Official FutureBit Moonlander 2 Driver and Support Thread

[pyroandy]

Hmm let it go all night. Looks like it worked just doesn't smash out the accepted shares as fast as on the litecoinpool. Guess I expected it to be faster. And it successfully mined some sia, doge and dgb. Didn't expect it to switch coins but that's fine too I guess.

The rate accepted shares has nothing to do with how "fast" its mining. Its simply the difficulty the pool has set the shares too. Higher diff, less accepted shares, which is what pools want since their servers would be overloaded if everyone mined low diff shares. Higher shares have more "value" so you mine more litecoin.

Most pools use vardiff, so accepted shares are averaged to around 1 share per minute, regardless of wether you mining with a Moonlander or an L3+.

yeah but some pools like zpool have the verdiff set so high it times out and then you are actually NOT mining..

You can set your own diff if they will accept it using D=. If not you probably need to be in another pool.

[1713510987]

1713510987

[1713510987]

1713510987

[pyroandy]

...

Being a noob I thought  "sudo apt-get update" was updating the OS. It was not until I had this problem that I learned it is supposed to update the libraries. So next time I will try and update the OS first then the libraries.

Off hand do you know what I need to do to get BFGminer start automatically when the Pi is powered up?

https://www.dexterindustries.com/howto/run-a-program-on-your-raspberry-pi-at-startup/

you want the rc.local part I believe  

Thank you Vary helpful. I was not able to find something so comprehensive using Google.

[jstefanop]

Hmm let it go all night. Looks like it worked just doesn't smash out the accepted shares as fast as on the litecoinpool. Guess I expected it to be faster. And it successfully mined some sia, doge and dgb. Didn't expect it to switch coins but that's fine too I guess.

The rate accepted shares has nothing to do with how "fast" its mining. Its simply the difficulty the pool has set the shares too. Higher diff, less accepted shares, which is what pools want since their servers would be overloaded if everyone mined low diff shares. Higher shares have more "value" so you mine more litecoin.

Most pools use vardiff, so accepted shares are averaged to around 1 share per minute, regardless of wether you mining with a Moonlander or an L3+.

yeah but some pools like zpool have the verdiff set so high it times out and then you are actually NOT mining..

Yea, in those cases just shoot an email to the pool and ask for a low diff port for USB Asics. I know miningpoolhub already lowered the diff for us, and I'm sure other pools would too if enough requests are sent.

[Hintsal]

Hmm let it go all night. Looks like it worked just doesn't smash out the accepted shares as fast as on the litecoinpool. Guess I expected it to be faster. And it successfully mined some sia, doge and dgb. Didn't expect it to switch coins but that's fine too I guess.

The rate accepted shares has nothing to do with how "fast" its mining. Its simply the difficulty the pool has set the shares too. Higher diff, less accepted shares, which is what pools want since their servers would be overloaded if everyone mined low diff shares. Higher shares have more "value" so you mine more litecoin.

Most pools use vardiff, so accepted shares are averaged to around 1 share per minute, regardless of wether you mining with a Moonlander or an L3+.

yeah but some pools like zpool have the verdiff set so high it times out and then you are actually NOT mining..

Yea, in those cases just shoot an email to the pool and ask for a low diff port for USB Asics. I know miningpoolhub already lowered the diff for us, and I'm sure other pools would too if enough requests are sent.

What diff would you recommend setting at the highest point for the stick?

[diveyez]

This will help beginners using linux get started building, and using jstefanop's miner setup.
I spoke to him and luke jr about this before writing and sharing it, enjoy
https://github.com/diveyez/rpi_moonlander
This will grab all dependencies for the build and its features past only mining with moonlanders, since they are starter devices
You need to follow the instructions given for uart to usb setup.

chmod +X build then ./build

[jstefanop]

This will help beginners using linux get started building, and using jstefanop's miner setup.
I spoke to him and luke jr about this before writing and sharing it, enjoy
https://github.com/diveyez/rpi_moonlander
This will grab all dependencies for the build and its features past only mining with moonlanders, since they are starter devices
You need to follow the instructions given for uart to usb setup.

chmod +X build then ./build

Cool, thanks for sharing. FYI you don't need to install the VCP UART drivers for pi's, linux kernel already has it pre-installed.

[jstefanop]

Hmm let it go all night. Looks like it worked just doesn't smash out the accepted shares as fast as on the litecoinpool. Guess I expected it to be faster. And it successfully mined some sia, doge and dgb. Didn't expect it to switch coins but that's fine too I guess.

The rate accepted shares has nothing to do with how "fast" its mining. Its simply the difficulty the pool has set the shares too. Higher diff, less accepted shares, which is what pools want since their servers would be overloaded if everyone mined low diff shares. Higher shares have more "value" so you mine more litecoin.

Most pools use vardiff, so accepted shares are averaged to around 1 share per minute, regardless of wether you mining with a Moonlander or an L3+.

yeah but some pools like zpool have the verdiff set so high it times out and then you are actually NOT mining..

Yea, in those cases just shoot an email to the pool and ask for a low diff port for USB Asics. I know miningpoolhub already lowered the diff for us, and I'm sure other pools would too if enough requests are sent.

What diff would you recommend setting at the highest point for the stick?

Most pools wont set diff anything lower than 4k-8k these days, if you can convince them to set it to at least 512 or 1024 thats enough for a moonlander to send a share every minute or so.

[Hintsal]

Hmm let it go all night. Looks like it worked just doesn't smash out the accepted shares as fast as on the litecoinpool. Guess I expected it to be faster. And it successfully mined some sia, doge and dgb. Didn't expect it to switch coins but that's fine too I guess.

The rate accepted shares has nothing to do with how "fast" its mining. Its simply the difficulty the pool has set the shares too. Higher diff, less accepted shares, which is what pools want since their servers would be overloaded if everyone mined low diff shares. Higher shares have more "value" so you mine more litecoin.

Most pools use vardiff, so accepted shares are averaged to around 1 share per minute, regardless of wether you mining with a Moonlander or an L3+.

yeah but some pools like zpool have the verdiff set so high it times out and then you are actually NOT mining..

Yea, in those cases just shoot an email to the pool and ask for a low diff port for USB Asics. I know miningpoolhub already lowered the diff for us, and I'm sure other pools would too if enough requests are sent.

What diff would you recommend setting at the highest point for the stick?

Most pools wont set diff anything lower than 4k-8k these days, if you can convince them to set it to at least 512 or 1024 thats enough for a moonlander to send a share every minute or so.

Ahh I will ask. Thanks. Not even sure what their diff is because it changes every few seconds it seems. Variable diff.

[scoobysportD]

Got in a replacement MLD2 stick for the one that was overheating, works like a charm just like the others

So a big thank you to Ernst from Bitshopper.de for taking care of this quickly!

I now have all 8 running on the sipolar 10 port hub, at 852mhz. That remains stable and a very low error rate. For higher frequencies i'd need a stronger hub/power supply combo. (With 6 sticks i was able to run 900mhz without a hitch) But i'll leave them running on 852mhz. Gives the miners a bit longer lifespan, is very stable and i won't need to get another hub costing me more money

@altscope; have you been able to take a look at the inners of the hub?

[Amorebello]

I bought 25..and Love these!

I have 24 humming at 4-5 mh/s and have been hashing at 105 Mh/s...I love these beauties.
But almost since I've gotten the latest 12..I have one that won't hash at all and one that consistently runs at 17% hardware errors.
I haven't tried to dial up the voltage on the one with the high errors...but any thoughts on the one that won't hash at all??  I've tried switching hubs and changing the Hz...but to no avail.
I'm running the whole pool at 796hz out of the box..no adjustments.

Thank you in advance!

[scoobysportD]

I bought 25..and Love these!

I have 24 humming at 4-5 mh/s and have been hashing at 105 Mh/s...I love these beauties.
But almost since I've gotten the latest 12..I have one that won't hash at all and one that consistently runs at 17% hardware errors.
I haven't tried to dial up the voltage on the one with the high errors...but any thoughts on the one that won't hash at all??  I've tried switching hubs and changing the Hz...but to no avail.
I'm running the whole pool at 796hz out of the box..no adjustments.

Thank you in advance!

That's quite high frequency out of the box. I'd suggest readjusting the vcore and or memory voltage first as per the opening post by jstefanop.

[Amorebello]

I bought 25..and Love these!

I have 24 humming at 4-5 mh/s and have been hashing at 105 Mh/s...I love these beauties.
But almost since I've gotten the latest 12..I have one that won't hash at all and one that consistently runs at 17% hardware errors.
I haven't tried to dial up the voltage on the one with the high errors...but any thoughts on the one that won't hash at all??  I've tried switching hubs and changing the Hz...but to no avail.
I'm running the whole pool at 796hz out of the box..no adjustments.

Thank you in advance!

That's quite high frequency out of the box. I'd suggest readjusting the vcore and or memory voltage first as per the opening post by jstefanop.

Thanks...I'll try that!

[pyroandy]

Has anybody been able to get bfgminer to run automatically when their Raspberry pi is started up? I have been trying to figure this out for days to no avail!

[lennyNO]

I bought 25..and Love these!

I have 24 humming at 4-5 mh/s and have been hashing at 105 Mh/s...I love these beauties.
But almost since I've gotten the latest 12..I have one that won't hash at all and one that consistently runs at 17% hardware errors.
I haven't tried to dial up the voltage on the one with the high errors...but any thoughts on the one that won't hash at all??  I've tried switching hubs and changing the Hz...but to no avail.
I'm running the whole pool at 796hz out of the box..no adjustments.

Awesome.

My experience is slow but painfull deteroriation over the last 3 months. I have 11 units, and initially all worked well on my hub.
Now I have one that refuses to be recognised by the USB driver on the hub but works well on the PC
And I have one that generate some kind of memory write error (on the hub, I have not tested it on the PC)
Initially all remaining 9 worked well on the hub, but slowly but certainly more and more start hashing at reduced speed, like 2Mh/s. It was stable for weeks no problem, and then it starts and doesn't want to go away.

I use an eyeboot 19 port hub, I even dialed up the open port voltage to 5.2V, it drops down to 4.9V under load (earlier it went from 5.05 to 4.75V). It certainly did not make it better. I know I have one bad USB slot on the hub. JStephanop wrote earlier that "eyeboot hubs are known for bad usb contacts and performance issues".

I have no idea what the problem is with my setup. I have been all clockspeeds up from 600Mhz, adjusted pots up and down, so I feel I have reasonable control. Maybe the core voltage is drifting that is possible of course. No idea.

No I have switched all off, and will take a break to figure out how to proceed. Buying a new hub is not an option, the eyeboot already cost me too much. I give it a pause before I might just start the whole lot again from scratch.

[pyroandy]

I bought 25..and Love these!

I have 24 humming at 4-5 mh/s and have been hashing at 105 Mh/s...I love these beauties.
But almost since I've gotten the latest 12..I have one that won't hash at all and one that consistently runs at 17% hardware errors.
I haven't tried to dial up the voltage on the one with the high errors...but any thoughts on the one that won't hash at all??  I've tried switching hubs and changing the Hz...but to no avail.
I'm running the whole pool at 796hz out of the box..no adjustments.

Awesome.

My experience is slow but painfull deteroriation over the last 3 months. I have 11 units, and initially all worked well on my hub.
Now I have one that refuses to be recognised by the USB driver on the hub but works well on the PC
And I have one that generate some kind of memory write error (on the hub, I have not tested it on the PC)
Initially all remaining 9 worked well on the hub, but slowly but certainly more and more start hashing at reduced speed, like 2Mh/s. It was stable for weeks no problem, and then it starts and doesn't want to go away.

I use an eyeboot 19 port hub, I even dialed up the open port voltage to 5.2V, it drops down to 4.9V under load (earlier it went from 5.05 to 4.75V). It certainly did not make it better. I know I have one bad USB slot on the hub. JStephanop wrote earlier that "eyeboot hubs are known for bad usb contacts and performance issues".

I have no idea what the problem is with my setup. I have been all clockspeeds up from 600Mhz, adjusted pots up and down, so I feel I have reasonable control. Maybe the core voltage is drifting that is possible of course. No idea.

No I have switched all off, and will take a break to figure out how to proceed. Buying a new hub is not an option, the eyeboot already cost me too much. I give it a pause before I might just start the whole lot again from scratch.

This could be a power problem, the ports on that hub are only rated at 2 amps each. What frequencies are you running at? Some miners have been known to draw to much power when they go bad. Pull the bad ones and one more and try and run 8 in every other port on that hub.

[jarvisparvis]

These helped me.
If you dont want to invest in a higher powered usb hub.

For each miner undervolt all memory voltage to as low as you can before they stop hashing. To do each individually i have small usb hub i use to test each one at a time, easier access to measure the voltages with a dmm/dvm/voltmeter too.  I think the default (see start of this section)is 0.8v upper limit is 9v (over this = damage).

I was suprised to find some of my moonlanders still hashing at .675v so i used that so bettween .675 and 0.7 was my range. The lower the voltage the less heat and draw from the psu. depending on your psu/amps.. if your running 11 miners check the warmth of your psu. You probably find it feels quite warm to hot, so no doubt this could be causing some malfunction in the psu power output.  Try running less miners say 5 for an hour and see if the psu is cooler.

Then you need to set the core voltage. 0.725 v is the best for clock rate at 756mhz (stable no errors and a better mining rates over time than 796mhz with errors)

However if you do wanna run them at 796mhz -832mhz ive found .750 v core good. But the idea is to reduce the strain on your usb hub psu so .725 v probably the best bet.

Now the last tip if you still get errors is keep your psu cool. My psu is a black plastic block type. I attach a piece of thermal silicon pad (covering entire psu base surface) then mount on a piece approx 5inch long rectangular aluminium tube (most diy retailers have an aluminium fittings and strips section). Seems to keep the psu cool.

 Most usb psu's for retail usb hubs are fairly cheap-to- produce plastic cased so they dont go to town with cooling...but the tip works.

 

[AltScope]

These helped me.
If you dont want to invest in a higher powered usb hub.

For each miner undervolt all memory voltage to as low as you can before they stop hashing. To do each individually i have small usb hub i use to test each one at a time, easier access to measure the voltages with a dmm/dvm/voltmeter too.  I think the default (see start of this section)is 0.8v upper limit is 9v (over this = damage).

I was suprised to find some of my moonlanders still hashing at .675v so i used that so bettween .675 and 0.7 was my range. The lower the voltage the less heat and draw from the psu. depending on your psu/amps.. if your running 11 miners check the warmth of your psu. You probably find it feels quite warm to hot, so no doubt this could be causing some malfunction in the psu power output.  Try running less miners say 5 for an hour and see if the psu is cooler.

Then you need to set the core voltage. 0.725 v is the best for clock rate at 756mhz (stable no errors and a better mining rates over time than 796mhz with errors)

However if you do wanna run them at 796mhz -832mhz ive found .750 v core good. But the idea is to reduce the strain on your usb hub psu so .725 v probably the best bet.

Now the last tip if you still get errors is keep your psu cool. My psu is a black plastic block type. I attach a piece of thermal silicon pad (covering entire psu base surface) then mount on a piece approx 5inch long rectangular aluminium tube (most diy retailers have an aluminium fittings and strips section). Seems to keep the psu cool.

 Most usb psu's for retail usb hubs are fairly cheap-to- produce plastic cased so they dont go to town with cooling...but the tip works.

 

Nice tips. My hubs PSU is pretty hot but I'm not noticing errors, might put a fan near it to cool it down. I need to get a better one really, nothing against the chinese but their included PSU's can be a bit dodgy

[klintay]

These helped me.
If you dont want to invest in a higher powered usb hub.

For each miner undervolt all memory voltage to as low as you can before they stop hashing. To do each individually i have small usb hub i use to test each one at a time, easier access to measure the voltages with a dmm/dvm/voltmeter too.  I think the default (see start of this section)is 0.8v upper limit is 9v (over this = damage).

I was suprised to find some of my moonlanders still hashing at .675v so i used that so bettween .675 and 0.7 was my range. The lower the voltage the less heat and draw from the psu. depending on your psu/amps.. if your running 11 miners check the warmth of your psu. You probably find it feels quite warm to hot, so no doubt this could be causing some malfunction in the psu power output.  Try running less miners say 5 for an hour and see if the psu is cooler.

Then you need to set the core voltage. 0.725 v is the best for clock rate at 756mhz (stable no errors and a better mining rates over time than 796mhz with errors)

However if you do wanna run them at 796mhz -832mhz ive found .750 v core good. But the idea is to reduce the strain on your usb hub psu so .725 v probably the best bet.

Now the last tip if you still get errors is keep your psu cool. My psu is a black plastic block type. I attach a piece of thermal silicon pad (covering entire psu base surface) then mount on a piece approx 5inch long rectangular aluminium tube (most diy retailers have an aluminium fittings and strips section). Seems to keep the psu cool.

 Most usb psu's for retail usb hubs are fairly cheap-to- produce plastic cased so they dont go to town with cooling...but the tip works.

 

Nice tips. My hubs PSU is pretty hot but I'm not noticing errors, might put a fan near it to cool it down. I need to get a better one really, nothing against the chinese but their included PSU's can be a bit dodgy

which usb hub are you using? what is the voltage of the psu?

[AltScope]

These helped me.
If you dont want to invest in a higher powered usb hub.

For each miner undervolt all memory voltage to as low as you can before they stop hashing. To do each individually i have small usb hub i use to test each one at a time, easier access to measure the voltages with a dmm/dvm/voltmeter too.  I think the default (see start of this section)is 0.8v upper limit is 9v (over this = damage).

I was suprised to find some of my moonlanders still hashing at .675v so i used that so bettween .675 and 0.7 was my range. The lower the voltage the less heat and draw from the psu. depending on your psu/amps.. if your running 11 miners check the warmth of your psu. You probably find it feels quite warm to hot, so no doubt this could be causing some malfunction in the psu power output.  Try running less miners say 5 for an hour and see if the psu is cooler.

Then you need to set the core voltage. 0.725 v is the best for clock rate at 756mhz (stable no errors and a better mining rates over time than 796mhz with errors)

However if you do wanna run them at 796mhz -832mhz ive found .750 v core good. But the idea is to reduce the strain on your usb hub psu so .725 v probably the best bet.

Now the last tip if you still get errors is keep your psu cool. My psu is a black plastic block type. I attach a piece of thermal silicon pad (covering entire psu base surface) then mount on a piece approx 5inch long rectangular aluminium tube (most diy retailers have an aluminium fittings and strips section). Seems to keep the psu cool.

 Most usb psu's for retail usb hubs are fairly cheap-to- produce plastic cased so they dont go to town with cooling...but the tip works.

 

Nice tips. My hubs PSU is pretty hot but I'm not noticing errors, might put a fan near it to cool it down. I need to get a better one really, nothing against the chinese but their included PSU's can be a bit dodgy

which usb hub are you using? what is the voltage of the psu?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-speed-10-Port-USB2-0_60620365527.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikever.6.141e1e36TYjQnu

its a 12v 10a psu, runs 10 at 756/768 pretty well.
I found some ok looking industrial cctv transformers the other day (12v 15A) that were tempting as it would give me a few more amps to run the pi with 12v usb charger and the 2 fans I've mounted for cooling

[pyroandy]

These helped me.
If you dont want to invest in a higher powered usb hub.

For each miner undervolt all memory voltage to as low as you can before they stop hashing. To do each individually i have small usb hub i use to test each one at a time, easier access to measure the voltages with a dmm/dvm/voltmeter too.  I think the default (see start of this section)is 0.8v upper limit is 9v (over this = damage).

I was suprised to find some of my moonlanders still hashing at .675v so i used that so bettween .675 and 0.7 was my range. The lower the voltage the less heat and draw from the psu. depending on your psu/amps.. if your running 11 miners check the warmth of your psu. You probably find it feels quite warm to hot, so no doubt this could be causing some malfunction in the psu power output.  Try running less miners say 5 for an hour and see if the psu is cooler.

Then you need to set the core voltage. 0.725 v is the best for clock rate at 756mhz (stable no errors and a better mining rates over time than 796mhz with errors)

However if you do wanna run them at 796mhz -832mhz ive found .750 v core good. But the idea is to reduce the strain on your usb hub psu so .725 v probably the best bet.

Now the last tip if you still get errors is keep your psu cool. My psu is a black plastic block type. I attach a piece of thermal silicon pad (covering entire psu base surface) then mount on a piece approx 5inch long rectangular aluminium tube (most diy retailers have an aluminium fittings and strips section). Seems to keep the psu cool.

 Most usb psu's for retail usb hubs are fairly cheap-to- produce plastic cased so they dont go to town with cooling...but the tip works.

 

Nice tips. My hubs PSU is pretty hot but I'm not noticing errors, might put a fan near it to cool it down. I need to get a better one really, nothing against the chinese but their included PSU's can be a bit dodgy

which usb hub are you using? what is the voltage of the psu?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-speed-10-Port-USB2-0_60620365527.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikever.6.141e1e36TYjQnu

its a 12v 10a psu, runs 10 at 756/768 pretty well.
I found some ok looking industrial cctv transformers the other day (12v 15A) that were tempting as it would give me a few more amps to run the pi with 12v usb charger and the 2 fans I've mounted for cooling

That 12V, 10A PSU should give you plenty of power, 120watts. That's 2.4 amps per port. I would not use an old cctv transformer its output will not be as clean as a switching power supply.  The bad part is that hub has 5 DC to DC step down converters in it, one for every two ports and they are only rated for 5 amps or less each so even with a bigger external power supply you may overheat the Dc to Dc converters inside if you try to pump too much current thru the USB ports.