CGWatcher 1.4.0, the GUI/monitor for CGMiner and BFGMiner to prevent downtime

[B.T.Coin]

First of all, my compliments on this great tool. I really love it.

Is there a possibility to set the location where the logfile is written to?
I would like to write it to my Google Drive so I can always check if there are any errors.

If not, can you implement it in future releases ?

Keep up the good work

[Mastergerund]

My new 7950 started to get sick with summer coming on. I need to rebuild the way my rig disperses heat. In the meantime, I'm glad I remembered seeing this program. It will be very helpful.

[qiuness]

great little tool... just what you need in a modern mining farm...
I'd be willing to donate a few ltc for the CGRemote (to be able to centrally watch over my farm and configure it)

I really hope you get the code out soon

[ypsylon]

Is CGWatcher 32b only? I can't save any configuration profile with 64b version of BFG, but it works with 32b CGMiner. Always get Net Framework "alarms" that 32b process can't write 64b one. Tested on various machines with totally different setups but same Win7 64b OS.

http://s11.postimg.org/ev56r6fs3/CGWatcher_Monitoring_2013_06_10_22_38_09.png

[qiuness]

i've got 64bit and it works fine

[Boxman90]

Will there be linux support in the future?

[milone]

ypsylon: Currently CGWatcher does not work with the 64-bit version of BFGMiner because of that limitation. When it refers to "access the module of a 64 bit process", all CGWatcher is attempting to do is get the filename of the process so it can try to match it up with a profile (in case the miner was started outside of CGWatcher.) This is due to trying to continue allowing CGWatcher to work with miners that were started outside of it, but in the future it may just end up ignoring miners that it did not start. This will resolve the 64-bit issue and save a lot of other headaches... but it will take a bit of work to change. For now, whether or not the benefits of a 64-bit miner outweigh the benefits of CGWatcher is up to the user. You may find that the 32-bit miner performs just as well. Out of curiosity, is there a specific reason for using the 64-bit miner? Have you seen any performance gains or other differences?


qiuness: Yes, CGWatcher will work on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, but ypsylon was referring to using it with 64-bit BFGMiner as opposed to 32-bit BFGMiner or (32-bit) CGMiner.


Boxman90: Hopefully. Someone has offered to port to OSX, so maybe someone will do the same for Linux. Although I haven't released the source yet (there is a reason for this), I do plan on putting it on GitHub as soon as possible.

[ct1aic]

Greetings.

Perhaps a little off-topic, but why can't CGWatcher access cgminer running at another "computer" (same VLan) via API port?

I have a Raspberry Pi running Arch Linux and cgminer 3.2.1, mining with 2 x USB ASIC miners and it would be nice to have your great program monitoring the mining work at my Windows laptop, in another room (ok, without start/restart/stop features)? I hate to have to use putty, to have a console opened to that RPI.

[milone]

This was the plan originally, but I realized that in order for CGWatcher to work best, it needed to monitor the miner process as well as the API responses. That is why there is an option to set the IP address, but over time the miner's process became more and more important, meaning it only works with a miner on the local machine that it can match a *miner.exe process to. I left the IP address option in there because someone was using CGWatcher to monitor a remote miner by tricking it with a dummy cgminer process and I didn't want to take that ability away for no reason, but I can't say that this will still work with recent versions. Anyway, the goal of CGWatcher has become to run on the same computer as the miner because this is necessary to really guarantee it can resolve all problems (for instance, killing and restarting a non-responding miner process... or killing a miner that has lost API access). The purpose of CGWatcher is now to ensure the miner is working well enough that you don't have to monitor your miners.

That said, I want to monitor my miners remotely as much as the next guy. The other program I'm working on is called CGRemote and will do what you're looking for. You can list all of your miners by IP/Port, and it will provide a remote dashboard. If a miner is also running CGWatcher (recommended for Windows miners), you'll have complete control over CGWatcher and therefore cgminer. If CGWatcher is not running on the miner, CGRemote will communicate with cgminer directly so you have some control, but if the API drops, cgminer stops responding, etc. you'll have to resolve the problem yourself because CGWatcher won't be there to fix them. Hopefully these issues are less of a problem with non-Windows miners though.

I have the core of CGRemote working, but I've been finishing up some things with CGWatcher (ASIC/FPGA support) and will likely be working on another project for the next two months so I don't have an ETA for release.

Here is a diagram I just made in case my description didn't make sense:

[af_newbie]

Is CGWatcher 32b only? I can't save any configuration profile with 64b version of BFG, but it works with 32b CGMiner. Always get Net Framework "alarms" that 32b process can't write 64b one. Tested on various machines with totally different setups but same Win7 64b OS.

Maybe you need cgwatchercgwatcher to watch the cgwatcher LOL

[ct1aic]

...

I have the core of CGRemote working, but I've been finishing up some things with CGWatcher (ASIC/FPGA support) and will likely be working on another project for the next two months so I don't have an ETA for release.

Here is a diagram I just made in case my description didn't make sense:

Greetings, milone.

Many thanks for your kind answer. I understand your priorities. If, in any case, you'll need a beta-tester for your CGRemote when returning to that project, count with me.

Regarding CGWatcher, I tested several times cgminer and bfgminer (32 and 64 bits versions), they work fine, but I get more hash rate in 2 Windows 7 64 bits laptops (with AMD HD4650M and HD7650M) and 1 desktop, also with Win7 (with AMD 7870) when using DiabloMiner, that is included with the 50MINER GUI. As CGWatcher can't interface this miner, I can't use it 

Best regards.

[qiuness]

Hi milone,

I can respect you working on another project, but please think about me and the 10-15 drives to a different location i have to make so reset or configure miners. I sure as hell would like to beta test CGRemote.

I know i would eve consider paying a small fee for it, if that would give me an "empire" overview
Please think about this when factoring in all the variables

EDIT:
i also have this issue... any ideas why the apply new FAN setting does not work?

[milone]

Version 1.1.6.0 is available and adds support for 64-bit miners and FPGAs/ASICs. I do not have any FPGA or ASIC devices yet, so the support is based on device test results that users had sent me. Most of these were all one type of device and did not include GPUs, so if you experience issues please run the device test at the bottom of the FPGA or ASIC tab and email me the results.

I rebuilt the OpenCL.NET library so if you are copying files over a previous version, make sure the new OpenCLNET.dll gets copied. CGWatcher will now run as a 32-bit application in 32-bit Windows, and a 64-bit application in 64-bit Windows. I don't have any 32-bit systems to test on, so if you experience problems with 32-bit Windows please let me know.

See the original post or ChangeLog for other changes.


ypsylon: The new version should work with BFGMiner x64.


qiuness: I'm not sure. You can try entering a specific value in the textbox instead of using the slider. The slider calculates a max RPM based on the current RPM and current %, so it fluctuates depending on these two values and may not be accurate. It may be a value higher than the fan allows? I'd try a lower number like 2500, or 2000 and see if those work. The command it sent to the miner to change the fan speed is correct, but the value may need to be lowered.

Maybe you need cgwatchercgwatcher to watch the cgwatcher LOL

af_newbie: Maybe... I bet it would still have more users than akbash. Maybe if you spent more time working on your program and less time posting in this thread, people would actually use it. LOL

[gektek]

Long story short...haven't read any of the thread. Have been mining for a year now and as many miners know...frustrations are abundant and tend to hurt various parts of your body that are haphazardly thrown at inanimate objects to seemingly ease the pain...go figure. Anywho, so I FINALLY stumbled upon your thread and, while I discovered I should have read at least SOME of the thread in order to make the initial setup process go a little smoother...I can officially say that I went out for the night and to no surprise cgminer disconnected and sat there with its thumb up its ass for hours and hou...wait...nope...10 freakin minutes baby!!!!! 10 minutes of nothing accepted and CGWatcher to the flippin rescue man!!!!! If I ever meet you...I will hug you!

So, once I actually make an extra coin or two whilst trying to pay off all this hardware that melts my brain at night from the heat...oi!...I will HAPPILY be making a donation which at the very least will force me to go back and read some of the thread in order to hunt down a donation address

Yup...just wanted to stop in and say...

THANK YOU!!!!!

[ct1aic]

Something really strange (and positive) about CGWatcher/cgminer:

I tried with programs like EVGA and MSI Afterburner, to overclock the GPU Core clock to a value higher than the AMD bios limitation of both my HD4650 (550 MHz) & HD7650M (500 MHZ) laptop graphic cars, with no success.

With CGWatcher I can go to higher values than those "imposed" by AMD. It passes the command 'gpuengine|0-600' to cgminer 3.2.1 and it accepts the command. I'm now using both at 600 MHz, with no temperature problems. The hash rate from the HD4650 went from 28 to 31 MHash/s and the HD7640M went from 64 to 77 MHash/s.

How is this possible?

[PatMan]

This is a great app, well done. Do you have any plans for it to be able to communicate with miners on Linux? All my rigs run on Xubuntu but my main PC runs windoze - it would be great if I could use this app to monitor my linux miners from my windoze PC.

Peace.

[RandyMagnum]

Regarding the 1.1.6 update and temperature control:

If I've setup my cgminer.conf with auto fan, target temp, overheat, and shut off temps, cgwatcher doesn't interfere with these config setting does it?

I haven't toyed with overheat protection through cgwatcher is why I'm curious.

[milone]

gektek: You're welcome, I'm glad you find it helpful.


ct1aic: cgminer deserves the credit for that. It allows you to set clock speeds above what the AMD (or similar) software allows. I don't know how the AMD software determines what the max clock speeds are, but I'd guess that cgminer either doesn't check this or ignores it. The same is probably true of voltages, although if you raise voltages past what AMD recommends you risk damaging components.


PatMan: CGWatcher is currently Windows only, though that may change in the future. I'm also working on a program called CGRemote, which will allow you to monitor multiple miners regardless of OS (however if it is a Windows miner I recommend running CGWatcher on the miner as well because this will give you better control - see diagram in reply above). There is another project I'm going to be working on for the next 6-8 weeks but hasn't been finalized yet so aside from any bugs popping up in CGWatcher, I will be trying to get as much done on CGRemote until I begin the other project.


RandyMagnum: Correct, if cgminer is managing temperatures for a GPU, CGWatcher will not interfere. The only exception to this is if cgminer disables a GPU for exceeding temp-cutoff (default 95c). It is supposed to re-enable the GPU once it cools down, and will even show in its UI that it attempts to... but in testing I've never seen it succeed in successfully re-enabling the GPU. So when this occurs, CGWatcher will restart the GPU to make sure it gets going again. This only happens if CGWatcher's overheat protection is enabled (in the Monitor tab).

You can verify which program is providing the overheat protection for a GPU in the GPU tab. If you scroll down the large textbox at the bottom, you'll see "Overheat protection........" It will say either "CGMiner auto-gpu mode" if cgminer is doing it, "CGWatcher" if CGWatcher is doing it, or "None" if neither program is doing it. It also displays a green shield or yellow warning symbol next to the temperature, which if you put your mouse over will provide you with details of what overheat protection is enabled for that GPU.

If you don't want CGWatcher to interfere at all when it comes to overheat protection, you can disable it in the Monitor tab. There was a bug with the checkbox not being checked correctly when the program starts up (even if overheat protection was enabled) that I fixed yesterday, so make sure you've downloaded 1.1.6.0a to ensure it will correctly show you whether it is enabled or not.

[ct1aic]

...
ct1aic: cgminer deserves the credit for that. It allows you to set clock speeds above what the AMD (or similar) software allows. I don't know how the AMD software determines what the max clock speeds are, but I'd guess that cgminer either doesn't check this or ignores it. The same is probably true of voltages, although if you raise voltages past what AMD recommends you risk damaging components.
...

Thanks for the kind answer, milone.

[Jazkal]

How do you prevent the popup asking if you want to create a profile? Is there a switch to add when you run the exe? Or an entry in the ini?