[ANN] US/North American Bitfury sales NEW STOCK ***NOW SHIPPING***

[||bit]

Are there any components on the non-chip side of the BitFury boards? Any photos available?

I bet there aren't. They'll need the back side completely flat for the heat sink.

You can see some examples in the EU thread:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=250249.msg3031271#msg3031271
(although their boards are likely slightly different, but the point is the same - you need it as flat as possible)

Here are some more images:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20909492/IMG_0068.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20909492/IMG_0069.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20909492/IMG_0070.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20909492/IMG_0072.JPG
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/20909492/IMG_0073.JPG

(check 72 and 73)

The circuitry seems so much more simple than BFL's stuff. Which is a good thing, imo. Maybe, I'm missing something.

[lubah]

I have a RaspPi that has been hashing away with a couple bit erupters USB sticks connected for a couple months now.  

Every now and then (once a week or so) I have to boot the Pi because the little green lights on the erupters comes on indicating miner failure.  

Yesterday the Pi died ...  not sure why - it was working away then just flaked out...  now it just lights the red power light - but not the link light, no activity lights, can't ping it -- just died.      

I'm fairly concerned that RasberryPi is not a reliable hardware platform for mining.   I will certainly be purchasing a backup Raspberry Pi to have on hand should the unit Dave ships with my boards goes tits up, too

but am curious whether there is a way to connect the H-board directly to a more reliable host -  running linux or windows or whatever via USB or ribbon cable somehow...

will future revisions of the H boards potentially have native USB connectivity so we won't have to rely on a $40 throw away SoC RaspPi to run our miners?

thoughts?   better yet, Dave, will you offer an option to purchase a backup Pi??

[-Redacted-]

Using username "pi".
pi@192.168.2.20's password:
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #456 PREEMPT Mon May 20 17:42:15 BST 2013 armv6l

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Fri Aug 30 06:35:58 2013 from 192.168.2.12
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ uptime
09:55:48 up 73 days, 14:59,  1 user,  load average: 0.09, 0.07, 0.05
pi@raspberrypi ~ $

THis is running cgminer 3.1.1a with 28 Block Erupters attached.

[lubah]

Using username "pi".
pi@192.168.2.20's password:
Linux raspberrypi 3.6.11+ #456 PREEMPT Mon May 20 17:42:15 BST 2013 armv6l

The programs included with the Debian GNU/Linux system are free software;
the exact distribution terms for each program are described in the
individual files in /usr/share/doc/*/copyright.

Debian GNU/Linux comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent
permitted by applicable law.
Last login: Fri Aug 30 06:35:58 2013 from 192.168.2.12
pi@raspberrypi ~ $ uptime
09:55:48 up 73 days, 14:59,  1 user,  load average: 0.09, 0.07, 0.05
pi@raspberrypi ~ $

THis is running cgminer 3.1.1a with 28 Block Erupters attached.

I guess it's fair to say MMHV  (my mileage has varied)...    and up until yesterday I really wasn't concerned and was able to reconnect the erupters to an actual PC fairly easily but that doesn't seem possible with the bitfury setup -

[-Redacted-]

I guess it would not be impossible for someone to create a USB to RPi GPIO/SPI adapter board.  Some of the Bitfury devs are actually having to solve this problem when working on 3rd party boards, and I believe the cgminer team made some comments about this as well...

[cscape]

will future revisions of the H boards potentially have native USB connectivity so we won't have to rely on a $40 throw away SoC RaspPi to run our miners?

Our S-HASH board has a native Ethernet connection and can connect directly to a pool.

See this thread for more info

[Morblias]

I have a RaspPi that has been hashing away with a couple bit erupters USB sticks connected for a couple months now.  

Every now and then (once a week or so) I have to boot the Pi because the little green lights on the erupters comes on indicating miner failure.  

Yesterday the Pi died ...  not sure why - it was working away then just flaked out...  now it just lights the red power light - but not the link light, no activity lights, can't ping it -- just died.      

I'm fairly concerned that RasberryPi is not a reliable hardware platform for mining.   I will certainly be purchasing a backup Raspberry Pi to have on hand should the unit Dave ships with my boards goes tits up, too

but am curious whether there is a way to connect the H-board directly to a more reliable host -  running linux or windows or whatever via USB or ribbon cable somehow...

will future revisions of the H boards potentially have native USB connectivity so we won't have to rely on a $40 throw away SoC RaspPi to run our miners?

thoughts?   better yet, Dave, will you offer an option to purchase a backup Pi??

I have been using 2 raspberry pi's controlling 6 FPGAs (and now ASICs) for the past year and a half with no prob. Just have to make sure you have a very reliable USB hub and power cord for the RPi (don't power the RPi from a powered usb hub, it has issues sometimes)

[cscape]

I guess it would not be impossible for someone to create a USB to RPi GPIO/SPI adapter board.

If there's enough interest, we wouldn't mind drawing up an adapter board for a single H-CARD to USB and/or ethernet.

[-Redacted-]

I guess it would not be impossible for someone to create a USB to RPi GPIO/SPI adapter board.

If there's enough interest, we wouldn't mind drawing up an adapter board for a single H-CARD to USB and/or ethernet.

Well - there's your answer, from the man himself !!  (Not to mention the fact he's already built this...)

Thanks for chiming in cscape!

I, at least, would be interested if it was relatively inexpensive, but I think they are wanting an m-board adapter to eliminate the RPi...
[ I'd be tempted to buy a couple of the h-board adapters and sell off my starter kits ]

[jimrome]

I guess it would not be impossible for someone to create a USB to RPi GPIO/SPI adapter board.

If there's enough interest, we wouldn't mind drawing up an adapter board for a single H-CARD to USB and/or ethernet.

Hi cscape, would you consider an M board replacement which provided USB/Ethernet interfaces? Count me in as interested if you do.

[-Redacted-]

Yeah - the problem with doing it at the h-board level is - it would be fine for a couple of cards, but a full rig would need 16 adapters, cables, hubs, getting power to the individual boards, etc.  Not sure it would be economical for running more than just a couple of h-bioards.  But I would buy at least two...

[lubah]

If there's enough interest, we wouldn't mind drawing up an adapter board for a single H-CARD to USB and/or ethernet.

put me down for 2 -->  appreciate the response btw!

[tom99]

  better way to fix Mboard by addon usb and/or network to it.


ps: we need better MOSFET chip for high current like 50A and easy OC it.

[cscape]

I, at least, would be interested if it was relatively inexpensive, but I think they are wanting an m-board adapter to eliminate the RPi...

You mean a board to interface to the current m-board ? That's basically only a RPi replacement, but less powerful, and at least as expensive.

I was thinking more of a small PCB with an edge connector, where you plug in a single H-CARD. This replaces both the big m-board and the RPi, and would be useful for people only interested in mining with 1 or 2 H-CARD attached to a PC.  For more H-CARDs, the m-board is the more practical solution.

[tom99]

I, at least, would be interested if it was relatively inexpensive, but I think they are wanting an m-board adapter to eliminate the RPi...

You mean a board to interface to the current m-board ? That's basically only a RPi replacement, but less powerful, and at least as expensive.

I was thinking more of a small PCB with an edge connector, where you plug in a single H-CARD. This replaces both the big m-board and the RPi, and would be useful for people only interested in mining with 1 or 2 H-CARD attached to a PC.  For more H-CARDs, the m-board is the more practical solution.

If one H-card dies in the M-card chain (v1), the whole (400GH) miner is out, no?
With 1-2 H-card solution, they can pretty much operate independently.  8 "devices" attached to a PC for 400 GH rig.
Sort of like BFL mini rig (8 Singles attached to a hub, stuffed in one big box).  One dies, the rest keeps going.

   no, everything still work as one dead hboard but if Mboard died everything wont work.

[cscape]

If one H-card dies in the M-card chain (v1), the whole (400GH) miner is out, no?

No, just remove the bad h-card, and reorder the cards so that the unused sockets are all at the end. Likewise, a single partially broken h-card can be moved to the end of the chain.

[vs3]

I guess it would not be impossible for someone to create a USB to RPi GPIO/SPI adapter board.

If there's enough interest, we wouldn't mind drawing up an adapter board for a single H-CARD to USB and/or ethernet.

Well - there's your answer, from the man himself !!  (Not to mention the fact he's already built this...)

Thanks for chiming in cscape!

I, at least, would be interested if it was relatively inexpensive, but I think they are wanting an m-board adapter to eliminate the RPi...
[ I'd be tempted to buy a couple of the h-board adapters and sell off my starter kits ]

Stay tuned - that's pretty much exactly what I'm doing right now
Next revision of the boards should be arriving at some point next week. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.

[Trongersoll]

I think that a USB replacement for the Pi would cost as much as a new Pi, at least that is my take on what has been posted here.

[arorts]

Yeah - the problem with doing it at the h-board level is - it would be fine for a couple of cards, but a full rig would need 16 adapters, cables, hubs, getting power to the individual boards, etc.  Not sure it would be economical for running more than just a couple of h-bioards.  But I would buy at least two...

Yup, making more changes to H-Boards doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Running 16 -32 cables or USB dongles would be just insane for a full rig.
It's way more scalable and logical to add interfaces at the M-board level. That way it covers the needs of those hashing with only one board or up to 16 boards.

[dben428]

Hey Dave,

I know you are busy and I hate to bother you. I'm just dying to know if the M-boards made it there today. Thanks.