GekkoScience NewPac / Terminus R606 (BM1387) Official Support Thread

[sidehack]

The NewPac doesn't implement a ticket mask so there's no minimum threshold below which shares are discarded at the chip. All shares, even diff-1 shares, are reported. This means the total volume of data coming back is significantly higher than previous sticks even for the same hashrate. In order to help with the volume, we're also operating the serial bus at about 13 times the bitrate of previous sticks.

All this makes the data bus more susceptible to noise and tight timing and signal-quality constraints, as well as leaving no filter for potentially erroneous shares from the chips.

The HW error rate could be lousy for a near-threshold-voltage stick but as long as the overall hashrate is preserved (within 98% or so of theoretical) I wouldn't worry about it. If your hashrate is reading low, then there's a problem.

[1714937502]

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[1714937502]

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[1714937502]

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[gt_addict]

Return the stick to it's factory vcore to ease power draw at high frequency.  

http://23.108.83.14/images/NewPac-0006.png

Test them one at a time to see if you can push past 55GHs.

Start at 300MHz, unless you get 68GHs (0.228 x 300) don't go higher .

Try with and without the hub - single stick.  

I find my dell's usb port does pretty well with a single stick, fan, no powered hub.

Once you get 68GHs, bump the freq up by no more than 25-50MHz at a time, test for 24hrs...

One at a time first and you should be able to find where the bottleneck is.

Thanks vh, i will give that a go this evening and report back tomorrow.

[cjsummers82]

I don't recall explicitly adjusting anything related to hardware error percentages.
Try attaching a screen shot of what you notice was omitted in this build.

Not much has changed recently on the display side.

Jan 2017 (about two years ago)

http://23.108.83.14/images/2Pac-0004.png

Dec 2018 (this build)

http://23.108.83.14/images/2Pac-0012.png

If you are comparing pre 4.10, I wouldn't be able to answer.  

There would probably be some notes in GitHub.

Now that I've looked at further, I see that cgminer hasn't included HW % rate; I was confusing it with bfgminer I suppose.  
My apologies.

[419mining]

I just got my Newpac today. Seeing a lot of HW errors even at 100MHz. Could this be due to a dodgy hub?

Like sidehack said, if your getting a good hashrate, the HW errors are unimportant. If your running at 100MHz, you should be seeing around 22.8 GH/s.

If thats not the case, it could be an issue with power from the hub, try plugging directly into the USB port on the back of the PC for direct power from the motherboard. The other thing that tends to cause excessive HW errors is heat, you can try pointing a simple fan at it to help dissipate the heat a little. If neither one of those two things fixes your issues, let me know, there are a few other things but 99% of the time its those first two.

[rockmoney]

I just found this screenshot of cgminer v4.10, running x2 compac sticks on 2017 JUNE 01, and don't see a hardware error percentage.



-click to enlarge -

[henrik80]

Woke up this morning to see my Newpac resetting every 5 seconds. Rebooted the Pi and USB hub.  Started up cgminer again and got 0 chips found. Fired up another linux box and compiled cgminer, just to get the same message with 0 chips found (this time without the USB hub).

Haven't tried it in Windows yet will do when I get home from work.

[419mining]

i know this sounds odd, but give the miner a minute to rest. if they overheated, letting them "rest" for an hour unplugged usually helps. If thats the case, please see what you can do to add a little cooling. you may want to run at 75MHz temporally too, until you can get some cooling on them.

IF you purchased your miners from our store, contact me over DM or email and I'll make sure your taken care of.


Also, i just finished fan stand templates for 80mm and 120mm fan mounts. uploaded to the thingiverse,
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3270261

[henrik80]

Cooling was on all night (case fan) aimed straight at the pcb and heatsink.

I'll check it again once I get home

[minefarmbuy]

Cooling was on all night (case fan) aimed straight at the pcb and heatsink.

I'll check it again once I get home

I had a 2pac with this same issue. 419's advice is solid. Even a quick unplug, replug didn't help right off but eventually it started hashing. If it's OC'd I reset to stock after a rest and drive it back up slowly.

[gt_addict]

Update:-

Unplugged the both sticks from the hub and plugged ONE stick directly into the usb3.0 port on the computer with a usb fan cooling it from another port. Ran at 300m at stock vcore and still only getting 53.6gh. Any ideas?

[minefarmbuy]

200 is stock I believe. Try there after a decent break and maybe separate instances with --usb :1 if you haven't.

[henrik80]

i know this sounds odd, but give the miner a minute to rest. if they overheated, letting them "rest" for an hour unplugged usually helps. If thats the case, please see what you can do to add a little cooling. you may want to run at 75MHz temporally too, until you can get some cooling on them.

IF you purchased your miners from our store, contact me over DM or email and I'll make sure your taken care of.

Many thanks,

it's up and mining again. Replaced the fan, put it back to stock and will leave it for few hours and then increase again.

[vh]

Update:-

Unplugged the both sticks from the hub and plugged ONE stick directly into the usb3.0 port on the computer with a usb fan cooling it from another port. Ran at 300m at stock vcore and still only getting 53.6gh. Any ideas?

Here are the usual troubleshooting swap-able parts that will typically pick up an anomaly:  

• Using a different hub or no hub.
• Using a different usb port.
• Using a different PC.
• Using a different build of cgminer.
• Using a lower frequency.
• Using a different vcore.

strike-thru-ing the ones you've mentioned you've tried or are not relevant.

Stray troublemakers (better to avoid using)

• Extension cables
• USB 3.0
• Other devices on USB bus
• Windows

I think most of this is in the first post, but a few are not so I'll cross reference and update it a moment.

[gt_addict]

Updated the list. I have tried a different pc which is the remnants of a mining rig and still the same issue even a single stick on each usb port. I can try a different version of cgminer but unfortunately ant chane the fact its windoze or usb 3 as I only have usb 3 ports on both pc’s. The hub is usb 2 with a usb2 cable but onviously that has had no effect.

[419mining]

Updated the list. I have tried a different pc which is the remnants of a mining rig and still the same issue even a single stick on each usb port. I can try a different version of cgminer but unfortunately ant chane the fact its windoze or usb 3 as I only have usb 3 ports on both pc’s. The hub is usb 2 with a usb2 cable but onviously that has had no effect.

one of my issues I found with every one of my rigs is the Intel based board has the Intel USB 3.0 bug that was causing issues and I had the same problem, it only had 3.0 USB ports. I ended up setting up an old AMD rig to get around it.

[gt_addict]

one of my issues I found with every one of my rigs is the Intel based board has the Intel USB 3.0 bug that was causing issues and I had the same problem, it only had 3.0 USB ports. I ended up setting up an old AMD rig to get around it.

The pc i initially tried it on is intel, the second is a ryzen mining rig and still the same problem   I will try an earlier version of cgminer to see if it improves anything.

EDIT:

Just downloaded the Nov 7, 09a2f37 cgminer and now hitting expected hashrates. Its only been a few minutes but the signs are promising *finger crossed*

[House Xylander]

I am still unable to see the individual results of each stick and would greatly appreciate some assistance in resoving this if a new install does not fix it.

I will try reinstalling cgminer again from scratch in the afternoon as I am getting home late again.

G'night all

[vh]

The pc i initially tried it on is intel, the second is a ryzen mining rig and still the same problem   I will try an earlier version of cgminer to see if it improves anything.

EDIT:

Just downloaded the Nov 7, 09a2f37 cgminer and now hitting expected hashrates. Its only been a few minutes but the signs are promising *finger crossed*

That's good news that the sticks aren't limiting that upper bound.  
Let me see if I can find a machine that behaves the same to take a closer look.  

I am still unable to see the individual results of each stick and would greatly appreciate some assistance in resoving this if a new install does not fix it.

I will try reinstalling cgminer again from scratch in the afternoon as I am getting home late again.

G'night all

Before you do the reinstall, try getting your resolution up so that your terminal can fit about 120 columns, 75 rows.
It looked a little cramped from your earlier screenshot.

[sidehack]

And do make sure you're installing the ncurses library. The only time I've seen what you're seeing, it was the only thing missing.

[vh]

New build (7a48c8f)

Same instructions:
    rename (save), clone, build.
    
Add new testing parameter --gekko-serial
    Accepts double quoted, comma seperated list of Serial Numbers to target.
    Available for all gekko miner types.   Especially the 2pac type.
    --gekko-serial "GS-10001010,GS-10001011"

Remove excess noise from default display.
    - Individual device HW errors can be found by pressing d, i, then [space].
    - Move ramping notes to LOG_INFO during restarts.  

Misc Tuning & Fixes
    - Additional thread priorities and timing adjustments.
        - Solves some windows + usb 3.0 combo capping miners at 65GHs
        - Free up some cpu cycles where possible.
    - Fix errors cause by lost precision on fractional frequency steps.


Windows binary: cgminer-4.11.1-windows-gekko-7a48c8f.7z

Windows binary: cgminer-4.11.1-windows-gekko-60d9f64.7z

Windows binary: cgminer-4.11.1-windows-gekko-3339a51.7z
    sha1sum 4c2b86473f1b7ae51ffa0aa415bbd916b3e62954 cgminer.exe

edit:
Looks like that frequency fix didn't make it in on this build.  
Use frequency steps/multiples of 25 for better results until the next build.

edit:
That was important enough to squeeze in.

edit:
Fix for segfault