Official FutureBit Apollo LTC Image and Support thread

[whiteogre]

I was playing around with making this thing even more quiet. My stock fan is a little noisy. Might have just gotten a noisier one out of the bunch. I strapped on a silent noctua fan onto a fan controller and threw it on top of the heat sink. Ran it on eco mode. Had it sitting at 60 Degrees pretty much completely silent. But If i connect the noctua fan connector onto the apollos board, the miner will shut off after 45ish seconds. Is that the apollo just telling me to stick with the stock fan? Lol. Just curious if i could make the switch.

Which Noctua fan model did you use and what was the fan speed setting in Apollo?

The Apollo comes with an around 6k rpm fan producing a maximum airflow of about 93 m³/h (if I found the right specs). For comparison, the Noctua NF-A9 PWM is 2k rpm and about 78.9 m³/h. Most likely the shutdown you got is caused by a failsafe, possibly either the fan rpm not being connected, the fan rpm being too low to detect or the fan rpm being lower than some hardcoded minimum. Set the fan speed manually to 100% before swapping to the Noctua fan and see if that helps. If that keeps the miner running then you can start experimenting with lower fan speed settings up to the point that the failsafe kicks in again or the temperature gets too high.

[jstefanop]

I was playing around with making this thing even more quiet. My stock fan is a little noisy. Might have just gotten a noisier one out of the bunch. I strapped on a silent noctua fan onto a fan controller and threw it on top of the heat sink. Ran it on eco mode. Had it sitting at 60 Degrees pretty much completely silent. But If i connect the noctua fan connector onto the apollos board, the miner will shut off after 45ish seconds. Is that the apollo just telling me to stick with the stock fan? Lol. Just curious if i could make the switch.

Which Noctua fan model did you use and what was the fan speed setting in Apollo?

The Apollo comes with an around 6k rpm fan producing a maximum airflow of about 93 m³/h (if I found the right specs). For comparison, the Noctua NF-A9 PWM is 2k rpm and about 78.9 m³/h. Most likely the shutdown you got is caused by a failsafe, possibly either the fan rpm not being connected, the fan rpm being too low to detect or the fan rpm being lower than some hardcoded minimum. Set the fan speed manually to 100% before swapping to the Noctua fan and see if that helps. If that keeps the miner running then you can start experimenting with lower fan speed settings up to the point that the failsafe kicks in again or the temperature gets too high.

Yea the hardware controller is hardcoded with failsafes based on the stock fan. If you use anything below a 3-4k RPM fan the controller will shutdown the miner because it thinks something is wrong with the fan.

I won't be supporting any third party fans, I could possibly but in a "disable fan monitoring" option, but I wouldn't include that for at least several more months.

The stock fan is a 6k RPM 120 CFM fan. That noctua tops out at ~ 45 CFM which is probably enough for only ECO mode cooling.

[devincrypt]

Power question:

The original data posted on Futurebit says "Two Six Pin PCIE power connectors for wide-range of power draw (only one is needed in ECO mode)". I've been running in "Balanced" mode with just one PCIE connector used. I just felt the power wires at the Apollo back and they are a little warm, not hot at all. I'd like to leave this running in Balanced mode while I'm away a few days - should I worry? Do both power connectors need to be used for Balanced mode?

My PSU is very adequate (Raidmax Cobra RX-700AC-B 700W 80 PLUS) - runs quiet and cold. Anyone else running in Balanced mode with just 1 power connector?

I'd like to save the 2nd PCIE output for my 2nd Apollo.

[DaveF]

HELP!
OK, with that out of the way.
One of my Apollos seems to be having issues.
bfg starts and then stops.
I have replaced the SD card and removed all pools, twice.

With just the donation pool looking at the sudo screen -dr miner I see

Code:

bfgminer 5.5.0-41-gb0cd450 - Start: [2019-02-27 00:02:21] - [  0 days 00:00:02]
 [M]anage devices [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options  [H]elp [Q]uit
 Pool 0: us.litecoinpool.or  Diff:1  +Strtm  LU:[00:02:21]  User:jstefanop.a1
 Block: ...5f3733dbdb447146  Diff:8.25M (59.04T)  Started: [00:02:21]  I:?
 ST:3  F:0  NB:1  AS:0  BW:[546/119 B/s]  E:0.00  BS:0

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 APL 0:       |   0.0/  0.0/  0.0 h/s | A:0 R:0+0(none) HW:0/none
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [2019-02-27 00:02:14] Loaded configuration file /opt/bfgminer.conf
 [2019-02-27 00:02:15] Probing for an alive pool
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 stratum+tcp://us.litecoinpool.org:3333 alive
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 is hiding block contents from us
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Network difficulty changed to 8.25M (59.04T)
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Stratum from pool 0 detected new block
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] API running in IP access mode on port 4028

Then something pops up quickly that I can't read and then.

[screen is terminating]
and I'm back at the prompt.

It does the same if I put in my own pools.

Anything I can look at?

-Dave

[wttbs]

HELP!
OK, with that out of the way.
One of my Apollos seems to be having issues.
bfg starts and then stops.
I have replaced the SD card and removed all pools, twice.

With just the donation pool looking at the sudo screen -dr miner I see

Code:

bfgminer 5.5.0-41-gb0cd450 - Start: [2019-02-27 00:02:21] - [  0 days 00:00:02]
 [M]anage devices [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options  [H]elp [Q]uit
 Pool 0: us.litecoinpool.or  Diff:1  +Strtm  LU:[00:02:21]  User:jstefanop.a1
 Block: ...5f3733dbdb447146  Diff:8.25M (59.04T)  Started: [00:02:21]  I:?
 ST:3  F:0  NB:1  AS:0  BW:[546/119 B/s]  E:0.00  BS:0

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 APL 0:       |   0.0/  0.0/  0.0 h/s | A:0 R:0+0(none) HW:0/none
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [2019-02-27 00:02:14] Loaded configuration file /opt/bfgminer.conf
 [2019-02-27 00:02:15] Probing for an alive pool
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 stratum+tcp://us.litecoinpool.org:3333 alive
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 is hiding block contents from us
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Network difficulty changed to 8.25M (59.04T)
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Stratum from pool 0 detected new block
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] API running in IP access mode on port 4028

Then something pops up quickly that I can't read and then.

[screen is terminating]
and I'm back at the prompt.

It does the same if I put in my own pools.

Anything I can look at?

-Dave

did you flash the SD with Etcher? if not, do try to flash the SD with Etcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/

[jstefanop]

HELP!
OK, with that out of the way.
One of my Apollos seems to be having issues.
bfg starts and then stops.
I have replaced the SD card and removed all pools, twice.

With just the donation pool looking at the sudo screen -dr miner I see

Code:

bfgminer 5.5.0-41-gb0cd450 - Start: [2019-02-27 00:02:21] - [  0 days 00:00:02]
 [M]anage devices [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options  [H]elp [Q]uit
 Pool 0: us.litecoinpool.or  Diff:1  +Strtm  LU:[00:02:21]  User:jstefanop.a1
 Block: ...5f3733dbdb447146  Diff:8.25M (59.04T)  Started: [00:02:21]  I:?
 ST:3  F:0  NB:1  AS:0  BW:[546/119 B/s]  E:0.00  BS:0

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 APL 0:       |   0.0/  0.0/  0.0 h/s | A:0 R:0+0(none) HW:0/none
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [2019-02-27 00:02:14] Loaded configuration file /opt/bfgminer.conf
 [2019-02-27 00:02:15] Probing for an alive pool
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 stratum+tcp://us.litecoinpool.org:3333 alive
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Pool 0 is hiding block contents from us
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Network difficulty changed to 8.25M (59.04T)
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] Stratum from pool 0 detected new block
 [2019-02-27 00:02:21] API running in IP access mode on port 4028

Then something pops up quickly that I can't read and then.

[screen is terminating]
and I'm back at the prompt.

It does the same if I put in my own pools.

Anything I can look at?

-Dave

Is the dashboard loading fine? Whats the last state you had the miner in before this happened?

[jstefanop]

Power question:

The original data posted on Futurebit says "Two Six Pin PCIE power connectors for wide-range of power draw (only one is needed in ECO mode)". I've been running in "Balanced" mode with just one PCIE connector used. I just felt the power wires at the Apollo back and they are a little warm, not hot at all. I'd like to leave this running in Balanced mode while I'm away a few days - should I worry? Do both power connectors need to be used for Balanced mode?

My PSU is very adequate (Raidmax Cobra RX-700AC-B 700W 80 PLUS) - runs quiet and cold. Anyone else running in Balanced mode with just 1 power connector?

I'd like to save the 2nd PCIE output for my 2nd Apollo.

As long as the wire is not hot it should be fine, but it comes down to the wire gauge used by that PSU, which I assume will probably be 18 gauge. Balance uses about ~150 watts, which is pushing it for a single 6pin PCIE.

I personally would not run it on one cable unless its at least 16 gauge, and even then it comes down to safety and it will always be safer to run it on two. I obviously cant recommend anything other than having both plugged in but im sure others can chime in

[DaveF]

Is the dashboard loading fine? Whats the last state you had the miner in before this happened?

Dashboard loads runs for ~ 60 seconds and then drops to the miner is not running screen.
Waits for a while, comes back and does it again.

-Dave

[philipma1957]

Power question:

The original data posted on Futurebit says "Two Six Pin PCIE power connectors for wide-range of power draw (only one is needed in ECO mode)". I've been running in "Balanced" mode with just one PCIE connector used. I just felt the power wires at the Apollo back and they are a little warm, not hot at all. I'd like to leave this running in Balanced mode while I'm away a few days - should I worry? Do both power connectors need to be used for Balanced mode?

My PSU is very adequate (Raidmax Cobra RX-700AC-B 700W 80 PLUS) - runs quiet and cold. Anyone else running in Balanced mode with just 1 power connector?

I'd like to save the 2nd PCIE output for my 2nd Apollo.

As long as the wire is not hot it should be fine, but it comes down to the wire gauge used by that PSU, which I assume will probably be 18 gauge. Balance uses about ~150 watts, which is pushing it for a single 6pin PCIE.

I personally would not run it on one cable unless its at least 16 gauge, and even then it comes down to safety and it will always be safer to run it on two. I obviously cant recommend anything other than having both plugged in but im sure others can chime in

Raidmax is an okay brand

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817152055

reviews are

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/03/18/raidmax_cobra_power_500w_supply_review/9#.U8eqgfldXgU

https://www.overclock.net/forum/dbtreview.php?do=view_review&id=6792

personally I would not use this psu with one connector.
I also want to say  you are using a 80% efficient psu.  I would want to find a 90% psu:


https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=220-P2-0650-RX

the unit above is plat  I would trust it with 1 cable

[TsiTheisen]

Anyone succesfully connect to wifi? I keep getting an internal error on both my apollos.

[whiteogre]

Anyone succesfully connect to wifi? I keep getting an internal error on both my apollos.

Works for some but not in all scenarios. See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5081750.msg48868136#msg48868136 for more comments.

If you have no other option than wifi then having some cheap wifi router configured to client mode and then wired connections from it to Apollos is likely to result in much more stable connectivity than what the internal wifi can currently provide.

[gogo64]

Hello, I changed the fan, which was noisy. I put it there:
https://store.supermicro.com/92mm-fan-0114l4.html
It works well, only mine minerals hold 70.5 c and not 66 as the original fan.
Is it possible to set the fan speed to increase in automatic mode from about 66 c?
(google translator)

[philipma1957]

Hello, I changed the fan, which was noisy. I put it there:
https://store.supermicro.com/92mm-fan-0114l4.html
It works well, only mine minerals hold 70.5 c and not 66 as the original fan.
Is it possible to set the fan speed to increase in automatic mode from about 66 c?
(google translator)

try setting fan speed manually to 3000

btw  that is a good fan maker.  I may buy the fan thanks.

I set the stock fan to 20% fixed speed = 2760 rpm
I run balanced
I get 121mh

69.19 c = miner
52.63 c = mcu

[frappee]

I just got my Apollo with pre-burned image flash card installed. Plugged both PCIE power connectors in and LAN cable..

Just getting flashing yellow light on the front and don't see a new device on the LAN.

Any ideas for trouble shooting?

Thanks

[whiteogre]

I just got my Apollo with pre-burned image flash card installed. Plugged both PCIE power connectors in and LAN cable..

Just getting flashing yellow light on the front and don't see a new device on the LAN.

Any ideas for trouble shooting?

Thanks

Is the front yellow flashing slowly or fast?
Do the leds around the ethernet connector show any signs?
Is there a dhcp server in the LAN?
How long have you waited for it to start?

[frappee]

I just got my Apollo with pre-burned image flash card installed. Plugged both PCIE power connectors in and LAN cable..

Just getting flashing yellow light on the front and don't see a new device on the LAN.

Any ideas for trouble shooting?

Thanks

Is the front yellow flashing slowly or fast?
Do the leds around the ethernet connector show any signs?
Is there a dhcp server in the LAN?
How long have you waited for it to start?

It's a fast flash. The LEDS come on initially then turn off. Yes there is a DHCP server on the network. Waited plenty

[philipma1957]

I just got my Apollo with pre-burned image flash card installed. Plugged both PCIE power connectors in and LAN cable..

Just getting flashing yellow light on the front and don't see a new device on the LAN.

Any ideas for trouble shooting?

Thanks

Is the front yellow flashing slowly or fast?
Do the leds around the ethernet connector show any signs?
Is there a dhcp server in the LAN?
How long have you waited for it to start?

It's a fast flash. The LEDS come on initially then turn off. Yes there is a DHCP server on the network. Waited plenty

what sd card maker?

what size sd card?

this one works for me

https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Class-Micro-Adapter-MB-MC32DA/dp/B00WR4IJBE/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?

[jstefanop]

I just got my Apollo with pre-burned image flash card installed. Plugged both PCIE power connectors in and LAN cable..

Just getting flashing yellow light on the front and don't see a new device on the LAN.

Any ideas for trouble shooting?

Thanks

Is the front yellow flashing slowly or fast?
Do the leds around the ethernet connector show any signs?
Is there a dhcp server in the LAN?
How long have you waited for it to start?

It's a fast flash. The LEDS come on initially then turn off. Yes there is a DHCP server on the network. Waited plenty

Thats a network issue, either your local LAN is not providing an IP address or it cant connect to the pre-configured pool.

Have you tried logging into your router and checking whether you see a new IP/Device show up there?

[hnelson01]

Hello, I changed the fan, which was noisy. I put it there:
https://store.supermicro.com/92mm-fan-0114l4.html
It works well, only mine minerals hold 70.5 c and not 66 as the original fan.
Is it possible to set the fan speed to increase in automatic mode from about 66 c?
(google translator)

try setting fan speed manually to 30
btw  that is a good fan maker.  I may buy the fan thanks.

I set the stock fan to 20% fixed speed = 2760 rpm
I run balanced
I get
69.19 c = miner
52.63 c = mcu

Phil,   I noticed in your post on Feb. 7 that with the same settings your miner temp was 63 deg c.  Assuming the diff is due to room temp.  May be helpful to know the room temp when setting a fixed speed.

[highaltitude]

Got my Apollo today, however I keep getting connection issues. Not sure what to check. It was up and working for a minute or two in the beginning now I can't seem to get the connection to work. I can get to the IP address but it keeps saying that the miner isn't connecting.

Error: connect ECONNREFUSED 127.0.0.1:4028