Getting started, Java Issues.

[Reznorock]

So I started this morning, ive been at it for about 13 hours since a friend mentioned it to me. (he hasn't even gotten started he's waiting on hardware he bought) .

I love the idea, I find it very interesting and hey I put my computer to work. great.

The only think ive managed to do is sit with bitcoinplus open (which doesn't seem to ask for my wallet key so it doesn't know where to send anything but it still takes 3% and dryhumps my CPU)  and install the latest java (7) as I didn't have it installed. as well as about several hours ago the java sdk 6 (no idea why but I wondered if that was the reason for my problems)

My problems being that I joined bitminter, but the program doesn't work when I press the start engine button it shows the big shiny coin and then dies, after some messing around I managed to catch that it was erroring (blink of an eye fast so I got lucky screenshotting it )  http://i43.tinypic.com/14l5ut2.jpg     

Ive changed something or other from browser based to direct, switched over to chrome from firefox and deleted the temp java files , I also uninstalled and downgraded my video card files, all to no avail.

At this point Java isn't even showing up in my control panel when I search for it (maybe because of the SDK install?)

I tried a GUIminer and it wouldn't do anything. ( I honestly tried some other things but have no clue as to what im doing at this point)

Oh and  I got multibit working for a wallet, but then decided to get electrum, but now am at a loss as to what the hell the master key is, and if the "main account" is just 5 seperate  "receive bitcoin" keys and why the heck would I need more than one.  (so I didn't get rid of multibit yet).



All in all, im tired and frustrated and I just want some help pointing me in the right direction and I want to go mine , solo, or in a pool, whichever way I just want to go do it and not have to do it through some bloody website, I want to see numbers and contribute to a group. I find it all really interesting and cool. I can't wait till I mine my first bitcoin. heck im tempted to buy a real hardcopy bitcoin to celebrate it just for grins and giggles. 

Anyways im done for today. im burned out , time for a beer and to watch suits.  goodnight folks

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[os2sam]

Sooo, your CPU Mining?

[Reznorock]

I don't have much choice at the moment I can't seem to get anything else to work.

I had downloaded guiminer from poclbm but It wouldn't start. I guess todays goal is to try to figure out why. try to get it set up and running.  any help is appreciated.

[os2sam]

Nobody will recommend CPU mining as it will take FOREVER to find a valid share and next to impossible in the time the universe has left to solve a block at this difficulty level.

That being said if you want to tinker around with CPU mining so you can see your PC working its little CPU out, I would recommend getting the Ufasoft miner.  That was a very easy miner to use and that is what I started with over 2 years ago.

The next thing is, do you have a GPU?  If so what type and model?
Sam

[Reznorock]

Currently running a Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

Although I just recently finally got bitminter to run, I am having problems with the opencl and so far the 2.4 sdk I downloaded has not given me the necessary files I need to run it. 

I had to delete

SlotMaximizerBe.dll
SlotMaximizerAg.dll
amdocl.dll
OpenCL.dll
OpenVideo.dll
OVDecode.dll


As well as wipe all my video stuff from my drive and registry to get that far. now im at the point where Im banging my head against the desk because I imagine I need those files. but im not sure what to do next other than try sdk2.5 see if that works, if not, then wipe it all and back to square 1

[os2sam]

A 4870 is a very low end card.  It's only good for tinkering and getting your feet wet.  So don't think your going to mine allot of BTC with it .

When I was mining with my 4670 I could only get Catalyst 10.7 and OpenCL 2.1 or 2.2 to run with it.

If you can get a latter 11.x Catalyst to install and work with that card I would recommend CGMiner.  CGMiner has ADL support so it can overclock your engine clock, underclock your ram and keep your temperature in a safe range.

If you can only use a 10.x Catalyst your probably going to have to use the old Phoenix miner and mine on a getwork pool.

Also here is a good comparison chart with some suggestions

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

Sam

[Reznorock]

well I used atiman and drivesweeper as recommended by support at bitminter. and am currently sitting here with no drivers and no openCL.  I previously just used drivesweeper and was still having issues with openCL being broken.

My plan exactly was to find a pool and get my feet wet.  but I really can't do that until I get bitminter working. or get something working.  it's been rather a rather frustrating 2 days now (pushing 12+ hours a day so far) and although I have made some progress, and gotten bitminter to actually show up now, I still can't get it to run.

so im now attempting to see what my best option is for catalyst,  ive been told by support at bitminter that opencl should come with my drivers, but bitminter tells me I don't have opencl when I run it, so im not sure if that is true or if it's the driver version that is a problem.

I imagine there were some sort of improvments between your 4670 and my 4870, and while compared to todays standards im sure it is low end, but ive not really had a problem running anything on it so who knows.


I figure if I can't get mining with bitminter then im not going to have any luck using any other program.

I'll probably see what supports my card above 10x first and go with that.  but I am at a loss as to what to do about the opencl. I can't seem to find a place to download it and im told I don't need the sdk to get it.


Edit- don't know if it's relevant or not, but its an HD4870  1gig (I know still old but who knows)

[Reznorock]

Got bitminter running with 11.5 , bitminter says my hashrate is 73.31 mhps. so I imagine there is room for improvement.

I will check out CGminer , I guess now I will have to find a pool and such(however one goes about doing that).

Appreciate the recommendations and any more that happen to follow and guess i'll be doing a lot of reading the next few days.

I am curious though, I got a nexus 7 for an early birthday present, is there any way I can get that to do a little work?

[os2sam]

Glad you got it working.  Your hash rate seems in line with the comparison chart that I sent you a link for, but that's about the base rate so yes it could be better.

Catalyst 11.5 has ADL, I think, so you should be able to use CGMiner and have it over clock your GPU engine and underclock your memory.

You said you need to find a pool now?  Bitminter is a pool.  But check the mining pools list for others.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=104664.msg1146108#msg1146108

Ozcoin and BTC Guild are both good choices.

So your off to the races now,
Sam

[Reznorock]

Whats odd to me is that the livestats at bitminter when I watch it are usually around 90 something at the lowest and right now its at 143, so im really at a loss about that, sometimes the little meter just shuts off or doesn't even show up for me so who knows.

It's really tempting to upgrade my videocard because the hashrate would be 4 times better on the card I was looking at. but I don't really need to (and figured id wait till I upgraded my motherboard and such anyways)  besides, for a bit more if I really wanted to stick my pinky toe in the door I could apparently get some mining specific hardware like a jalapeno.


And yes I realize bitminter is a pool. I misspoke as I was fairly tired last night.

Yes I am off to the races. just walking. heheh.