Newbie Questions

[PiscesMike]

Greetings all, and thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'm new to bitcoin mining, have just got my system set up, things are running and I'm generating some BTC here and there. Things look ok, but I have a few questions that I still haven't been able to resolve.

It seems the longer I leave the mining running, the more share I get. I understand that, but my question is what happens if I have to shut down or restart my machine? Seems like last time I did that I lost my shares. I've got a couple now and need to restart after installing some software but I don't want to chance losing my payout. Are these shares saved once they have been mined? If I have those now, and turn off my machine and not mine for a couple days, will I still get the payout? Does my system have to be running when the block is found to get the payout?

Like I said, thanks for any help/advice/information you can send my way.

[1714813449]

1714813449

[1714813449]

1714813449

[1714813449]

1714813449

[DannyHamilton]

Each pool has their own rules for how they handle such things, so to a certain extent the answer will depend on which pool you are mining in (you didn't mention any pool in your question).

In general, I wouldn't expect any pool that is operated well to "lose" the shares you've already contributed, but some pools reward you based on the age of the shares you've submitted to prevent people from pool hopping.

[PiscesMike]

Thank you Danny! I am actually using p2pool at the moment.

Figured it was something that was probably stored once it was generated but am still having a hard time finding good info. I guess I'm being a little over-paranoid but I seem to have had the worst luck getting things set up and running.

[PiscesMike]

PS - Love the TARDIS. Actually spent a good hour reading about it just today, LOL.

[DannyHamilton]

PS - Love the TARDIS. Actually spent a good hour reading about it just today, LOL.

Reading about the TARDIS?  Reading what?

[KSV]

what are you mining with? GPU? or FPGA?

[PiscesMike]

PS - Love the TARDIS. Actually spent a good hour reading about it just today, LOL.

Reading about the TARDIS?  Reading what?

Read the big ol' wikipedia article about its different incarnations since the beginnings.. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

I've worked a few film jobs, and just found the article pretty interesting. IMHO, Tom Baker is 'The Doctor'. I actually went to the trouble to get his book "The boy who kicked pigs" shipped from overseas, and I got to say it was rather dark and morbid, a great read. I can't say for sure, but I'm in the habit of collecting autographs, and I think I bought this particular book because Mr. Baker had himself signed it. I need to find the book and see, lol.

[PiscesMike]

what are you mining with? GPU? or FPGA?

Currently I'm using an XFX Radeon HD4870. I was using 2 of these in crossfire, but after only 6 days, one of the cards went bad. Don't know exactly what caused it, I was keeping an eye on the temperature pretty darned closely and it seemed to have stabilized when I put a floor fan blowing on the computers case from the side.

The cards are a little old(by todays standards), I'm poor and had to build my computer by buying one part a month over the course of, well, it turned out 3 years (Father died, had to leave work to care for my mom who has Alzheimers so had to take a purchase break there for a little bit). Anyways, the cards had been sitting in the original box until I put everything together on 05.20.2013. Everthing seemed to be going fine until I woke up one day, and the second card was dead.

I've heard HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE things about the XFX company.... including that when this particular set of cards is used in crossfire, one will short against the other and fry it. The other major complaint against this company was that they had the absolute WORST customer service in history... ignoring support requests, not answering basic user questions, on and on.

When I was examining the contents of the cards box, I found a registration card (of course I never registered), which stated that XFX products have a lifetime warranty on parts and labor. I figured what the heck, can't hurt, right? So I went to the website and registered my 3 year old cards and submitted a support ticket. Low and behold, they actually not only responded to me, but autorized an RMA. I've sent it off to them and only time will tell what happens.

Anyways, sorry for the wall of text in response to a simple question!

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
I'm in the habit of collecting autographs, and I think I bought this particular book because Mr. Baker had himself signed it. I need to find the book and see, lol.

Back in 1991 I acquired a framed black and white photo of Tom Baker that he autographed at a convention.  It's still hanging around here somewhere (probably in a box in the basement).  I should go find it and see if anyone would want to buy it.

[J35st3r]

I got burned by an XFX card off ebay. Cheap. Too cheap. DOA and the scammer had removed the serial numbers. Offered a me refund but was giving me so much of a run around that I dropped the case in the end (life is too short to waste on scum like that). Reported him to the police as suspected of selling stolen goods (like deliberately removing the SNs). Too busy to investigate they said. Still got it, looks very nice in its box. Still lessons learned.

Rant over, feel better now 

[PiscesMike]

- snip -
I'm in the habit of collecting autographs, and I think I bought this particular book because Mr. Baker had himself signed it. I need to find the book and see, lol.

Back in 1991 I acquired a framed black and white photo of Tom Baker that he autographed at a convention.  It's still hanging around here somewhere (probably in a box in the basement).  I should go find it and see if anyone would want to buy it.

Depending on the price, I would. Like I said, I can't remember if he signed the book or not, it seems like he did, but I would still love an actual photo - it would go great between my Geena Davis and Elizabeth Hurley!

[PiscesMike]

I got burned by an XFX card off ebay. Cheap. Too cheap. DOA and the scammer had removed the serial numbers. Offered a me refund but was giving me so much of a run around that I dropped the case in the end (life is too short to waste on scum like that). Reported him to the police as suspected of selling stolen goods (like deliberately removing the SNs). Too busy to investigate they said. Still got it, looks very nice in its box. Still lessons learned.

Rant over, feel better now 

Yeah, that's exactly what I've been hearing, and not just from Ebay, but from the company itself. I was surprised they responded, and am actually very curious as to what will happen. Being as these cards aren't even produced anymore I'm wondering where they could possible get parts to 'fix' it. I was thinking once they look at it and declare it dead, they might send me something comparable or an offer for a good percentage off a newer model. Sorry to hear of the Ebay troubles, I used to do quite a lot of estate sales there since my dad passed and left us a bunch of ham radio equipment. As sad of a state as things are for buyers, you can't imagine how much more selling actually sucks. I almost got took for $700 on a piece of hardware because the guy wanted a refund but basically refused to go through ebay to get it. In other words, he wanted me to send him money, then he could have went through ebay and got more money. Either way, they will (and did) go into your bank account and take assets to send to the buyer.

[r.freeman]

Greetings all, and thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I'm new to bitcoin mining, have just got my system set up, things are running and I'm generating some BTC here and there. Things look ok, but I have a few questions that I still haven't been able to resolve.

It seems the longer I leave the mining running, the more share I get. I understand that, but my question is what happens if I have to shut down or restart my machine? Seems like last time I did that I lost my shares. I've got a couple now and need to restart after installing some software but I don't want to chance losing my payout. Are these shares saved once they have been mined? If I have those now, and turn off my machine and not mine for a couple days, will I still get the payout? Does my system have to be running when the block is found to get the payout?

Like I said, thanks for any help/advice/information you can send my way.

You do not have to run it all the time. Running it more continuously will be beneficial, but is not necessary.

[J35st3r]

Yeah, that's exactly what I've been hearing, and not just from Ebay, but from the company itself. I was surprised they responded, and am actually very curious as to what will happen. Being as these cards aren't even produced anymore I'm wondering where they could possible get parts to 'fix' it. I was thinking once they look at it and declare it dead, they might send me something comparable or an offer for a good percentage off a newer model. Sorry to hear of the Ebay troubles, I used to do quite a lot of estate sales there since my dad passed and left us a bunch of ham radio equipment. As sad of a state as things are for buyers, you can't imagine how much more selling actually sucks. I almost got took for $700 on a piece of hardware because the guy wanted a refund but basically refused to go through ebay to get it. In other words, he wanted me to send him money, then he could have went through ebay and got more money. Either way, they will (and did) go into your bank account and take assets to send to the buyer.

Yeah, seems the more unscrupulous you are, the easier it is to get away with it. buyer or seller. Trouble is that I'd lost so much faith in the guy (lying through his teeth in PM's), that when it came to actually sending the card back it seemed like spending good money after bad. I'd pay the postage and I fully expected him to claim it never arrived or that I had damaged it, leaving me the hassle of proving I sent it. Not worth it, wasted hours on PM's and ebay reporting already so I cut my losses. So scammer won in the end. I've not even bothered to check if he's still trading. Best forgotten.

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
I'm in the habit of collecting autographs, and I think I bought this particular book because Mr. Baker had himself signed it. I need to find the book and see, lol.

Back in 1991 I acquired a framed black and white photo of Tom Baker that he autographed at a convention.  It's still hanging around here somewhere (probably in a box in the basement).  I should go find it and see if anyone would want to buy it.

Depending on the price, I would. Like I said, I can't remember if he signed the book or not, it seems like he did, but I would still love an actual photo - it would go great between my Geena Davis and Elizabeth Hurley!

I'll look for it this weekend.  I'll let you know if I find it.

[PiscesMike]

- snip -
I'm in the habit of collecting autographs, and I think I bought this particular book because Mr. Baker had himself signed it. I need to find the book and see, lol.

Back in 1991 I acquired a framed black and white photo of Tom Baker that he autographed at a convention.  It's still hanging around here somewhere (probably in a box in the basement).  I should go find it and see if anyone would want to buy it.

Depending on the price, I would. Like I said, I can't remember if he signed the book or not, it seems like he did, but I would still love an actual photo - it would go great between my Geena Davis and Elizabeth Hurley!

I'll look for it this weekend.  I'll let you know if I find it.

Wow, Awesome! Don't rush though, I won't get paid for about another 3 weeks, and unfortunately, we are a little behind from last months bills. This month is going to be a little tricky, I just recently found someone capable of doing 3d modelling for my game, and between bills and the modelling work, things are going to be tight. Fortunately, I have my wife slaving away at her job and I confiscate her earnings accordingly, so somewhere around the 20th or 07.04.2013 we should be in good shape. Or, well better shape anyways. I also have a little bit of a balance in my wallet so maybe we can work out some BTC/some cash if that is amicable. Big spending list, little spending ability, LMAO. Also found out, I have to purchase an XBOX 360 to beta test my games before release, but that can wait a couple months. I'm going to send you a whisper or PM with my email address.... . I actually thought this particular post was dead, I just happened to come back across it because it was the only bookmark I have for this website. Thanks again!