Klondike - 16 chip ASIC Open Source Board - Preliminary

[fasmax]

Has anyone been able to fully populate the K16 v.0.3.0 board yet and verify functionality ?

[ScaryHash]

Is there a precompiled cgminer binary to run K16 for linux?

I have no idea how to compile the stuff on github.

I just installed Linux Mint and got regular cgminer-no gpu to work (without compiling)...so I can do that. The gpu one doesn't work but I'm not really planning on doing anymore gpu mining.

Just installing drivers on linux is a huge pain in the butt, I have no idea what I'm doing.

[BkkCoins]

Has anyone been able to fully populate the K16 v.0.3.0 board yet and verify functionality ?

In progress now.

Is there a precompiled cgminer binary to run K16 for linux?

My github repo has the compiled cgminer in it. I haven't tested it on anything but my own Ubuntu 12.04 but presumably it will work on other Linux 32 bit releases. You would git clone it to your system. If using ARM (RasPi) or 64 bit you would  have to compile, which isn't hard at all. Just a bit slower. There are no drivers to install. With cgminer what we call drivers are actually just modules in compiled into the main executable.

The steps to compile (for ARM or not) are:
(go to the directory where you want cgminer directory created)

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install autoconf libtool libncurses-dev yasm curl libcurl4-openssl-dev pkg-config libusb-1.0

git clone https://github.com/bkkcoins/cgminer-klondike
cd cgminer-klondike
./autogen.sh --enable-klondike
make

Do that line by line so you can verify errors before continuing.
I just tested that on my system and it took only a few minutes to download and build.

[bluefin]

Has anyone been able to fully populate the K16 v.0.3.0 board yet and verify functionality ?

In progress now.

If you are still working on the boards how can companies like terrahash possibly say they are just waiting on chips? Something is amiss here...

[dmcdad]

Has anyone been able to fully populate the K16 v.0.3.0 board yet and verify functionality ?

In progress now.

If you are still working on the boards how can companies like terrahash possibly say they are just waiting on chips? Something is amiss here...

He has demo chips.

[rsbriggs]

Nyet.  Not at all.  Not matter if BKK starting on revision 4 after or starting on 5 or 6 or getting up to version 42 so long as current version work - boards taking days to produce once chips arrive.  If chips arriving tomorrow, maybe they shipping version 2 until after version 3 being done.

[BkkCoins]

Has anyone been able to fully populate the K16 v.0.3.0 board yet and verify functionality ?

In progress now.

If you are still working on the boards how can companies like terrahash possibly say they are just waiting on chips? Something is amiss here...

No. They are doing their own development work of which I have no knowledge. They could easily have made boards and built them, but have not informed me about any progress.

Everything is open source and fully available on github. There is nothing to stop anyone from taking design materials from there and paying exorbitant prices to have overnight boards made. I haven't heard whether they did that or not, but they could. They also could revise the board themselves as they see fit.

I'm slowed down here due to my limited resources. I cut new stencils on saturday but found out the new package of transparencies ended up being thicker, and so I had to adjust settings to get a good cut. Each stencil takes 3.5 hours, which could be done in minutes on a laser cutter. I have a good one now but I'm still clearing holes by hand. I'll be applying paste this morning and start the manual pick n place process.

[Bogart]

Is there a precompiled cgminer binary to run K16 for linux?

My github repo has the compiled cgminer in it. I haven't tested it on anything but my own Ubuntu 12.04 but presumably it will work on other Linux 32 bit releases. You would git clone it to your system. If using ARM (RasPi) or 64 bit you would  have to compile, which isn't hard at all. Just a bit slower. There are no drivers to install. With cgminer what we call drivers are actually just modules in compiled into the main executable.

The steps to compile (for ARM or not) are:
(go to the directory where you want cgminer directory created)

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install autoconf libtool libncurses-dev yasm curl libcurl4-openssl-dev pkg-config libusb-1.0

git clone https://github.com/bkkcoins/cgminer-klondike
cd cgminer-klondike
./autogen.sh --enable-klondike
make

Do that line by line so you can verify errors before continuing.
I just tested that on my system and it took only a few minutes to download and build.

Compiles and runs on my Ubuntu 12.04 VM without error, other than "no devices detected".

[kano]

...
The steps to compile (for ARM or not) are:
(go to the directory where you want cgminer directory created)

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install autoconf libtool libncurses-dev yasm curl libcurl4-openssl-dev pkg-config libusb-1.0

git clone https://github.com/bkkcoins/cgminer-klondike
cd cgminer-klondike
./autogen.sh --enable-klondike
make

Do that line by line so you can verify errors before continuing.
I just tested that on my system and it took only a few minutes to download and build.

You don't need yasm - CPU mining code is long gone from cgminer
Also better to add -g -O0 since CPU performance is not the issue with cgminer, it's USB performance that matters.
So: CFLAGS="-g -O0 -W -Wall" ./autogen.sh --enable-klondike
(and the effect on mining performance, adding debug, is marginal at best)
... and thus if it ever crashes and you have cores enabled (ulimit -c 2097152), you'll get a useful core to work out why it crashed.

[BkkCoins]

Thank Kano. I've updated my local notes for when I write up a guide / docs later.

[BkkCoins]

NOTICE:

There is an error in the K16 Parts List on Github.

R47 is marked as 0603 package but the board requires an 0402 package.

This is a 100 ohm resistor.  Qty 6 should be reduced to Qty 5 and an 0402 Qty 1 added.

I've fixed the error in the parts list but if you have ordered 0603 resistors for production you will need to also order some 0402 of the same. For DIY hand assembly you may be able to fit an 0603 in as a hack. I'll update later as I see how this works out.

Sorry everyone. I thought all the errors had been caught some time ago but this one slipped in as part of the last revision.

It's fairly minor in comparison to the ASICs that never ship, but it's a nuisance, I know.

[sensei]

NOTICE:

There is an error in the K16 Parts List on Github.

R47 is marked as 0603 package but the board requires an 0402 package.

This is a 100 ohm resistor.  Qty 6 should be reduced to Qty 5 and an 0402 Qty 1 added.

I've fixed the error in the parts list but if you have ordered 0603 resistors for production you will need to also order some 0402 of the same. For DIY hand assembly you may be able to fit an 0603 in as a hack. I'll update later as I see how this works out.

Sorry everyone. I thought all the errors had been caught some time ago but this one slipped in as part of the last revision.

It's fairly minor in comparison to the ASICs that never ship, but it's a nuisance, I know.

I might have noticed it later this week when I populate a board and go over every part.

So  of the six 100 ohm resistors on the board, 5 are 0603's and 1is an 0402?

[AtomSea]

More Nerdy Talk!
 

[Stack]

More Nerdy Talk!
 

Talk nerdy to me baby

[BkkCoins]

I might have noticed it later this week when I populate a board and go over every part.

So  of the six 100 ohm resistors on the board, 5 are 0603's and 1is an 0402?

That's right. It was a mistake on my part to split them and use an 0402 in that spot. I guess space was tight and I fit it in, but then didn't change the parts list after. If you are having boards made and have the parts already on hand it may be worth changing the footprint, if it fits.

[loshia]

BKK,

Did you make some test of fully populated K16 board already? Can i ask you to publish a compiled PIC firmware on github also? Please note the compiled version might be there already - i am not aware which file extension shall i look for - please just point it out

10X

[cp1]

It'll probably be .hex  I'm not sure which compiler he used, MPLAB's?

[synapse]

For Anyone looking for the Mechanic XG-50 solder paste, this is the most reliable place I have come across:

http://www.fasttech.com/product/1261003

[sensei]

For Anyone looking for the Mechanic XG-50 solder paste, this is the most reliable place I have come across:

http://www.fasttech.com/product/1261003

I see that can of solder paste has a CE mark. I guess it meets safety, EMC, and low voltage specifications.

This is a tin-lead solder which is banned in the EU.

[sensei]

I might have noticed it later this week when I populate a board and go over every part.

So  of the six 100 ohm resistors on the board, 5 are 0603's and 1is an 0402?

That's right. It was a mistake on my part to split them and use an 0402 in that spot. I guess space was tight and I fit it in, but then didn't change the parts list after. If you are having boards made and have the parts already on hand it may be worth changing the footprint, if it fits.

I'll look at the pads and the layout, but I'll probably just order a reel of 0402's. Shipping will probably be more than the parts....