Introducing CherryPicking - new Windows & Linux Pool Hopper

[marks1976]

I just purchased the program today and started loading in my pools.  When I change the files to use the poclbm.exe the program has issues connecting.  When I change it to use the guiminer interface it starts up the interface but won't start the pool it only tells me where is the most efficient.

Are you trying to use cherrypicker with guiminer?

You need to use this:

http://github.com/downloads/m0mchil/poclbm/poclbm_py2exe_20110709.7z

^^WARNING, THAT IS A DIRECT LINK^^

extract that to a folder.  Then go to your cherrypicker cfg folder and open up poclbm.cfg and fill in all of the details and it should work.

Thank you.  Appears to be working now.  Wish it did work with guiminer.  The interface is a little nicer.

[marks1976]

Previous problems with software solved new issue is with mt red pool. It tells me security problems.  Which I then installed the certificates from the link in the java security folder and still not connecting.  Any other ideas.  Any help is appreciated.

[max in montreal]

I got everything running, but at the start i am getting:

Code:

attempting to parse .cfg
cannot fing .cfg
ignoring pool

I am also getting the error

Code:

arsbitcoin.com:8344 Problems communicating with bitcoin RPC 0 2

sometimes it connects...but mostly not.

[Milkshanks]

I've got all the first 14 pools running on my bot (before you updated all the new cfg files). is that too many or the more the better?

I just bought it too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. Should I use every single pool in the config (aside from the score ones, that is) or should I just pick up a few?

[muyoso]

I've got all the first 14 pools running on my bot (before you updated all the new cfg files). is that too many or the more the better?

I just bought it too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. Should I use every single pool in the config (aside from the score ones, that is) or should I just pick up a few?

The more pools you sue the better.  You want to catch every fast block no matter where it is.  I am sure there is probably a limit,  but I would say add as many as you are comfortable with.  

[muyoso]

I got everything running, but at the start i am getting:

Code:

attempting to parse .cfg
cannot fing .cfg
ignoring pool

I am also getting the error

Code:

arsbitcoin.com:8344 Problems communicating with bitcoin RPC 0 2

sometimes it connects...but mostly not.

The first problem is because at the end of the pools.cfg there is an empty line, so cherrypickers is literally looking for a cfg file for " ".  Delete the line and that will go away.  The second problem is just something the latest poclbm does for some reason.  I haven't had connection issues though.

[Milkshanks]

The more pools you sue the better.  You want to catch every fast block no matter where it is.  I am sure there is probably a limit,  but I would say add as many as you are comfortable with.  

Thanks for this info, also, one more question, should I use only PROP pools or PPLS too? I've read somewhere to not use SCORE pools untill next update because that will hurt your income.

[muyoso]

The more pools you sue the better.  You want to catch every fast block no matter where it is.  I am sure there is probably a limit,  but I would say add as many as you are comfortable with.  

Thanks for this info, also, one more question, should I use only PROP pools or PPLS too? I've read somewhere to not use SCORE pools untill next update because that will hurt your income.

I would stick with PROP pools for hopping and PPS pools like arsbitcoin for backup.

[hawks5999]

I've got all the first 14 pools running on my bot (before you updated all the new cfg files). is that too many or the more the better?

I just bought it too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. Should I use every single pool in the config (aside from the score ones, that is) or should I just pick up a few?

Look at the table on page 13 of this document by Meni Rosenfeld:
http://bitcoil.co.il/pool_analysis.pdf

[Bloodred]

CherryPicking has been updated to v0.6.4

Changelog:

• Added special support for SMPPS pools (it doesn't mine there when unlucky); SMPPS is now a valid value for the Type attribute in .cfg files
• The BACKUP profile has been renamed to PPS. Pool .cfgs with type BACKUP will default to PPS. It is very important to have at least 1 PPS pool, even if you have other SMPPS pools as backup! Not having a PPS pool may result in bad hops.
• New Score algorithm, now attempts to mine the first 10% of a round, as suggested.
• Added mining statistics export as .csv files (Excel compatible). This feature is enabled with the -stats command line argument. The .bat file that starts CP with logging support also enables it
• Added a new command to see live mining information. Type info and press Enter to have the hash rate, number of shares and number of stales displayed
• Added a new config file settings.cfg which is used for parameters that don't belong in any other file. Currently these are UpdateTime and Algorithm (see the new ReadMe)
• You can now change the maximum update period via settings.cfg
• Added a new prop pool hopping algorithm, you can choose which to use via settings.cfg. The current algorithms are:
  • NORMAL - the default algorithm that was available in 0.6.3, it mines the prop pool with the least submitted shares
  • STATIC_FAST - new algorithm, mines the fastest pool under 43% (reduces variance and your income to some extent)
• Price update for new buyers, bitcoinservice link has changed. The update is of course free for current owners.

The update for current owners is available here. If you're interested to buy CherryPicking, please see the 2nd post in this topic.

Update guide for current owners:
1. You will need the free utility bspatch in order to apply the update. You can get it here (scroll down a bit and click on "Zipped Win32-Executables (May 2007)")
2. Extract bspatch.exe to your CherryPicking directory (where CherryPicking.jar is)
3. Extract the update archive (link above) the the same directory (overwrite older files)
4. Double-click update.bat and follow the instructions to update. If at one point you get an UAC prompt, allow bspatch to execute.
5. CherryPicking.jar should now be updated, save the .old file somewhere, don't delete or lose it!

[marks1976]

The cherrypicking.jar file does not work for me.  I start the program the hourglass comes up for a few seconds and it shuts down.  I can run the program only by the start.bat.  Is this correct.  I just did the update and says the jar should be updated.

[muyoso]

I've got all the first 14 pools running on my bot (before you updated all the new cfg files). is that too many or the more the better?

I just bought it too and I'm wondering the exact same thing. Should I use every single pool in the config (aside from the score ones, that is) or should I just pick up a few?

Look at the table on page 13 of this document by Meni Rosenfeld:
http://bitcoil.co.il/pool_analysis.pdf

Oh holy crap.  I gotta add some more pools.  I didn't think it made that big of a difference.

[ampirebus]

Hell Yeah update.  

my cherrypicker spent the entire night for the most part at Ozco.in and didnt do any backup mining at all (i have 3 backups set) ... could i have possibly messed up a cfg file or something?

Also i just updated and I can't find settings.cfg anywhere

[muyoso]

After updating I am getting this:

Invalid or corrupt jarfile CherryPicking.jar
Press any key to continue . . .

I probably did something wrong.  Tried it two separate times, same issue each time.

[MrWizard]

Hell Yeah update.  

my cherrypicker spent the entire night for the most part at Ozco.in and didnt do any backup mining at all (i have 3 backups set) ... could i have possibly messed up a cfg file or something?

Also i just updated and I can't find settings.cfg anywhere

Ozco.in has been working on a fresh block for the past 4 hours, so probably not an error on your side.

settings.cfg is optional and you need to create one yourself if you want to change the default settings.

[Bloodred]

The cherrypicking.jar file does not work for me.  I start the program the hourglass comes up for a few seconds and it shuts down.  I can run the program only by the start.bat.  Is this correct.  I just did the update and says the jar should be updated.

Does the resulting .jar file match the checksums in the 2nd post? If you don't have a tool to calculate checksums installed, you can use this online version: http://www.hashemall.com/
Select MD5 and compare your updated .jar file to the MD5 value in the 2nd post.

Also i just updated and I can't find settings.cfg anywhere

It won't be created automatically, if you want to change any of the parameters you can create it yourself in the cfg folder as a regular text file.

[ampirebus]

Thanks bloodred, I plan on donating another .1BTC once I can receive payouts from all these pools ( i wait until .5 so i don't get high transaction fees when i send the btc later)

I just have one tiny little complaint left:

after updating to v.0.6.4 the dos promt seems to take twice as long to update the pool list as it did before. (when it stops showing [Miner#] pool.nameofpool.com:port [date] [time] [share] accepted)

and starts showing the pool update status. I was wondering if this is temporary, or if it is because of my internet speed? Or is this a flaw in the update?

 or is it nothing to worry about ?(by seeing the pool update messages i assume im not mining any shares , and because its taking longer to update the pool list i was thinking this means im mining a lot less shares)


edit: i just realized it still keeps mining shares while updating completely ignore my post.

[Bloodred]

Thanks bloodred, I plan on donating another .1BTC once I can receive payouts from all these pools ( i wait until .5 so i don't get high transaction fees when i send the btc later)

Thanks! I never even thought about donations, but I'll add an address to my sig.

after updating to v.0.6.4 the dos promt seems to take twice as long to update the pool list as it did before. (when it stops showing [Miner#] pool.nameofpool.com:port [date] [time] [share] accepted)

and starts showing the pool update status. I was wondering if this is temporary, or if it is because of my internet speed? Or is this a flaw in the update?

 or is it nothing to worry about ?(by seeing the pool update messages i assume im not mining any shares , and because its taking longer to update the pool list i was thinking this means im mining a lot less shares)


edit: i just realized it still keeps mining shares while updating completely ignore my post.

Yeah, it only stops mining (for a fraction of a second, literally) when it switches pools because it has to restart the poclbm processes. I haven't changed the code that does the updating or anything that could possibly affect it and since the new .jar works the update was definitely successful, so it'd be really strange if a bug that caused slow updates appeared. Right now it's probably a slow-ish pool or something like that, network-related. Currently it has a 10s timeout period for pool connections, so if some pools are slow it will wait at most 10s for each. If more people run into this problem I'll try to replicate it and find a fix.

[hawks5999]

Thanks bloodred, I plan on donating another .1BTC once I can receive payouts from all these pools ( i wait until .5 so i don't get high transaction fees when i send the btc later)

Thanks! I never even thought about donations, but I'll add an address to my sig.

I daresay you will make more money by changing from a charge to a donations basis.

[marks1976]

The cherrypicking.jar file does not work for me.  I start the program the hourglass comes up for a few seconds and it shuts down.  I can run the program only by the start.bat.  Is this correct.  I just did the update and says the jar should be updated.

Does the resulting .jar file match the checksums in the 2nd post? If you don't have a tool to calculate checksums installed, you can use this online version: http://www.hashemall.com/
Select MD5 and compare your updated .jar file to the MD5 value in the 2nd post.

Also i just updated and I can't find settings.cfg anywhere

It won't be created automatically, if you want to change any of the parameters you can create it yourself in the cfg folder as a regular text file.

Cherrypicking.jar file does match the checksum on 2nd post using hashemall online tool and MD5 value