[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive ASICMiner Blade Setup

[bladerunner99]

Well I have had it proxies.  It looks easier for me to use getwork and directly connect my blade with no pc.  Most likely I am committing an error, however my blade could be defective.  
IP                               192.168.1.254  
Mask                               255.255.255.0
Gateway                       My router's gateway?, my LAN IP address?, or my computer's IP?
WEB Port                       8000  I have a port forward at 8000 other values do not seem to work.  If i change this do I need a new port forward?
Primary DNS               my router's primary DNS  or should I use another value here?
Secondary DNS               my router's secondary DNS
Ports                               8332,8337      The ports of BTCoxygen,Eligius getwork servers.
Server addresses               BTCOxygen.com,getwork.mining.eligius.st        
user:pass                       xxxxxxxxx:xxx,yyyyyyy:yyy

These are the values I will be trying out today.  Any advice is welcome.  I have been at this for three days and bfgminer just can't see my blade.  I don't really like MinGW now that I've tried it out.  I had to link bfgminer.exe into MinGW/msys as a hack so my money is on user error here.  Stratum Proxy passed a lot of errors but I may give it one more go.  If these trials do not get me hashing I am returning my blade to the seller as defective.  

Start BFGMiner with the '--http-port' option.  I use '-http-port 8330'.

Then configure your blade so that BOTH pool setups are pointed to the address of the machine running BFGMiner.  Make sure BOTH ports are set to 8330, or whatever port you used with the '-http-port' option.  You can use any username/pass for BFGMiner, but if you have multiple instances running for multiple workers, make sure to use a unique user name for each worker.

Then setup BFGMiner to connect to the pool (and backup pools) you want as usual.

Yes, the gateway is your router IP, usually 192.168.1.1 for most people.

To summarize:

IP                               192.168.1.254
Mask                               255.255.255.0
Gateway                       My router's gateway
WEB Port                       8000
Primary DNS               my router's primary DNS
Secondary DNS               my router's secondary DNS
Ports                               8330,8330 (or whatever you set in --http-port)
Server addresses               <BFGMiner machine address>, <BFGMiner machine address>
user:pass                       xxxxxxxxx:xxx,xxxxxxxxx:xxx

I would like to write a batch file for bfgminer but I can't.  Each time I try it starts up to a windows red "x" warning bubble that says bfgminer is not a windows 32 program.  I have tried to set up MinGW and I linked Git and downloaded bfgminer but it refuses to compile in msys.  I tried to link the exe to mysys but I don't grok how.  Maybe later I will try to duplicate my actions because I had a file zlib1?  that I replaced when updating with, I forgot but it's complicated.  The exe files come up in notepad++ as some kind of machine gigo to my eyes.  I think my time will be better spent in an Ubuntu server or I have been meaning to try Arch because the documentation is so very nice.  I really want to get onto a ghash.io's stratum server.  CEX.IO is cool.  P.M. me so I can tell you why without spamming the forum.  Really it is a huge part of why I have been trying to point my blade to a stratum server for several grueling days non-stop. I wish my DWINWIS button was working right now! LOL

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[bladerunner99]

Here are some stats from my blade at eligius pool.  The nice thing about getwork is I can shut off my computer and my blade is still hashing away. 
   Unpaid Balance   Shares Rewarded
As of last block:    0.00299984 BTC   67.16%
Estimated Change:    +0.00039496 BTC   +1.51%
Estimated Total:    0.00339480 BTC   68.67%
   Hashrate Average   Weighted Shares
12 hours   9,105.13 Mh/s   91582
3 hours   8,654.36 Mh/s   21762
22.5 minutes   10.16 Gh/s   3192
256 seconds   10.70 Gh/s   638
128 seconds   11.48 Gh/s   342

I have noticed that my Blade is inconsistent so I have found a huge 12 fan the size of the heat sink and I am switching to a newer "over rated" power supply because I think my old one is sagging rated at a mere 12v 10 amps and probably insufficient. 

Total MHS:   03036
Received:   0000048579
Accepted:   0000014667
Per Minute:   041.44
Efficiency:   030.19%
Up Time:   0d,05h,53m,52s

Current Server: getwork.mining.eligius.st:8337
Chip: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The funny thing is even though my efficiency is low Eligius is reporting reasonable hash rates.  Maybe the new fans and power supply will change some of the dips in my hash rate.  It cooled off tonight and this blade has not reset for hours.  So fans can't be emphasized enough.

[SwissMiner]

.. getwork is BS .. why you do not use stratum 

[AnatomicFlack]

Maybe someone has some insight here, I posted this since I couldn't find anyone with a similar issue: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=350745.msg3754988#msg3754988

Cliff Notes:
I just bought a 10 blade setup Rev 2.01 with backplane and HP PSU from a seller on eBay, the actual blades were from JonesGear.

All 10 blades reboot every hour (58:30 to be exact) on the hour without fail.  They aren't just switching pools (which are the same entered two times), the uptimes are going back to 0. 

The blades are connected to BFGminer running the proxy, and they hash nicely while connected, but ever hour they all restart simultaneously, which obviously pisses off the proxy and the pool, so I have a small recovery period with rejects, and stales while the blades come back up to speed.

Please help... this is making me nuts.  As I noted in my thread, I have 2 PSUs on the way hedging my bets that this is an issue with the PSU. 

Thanks in advance. 

[ijchan223]

need some suggestions, here is what i have

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r262/ertgunner/Untitled_zpsdefc4b2e.png

the top one is 4 asicminers usb without a proxy and the bottom is a blade with the slush proxy. that can't be normal.  anyone have some pointers?

[J_Dubbs]

Maybe someone has some insight here, I posted this since I couldn't find anyone with a similar issue: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=350745.msg3754988#msg3754988

Cliff Notes:
I just bought a 10 blade setup Rev 2.01 with backplane and HP PSU from a seller on eBay, the actual blades were from JonesGear.

All 10 blades reboot every hour (58:30 to be exact) on the hour without fail.  They aren't just switching pools (which are the same entered two times), the uptimes are going back to 0. 

The blades are connected to BFGminer running the proxy, and they hash nicely while connected, but ever hour they all restart simultaneously, which obviously pisses off the proxy and the pool, so I have a small recovery period with rejects, and stales while the blades come back up to speed.

Please help... this is making me nuts.  As I noted in my thread, I have 2 PSUs on the way hedging my bets that this is an issue with the PSU. 

Thanks in advance. 

I never had luck using BFGminer as the proxy, have you tried running the proxy tool on Slush's website? I only mine with Slush but I believe it can be used with any pool. When I'm up and running it's flawless, my only issues have been cooling and some weird problems running ethernet through my router. Using a crossover cable to my switch and Slush's proxy everything is solid and reliable (knock on wood).

[Africa2003]

Hello!

I have 10 slot chassis PCB with 3 blades (so far), trying to use HP server power supply (750w, fits into the power slot on chassis PCB) but I believe it needs some signal to give output + 12v
I inserted PSU to the chassis but it does not give power to slots (measured with Fluke), however it works fine in server. I am afraid to blow blades at the moment.
Could you advise on that?

UPDATE: sorted out with soldering jumper wire on PSU to give it start command.


Thanks!
Leo

[dogie]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

[dogie]

Just wanted to post a big THANKS to the OP for his clear and helpful instructions.  I've gotten my newbie ghetto rig up and running in no time.  And luckily, I picked up the blade about a week ago (for about $240) right before prices skyrocketed.

Enjoy

[Theo1355]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

[dogie]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

If you don't use a backpane, mounting can be a bit tricky and its up to you to find something. I believe V2s sit quite well on the side of their heatsinks as they're flush with the side of the PCB. Powering is the same as V1 so you've not wasted anything. V2s don't have a specific thread because they are almost identical to V1s physically, and their software also is.

[dogie]

AntMiner S1 setup thread is up.

[Theo1355]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

If you don't use a backpane, mounting can be a bit tricky and its up to you to find something. I believe V2s sit quite well on the side of their heatsinks as they're flush with the side of the PCB. Powering is the same as V1 so you've not wasted anything. V2s don't have a specific thread because they are almost identical to V1s physically, and their software also is.

Perfect, sounds good.  I'm actually planning to use replica meccano toy parts for the rack.  They come in tons of different shapes and sizes and are super customizable.  They're also made out of perforated steel, which should be great from a heat dissipation perspective.  I'll post a pic if it works! 
Sadly, meccano isn't widely available in the US (lucky Brits) so I've had to shell out a bit more than I'd like but based on some cads I've made it should provide great ventilation.

Once again, thanks for all of your helpful documentation!

[dogie]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

If you don't use a backpane, mounting can be a bit tricky and its up to you to find something. I believe V2s sit quite well on the side of their heatsinks as they're flush with the side of the PCB. Powering is the same as V1 so you've not wasted anything. V2s don't have a specific thread because they are almost identical to V1s physically, and their software also is.

Perfect, sounds good.  I'm actually planning to use replica meccano toy parts for the rack.  They come in tons of different shapes and sizes and are super customizable.  They're also made out of perforated steel, which should be great from a heat dissipation perspective.  I'll post a pic if it works! 
Sadly, meccano isn't widely available in the US (lucky Brits) so I've had to shell out a bit more than I'd like but based on some cads I've made it should provide great ventilation.

Once again, thanks for all of your helpful documentation!

Careful about steel conducting, there are exposed contacts on the back.

[Theo1355]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

If you don't use a backpane, mounting can be a bit tricky and its up to you to find something. I believe V2s sit quite well on the side of their heatsinks as they're flush with the side of the PCB. Powering is the same as V1 so you've not wasted anything. V2s don't have a specific thread because they are almost identical to V1s physically, and their software also is.

Perfect, sounds good.  I'm actually planning to use replica meccano toy parts for the rack.  They come in tons of different shapes and sizes and are super customizable.  They're also made out of perforated steel, which should be great from a heat dissipation perspective.  I'll post a pic if it works! 
Sadly, meccano isn't widely available in the US (lucky Brits) so I've had to shell out a bit more than I'd like but based on some cads I've made it should provide great ventilation.

Once again, thanks for all of your helpful documentation!

Careful about steel conducting, there are exposed contacts on the back.

Ahh... good point.  Thanks.

[J_Dubbs]

Ive updated the OP to include V2 blades, let me know what you think.

Edit: Also created a new thread for cubes. Anyone who needs support for them please head over there as they are very different [in a good way]. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=352658

Thanks dogie!

Unfortunately, I already ordered two v2 blades along with all the items on your parts list for the v1.  I'm planning to skip the backplane and HP serv psu, but I was wondering whether I've just wasted my money on all of these parts.  Has anyone done this before?  If so I'd definitely start and manage another thread dedicated to v2s.  (Assuming my setup works!)

If you don't use a backpane, mounting can be a bit tricky and its up to you to find something. I believe V2s sit quite well on the side of their heatsinks as they're flush with the side of the PCB. Powering is the same as V1 so you've not wasted anything. V2s don't have a specific thread because they are almost identical to V1s physically, and their software also is.

I found that hanging the single blade with zip ties works quite well for a cheap mounting option. I used some folder racks I had laying around, basically the only thing touching this blade are the zip ties through the holes. My other blades are in my backplane but I have this PSU helping to power the fans on the backplane rig. This has two 120mm fans on the front (bottom blow, top suck), an 80mm up top sucking air out, and a 140mm fan blowing the back that can't be seen in the pic. Two of these fans and the PSU were sitting in a dead computer so I decided to put them to use, might be overkill but rather have it too cold than too hot. If I were to go out and shop for a cheap mount (non-backplane) I would probably just get a big tall folder rack from an office supply store and hang the blades with zip ties.  



I tossed my whole backplane in a plastic milk-crate thing I used to keep car cleaning supplies in. With the HP power supply it fits like a glove and gives good protection with great fan mounting options, actually doesn't look bad either because the size is perfect. I don't have a good pic uploaded of it but I can post if anyone wants to see it. Once these blades get going on a solid setup they are quite nice, plugged in a new one tonight and was mining within 5 minutes.

I was never able to get a long Ethernet cable to work with my router and the switch for some reason. Solved everything by using a short crossover cable from my 10-year old laptop to my switch and bridged the WiFi network connection (or something like that, honestly I barely understand why it's working so well with the crossover cable/laptop combo, but it was hours of agonizing/endless bullshit/errors through the router via Ethernet). I guess whatever works reliably at this point is perfectly good by me; no point questioning when it works especially if I can avoid running a 70ft cable  

Edit: took pics of the backplane crate


and the rack


Well, okay, maybe it is all a little ugly, but in person it doesn't look so dangerous... I need to get a tube for that cable wrapped in black, it's just powering fans and since then I got 2-pin adapters if I decide to run them off the blades, not in any rush to make changes though.

[btc-diggler]

Could anyone please give ideas about troubleshooting my issues? I've been reading these threads for days. Other people seem to have similar issues but aren't reporting if/how they solve.

Rig
1 asicblade (I have 2 but trying to debug with one) v2 new from jones gear
600w power supply, wired correctly
4 fans per blade
Rasp Pi - Debian with stratum proxy
All network connections are static ip and hard wired straight to the router.

Issues
Under performance
Blade GUIs do not like taking the same server ip and pw twice. Some times random settings appear.
Blades regularly want to switch servers.

When I was running both blades, only got 2.5 Gh consistently each blade, on eligius. I have seen each blade peak before near 7 Gh. I'm currently only running one blade now, on eligius with stratum proxy and only getting 1,733 - 2,500 Mh. Same results on slush pool, if not worse.

Checking temp with laser thermometer I get 80f on heat sink and around 100-111f on backside. Any idea how hot these things want to run? My CPU regularly runs hotter than that. The Rpi is not stressed. No IP address conflicts on network.

Is there another place for information on this setup? I'm going crazy reading these threads, and reading solutions and suggestions out of order. I will document this fix in a clear manner with hopes to help others who seem to be having similar issues.

My next try is to switch to BFGminer for a proxy, but will take more time than I have available in the next few days.

Thanks

[J_Dubbs]

Could anyone please give ideas about troubleshooting my issues? I've been reading these threads for days. Other people seem to have similar issues but aren't reporting if/how they solve.

Rig
1 asicblade (I have 2 but trying to debug with one) v2 new from jones gear
600w power supply, wired correctly
4 fans per blade
Rasp Pi - Debian with stratum proxy
All network connections are static ip and hard wired straight to the router.

Issues
Under performance
Blade GUIs do not like taking the same server ip and pw twice. Some times random settings appear.
Blades regularly want to switch servers.

When I was running both blades, only got 2.5 Gh consistently each blade, on eligius. I have seen each blade peak before near 7 Gh. I'm currently only running one blade now, on eligius with stratum proxy and only getting 1,733 - 2,500 Mh. Same results on slush pool, if not worse.

Checking temp with laser thermometer I get 80f on heat sink and around 100-111f on backside. Any idea how hot these things want to run? My CPU regularly runs hotter than that. The Rpi is not stressed. No IP address conflicts on network.

Is there another place for information on this setup? I'm going crazy reading these threads, and reading solutions and suggestions out of order. I will document this fix in a clear manner with hopes to help others who seem to be having similar issues.

My next try is to switch to BFGminer for a proxy, but will take more time than I have available in the next few days.

Thanks

Have you tried using a PC running the proxy instead of the Rpi? Maybe it's me, but I've always thought using an Rpi for blades is kinda "advanced". I'd try the dumbest config possible just to ensure the blade isn't defective, grab a crossover cable and hook the blade into a laptop with WiFi, bridge the connections and it should just do it. If that works at least you know the blade is good...

[btc-diggler]

Could anyone please give ideas about troubleshooting my issues? I've been reading these threads for days. Other people seem to have similar issues but aren't reporting if/how they solve.

Rig
1 asicblade (I have 2 but trying to debug with one) v2 new from jones gear
600w power supply, wired correctly
4 fans per blade
Rasp Pi - Debian with stratum proxy
All network connections are static ip and hard wired straight to the router.

Issues
Under performance
Blade GUIs do not like taking the same server ip and pw twice. Some times random settings appear.
Blades regularly want to switch servers.

When I was running both blades, only got 2.5 Gh consistently each blade, on eligius. I have seen each blade peak before near 7 Gh. I'm currently only running one blade now, on eligius with stratum proxy and only getting 1,733 - 2,500 Mh. Same results on slush pool, if not worse.

Checking temp with laser thermometer I get 80f on heat sink and around 100-111f on backside. Any idea how hot these things want to run? My CPU regularly runs hotter than that. The Rpi is not stressed. No IP address conflicts on network.

Is there another place for information on this setup? I'm going crazy reading these threads, and reading solutions and suggestions out of order. I will document this fix in a clear manner with hopes to help others who seem to be having similar issues.

My next try is to switch to BFGminer for a proxy, but will take more time than I have available in the next few days.

Thanks

Have you tried using a PC running the proxy instead of the Rpi? Maybe it's me, but I've always thought using an Rpi for blades is kinda "advanced". I'd try the dumbest config possible just to ensure the blade isn't defective, grab a crossover cable and hook the blade into a laptop with WiFi, bridge the connections and it should just do it. If that works at least you know the blade is good...

Thanks for the suggestion. I came here to keep my word and update what the problem was...

I installed a new router for the entire network, and installed a switch for just the mining rig and solved all issues. Pi and 2 blades on eligius hashing over 20Gs as we speak. I had to hard reset one blade to get settings to stick but it's all good now.

So glad I don't have to make a new vm to test another setup or install from scratch and try bfgminer.

Thinking back I probably should have replace the router when the dog pulled if off of the shelf. I wonder what other issues I might have just fixed.

Thanks all previous posters for the knowledge and thanks forum for letting me vent. Happy hashing.

[Theo1355]

Okay, here's the problem.  I got my 2x v2 blade rig going with 4 high performance fans right on the heatsinks.  I've got more psu than I need and everything was working super well for 24 hours.  However, when I restarted it after an hour or so of inactivity, it can't connect to eligius via getwork as before.

All chips are registering okay, all zeros under chips on the config page.
The pool address and my login info are both inputted twice, getwork.mining.eligius.st,getwork.mining.eligius.st,
Port: 8337-- this should be the current one, it's on the eligius webpage.
My local network must be alive cause I can reach the config page.

The only thing registered is the run time, which goes up to around 2min15secs before the blade automatically restarts.

I've sifted through most of this thread to find out what might be the issue but this has proved unfruitful.  

Does anyone know what might be the issue?