[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive ASICMiner Blade Setup

[dogie]

thanks for nice manual

if one corsair PSU can power 4 blades, then for me it is cheaper to buy 4  IBM notebook type adapters 12v 10A.

4 blades 'safely' if you use two different molex strings and 2 PCI-E connectors. Its still cheaper to buy the PSU because 1) the PSU has a use after and 2) You need a PSU to power those fans!

I can power fans from blade itself, or from USB hub. Price wise good PSU cost more in my area and a more work too with cabling, splitting.

You have to split and require the adapters as well?

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[muyuu]

This is pretty cool, dogie.

I will add to your whiskey fund when I get mine. So you're in the UK as well?

I'm quite curious what will my set-up will end up looking like. I'm thinking it will end up quite messy but hey, it's worth it. I might turn off my GPUs as these are quite noisy.

You should put a referral in Amazon, since you are giving some options there. That will add up to your fund.

I got this for my 2 blades:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RMP2VE/ Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

It's cheap, has good reviews and it should be within its most efficient range with 2 blades at full blast. If I got more equipment I'd add another PSU.

These will come at discount with orders over £20:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QVLBM2 ARCTIC AFACO-120P0-GBA01 F12 PWM 120mm Case Fan
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002KTVFTE/ Arctic Cooling Arctic F12

Fan controller (cheap, although the blue led might be annoying if you don't cover it somehow)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006Z8LB6S/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006Z8LB6S/

And I got some more stuff that I might recommend after trying it (cheapo USB-powered wifi bridge and dumb ethernet hub)

I just got 1 fan extension cable, not sure whether I will need more. I got an Akasa for under £3. If I need more I will just head to Maplin for a quick fix.

(All prices include VAT)

I have plenty of scrap cardboard boxes. I will try to use them and cut holes for the fans. Can't justify buying more rubbish unless necessary.

Looking forward to receiving them.

[dogie]

This is pretty cool, dogie.

I will add to your whiskey fund when I get mine. So you're in the UK as well?

I'm quite curious what will my set-up will end up looking like. I'm thinking it will end up quite messy but hey, it's worth it. I might turn off my GPUs as these are quite noisy.

You should put a referral in Amazon, since you are giving some options there. That will add up to your fund.

I got this for my 2 blades:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009RMP2VE/ Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit

It's cheap, has good reviews and it should be within its most efficient range with 2 blades at full blast. If I got more equipment I'd add another PSU.

These will come at discount with orders over £20:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QVLBM2 ARCTIC AFACO-120P0-GBA01 F12 PWM 120mm Case Fan
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002KTVFTE/ Arctic Cooling Arctic F12

Fan controller (cheap, although the blue led might be annoying if you don't cover it somehow)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006Z8LB6S/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006Z8LB6S/

And I got some more stuff that I might recommend after trying it (cheapo USB-powered wifi bridge and dumb ethernet hub)

I just got 1 fan extension cable, not sure whether I will need more. I got an Akasa for under £3. If I need more I will just head to Maplin for a quick fix.

(All prices include VAT)

I have plenty of scrap cardboard boxes. I will try to use them and cut holes for the fans. Can't justify buying more rubbish unless necessary.

Looking forward to receiving them.

Thanks for the donation, and it is 100% to education not booze I've had a bottle of gin on my shelf propping up a computer rather than being drunk for the last year. Yes I am UK

Its pretty clean especially for 2 blades, they're much smaller than you think. Added Amazon referral links, was thinking against it as it clouds the purity of the guide but oh well. I also retired my main computer's gpus since these avalons. The pain from additional heat isn't worth the marginal increase in earnings.

The F12 fans are pretty crummy, cheap bearings, not great airflow at max and loud for the airflow they do put out. Thanks for the links.

Edit: Meant to say, I have that PSU powering 2 at the moment, but because both are on the same molex wire its overspec and I'm trading it in for a 750CXM.

[muyuu]

Added Amazon referral links, was thinking against it as it clouds the purity of the guide but oh well. I also retired my main computer's gpus since these avalons. The pain from additional heat isn't worth the marginal increase in earnings.

The F12 fans are pretty crummy, cheap bearings, not great airflow at max and loud for the airflow they do put out. Thanks for the links.

I have some spare 120mm Zalmans but I don't think they're good value.

You actually had referrals in the original Amazon links you posted, from wherever you found them (IIRC it was "oh the details" or something like that).

If you know good fan alternatives do share. The problem with using different providers is shipping. I have Amazon Prime so that helps. Scan and Ebuyer are pretty quick, but I don't know Quiet-PC and adding a different provider just for 2 fans seemed a bit off.

See you around.

EDIT:
This review said the F12 are decent for the price http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=60147 Well, I got some of these and some different, I will let you know.

[WinTame2012]

http://www.quietpc.com/rv-120-fan-2000 - PWM controlable, low starting RPM, high max RPM and airflow - 120mm

dogie,
could you please confirm that this fan is PWM aware? On the site there is no PWM in tech specs, and it have only 3-pin header.

[dogie]

http://www.quietpc.com/rv-120-fan-2000 - PWM controlable, low starting RPM, high max RPM and airflow - 120mm

dogie,
could you please confirm that this fan is PWM aware? On the site there is no PWM in tech specs, and it have only 3-pin header.

Its actually not a PWM fan, I've cheated here. They make 2 versions of the fan:
http://www.quietpc.com/rv-120-fan-pwm-switch
http://www.quietpc.com/rv-120-fan-2000
One is PWN, one is not. But because its the same fan and motor, we can buy the PWM version knowing it will still start at very low voltages, and hence is suitable for fan controllers.

So we've taken the benefits PWM brings without actually having to pay for it.

[cchan]

I've set up my blade after reading this nice instruction.

Thanks, dogie.

[WinTame2012]

Just want to share my findings about the cooler suitable (I hope) for cooling 1 blade
http://www.titan-cd.com/Y_product_C_vgacooler_e.php?id=891
I plan to mount it on the fence right next to heatsink.

[dogie]

I've set up my blade after reading this nice instruction.

Thanks, dogie.

No problem

[Jimmy2011]

A question on user:passwprd of ASICMiner Blade:

I have two blades, and both are pointing to the stratum proxy at 192.168.1.100, and I used different workers for each blade.

Now from the configure page, I got the one hashrate is 10586MHS, and the other blade is 33258MHS. Obviously the second blade MHS is not right. On the other hand, from the pool's website, it lists the similar hashrate for the first one, but it is just about 4519 MHS for the second one.

So the question is how to set up the worker for those two blades. Should I set the same user:password for each blade?

[friedcat]

TroubleShooting

Three or four "x" in a row on "Chips": The corresponding power lane does not work or is not supplying enough voltage. Try measuring each power lane to find the dysfunctional lane and tuning it higher. If it doesn't work please ask us to send you a new power module.

More than two "x" scattering on "Chips": Some of the chips could not work on high clock in the current voltage. Try tuning the voltage of the whole power module a little higher. If it doesn't work please downclock to Low.

Hashrate turns to zero and all "x": Either the power module is broken or the whole blade has some problems. If you bought more than one blades, try using other functional ones' power module to test if it becomes OK. If so please ask us to send you a new power module. If not, please return the whole blade back and we will send you a new one. (we cover the shipping fee)

The blade misreports the hashrate to a very high number but hashes at a very low speed: Most probably it's the problem with the ethernet controller. Try hardware-rest it as shown in the online user guide. If it doesn't work please ask us to send you a new ethernet controller. It may also be caused by the misfunctionality of the hashing board. If you bought more than one blades, try using other functional ones' ethernet controller to test if it becomes OK. If not, please return the whole blade back and we will send you a new one. (we cover the shipping fee)

All or most chips are "O" but the efficiency is very low: This happened on two or three blades on our former products. Most probably it's some shortcuts on some of the chips' communication pins. It shouldn't occur in the second (current) batch, but if this happens we will do a free replacement.

(To be extended...)

[dogie]

A question on user:passwprd of ASICMiner Blade:

I have two blades, and both are pointing to the stratum proxy at 192.168.1.100, and I used different workers for each blade.

Now from the configure page, I got the one hashrate is 10586MHS, and the other blade is 33258MHS. Obviously the second blade MHS is not right. On the other hand, from the pool's website, it lists the similar hashrate for the first one, but it is just about 4519 MHS for the second one.

So the question is how to set up the worker for those two blades. Should I set the same user:password for each blade?

Let it settle for a while. For some reason one of my blades sometimes appears to pass over shares on the stats so I don't think its a problem if you get numbers which are close.

[dogie]

TroubleShooting

Three or for "x" in a row on "Chips": The corresponding power lane does not work or is not supplying enough voltage. Try measuring each power lane to find the dysfunctional lane and tuning it higher. If it doesn't work please ask us to send you a new power module.

More than two "x" scattering on "Chips": Some of the chips could not work on high clock in the current voltage. Try tuning the voltage of the whole power module a little higher. If it doesn't work please downclock to Low.

Hashrate turns to zero and all "x": Either the power module is broken or the whole blade has some problems. If you bought more than one blades. Try using other functional ones' power module to test if it becomes OK. If so please ask us to send you a new power module. If not, please return it back and we will send you a new one (we cover the shipping fee).

The blade misreports the hashrate to a very high number but hashes at a very low speed: Most probably it's the problem with the ethernet controller. Try hardware-rest it as shown in the online user guide. If it doesn't work please ask us to send you a new ethernet controller.

All or most chips are "O" but the efficiency is very low: This happened on two or three blades on our former products. Most probably it's some shortcuts on some of the chips' communication pins. It shouldn't occur in the second (current) batch, but if this happens we will do a free replacement.

(To be extended...)

Thanks Mr Cat, I've added to the OP. As the receiver of nearly $2M I think you should send me a free blade *puppy eyes* You have my details from batches 2 and 3.5

[friedcat]

Troubleshooting reply updated:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=205369.msg2167983#msg2167983

[dogie]

Troubleshooting reply updated:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=205369.msg2167983#msg2167983

OP Updated

[nave]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here with my two blades. They both power on, I can access the config page and set everything up. They accept work from the stratum proxy, but never return any. They reset after exactly 2:15. I've rewired the power modules from molex and pci-e from both a 500w and a 480w power supplies, with the same result. I have two 120mm fans on each blade, they don't even get warm, I don't think they're doing anything to get warm, but it can't be a heating issue. All the wires to the blades stay cool. I wired the connectors exactly how it says in dogie's guide. I included a picture of one of my power modules below. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

[dogie]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here with my two blades. They both power on, I can access the config page and set everything up. They accept work from the stratum proxy, but never return any. They reset after exactly 2:15. I've rewired the power modules from molex and pci-e from both a 500w and a 480w power supplies, with the same result. I have two 120mm fans on each blade, they don't even get warm, I don't think they're doing anything to get warm, but it can't be a heating issue. All the wires to the blades stay cool. I wired the connectors exactly how it says in dogie's guide. I included a picture of one of my power modules below. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Pool settings

[pikeadz]

I am having some problems with my blade.  I got it today, and it started hashing at between 10700 and 12000 mh/s (advertised speeds).  After about an hour, I changed the ip and was entering in my backup pool settings, and I noticed two problems:

1) The hash rate is stuck at around 4500mh/sec on btcguild.  I am getting only 56% efficiency after 20 minutes or so.  I have reset the blade several times and separated and reseated all the components.  I don't know why it won't go back up to 90-100% efficiency like when I first powered it on.  I have two 120mm fans and a giant room fan aimed at it too so I don't think cooling is the issue?

2) Sometimes it won't connect to the configuration utility.  I have to keep hitting refresh or close out of chrome and go back in. Then it will connect, but sometimes give the same error when I hit "update/restart".

"Chip" reads 0 all the way through (no x's).  I'm disappointed. pming friedcat but hoping someone else can help too.

[dogie]

I am having some problems with my blade.  I got it today, and it started hashing at between 10700 and 12000 mh/s (advertised speeds).  After about an hour, I changed the ip and was entering in my backup pool settings, and I noticed two problems:

1) The hash rate is stuck at around 4500mh/sec on btcguild.  I am getting only 56% efficiency after 20 minutes or so.  I have reset the blade several times and separated and reseated all the components.  I don't know why it won't go back up to 90-100% efficiency like when I first powered it on.  I have two 120mm fans and a giant room fan aimed at it too so I don't think cooling is the issue?

2) Sometimes it won't connect to the configuration utility.  I have to keep hitting refresh or close out of chrome and go back in. Then it will connect, but sometimes give the same error when I hit "update/restart".

"Chip" reads 0 all the way through (no x's).  I'm disappointed. pming friedcat but hoping someone else can help too.

You changed pool settings and it got worse, its pretty obvious its your pool settings. Set up a stratum proxy on slush's and see how it goes. The blade itself is saying its fine and its not restarting.

Not being able to connect to the config utility suggests something with your network topology may be amiss.

Either that, or you've laid it flat on a table and the bottom is now overheating.

[pikeadz]

I am having some problems with my blade.  I got it today, and it started hashing at between 10700 and 12000 mh/s (advertised speeds).  After about an hour, I changed the ip and was entering in my backup pool settings, and I noticed two problems:

1) The hash rate is stuck at around 4500mh/sec on btcguild.  I am getting only 56% efficiency after 20 minutes or so.  I have reset the blade several times and separated and reseated all the components.  I don't know why it won't go back up to 90-100% efficiency like when I first powered it on.  I have two 120mm fans and a giant room fan aimed at it too so I don't think cooling is the issue?

2) Sometimes it won't connect to the configuration utility.  I have to keep hitting refresh or close out of chrome and go back in. Then it will connect, but sometimes give the same error when I hit "update/restart".

"Chip" reads 0 all the way through (no x's).  I'm disappointed. pming friedcat but hoping someone else can help too.

You changed pool settings and it got worse, its pretty obvious its your pool settings. Set up a stratum proxy on slush's and see how it goes. The blade itself is saying its fine and its not restarting.

Not being able to connect to the config utility suggests something with your network topology may be amiss.

Either that, or you've laid it flat on a table and the bottom is now overheating.

It's definitely not flat on a table.  I have it raised up an inch off the surface with an 18 inch fan blowing air above and below it, and 2 120mm case fans on top.  I swapped out the ethernet cable and tried a different power supply.  The hash rate went up to between 5,000 and 7,000 mh/s.  But I am still having problems accessing the configuration utility consistently, and I am nowhere near where I was when I opened this thing.  I will keep trying different pools and settings I guess?


EDIT:  Argh... now it's not even letting me change the settings.  I get "The parameters are updated or the system is simply restarted! 560" and then I try to load the utility again and the settings revert back to btcguild.


EDIT 2:  I reset our router and that appears to have gotten the hash rate back up to 13,000 again (overclocked).  I am happy with this, but the config menu is still very unreliable.  I was wondering if my antivirus or firewall could have been causing the problem.  I disabled them, but the config menu still refuses to save settings at some times, and displays a "page cannot be displayed" error about 50% of the time.  I am going to let it hash overnight and see what happens.  At least the speed is back up!