Announcing GekkoScience's new USB stick miner, the aptly-named NewPac

[evade_57]

@vh
Just purchased a Pi 4 to run the 18 Newpacs & two 2-pacs on 4 Gekko hubs but having some grief
Git pull & install was easy as with the 3b+ as outlined from Page 1 on the other main forum
However I have problems running beyond 6 Newpacs on one Gekko hub
Freezing, kernel panics, etc
The Pi 4 setup is from Canakit & the 4gb version
Is it possible to download the cgminer from around March 07, 2019 for installation on the Pi4 to try?
3b+ back online hashing perfectly with that version.

[sidehack]

If you've already downloaded it to the 3b+, just copy the folder across and recompile.

Also, depending on what your speed settings are, it's difficult to run more than 6 sticks on a Gekko hub anyway because the D/1 port power also powers the hub electronics so if you pull too much there the hub's brain will start flaking out. Something like 400MHz on near-stock voltage should be possible but it depends on the chips.

[evade_57]

Thanks Sidehack!
Poor communication on my part
I can't run beyond one hub is how it should have read
I limit 6 six sticks per hub with two USB fans in my configuration of the hubs with the Newpacs
The Pi 4 freaks out if I plug in more hubs including the one with the two 2-Pacs while the first one is running
If I boot with all hubs attached, cgminer boots and freezes, in turn freezing the Pi4
I was able to exit once and the exit screen was full of kernel panics
I can copy the folder onto a usb key but unsure how to recompile with the Pi4
As per your previous suggestion, I am running the Newpacs at a higher rate (300mhz) and they run perfectly
Heat sink temps are around 88F
All help appreciated, thanks again!  

[NearKit]

Hi Everyone,

I need to contact VH or Sidehack for a dev question on GekkoScience Mining USB stick.
is it possible than they contact me?

Many Thanks for your help
Near

[sidehack]

Is it a hardware question or a software question?

[HarrySquater]

Are there any plans for restocking NewPac?

[saxtron3000]

Are there any plans for restocking NewPac?

I'd like to get one - slowly getting in to nodes, mining and lightning network at home through a small Raspberry Pi set-up. It would be good to get one if these new - all the deals on eBay and Amazon are being sold at wack prices. Guess the halvening killed these machines - but, hey, its not about the money just wanted an ASIC chip to mess with.

Any suggestions?

[100knot2dae]

If you are EU based, bitshopper.de has had some in stock.

[Filax]

Hey Smiley

Just few words to give an idea for Newpak owners! Those keys are very funny to use (and indestructible), the most big problem is the cooling. I tryed many solutions via fan etc and after 2 years of work I finally got a good setup!

The solution is : Get out the native passive cooler and replace it by a bigger one! I printed with PLA a support base and this aluminium cooler is cooldown by a 90 mm PC fan... And another fan in front to cool the other electronics chips.

This setup allow me to put a freq of 400/420 Mhz (10 keys)  for a hashrate of 950 Mh/s - 1 Th/s  for 130 watts.

[gt_addict]

Nice setup. But thats not as far as they can go. I had 6 running 650m for 140Ghs each being cooled by a 92mm fan. Ran like a champ for 18months no problems.

With your setup you should get that no problem.

[sidehack]

Did you tune the voltage? 130 watts for only 1TH across 10 sticks isn't that great, can probably do better.

[oldman123]

I have a few NewPacs and one of them had been underperforming the rest and now it seems like it is on it's last leg. All of them are on a Gekko hub with a high speed server fan blowing down on them to keep them real cool.     Now  I can't get it running at standard frequency (100) with any type of consistent results.    I have changed the voltage a bit to see if that would help, but everytime I try it, the output looks like this:

Code:

cgminer version 4.11.1 - Started: [2021-03-14 22:00:52.738]                                                            
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                     
(5s):1.185G (1m):1.063G (5m):309.8M (15m):110.6M (avg):1.716Gh/s                                                       
 A:0  R:32768  HW:0  WU:24.0/m | ST: 1  SS: 0  NB: 2  LW: 326  GF: 0  RF: 0                                              
Connected to prohashing.com diff 32.8K with stratum as user xxxxxxx                                                
Block: c5e7c5ba...  Diff:1.67G  Started: [22:01:21.123]  Best share: 1.1K    
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 0: GSH 10033302: BM1387:02+ 75/75/ 15 (499:251) [oo]   |  4.7% WU:^ 5% | 2.376G / 800.2Mh/s WU:11.2/m A:0 R:0 HW:0

The green LED is on all the time and the white one is on when powered on and then goes between on and off while the cgminer is running.

Any thoughts?    Is there a way to confirm what the voltage is out of the adjustment pot?

Thanks.

[gt_addict]

There should be pads on the back for testing the voltage with a multimeter. Something like Vcore and GND.

[oldman123]

I don't see anything marked like that.   I see, A, F, N0, N1,  4,8 and 16 as marked items along with one pad circled.

the card is v6.3d.

[Filax]

There should be pads on the back for testing the voltage with a multimeter. Something like Vcore and GND.

Hi

The problem is, i don't find clear informations to setup voltage screw!, it's very nebulous... I tryed a freq of 500 MHz but i get lot of errors? Maybe the screw is not setuped correctly (i got the initial screw setup)

Regards

[gt_addict]

I don't see anything marked like that.   I see, A, F, N0, N1,  4,8 and 16 as marked items along with one pad circled...
the card is v6.3d

Sorry my mistake. That was the previous generation stick. Not sure where the newpac probe points are. They will be mentioned in this thread somewhere.

The problem is, i don't find clear informations to setup voltage screw!, it's very nebulous... I tryed a freq of 500 MHz but i get lot of errors? Maybe the screw is not setuped correctly (i got the initial screw setup)

The voltage pot should have the flat side set to about 4 - 5 o’clock if the stick is orientated so the heatsink is laying on a surface and the usb connector is closest to you. These shouldnt need voltage adjustment though. I ran mine at stock voltage and got a freq of 650m.

Usually poor performance and errors is due the USB hub you are using.

[harmonicdrive]

I'd be happy if I could buy more 606's :/

[heslo]

I'd be happy if I could buy more 606's :/

Looking to sell mine, if you're keen hit me up and we might be able to sort something out

[vintag386]

There should be pads on the back for testing the voltage with a multimeter. Something like Vcore and GND.

Hi

The problem is, i don't find clear informations to setup voltage screw!, it's very nebulous... I tryed a freq of 500 MHz but i get lot of errors? Maybe the screw is not setuped correctly (i got the initial screw setup)

Regards

I found that messing with the voltage screw really didn't help. I deleted all my instances of cgminer and reinstalled it from scratch using the instructions in this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053833.0, and it worked great. You have to have a good USB hub and cooling, but it helped me get the newpacs running great.

[FuzzyBear]

Hey Smiley

Just few words to give an idea for Newpak owners! Those keys are very funny to use (and indestructible), the most big problem is the cooling. I tryed many solutions via fan etc and after 2 years of work I finally got a good setup!

The solution is : Get out the native passive cooler and replace it by a bigger one! I printed with PLA a support base and this aluminium cooler is cooldown by a 90 mm PC fan... And another fan in front to cool the other electronics chips.

This setup allow me to put a freq of 400/420 Mhz (10 keys)  for a hashrate of 950 Mh/s - 1 Th/s  for 130 watts.

Just wanted to say this is a lovely setup you have running here, giving me miner envy!