Bitmain AntMiner U1 Tips & Tricks

[brush242]

Though the heatsicks are pretty, they are also not that effective. The whole back of the card is a heatsink, adding a few ridges to the other side won't make much of a difference. I guess you could maybe push 2.5 with advanced cooling, but I really doubt getting 4 would be do'able.

I never understand this. Regardless of the original heatsink, if you can burn your fingers on the chip itself, then yes, effective sinks on the chip WILL make a difference. I'm not a physicist, but this is pretty simple thermodynamics: if it is hot, and that is bad, cool it down. Those few ridges have made quite the difference for me.

[brush242]

You can  remove oil with acetone or isopropanol very easily.

Agreed. Even WD-40 will remove it all, after the fact. Very easy to do.

[brush242]

Try using bfgminer 3.10.0. Install that silicon labs driver first though. Also make sure you uninstall all the zadig bullshit. It should run with the following batch file just fine:

Code:

bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334 -u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2 -p x --no-opencl-binaries -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981
pause

An explanation for the above code, as I hate it when someone posts something, but doesn't explain why they did something some way:

'bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334' starts bfgminer and connects it to the eligius mining pool.
'-u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2' is the username, with eligius, your payout address is your username.
'-p x' is the password. On eligius anything works for a password.
'--no-opencl-binaries' keeps it from trying to mine with my GPU.
'-S antminer:all' tells bfgminer to scan for the antminers upon startup, otherwise you would have to hit "m""+""all" to add them.
'--set-device antminer:clock=x0981' sets the clockspeed of the hashing chip, using some kind of internal lookup table. x0981 sets it to 2GHs, the clockspeed of which is derived by dividing your hashrate by the number of cores on the chip (unknown.)

What is the best way to uninstall the zadig bullshit? Zadig doesn't seem to give the option.

[kabopar]

Try using bfgminer 3.10.0. Install that silicon labs driver first though. Also make sure you uninstall all the zadig bullshit. It should run with the following batch file just fine:

Code:

bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334 -u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2 -p x --no-opencl-binaries -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981
pause

An explanation for the above code, as I hate it when someone posts something, but doesn't explain why they did something some way:

'bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334' starts bfgminer and connects it to the eligius mining pool.
'-u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2' is the username, with eligius, your payout address is your username.
'-p x' is the password. On eligius anything works for a password.
'--no-opencl-binaries' keeps it from trying to mine with my GPU.
'-S antminer:all' tells bfgminer to scan for the antminers upon startup, otherwise you would have to hit "m""+""all" to add them.
'--set-device antminer:clock=x0981' sets the clockspeed of the hashing chip, using some kind of internal lookup table. x0981 sets it to 2GHs, the clockspeed of which is derived by dividing your hashrate by the number of cores on the chip (unknown.)

What is the best way to uninstall the zadig bullshit? Zadig doesn't seem to give the option.

The following works for Win7.
Assumptions:  Windows Update search for drivers is disabled. Rationale:  It is very unlikely that Windows Update would have the correct drivers for this situation.  Also you need to have sufficient privileges to create directories and change system settings.
1.    Remove the WinUSB driver, typically installed with the zadig utility
   a.   Close your miner(s), open Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Device Manager) and navigate to the USB devices area until you see the device device(s) that you want to run under BFGMiner.
   b.   Uninstall the current WinUSB driver:  make sure that you tick the box 'delete the driver software for this device' (otherwise it will resurrect itself when you plug the same device and it looks for a driver)
   c.   Repeat for all USB devices that you wish to move from CGMiner to BFGMiner
2.   Install the serial USB driver
  a.   Re-plug the first device into a USB port.  When the message that a driver cannot be found, open Device Manager again, navigate to the region that shows the device
  b.   Right-click on the device icon in Device Manager, select Update Driver, then click on “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
  Select ‘Show All Devices’ and click ‘Have Disk’
  c.   Browse or enter the path to the driver (or re-install the Silabs drivers in case of Antminer/BE).
  d.   If the driver is 'unsigned', acknowledge the warning that the driver is not signed  (I suspect that in some versions of Windows it is difficult/impossible to install unsigned drivers, but this is beyond the scope of this procedure) by clicking ‘Next’.
 f.   Open Device Manager, navigate to the Ports (Com and LPT) area, make sure that com ports are assigned to the required device(s).

Cheers

PS.  I use bfgminer.exe -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981
Some people had also this --icarus-options 115200:2:2 --icarus-timing 2.5=90, but it only distorts the first 2 stat values in bfgminer and can be omitted  (these can be either in a batch file or within the conf file)
 

[chromosoma]

To switch from cgminer to bfgminer you need to do following:

System=> printer and devices=> find your  miners, right click=>Properties>>> uninstall drivers.
Do this for each device.
Reboot.
Then reinstall SiliconLabs drivers and you are in.

Sometimes you need o replug miners  in order to run them.

[mikejones]

Have you been able to overclock with minepeon? If so can you provide instructions/command that is needed

[kabopar]

To switch from cgminer to bfgminer you need to do following:

System=> printer and devices=> find your  miners, right click=>Properties>>> uninstall drivers.
Do this for each device.
Reboot.
Then reinstall SiliconLabs drivers and you are in.

Sometimes you need o replug miners  in order to run them.

In some cases you also need to tick the 'delete the driver software for this device' when you uninstall the WinUSB driver, otherwise it will be re-applied or take priority over the serial Com driver.

Cheers

[kabopar]

Have you been able to overclock with minepeon? If so can you provide instructions/command that is needed

I used bfgminer as the default miner in minepeopn latest 2.5.0 pr1 pre-release, with the same parameters as shown in this thread in the settings page and it seemed to be overclocking to similar rates as in Windows.  I don't have minepeon running now, so can't quote the exact command, however I basically copied it from my win settings.

Cheers

[doctormandrake]

Okay, am I a complete idiot?

cgminer: opens instantly. I still have to plug them in one at a time, but it works.

bfgminer: Nothing. No devices found. It opens, I hit "M+", then try "all", nothing, "auto", nothing. The Ants are recognized by the computer, but bfgminer simply doesn't see them. Clock speeds don't seem to matter, it still won't find them. Windows 8.1 x64 machine.

I'm using:

Code:

C:\Users\M\Downloads\CTB\bfgminer-npw-antminer\bfgminer.exe -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981 -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334 -u "Shut up, Flanders" -p:123

What in the hell am I missing?

Thanks, anyone.

you have the zadig drivers if cgminer is working. you need to uninstall them and install the silab drivers.

[primer10]

is the default clock 0981? I started my bfgminer and I get this:

 AMU 0:       |  1.99/ 1.96/ 1.55Gh/s | A:  891 R: 2+0(.23%) HW:   0/none

is 1.55gh/s the one I should be using?

[chromosoma]

is the default clock 0981? I started my bfgminer and I get this:

 AMU 0:       |  1.99/ 1.96/ 1.55Gh/s | A:  891 R: 2+0(.23%) HW:   0/none

is 1.55gh/s the one I should be using?

Default  is 0781=1.6 GHS

[acheekymonkeyuk]

What i have done to cool them is a ghetto windtunnel

Got a USB powered FAN and an empty 2lt Coke bottle, cut both ends off the coke bottle, sealed the fan to one end and inserted the hub inside the coke bottle

[acheekymonkeyuk]

Im now running BFG Miner and my 1st miner AMU 0 is running at the 2.1ghs i clocked it to, but everyother miner is running around 1.8ghs. Anyone got any ideas about that

[brush242]

SiLabs driver instead of the default driver?  That's my only thought, other than making sure you're on BFGMiner 3.10.0.

Yep, got it, and thank you.

[brush242]

Try using bfgminer 3.10.0. Install that silicon labs driver first though. Also make sure you uninstall all the zadig bullshit. It should run with the following batch file just fine:

Code:

bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334 -u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2 -p x --no-opencl-binaries -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981
pause

An explanation for the above code, as I hate it when someone posts something, but doesn't explain why they did something some way:

'bfgminer -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334' starts bfgminer and connects it to the eligius mining pool.
'-u 19gu3jok7czATPb5TR8EMMuQu8qrQ5e34B_2' is the username, with eligius, your payout address is your username.
'-p x' is the password. On eligius anything works for a password.
'--no-opencl-binaries' keeps it from trying to mine with my GPU.
'-S antminer:all' tells bfgminer to scan for the antminers upon startup, otherwise you would have to hit "m""+""all" to add them.
'--set-device antminer:clock=x0981' sets the clockspeed of the hashing chip, using some kind of internal lookup table. x0981 sets it to 2GHs, the clockspeed of which is derived by dividing your hashrate by the number of cores on the chip (unknown.)

 Very helpful, thank you.

[brush242]

They're selling Dr. Joe Wallach's miracle dirt. These chips are flip-chip BGA packages, and likely there is an air gap between the chip itself and the top of the plastic package itself (read almost guaranteed), which would act as an insulator, so without the heatsink cooling the PCB itself off (the PCB itself is an aluminum or copper substrate which has the layers of electronics and wired "printed" onto it, and so acts as a heatsink) it would actually get hotter. The only time a heatsink on top of the chip would be useful is if you are trying to push it to its utmost limits, as it would draw off a SMALL amount of heat.

Finally, a real explanation. Thank you.

[chek2fire]

I see that antminer usb runs perfect with that fork cgminer version

https://github.com/bitmaintech/cgminer

[brush242]

As printed below, it works for Win 8.1 x64. Though I should note that it does not give you the option to "delete the driver software" so I ignored it.

The following works for Win7.
Assumptions:  Windows Update search for drivers is disabled. Rationale:  It is very unlikely that Windows Update would have the correct drivers for this situation.  Also you need to have sufficient privileges to create directories and change system settings.
1.    Remove the WinUSB driver, typically installed with the zadig utility
   a.   Close your miner(s), open Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Device Manager) and navigate to the USB devices area until you see the device device(s) that you want to run under BFGMiner.
   b.   Uninstall the current WinUSB driver:  make sure that you tick the box 'delete the driver software for this device' (otherwise it will resurrect itself when you plug the same device and it looks for a driver)
   c.   Repeat for all USB devices that you wish to move from CGMiner to BFGMiner
2.   Install the serial USB driver
  a.   Re-plug the first device into a USB port.  When the message that a driver cannot be found, open Device Manager again, navigate to the region that shows the device
  b.   Right-click on the device icon in Device Manager, select Update Driver, then click on “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
  Select ‘Show All Devices’ and click ‘Have Disk’
  c.   Browse or enter the path to the driver (or re-install the Silabs drivers in case of Antminer/BE).
  d.   If the driver is 'unsigned', acknowledge the warning that the driver is not signed  (I suspect that in some versions of Windows it is difficult/impossible to install unsigned drivers, but this is beyond the scope of this procedure) by clicking ‘Next’.
 f.   Open Device Manager, navigate to the Ports (Com and LPT) area, make sure that com ports are assigned to the required device(s).

PS.  I use bfgminer.exe -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0981
Some people had also this --icarus-options 115200:2:2 --icarus-timing 2.5=90, but it only distorts the first 2 stat values in bfgminer and can be omitted  (these can be either in a batch file or within the conf file)

Thank you!

[brush242]

Now, running:

Code:

C:\Users\M\Downloads\CTB\bfgminer-npw-antminer\bfgminer.exe -S antminer:all --set-device antminer:clock=x0A01 -o stratum+tcp://stratum.mining.eligius.st:3334 -u "Shut up, Flanders." -p 123

in a .bat file, that's 256.25, and one throws about 11% HW. If I up that to 0A81 (275.00), two of them (the one mentioned previously and one more) throw 25-35% HW. Is it possible to to tweak that individually? Is that what a .conf file is for? If so, does anyone have a sample that they use? If, not, how to do it on bfgminer?

Thank you all, gentlemen, as always.

[chek2fire]

Mistake of me this works fine

https://github.com/fractalbc/cgminer

is a cgminer fork