[4+ EH] Slush Pool (slushpool.com); Overt AsicBoost; World First Mining Pool

[robyone]

my 2x antminers s3 batch6 seem to be running very unstable for me, when I first start them cold they run fine for many random amount of hours or days, and then suddenly losing 6-7% of power (from 440 Gh/s to 410 Gh/s), I have been experimenting alot, cleaning the heatsinks, running open/closed case, reversing both fans, keeping room they are in as cool as possible, but they seem to be doing that no matter what I try. restarting cgminer seems to be keeping AVG hash rate up.

[bobsav2121]

my 2x antminers s3 batch6 seem to be running very unstable for me, when I first start them cold they run fine for many random amount of hours or days, and then suddenly losing 6-7% of power (from 440 Gh/s to 410 Gh/s), I have been experimenting alot, cleaning the heatsinks, running open/closed case, reversing both fans, keeping room they are in as cool as possible, but they seem to be doing that no matter what I try. restarting cgminer seems to be keeping AVG hash rate up.

Well I think you may be causing some of the problems your self.
1st thing you want to do is set the machine up and LET IT RUN for 24 hrs.
These machines do vary in speed.  Dont watch the present speed you want to watch the AVERAGE speed on the ANTMINERS.
trying to react to every small variation can lead you down the wrong road.
I have 6 S3's and they do vary in speed but after TIME they all average out.

Take a step back and let your machine run for a while before you go chasing a problem that's not really there.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way...

Also machine speed on the GUI it not always reported as accurate at it could be.

What is your " POOL" reporting ?

[TvaiX]

I have one small klondike 5-6Gh/s (donnu how to overclock it I bought first one to play with it.
When I restart first time it drops half speed, when I restart again it wont start up, only shutting down it and disconnection from electricity helps...
And last two days, one of two S1 after booting cold simple don`t start to mine (not showing speed in gui) after I change speed in file and rebooting it starts again. Simple restart don`t work. Working temp. 43-45c.

[robyone]

I am not taking antminer status page that much into account, but am looking at pool stats.
I have been running miners for 2 weeks now. The problem is with only one of the units, they both are not similar, they have different heatsink design, fans on good one are really loud and running 1980RPMs AVG one temp sensor shows 40, other 35, the bad one is very silent and fans run at 1620AVG, both temp sensors show 38 degrees.
when I first started the bad one, it ran at 440 GH/s avg for about 12 hours, then took a dip to 400 AVG for 8 hours and back to 440 for 3 hours. Then there was a power outage in my area for 1 hour, after power came back it started hashing 400 AVG for 30 hours non stop. I came home and tried to reboot for several times, it did not help (10 minute AVG was showing 400-420 GH/s). Then tried to reset to factory defaults, which fixed the issue for 6 hours hashing at expected rate, then it went back to 400 GH/s AVG (for no appearent reason). One morning I reset to factory defaults again, it hashed at 440 GH/s for a short period of time (30-60 minutes) and then it was back to 400 GH/s for 8 hours. There are no X showing in miner status, temperature is lower than the other miner I have (which runs 440 avg no matter what). Acceptance rate / rejects ratio are very similar. After seeing it run slow for 30 hours non stop I am not letting it do this anymore, instead I am trying different things with it - one of which is auto cgminer restart.

edit: by the way, I have found at least 2 people on this forum reporting this same exact symptoms as I have and are auto restarting as well.

[bobsav2121]

I am not taking antminer status page that much into account, but am looking at pool stats.
I have been running miners for 2 weeks now. The problem is with only one of the units, they both are not similar, they have different heatsink design, fans on good one are really loud and running 1980RPMs AVG one temp sensor shows 40, other 35, the bad one is very silent and fans run at 1620AVG, both temp sensors show 38 degrees.
when I first started the bad one, it ran at 440 GH/s avg for about 12 hours, then took a dip to 400 AVG for 8 hours and back to 440 for 3 hours. Then there was a power outage in my area for 1 hour, after power came back it started hashing 400 AVG for 30 hours non stop. I came home and tried to reboot for several times, it did not help (10 minute AVG was showing 400-420 GH/s). Then tried to reset to factory defaults, which fixed the issue for 6 hours hashing at expected rate, then it went back to 400 GH/s AVG (for no appearent reason). One morning I reset to factory defaults again, it hashed at 440 GH/s for a short period of time (30-60 minutes) and then it was back to 400 GH/s for 8 hours. There are no X showing in miner status, temperature is lower than the other miner I have (which runs 440 avg no matter what). Acceptance rate / rejects ratio are very similar. After seeing it run slow for 30 hours non stop I am not letting it do this anymore, instead I am trying different things with it - one of which is auto cgminer restart.

edit: by the way, I have found at least 2 people on this forum reporting this same exact symptoms as I have and are auto restarting as well.

Well forget about temperature, these things can run at 50c with no problem, I know because I had 3 running down in Florida in the spring and had no i'll effects.
What pool are you mining at ?

[robyone]

I am 90% on Eligius, but have tried Slush, Ghash, Discus Fish - all of them report same behavior.
The only pool I am getting stable hash rate on bad unit is solopool.net. Only difference I can see is that most pools will set difficulty to 256 or 1024, but solopool is setting it to 50, but I do not feel lucky enough to mine there.

[bobsav2121]

I am 90% on Eligius, but have tried Slush, Ghash, Discus Fish - all of them report same behavior.
The only pool I am getting stable hash rate on bad unit is solopool.net. Only difference I can see is that most pools will set difficulty to 256 or 1024, but solopool is setting it to 50, but I do not feel lucky enough to mine there.

How many machines did you say you had?
Are they all from the same " batch "
My s3's are from Batch one, and the internet is full of people who say they cant get there's to run but mine just plugged in and run at 440 all day long.
If you have 2 identical units and they are doing what you say, I'm afraid you might have a " ,marginal " one.
Dont forget Bitmain's stated speed is +/- 5% so you might have got 1 that doesn't quite make the grade.
Not sure what to say.
Did you try swapping power supply's between the  "good " one and the " bad" one ?

[robyone]

I only found out about Bitcoin a month ago, I only have 2 S3s for experimental purpose, I am not expecting them to ROI (ordered late (batch 6) and bought coins while they were 600 a pop). using them as heater for appartment, it is cold here already - 18 degrees during day outside.
yes, tried power supply swap. tried moving the units apart, using different power outlets, swapping pci-e ports (now they run all 4 pci-e ports connected) and what not.
the hash rate does sometimes (like the one 30 hour period I mentioned) drop 10% which is below the expected rate.

thank you for looking into it, I think this needs engineer to find the cause of the problem

here is someone reporting same behavior:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.3900
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.msg8169759#msg8169759

edit: this is offtopic anyway, my question was - does restarting cgminer every 1 hour cause problems with pool shares?

[sjc1490]

I only found out about Bitcoin a month ago, I only have 2 S3s for experimental purpose, I am not expecting them to ROI (ordered late (batch 6) and bought coins while they were 600 a pop). using them as heater for appartment, it is cold here already - 18 degrees during day outside.
yes, tried power supply swap. tried moving the units apart, using different power outlets, swapping pci-e ports (now they run all 4 pci-e ports connected) and what not.
the hash rate does sometimes (like the one 30 hour period I mentioned) drop 10% which is below the expected rate.

thank you for looking into it, I think this needs engineer to find the cause of the problem

here is someone reporting same behavior:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.3900
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.msg8169759#msg8169759

edit: this is offtopic anyway, my question was - does restarting cgminer every 1 hour cause problems with pool shares?

Yes.

[robyone]

ok, thanks for reply, I will bite the bullet then and let it run at whatever hash rate it feels like without touching it

[bobsav2121]

ok, thanks for reply, I will bite the bullet then and let it run at whatever hash rate it feels like without touching it

I think that's a good idea.
If you are reacting to a sudden 10% drop without waiting to see if it corrects, you may be chasing your tail.

A lot of things contribute to pool speed and yes I have had identical machines that were both running at the  "correct " speed when 1 drops speed for not apparent reason, but it just
comes back around to " normal " .

Remember the " machine GUI is not 100% accurate and the " pool" speed reporting is not 100% accurate so your dealing with 2 items that can add up to a figure you may think is wrong.
1 idea is to set up your 2 machines on the same pool with different worker names and track the speed and payout over 3 or 4 days.
That will give you a much better idea of whats going on than just chasing a " speed " figure.
Good luck
Bob

[bspurloc]

do not mine with graphic card, your btc mined is even less then getting those free bitcoin at https://www.landofbitcoin.com/?r=phqCKSzE8j0J1vMW
get asic miner, usd 50 might get you a s1 if u bargain hard

haha an S1 for $50...
 imagine someone being that dumb...
cuz you know you cant buy an upgrade kit for them to make them S3's... no really you cant just yet

maybe a Block eruptor Cube, those are only worth $50. s1's lil under $150 at x5 the hashing rate
wow funniest thing on ebay is people selling corsair 500+'s with a cube for under $50... the power supply is that value! nice deals if you can snag it!

I got a couple Antminer S1's for about $70 a pop after lots of bargain hunting.  Amazing what you find when people misspell stuff.  I used to find the usb block erupters for dirt cheap cause they would spell it block eruptOr.  Search and you shall find.  Also amazing what you can find on craigslist too got an Antminer S2 for $650 once.

JT

yeah I forgot about the dumb dumb factor. newbs to ebay etc not understanding how things work then the misspelling part. good find along with the power supply addition.

[jterry211]

I only found out about Bitcoin a month ago, I only have 2 S3s for experimental purpose, I am not expecting them to ROI (ordered late (batch 6) and bought coins while they were 600 a pop). using them as heater for appartment, it is cold here already - 18 degrees during day outside.
yes, tried power supply swap. tried moving the units apart, using different power outlets, swapping pci-e ports (now they run all 4 pci-e ports connected) and what not.
the hash rate does sometimes (like the one 30 hour period I mentioned) drop 10% which is below the expected rate.

thank you for looking into it, I think this needs engineer to find the cause of the problem

here is someone reporting same behavior:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.3900
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.msg8169759#msg8169759

edit: this is offtopic anyway, my question was - does restarting cgminer every 1 hour cause problems with pool shares?

Did you buy them from bitmain or on ebay?  If you got them directly from Bitmain i would call them.  Kinda odd you bought 2 from batch six and they dont look the same. 

JT

[bobsav2121]

I only found out about Bitcoin a month ago, I only have 2 S3s for experimental purpose, I am not expecting them to ROI (ordered late (batch 6) and bought coins while they were 600 a pop). using them as heater for appartment, it is cold here already - 18 degrees during day outside.
yes, tried power supply swap. tried moving the units apart, using different power outlets, swapping pci-e ports (now they run all 4 pci-e ports connected) and what not.
the hash rate does sometimes (like the one 30 hour period I mentioned) drop 10% which is below the expected rate.

thank you for looking into it, I think this needs engineer to find the cause of the problem

here is someone reporting same behavior:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.3900
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.msg8169759#msg8169759

edit: this is offtopic anyway, my question was - does restarting cgminer every 1 hour cause problems with pool shares?

Did you buy them from bitmain or on ebay?  If you got them directly from Bitmain i would call them.  Kinda odd you bought 2 from batch six and they dont look the same. 

JT

They don't look the same, I didn't  catch that !!!!

If they didn't come from Bitmain , then you might of got had.
Someone might have dumped a bad one on you.
I was under the assumption that they were all bought from Bitmain in Batch 6

BTW unless they are completely DOA the return shipping to China is a deal breaker.

[jterry211]

I only found out about Bitcoin a month ago, I only have 2 S3s for experimental purpose, I am not expecting them to ROI (ordered late (batch 6) and bought coins while they were 600 a pop). using them as heater for appartment, it is cold here already - 18 degrees during day outside.
yes, tried power supply swap. tried moving the units apart, using different power outlets, swapping pci-e ports (now they run all 4 pci-e ports connected) and what not.
the hash rate does sometimes (like the one 30 hour period I mentioned) drop 10% which is below the expected rate.

thank you for looking into it, I think this needs engineer to find the cause of the problem

here is someone reporting same behavior:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.3900
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=671189.msg8169759#msg8169759

edit: this is offtopic anyway, my question was - does restarting cgminer every 1 hour cause problems with pool shares?

Did you buy them from bitmain or on ebay?  If you got them directly from Bitmain i would call them.  Kinda odd you bought 2 from batch six and they dont look the same. 

JT

They don't look the same, I didn't  catch that !!!!

If they didn't come from Bitmain , then you might of got had.
Someone might have dumped a bad one on you.
I was under the assumption that they were all bought from Bitmain in Batch 6

BTW unless they are completely DOA the return shipping to China is a deal breaker.

Thats what i was thinking he got had.  I know on the S1's you could lower the voltage requirements with a mod or 2 but dont know about the S3's

JT

[dbbrummel]

Hmm, I have 8 S3 and they run like naked ladies in North Dakota all day long.
I forget about them sometimes. Once a week or so I reboot them for good measure.

[Nikethemutt]

Hmm, I have 8 S3 and they run like naked ladies in North Dakota all day long.
I forget about them sometimes. Once a week or so I reboot them for good measure.

Your statement is a perfect segue into a question I have!

I will be getting my first S3 any day now and I was wondering how long you let them run uninterrupted?   I'm going to be going on vacation for 7 days in the near future.  Is it safe to let it run while I'm away that long or should I only let it run when I'm around to babysit the unit?

Thanks!

[jterry211]

Hmm, I have 8 S3 and they run like naked ladies in North Dakota all day long.
I forget about them sometimes. Once a week or so I reboot them for good measure.

Your statement is a perfect segue into a question I have!

I will be getting my first S3 any day now and I was wondering how long you let them run uninterrupted?   I'm going to be going on vacation for 7 days in the near future.  Is it safe to let it run while I'm away that long or should I only let it run when I'm around to babysit the unit?

Thanks!

Thats a good question.  I wonder how many miners have had fires back when blades and cubes and thousands of watts.  That being said they can get really hot so maybe not too good an idea.  I leave mine over the weekend but they are in a metal rack with 2 ac units.

JT

[Billbags]

@Nikethemutt

When you get the miner in the mail, open up, check cables/connectors inside the miner and TIGHTEN UP ALL SCREWS ON THE HEATSINKS(They loosen up in shipping and don't transfer heat properly so after a few hours you get a demished hash rate if you don't do this). Put cover back on and start mining 24/7. You should do this with any miner before you plug it in. I work offshore for 28+ days at a time and it's all good. I would let run for 24 hours and check before you leave for your trip.(Check for stable hash rate and make sure psu cables/plugs are not getting too hot.

[robyone]

Did you buy them from bitmain or on ebay?  If you got them directly from Bitmain i would call them.  Kinda odd you bought 2 from batch six and they dont look the same.  

JT

I bought from https://bitmaintech.com/product.htm
they really look different, one has curved heatsinks - the bad one (just like this http://img.youtube.com/vi/VOyrCut0y30/0.jpg), other has straight - the good one. If you are still interested, by the end of the week I will take pics for comparison, I have decided to run them until end of the week without restarts (so will not remove cover - this will require downtime) and see what AVG I get. After I took them down for testing yesterday they both had good 3 hour AVG during night (890 for both), and now it is 5% down as usual for one of the units and going lower (now it is 865), I have a feeling it will stay there and go lower - to 840. I will remind in pm when I have full analysis to those who were interested about this. EDIT: "3 hour AVG for two miners not 865, but 840 already - I think this is what it will stay until I reboot on weekend, so 5% drop for both units, but actually only one is losing speed, which makes it around 10% for that unit"

I only cleaned heatsink on the bad one, it was covered in thick dust layer at the front side (probably the good one is the same, but aint touching it while it runs good), it runs more quiet now after cleaning, but the hashrate AVG behavior did not change.
I already contacted bitmain, they suggested: firmware update (which I did not do, because from what I saw it brings only features I do not need and from what I read for some people it got worse after update), and testing hashboards one by one by disconnecting them which I did not try also.
I agree there is no point in sending back if it is 10% slower than it should be (or rather 5%, because bitmain states that -5% is ok). I was hoping that restarts are good idea, but it seems not - losing shares?

I also tightened screws on heatsinks of the bad unint as one of posters on this page recommended.

So lets wait until I post analysis of running without interruptions and thank you for the interest, did not expect this, my initial idea was just to ask if the restarts is a good idea