[HELP REQUEST] Issues setting up solo mining

[blockheadbits]

Note/Disclaimer - I am aware that solo mining is generally not profitable.  I am just trying to set this up for learning purposes.

Problem

I have been having trouble setting up a solo miner for alt coins and was wondering if anyone could help.  I'm on Windows 10 x64.

Steps Taken So Far

• I just picked two random newer altcoins to test solo mining on:   Innova Coin - neoscrypt and Aerium - skunk
• Downloaded the wallet for each coin, installed, and sync'd
• In C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\aerium and C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\InnovaCore I either created or edited the aerium.conf and innova.conf files with the following:
    
          listen=1
          daemon=1
          server=1
          rpcuser=aeriumpc
          rpcpassword=X
          rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
          rcpconnect=127.0.0.1
          rpcport=44445
  
  
• I have an RX470, and have tried using both sgminer and prospector.  
  
      In sgminer, I created a .bat file with the following
  
          setx GPU_FORCE_64BIT_PTR 0
          setx GPU_MAX_HEAP_SIZE 100
          setx GPU_MAX_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
          setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
          setx GPU_MAX_SINGLE_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
  
          sgminer.exe -k neoscrypt -o 127.0.0.1:44445 -u USERNAMEFROM.CONF -p PASSWORDFROM.CONF -w 256 -g 2
          pause
  
      In prospector, I edited the config.toml file to:
  
          [general]
          gpu-coin = "sigt"
          cpu-coin = "xmr"
          default-username = "USERNAMEFROM.CONF"
          default-password = "PASSWORDFROM.CONF"
          [pools.sigt]
          url = "127.0.0.1:44445"
• For Innova (INN), I also tried using gatelessgate 0.1.3 and CPUMiner
  
      I edited the gateless-INN.conf file to:
  
         {
         "algorithm": "neoscrypt",
         "intensity": "13",
         "worksize": "256",
         "gpu-threads": "1",
         "load-balance": true,
  
         "auto-fan": true,
         "temp-cutoff": "90",
         "temp-overheat": "85",
         "temp-target": "75",
  
         "pools": [
         {
         "name": "MAIN",
         "user": "USERNAMEFROM.CONF",
         "pass": "PASSWORDFROM.CONF",
         "quota": "99;127.0.0.1:44445"
         },
         {
         "__comment": "Please keep this entry. Otherwise, I won't be able to continue open-source development. - zawawa",
         "name":"DEVFEE",
         "user": "zawawa.gatelessgate",
         "pass": "x",
         "quota": "1;s1.theblocksfactory.com:3333"
         }
         ]
         }
  
       In CPUminer I edited the Innova.bat to:
  
            cpuminer-gw64-corei7 -a neoscrypt -o 127.0.0.1:44445 -u USERNAMEFROM.CONF -p PASSWORDFROM.CONF
  
            pause
• I then started the respective wallets in server mode by going to "Start" -> "Run" -> "C:/Miner/{coinname}/{coinname}-qt.exe -server" and letting the wallets fully sync
• After syncing, I started the miners from bat or toml file

Errors I'm Receiving

With respect to prospector, I was getting a repeating error that it couldn't connect.

With respect to sgminer, I'm getting an error that:

        127.0.0.1 slow/down or URL or credentials invalid
        No servers were found that could be used to get work from.
        Please check the details from the list below of the servers you have input
        Most likely you have input the wrong URL, forgotten to add a port, or have not set up workers.

With respect to CPUMiner, I'm getting an error that:

        4 miner threads started, using 'neoscrypt' algorithm.
        Current block is 21012
        No payout address provided, switching to getwork
        Long-polling on http://127.0.0.1:44445
        json_rpc_call failed, retry after 10 seconds        (note- this line just keeps repeating)

With respect to gatelessgate, I'm just getting a "Press any key" then closing.

Other troubleshooting steps taken

• I have tried editing the .conf/.bat/.toml files by changing the address to "localhost" and "http://localhost" and have not had success with either.
• I tried several different ports, including 4233 and 14520
• I tried creating a rule in Windows Firewall to open the TCP ports entered on the miner and wallet.  I also tried temporarily disabling the firewall on my router.
• I tried running the miner as administrator

Help?  Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong?  I've spent hours dickin around with this to no avail, and have made several posts without response.  This is starting to drive me nuts and I'm willing to make small donation to whoever manages to figure this out.

Sorry for wall of text.  Thank you in advance for your time and help!!!

[blockheadbits]

bump

[wacko]

 
        listen=1
        daemon=1
        server=1
        rpcuser=aeriumpc
        rpcpassword=X
        rpcallowip=127.0.0.1
        rcpconnect=127.0.0.1
        rpcport=44445

Half of these are redundant. You don't need the first two if you're running the wallet with the GUI, just keep "server=1". You don't need to specify rpcport unless you want to use something other than the default. And also I'm pretty sure you don't need rpcconnect.

I then started the respective wallets in server mode by going to "Start" -> "Run" -> "C:/Miner/{coinname}/{coinname}-qt.exe -server" and letting the wallets fully sync

Redundant stuff again. You've just selected the server mode in your conf file, and then you're repeating to your wallet to start in server mode. Just double-click on the .exe, no need to go to command line.

I tried creating a rule in Windows Firewall to open the TCP ports entered on the miner and wallet.

No need to do that, Windows firewall won't filter the "traffic" to localhost.

I also tried temporarily disabling the firewall on my router.

Definitely not needed if your wallet is syncing, that's the only internet activity happening.

There's a lot of stuff in your post so I can't pinpoint the problem instantly, there might be multiple things that you're doing wrong. I don't advise you to keep any suspicious exe files on your C drive in Windows OS (and cryptowallets are mighty suspicious), windows defender might block or delete it, sometimes without telling you (although you do get responses from the server with some of your miners).

Are you sure your username and password are correct? I did have it wrong a few times myself, try to keep them as short and simple as possible.

[blockheadbits]

Thanks for the response.  I tried loading a pared down version you suggested with just:

    server=1
    rpcuser=X
    rpcpassword=Y

Then ran SGMiner and CPUMiner.  Still getting the same error in SGMiner.  CPUMiner says "HTTP request failed: Empty reply from server.  json_rpc_call failed, retry after 10 seconds"

Triple checked username and pass and revised to the single letter to ensure no mistakes.  Still not working 

Thank you for trying though!

[wacko]

So, I went ahead and did some digging. First decided to check Aerium. Went looking for pools and couldn't find a single pool running. Went to the coin ann topic — and found out that the coin went POS. So you can't mine it with you GPU anymore.

Moving on to Innova. There are some pools running. But if you read their thread, you'll see that no one was able to solo mine it with GPUs. That's because solo mining was disabled in the wallet, only the in-built CPU miner is working, but not external ones. I suppose that's why their wallet comes with 2 files — the actual qt-wallet and a separate daemon for pools.

Anyway, you managed to pick 2 coins that CAN'T be solo mined with GPUs. Gotta do your research before setting up solo mining.

[blockheadbits]

Probably should have mentioned that in my lengthy original post, but I did see that Aerium was switching to PoS.  I was able to mine some in the first few days on a pool when it was still PoW, and could never get the solo mining to work before the switch to PoS.  After the switch I quit messing with it because my staking amount was 100+ days.

As to Innova, I did see in the thread that people were requesting solo mining settings; however, I saw at least one or two posters claiming to be solo mining.  I guess they were referring to the internal CPU mining though (which would also explain why the CPUMiner I was using didn't work). 

Follow up questions:
1)  How can the dev disable or otherwise prevent GPU solo mining?  Is there any way around that?  Assuming that they require a stratum pool server for GPU mining, couldn't somebody just create their own personal stratum pool and solo GPU mine on it?

2)  How do you enable the solo CPU mining on the innova-qt program?  Typing "help" in the console gives the following options under "Mining" 
           
            == Mining ==
            getblocktemplate ( "jsonrequestobject" )
            getmininginfo
            getnetworkhashps ( blocks height )
            prioritisetransaction <txid> <priority delta> <fee delta>
            submitblock "hexdata" ( "jsonparametersobject" )

Thank you again for following up on this.  I only feel 50-75% dumb now, which is an improvement (I guess), since at least one of the coins I selected apparently is GPU solo-minable.

[wacko]

As to Innova, I did see in the thread that people were requesting solo mining settings; however, I saw at least one or two posters claiming to be solo mining.  I guess they were referring to the internal CPU mining though (which would also explain why the CPUMiner I was using didn't work)

Yeah, those guys were using the inbuilt miner.

How do you enable the solo CPU mining on the innova-qt program?  Typing "help" in the console gives the following options under "Mining"

I think it's "-gen" and "-genproclimit=<n>" commands.

How can the dev disable or otherwise prevent GPU solo mining?

They built the wallet from their source so they could control several build parameters.

Assuming that they require a stratum pool server for GPU mining, couldn't somebody just create their own personal stratum pool and solo GPU mine on it?

You sure could. It's more work of course, but possible. That's probably what that "innovad.exe" file there for.

[blockheadbits]

Sounds good.  Thanks again for the help