hours, no problems. But when I awake in the morning 6 have gone zombie. Restart, ok for another 16 hours, go to bed, awake in the morning to find zombies. WTF?

[der_wasi]

But there is still a problem - the Raspberry gets freezed sometimes (the whole Raspberry, not only cgminer).
I read the link at page 1 about kernel debug mode. But not modified and tested at the moment.

Do that. It helped me solve the same issue.

I have a bit of a mystery. I have eight 2pacs, cooled, no HW errors, running for 16 hours, no problems. But when I awake in the morning 6 have gone zombie. Restart, ok for another 16 hours, go to bed, awake in the morning to find zombies. WTF?

Do you have the 8 2Pacs on the same power supply? If there are more power supplies involved, are always the same supplies affected of this issue?
What´s your exact setup?

[marousi]

the 8 2pacs are on 4 60w ankers powered usb hubs (not daisy chained)

[der_wasi]

If there are more power supplies involved, are always the same supplies affected of this issue?

[cbjarscoobs]

When testing, I try to shoot for fewer than 2 HW per hour at 100MHz and stock voltage. That's just my own standard for what I'm willing to ship. 4 an hour at 150MHz isn't bad. I forget the formula offhand for figuring percent errors, but as long as your hashrate is about what's expected you probably won't have any trouble.

The green light is tied directly to 5V. Basically just tells you the thing's getting power. The white is linked into the comm lines and flashes every time the chips respond with a nonce. So flashing means it's hashing away. Solid white generally indicates one of your chips is hosed up.

Got  new sticks last week, and I am getting a solid white LED on one of them. When I plug it in the computer recognizes it as a 2pac, but the cgminer doesnt see it. How can I unhose the chips? tried it on usb powered hub, and two different motherboards, all same result.

[zachj00]

When testing, I try to shoot for fewer than 2 HW per hour at 100MHz and stock voltage. That's just my own standard for what I'm willing to ship. 4 an hour at 150MHz isn't bad. I forget the formula offhand for figuring percent errors, but as long as your hashrate is about what's expected you probably won't have any trouble.

The green light is tied directly to 5V. Basically just tells you the thing's getting power. The white is linked into the comm lines and flashes every time the chips respond with a nonce. So flashing means it's hashing away. Solid white generally indicates one of your chips is hosed up.

Got  new sticks last week, and I am getting a solid white LED on one of them. When I plug it in the computer recognizes it as a 2pac, but the cgminer doesnt see it. How can I unhose the chips? tried it on usb powered hub, and two different motherboards, all same result.

I have one that does the same, Just a solid white light. Pretty sure it's a dead stick.  Tried on a Mac and a Pi with the same result.  Dont think there is a fix for the issue.

[sidehack]

The fix is figure out which chip is hosed and replace it. Generally a manufacturer warranty thing. If you bought from a reseller who's not a low-down dirty deceiver he'll probably take care of you.

[tcbm]

Hello Guys,
I'm new here. I didn't read all the 78 pages...to much, but get the same problem discussed on page 78 - different core voltage.

I'm using a Raspberry Pi3 with Raspbian Stretch. Installed succesfully cgminer (vthoang) and driver, as described in the Gekko 2Pac manual. I have 2 Gekkoscience 2Pac available.
Regarding the power consumption, I'm using an older frontpanel 10xUSB2.0-hub, which I customized to connect it directly to a external power supply. Data connection is soldered to connect to Raspberry USB. I checked every USB-connector of the Hub via Memorystick to the Raspberry, every connector works (data connection is present).
Additionally, I soldered separate power wires on the USB-Jack of the 2Pac's (on the solder pins on the 2Pac-Board). So I can connect the 2Pacs directly to the power supply - no bad connection resistances over the USB-Hub and so on. The power supply is at the moment a laboratory power supply, which can support 3.3A maximum.

I'm starting cgminer with plugged off 2Pac's. After the start, I plug in one 2Pac (hotplug, but first plug in connection to power supply). 2Pac gets recognized and starts working, for example at 200MHz (LED flashes). When I measure the vcore on the two capacitances, I have 2x0.67V (symmetric, only small diffenerence of 0.02V). Single miner works stable during the night with no hardware errors.

When connect the second 2Pac only on the power supply, I can measure also a vcore of 2x0.67V (symmetric). Then I plug in the USB-connector to the hub (data connection). 2Pac gets recognized, but after some minutes he is named as ZOMBIE. When I measure then the vcore, I measure 0.52V and 0.88V for example, a total asymmetric behaviour. Why? Is there a problem with the voltage regulator or some single items on the board (capacitance, resistor, diode)?
When I plug off this stick from the Hub and from the power supply and connect it only to the power supply (after some minutes), the vcore is still asymmetric. Only after a longer time, vcore is symmetric again.

I marked the 2Pacs with numbers - #1 and #2. I tested it in different sets. When #1 is plugged in and works, #2 gets into Zombie with asymmetric voltage. When #2 is plugged in and works, #1 gets into Zombie with asymmetric voltage. Seems to be no hardware issue on the sticks... some kind of software failure.... I will also test a more powerful power supply - but current limit was not detected yet (2.98A with two sticks at start).
Read a lot of this issue here in the forum and the internet, but there seems to be no solution, yet.

  

I had this problem (one stick going zombie when I plugged the next in) with the 12 port hub i built and was able to solve it by adding caps just before power gets to the 2 pac to combat the voltage drop from plugging them in. This also reduced my hardware error rate as well.

I now have 12 2pacs running for a week at 350 mhz.

[aldoyh]

Just got the stick, running cgminer v 4.4.3 on a Mac Pro Drum, but it doesn't pass the 1.5 Gh/s, is that normal?

[sidehack]

Yes that's normal because you're using the wrong software. Read the first post. There's no reason to expect a version of cgminer two years older than this stickminer would support this stickminer.