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Author Topic: ANN: custom BFL firmware - tested 5-7GH pool meas. improvement on 60GH singles  (Read 7213 times)
GenTarkin (OP)
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October 13, 2013, 04:54:56 PM
 #1

Hey guys.....
First of all this is highly experimental code...as such if you blow up ur shit, not my fault. Ive provided both source and elf in the link below.

Ive been slaving away for the last 3 days at wrapping my head around, and tweaking BFL firmware.
Ive done some major changes that basically, reliably seem to get most peoples singles(60GH) an additional 5-7GH/s pool measureable.
My single stock was 58.4GH ... now its 64.8GH ... nearly all engines are enabled and happily hashing away.
Here is the source and the elf is also prebuilt in the debug folder.

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/oPZeK2NqSm/

Some changes, off the top of my head, a lot of my changes are in ASIC_engine.c
Ive created 4 user specifiable variables at the top - they are commented
1. specifies the frequency to boot the chips at
2. specifies the frequency to perform diagnostics on chips
3. specifies the frequency chips operate at during actual runtime
4. specifies the error threshold for the rewritten diagnostics routine I written against the engine processor(I still dont know if the processor is a seperate part of each engine or what, but the coding makes it sound like it)

These are specified using the index values (not frequency)

I only run the "processor diags" on each engine, I run them 20x(40 tests) on my single and I have set the threshold to 0 .. so if any error at all that engine gets disabled. Otherwise engine is left on. ( run no other diagnostics on single) ... on my particular single this leaves only 1 engine disabled(stock I had several engines turned off).  So, its a very relaxed testing scheme as you can see, but I believe it provides enough to allow cgminer to measure speed incorrectly & HW error as well... whereas leaving all engines on.... well the engines that cant even return a response to cgminer dont even get flagged as HW Error... and create fake hashrate readouts.

Its my theory that the multi level chip clock frequency initialization Ive created...actually helps the engines come on line more reliably. Whereas BFL's method of booting up chips at full boar clockspeed ... actually can hinder more engines. Also, the way Ive written the processor diag for each engine...is a more relaxed method of testing, think of it as "benefit of the doubt"..

Future things to tweak:
1: mhz readout accuracy. - the way mhz is measured on these devices is kinda just guesswork. The firmware sends a job to engine, figures out how long it takes then calculates resultant mhz and assigns that as mhz for entire chip. I may write it so it does several samples of that job then averages reported time taken and use that as mhz...

2: ...theres a function called __ENGINE_AUTHORITIVE_ACTIVITY_SUPERVISION ... and looking at how it gets called and what its designed to do... I think it actually doesnt end ever getting properly executed. I see that there is an if statement in file HighLevel_Operations.c ... which looks like it should be inside a loop...cuz it incriments a value each time and if equals 200 then it executes the if statement... Problem is... I dont see where the loop is!?!?.... So, I think that if statement never gets executed and its designed to be runtime engine error handling.    ....BFL....
If anyone could look at this and see...that would be great!

GenTarkin's MOD Kncminer Titan custom firmware! v1.0.4! -- !!NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!
Donations: bitcoin- 1Px71mWNQNKW19xuARqrmnbcem1dXqJ3At || litecoin- LYXrLis3ik6TRn8tdvzAyJ264DRvwYVeEw
mitak64
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October 13, 2013, 11:29:52 PM
Last edit: October 13, 2013, 11:43:41 PM by mitak64
 #2

Great work, GenTarkin !!!
I just flashed one of my 2 Singles.
It jumped from 63GH/s to 66GH/s (I had done some work with the firmware already, like disabling "tune down").

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October 14, 2013, 12:40:59 AM
 #3

Excellent!
Xfinity
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October 14, 2013, 03:27:51 PM
 #4

Good work! I will try it out later!

Where is your BTC address so I can donate?

Donations (BTC): 1L8EcGAuaDNK4kNxAbEBawo8ZaeFZvibgj
GenTarkin (OP)
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October 15, 2013, 04:55:13 AM
 #5

Still working on tweaking things. I did set that !define to define w/ no adverse affect. Its weird, the comment right above it even reinforced that its supposed to be !define... I wonder why, maybe its just redundant or something, I cant find anything else in the code that does it elsewhere.

donation addy:  12jjayHWtUci3ygPXD4i2yUHMySytiUBd4

The latest tweak or test is turning on running heavy diagnostics w/ the 3 nonce test... Doing this disabled only a few more of my engines but not nearly as much as stock. I really believe that running the diags at a lower clock yield more accurate results  as to what engines are pretty much useless at any clock vs others that work fine otherwise... just have more potential for error as clocks raise.

So, my latest build yields 400-700mh/s less avg rate, but dropped my HW by about 50%

GenTarkin's MOD Kncminer Titan custom firmware! v1.0.4! -- !!NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!
Donations: bitcoin- 1Px71mWNQNKW19xuARqrmnbcem1dXqJ3At || litecoin- LYXrLis3ik6TRn8tdvzAyJ264DRvwYVeEw
Dagger75
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October 15, 2013, 05:16:52 AM
 #6

I just replaced the 120mm and 92mm fans (on Single) w/ ones i'd bought in bulk a few months ago and loaded up your Firmware that i'd downloaded yesterday....very happy to say that I went from just under 58GH ---->64.6 GH/s!  Getting about 2.5-3% hardware errors but am very happy with the improvements!  

I'd done a few tweaks with the Stock firmware on a couple of other singles that yielded a 2GH/s increase or so but this was phenomenal, w/ your FW, over 6 GH/s improvement and temps are around 69-70. I've taken the front plates off and replaced the 120mm fans w/ 1350 RPM Yate Loons and the 92mm w/ Panflo 2650 RPM fans as well.

Thanks for your time and effort on this GenTarkin, it's very much appreciated.  Feel free to keep this thread updated as i'm sure more people will be interested as they come across it.  Every little bit helps when trying to scrape by just to get a ROI on these...and I have to admit, your Firmware tweaks worked much better then I would've guess   Wink


BTW, are you able to upload your newest build?  I will gratefully take 400-700mh/s less w/ 50% less HW errors.  Don't worry about things being perfect, we are just happy you've made improvements!

>>>http://foundation.leafco.in/<<<  Please help support our cause

>>>A True Alt, with a True Purpose<<<  $$Leafcoin$$
testerx
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October 15, 2013, 06:10:46 AM
 #7

So...I guess we need an AVR Dragon or similar to load this? 
GenTarkin (OP)
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October 15, 2013, 06:20:01 AM
 #8

yes you need AVR dragon to flash.

yes I will update thread, at this point Im out of ideas to get further actual performance from, other than by seeing if theres additional values that can be used to adjust the clock generator upwards.

GenTarkin's MOD Kncminer Titan custom firmware! v1.0.4! -- !!NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!
Donations: bitcoin- 1Px71mWNQNKW19xuARqrmnbcem1dXqJ3At || litecoin- LYXrLis3ik6TRn8tdvzAyJ264DRvwYVeEw
mameise
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October 15, 2013, 06:45:58 AM
 #9

I have a little single and i am wondering if there would also be a potential to tune it a little bit. Would this work for little single too?
Dagger75
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October 15, 2013, 06:46:30 AM
 #10

So...I guess we need an AVR Dragon or similar to load this? 

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ATAVRDRAGON/ATAVRDRAGON-ND/1124251?WT.mc_id=PLA_1124251  $53 not bad when you can get an extra 5%-15% from most Singles...Rev.2 Chips atleast seem to have much better chances hitting the mid 60 GH/s range

>>>http://foundation.leafco.in/<<<  Please help support our cause

>>>A True Alt, with a True Purpose<<<  $$Leafcoin$$
Dagger75
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October 15, 2013, 06:48:08 AM
 #11

I have a little single and i am wondering if there would also be a potential to tune it a little bit. Would this work for little single too?

Yes it will.  Same firmware for all products.  Just make sure to watch the Temps and have proper cooling because these Chips get very hot.

>>>http://foundation.leafco.in/<<<  Please help support our cause

>>>A True Alt, with a True Purpose<<<  $$Leafcoin$$
Tesla71
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October 15, 2013, 08:09:23 AM
 #12

I have an STK-500, would that work also?
GenTarkin (OP)
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October 15, 2013, 02:55:37 PM
 #13

Well I ran into issues w/ the lower HW error & slightly less clocks. Im not exactly sure what the cause is yet, but my single would just kinda stop mining after a good 40mins in my recent testing. I went back to the build that I released publicly(to you guys) and this problem has not happened. So... yeah... lol, may just have to deal w/ the more laxed engine enabling & next might be trying to see if I can figure out other word values for the clock index(see if can bring clock speed even higher)

GenTarkin's MOD Kncminer Titan custom firmware! v1.0.4! -- !!NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!
Donations: bitcoin- 1Px71mWNQNKW19xuARqrmnbcem1dXqJ3At || litecoin- LYXrLis3ik6TRn8tdvzAyJ264DRvwYVeEw
Dagger75
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October 15, 2013, 04:51:46 PM
 #14

Well I ran into issues w/ the lower HW error & slightly less clocks. Im not exactly sure what the cause is yet, but my single would just kinda stop mining after a good 40mins in my recent testing. I went back to the build that I released publicly(to you guys) and this problem has not happened. So... yeah... lol, may just have to deal w/ the more laxed engine enabling & next might be trying to see if I can figure out other word values for the clock index(see if can bring clock speed even higher)


No worries, glad you were able to revert back and not have anymore issues.  I'm very impressed w/ the performance increase from your FW thus far and anything else that comes from it down the road is just a bonus.

Thanks again and i've been running the FW for about 15+ hours and everything is great.

>>>http://foundation.leafco.in/<<<  Please help support our cause

>>>A True Alt, with a True Purpose<<<  $$Leafcoin$$
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October 15, 2013, 08:54:17 PM
 #15

Thanks GenTarkin, donated!

Donations (BTC): 1L8EcGAuaDNK4kNxAbEBawo8ZaeFZvibgj
GenTarkin (OP)
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October 15, 2013, 09:02:31 PM
 #16

Thanks GenTarkin, donated!

thanks much dude! =)

GenTarkin's MOD Kncminer Titan custom firmware! v1.0.4! -- !!NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!
Donations: bitcoin- 1Px71mWNQNKW19xuARqrmnbcem1dXqJ3At || litecoin- LYXrLis3ik6TRn8tdvzAyJ264DRvwYVeEw
dlasher
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October 16, 2013, 08:42:38 PM
 #17


pre-emptive donation sent.. looking forward to flashing my singles when the JTAG hardware shows up. Well done.. you've done a lot of the things I'd been thinking about, but aren't a good enough coder to actually DO.


Dagger75
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October 16, 2013, 09:00:24 PM
 #18

Sent small donation as well to GenTarkin.  This Firmware Mod is a welcome upgrade for any BFL ASICs IMHO

>>>http://foundation.leafco.in/<<<  Please help support our cause

>>>A True Alt, with a True Purpose<<<  $$Leafcoin$$
Acejam
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October 16, 2013, 09:30:08 PM
 #19

Any easy way to flash these for those of us who don't have a JTAG? via USB perhaps? (doubtful)
dlasher
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October 16, 2013, 09:44:39 PM
 #20


If you don't want to go the AVR Dragon route, you could try this : http://randomcontent.wolfnexus.net/RandomSite/reflashing-a-butterfly-labs-jalapeno-with-only-a-raspberry-pi/

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