OFFICIAL CGMINER mining software thread for linux/win/osx/mips/arm/r-pi 4.11.1

[stevegee58]

I've been experimenting with LTC mining lately with cgminer.  I found some settings that worked best with my little GPU and noticed some changes in changing from 2.11.2 to 2.11.3.  I had found with 2.11.2 that I got best performance with "-g 3" but with 2.11.3 it was best with "-g 1".  Also, my peak performance has improved slightly from 138 kh/s to 141 kh/s between the 2 most recent versions.

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[kano]

2.11.3a 2.11.3 recompiled on 64 bit xubuntu 11.04 (as usual) and also on the RPi 32 (2012-12-16-wheezy-raspbian and rpi-update today)

https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries
(the 64 bit version also works on Fedora 16 and 17)

To get the 64 bit xubuntu 11.04 binary:
wget https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries/raw/master/Ubuntu_11.04_x86_64/cgminer-2.11.3a
chmod +x cgminer-2.11.3a
md5sum cgminer-2.11.3a
f73035fdd0284cedc8b238869d45a073  cgminer-2.11.3a

To get the RPi 32bit binary:
wget https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries/raw/master/RPi_32/cgminer-2.11.3a
chmod +x cgminer-2.11.3a
md5sum cgminer-2.11.3a
ab34a2511b3f7325e3ab40d0c6e3424f  cgminer-2.11.3a

For anyone who didn't realise, it's just the executable file to put in place of 'cgminer'
Nothing else needs changing
On xubuntu 11.04 - first get and extract the full binary release from ckolivas and then copy my file in place of 'cgminer'

I've run both binaries without any problems with 1x6950, 1xBFL, 2xICA and 1xMMQ

The same configure options as cvolivas' binary version for 64 bit xubuntu 11.04
In case anyone was wondering:
CFLAGS="-g -W -Wall" ./autogen.sh --enable-icarus --enable-bitforce --enable-ztex --enable-modminer --enable-scrypt
make clean
make
However, the -g (instead of -O2) means it's a debug build so if anyone finds a problem and has core dumps enabled, it will dump a much more useful debug core.

All FPGAs (only) for the RPi 32bit version
CFLAGS="-g -W -Wall" ./autogen.sh --enable-icarus --enable-bitforce --enable-modminer --enable-ztex
make clean
make
You will need to install libusb-1.0.0

Reminders from before:

1
Important re-paste from before:
Now some important information about the BFL USB driver.
On linux, if you wish to switch back to the 2.10.5a, 2.10.4a or earlier version, you'll need to unplug and re-plug in your FPGAs or reboot your rig.
On windows (as described in FPGA-README) you'll need to update your windows USB driver to use the new cgminer


2
OK, if you are running cgminer 2.11.0 (or later) on linux as non-root user you may need to do the following also:

Create /etc/udev/rules.d/01-cgminer.rules
With:
ATTRS{idVendor}=="0403", ATTRS{idProduct}=="6014", SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ACTION=="add", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"
ATTRS{idVendor}=="1fc9", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0003", SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ACTION=="add", MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev"

And also:
sudo usermod -G plugdev -a `whoami`

Then reboot ... (or use udevadm to reload the rules and retrigger the devices - but I couldn't get that to work on my RPi without rebooting)

That is a bit overkill, but for now that's what I suggest unless I come up with a simpler set of rules.

Edit: if your linux distro doesn't have the 'plugdev' group, you can create it like:
sudo groupadd plugdev


3
If you read the FPGA-README, it mentions you need to use the WinUSB driver - not the FTDI one.
As per:

Code:

For ModMinerQuad (MMQ) and BitForce (BFL)
-----------------------------------------

...

The best solution for this is to use a tool called Zadig to set the driver:
 http://sourceforge.net/projects/libwdi/files/zadig/

This allows you set the driver for the device to be WinUSB which is usually
required to make it work if your having problems

Cgminer no longer uses the specific drivers - it's direct USB using the single libusb driver
(for everything 'USB' except Icarus - until I get around to changing that ... possibly one day in the far future )

Edit: 2 suggestions about zadig:
1) Run it as administrator
2) Menu: Options -> List all devices

[sgravina]

New release: 2.11.3, 17th March 2013

Quick test of scrypt mining on my Windows 7 machine.  Same everything.

2.11.2 - No HW errors.
2.11.3 - Lot of HW errors, very low accepted rate.

Don't have time to play with it so I sticking with 2.11.2 for now.

[juve4v]

I tried last version too, but nothing changed ..lots of errors same as previous version.Anything above I 13 on my 7950 = lots of errors and at I 19 only errors. WinVista x64 bit, 8 Gb RAM, cgminer  2.11.3, -g 1, -w 256

[-ck]

Don't suppose you tried the larger thread concurrencies... everything needs retuning.

[romantic1]

For all you crazy scrypt/LTC mining fanatics, I have finally found the reason you cannot set very high thread concurrencies or intensities on 79x0 cards. It shall be fixed in the next version. I'm able to run my 7970s at TCs of 22392 now.

And how much faster is it? :-p

7970 @ 1135/1890, LG 2, TC 22392:

Code:

 GPU 0:  72.0C 3413RPM | 714.6K/715.7Kh/s | A:0 R:1 HW:0 U:0.00/m I:20

No, the memory speed is not a typo. Ignore the accept/reject ratio; I was trying solo.

EDIT: The code is now in git, and here's a windows build with the changes:
http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer/temp/cgminer.exe

Can you post the bat file ! It doesn't work on my 7970.
My bat file: cgminer -o coinotron.com:9322 -u romantic1.ltc -p 12345 --scrypt --lookup-gap 2 --thread-concurrency 20992 -g 5 -I 20
I tried g 1. It doesn't work too.
I also tried: "cgminer -o coinotron.com:9322 -u romantic1.ltc -p 123 --scrypt --lookup-gap 2 --thread-concurrency 22392 -g 5 -I 20"

[-ck]

Start low. Go slowly up. Do not increase -g count. Do not assume what worked on mine will work on yours. Read the scrypt readme. No two systems are alike.

--gpu-engine 1135 --gpu-memclock 1890 --thread-concurrency 22392 -I 20

Was worth 715kH, but it also drew 305W from the one GPU and was on my machine with my hardware running my OS.

I am NOT going to say this again. Everyone experiment for yourselves. Scrypt tuning is witchcraft and you need to find the right incantation for your device and sacrifice the correct number of goats while facing towards your holy centre.

Me? After upgrading the scrypt code, I'm back to mining bitcoin like I always have been.

[ChipGeek]

I am NOT going to say this again. Everyone experiment for yourselves. Scrypt tuning is witchcraft and you need to find the right incantation for your device and sacrifice the correct number of goats while facing towards your holy centre.

Can you please add this to the README (that nobody reads)?  

[hanti]

Platform:
windows 7 ultimate 64bit
cgminer 2.10.5, 2.11.2, 2.11.3
HD6950 2GB with unlocked shaders oc to 830mhz

Commandline:
x:\xxxx\cgminer-2.10.5-win32\cgminer.exe -o http://xxx:1234 -u xxx -p xxx -o http://xxx2:5678 -u xxx -p xxx

cmd window stops refreshing after i use switch user feature - when im back to administrator account the cmd window shows last status of cgminer and it does not changing anymore, same hash power same tmp everything its freezed - it doesnt react on any keys like Q i need to close window manually
my gfx card before closing but with this freezed cgminer window open seems still minning, it stops when i close this window by clicking on X

when i add to commandline -T switch it works fine i can switch users and after im back to my account its still ok. But i dont like this it does not show many items like temperature etc i dont want to use another tool like gpu-z. Cgminer without -T looks really nice

So anybody had similar problem? Or any ideas what to do to fix that?

regards

[rav3n_pl]

Why all of you DNOT use -shaders option??? Then only raise I to the point where it starts making errors...
Scrypt tuning in 2 steps

[nitrogenetics]

I've been playing a bit with cgminer (2.11.2 and 2.11.3) and scrypt during the last few hours.
So far the best performance I could achieve on my GV-R797OC-3GD on windows 7 x64 with catalyst 13.2b7 was around 720kH/s with the following settings:

Code:

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o http://xxx -u x -p x --intensity 13 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --lookup-gap 2 --gpu-engine 1044 --gpu-memclock 1500

a more conservative 620kH/s with

Code:

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o http://xxx -u x -p x --intensity 13 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --lookup-gap 2 --gpu-engine 900 --gpu-memclock 1155

and an even more conservative 550kH/s with

Code:

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o http://xxx -u x -p x --intensity 13 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --lookup-gap 2 --gpu-engine 800 --gpu-memclock 870

Increasing thread concurrency above 8192 with --lookup-gap 2 always returns an error like

Code:

Maximum buffer memory device 0 supports says 536870912
Your scrypt settings come to 1467482112
Error -61: clCreateBuffer (padbuffer8), decrease CT or increase LG

Lowering thread concurrency below 8192 always produces hardware errors.

With -g > 1 using any intensity higher or lower than 13 will result in lower hashrates.

With -g 1 higher than 13 intensities will more or less match -g 2 -I 13 hashrate at the expenses of system responsiveness.

Increasing lookup gap allows for higher thread concurrencies, but it won't improve performance.

Setting the correct core/memory ratio for your card is the most important tweak, even a small 10MHz difference can make you lose/gain 100-200kH/s.

[klear]

Code:

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o http://xxx -u x -p x --intensity 13 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --lookup-gap 2 --gpu-engine 1044 --gpu-memclock 1500

I get 400Kh/s with those exact same settings  

2.11.3 breaks GUIMiner-scrypt for me

[philips]

I've been playing a bit with cgminer (2.11.2 and 2.11.3) and scrypt during the last few hours.
..............................................

How many cards and how much RAM do you have? Thanks.

[thejestre]

Hi all,

I'm trying to mine Litecoin for the first time this weekend, and have had some encouraging results.  I'm using one MSI R7850 with 2GB DDR5 in an older Intel Core 2 Quad system w/4 GB RAM.  I'm able to reliably hit ~298 Kh/s - ~350 Kh/s with utility reaching between 13 and 16 shares per minute.  Seems like decent rates for this card.

Just a few tweaks to the --gpu-memclock and --gpu-engine go a long way.  My card's RAM clock is 1200, but it _seems_ to work well at 1350-1375.  Am I going to fry it quicker with these settings?

Here are the switches I'm using:

Code:

--scrypt --intensity 16 --gpu-memclock 1350 --gpu-engine 1000-1000

As I change the Intensity between 13 and 16 both the Kh/s and the shares/minute are higher closer to 16, but so are the hardware errors.  I left it mining all night at I=16 and have a total of 450 HW errors.  How bad is it to get these errors, and what amount is acceptable?

Thanks so much for this awesome program,

_theJestre

[klear]

Hi all,

I'm trying to mine Litecoin for the first time this weekend, and have had some encouraging results.  I'm using one MSI R7850 with 2GB DDR5 in an older Intel Core 2 Quad system w/4 GB RAM.  I'm able to reliably hit ~298 Kh/s - ~350 Kh/s with utility reaching between 13 and 16 shares per minute.  Seems like decent rates for this card.

Just a few tweaks to the --gpu-memclock and --gpu-engine go a long way.  My card's RAM clock is 1200, but it _seems_ to work well at 1350-1375.  Am I going to fry it quicker with these settings?

Here are the switches I'm using:

Code:

--scrypt --intensity 16 --gpu-memclock 1350 --gpu-engine 1000-1000

As I change the Intensity between 13 and 16 both the Kh/s and the shares/minute are higher closer to 16, but so are the hardware errors.  I left it mining all night at I=16 and have a total of 450 HW errors.  How bad is it to get these errors, and what amount is acceptable?

Thanks so much for this awesome program,

_theJestre

lower intensity to 13, shouldnt be getting any hardware errors.

[nitrogenetics]

I've been playing a bit with cgminer (2.11.2 and 2.11.3) and scrypt during the last few hours.
..............................................

How many cards and how much RAM do you have? Thanks.

1 card, 16 gb system ram. Cgminer allocates only about 40MB, video memory usage is 1133MB.

Here are some hashrate numbers at different frequencies:

Gpu/Mem   Hashrate~
800/790   555kH/s
800/870   555kH/s
850/930   585kH/s
850/1065   585kH/s
900/1000   620kH/s
900/1155   625kH/s
900/1310   620kH/s
925/1000   635kH/s
925/1001   400kH/s
950/1205   655kH/s
950/1370   650kH/s
963/1375   665kH/s
963/1220   670kH/s
1000/1250   660kH/s
1000/1251   450kH/s
1000/1455   690kH/s
1024/1475   710kH/s
1044/1500   720kH/s
1044/1501   495kH/s

[philips]

I've been playing a bit with cgminer (2.11.2 and 2.11.3) and scrypt during the last few hours.
..............................................

How many cards and how much RAM do you have? Thanks.

1 card, 16 gb system ram. Cgminer allocates only about 40MB, video memory usage is 1133MB.

Nice, thanks.

[hanti]

Platform:
windows 7 ultimate 64bit
cgminer 2.10.5, 2.11.2, 2.11.3
HD6950 2GB with unlocked shaders oc to 830mhz

Commandline:
x:\xxxx\cgminer-2.10.5-win32\cgminer.exe -o http://xxx:1234 -u xxx -p xxx -o http://xxx2:5678 -u xxx -p xxx

cmd window stops refreshing after i use switch user feature - when im back to administrator account the cmd window shows last status of cgminer and it does not changing anymore, same hash power same tmp everything its freezed - it doesnt react on any keys like Q i need to close window manually
my gfx card before closing but with this freezed cgminer window open seems still minning, it stops when i close this window by clicking on X

when i add to commandline -T switch it works fine i can switch users and after im back to my account its still ok. But i dont like this it does not show many items like temperature etc i dont want to use another tool like gpu-z. Cgminer without -T looks really nice

So anybody had similar problem? Or any ideas what to do to fix that?

regards

with x:\xxxx\cgminer-2.10.5-win32\cgminer.exe --compact -o http://xxx:1234 -u xxx -p xxx -o http://xxx2:5678 -u xxx -p xxx  it works ok - so maybe problem is somewhere in gpu monitoring

[juhakall]

New release: 2.11.3, 17th March 2013

Human readable changelog:
...
- Changes to the hashmeter to update it more frequently - for fast devices it will update smoother but for long-return devices (like slow FPGAs) it will look worse. This is in preparation for faster devices
...

The 5s hashmeter is indeed way too high for all my 5800 series cards now. Why not add an option to get the old hashmeter back? They were accurate with a below 1% error margin before, while now I'm seeing 10-20% higher hashrates constantly.

EDIT: Added git revert -n 072ffbba424770afcbd2e1a10aead8a5035f80de to my compile scripts, and the hashmeters are working again. This might cause problems when that part of the code is changed again in a future commit. I wonder what that git command will actually do then. I don't recommend this, just wanted to confirm that commit being the culprit.

[-ck]

And so my master plan to make scrypt even harder to mine with and eventually kill off litecoin starts coming to fruition

So you can see why I had avoided touching the scrypt code due to lack of interest +/- donations till now for it is witchcraft and one minor change angers the hashing gods and they expect new sacrifices but reward those  who do the correct sacrifice even more than the old faithful.