Official FutureBit Moonlander 2 Driver and Support Thread

[Hoiberg]

I have 3 MLDs but have never been able to run them continuously powered by a USB hub. There are always problems causing me to have to restart the USB hub, replug the miners into different ports, ports losing power etc etc. I conclude that it is not reliable enough but surely a fun way to get familiarised with how mining works (and doesn't work).

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[hnelson01]

Interesting that the answer to my question seems to be don't mess with these things and they don't work reliably.  i am running these on 2 separate powered usb hubs and they work just fine and have been very stable.  it seems like the problems start when cranking them up too high and when using inadequately powered hubs.  I don't have that problem.  I do understand the response that running them with separate workers/devices does not really accomplish anything and isn't worth the bother.   Thanks.

[jstefanop]

Interesting that the answer to my question seems to be don't mess with these things and they don't work reliably.  i am running these on 2 separate powered usb hubs and they work just fine and have been very stable.  it seems like the problems start when cranking them up too high and when using inadequately powered hubs.  I don't have that problem.  I do understand the response that running them with separate workers/devices does not really accomplish anything and isn't worth the bother.   Thanks.

All this stuff has been covered dozens of times in this thread, and your specific question is covered in the FAQ on the first page.

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

[jstefanop]

I have 7 ML2s OC'd @ 900mHz on 2 hubs (2 on pluggable 7 port / 5 on a no name 13 port hub) via raspberry pi. They average 35-36MH/s total. The temps are in the mid 50sC. They are all separate workers on separate instances of bfgminer. The USB ports stay consistent after reboot - haven't had to reboot the pi since this final setup was implemented a month ago. When one of the MLs goes offline, I receive an email which then send a text message, then use TeamViewer to log into the pi via iPhone or PC to restart that instance of bfgminer.

I used a voltmeter to tune the first two, but now just use those base pot positions on new ones, then tune them on the fly while watching them hash. Once the error rate goes below 1% I'm good. Usually 15 minutes to tune.

Some have gone two weeks without restart. I only have to restart the bfgminer instance for that specific miner. Not the raspberry pi, not the hubs. I haven't had to reseat the miners in the physical USB ports yet. These are reliable and jstefanop has very good support - hence the reason I'm taking the time to write this. Maybe the raspberry pi makes them more reliable vs windows? Maybe it's the USB hubs? Not sure, but 7 out of 7 all @ 900Mhz @ over 5mH/s each with no issues is pretty good. For cooling, I have a 4" case fan blowing across them. I've bought them from futurebit as well as ebay and have a wide range of serial numbers, meaning quality over time is consistent. In the linked image, you'll see the seven instances and hash rate.

These are not going to make you instant rich, but who knows what the bits of mined coins over time may be worth in 10 years. These are fun if you like to tinker with technology.

Reading this over, it looks like a paid testimonial! It's not haha.



(you'll notice they've only been running a day due to router firmware update breaking the internet connection)

Thanks for taking the time to write this! Obviously this is the support thread so your only going to hear about people having issues, and not the thousands of people running these 24/7 with no hiccups...so awesome to hear from you once in a while!

[yasarefe02]

These have been working great for me on litecoinpool.org, mine have been going for over a week now without any issues. I was thinking about trying out prohashing.com, anyone mining there with these? What do I need to enter in the start_moonlander2 file for prohashing (I have three sticks if that matters re: difficulty)? Thanks as always 

[Fernan87]

I have 7 ML2s OC'd @ 900mHz on 2 hubs (2 on pluggable 7 port / 5 on a no name 13 port hub) via raspberry pi. They average 35-36MH/s total. The temps are in the mid 50sC. They are all separate workers on separate instances of bfgminer. The USB ports stay consistent after reboot - haven't had to reboot the pi since this final setup was implemented a month ago. When one of the MLs goes offline, I receive an email which then send a text message, then use TeamViewer to log into the pi via iPhone or PC to restart that instance of bfgminer.

I used a voltmeter to tune the first two, but now just use those base pot positions on new ones, then tune them on the fly while watching them hash. Once the error rate goes below 1% I'm good. Usually 15 minutes to tune.

Some have gone two weeks without restart. I only have to restart the bfgminer instance for that specific miner. Not the raspberry pi, not the hubs. I haven't had to reseat the miners in the physical USB ports yet. These are reliable and jstefanop has very good support - hence the reason I'm taking the time to write this. Maybe the raspberry pi makes them more reliable vs windows? Maybe it's the USB hubs? Not sure, but 7 out of 7 all @ 900Mhz @ over 5mH/s each with no issues is pretty good. For cooling, I have a 4" case fan blowing across them. I've bought them from futurebit as well as ebay and have a wide range of serial numbers, meaning quality over time is consistent. In the linked image, you'll see the seven instances and hash rate.

These are not going to make you instant rich, but who knows what the bits of mined coins over time may be worth in 10 years. These are fun if you like to tinker with technology.

Reading this over, it looks like a paid testimonial! It's not haha.

https://s5.postimg.cc/hjolrdagn/rpi_ML2.jpg

(you'll notice they've only been running a day due to router firmware update breaking the internet connection)

Could you tell more about that hub (13 ports) 5 Moonlanderat 900 mHz its a lot of A

[Hoiberg]

I will report back my experiences as follows:

I have 3 MLDs, running on a Pi - Linux from a mac.  I had a 7-port USDB 3.0 Plugable and it never worked smoothly.

I got very curious as to identify why that was the case and eliminated gradually different causes for the instability of the miners - including reinstalling bfg on the raspi SD card, switching the power inlet to the USB hub, adding fans etc. Finally I caved in and got an new USB hub, this time a 10-port Sipolar (as recommended here several times). I also got a secondary desktop fan and disconnected the noisier small fans on the stick.  

I can say that now my miners have been running completely stable, clocked at 800Hz and with the external fan quietly blowing on them generating around 4.5 Mh/s each with a temp in the mid 50C. So, in my case the instability was caused by a combination of not enough power from the hub combined with lack of cooling.

Thus, even others seem to have had no problems with the Plugable USB hub, I would not recommend it, but would recommend forking out the slightly higher prices of the Sipolar hubs. You can get them from either eyeboot or aliexpress (if you're willing to risk it).

Cheers!

[Lercker]

I keep getting this error: ./bfgminer: error while loading shared libraries: libjansson.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
I can't seem to find an answer...

[smeekinwood]

so, until yesterday my ML's were working just fine. something about a forced windows update, and now my laptop doesn't even detect them anymore.

[TimBuck2]

You need to reinstall the USB - UART Drivers as it seems as though they were lost/corrupted, etc..

Lay of the dope and you would have known that. lol

[smeekinwood]

well, now I just feel silly... only problem now, I only got 1 of the 4 hashing. 1 is better than 0 though one thing at a time

[Lercker]

I keep getting this error: ./bfgminer: error while loading shared libraries: libjansson.so.4: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
I can't seem to find an answer...

Nevermind, found the post that had the same error...

[jstefanop]

You need to reinstall the USB - UART Drivers as it seems as though they were lost/corrupted, etc..

Lay of the dope and you would have known that. lol

Yea, just windows updates breaking stuff as usual, silicon labs has posted new drivers that resolve the issue.

[smeekinwood]

for the record, it took a lot more messing around with the driver situation after this windows update than just downloading that one file. needed that file, but turns out my laptop wasn't reading one of my usb hubs, thus not reading those 2 ML's.

[donkenstien]

These have been working great for me on litecoinpool.org, mine have been going for over a week now without any issues. I was thinking about trying out prohashing.com, anyone mining there with these? What do I need to enter in the start_moonlander2 file for prohashing (I have three sticks if that matters re: difficulty)? Thanks as always 

Most pools have a sample config file on their getting started page. Don't use prohashing with only 3 moonlander's, their min diff is 16384 way to high, plus they charge 5% in fee's as well as a 1% withdrawal fee, also not very dependable connection wise.  If you are looking for an auto exchange profit switching multipool try dutch-mining or hash-for-coins, both charge 4% in fee's and coin minimum withdrawal fee's.  If you are looking for a good profit switching multipool where you keep the coins and exchange yourself, try multipool or dutch-mining (you can turn off the auto exchange), both are 2% fee's, free/minimal withdrawal fee's, and you keep your Doge.  If you are looking for a different Litecoin pool, try Via BTC, 2% fee for PPS 1% for PPLN, lower withdrawal min, and you keep your Doge.  BTW litecoinpool.org charges zero fees but keeps the Doge you merge mine thus charging an actual rate of 1.5-3% in fee's depending on the price of Doge/LTC

[pyroandy]

I don't know the brand but we can do some math.
24 volts X 4 amps = 96 watts total available power.
96 watts divided by 5 volts = 19.2 total amps at 5 volts.
An ML2 needs between 2.5 and 3 amps.
So at 2.5 amps each, it can power 7 ML2s
At 3 amps each, it can power 6 ML2s

Hope that helps.

[mrgoldy]

I had a fan fail today,    anyone have some part numbers or links to one I can buy for cheap from a supply store

I found an eBay,  SUNON KD0502PFB3-8 5V 0.3W 25x25x10mm 25mm 2510 Mini DC Cooling Fan   for  $4

just making sure there's not a better option out there

and confirming it's a 25mmx25mm by 10mm height

[Hoiberg]

You're right.  The fans are this dimension (25*25*10mm) And it is 5V.

They're also available here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3d-printer-part-fan-2510-2pins-25mm-25x25-x10-mm-2-5cm-graphics-card-fan-DC/32810831724.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.67a74c4d9mHuRe

I got some of these, they are not any more or less noisy than the stock fans. Actually the more quiet and effective solution is to buy a strong silent USB fan (the round tube ones) and use those instead of the stock fans. But YMMV.

[Hoiberg]

Can anyone give me some detailed instructions please on the following:

I have 6 MLDs. They're all currently mining LTC in litecoinpool. But I want to try and mine another coin/token-maybe Digibyte or another Scrypt one in hash-to-coins. 
I am running my miners through a raspi 3 on linux. But I'm not advanced user. Can anyone share some tips and instructions as to how I need to go about setting this up. 

[huntingthesnark]

Can anyone give me some detailed instructions please on the following:

I have 6 MLDs. They're all currently mining LTC in litecoinpool. But I want to try and mine another coin/token-maybe Digibyte or another Scrypt one in hash-to-coins. 
I am running my miners through a raspi 3 on linux. But I'm not advanced user. Can anyone share some tips and instructions as to how I need to go about setting this up. 

Same process as you used to get them mining LTC - setup a wallet, create an address, choose a pool, change your existing pool address and wallet with the new ones...