LightningAsic usb miners based Gridseed GC3355 Tech Support Thread

[Andareed]

Can anyone that is more knowledgeable with code explain to me why the controller is able to disable the BTC core when only mining Scrypt, yet connected to windows PC the cores activate and stay idle?  Sorry ive mentioned this many times but its really starting to bother me that its wasting power an I would like to understand it better.  Thanks in advance.

Are you using cpuminer or cgminer? There's a specific set of bytes you have to send to the controller that tells it to disable the BTC units. cpuminer does this, and that's what the controller is using afaik, whereas cgminer doesn't.

I've noticed that even when just scrypt mining the controller board runs cgminer with the following parameters(run a ps command while scrypt mining)....

/www/soft/cgminer --dif --gridseed-options=baud=115200,freq=850,chips=5,modules=1,usefifo=0,btc=0 --hotplug=0 -o stratum+tcp://[your.pool.com] -u [your.username] -p [your.password]

so there is a possibility that one of these statements causes the cores to shutdown and draw no power

That must be using a custom version of cgminer then, as the sources gridseed published on github don't support those flags.

EDIT: I retract that, they posted updated cpuminer and cgminer sources less than a day ago that support those flags.

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[poopypants]

poopypants compile this one:

https://github.com/gridseed/usb-miner/blob/master/software/cpuminer/

It doesn't send the commands to activate the BTC cores, so you'll be fine with it in LTC only mode.

The miners work pretty interesting however. They used a version of cgminer which already had scrypt support removed. BTC only mode runs with cgminer. LTC only mode with cpuminer. To get dual mode you have to run them side by side - cgminer handles BTC like normal, cpuminer only polls work to do from the pools then sends it in upd packets to cgminer which gives it to the LTC cores. cgminer then sends the results back in upd packets to cpuminer...

Thanks, compiling now will edit when done if this works.  Appreciate the tip.

[poopypants]

poopypants compile this one:

https://github.com/gridseed/usb-miner/blob/master/software/cpuminer/

It doesn't send the commands to activate the BTC cores, so you'll be fine with it in LTC only mode.

The miners work pretty interesting however. They used a version of cgminer which already had scrypt support removed. BTC only mode runs with cgminer. LTC only mode with cpuminer. To get dual mode you have to run them side by side - cgminer handles BTC like normal, cpuminer only polls work to do from the pools then sends it in upd packets to cgminer which gives it to the LTC cores. cgminer then sends the results back in upd packets to cpuminer...

Thanks, compiling now will edit when done if this works.  Appreciate the tip.

Do you have to tell cpu miner what the USB name is, can you post your .sh file so I can compare.  ***Nevermind I just had to read earlier post****

dmesg           (found the usb device)

minerd --freq=850 -G /dev/ttyUSB[Number for usb device] --url= [poolurl:port] --userpass=[user].[worker]:[password]  

Can confirm that now my device connect to my raspberry pi is only using 8 watts mining scrypt............... thank god I really appreciate the help

[richmke]

Speaking of the controller, anyone know where I can buy JUST the controller in case the supplier doesnt come through?

http://zoomhash.com/products/controller-for-gridseed-asic

[rouleaux]

I got a LA6M but, unfortunately, one of the controllers is broken  . One controller conects to my router without any issues but the other one is not recognized. It just blinks but the nothing shows up on the router. If I swap it out, the other controller works fine. Ive tried switching cables etc, but nothing fixes it. What are my options now? I am trying to run all 20 on one controller but it lags, restarts every 5 minutes, and I cant get more than 3mh total out of all 20 miners. It took so long to get the LA6M that I have doubts that I will be able to get a replacement controller from asiabtc within a few weeks. Is it possible to buy the same controller on amazon and add the default gridseed firmware? Is the only other option to hook half of them up to a computer and run them that way? I would like to avoid direct usb to computer because I wont be able to deactivate the sha-256 option. Any other ideas?

[Girhes]

poopypants you're welcome

Someone posted you have to disable the BTC cores - to clarify this it works the opposite way. They are disabled by default, you just don't have to enable them. The linked version of cpuminer which the controllers also use has nothing to do with them, the commands to enable BTC cores are defined in the source, but are never used. It only enables LTC cores unless run with the --dual option.

According to the Register Spec to set frequencies you have to set 32 bits in command 0x00, well that will be interesting to play with.

BTW I'm still looking to buy 1pc of the usb units from the EU, if any of you have one for sell please pm me

[Andareed]

poopypants you're welcome

Someone posted you have to disable the BTC cores - to clarify this it works the opposite way. They are disabled by default, you just don't have to enable them. The linked version of cpuminer which the controllers also use has nothing to do with them, the commands to enable BTC cores are defined in the source, but are never used. It only enables LTC cores unless run with the --dual option.

According to the Register Spec to set frequencies you have to set 32 bits in command 0x00, well that will be interesting to play with.

BTW I'm still looking to buy 1pc of the usb units from the EU, if any of you have one for sell please pm me

Are you sure that they're disabled by default? The register spec says the default values for btc_clk_en are 0xffffffff (i.e. all on). I'd like to run them in LTC mode but I'm worried they will consume too much power on startup, before I can turn the BTC units off.

[Girhes]

Well that's why I'm looking for a device to play with

The register spec really shows they are enabled, the modified cgminer however still enables them while initializing the device. The onboard firmware probably sends the chips some settings itself when you power up the unit, we should know what it does exactly. Did you try to power up one of them and measure how much they draw before and during initialization?

[Andareed]

Well that's why I'm looking for a device to play with

The register spec really shows they are enabled, the modified cgminer however still enables them while initializing the device. The onboard firmware probably sends the chips some settings itself when you power up the unit, we should know what it does exactly. Did you try to power up one of them and measure how much they draw before and during initialization?

I also don't have any devices yet Thursday or Friday hopefully.

[maardein]

Ok, just so you don't miss the thread if you are interested, I made a quick howto for getting root access to the lightningasic controller.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=490348

[richmke]

Wahooo!!! 17.5k with 10 miners ...

[gigq]

I got a LA6M but, unfortunately, one of the controllers is broken  . One controller conects to my router without any issues but the other one is not recognized. It just blinks but the nothing shows up on the router. If I swap it out, the other controller works fine. Ive tried switching cables etc, but nothing fixes it. What are my options now? I am trying to run all 20 on one controller but it lags, restarts every 5 minutes, and I cant get more than 3mh total out of all 20 miners. It took so long to get the LA6M that I have doubts that I will be able to get a replacement controller from asiabtc within a few weeks. Is it possible to buy the same controller on amazon and add the default gridseed firmware? Is the only other option to hook half of them up to a computer and run them that way? I would like to avoid direct usb to computer because I wont be able to deactivate the sha-256 option. Any other ideas?

If you compile minerd from here https://github.com/gridseed/usb-miner/tree/master/software/cpuminer it will scrypt mine from a computer without the SHA256 core enabled it.  I tried it last night on a linux box and it worked fine, though my hashrate wasn't any better than with the controllers and my computer didn't like when I reset the power on the miners (it acted like it ran out of usb tty connection so wouldn't open new ones).  I'll probably just stick with the controller but if you need something that will scrypt mine without wasting power that's an option.

[pedrosoft]

Can I use new firmware for a stock (not branded) Gridseed miner (gold color) ?

In this case how can I upgrade old firmware ?

Thanks

[BitcoinPappi]

For the life of me, I cannot find where to plug the power cable on this PSU supplied by lighting a sic. There are no openings besides the area to connect power for each miner. Please help, I have attached pics of all angles of the supplied PSU

[BitcoinPappi]

Nevermind. We have to cut them. Thx for info in posts

[dloganbill]

You probably need to cut the end off and hard wire it. Skip back a few pages and you'll see that there are some other people that had the same problem.

[abbeytim]

im upset I purchased a single unit I have the litecoin part working but the miner shows 0 kh/s but shows on pool

but Im trying to figure out how to bitcoin mine on It

im on windows any help would be appreciated
 

[wasubii]

First impressions of the 2x LA3M i received 24 hours ago:

+ve

Very robust packaging - these are very unlikely to be damaged in transit.

Pretty easy to wire up if you have a basic understanding of wiring or are smart enough to follow the instructions on the forum.

Speed is as advertised - mine are both around 3.1 MH/s when they are running well

-ve

BUT - they dont really run well. They constantly restart themselves, around every 15 to 20 minutes. Each time they reset they take a while to spin up again, reducing the average hash rate considerably (around 20-25% after adjusting for stales)

Very very unstable - perhaps it is the miners, perhaps it is the controller software. But the long and short of it is, these need babysitting so you had better plan on having them somewhere where you can power cycle them regularly - or invest in an internet connected power supply - they are a long long way away from 'set-and-forget'.

Both of my units stopped hashing during the night while i was asleep - mined for 4 hours, idle for 4 hours.
I power cycled them and got them running again once i woke up - running for about an hour at 2.6MH/s each before i left for work.

They mined for 3 hours and now they are hung up again - the soft reboot won't work to get them restarted and unfortunately I am not there to do it nor do I have a 'helper hand' at home. So looks like another 6 or 7 hours of wasted mining time...

If anyone is considering buying these and calculating a 5 month ROI - please be aware that they are not mining at advertised speeds for most of the time. They reboot themselves minimum 3 times per hour, reducing the hourly hash rate by approximately 20-25% while they get back up to speed each time. They will also hang up without any apparent reason and stop mining altogether and require a full power cycle (switch all off, then switch on controller first, wait 1 minute, turn on PSUs, then turn on USB hub).

You should also be aware that Jack's 'Secret photo' showing 5MH/s rate is not what you are buying at all. Until it is proven otherwise, that screenshot is bullshit. Don't bank on it.

Hopefully there will be a controller firmware update soon to improve this - i am not very impressed with the product or the 'service' Jack has been providing.

Right now i am seriously considering buying two of the Gridseed wiibox controllers to replace these buggy Lightning ASIC controllers and see if that makes a difference

As always YMMV

EDIT: Miners are a lot more stable after 36 hours - looks like they need some time to burn in. I am getting a stable 3MH/s at the pool from both LA3M sets and the controller resets are becoming less frequent - only one per hour for the last few hours. I will update again later to comment on the hanging up issue where they stop mining altogether and need a power cycle

[richmke]

I have the 10 miner pack (LA3M). For the past week, they average about 3.5MHs, including the reboot times. Seems like 800 is a little under, 850 is about 3.5, and 900 is a little over, maybe 3.6. Better than originally advertised (3.0), but not as good as potential (5.0).

[wasubii]

I have the 10 miner pack (LA3M). For the past week, they average about 3.5MHs, including the reboot times. Seems like 800 is a little under, 850 is about 3.5, and 900 is a little over, maybe 3.6. Better than originally advertised (3.0), but not as good as potential (5.0).

Hopefully mine will settle down into some sort of stability - if they do i will update my post with details.