[CLOSED] Bitmine CoinCraft A1 28nm chip distribution / DIY support

[Bicknellski]

I was wondering, has anybody else ever tried a single chip before ?

Hm, no - both tested designs (Bitmine, marto74) use multi-chip-chains. Not sure what the WASP folks are going for, but no test results so far from their side.

Worst case you need to ensure that chip is not broken. If you have the second sample available you could double check.


Above that, please PM me for a more interactive support.

Likely both chips, ours won't be a single chip prototype, will be put on a 6 chip board layout that we are employing for our bring up. We are working through our BitFury design first before moving on to the A1.

[Cheshyr]

Please double check:

• keep RESETn low for a second, then at RESETn=1 wait for another second before you send the first command
• connect SDI_L to SDO_L to close the SPI chain

From here I would guess SDI_L and SDO_L are not connected, leaving the SPI chain open. With that, all broadcast commands fail - among others the chip can not finalize its chip enumeration, thus responds only to 0xa00 - which btw. is an illegal command, since READ_REG is addressed to individual chips and not defined for broadcast.

Let me know if you need further help.

SDI_L/SDO_L was my first thought as well, but I double checked, and they are connected. I tried a continuity tester, but I also with the scope I see identical waveforms on both pins.

I also used a 1 sec reset and 1 sec pause. The READ_REG for broadcast seems to work, though. The results make sense.

• 0x0100 (BIST_START) is a one-shot command: enumeration works only once after HW-reset, subsequent calls return 0 for chip count

Actually, after a HW-reset I get 0x0000, and subsequent calls return 0xFFFF.

I was wondering, has anybody else ever tried a single chip before ?

This is disconcerting.  My teams first design is also a single-chip variant, but we didn't get engineering samples, so I can't really help chase this down.  Will take a crack at it as soon as we receive chips, but keep us posted in the mean time.

[zefir]

Update: Chips shipped to Europe

Status
I was informed that the first wave of chips made it to HK before Chinese New Year and is on its way to Switzerland.

Delivery is expected by end of this week, DIY projects should have them in hand next week.


Remaining Sample Chips
I have the following names on my list for remaining sample chips:

Code:

Michael S.
vs3
savetree
goxed
goodney
zulunation

If you requested samples but are missing on that list, please contact me again. Same goes of you are on the list but don't need the samples any more.


Chip Orders / Availability
All projects that placed orders will be contacted today with payment details. You are given time to finalize the payment until end of this week.

End of this week is also the guaranteed availability for the chips, since unsold ones are converted to mining rig ASAP.



Cheers,
zefir

[marto74]

Great , Great news.
Glad to see the things are rolling

[SwissMiner]

+1

[Dexter770221]

I'm expecting my proto board today but didn't get a chance with first sample chips. Is it possible to get samples from production run?
http://imgur.com/rZs74uQ

[marto74]

This is where we got
8 chips setup @ 800 Mhz


screen capture software

[zefir]

This is where we got
8 chips setup @ 800 Mhz

Great, almost there. The two badly performing chips out of 8 is a little bit higher failure rate than what I observed with the samples (~10%), the real chips won't suffer from that (assuming they are tested).

Thanks for confirming that longer chip-chains work.


Cheers

[marto74]

Order paid

[Cheshyr]

Very exciting.  Thanks again to Zefir for putting this together, and for his patience and integrity when dealing with the community.

[goodney]

cscape: any updates on whether or not single chip designs will work?

thanks!

-a[g

[jpo]

I believe he was saying he didn't have any extra chips.  A single chip design should function just fine.

Does anyone happen to know if the reset line needs to be pulled high.  It wasn't specified, but most resets are.  I plan on connecting all the reset lines to a bus to a Uc through a level converter.

[Cheshyr]

I believe he was saying he didn't have any extra chips.  A single chip design should function just fine.

Does anyone happen to know if the reset line needs to be pulled high.  It wasn't specified, but most resets are.  I plan on connecting all the reset lines to a bus to a Uc through a level converter.

Actually, no.  The only person who documented attempting a single-chip design is having issues with the SPI chain termination.  We don't actually know if single-chip works yet.

Data sheet says "Reset signal, active low"

[MrTeal]

Has anyone gotten any power consumption numbers yet?

[erk]

Is anyone doing a board design for the home user that has like just a couple of A1 chips on it?

I am in the sub $1,000 market when it comes to miner purchases, because I get hit with tax and import duty for any items over that which screws the ROI.

Currently my best option is the Black Arrow X1 but they are months off. Coincraft would be brilliant. I l looked at the Technobit HEX8A1 - 6/8 chip Coincraft A1 board, but they don't want to do one with only a couple of ASICs on it to keep the price down for the home user.


I am electronics savvy so I can DIY from an open source design if I have to.

[Cheshyr]

Is anyone doing a board design for the home user that has like just a couple of A1 chips on it?

I am in the sub $1,000 market when it comes to miner purchases, because I get hit with tax and import duty for any items over that which screws the ROI.

Currently my best option is the Black Arrow X1 but they are months off. Coincraft would be brilliant. I l looked at the Technobit HEX8A1 - 6/8 chip Coincraft A1 board, but they don't want to do one with only a couple of ASICs on it to keep the price down for the home user.


I am electronics savvy so I can DIY from an open source design if I have to.

One of my teams projects is targeted at the entry-level consumer enthusiast.  I don't want to spill any details quite yet, but there will be products in your price range.

[erk]

Is anyone doing a board design for the home user that has like just a couple of A1 chips on it?

I am in the sub $1,000 market when it comes to miner purchases, because I get hit with tax and import duty for any items over that which screws the ROI.

Currently my best option is the Black Arrow X1 but they are months off. Coincraft would be brilliant. I l looked at the Technobit HEX8A1 - 6/8 chip Coincraft A1 board, but they don't want to do one with only a couple of ASICs on it to keep the price down for the home user.


I am electronics savvy so I can DIY from an open source design if I have to.

One of my teams projects is targeted at the entry-level consumer enthusiast.  I don't want to spill any details quite yet, but there will be products in your price range.

Oh good, once you have details don't forget to post here, I tend to miss new threads for many days.

[Cheshyr]

Is anyone doing a board design for the home user that has like just a couple of A1 chips on it?

One of my teams projects is targeted at the entry-level consumer enthusiast.  I don't want to spill any details quite yet, but there will be products in your price range.

Oh good, once you have details don't forget to post here, I tend to miss new threads for many days.

Will do.  Glad to know we didn't misread the market. 

[cscape]

cscape: any updates on whether or not single chip designs will work?

thanks!

-a[g

I tried hashing the test vectors but got no response from the chip. This was still using a single chip. Next step is to  assemble a second board with the other sample chip.

[papamoi]

hi

does anyone knows if these chips needed to be chained to another to work?

as cscape doesnt succeed in running it alone?

is there any mentionned about this in the docs?