[ANN][BLC] Blakecoin Blake-256 for GPU/FPGA With Merged Mined Pools Stable Net

[kramble]

Found it Finally.
(same folder )
c:/Controller/SPIProg.exe hashvoodoo_dynamic_09_23_2012.bit

No, you need to use hashvoodoo_controller_25.bit for the controller FPGA (not hashvoodoo_dynamic_09_23_2012.bit which is the bitcoin mining bitstream*). I never did the controller flashing myself (and I no longer have a board to test on), but hopefully somebody will be along soon enough to help out.

* (note) There are five FPGA devices on the CM1. One is the controller FPGA (a spartan 3 device) which is programmed via SPIProg.exe, the other four are the mining FPGAs (spartan 6 LX150s) which are programmed the VirtuaBox linux VM using xc3sprog.

[BlueDragon747]

I used an external programmer,to program the controller and FPGAs with a external programmer and Xilinx IMPACT set dip 8, 6, 3 to off

ref: http://enterpoint.co.uk/products/spartan-6-development-boards/cairnsmore-1/cairnsmore1-support-materials/

Hashvoodoo release to use: https://github.com/downloads/pmumby/hashvoodoo-fpga-bitcoin-miner/hashvoodoo_release_09_23_2012.zip

http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/cairnsmore/cm1_rev_1_5_dip_sw.jpg

connect programmer to controller JTAG is top left above SW6 dip switch bank set dip switches 8, 6, 3 to off and open Xilinx IMPACT auto detect and flash
hashvoodoo_controller_25.bit

power cycle

connect programmer to FPGA JTAG is bottom left next to usb on side (2 big JTAG ports not used)

open Xilinx IMPACT auto detect and flash
hashvoodoo_dynamic_09_23_2012.bit

set SW2,SW3,SW4,SW5 to all on

and set (SW6,SW1) dip 8, 6, 3 to on

test and don't power cycle

if it is working then repeat last step with Blakecoin bitstream

[ahmed_bodi]

would anyone here be willing to help test out my p2pool?

[BlueDragon747]

did you get it working on bitcoin with the standard hashvoodoo or did you skip a few steps?

drop down the list of Universal Serial Bus controllers as it shows the Cairnsmore devices (JTAG,PORT A/B,SPI)

and what are you using as your command line in the .bat?

[BlueDragon747]

these are the bitstreams kramble has built for us to use for blakecoin on cm1
https://github.com/kramble/FPGA-Blakecoin-Miner/tree/master/experimental/CM1

just load the .bit and dont bother with the mcs on the flash just the fpga which will be valid until power cycled

[hal7]

If you get problems with IMPACT loading bitstream to CM1, try like CM1 wiki says:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/CM1Quickstart, but remember about hashvoodoo spartan-3 controller firmware.

I've got that problems with CM1 too in IMPACT&Xilinx JTAG and don't know why? Too long JTAG chain or bad PCB design?? Who knows that?

[mrakbox]

would anyone here be willing to help test out my p2pool?

Do you have a URL?

[BlueDragon747]

If you get problems with IMPACT loading bitstream to CM1, try like CM1 wiki says:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/CM1Quickstart, but remember about hashvoodoo spartan-3 controller firmware.

I've got that problems with CM1 too in IMPACT&Xilinx JTAG and don't know why? Too long JTAG chain or bad PCB design?? Who knows that?

I use a cheap Xilinx USB Cable (DLC9G clone) to program all my boards the only trick is setting the dip switches  8, 6, 3 to off and plugging the program cable into the controller JTAG which is above SW6 and using Xilinx ISE (14.5, 14.6, 14.7) start Impact and it will detect the chain and program successful unless you did not set dip switches!

I never got the official way working consistently hence my use of the program cable and Impact, works every time for me on multiple boards  

[kramble]

lin0sspice:

I never got the official way working consistently hence my use of the program cable and Impact, works every time for me on multiple boards  

I found I could get consistent results by being very systematic about how I went about doing the programming (and I did this quite a lot while testing different bitstreams). As hal7 mentioned the Quickstart is probably the best guide to follow (this permanently programs the SPI ROMs, though you can use the alternative commands in the CM1 Manual to just temporarily load the bitstream). Just ignore the references to the dcmwd4e bitstream and BFGMiner/MPBM/cgminer and use hashvoodo firmware instead.

I wrote a summary for another user in a PM which I'll just copy here. Note that this assumes you've already installed the CM1 drivers on a windows PC, installed VirtualBox, loaded the cairnsmore.ova virtual machine (this just needs to be done once) and coped the blakecoin bitstream onto the linux virtual machine (either by USB stick as suggested in the guide, or by other means, I used netcat nc but ftp should also work, you need to use passive mode).

hashvoodoo_controller_25.bit is the firmware (it runs on the controller FPGA, not on the mining FPGAs). You program that from windows using SPIProg.exe. See page 23 of the User Manual http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/cairnsmore/CAIRNSMORE1_MANUAL_ISSUE1.pdf

I haven't done this myself as the board already had the hashvoodo firmware installed, but you do this from windows (the linux VM must NOT be running).

Once the hashvoodo firmware is installed, you can flash the blakecoin mining bitstream.
This can be tricky. I found it best to set the CM1 switches to the programming settings while powered off.
Start the linux VM.
Power on the CM1 and wait a minute or so, then attach the USB (The VM must already be started else it won't detect it).
Wait another minute, check the JTAG using xc3sprog -c cm1 -v -j
Now do the programming as follows.
First erase them
xc3sprog -c cm1 -v -p0 -Ixc6lx150.bit -e
Do this for each device (p0, p1, p2, p3).
This takes 3 minutes each.
xc3sprog -c cm1 -v -p0 -Ixc6lx150.bit CM1-hv-v04a-175MHz-ucf-150-fmax-161.bit
Do this for each device in reverse order (p3, p2, p1, p0). I don't know if the order matters, but that's what the hashvoodo README said. This takes 7 minutes each.

The xc6lx150.bit is in http://www.enterpoint.co.uk/cairnsmore/CairnsmoreProgramming.zip

The LEDs on the CM1 board give good feedback as to what is happening. After powering up the board in programming mode (all the side DIP switches on, except sw3), the red central LED lights steady (it normally flashes in mining mode), then the four sets of FPGA status leds light up in sequence as they load the stored bitstream from ROM. As you follow the erase sequence above, the LEDs will go dim. Sometimes you need to repeat a step to get this to work. Then as the bitstream is programmed, the LEDs will again light up (red, the others may flash and yellow should come on too AFAIR). If one fails, then retry it, but it usually works if the erasure was successful. You can usually then proceed directly to mining by flipping SW3, shutting down the linux vm (type: init 0 #thats zero), then disconnecting then reconnecting the USB cable. On running my blake cgminer, you should get a blue flash from all four FPGA's to indicate the hardware detection succeeded.

Good Luck.

[kramble]

Yay this running. )
But all reject ?

This is my Cgminer :

cgminer --icarus-timing long -S \\.\COM20 -S \\.\COM21 -S \\.\COM22 -S \\.\COM23 --url stratum+tcp://photon1.blakecoin.com:3334 --userpass lin0sspice.c1:x --cainsmore-clock 200

The H-not-zero error is due to the pool considering the hash to be invalid. However the hardware error rate is very low, so the CM1 hashes are OK. There are two possibilities here, either you are using an older version of cgminer which did exhibit this problem or the photon pool does not work with my cgminer. So I suggest:
1. Be sure to use https://www.dropbox.com/s/f34zwu3oek0rj4m/cgminer.exe with the CM1
2. Try mining against a blakecoin pool eg http://eu1.blakecoin.com/index.php

Perhaps bluedragon will be able to help with the photon pool?

[BlueDragon747]

same pool code for Blakecoin or Photon, same miners should work on both it does for me at least  

my best guess is that you are using an old cgminer version  


all my pools support both stratum and getwork (stratum proxy does not work needs to be ported with Blake algo and not needed on pools anyway)

Kramble's cgminer and python Blakecoin miners work direct on all my pools for both Blakecoin and Photon, I have tested and use them myself  

*image links not showing well for me  

also on the core clocks for cm1 I find long term fpga 1,2 runs at 200 but 3,4 dont 190-180 on my boards max e.g --cainsmore-clock 200,200,190,180 works well here

[coinbtc]

HI DEAR blakecoin：

       
       Please offer me a stratum-mining software of  blake-256 algori for MPOS POOL;
          My EMAIL address is 471512451@qq.com;
          Thanks appreciate!
          Wait for your supply online,Thanks




webQQ:471512451
MAIL:471512451@qq.com
MPOS FOR BLAKECOIN Pool

[BlueDragon747]

HI DEAR blakecoin：

      
       Please offer me a stratum-mining software of  blake-256 algori for MPOS POOL;
          My EMAIL address is 471512451@qq.com;
          Thanks appreciate!
          Wait for your supply online,Thanks




webQQ:471512451
MAIL:471512451@qq.com
MPOS FOR BLAKECOIN Pool

Landcoin needs its magic value changing by the dev! best ask the dev to change it before asking for help with pool software  

only problem is the Landcoin dev does not seem to be active anymore?

Why should anyone that has put work into Blakecoin help a bad clone with a dev that wont even do the basics like changing the magic value to anything that is not used by Blakecoin or any other coin?

Edit:
I did try to help but the Landcoin dev was only interested in putting in a checkpoint to secure the premine and getting me to host a pool for Landcoin  

[bzyzny]

These issues with Landcoin seem to be a good example of how not to clone Blakecoin. However, I'm sure Im not the only person wondering how the magic number affects a blockchain. Im also curious to know how Blakecoin (and other cryptos for that matter) protect against poorly or maliciously cloned derivatives interfering with the Blakecoin network.

[bzyzny]

Also, in case people didnt notice, I just wanted to point out that the first post was updated with a link to CudaMiner for Blakecoin

[D05GTO]

Hey BLUE!!! Tea time, take a break.

[ocminer]

Hey folks,

I've started a pool for Blakecoin:

https://blake.suprnova.cc

It runs the latest MPOS with all its features including Idle Worker Notifs, two factor Auth etc.
I've got Stratum with Vardiff running on it, I've already found several Blocks while testing so everything should be fine, I just need some testing with higher loads.

You can use kr's latest cgminer and, of source, the FPGA miners too.

[cinnamon_carter]

i can answer that

the magic numbers are not as important as some people think they are

to properly clone/ build a coin they should be changed

if they are not the changes the networks communicate is unlikely unless the person making this 'coin' does not have the brains to change the communication ports around........


you may remember about a year ago a few lite coin clones had the network warning mesg appearing......


these coins were not mining on the litecoin network but just left a window open and the wrong bird flew in


take a look at the magic numbers of most scrypt clones,  you will find them the same as in the classic guide by shak3zula

These issues with Landcoin seem to be a good example of how not to clone Blakecoin. However, I'm sure Im not the only person wondering how the magic number affects a blockchain. Im also curious to know how Blakecoin (and other cryptos for that matter) protect against poorly or maliciously cloned derivatives interfering with the Blakecoin network.

[BlueDragon747]

the shorter chain will receive a block and reads the block header to check for magic value if the check is passed then it will try to add it to its own chain by checking the merkle which it will fail, end result if it keeps getting blocks from another chain is that the wallet locks up randomly doing these merkle calculations checks, also the pool uses the headers especially in a merge mine setup where you are stuffing multiple headers in the work  

these are the things that get checked
1. height
2. magic value
3. merkle
4. time of block

just using the ports to define a broadcast is asking for someone to use an exploit to freeze the block processing or crash a pool wallet just by using a long chain with same magic value but a different merkle, I will continue to avoid coins that use same magic value and keep recommending to any dev to change it if they use the same as Blakecoin or another known value, if a dev can add a checkpoint they can change the magic value it does add as much security as a checkpoint and avoids random crashes and lock ups of wallet.

in my opinion a good dev is one that supports the coin over a period of time and tries to improve it, a bad dev is one that is around for a few days does not make any improvements then is non contactable and gone  

[bzyzny]

Thanks cinnamon_carter and BlueDragon, that helped me better understand how it all works. I do recall when the scrypt clones where getting messages to update their litecoin wallet, i found that quite hilarious.