Got it working - mining with Nexus 7 (2012)

[xtonn]

I'm pleased to say I got my mining rig working with a Nexus 7 running Butterfly Labs Easy Miner[1].

The specs on Easy Miner say you need a particular kernel to run it - I tried to install it but couldn't get it working on both Nexus 7 (ver 2/2013 and ver 1/2012. It just caused the new 2013 Nexus to hang on startup and seemed to do nothing at all to the 2012 version.

You need the kernel to enable support for using an OTG+Charging cable (it's an OTG cable that's split so that you can use a regular USB connector with the Nexus 7 and charge it at the same time - you obviously need to keep the Nexus 7 running 24x7 when you use it to manage miners).

So I took a chance and went with Cyanogenmod 10.1 on the version 1/2012 Nexus and installed Easy Miner. It worked as soon as I plugged in the miner! The Nexus charges (and stays charged) while the miner is doing its thing.

The only issue I found was that the screen had to stay on because pressing the power button would put the Nexus into sleep mode and kill/stop Easy Miner. I solved that problem with an app that keeps the Nexus from sleeping but also turns off the screen [2].

I didn't have any luck trying this with the new Nexus 7 (2013). I did get a really good deal on the old Nexus - about $120 off the retail price - making this a good way to go to recover the cost from mining.

[Just to be clear I am not mining using the Nexus as the miner. The Nexus runs Easy Miner which uses the miner to actually do the mining. Easy Miner handles the connection to the mining pool or just manages mining, depending on how you have it setup]

Tip when you install Cyanogenmod 10.1 - install it from recovery [3]

Tip for getting everything working - do it under windows and use Wugfresh to unlock, root, copy stuff over, and even recover completely to factory settings. [4]

I have been lurking here for a while and have learned a lot, so I wanted to start by saying Hello and giving you some good information now that BFL is shipping.

[1] - Easy Miner on the Play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mr.app.ui

[2] Screen Standby # Root on Play store:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nkahoang.screenstandby&hl=en

[3] Installing CyanogenMod from recovery (go to that section on the linked page):
http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_maguro

[4] Wugfresh
http://www.wugfresh.com

[Anon135246]

Will it actually pay off?

[b!z]

Will it actually pay off?

Obviously not, but it's a fun thing to play with.

[xtonn]

Will it actually pay off?

Depends on your miner

[fciacio]

Will it actually pay off?

Depends on your miner

I guess he was asking about Nexus 7

[xtonn]

I guess he was asking about Nexus 7

Yes, that's what I meant - depends on your miner - whether you can generate enough bitcoins to be able to recover your costs. The Nexus 2012 version has gone down in price, so it might be worth it - depending on your ROI goals.

I did notice that EasyMiner eventually hangs - the display no longer updates and the Nexus wants to stop the app when I try to interact with it. The miner continues to run and continues to process pool shares as shown on the pool stats page.

For a test I want to try switching over to cgminer on the Nexus 7 (uses bfgminer by default). There's a place in the settings where you can enter your cgminer command line parameters; I think there's a file you can use to configure it, but I can't seem to find out about it's format or name. Using cgminer might have an effect on Easy Miner's hangs - who knows though!

I also tried hooking up a Raspberry Pi computer - works great! Takes a little learning - not much more than needed to get this running and seems to be very stable (during the past 24h, so no long term experience yet).

If you want to go with Raspberry Pi, you'll need a few things:

* Raspberry Pi model B
* Powered USB hub
* Some way to go wireless - you can get ethernet to wifi dongles or use a router as a client bridge
* SD Card compatible with the Raspberry Pi
* Operating system and miner software to run the miner

More about this in another post!

[ELLIOTTCABLE]

I'm trying to follow in your footsteps, after failing desperately with the suggested kernel.

Some things I'm not clear on, as it's not working for me:

• Do you have the 2012 WiFi Nexus 7 (‘nakasi’), or the 2012 LTE Nexus 7 (‘nakasig’)?
• Precisely what version of CyanogenMod did you use? 10.1.0, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, or 10.1.3?
• Did you install Timur's usbhost kernel on top of CyanogenMod, or is CyanogenMod supposed to directly support USB OTG? Because not only do I not see any devices after wiping and flashing to CM, it won't even charge from my OTG-split cable. Timur's kernel under 4.2.2 would at least do that.
  

I'm using a WiFi gen-1 Nexus 7, installed CM 10.1.3 fresh (with nothing else), but can't get it to charge over an OTG splitter, nor will EasyMiner recognize any miners once installed.

[Muhammed Zakir]

FYI: This miner-app is used to help you to connect miner(s)(usually ASIC) to your Android instead of a computer. This isn't used for mining with your smartphone and you may only earn dust if you mine with your smartphone, I doubt you could actually get even dust mining payment.

[favdesu]

oh, nice thanks OP. I own a Nexus 7 too, time to give it a chance