[ANN] Bi•Fury | 5 GH/s USB Miner [IN STOCK!] {SALE !}

[cscape]

Duplicate shares are fairly normal in the beginning, when the chips aren't initialized yet, but they should stop after a minute or so. Are you only getting them on one device and not the other ? If so, does it also happen when you only plug in one ?

What temperature are the devices running at ? I also added a temperature switch at 90 deg C. Above that temp, the bitfury chips are turned off.

[1714064991]

1714064991

[lmp]

Duplicate shares are fairly normal in the beginning, when the chips aren't initialized yet, but they should stop after a minute or so. Are you only getting them on one device and not the other ? If so, does it also happen when you only plug in one ?

What temperature are the devices running at ? I also added a temperature switch at 90 deg C. Above that temp, the bitfury chips are turned off.

I have done some tests.
It looks like duplicate shares is generated when running without fan and temperature is getting close to 90C. Perhaps it is switching off and on again?
With old firmware (original one) without fan it gets to about 120-125C (quite hot) and stabilizes.
I have checked once more with fan (I only have quite a powerful one) it works at about 40-45C.

Don't know is it OK for this device to run at about 125C or not, have seen devices running on much higher temp, but that isn't asic or hashing related stuff.
I have got answer from support:

Acceptable temp are high but we advise little usb fan for little cooling and keep them lest than 50 C degree.

But what dose "high" mean?

[intron]

I have got answer from support:
Acceptable temp are high but we advise little usb fan for little cooling and keep them lest than 50 C degree.

But what dose "high" mean?

Better use a small fan and keep
temperatures well  below 125 oC:)

intron

[cscape]

I would think 120-125 deg C is very hot, that's why I set the upper limit at 90.

However, if you'd rather push the envelope a bit, and run the device at 125 deg C, I have uploaded a modified version at http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/firmware_125.bin

Note that the voltage regulator has a maximum junction temperature of 150 deg C, and it's generating quite a bit of heat itself, so 125 degrees probably causes quite a bit of premature aging in the device. Of course, with the difficulty increasing rapidly, life span may not be very high on your priority list

Edit: I agree with intron. A fan is highly recommended...

[cscape]

It looks like duplicate shares is generated when running without fan and temperature is getting close to 90C. Perhaps it is switching off and on again?

Correct. As soon as temperature goes < 90, the chips are enabled, and > 90 they are disabled. So if you keep it around 90C, it will keep switching on/off.

[lmp]

I would think 120-125 deg C is very hot, that's why I set the upper limit at 90.

However, if you'd rather push the envelope a bit, and run the device at 125 deg C, I have uploaded a modified version at http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/firmware_125.bin

Note that the voltage regulator has a maximum junction temperature of 150 deg C, and it's generating quite a bit of heat itself, so 125 degrees probably causes quite a bit of premature aging in the device. Of course, with the difficulty increasing rapidly, life span may not be very high on your priority list

Edit: I agree with intron. A fan is highly recommended...

Tanks for explanation, finally got some data, yes, if voltage regulator temp is 150C max, then 125 is too close indeed. If it is not hard for you could you please make for me few more firmwares? For example with 100C and 110C limit?

My problem currently is that my ordered USB hub is somewhere don't know where in catacombs of postal services. But If I connect device to notebooks USB port it is with heat sink down so it is very hard to cool it somehow, if I set up some fan, it is cooling circuit not heatsink which is ineffective. Then I can get down temp to 90-100C.
When I'll get hub then I have everything prepared for normal cooling, at least I hope so.
For tests (when I got 45C) I have used powerful HDD cooler but I can't use it daily as it has HDD to cool

Do you have idea why hash rate is fluctuating in so huge range?

Thanks

[cscape]

Added 100 and 110 degree limit versions.

http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/firmware_100.bin
http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/firmware_110.bin

If the hash rate is based on the number of shares reported by the device,  big swings are common because sometimes the device is lucky in finding a couple of shares close together, and sometimes it doesn't find anything for a longer period. Because the firmware supports difficulty > 1 shares, the swings can be more pronounced. As long as the long term average is good, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Peacefrog]

These look great

[cscape]

I've made an overview of all the different firmware versions, and also included the upgrade manual and the protocol specification that is used between the bi-fury device and the miner software.

http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/

[mvdgeijn]

Hi,

I've tried Win7 (64 bits) and Ubuntu server 13.10, both with cgminer 3.8.4 and USB2 and USB3 ports, but the BiFury wont start mining. I even tried several pools. Also tried the different firmwares posted here the last couple of days, but no luck. Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong here?

 cgminer version 3.8.4 - Started: [2013-12-10 10:16:18]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 1  LW: 58  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to api-stratum.bitcoin.cz diff 3 with stratum as user **************
 Block: 41ab6ef5...  Diff:707M  Started: [10:16:18]  Best share: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Pool management Settings Display options Quit
 BXF 0:   0.0C         |  0.000/ 0.000h/s | A:0 R:0 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [2013-12-10 10:16:13] Started cgminer 3.8.4
 [2013-12-10 10:16:15] BXF 0: Found at 1:1-i1
 [2013-12-10 10:16:15] BXF 0: Version 1.3 rev 1 chips 2
 [2013-12-10 10:16:15] BXF 0: Successfully initialised 1:1-i1
 [2013-12-10 10:16:16] Probing for an alive pool
 [2013-12-10 10:16:16] Testing pool http://mining.bitcoin.cz
 [2013-12-10 10:16:16] JSON decode failed(1): '[' or '{' expected near '<'
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] JSON decode failed(1): '[' or '{' expected near '<'
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] Testing pool 0 stratum stratum+tcp://api-stratum.bitcoin.
cz:3333
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] Switching pool 0 http://mining.bitcoin.cz to stratum+tcp:
//api-stratum.bitcoin.cz:3333
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] JSON-RPC decode failed: (unknown reason)
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] Pool 0 difficulty changed to 3
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] Stratum authorisation success for pool 0
 [2013-12-10 10:16:17] Pool 0 http://mining.bitcoin.cz alive
 [2013-12-10 10:16:18] Work update message received
 [2013-12-10 10:16:18] Network diff set to 707M
 [2013-12-10 10:16:18] New block: 00000000000000041ab6ef55a65fb184f0aaf16ca388d3
20465c01e9fe783e9d... diff 707M
 [2013-12-10 10:16:18] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:24] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:24] ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:29] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:29] ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:30] Work update message received
 [2013-12-10 10:16:34] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:34] ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:39] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:39] ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:45] BXF0   0.0C         | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:16:45] ALL (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  WU:0.0/m


When closing cgminer the following statistics are shown:

Summary of runtime statistics:

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Started at [2013-12-10 10:06:50]
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Pool: http://mining.bitcoin.cz
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Runtime: 0 hrs : 8 mins : 20 secs
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Average hashrate: 0.0 Kilohash/s
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Solved blocks: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Best share difficulty: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Share submissions: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Accepted shares: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Rejected shares: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Accepted difficulty shares: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Rejected difficulty shares: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Hardware errors: 0
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Utility (accepted shares / min): 0.00/min

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Work Utility (diff1 shares solved / min): 0.00/min

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Stale submissions discarded due to new blocks: 0

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Unable to get work from server occasions: 0

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Work items generated locally: 840
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Submitting work remotely delay occasions: 0

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] New blocks detected on network: 3

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] Summary of per device statistics:

 [2013-12-10 10:15:11] BXF0                | (5s):0.000 (avg):0.000h/s | A:0 R:0
 HW:0 WU:0.0/m
 [2013-12-10 10:15:11]

=== Some additional output with the -D option ===

 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Got work from get queue to get work for thread 0
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] BXF 0: Sending work 000000023248d69aa215b3bfb5d203c5ac03abd3a809cc113b27826500000001000000001aa670e f6b5c4eaa4e5a6991623cc7049cd7270a200ca9aa22d63bfb818219ef52a716a119061242 2

 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Popping work from get queue to get work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Generated getwork work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Pushing work from pool 0 to hash queue
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Selecting pool 0 for work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] Got work from get queue to get work for thread 0
 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] DBG: sending http://pit.deepbit.net:8332 get RPC call: {"method": "getwork", "params": [], "id":0}

 [2013-12-10 14:27:17] BXF 0: Sending work 000000023248d69aa215b3bfb5d203c5ac03abd3a809cc113b27826500000001000000005a7c1a0 cb38f9914a30fa6a137852c0eaef35e182182b99d72112741edca900952a716a219061242 3

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Generated getwork work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Pushing work from pool 0 to hash queue
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Selecting pool 0 for work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Got work from get queue to get work for thread 0
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] DBG: sending http://pit.deepbit.net:8332 get RPC call: {"method": "getwork", "params": [], "id":0}

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Sending work 000000023248d69aa215b3bfb5d203c5ac03abd3a809cc113b2782650000000100000000f5e20bf 9c1c9f2010d4d07660e51641214c3f8aa64d504f106beb3fd2ee72fad52a716a219061242 4

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Popping work from get queue to get work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] USB: BXF0 read1 buffering 4 extra bytes
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received b
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string b
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received r 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string r 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Generated getwork work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Pushing work from pool 0 to hash queue
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Selecting pool 0 for work
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] Got work from get queue to get work for thread 0
 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] DBG: sending http://pit.deepbit.net:8332 get RPC call: {"method": "getwork", "params": [], "id":0}

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Sending work 000000023248d69aa215b3bfb5d203c5ac03abd3a809cc113b2782650000000100000000f0811f3 d26ffc9c142d4c20566e2c2827e08268935f85b8e3a1f1dd1c8a24ed052a716a319061242 5

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 1

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Unrecognised string hwerror 0

 [2013-12-10 14:27:18] BXF 0: Received hwerror 1

[lmp]

I've made an overview of all the different firmware versions, and also included the upgrade manual and the protocol specification that is used between the bi-fury device and the miner software.

http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/

Thank you, very much!

[-ck]

I've made an overview of all the different firmware versions, and also included the upgrade manual and the protocol specification that is used between the bi-fury device and the miner software.

http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/

Hey cscape

I'm really pleased to see someone on the hardware end put this much effort into the protocol and communication with the software layer, thanks.

[Felipeo]

I've made an overview of all the different firmware versions, and also included the upgrade manual and the protocol specification that is used between the bi-fury device and the miner software.

http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/

Support site also updated.

Thank you again c-scape

[FalconFly]

$400+ for 5gh? it would be cheaper to buy block erupters

Go try to get even one block erupter for less than ~60 $ here in Germany :p
Some of these Block Erupters hit or exceeded 100 $ and were actually selling off simply because there are so few offers...

So while it may look like insanity (maybe is), it seems in most of Europe these 429$ Devices should sell off better than happy hour drinks, reseller prices for older/used ~2.2 GH/s Blue Fury easily (!) reach 500+ $ over here.
Given the non-availability or mad cow disease prices of other (faster) ASICs around here, 429$ turns out to be a very good deal in these crazy times...
(all the "sexy" xxxGH/s or TH/s deals are only pre-order which IMHO scares most "want to try this now" buyers off and not everyone wants or can afford to go all-in with a xxxxx$ investment at an unknown/projected date @ unknown/projected difficulty)

[cryptobal]

$400+ for 5gh? it would be cheaper to buy block erupters

Go try to get even one block erupter for less than ~60 $ here in Germany :p
Some of these Block Erupters hit or exceeded 100 $ and were actually selling off simply because there are so few offers...

So while it may look like insanity (maybe is), it seems in most of Europe these 429$ Devices should sell off better than happy hour drinks, reseller prices for older/used ~2.2 GH/s Blue Fury easily (!) reach 500+ $ over here.
Given the non-availability or mad cow disease prices of other (faster) ASICs around here, 429$ turns out to be a very good deal in these crazy times...

what about this ones...

there is very stupid sheeple out there buying in fruitless prices:

like 893€
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Bi-Fury-USB-Bitcoin-ASIC-Miner-mit-ueber-wahnsinnigen-5-GH-s-Sofort-Lieferung-/251395314018

like 1000€
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Bi-Fury-USB-Bitcoin-ASIC-Miner-mit-ueber-wahnsinnigen-5-GH-s-Sofort-Lieferung-/251395338753

[jedimstr]

I had an order that just shipped... will it already include the latest firmware (the 90C one) or will I have to update the firmware when I get it?

[lmp]

I would think 120-125 deg C is very hot, that's why I set the upper limit at 90.

However, if you'd rather push the envelope a bit, and run the device at 125 deg C, I have uploaded a modified version at http://c-scape.nl/bi-fury/firmware_125.bin

Note that the voltage regulator has a maximum junction temperature of 150 deg C, and it's generating quite a bit of heat itself, so 125 degrees probably causes quite a bit of premature aging in the device. Of course, with the difficulty increasing rapidly, life span may not be very high on your priority list

Edit: I agree with intron. A fan is highly recommended...

Hello, maybe someone is interested in my results so I'll write here.
I have done some further testing with several setups. Yes indeed without fan it is getting to over 100C of course depends of position of device (best position without fan is vertical - usb connector up or down as that way is better air flow trough heatsink), room temp and of course many more less important parameters.
With small fan positioned to heat sink it is easily to get temp down to 50-60C, as for me to get temp below 50C it requires bit more effective fan.
If fan is positioned over miner and it is pluged in notebooks USB port - heatsink down - then it requires powerful fan to get temp below 80-90C, but it is not comfortable anyway because typically you have to rise notebook from desk a little bit, otherwise BiFury won't fit.

Now I'm thinking about passive cooling, as maximum possible power is 0.9x5=4.5w it shouldn't be hard to cool it with larger heat sink - passive cooler. Unfortunately I couldn't find any suitable heatsink in my warehouse. Maybe someone have some larger heatsink, I suppose CPU cooler will be good enough, even without fan switched on. Perhaps for tests it would be enough to firmly put together BiFury's heat sink and larger one. I don't recommend to remove original heat sink from BiFury because it may require thermal paste to get it back correctly - it is too expensive device for such experiments Then try to run it for 15 min monitoring temp. If it goes over 85-90C then test has failed. In any case please let me know results.
I'll try to seek for one too
It would be much more power effective, because as I have found USB fans take about .5A (max USB2.0) so it is ~2.5W more than half of miners consumption. And much silent of course.

[intron]

Now I'm thinking about passive cooling, as maximum possible power is 0.9x5=4.5w it shouldn't be hard to cool it with larger heat sink - passive cooler. Unfortunately I couldn't find any suitable heatsink in my warehouse. Maybe someone have some larger heatsink, I suppose CPU cooler will be good enough, even without fan switched on. Perhaps for tests it would be enough to firmly put together BiFury's heat sink and larger one. I don't recommend to remove original heat sink from BiFury because it may require thermal paste to get it back correctly - it is too expensive device for such experiments Then try to run it for 15 min monitoring temp. If it goes over 85-90C then test has failed. In any case please let me know results.
I'll try to seek for one too
It would be much more power effective, because as I have found USB fans take about .5A (max USB2.0) so it is ~2.5W more than half of miners consumption. And much silent of course.

For those who are looking into building there own heatsink,
this is the mechanical drawing of the current one:



intron

[FalconFly]

Credit where credit is due :

- received mine today just 4 days after ordering (Poland - Germany) = darn awesome !
- worked right off the start after installing it as "USB Device" with Zadig Utility WinUSB driver
- runs 5GH/s as advertised @ 41 deg Celsius using cgminer 3.8.4, cooled by USB powered fan

Overall, a nifty and compact device, works just as advertised.
Posted this because I'm simply impressed by the delivery time, that's a big thumbs up!

[jedimstr]

I received mine today and agree the delivery time was outstanding!

However, I've encountered some problems...

When I tried getting it running with BFGMiner (on a Mac) it kept getting segmentation faults and exiting out.
CGMiner had issues with timeout while trying to detect (Identified as wrong device?)

So I thought it could be a firmware issue, so I downloaded the firmware and followed the instructions to short the two pads identified while inserting. 
Deleted the old firmware and installed the new 90C one.

This is where it gets weird....  after updating the firmware, unplugging and replugging, no matter the port, and without physically shorting the pads, results it being stuck in the USB Drive mode.  I tried various USB ports on my hubs and directly to my computer and even on a few of my Raspberry Pi's and it keeps staying in the USB Drive mode with no LED.

Any Ideas?