[Announcement] Block Erupter USB

[rupy]

I'm also looking for a quality "industrial look" USB hub for some time... bought a d-link 7-port for my zTex and stripped the case, it's still working, can't say as much for the 60W power brick that powers the zTex cluster!

There are some but they are expensive as hell, and also they have weird power connectors:

[Henchman24]

I'm also looking for a quality "industrial look" USB hub for some time... bought a d-link 7-port for my zTex and stripped the case, it's still working, can't say as much for the power brick!

There are some but they are expensive as hell, and also they have weird power connectors:

Here's a 7 port USB 3.0 version, which gives you max 1.5 amps per port.  Although with the sapphire's lower power requirements (.500-.510 amps versus the .560 of the emeralds) it may not be as important anymore.

http://www.coolgear.com/productdetails1.cfm?sku=USBG-7U3ML&cats=434

And as you said, it's a little pricey at $99, considering you still need a power supply.

[rupy]

Just bought this:



It was downpriced to like 40$. Same manufacturer but with included "regular" power supply.

[CumpsD]

Got a link?

[rupy]

https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~se_sv/elfa/init.do?item=25-200-35&toc=25065&q=usb+hub

[Amph]

2 x USB Miner vs. Radeon 7970, a simple power calculation for german users:

7970: let's give it 180W (GPU only) -> 0,18 kWh x 24h x 31d x 0,27 EUR = 36 EUR / month ~ 46 USD / month power costs
2 x USB Miner: 5W -> 0,005 kWh x 24h x 31d x 0,27 EUR = 1 EUR / month ~ 1.28 USD / month power costs

Well, in my book there are no open questions...

initial cost(investment) is the most important factor
7970 cost 100 usd less, also 7970 isn't the best vga for mining

a right comparison is 2 usb versus 7950, so 200 usd less(both 600MH\s)
also electricity is subjective(mine is 0.13 euro)
so i can run for 8 months mining before i start losing in comparison
and last but not last a gpu can be resold, those things not so much

[CumpsD]

https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~se_sv/elfa/init.do?item=25-200-35&toc=25065&q=usb+hub

5V power connector, no idea what connector it is, hard to see on the picture :/

[dnaleor]

I'm also looking for a quality "industrial look" USB hub for some time... bought a d-link 7-port for my zTex and stripped the case, it's still working, can't say as much for the 60W power brick that powers the zTex cluster!

There are some but they are expensive as hell, and also they have weird power connectors:

you just need to strip the cables and put the + (5? V) and the - (GND) in the right hole

[Henchman24]

https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~se_sv/elfa/init.do?item=25-200-35&toc=25065&q=usb+hub

Not that you asked but the only possible downside I see is the port arrangement.

If you're buying it solely to run USB miners, the dimensions of the miner may prevent you from using all of the ports w/o the use of some USB extension cables.

[rupy]

https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~se_sv/elfa/init.do?item=25-200-35&toc=25065&q=usb+hub

5V power connector, no idea what connector it is, hard to see on the picture :/

Only 4A, in the pdf. Should work for BE's... But not good for BE because:

Not that you asked but the only possible downside I see is the port arrangement.

Yes, I'm going to run 5 zTex and only one BE USB... so if you want to fill this up with BE's it's a poor choice.

I'm just happy to have found something with a metal case at ~40 bucks!

I actually bought one of these too (just to see how it compares):

https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~se_sv/elfa/init.do?item=25-201-87&toc=25065&q=famid84582



At only 20$ it can fit BE's spacewise, and run them if the power supply is the same (4A).

Edit: PSU is 2A... limit but should work... BTW, these are neat!

But this only makes sense if you get the BE's with the old "industrial" heatsinks!

I'm purchased 20 of them.

I would buy the 1x7port and plug 5x4port of these into that... total price of metal hub glory: ~150$

But just imagine 5 of these stacked (laying down of course so you can quietly cool them passively) and filled with 6GH at 50W! Neat!

But why didn't you buy the blade? 10GH for 50BTC!

[CumpsD]

Nice hubs here as well, scroll down for industrial ones: http://www.usbgear.com/USB-Hub.html

[rupy]

Nice hubs here as well, scroll down for industrial ones: http://www.usbgear.com/USB-Hub.html

It's the same company that makes all of these metal hubs (exsys). There are others but they are super expensive (around 300$ per 4 port hub!?)...

[CumpsD]

Nice hubs here as well, scroll down for industrial ones: http://www.usbgear.com/USB-Hub.html

It's the same company that makes all of these metal hubs (exsys). There are others but they are super expensive (around 300$ per 4 port hub!?)...

Ah, ok Just noticed usbgear is US only shipping too

[Amph]

just buy a 10 usb port

$8 on amazon

[tvbcof]

just buy a 10 usb port

$8 on amazon

Or just flush $8 down the toilet and save on shipping costs.

I looked at the various cheap hubs at Central Computer when I was in the Bay Area last week and the power supplies are not nearly sufficient to provide rated current to more than a few of the ports.  By my estimation.

[rupy]

FYI: If you wan't to recursively both power the RPi with the hub and control the hub with your RPi at the same time just cut the red wire in the uplink cable.

Code:

-P +-------+
 | |       |
 | c       |
 | |       |
+-------+  |
|  hub  |  | < SOLUTION: Cut the red wire here!
+-------+  |
 | | | |   |
 p o o o   |
 |         |
 | +-----+ |
 +-| RPi |-+
   +-----+

o = other "power hungry" devices
P = PSU power
p = USB power
c = hub controller

For my part o = 1xBE USB and 2x50GH BFL, I hope the RPi will be able to run them!

[stepkrav]

any clue about the software that can be used for mining? Preferably on linux.

[Luke-Jr]

any clue about the software that can be used for mining? Preferably on linux.

BFGMiner from git will work.

[arklan]

any clue about the software that can be used for mining? Preferably on linux.

BFGMiner from git will work.

and... how will it work? as in, settings, menu options? tiny hint?

[alibert]

There are lots of tutorials, for example https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=121253.0