Braiins OS & Braiins OS+ custom ASIC firmware: optimize performance & efficiency

[Heathen23]

The issue got resolved. I am not sure why suddenly the s9j decided to be obedient to the farm and switched back to 800 watt like other s9s in the farm.

For me this S9j is not that good when using Braiins OS+, I have one in my mini farm and the rest are S9's. With autotunning all S9's do above 15.5 ths and the S9j does 15.1 ths for example. I have one S9 that does 16.3 ths with power limit od 1400 W. All miners are set to 1400W, autotunning on, temeprature auto, and fans go high and low all the time, which I found normal as the temperature is gettinf higher, the fana keep going to higher RPMs
My question would be, why does this go up to 16.3 ths on 1400W and other 15.5 on 1500W limit!? Did anyone tried to mess up the wattage and frequencies to get more THs? Does this depends on the state of hash boards? I preffer a low power modes but I am setting this up for my friend and he wants to mine as much as he can, for now it doesn't matter how the miners get.
All 4 were on different firmwares, so if anyone needs help with installing the Braiins OS+ on their S9's, I will gladly help!

My observation is once I install Brains they all more or less produce same efficiency at lower wattage like 600-800. S9js seem to run fans at a lower speed and make less noise than s9s for the same settings. Not a statistically significant observation. I use them as noisy basement heater. I am not paying heating bill ever since i discovered mining in 2016. Before that my gas heating bill used to be 500 usd per month. So even though the s9 don't make much coin they provide the cozy heat. I am happy with that.

Because its not linear and sometimes more gives less, so you have to experiment values both up and down. I would advise your friend to focus in efficiency rather than speed, and yes, each hashboard is unique because the manufacturer throws a bunch of chips with different performance yield and let their (quick) auto tuning reach the advertised speed regardless of the chips actually being able to be more efficient which is what Braiins OS+ discovers after a far more exhaustive process.

Start with the default and try lowering values in 10, 20 or 50W steps. Don't bother going up unless you are doing immersion, its not worth it. The theoretical limit for the APW3++ before dropping its efficiency is 1496W. Its never good to run at the borderline, any little power fluctuation will make it go over it.

Remember, in the end better efficiency brings more profit than brute speed.

I am not sure whether it is an odd request but is there a way to optimize with a different objective? If it is not already there may I make a future improvement request to target a sound level? Today the auto tuner takes a specific wattage and maximizes production within that wattage. Can we have a different option to specify that the fan speed will be @ 5% or 10% and optimize production with that constraint? I think that way s9 will replace all walmart fan heaters in the market and miners will be able to negotiate with their wives and children about welcoming them in the family room. It is OK if you think it is a crazy idea. But my wife and kid became mad at me because I tried to place miners everywhere in our home for the last 5 years. They are probably right when they say I am encroaching on them with miners and GPU rigs. I am sure there are few more home miners like me.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[1714969655]

1714969655

[Artemis3]

Many people have commented us that the S9 are very quiet at low power limit, you can even disable one or two hashboards from the firmware.

If you leave everything default, except the lower power limit value. Some people even remove the exhaust fan entirely when ran at around 900W.

So if you think its too loud at 900W, disable hashboard 7 (middle), that will make it use 600W (do not change the power limit value).

Or you could swap the fans for more silent models.

[Heathen23]

I want to stop mining at 11 am and start again at 2 pm. I have added the following 2 lines to the scheduler to do that under "system"->"scheduled tasks" assuming that will put them in cron file. But it is not working. Can one of you please help me to tweak this so that they work?

*/1 * * * * /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf 2>&1 | logger -t logrotate  
* 11 * * 1-5 pause
* 14 * * 1-5 resume

The first line was existing. I added line #2 and 3.  Thanks in advance.

[Artemis3]

You are missing one line, there should be TWO lines in /etc/crontabs/root so add it back:

*/1 * * * * /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf 2>&1 | logger -t logrotate
0 0 * * * /usr/sbin/bos_upgrade_at 2>&1 | logger -t upgrade

Stop mining with /etc/init.d/bosminer stop
But this will ramp up the fans for protection, so also edit /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua

Search and replace fan_set_duty(i, 100) with fan_set_duty(i, 0)
Some fans don't like it to be set to 0% (they would spin to 100% instead), in that case try higher values until you find the min one.

Then your added lines should look something like this:

0 11 * * 1-5 /etc/init.d/bosminer stop && sleep 300 && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/fan_set_duty(i, 0)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start
0 14 * * 1-5 /etc/init.d/bosminer start && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 0)/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start

Yes, your first * is wrong, that would make it run every single minute, so no, you only run it at minute 0.

The sleep 300 is critical for the x17 family, it is meant to cool down the boards before stopping or slowing the fans. You may shorten the number of seconds if you use the S9 family.

[Heathen23]

You are missing one line, there should be TWO lines in /etc/crontabs/root so add it back:

*/1 * * * * /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/logrotate.conf 2>&1 | logger -t logrotate
0 0 * * * /usr/sbin/bos_upgrade_at 2>&1 | logger -t upgrade

Stop mining with /etc/init.d/bosminer stop
But this will ramp up the fans for protection, so also edit /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua

Search and replace fan_set_duty(i, 100) with fan_set_duty(i, 0)
Some fans don't like it to be set to 0% (they would spin to 100% instead), in that case try higher values until you find the min one.

Then your added lines should look something like this:

0 11 * * 1-5 /etc/init.d/bosminer stop && sleep 300 && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/fan_set_duty(i, 0)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start
0 14 * * 1-5 /etc/init.d/bosminer start && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 0)/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start

Yes, your first * is wrong, that would make it run every single minute, so no, you only run it at minute 0.

The sleep 300 is critical for the x17 family, it is meant to cool down the boards before stopping or slowing the fans. You may shorten the number of seconds if you use the S9 family.

Thanks a ton! Really appreciate your help. I learned a lot from your response. I am going to try tonight.


Update: It is working perfectly for s9s but not working for s17s. I tried to telnet into S17s and tried to issue the command
/etc/init.d/bosminer stop && sleep 300 && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/fan_set_duty(i, 0)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start

It said

command failed: not found

I tried to navigate to

/etc/init.d/

and tried to issue

bosminer stop

it looks like it did not recognize the stop after bosminer.

[Artemis3]

In Linux, the folder you are is not necessarily in the path. So even if you cd to it, you need to tell it the path, like:

./bosminer start

The ./ is a path that means "here". This is unlike msdos, and it also needs eXecute permissions which should already have.

But rather than that, you should just ls -l to see if you accidentally deleted this file, in that case just reinstall.

[hamoudy101]

Hi,

How do I prevent the miner from going 100% fan on start up or when parameters are changed?
This is just a single S9.

I want to change the fan_100% parameter.
http://prntscr.com/213tmc9

[Artemis3]

100% to 50%:

ssh root@ip.ad.re.ss "/etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/fan_set_duty(i, 50)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start"

At your own risk...

[hamoudy101]

100% to 50%:

ssh root@ip.ad.re.ss "/etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor stop && sed -i 's/fan_set_duty(i, 100)/fan_set_duty(i, 50)/g' /usr/sbin/bosminer_monitor.lua && /etc/init.d/bosminer_monitor start"

At your own risk...

I tried, and it made no difference. Fans spin up to 100% when bosminer is restarted or device starts up.
I even tried at 25% and there was no difference.
http://prntscr.com/218qha3

[Artemis3]

This does not change the boot up sequence, it only affects the situation where bosminer is stopped, such as when someone with solar panels wants to stop mining at night.

When you give power to the fans, before any control is done, they will spin at full power as they were designed to do. It is only when either bosminer_monitor or bosminer start, that they can control the fans, not before.

Because Braiins OS is the fastest booting fw, this really isn't a problem for most users.

If you are permanently using low power limits, why not just replace the fans with low speed aftermarket solutions? Maybe 3k rpm?

[hamoudy101]

Good idea. Thank you very much.

[slurfius]

For the time being you are not supposed to use Braiins OS with the R4 at all.

Will this ever change? So far it seems to work well with the R4 if you install the s9 software

[tinyUser]

Hi, I need help. (sorry for my English)

I got 2x S17e machines with braiin os installed on the nand memory. I tried everything to return them to the stock firmware, but to no avail. I do not have backups of the stock firmware to restore them with the braiin bos tools (windows & linux), but tried including the SD card methods, but so far without success. How can I start the machine from sd card and restore bitmain stock firmware?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I have access to the machines via ssh, what can I change in linux to boot from sd card and not from nand memory

P.S. Finally I succeeded under Linux with bos tool: ./bos-toolbox uninstall IP

[Artemis3]

For the time being you are not supposed to use Braiins OS with the R4 at all.

Will this ever change? So far it seems to work well with the R4 if you install the s9 software

I know, but don't go above powerlimit 1200.

[Heathen23]

Just wanted to say that I really like your calculator. It knows the difference between NPV and IRR, Differentiates between Capex & Opex, Infra cost, capital, allows difficulty, price, hardware appreciations / depreciation rates, cost of capital, revenue, operating profit and net profit. It saves me creation of a spreadsheet for a quick reality check. Most other bitcoin mining calculators and some celebrity youtubers just dumbly repeat the current difficulty and price MoM and confuses between NPV/IRR, Don't understand difference between revenue and profit forget about cost of capital. Good job guys and girls. I really appreciate your effort into making this calculator though it does not earn you money directly. It shows your love for doing things right and the best you can even for a free tool.

[Artemis3]

Thanks for your feedback!

In case others are wondering the calculator is here: https://insights.braiins.com/

[slurfius]

For the time being you are not supposed to use Braiins OS with the R4 at all.

Will this ever change? So far it seems to work well with the R4 if you install the s9 software

I know, but don't go above powerlimit 1200.

Thanks for the tip I won’t go higher again. At default I was getting 9.7th I was probably only saved by the cold room but come summer it would have cooked. Having temperature readings working would help a lot. Any suggestions on what the most efficient power setting is for this miner?

[Artemis3]

NEW RELEASE Braiins OS+ 21.12 for Antminer X19’s

We are happy to inform you that a new Braiins OS+ release is here for the Antminer S19, S19 Pro, T19, and S19j Pro. For more details on the features of the release, see the updated documentation. (Note: the release does NOT support the S19j or any other X19 submodels besides those listed above.)

If you would like to test Braiins OS+ on your X19’s, there are a few important things you should know:
- Hashboard temperature impacts performance: through extensive testing, we have determined that X19 devices lose significant efficiency as the temperature of the hashboards / chips increases. In other words, your rigs will produce the same hashrate while consuming more Watts the hotter they run—even running within safe operating temperature ranges. For more details on this, see our report.
- Manually set fans to run at 100% during autotuning: due to the temperature impact described above, we strongly recommend running your fans at 100% during autotuning to ensure the best performance.
- Estimated power is NOT accurate: the estimated power consumption shown in the Braiins OS+ GUI can be inaccurate (typically overestimating the consumption). We are working to improve it for future releases. If you want to know the true efficiency of your devices, you must measure the power consumption at the wall.

To receive the firmware, please send an email to help@braiins.com or submit a request here with the following information:
Company name
Contact information (email address and/or telegram username)
General location of mining facility (country or state if in the US)
The # of supported X19 devices and their exact submodel(s)

For example:
Company: Braiins
Contact: telegram @Braiins; email example@braiins.com
Location: Czech Republic
Devices: 5 S19; 5 S19j Pro

[Jambo USA]

Thanks for your feedback!

In case others are wondering the calculator is here: https://insights.braiins.com/

Any idea on what an S19 (95T)'s profitability/ income looks like running this firmware? Been debating between a few different firmwares but haven't found much info since this is a fairly new development. I keep my BTC asics far away from home so I have to decide in advance what I want to flash the machines with before I get out there, plus once I do I only have 1-2 days to monitor after flashing so I'm trying to get it all worked out before hand lol.

Thanks,
Jambo

[kano]

So I have a questions about this.

I've heard that kaboomracks pays you to use your bos and also gather fees for themselves.

It seems it may total as high as a 9% fee.

What say you?