The Chili – 30+GH/s BFL based Bitcoin Miner Assembly

[GenTarkin]

Awesome, thanks for the pic, which heatsinks would well for those areas? links to any would be awesome =)

When I was prototyping I just used these ones since I could get them next day.
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&KeyWords=294-1100-ND
Two of them are enough to cover all 4 phases.

You can get heatsinks cheaper than that if you don't mind waiting though. I bought these guys as well, and just cut them in half and put both halves on the board.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aluminum-Heat-Sink-10pcs-lot-x-150-20-6mm-for-LED-Power-IC-PBC-Module-Transistor-/181132035289?ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160

Thanks man =)

[GenTarkin]

Any idea when firmware will be opensource?!? =)

[Hands]

News on the Queso Cases...

I'm getting 12 sheets of Acrylic to make my 10 cases (overage for "learning") today... By Thursday or Friday I should be able to show the system and prove that the backer-plate works... (I am waiting for my thermal pad which is in the mail now).  As soon as I can build a chili with the backerplate and get it hashing I'll post pictures and provide more detail.

Until I laser a few out I won't know my laser costs.. but I am targeting $15USD (in BTC) per Clear Acrylic Queso with free shipping in the US and then $22.50USD (in BTC) shipping anywhere else..

Everything will ship first class mail as that's about 1/4 the cost of shipping priority mail.

Anyways, those are estimated pricings.. I'll know more by the end of the week.

(I'll need to order the acrylic on mass so I may see if MrTeal & ChipGeek are cool with me running a group buy for the cases rather than trying to guess how much acrylic to buy and then having left over material).

[twib2]

An earlier poster was quite right - these are fun and easy to run!

I'm already looking to pick up more.  Any idea if you're going to do another batch, MrTeal?

[miaviator]

Chili Christmas ornaments.

[MrTeal]

Alright, time for the last auction. Let's get these all in homes before Christmas.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375995.0

[ipxtreme]

My 5 chili's at their final resting location:

[Bargraphics]

Just thought I would post this here.

My BFGMiner has been running for a little over 16 Days straight without any issues on the chilis. Once you get these things running, if you don't touch them they seem to have no issues at all.

Great! Product MrTeal/ChipGeek

[GrapeApe]

I'm having an issue getting one of my chilis built. I am using the CoolerMaster Hyper 212evo cooler with paste vs. pads and the backplate recommended by PhDMiner. Got one built using same parts it works fine but the other one starts to hash, shoots up to 39 GH/s and the temp goes to 70 C and then it shuts down and when the temp gets to 29 C it starts all over again same thing. Have rebuilt it twice should clean off the paste and try pads?

[Bargraphics]

I'm having an issue getting one of my chilis built. I am using the CoolerMaster Hyper 212evo cooler with paste vs. pads and the backplate recommended by PhDMiner. Got one built using same parts it works fine but the other one starts to hash, shoots up to 39 GH/s and the temp goes to 70 C and then it shuts down and when the temp gets to 29 C it starts all over again same thing. Have rebuilt it twice should clean off the paste and try pads?

It doesn't actually shut down right? Just keeps saying it on the mining software correct?

This is normal, it keeps throttling until it finally equalizes and is happy. I've had one do it for a couple hours once. Just give it time and it should find the sweet spot!

[GrapeApe]

I'm having an issue getting one of my chilis built. I am using the CoolerMaster Hyper 212evo cooler with paste vs. pads and the backplate recommended by PhDMiner. Got one built using same parts it works fine but the other one starts to hash, shoots up to 39 GH/s and the temp goes to 70 C and then it shuts down and when the temp gets to 29 C it starts all over again same thing. Have rebuilt it twice should clean off the paste and try pads?

It doesn't actually shut down right? Just keeps saying it on the mining software correct?

This is normal, it keeps throttling until it finally equalizes and is happy. I've had one do it for a couple hours once. Just give it time and it should find the sweet spot!

No, shutdown wasn't the right description disabled would be a better term for it.

I've got a few of these boards and none of them have done this. Why would one act so differently?

I had considered just leaving it running before I posted but wasn't sure if I should or not, will do now and report back.

Thanks


EDIT: I let it do it's thing for a little while and it's now hashing away. Mr.Teal suggested I add cooling to the MOSFETs and that should be finished tonight when the parts arrive. All is well at the moment...

[nexus99]

Hi all - i have 1 Chili that just stumps me.

The behavior it exhibits is that it runs fine at about 60c for a while. Then it instantly jumps to 120c and is shut off by BFG miner. It then immediately drops back down to 60c and spins its GH/S back up. It will randomly and continually repeat the cycle. I have attached several different coolers that work on other chilis... but I get the same behavior. Is this a problem with the temp sensor? Anyone know a way to avoid the turn off?

I have also tried thermal pads as well as paste. I am fairly confident its not an issue with cooling.

***I just noticed a similar issue posted immediately prior to mine. At least I'm not alone!

[MrTeal]

Hi all - i have 1 Chili that just stumps me.

The behavior it exhibits is that it runs fine at about 60c for a while. Then it instantly jumps to 120c and is shut off by BFG miner. It then immediately drops back down to 60c and spins its GH/S back up. It will randomly and continually repeat the cycle. I have attached several different coolers that work on other chilis... but I get the same behavior. Is this a problem with the temp sensor? Anyone know a way to avoid the turn off?

I have also tried thermal pads as well as paste. I am fairly confident its not an issue with cooling.

***I just noticed a similar issue posted immediately prior to mine. At least I'm not alone!

That is extremely strange. Can you raise the cutoff in BFGMiner so that it doesn't throttle and allow the Chili to throttle it?

[nexus99]

I'll look to see if there is a way I can set that in BFG.

Found this:

--temp-cutoff <arg> Temperature where a device will be automatically disabled, one value or comma separated list (default: 95)
--temp-hysteresis <arg> Set how much the temperature can fluctuate outside limits when automanaging speeds (default: 3)
--temp-overheat <arg> Overheat temperature when automatically managing fan and GPU speeds, one value or comma separated list (default: 85)
--temp-target <arg> Target temperature when automatically managing fan and clock speeds, one value or comma separated list

Maybe Ill try 130 and see what happens.

[i3luefire]

i have 14 chilis and 10 of them have been running for weeks and weeks without problems. the other 4 are new. 1 of the new ones runs fine for about 1-2 minutes then starts showing an error messages then it goes sick. in the midst of starting and stopping bfgminer a million times while trying to get that one working 1 of the 10 that had been running fine stopped working and now it never shows up in bfgminer even after power cycling it and switching usb ports and switching power supplies.

[Bargraphics]

i have 14 chilis and 10 of them have been running for weeks and weeks without problems. the other 4 are new. 1 of the new ones runs fine for about 1-2 minutes then starts showing an error messages then it goes sick. in the midst of starting and stopping bfgminer a million times while trying to get that one working 1 of the 10 that had been running fine stopped working and now it never shows up in bfgminer even after power cycling it and switching usb ports and switching power supplies.

What do the LED lights on the chili that has the issue look like.

Remember when you power cycle, etc.. you should wait until all of the LED lights on the chili stop blinking before starting the mining software. This can cause it to hang and not be found.

What error messages are you seeing with your other chili? Have you tried switching it to a different USB port/running it solo to see if it continues with those same issues?

Hopefully we can help you out!

[i3luefire]

i have 14 chilis and 10 of them have been running for weeks and weeks without problems. the other 4 are new. 1 of the new ones runs fine for about 1-2 minutes then starts showing an error messages then it goes sick. in the midst of starting and stopping bfgminer a million times while trying to get that one working 1 of the 10 that had been running fine stopped working and now it never shows up in bfgminer even after power cycling it and switching usb ports and switching power supplies.

What do the LED lights on the chili that has the issue look like.

Remember when you power cycle, etc.. you should wait until all of the LED lights on the chili stop blinking before starting the mining software. This can cause it to hang and not be found.

What error messages are you seeing with your other chili? Have you tried switching it to a different USB port/running it solo to see if it continues with those same issues?

Hopefully we can help you out!

the one that never shows up in bfgminer goes through the normal led bootup sequence but after the leds go out and i start bfgminer nothing happens. i have not tried that one by itself yet but i did change usb ports and cables. i am trying the one that goes sick by itself right now and am waiting on it to fail to copy the error message. but it always runs at ~41-42gh with 10-15% hw.

Edit: the message is

Code:

BFL 0: Received unexpected queue result response:
BFL 0: Error: Get temp returned empty string/timed out

Edit2: the miner that does not get recognized by bfgminer shows up as an unknown device on windows. does that mean the ftdi chip is toast? because i have never had this problem before. my normal mining machine is xubuntu but i have mined with these on windows before. and i am currently mining with the other problem child on windows currently so i dont think it is a driver issue. also the one that was getting sick before has not gotten sick for over an hour. so... i am not sure what the problem was there. but eventually i will need to move it back to the mining room and out of my living room.

[MrZambonie]

I have one that goes all crazy on me once and awhile, I just reflash it and seems to correct the issue. Have you tried that yet?

Current Firmware: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zoewijezzhfl3bs/Chili14e.hex
Flash Utility: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpccbhfkbpinov8/ChiliFlash.exe
Utility Source: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zn8gkojly2f87wx/ChiliFlash.rar

Previous FW
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8qhhoqmvtk6i6jj/Chili14d.hex

[i3luefire]

i may just try and replace the ftdi chip

[MrTeal]

i may just try and replace the ftdi chip

Before doing that, try shorting the center two pins on the unpopulated 0.1" connector labeled PROG. Pin 5 is MCU reset and pin 6 is ground, so it will hold the microcontroller in reset. If it's an MCU issue holding it in reset should cause the device to pop up on your computer as the FTDI chip will be able to connect. If it doesn't show up, it likely is the FTDI.