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boozer
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March 01, 2012, 11:21:59 AM |
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Long post Warning: (hit the scroll wheel down if not interesting in my ramblings on Bitminter, p2pool and a stronger/decentralized network) BitMinter has been a great place to mine. Dr. Haribo is an awesome pool op and one I have no problems trusting with large sums of coins. I have however finished migrating my farm to p2pool. I joined BitMinter (way back when we had 30GH/s and I was 10 of them  ) because I was concerned about the risk large pools represented. I decided to put my hashing power where my mouth was and it has been an interesting experience. It wasn't an easy decision as I have grown attached to BitMinter but I have moved to p2pool because I feel it is the best "weapon" against an increasingly centralized Bitcoin. Small pools find it difficult to grow due to variance which keeps them small and thus they have higher variance (and the cycle repeats). Even if a pool does grow there is always the risk it displaces a fallen giant, becomes a giant itself and the risk remains. Thus I now believe that "medium sized pools" are unstable. They either decline or grow and while the top few pools may change mining will be dominated by a dynamic of a few super pools and lots of tiny ones. <snip> Although I have only been mining for a few months, I have tried many different pools and definitely agree with D&T, BitMinter is a great place to mine and Dr. H is an awesome pool op. I got my first 5790 this week, and have 5 more on their way, along with 6 7970's, so my hash rate should improve significantly soon After doing some short reading on p2pool, I really find myself drawn to it simply because of its decentralized nature. It seems large pools with low variance are preferred by the common miner, but large pools seem to go against bitcoin's original design. I still have a lot of reading/learning to do, but the decentralized aspect alone really draws me to p2pool. However, until I get my rigs up and running and read up further on p2pool, I'll definitely stay at Bitminter as it is the best of the many other sites I tested (IMHO). I'ld also like to thank D&T for all the assistance provided to me (and countless others on this forum). He really helped me get off the ground. |
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WhitePhantom
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March 02, 2012, 04:36:45 AM
Last edit: March 02, 2012, 05:36:21 AM by WhitePhantom |
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Today a Radeon 5850 I ordered arrived, and I installed it in a workstation at the office that is only used 3-5 hours per week. The rest of the time it is logged off.
I setup the BitMinter client as a service using instsrv.exe and srvany.exe. The service is set to start automatically, so when the workstation boots up to the login screen, the service starts and it mines at about 315 MH/s.
When a user logs in, a login scripts stops the service and taskkill.exe shuts down javaw.exe (it doesn't shut down when the service stops, for some reason).
When the user logs off, a logoff scripts starts up the service again.
I was so excited to see that BitMinter worked as a service because Diablo was only giving me ~250 MH/s. +65MH/s with BitMinter = Woot!
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boozer
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March 02, 2012, 03:52:41 PM |
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Damn these long blocks! Think its time for things to swing the other way now |
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DeathAndTaxes
Donator
Legendary
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Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
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March 02, 2012, 03:54:58 PM |
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Today a Radeon 5850 I ordered arrived, and I installed it in a workstation at the office that is only used 3-5 hours per week. The rest of the time it is logged off.
I setup the BitMinter client as a service using instsrv.exe and srvany.exe. The service is set to start automatically, so when the workstation boots up to the login screen, the service starts and it mines at about 315 MH/s.
When a user logs in, a login scripts stops the service and taskkill.exe shuts down javaw.exe (it doesn't shut down when the service stops, for some reason).
When the user logs off, a logoff scripts starts up the service again.
I was so excited to see that BitMinter worked as a service because Diablo was only giving me ~250 MH/s. +65MH/s with BitMinter = Woot!
Is this in Windows XP by any chance? I didn't think mining as a service is possible in Windows 7 as GPU are user level drivers. |
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WhitePhantom
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March 02, 2012, 06:08:41 PM |
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Is this in Windows XP by any chance? I didn't think mining as a service is possible in Windows 7 as GPU are user level drivers.
Yeah, it's WinXP. I'll try it on a Win7 sometime today and let you know whether it works. |
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rjk
Sr. Member
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Activity: 448
Merit: 250
1ngldh
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March 02, 2012, 06:09:34 PM |
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Is this in Windows XP by any chance? I didn't think mining as a service is possible in Windows 7 as GPU are user level drivers.
Yeah, it's WinXP. I'll try it on a Win7 sometime today and let you know whether it works. Don't bother; it won't. Different driver architecture. |
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DrHaribo (OP)
Legendary
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Activity: 2730
Merit: 1034
Needs more jiggawatts
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March 02, 2012, 08:09:21 PM |
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Hmm, I always assumed it couldn't run as a service because it uses a window and/or systray.
Now I was hoping I could build "run as service" into the miner. But I guess it would only work on XP? Is it impossible for a service to use the GPU on later Windows OSes?
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DeathAndTaxes
Donator
Legendary
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Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
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March 02, 2012, 08:33:00 PM
Last edit: March 02, 2012, 10:51:00 PM by DeathAndTaxes |
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Now I was hoping I could build "run as service" into the miner. But I guess it would only work on XP? Is it impossible for a service to use the GPU on later Windows OSes? That is my understanding. Windows Vista and later GPU run as user mode drivers. The switch from handling them as kernel mode (XP and prior) was done to improve stability of the OS. Generally speaking it is a good idea. A user mode driver crash can be managed by the OS "the ATI driver has stopped respond and was restarted" vs hard lockup. |
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boozer
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March 02, 2012, 10:00:58 PM |
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A driver level crash can be managed by the OS "the ATI driver has stopped respond and was restarted" vs hard lockup.
Boy I have I seen that enough when overclocking my personal PC for hashing... Very glad it didnt lock and force me to restart every time. Saved me a lot of time, lol.  |
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jake262144
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March 02, 2012, 11:33:19 PM |
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Windows is a very interesting OS. On one hand GPU drivers have been moved to the userland while on the other, menial tasks like font parsing are still being done at kernel level ( consequence). |
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WhitePhantom
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March 03, 2012, 08:33:46 PM
Last edit: March 04, 2012, 07:02:41 AM by WhitePhantom |
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Is this in Windows XP by any chance? I didn't think mining as a service is possible in Windows 7 as GPU are user level drivers.
Yeah, it's WinXP. I'll try it on a Win7 sometime today and let you know whether it works. Don't bother; it won't. Different driver architecture. I'm stubborn and gave it a try since it only took a few minutes. As expected, you're correct; running BitMinter as a service on Windows 7 does not work. It only works on Win XP. |
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boozer
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March 04, 2012, 05:39:41 AM |
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I know you have the box to check to get notified about the latest blocks with a sound effect, but I would find it handy to be notified in other ways..... Like being able to get an email or txt msg when BTC/NMC (able to choose as I dont care as much about NMC notifications) block is found, giving a summary of my stats, for that block or the last N shifts or something like (maybe being able to choose how much information one wants). Anyways, definitely nothing major, not sure how much it would be used, but I would find it handy.... probably email notification would be my preference. Again, not sure how many would want to use it, but I would, so I figured I'ld throw it out here  |
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WhitePhantom
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March 04, 2012, 07:01:14 AM |
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I know you have the box to check to get notified about the latest blocks with a sound effect, but I would find it handy to be notified in other ways..... Like being able to get an email or txt msg when BTC/NMC (able to choose as I dont care as much about NMC notifications) block is found, giving a summary of my stats, for that block or the last N shifts or something like (maybe being able to choose how much information one wants). Anyways, definitely nothing major, not sure how much it would be used, but I would find it handy.... probably email notification would be my preference. Again, not sure how many would want to use it, but I would, so I figured I'ld throw it out here I think a similar idea regarding SMS notifications was brought up a couple weeks ago, but I don't recall whether it made it onto Doc's incredibly long list. If an option for E-Mail notification ever becomes available, I will also use it. Either way, I love BitMinter. As a side note, nice jump in hashing power from your recent video card purchases, boozer. |
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boozer
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March 04, 2012, 04:36:32 PM |
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As a side note, nice jump in hashing power from your recent video card purchases, boozer.
Thanks! I had a hell of time getting video cards, but they finally started coming in. I spent a month on two 10+ 5970 deals which both fell through, one ended up being a scammer (found out before i lost any money), and the second was a guy on ebay that said he would sell me quite a few, he kept stringing me along and after about two weeks, he said "sorry" and that he was "all sold out". Then, a guy on this board said he would sell me 3.... I paid him and a few days later, he said he actually only had two. Then I got the two he had, and one of them had a bad core (although I have no complaints about this person, he handled everything very well.... just part of my card acquiring saga). So finally I decided to give up on the 5970 and go half and half with 5970/7970 on my farm since I could by and receive 7970's outright.... So I ordered the 7970's, and with the six I ordered, the company offerred free next day air.... just over a week later, I still hadn't received anything. I finally got a note from them that the cards were backordered and my order had been refunded.... sigh. So, I finally bought the remainder off NewEgg and they should be here this week! But man, I had hoped to have everything up and running at full capacity a couple weeks ago, lol. |
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WhitePhantom
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March 04, 2012, 05:01:23 PM |
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Wow, what an ordeal! Glad to hear things are starting to work out for you.
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DrHaribo (OP)
Legendary
Offline
Activity: 2730
Merit: 1034
Needs more jiggawatts
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March 04, 2012, 06:10:28 PM |
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Thanks for ideas for messages, boozer. Added to earlier ideas on a general message system. It will be super cool, only problem is to find the time to make it.  That's one hell of a hunt for GPUs too - good that it's finally coming together. |
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boozer
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March 04, 2012, 10:12:49 PM |
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Thanks for ideas for messages, boozer. Added to earlier ideas on a general message system. It will be super cool, only problem is to find the time to make it. That's one hell of a hunt for GPUs too - good that it's finally coming together. Yea, I was pretty upset at times looking for GPU's lol. I understand on the time to make that change... no biggy, just something that i would find useful if you ever do have the time |
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ZodiacDragon84
Sr. Member
Offline
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
The king and the pawn go in the same box @ endgame
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March 04, 2012, 11:02:42 PM |
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Sounds like doc needs an assistant or two
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Beaflag VonRathburg
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March 04, 2012, 11:49:17 PM |
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Damn these long blocks! Think its time for things to swing the other way now You're welcome: 639 45244 2012-03-03 12:35 5h 32m 473,702 547,532 57.9% 102.064 NMC BeaflagVonRathburg confirmed 638 169472 2012-03-03 12:35 5h 32m 475,886 1,496,978 27.2% 102.514 BTC BeaflagVonRathburg confirmed |
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boozer
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March 06, 2012, 07:16:02 PM |
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You're welcome:
639 45244 2012-03-03 12:35 5h 32m 473,702 547,532 57.9% 102.064 NMC BeaflagVonRathburg confirmed
638 169472 2012-03-03 12:35 5h 32m 475,886 1,496,978 27.2% 102.514 BTC BeaflagVonRathburg confirmed
Beaflag, can you do it again please |
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