Question about mining with a BFL 5GH/s on Android phone

[bitman442]

Can anyone tell me if the usb connection on a Jalapeno can power an Android phone? I have an extra HTC Merge laying around so I was wondering if there was a way to run the Jalapeno I'm getting off of it.

[Zanatos666]

Huh, wait, waaaa???  I am lost on what you are trying to do.  The USB connection on the back of Jalapeno is for data.  It has its on separate power connector.....

[Myrddindc]

I think the OP was wondering if theres android software to drive the jalapeneo and get it mining (without the need for a PC) I understand BFL were saying something about developing this?

(I'm not a BFL apologist but. . .  please all do not turn this into another anti BFL rant, theres plenty of other threads where that can be posted.)

Myrdd

[Leon D]

I think it depends on your device and know-how.  I would imagine that most Android devices are capable of running your rig.  You'd need to look into unlocking the bootloader of your device and then flashing mounted images of the BFL software.  Hate to say, there's not an app for that.

[J35st3r]

Not an expert here (certainly not BFL affiliated), but  USB is NOT symmetric. One end is host, the other is client. Since the Jallie is plugging into a PC, its a client so, NO it won't back-power the Android. This is deliberate and all sorts of protection circuitry is built into USB to prevent back-powering, or should be anyway, you can't be sure with BFL [EndTrolling]

[MWNinja]

Most phones/tablets actually expose a USB OTG port (cable detect switching from USB device to USB host), which most certainly can be used as a USB host so long as the kernel supports it and you use a USB OTG host cable. 

[bitman442]

Not an expert here (certainly not BFL affiliated), but  USB is NOT symmetric. One end is host, the other is client. Since the Jallie is plugging into a PC, its a client so, NO it won't back-power the Android. This is deliberate and all sorts of protection circuitry is built into USB to prevent back-powering, or should be anyway, you can't be sure with BFL [EndTrolling]

Okay, thank you. I'm pretty sure they did design a miner (BFG miner?) ported for android to use on tablets, and I'm sure I can figure out how to use it with a phone. The problem is, If I can't power the phone from the Jalapeno then there will be no way for me to charge it. Any suggestions?

[J35st3r]

Not an expert here (certainly not BFL affiliated), but  USB is NOT symmetric. One end is host, the other is client. Since the Jallie is plugging into a PC, its a client so, NO it won't back-power the Android. This is deliberate and all sorts of protection circuitry is built into USB to prevent back-powering, or should be anyway, you can't be sure with BFL [EndTrolling]

Okay, thank you. I'm pretty sure they did design a miner (BFG miner?) ported for android to use on tablets, and I'm sure I can figure out how to use it with a phone. The problem is, If I can't power the phone from the Jalapeno then there will be no way for me to charge it. Any suggestions?

Well, the Jallie needs power (about 30W), so its going to be plugged into the mains (unless you've got some weird Solar fetish, but that was another discussion I had recently). So what's difficult about using a mains splitter (power strip, or whatever its called in MidAlanticEnglish) and using a conventional phone charger? Unless the Android has just got the one socket that doubles for both charging and USB? In which case, perhaps a bit of "making" is in order. Build a Y cable to split power off USB data. Just speculating here, Love to hear any suggestions.

[bitman442]

Not an expert here (certainly not BFL affiliated), but  USB is NOT symmetric. One end is host, the other is client. Since the Jallie is plugging into a PC, its a client so, NO it won't back-power the Android. This is deliberate and all sorts of protection circuitry is built into USB to prevent back-powering, or should be anyway, you can't be sure with BFL [EndTrolling]

Okay, thank you. I'm pretty sure they did design a miner (BFG miner?) ported for android to use on tablets, and I'm sure I can figure out how to use it with a phone. The problem is, If I can't power the phone from the Jalapeno then there will be no way for me to charge it. Any suggestions?

Well, the Jallie needs power (about 30W), so its going to be plugged into the mains (unless you've got some weird Solar fetish, but that was another discussion I had recently). So what's difficult about using a mains splitter (power strip, or whatever its called in MidAlanticEnglish) and using a conventional phone charger? Unless the Android has just got the one socket that doubles for both charging and USB? In which case, perhaps a bit of "making" is in order. Build a Y cable to split power off USB data. Just speculating here, Love to hear any suggestions.

Yes, the problem is that it only has one micro (or mini, too lazy to look it up ATM) USB port.  Is there a way to use a splitter or something to run the data from the miner and power from the charger through the port concurrently?

[turtle83]

Most phones/tablets actually expose a USB OTG port (cable detect switching from USB device to USB host), which most certainly can be used as a USB host so long as the kernel supports it and you use a USB OTG host cable. 

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/host.html

USB host mode is supported in Android 3.1 and higher

[Quix]

If it's a serial device it's definitely possible, but no one has written the software needed yet. I could do it, but seeing as I don't have any BFL hardware I'm definitely not going to.

[crazyates]

Most phones/tablets actually expose a USB OTG port (cable detect switching from USB device to USB host), which most certainly can be used as a USB host so long as the kernel supports it and you use a USB OTG host cable. 

http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/connectivity/usb/host.html

USB host mode is supported in Android 3.1 and higher

To fully enable OTG support, you need way more than just a phone (or tablet) with a newer OS. See here.

You need a list of things, including 1) an OS higher than 3.1 (which means ICS or JB for any phone), 2) compatible hardware (not every phone uses an OTG port), 3) OTG drivers (which usually means a rooted kernel), and finally 4) device drivers (BFG and CGMiner use different drivers for FPGA and ASIC devices).

If you look at EasyMiner on the Android Market, it specifies all 4 of those. It requires the Nexus 7, which takes care of #1 (Nexus 7 comes with 4.2.2, as of today) and #2 (it has a proper OTG port, not just a USB port). #3 is taken care of by a rooted and 3rd party kernel, and #4 is most likely the reason it uses BFG instead of CGMiner.

If you were able to find a phone that could be had for less than $50, that has an ICS or JB ROM with the hardware and kernel to enable OTG support, I'm sure you could prolly use EasyMiner and the included BFG to mine on it.

I've got an old Droid X I bought off fleabay for $50 with a bad ESN years ago. Makes a wonderful media player or angry-birds-machine for myself or the kids. It has an ICS rom on it, but the hardware doesn't support OTG, and there are no kernels outside of the stock one, so that phone won't work.

[crazyates]

If you were able to find a phone that could be had for less than $50, that has an ICS or JB ROM with the hardware and kernel to enable OTG support, I'm sure you could prolly use EasyMiner and the included BFG to mine on it.

Looks like a Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, or a Galaxy S2 might work. All of them seem to have ICS ROMs with kernels that enable OTG support. Anyone with these phones care to give it a try?

[vapourminer]

Yes, the problem is that it only has one micro (or mini, too lazy to look it up ATM) USB port.  Is there a way to use a splitter or something to run the data from the miner and power from the charger through the port concurrently?

something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Apricorn-Power-Adapter-Cable-AUSB-Y/dp/B000JIOHDE

with proper ends or adapters of course. use a usb charger to inject power to the Y, the jally ignores the power, the android charges and can talk to the jally.

[bitman442]

If you were able to find a phone that could be had for less than $50, that has an ICS or JB ROM with the hardware and kernel to enable OTG support, I'm sure you could prolly use EasyMiner and the included BFG to mine on it.

Looks like a Nexus S, Galaxy Nexus, or a Galaxy S2 might work. All of them seem to have ICS ROMs with kernels that enable OTG support. Anyone with these phones care to give it a try?

Yeah, that's why I figured it might be possible. The minirig is controlled from a Nexus. Anyway, it sounds to me like this project would be way more trouble than it's worth, thanks for the answers guys. I have been wanting a good excuse to get a Raspberry Pi anyway.