Official FutureBit Moonlander 2 Driver and Support Thread

[slanislaw]

Hello all! Just scratching the surface with mining and trying to wrap my brain around it, there sure is a lot. I just received 3 Moonlanders in the mail and excited to get started. Couple quick questions for all the seasoned veterans out there, I appreciate the tips for the newb. For the 3 Moonlanders, they will be on a 7 port HUB, new laptop with Windows 10 and BFGminer running only the sticks, nothing else with 24 hour availability.

1) With 3 sticks is it feasible/profitable to solo mine or better off joining a pool?

2) If solo, can you mine fractionals or must one wait until the entire blockchain has been solved?

3) If pool is better, which pool are people getting the best success on? There are so many with mixed opinions.

Any and all help is genuinely appreciated, even if you are hyperlinking me to something else. I've done quite a bit of internet searching and still left scratching my head. Thank you in advance!

1) It is profitable to solo mine low diff non-merged mined scrypt coins.
2) No clue what you're talking about, sorry.
3) I like multipool.us its an auto-switching pool.

[SirPuttsalot]

I've just received my 4 new Moonlander 2's.

After driver installation and downloading bfgminer, when I only plug one miner in and run it appears to run flawlessly, I start getting hash statistics, etc.

But as I plug in additional ones, their MLD line-item shows up at the top, but it all sits at zero and the new MLD 1 never gets an "Accepted 00eeabf13 MLD 1 Diff 3m/3m" indication. I only get those for MLD 0.

I have plugged in all 4, started bfgminer and seen MLD 0 through 3 up at the top, but only one of them actually does any processing. By the way, these are all plugged directly to the main board (Desktop, Windows 10). Not a hub or anything, but directly to the machine.

Running any one on its own appears to work.

Also, if I plug in one, and run bfgminer (with --no-hotplug option), it appears to work. Then plugging in a second device and starting a second instance of bfgminer, this appears to spin up the new moonlander. I tried this for all 4 and it seemed to work, but this requires unplugging all of them, plugging them in one at a time and launching multiple bfgminer instances. It's cumbersome and seems like it shouldn't be necessary.

Any advice?

[a1unicorn]

I have got my moonlander 2 & facing couple of issues,

I have connected the USB device to my laptop with clock set to the lowest frequency ("--set MLD:clock=384"). I'm using the low frequency setting until i get my new USB HUB. The issue is the hashing stops/halts after running for few minutes. Below are the two cases i have observed.

case 1:
hashing stops/halts when it encounters "stratum connection to pool 0 interrupted". I have waited for almost 30 minutes after this last message in my screenshot & it never progressed.
https://imgur.com/rpn2Fre

Please help me if I'm missing anything here or to tweak anything to make it run continuously without restarts for every few minutes.

Thank you.  

I'm getting this exact same problem on my moonlander2. After mining for a few hours, the stratum connection is interrupted and the GPU hangs.  Once I manually reset it, it works fine.


Does anyone know for a way to auto-restart bfgminer if this specifically happens? Or know why this is happening?  I'm running Windows 7.

I hope this isn't the only solution:

Anyone have a good solution on Windows to just kill bfgminer and restart from bat file every 30 or 60 minutes?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15602687/batch-file-restart-program-after-every-20-minutes

[hercthx]

I've just received my 4 new Moonlander 2's.

After driver installation and downloading bfgminer, when I only plug one miner in and run it appears to run flawlessly, I start getting hash statistics, etc.

But as I plug in additional ones, their MLD line-item shows up at the top, but it all sits at zero and the new MLD 1 never gets an "Accepted 00eeabf13 MLD 1 Diff 3m/3m" indication. I only get those for MLD 0.

I have plugged in all 4, started bfgminer and seen MLD 0 through 3 up at the top, but only one of them actually does any processing. By the way, these are all plugged directly to the main board (Desktop, Windows 10). Not a hub or anything, but directly to the machine.

Running any one on its own appears to work.

Also, if I plug in one, and run bfgminer (with --no-hotplug option), it appears to work. Then plugging in a second device and starting a second instance of bfgminer, this appears to spin up the new moonlander. I tried this for all 4 and it seemed to work, but this requires unplugging all of them, plugging them in one at a time and launching multiple bfgminer instances. It's cumbersome and seems like it shouldn't be necessary.

Any advice?

What OS are you running on?

[SirPuttsalot]

What OS are you running on?

Running Windows 10. It's weird every miner looks like it spins up and starts executing fine on its own. But when it detects more than one, only one does work.

[hercthx]

What OS are you running on?

Running Windows 10. It's weird every miner looks like it spins up and starts executing fine on its own. But when it detects more than one, only one does work.

Have you tried installing all the MLDs first, and then running BFGminer?
Did you try letting a MLD fully install before adding the next one?
Does your USB hub meet the sufficient power requirements?
Do all MLDs show up in Device Manager under Ports (COM & LPT) as Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM#)?
What arguments are you using in your bat. file MLD=all or MDL@COM#?
 
On first install not all my MLD ran on first execute as well, I had to option Q BFGminer and restart a couple of times to get them all running. Eventually I created a bin. for individual MLDs by using the argument of MLD@COM# (where # is the Com number of the MLD as per Device Manager). This way if one doesn't start up at execute I can just option Q for 1 MLD.

Hope this helps!

[Astrali]

Serial numbers - Does the hex serial number in bfgminer under [M]anage Devices correspond with the gold sticker on the PCB?

Can someone help me figure out how to make a voltage reading correctly? I have a multimeter, but can't figure out how to get the proper reading.
What is the dial I need to set it at?
For the black & red tips, do I just put each on the metal squares that are on the side?

To embed an image, you have to go to IMGUR and get the Direct Link URL.

Set the dial to 20 (clockwise 1 step) and it should work.
this can measure from 0 up to 20V

and then place the pins on the points stated in the "tuning" section

good luck!

[makechickenwingsgreatagai]

I've got one Moonlander 2 running on Windows 10 that had been awesome for a few days and then this morning i saw it was stuck on "stratum detected a new block" which has happened before but a simple restart worked. https://imgur.com/a/kl6FE

Tried that this morning but now when I click on the start moonlander batch, it opens for a flash then quits or says "bfgminer.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command"

I have restarted my computer, deleted and redownloaded all drivers and programs but the same situation. Anyone know how to fix it?

Edited to include the screenshot*

[dvsrk]

I've got one Moonlander 2 running on Windows 10 that had been awesome for a few days and then this morning i saw it was stuck on "stratum detected a new block" which has happened before but a simple restart worked. https://imgur.com/a/kl6FE

Tried that this morning but now when I click on the start moonlander batch, it opens for a flash then quits or says "bfgminer.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command"

I have restarted my computer, deleted and redownloaded all drivers and programs but the same situation. Anyone know how to fix it?

Edited to include the screenshot*

It's for sure some anti virus program or windows defender has deleted the "bfgminer.exe" from its default location. Add exclusion rules in your anti-virus program to ignore this application from scans.

[makechickenwingsgreatagai]

I have defender and the antivirus turned off, any other possibilities?

[sunk818]

I'm trying to run at 852 freq. Not sure if I have the right voltage.

There's no universal answer for the voltage, there will be some variance from one stick to another. You need to raise the core voltage until the hardware error rate is at an acceptable level. I didn't even actually measure it, just adjusted it upward until the errors came down. In my case both sticks needed the core voltage pot rotated approx 90 degrees clockwise to achieve an acceptable error rate when operating at 954mhz as you can see

For your 852mhz you won't need to turn the pots nearly as much, probably less than 45 degrees.

Thanks. Your answer is somewhat helpful. I'll try the pots individually, but I'm afraid to go over. This is why I need to learn how to take voltage readings properly. I've also hit a 120W wall because the Sipolar A400 I'm using goes up as high as 135W during initial startup until the wattage down to normal 95 W (along with hash rate going down). I need at least a baseline of all miners at the same setting then I can tweak voltage. I need to keep the total wattage under 120W.

[dvsrk]

I have defender and the antivirus turned off, any other possibilities?

Disabling the antivirus or turning on silent mode may help for sometime but if you restart the system it may delete it again. There are some dedicated scans which check for PUPs(Potentially Unwanted Programs) & delete them no matter if your antivirus is turned OFF. I'm using Avast antivirus which caused me a lot of pain to fix this. There are multiple scans i have to configure to exclude the folder & bfgminer.exe from scans.

The best way to resolve this is to add exclusion rules. I would suggest check the documentation of bit defender in configuring the exclusion rules. Hope this helps

[sunk818]

I have plugged in all 4, started bfgminer and seen MLD 0 through 3 up at the top, but only one of them actually does any processing. By the way, these are all plugged directly to the main board (Desktop, Windows 10). Not a hub or anything, but directly to the machine. ... Any advice?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2420357.msg24766878#msg24766878

Q: My moonlander does not start up, or stops hashing after a while
While its normal for the ASIC to stop working randomly after extended periods of time, you should have no issues running them for days. If you see that you have to restart them every few hours or sooner, or it does not start hashing at all on startup its most likely because of two main reasons. 1) Your hub/USB port is not providing enough power for the given frequency/voltage. Try lowering your frequency and core voltage so less power is drawn, or use a port/hub that can provide at least 2A of continuous current. 2) You have set your memory voltage too low. While lowering memory voltage can reduce power draw, it also can increase instability in the device which will cause it to need to be restarted often. Trying increasing memory voltage to .9v for best reliability.

[Game_of_Coins]

Are all those available frequencies safe to run without more cooling? I have no option to measure but "beast" gets pretty hot when I try to kiss it goodnight @796 or more (room temp. never exceeds 20C/70F)...

[RdStrcklnd]

Are all those available frequencies safe to run without more cooling? I have no option to measure but "beast" gets pretty hot when I try to kiss it goodnight @796 or more (room temp. never exceeds 20C/70F)...

I'd be interested to know that too. I backed my three down to 700 but the heatsink on the non-fan side is still too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. I have a temp gun, what's a safe temp to shoot for?

[sunk818]

Are all those available frequencies safe to run without more cooling? I have no option to measure but "beast" gets pretty hot when I try to kiss it goodnight @796 or more (room temp. never exceeds 20C/70F)...

I ran 744 overnight with two small fans. Inadequate cooling. Hash rating goes down and hardware errors go up.

[Game_of_Coins]

Are all those available frequencies safe to run without more cooling? I have no option to measure but "beast" gets pretty hot when I try to kiss it goodnight @796 or more (room temp. never exceeds 20C/70F)...

I ran 744 overnight with two small fans. Inadequate cooling. Hash rating goes down and hardware errors go up.

I remeber something like "...it can go up to 6 mhs if u can cool it....". If top available freqs are gonna do that, I want to be shure what is the max freq I can use with only included fan...

[jstefanop]

Are all those available frequencies safe to run without more cooling? I have no option to measure but "beast" gets pretty hot when I try to kiss it goodnight @796 or more (room temp. never exceeds 20C/70F)...

I'd be interested to know that too. I backed my three down to 700 but the heatsink on the non-fan side is still too hot to touch for more than a few seconds. I have a temp gun, what's a safe temp to shoot for?

Stock cooling solutions is good up to ~800 MHZ, after that you get into overheat territory (not to mention parabolic increase in current draw). The buck and ASIC can handle max frequency but I wouldn't run them unless you can measure temperature and its under 80C on the top of the small heatsink (translates to about 90C ASIC core). Anything past that your reducing the lifetime of the ASIC/buck. This will be even worse if you have a bunch of them together (since they are sucking each others hot air).

[jstefanop]

I have defender and the antivirus turned off, any other possibilities?

Thats the only possibly for that error, look inside the bfgminer folder, you wont see bfgminer.exe in there. Your anti-virus is deleting it as soon as you unzip the folder.

[jstefanop]

I've just received my 4 new Moonlander 2's.

After driver installation and downloading bfgminer, when I only plug one miner in and run it appears to run flawlessly, I start getting hash statistics, etc.

But as I plug in additional ones, their MLD line-item shows up at the top, but it all sits at zero and the new MLD 1 never gets an "Accepted 00eeabf13 MLD 1 Diff 3m/3m" indication. I only get those for MLD 0.

I have plugged in all 4, started bfgminer and seen MLD 0 through 3 up at the top, but only one of them actually does any processing. By the way, these are all plugged directly to the main board (Desktop, Windows 10). Not a hub or anything, but directly to the machine.

Running any one on its own appears to work.

Also, if I plug in one, and run bfgminer (with --no-hotplug option), it appears to work. Then plugging in a second device and starting a second instance of bfgminer, this appears to spin up the new moonlander. I tried this for all 4 and it seemed to work, but this requires unplugging all of them, plugging them in one at a time and launching multiple bfgminer instances. It's cumbersome and seems like it shouldn't be necessary.

Any advice?

Try plugging them in all at once, then starting bfgminer with the default options. Then try lowering your frequency to the base 384 to rule out power issues. All your ports might be tied to the same power source on your motherboard (so it can't handle powering all at once)