[Work in progess] Burnins Avalon Chip to mining board service

[kano]

To clear up the cgminer matters:
1. i dont know what disputes you guys have over the cairnsmore support but please keep your hate out of this thread - thank you

Sorry about that - yep I seem to ignite pretty easily when people tell me off about not doing stuff for free for them

2.
Initially I decided to emulate the Avalon protocol so there would be no forks or changes needed to be maintained.
And it works perfect with a 100% unmodified cgminer version. (without the voltage adjustment)

This was the point why I made the request, it's no longer a standard Avalon

3.
Then, i decided to add the voltage adjustment feature which the original avalon protocol doesn't support.
Therefore changes will have to be made to get that into cgminer.
Currently I use a second application to do the Voltage adjustments.
I have yet to decide how to continue from here.

Nevertheless think it would be a good idea to provide kano with at least two boards so he can do debugging in the case problems arise.
Development/debugging without the actual hardware sucks.

Thanks indeed - having the hardware does indeed mean we can do proper support and can ensure future support.
My usbutils has had a lot of little (but major) changes lately - I test changes across everything I have.

In the long run I aim for a custom protocol that is more adapted to the BitBurner architecture, and allow individual per-board tweaking.

Yes the Avalon design is definitely not optimal ...

Not to bring up the CM1 argument again, but the CM1 is a good example here where someone wrote a different firmware with extra features and thus there is indeed at least two different versions of it ... the second one clearly better.
However, the first step is indeed to get something working and delivered, then later to improve it.

A few comments about the boards you send to others:
1) Please, please, please, put something in the USB iProduct and iManufacturer - the Avalons have that blank and it causes trouble due to the current Avalon code looking at any and all devices with the FTDI 0x6001 chip.
2) Would be good if they do have a serial number in USB iSerial - I'll be adding code to use that and display that (in the API) soon, and being different on each board is of course the best way to tell them apart (and possibly a blank sticker on the board for people to write their iSerial ?)
3) Maybe a future firmware update would add an identify command to say flash one of the leds ... directly related to 1) so people can tell which is which more easily (the API has this option already for hardware that supports an identify command)

[SebastianJu]

If someone shows up later and can prove his claim, there will be a way to handle this. Either by zefir, SebastianJu, burnin or others.

Even though the problem is cleared now, burnin will provide boards, i wouldnt the suggested. People write me they were in hospital or moved and had no internet, were travelling and so. I dont want to tell them that their chips, they waited months for and hoped for a miner, are gone now. I think that would be the opposite of trust.

[burnin]

However, the first step is indeed to get something working and delivered, then later to improve it.

Indeed, the firmware update function of the boards is working.

A few comments about the boards you send to others:
1) Please, please, please, put something in the USB iProduct and iManufacturer - the Avalons have that blank and it causes trouble due to the current Avalon code looking at any and all devices with the FTDI 0x6001 chip.
2) Would be good if they do have a serial number in USB iSerial - I'll be adding code to use that and display that (in the API) soon, and being different on each board is of course the best way to tell them apart (and possibly a blank sticker on the board for people to write their iSerial ?)
3) Maybe a future firmware update would add an identify command to say flash one of the leds ... directly related to 1) so people can tell which is which more easily (the API has this option already for hardware that supports an identify command)

1. I will see what i can do, we have full control over the usb endpoint in that micro, the FTDI chip is emulated
2. Each one will definitely get a unique serial-number programmed into them (Also used for CAN)
3. There is a command for that in the CAN protocol and thus it could be supported

[madmax_ger]

Nevertheless think it would be a good idea to provide kano with at least two boards so he can do debugging in the case problems arise.
Development/debugging without the actual hardware sucks.

I would like to donate one of my boards to Kano, so he can do his magic.
Burnin, is it possible to send one of my boards to Kano ?
If yes, can you contact Kano to ask for his address so you can make it happen ?
I will pay the shipment too.

If others would like to step in, just donate some mBTC to 1LYzxJU5xK675qQj4EMbTTSuJUJGkPwonY

no need for that, i will use chips from the "broken-chip and warranty reserves" and send Kano&ckovilas boards from the first batch.
(they'll need more then one so they can do CAN-bus testing too)

Again: Mining works, overclocking works, the only thing not in cgminer (yet) is the voltage adjustment.

  thanks

[BenTuras]

I would like to donate one of my boards to Kano, so he can do his magic.
...

no need for that, i will use chips from the "broken-chip and warranty reserves" and send Kano&ckovilas boards from the first batch.
(they'll need more then one so they can do CAN-bus testing too)

Excellent!

[QuiveringGibbage]

Excellent outcome for all interested parties. Well done guys!! 

QG

 

[ecliptic]

edit : not for this topic, sorry

[CumpsD]

Out if this thread please

[driksson]

Unclaimed doesn't mean unowned. You are basically suggesting that Burnin/Zefir steal chips and give them to someone else.

I don't want to steal anything from anyone, but if these guys changed their minds, dropped out of the game and/or bitcoin completely or just are not interested in topic anymore, there is no reason to shut the chips (which will be useless in some months anyways) away for the next couple of years, because they maybe could come back one day and state their claim. The same about refunds, nobody knows if these adresses are still in use.

If someone shows up later and can prove his claim, there will be a way to handle this. Either by zefir, SebastianJu, burnin or others.

If they remain unclaimed and gather dust in a corner, so be it. They aren't yours, so it isn't for you to decide their fate.

Donate your own miner to him, or gather a group of people to donate a miner to him.

I would donate one device to a developer, who deserve it. Why not. But not for somebody who is replying to you to "fuck off" when you ask for something, like kano.

Of course he will say "fuck off". Is someone say that Kano only want to free hardware and nothing else... I would also say "fuck off" to everyone who uses MY software i developed free of charge.

You cannot deny that:
1) CGMiner is currently one of the best by support, easy of use, supporting very different hardware, have much settings to control hardware
2) Kano is working for free
3) The only "payment" Kano gets - is free hardware and donations from community
4) With hardware in hand supporting it will be
    4.1) Faster
    4.2) Easier
    4.3) Can test different settings
    4.4) It can be tuned to be more stable
    4.5) Kano does not need to "call","send message" of everything else if he want to do some tests with unit.

Also its in developers interest that new hardware is supported by mining software.

I think that its normal policy from software developer and in this situation i would support Kano.

If you want things for your time and code You DONT USE THE FUCKING GNU PUBLIC LICENSE

giving something for free, and asking for something for free are entirely different things. is that difficult to understand?!

[baloo_kiev]

If you want things for your time and code You DONT USE THE FUCKING GNU PUBLIC LICENSE

Oh, really? Tell that to Canonical or Red Hat, they are still unaware 

[SebastianJu]

If cgminer already would support bitburner xx fully fine kano's request wouldnt be needed. But it doesn't look like. Burnin is using a workaround for overvolting. So the only way to ensure that cgminer really works fine is that a coder gets a miner. Everything else would be guessing how it works, eat way more time for coding and would have errors at the end. So i dont see another way.

[alexuk]

Hi Burnin

Can you explain how you perform the overvolting currently? Is it something you can port to users in the next few days?

Thanks!

[Bluestreak66]

Now that the boards are for sale is the schematic going to be released? I know it was mentioned previously in the thread but haven't seen them yet. I think having them to look at may answer a lot of questions.

[nemercry]

Now that the boards are for sale is the schematic going to be released? I know it was mentioned previously in the thread but haven't seen them yet. I think having them to look at may answer a lot of questions.

I cant quote burnin directly right now, but his statement towards this question was that he will release them after a reasonable profit was made.
Burnin surely had a lot of work done and needed to invest which should at first returned bevor releasing those data.

[burnin]

Now that the boards are for sale is the schematic going to be released? I know it was mentioned previously in the thread but haven't seen them yet. I think having them to look at may answer a lot of questions.

I cant quote burnin directly right now, but his statement towards this question was that he will release them after a reasonable profit was made.
Burnin surely had a lot of work done and needed to invest which should at first returned bevor releasing those data.

I will send out BOM, Stencil-Gerber, drawings and Pick and Place data out to those who have ordered blank PCBs next week, under NDA.
That NDA basically reads: do not redistribute until i open source the project on delivery of the first BitBurners. (5th to 6th of august.)
Unfortunately only a few will get PCBs from the very first batch since i received more chips from Zefir then anticipated.
More PCBs are on their way but will take at least one week longer then the first. (12th to 16th)

[Bluestreak66]

Now that the boards are for sale is the schematic going to be released? I know it was mentioned previously in the thread but haven't seen them yet. I think having them to look at may answer a lot of questions.

I cant quote burnin directly right now, but his statement towards this question was that he will release them after a reasonable profit was made.
Burnin surely had a lot of work done and needed to invest which should at first returned bevor releasing those data.

I will send out BOM, Stencil-Gerber, drawings and Pick and Place data out to those who have ordered blank PCBs next week, under NDA.
That NDA basically reads: do not redistribute until i open source the project on delivery of the first BitBurners. (5th to 6th of august.)
Unfortunately only a few will get PCBs from the very first batch since i received more chips from Zefir then anticipated.
More PCBs are on their way but will take at least one week longer then the first. (12th to 16th)

No problem, that is totally understandable. I don't plan on copying or selling your boards but I know there are others that would, I just wanted to look at the schematic and could'nt care less about the gerbers. I appreciate all the work you've put into this and commend you for making it all open source in order to benefit the community. Thanks!

[northcape]

in preparation for the arrival of my bitburners, what would be the best OS for running a few of them using a RaspberryPi?

[SebastianJu]

in preparation for the arrival of my bitburners, what would be the best OS for running a few of them using a RaspberryPi?

http://www.kano-kun.net/?p=87

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137934.0

[madmax_ger]

in preparation for the arrival of my bitburners, what would be the best OS for running a few of them using a RaspberryPi?

http://www.kano-kun.net/?p=87

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137934.0

I currently work with MinePeon, second link, and (sorry) can't recommend it for 24/7 unmonitored usage.
It might be fixed yet, but my config seems to be killed sometimes, the only way to fix the latest crash was
to stop the cgminer service and run it by hand with the config file on chmod 555. this prevents nightly restarts.

after the latest crash, even rewriting the config, cgminer refused to start all the way.
now it's running 24/7 without restart.

MinePeon was the easiest way for me to get used to RaspPi and mining with it, but I will reconfig to pure Raspbian soon I guess.
It's a very nice piece of software but I don't trust it anymore after these downtimes.

[SebastianJu]

Didnt know there are such problems... regarding raspbian... someone wrote that it can make problems too and suggested arch linux with the first link i posted.