bad Block Erupter?

[notme]

Well, the other day I had replaced caps in a supply for an old Dell Inspiron 5150.  Power hungry laptop but fast.  I just gave the hub and B.E a try on that and no connections difficulties and correctly identified.  I'll have to fight with it to install mining software tho.  --nope, just looked back and now there's connect-debounce port error messages.  Perhaps after the B.E. warmed up?

Tried it again.  First I put the B.E. at the output of my air conditioning for a minute until it was well cooled.  Then reinserted into the hub.  All was well for just about 60 seconds then the 'device descriptor read/64, read -32' messages appeared, then the 'unable to enumerate device' messages started.  Next to find out if it's the hub or the B.E. that changes.

With an air conditioner that looks like a Dr. Who darlek and the B.E. on a USB cable, the B.E. inserted into the AC output, the hub some distance, there are no error messages after 5 minutes.  Will now remove the B.E. from the AC and insert the hub.  Sixty-four seconds later the error messages started.  So, the problem starts after the B.E. heats.

The CP2101 gets hotest, in the neighborhood of 250°F according to my IR meter.  Don't want to give up until after I test it on a USB3.0 hub however and its tracking number isn't registering on the USPO tracking yet.

USPS tracking sucks... half the time the package shows up before the tracking acknowledges they've even received it.  That is pretty hot though.  I wonder if maybe it's not fully seated so the heat isn't being wicked away.  Even with no airflow, I can put my finger on that chip for 2 or 3 seconds before it gets uncomfortable, so mine isn't anywhere near that hot.  One of these days I'm going to learn why I need an IR meter instead of using my fingers .

[soy]

Okay, with the B.E. tucked into the air conditioner outlet and the RPi on top of the AC and the net a nearby switch for my WDTV, it's running:



 cgminer version 3.3.1 - Started: [1969-12-31 19:00:26]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):133.4M (avg):138.3Mh/s | DA:4  DR:0  HW:0  WU:2.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 14  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to xxxxxxxxxxxxx diff 1 with stratum as user xxxxxxxxx
 Block: 00966e42400b20a1...  Diff:26.2M  Started: [19:00:26]  Best share: 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 AMU 0:                | 300.9M/279.5Mh/s | DA:4 DR:0 HW:0 WU:4.03/m
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] No devices detected!
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Waiting for USB hotplug devices or press q to quit
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Probing for an alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 2 xxxxxxxxxxx- firs
t alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 0 http://api-stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 0 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Network diff set to 26.2M
 [1969-12-31 19:00:31] API running in IP access mode on port 4028 (12)
 [1969-12-31 19:02:08] Accepted 1895e4cb Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted 195fa067 Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted fe3f5bb0 Diff 1/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:16] Accepted 1b280425 Diff 9/1 AMU 0 pool 0

[soy]

 cgminer version 3.3.1 - Started: [1969-12-31 19:00:26]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):503.9M (avg):291.9Mh/s | DA:34  DR:2  HW:0  WU:4.5/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 3  LW: 87  GF: 0  RF: 0

Too bad it will go wrong when I shut down the AC for the night.

............
 [P]ool management ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 AMU 0:                | 334.8M/333.7Mh/s | DA:47 DR:2 HW:0 WU:5.74/m

[Trongersoll]

Okay, with the B.E. tucked into the air conditioner outlet and the RPi on top of the AC and the net a nearby switch for my WDTV, it's running:



 cgminer version 3.3.1 - Started: [1969-12-31 19:00:26]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):133.4M (avg):138.3Mh/s | DA:4  DR:0  HW:0  WU:2.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 14  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to xxxxxxxxxxxxx diff 1 with stratum as user xxxxxxxxx
 Block: 00966e42400b20a1...  Diff:26.2M  Started: [19:00:26]  Best share: 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management .S.ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 AMU 0:                | 300.9M/279.5Mh/s | DA:4 DR:0 HW:0 WU:4.03/m
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] No devices detected!
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Waiting for USB hotplug devices or press q to quit
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Probing for an alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 2 xxxxxxxxxxx- firs
t alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 0 http://api-stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 0 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Network diff set to 26.2M
 [1969-12-31 19:00:31] API running in IP access mode on port 4028 (12)
 [1969-12-31 19:02:08] Accepted 1895e4cb Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted 195fa067 Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted fe3f5bb0 Diff 1/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:16] Accepted 1b280425 Diff 9/1 AMU 0 pool 0

looks like ya got it figured out, ya need to move to the south pole.

[notme]

Okay, with the B.E. tucked into the air conditioner outlet and the RPi on top of the AC and the net a nearby switch for my WDTV, it's running:

Code:

 cgminer version 3.3.1 - Started: [1969-12-31 19:00:26]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):133.4M (avg):138.3Mh/s | DA:4  DR:0  HW:0  WU:2.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 14  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to xxxxxxxxxxxxx diff 1 with stratum as user xxxxxxxxx
 Block: 00966e42400b20a1...  Diff:26.2M  Started: [19:00:26]  Best share: 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 AMU 0:                | 300.9M/279.5Mh/s | DA:4 DR:0 HW:0 WU:4.03/m
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Loaded configuration file /opt/minepeon/etc/miner.conf
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] No devices detected!
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Waiting for USB hotplug devices or press q to quit
 [1969-12-31 19:00:25] Probing for an alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 2 xxxxxxxxxxx- first alive pool
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 1 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Pool 0 http://api-stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333 alive
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Switching to pool 0 http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx3333
 [1969-12-31 19:00:26] Network diff set to 26.2M
 [1969-12-31 19:00:31] API running in IP access mode on port 4028 (12)
 [1969-12-31 19:02:08] Accepted 1895e4cb Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted 195fa067 Diff 10/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:15] Accepted fe3f5bb0 Diff 1/1 AMU 0 pool 0
 [1969-12-31 19:02:16] Accepted 1b280425 Diff 9/1 AMU 0 pool 0

FTFY

[soy]

So, when it's running properly the green LED is off except for when sending a burst of data.

[Trongersoll]

So, when it's running properly the green LED is off except for when sending a burst of data.

Correct

[notme]

So, when it's running properly the green LED is off except for when sending a burst of data.

Right.  It flashes when it finds a share and when it is sent new work.  Otherwise, it should be off.

[soy]

Took it out of the AC and it failed in 60 seconds.  I wonder if the problem may be the USB2.0 rise time.  Lower slew rate causing heat as occurs in poorly designed switching supplies.  Popped it back in the AC and restarted - running okay.  Wondering if the input to the USB3.0 hub will be too fast for my USB2.0 machines.

I suppose Schmitt triggers would be asking too much.

[fasmax]

Took it out of the AC and it failed in 60 seconds.  I wonder if the problem may be the USB2.0 rise time.  Lower slew rate causing heat as occurs in poorly designed switching supplies.  Popped it back in the AC and restarted - running okay.  Wondering if the input to the USB3.0 hub will be too fast for my USB2.0 machines.

You could have a poor solder connection some where on the board.
If you can find some thing to magnify with, look at all the solder connections and make there sure good.
You might be able to find out if it is a bad solder connection by vibrating the board while it is running in the AC.
Also I think you can buy cold spray from Radio Shack. Just cool components one at a time and see which one makes it work.

[soy]

If it is the CP2012 heating due to incoming slew rate of the data, since this type of failure is apparently common in the USB3.0 world, somebody can make a good buck selling a small signal conditioner to be placed between a USB port and a USB3.0 device.

[soy]

Just looked at the cp2102 datasheet and it's a USB 2.0 device.  Must look tomorrow if there's a suffix.

[soy]

Just looked at the cp2102 datasheet and it's a USB 2.0 device.  Must look tomorrow if there's a suffix.

So, the CP2102 among other things takes the USB 5 volts and generates 3.3 volts that it can source to other components.  250°F is hot.  the datasheet says its temp range is -40° - +85°C (185°F) although under absolute maximum ratings, ambient temperature under bias max is 125°C (257°F).

When the AC went to fan only last night as the home cooled for the night, the green LED came on as it stopped hashing.  I took a TO-220 heatsink, put on a dab of heatsink compound, and strapped it to the CP2102 on the B.E. board and returned it to the AC air duct.  It's been running ever since - 11  hours.

So, its heat might be due to high USB voltage that needs to be knocked down to 3.3 volts by the CP2102 or internal switching supply inefficiency or excessive load on the 3.3 volts.  I looked at the poor positioning of the crystal next to the CP2102 and what looks like excessive solder - if it's shorting to the metal case that would load it down.

The new USB3.0 hub is sitting at the post office.  Must get it now and check if it improves the heating problem.

[soy]

Just looked at the cp2102 datasheet and it's a USB 2.0 device.  Must look tomorrow if there's a suffix.

So, the CP2102 among other things takes the USB 5 volts and generates 3.3 volts that it can source to other components.  250°F is hot.  the datasheet says its temp range is -40° - +85°C (185°F) although under absolute maximum ratings, ambient temperature under bias max is 125°C (257°F).

When the AC went to fan only last night as the home cooled for the night, the green LED came on as it stopped hashing.  I took a TO-220 heatsink, put on a dab of heatsink compound, and strapped it to the CP2102 on the B.E. board and returned it to the AC air duct.  It's been running ever since - 11  hours.

So, its heat might be due to high USB voltage that needs to be knocked down to 3.3 volts by the CP2102 or internal switching supply inefficiency or excessive load on the 3.3 volts.  I looked at the poor positioning of the crystal next to the CP2102 and what looks like excessive solder - if it's shorting to the metal case that would load it down.

The new USB3.0 hub is sitting at the post office.  Must get it now and check if it improves the heating problem.

The new USB3.0 hub with the room temperature B.E. was plugged into the booted Inspiron 5150 which was at a linux root command prompt.  The new hub was turned on and immediately there scrolled on the screen 'unable to enumerate device' messages and this with the TO-220 heatsink still strapped to the B.E to the surface of the CP2012.  I unplugged the B.E. and the scrolling stopped.  Will try and measure the voltages on Vdd and REGIN (USB voltage in) and will attempt a reset pulling 9 low.

[soy]

Just looked at the cp2102 datasheet and it's a USB 2.0 device.  Must look tomorrow if there's a suffix.

So, the CP2102 among other things takes the USB 5 volts and generates 3.3 volts that it can source to other components.  250°F is hot.  the datasheet says its temp range is -40° - +85°C (185°F) although under absolute maximum ratings, ambient temperature under bias max is 125°C (257°F).

When the AC went to fan only last night as the home cooled for the night, the green LED came on as it stopped hashing.  I took a TO-220 heatsink, put on a dab of heatsink compound, and strapped it to the CP2102 on the B.E. board and returned it to the AC air duct.  It's been running ever since - 11  hours.

So, its heat might be due to high USB voltage that needs to be knocked down to 3.3 volts by the CP2102 or internal switching supply inefficiency or excessive load on the 3.3 volts.  I looked at the poor positioning of the crystal next to the CP2102 and what looks like excessive solder - if it's shorting to the metal case that would load it down.

The new USB3.0 hub is sitting at the post office.  Must get it now and check if it improves the heating problem.

The new USB3.0 hub with the room temperature B.E. was plugged into the booted Inspiron 5150 which was at a linux root command prompt.  The new hub was turned on and immediately there scrolled on the screen 'unable to enumerate device' messages and this with the TO-220 heatsink still strapped to the B.E to the surface of the CP2012.  I unplugged the B.E. and the scrolling stopped.  Will try and measure the voltages on Vdd and REGIN (USB voltage in) and will attempt a reset pulling 9 low.

So, REGIN on pin 7 is 4.76v but rises to 4.93v when CP2012 shuts down, perhaps after overheating.  Vdd is 3.60v or so and continually dropping until about 3.15v when something shuts down then jumps to 3.75v (suppose to be 3.3v).  Reset blanks the LED an instant and restarts the LED toggling for a few seconds.  LED is series'ed with a 560 ohm resistor that measures to 558 ohms in the circuit.  When 'on' the cathode is 0.055v from ground, when fully on the anode of the LED is 2.85v the high side of the resistor is 3.82v (Vdd which should be 3.3v Typ, 3.0v Min, 3.6v Max ) so the LED is drawing less than 2ma.

[soy]

Just looked at the cp2102 datasheet and it's a USB 2.0 device.  Must look tomorrow if there's a suffix.

So, the CP2102 among other things takes the USB 5 volts and generates 3.3 volts that it can source to other components.  250°F is hot.  the datasheet says its temp range is -40° - +85°C (185°F) although under absolute maximum ratings, ambient temperature under bias max is 125°C (257°F).

When the AC went to fan only last night as the home cooled for the night, the green LED came on as it stopped hashing.  I took a TO-220 heatsink, put on a dab of heatsink compound, and strapped it to the CP2102 on the B.E. board and returned it to the AC air duct.  It's been running ever since - 11  hours.

So, its heat might be due to high USB voltage that needs to be knocked down to 3.3 volts by the CP2102 or internal switching supply inefficiency or excessive load on the 3.3 volts.  I looked at the poor positioning of the crystal next to the CP2102 and what looks like excessive solder - if it's shorting to the metal case that would load it down.

The new USB3.0 hub is sitting at the post office.  Must get it now and check if it improves the heating problem.

The new USB3.0 hub with the room temperature B.E. was plugged into the booted Inspiron 5150 which was at a linux root command prompt.  The new hub was turned on and immediately there scrolled on the screen 'unable to enumerate device' messages and this with the TO-220 heatsink still strapped to the B.E to the surface of the CP2012.  I unplugged the B.E. and the scrolling stopped.  Will try and measure the voltages on Vdd and REGIN (USB voltage in) and will attempt a reset pulling 9 low.

So, REGIN on pin 7 is 4.76v but rises to 4.93v when CP2012 shuts down, perhaps after overheating.  Vdd is 3.60v or so and continually dropping until about 3.15v when something shuts down then jumps to 3.75v (suppose to be 3.3v).  Reset blanks the LED an instant and restarts the LED toggling for a few seconds.  LED is series'ed with a 560 ohm resistor that measures to 558 ohms in the circuit.  When 'on' the cathode is 0.055v from ground, when fully on the anode of the LED is 2.85v the high side of the resistor is 3.82v (Vdd which should be 3.3v Typ, 3.0v Min, 3.6v Max ) so the LED is drawing less than 2ma.


Interesting.  I have both the CyberPower USB2.0 hub and the Plugable USB3.0 hub into the RPi.  I chill the B.E. and connect to the CyberPower, in a couple of seconds the device gets recognized by cgminer and hashes for 37 seconds then quits.  I chill the B.E. again and this time try the USB3.0 hub. Nothing, the B.E. goes thru its routine then stops flashing, never being seen by the RPi, dmesg doesn't register it having been plugged into the USB3.0 hub.

[soy]

Lastly went back to the TO-220 heatsink mounted atop the B.E.  Anodized so it doesn't conduct, a reduced Teflon washer as a spacer off the board so it lays flat, heatsink compound, in free air in a 75° room without a fan, it lasted 5 minutes.  This was using the CyberPower USB2.0 hub rather than the new USB3.0.  I don't think the USB3.0 hub feels the signal is good enough to pass.  I'll try it again tomorrow.

[soy]

Made a complex heatsink that made contact with both the CP2102 and the ASIC. Also, the heatsink was mounted to two standoffs atop which sat a small 12v fan.  I was undecided whether to power the fan with a wall wart or step-up module powered from the USB 5v. I went with a 9 volt wall wart then changed up to that thru the step-up module for high fan speed.  It was only a little more capable of communicating with the RPi or a laptop via a USB2.0 hub than when it only had a TO-220 heatsink and chilled.  A few mods to the heatsink then it stopped hashing and couldn't get brought back to life.  I looked into what an 11.0592MHz crystal would be used for.  One application online said the frequency was right for the interrupt for multiple processes at some common frequency another said it related to baud rate in communication processes.  So, since it was positioned in what looked like a funky fashion, I decided to remove it and replace it.  Taking two large alligator clips I trimmed them down with a Dremel until each could clamp either side of the crystal protecting the adjacent chips from heat as well as some caps.  I applied light pressure with a dental pick to the top of the crystal while heating with a hot air desoldering tool.  The top pair of pads freed first but the lower pad pair ripped off the device.  Too much pressure, too little heating time.  So, looking up replacement crystals I find only one brand in a Digikey catalog 2010 that was the correct package dimensions and had an operating temperature of 125°C as it was for automotive applications.  Unfortunately not available in 11.0592MHz.   Searching Digikey online couldn't find the frequency at 125°C.  Other brands offered the frequency but with a max of 85°C.  I recall I found the temperature in the area of the CP2102 and 11.0592MHz crystal to be around 250°F with an IR meter.  That's 121°C in the neighborhood of a crystal who's max working temp is likely 85° and that is involved in com baud rate.  So, the heat from the CP2102 is perhaps destabilizing the crystal.  Before buying another crystal I'm trying to repair the present.  Curiously only pins 1 and 3 of the 4 pad crystal have any function.  This might explain the funky positioning, getting max access to the only 2 functional pins.

[Bicknellski]

You rebuilding it?

Wow... hope you get it working.

Keep us posted.

[soy]

First try after repair attempt on the crystal was a bust.  Into hub, short blink of the LED and nothing.  I had used an iron to solder in the crystal.  Now I put the custom protective alligator clip heatsinks in place and while  holding down with the dental pick, heated with hot air.  Cooled in the chill of the AC and tried the hub plug-in test again and got the standard flashings of the LED!  Didn't try to get it hashing yet but looked at the laptops std out and see 'device descriptor read/64, error -71' four time then an instance of 'device not accepting address 40, error -71' then and instance of 'device not accepting address 41, error -71, then finally 'unable to enumerate USB device on port 2'.   So, essentially it's the original failure messages - there's no topside heatsink of any kind.  Replacing the CP2102 is out of the question so I'm left with replacing the crystal.  Meanwhile experience has showed me it will run like this if tucked into the AC outlet.  Will try the two heatsinks and fan.