How to use ASICMiner Block Erupters with CGMiner on Windows 7

[mdude77]

wow,that baby runs hot.. i just have one of those sticks, so i wanted to run it right off the USB slot (no fan)

Should i get a hub to get it away from the computer? Possible overheating or fire hazard concerns ??

I'm new and don't want to do something stupid.

Donation Sent, thks again

You want some sort of active cooling on it.  I have a box fan blowing on mine.

M

[Naelr]

wow,that baby runs hot.. i just have one of those sticks, so i wanted to run it right off the USB slot (no fan)

Should i get a hub to get it away from the computer? Possible overheating or fire hazard concerns ??

I'm new and don't want to do something stupid.

Donation Sent, thks again

You want some sort of active cooling on it.  I have a box fan blowing on mine.

M

a box fan.. woah overkill.. This is all I have for 11 of them and they stay cool to the touch.

[mdude77]

wow,that baby runs hot.. i just have one of those sticks, so i wanted to run it right off the USB slot (no fan)

Should i get a hub to get it away from the computer? Possible overheating or fire hazard concerns ??

I'm new and don't want to do something stupid.

Donation Sent, thks again

You want some sort of active cooling on it.  I have a box fan blowing on mine.

M

a box fan.. woah overkill.. This is all I have for 11 of them and they stay cool to the touch.

Neat idea.  I still have GPUs, the fan is for the both the GPUs and these.  When the GPUs are gone I'll switch to something smaller.

M

[Adrian-x]

wow,that baby runs hot.. i just have one of those sticks, so i wanted to run it right off the USB slot (no fan)

Should i get a hub to get it away from the computer? Possible overheating or fire hazard concerns ??

I'm new and don't want to do something stupid.

Donation Sent, thks again

You want some sort of active cooling on it.  I have a box fan blowing on mine.

M

a box fan.. woah overkill.. This is all I have for 11 of them and they stay cool to the touch.

I always get a kick out of seeing other peoples rigs setup, the first thought that goes through my mind is the biggest revolution in the history of the modem worlds is being run on hacked together computers and cooled with little fans, or some inappropriate blower.  In comparison to the well organised server farms of the of a falling financial system.    

[CommanderVenus]

you're correct, it was listed under ports.

when i double click cgminer nogpu this is what im seeing

http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/tommybstring/media/shot1_zpsbce4d3f3.jpg.html

this is my first mining attempt, many thks

You're using cgminer 3.2.1.  It doesn't work with the UART driver (it's what makes it show up as a COM port).  Use 3.1.1 and you should be fine.

If you want to use 3.2.1, you'll have to uninstall the UART driver.  Rumor has it this doesn't work properly if you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port.  I haven't tried it yet, took too long for me to recover from trying 3.2.0.

M

Uninstalling those drivers just makes them appear in "Other devices" with the yellow ! sign. Is there a way to get them working with 3.2.1?

3.1.1 is working just fine in windows 7 32 bit though.

[mdude77]

you're correct, it was listed under ports.

when i double click cgminer nogpu this is what im seeing

http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/tommybstring/media/shot1_zpsbce4d3f3.jpg.html

this is my first mining attempt, many thks

You're using cgminer 3.2.1.  It doesn't work with the UART driver (it's what makes it show up as a COM port).  Use 3.1.1 and you should be fine.

If you want to use 3.2.1, you'll have to uninstall the UART driver.  Rumor has it this doesn't work properly if you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port.  I haven't tried it yet, took too long for me to recover from trying 3.2.0.

M

Uninstalling those drivers just makes them appear in "Other devices" with the yellow ! sign. Is there a way to get them working with 3.2.1?

3.1.1 is working just fine in windows 7 32 bit though.

Supposedly you have to use Zadig to fix the driver.  It'll then show up in USB devices. 

M

[dangue]

you're correct, it was listed under ports.

when i double click cgminer nogpu this is what im seeing

http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/tommybstring/media/shot1_zpsbce4d3f3.jpg.html

this is my first mining attempt, many thks

You're using cgminer 3.2.1.  It doesn't work with the UART driver (it's what makes it show up as a COM port).  Use 3.1.1 and you should be fine.

If you want to use 3.2.1, you'll have to uninstall the UART driver.  Rumor has it this doesn't work properly if you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port.  I haven't tried it yet, took too long for me to recover from trying 3.2.0.

M

Just hoping for a quick clarification:  By USB 3.0 port do you mean on the computer or where the miner is physically connected.  I guess what I'm wondering is if the miners being plugged into a USB 3.0 hub but the hub being plugged into a 2.0 port on the computer makes a difference or if any USB 3.0 connection in the chain is enough to mess it up.

I'm running on 3.1.1 right now, but would love to try 3.2.1 to see if it does reduce the number of HW errors as some have reported.  But I don't want to generate unnecessary problems for myself if it is already known not to work.

[mdude77]

Just hoping for a quick clarification:  By USB 3.0 port do you mean on the computer or where the miner is physically connected.  I guess what I'm wondering is if the miners being plugged into a USB 3.0 hub but the hub being plugged into a 2.0 port on the computer makes a difference or if any USB 3.0 connection in the chain is enough to mess it up.

I'm running on 3.1.1 right now, but would love to try 3.2.1 to see if it does reduce the number of HW errors as some have reported.  But I don't want to generate unnecessary problems for myself if it is already known not to work.

Excellent question.

I can tell you the computer I have my miners on does _not_ have a 3.0 port.  The 3.0 hub is plugged into a 2.0 port.  I could not get 3.2.0 to work, but that may not be USB 3.0 related.  I spent too much time trying to get it work and recovering from that attempt to make me a bit wary of trying again until I see confirmations was others that it's working properly.  So far all I've seen is akin to "we're pretty sure it doesn't work with 3.0".

M

[joae1975]

Just got my USB ASICminer running on an Anker USB 3.0 hub using cgminer-nogpu v3.1.1.  So it can be done.  Here's my .bat file txt.

Code:

C:\Users\my name\Desktop\cgminer-3.1.1-windows\cgminer-nogpu.exe -o http://rr.btcmp.com:8332 -u XXX -p YYY --icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S \\.\COM3

It worked after repeatedly installing these drivers:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libwdi/files/zadig/
http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx

Keep doing it until the "(COM3)" appears after the "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge"

If "(COM3)" is not visible for 1 USB device, cgminer can't see it.

This is coming from an excited noob miner.   I DID IT!!!

Can't wait for my other 5 to come in the mail.

[mdude77]

Just got my USB ASICminer running on an Anker USB 3.0 hub using cgminer-nogpu v3.1.1.  So it can be done.  Here's my .bat file txt.

Code:

C:\Users\my name\Desktop\cgminer-3.1.1-windows\cgminer-nogpu.exe -o http://rr.btcmp.com:8332 -u XXX -p YYY --icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S \\.\COM3

It worked after repeatedly installing these drivers:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libwdi/files/zadig/
http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx

Keep doing it until the "(COM3)" appears after the "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge"

If "(COM3)" is not visible for 1 USB device, cgminer can't see it.

This is coming from an excited noob miner.   I DID IT!!!

Can't wait for my other 5 to come in the mail.

It definitely works with 3.1.1.  The question is whether it works with 3.2.1 or not.  I have the same config, btw, with an Anker USB 3.0 hub.

M

[joae1975]

Just got my USB ASICminer running on an Anker USB 3.0 hub using cgminer-nogpu v3.1.1.  So it can be done.  Here's my .bat file txt.

Code:

C:\Users\my name\Desktop\cgminer-3.1.1-windows\cgminer-nogpu.exe -o http://rr.btcmp.com:8332 -u XXX -p YYY --icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S \\.\COM3

It worked after repeatedly installing these drivers:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libwdi/files/zadig/
http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx

Keep doing it until the "(COM3)" appears after the "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge"

If "(COM3)" is not visible for 1 USB device, cgminer can't see it.

This is coming from an excited noob miner.   I DID IT!!!

Can't wait for my other 5 to come in the mail.

It definitely works with 3.1.1.  The question is whether it works with 3.2.1 or not.  I have the same config, btw, with an Anker USB 3.0 hub.

M

I read somewhere that the Anker 3.0's wouldn't work with cgminer.  Not trying to be smart, but why should we even care if it doesn't work with 3.2.1 or higher.  If it works, it works....right?

[dangue]

Just got my USB ASICminer running on an Anker USB 3.0 hub using cgminer-nogpu v3.1.1.  So it can be done.  Here's my .bat file txt.

Code:

C:\Users\my name\Desktop\cgminer-3.1.1-windows\cgminer-nogpu.exe -o http://rr.btcmp.com:8332 -u XXX -p YYY --icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S \\.\COM3

It worked after repeatedly installing these drivers:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/libwdi/files/zadig/
http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx

Keep doing it until the "(COM3)" appears after the "Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge"

If "(COM3)" is not visible for 1 USB device, cgminer can't see it.

This is coming from an excited noob miner.   I DID IT!!!

Can't wait for my other 5 to come in the mail.

It definitely works with 3.1.1.  The question is whether it works with 3.2.1 or not.  I have the same config, btw, with an Anker USB 3.0 hub.

M

I read somewhere that the Anker 3.0's wouldn't work with cgminer.  Not trying to be smart, but why should we even care if it doesn't work with 3.2.1 or higher.  If it works, it works....right?

That's reportedly version 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 (although it might be fixed in 3.2.1).  The reason why it matters is that cgminer 3.2.1 has been altered to work better with the USB ASICS (making them hot swappable and supposedly reducing the HW error rate).  Getting the HW error rate as low as possible to improve miner efficiency and productivity will help improve profitability.

[joae1975]

That's reportedly version 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 (although it might be fixed in 3.2.1).  The reason why it matters is that cgminer 3.2.1 has been altered to work better with the USB ASICS (making them hot swappable and supposedly reducing the HW error rate).  Getting the HW error rate as low as possible to improve miner efficiency and productivity will help improve profitability.

I have a fan on mine.  FED EX guy just brought 5 more to the door!  WOOT! Hooked 'em up asap.
...getting ~2375Mh/s on 6 USB's

[dangue]

Ran into a weird problem.  My apologies if it has already been answered somewhere, but a search didn't lead me to anything fruitful. 

For the past couple of days I've been running cgminer 3.1.1 with 3 USB ASICs on a Anker 3.0 hub.  I just received two more today.  I plugged them in and made note of the COM ports they were assigned and added them to the bat file.  When I run the file, cgminer recognizes that they are all there, but only "ICA 0" is initialized, "ICA 1" - "ICA 4" all show as "OFF".

Here's the code:

Code:

start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM3 -S COM5 -S COM6 -S COM7 -S COM9

But, if I give each COM it's own line, they all work (but with five different cgminer instances).

Here's that code:

Code:

start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM3
start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM5
start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM6
start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM7
start /D "C:\Users\Dan\Desktop\Bitcoin\CGMiner" cgminer-nogpu.exe -o stratum+tcp://stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 -u user.worker2 -p password--icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S COM9

Ideally, I'd like to have one instance of cgminer open for all of them.  Has anyone else encountered this?  Or any thoughts on how to fix it?  I'm not a coder by trade, so odds are it's something simple that I'm overlooking.  Thanks for the help.

[innovation]

oh. I know the use of \\.\. So many thanks to you.

[agibby5]

I got mine working using this:

Code:

.\cgminer-3.1.1-windows\cgminer-nogpu.exe --icarus-options 115200:1:1 --icarus-timing 3.0=100 -S \\.\COM14 -S \\.\COM15 -S \\.\COM16 -S \\.\COM17 -S \\.\COM19 -S \\.\COM20 -S \\.\COM21 -S \\.\COM22 -S \\.\COM23 -S \\.\COM24   

However this is super annoying since when you reboot, the com ports might no longer line up.  Anyway, I couldn't get it working under 3.2.1 at all.  The threads kept dying and the devices were added over and over until cgminer crashes.  Ugh. I wish I didn't have to pass all those command line args to 3.1.1.  I'd rather use the automatically configured 3.2+, however it appears too buggy at the moment for me.

[FiatKiller]

Used Orig Post to get 9 instantly working on an Anker plugged into USB 2.0 port and using cg 3.1.1

Will experiment with later cg versions as days go on - just happy to have my first ASICs working! woo hoo!

[Naelr]

wow,that baby runs hot.. i just have one of those sticks, so i wanted to run it right off the USB slot (no fan)

Should i get a hub to get it away from the computer? Possible overheating or fire hazard concerns ??

I'm new and don't want to do something stupid.

Donation Sent, thks again

You want some sort of active cooling on it.  I have a box fan blowing on mine.

M

a box fan.. woah overkill.. This is all I have for 11 of them and they stay cool to the touch.

I always get a kick out of seeing other peoples rigs setup, the first thought that goes through my mind is the biggest revolution in the history of the modem worlds is being run on hacked together computers and cooled with little fans, or some inappropriate blower.  In comparison to the well organised server farms of the of a falling financial system.    

WOAH MAN THAT IS DEEP... yea that was a quick hack together because the box behind that the fans are on is my NAS that has a mobo going bad.  (New mobo is on floor bought with bitcoins but the memory got lost in shipping)  My plan is to get a junk power supply and rig it up to just start and hook the fans to that.

[Naelr]

you're correct, it was listed under ports.

when i double click cgminer nogpu this is what im seeing

http://s1341.photobucket.com/user/tommybstring/media/shot1_zpsbce4d3f3.jpg.html

this is my first mining attempt, many thks

You're using cgminer 3.2.1.  It doesn't work with the UART driver (it's what makes it show up as a COM port).  Use 3.1.1 and you should be fine.

If you want to use 3.2.1, you'll have to uninstall the UART driver.  Rumor has it this doesn't work properly if you have it plugged into a USB 3.0 port.  I haven't tried it yet, took too long for me to recover from trying 3.2.0.

M

Just hoping for a quick clarification:  By USB 3.0 port do you mean on the computer or where the miner is physically connected.  I guess what I'm wondering is if the miners being plugged into a USB 3.0 hub but the hub being plugged into a 2.0 port on the computer makes a difference or if any USB 3.0 connection in the chain is enough to mess it up.

I'm running on 3.1.1 right now, but would love to try 3.2.1 to see if it does reduce the number of HW errors as some have reported.  But I don't want to generate unnecessary problems for myself if it is already known not to work.

I had  a usb 3.0 4 port plugged into usb 2.0 slot and 3.2.1 worked in linux just fine.  I kept getting zombied devices when I assume they would normally get a hardware error.  The beauty of 3.2.1 was the miner would go offline then comeback as a different usb miner and start hashing away until the next error but my screen would fill up with zombies.  And because of all the zombies going on my hashrate was lower.  I am sticking with 3.1.1 for the higher hashrate and I think it just looks better without 15 zombies not hashing away.

Naelr

[FiatKiller]

You have to remember that higher USB versions are downwardly compatible. You just miss out on any benefits of the newer version like more speed, etc.  90% of the normal users out there have no clue to look for a blue port when plugging in their new devices, so from a marketing standpoint they would never shoot themselves in the foot like that.