Official FutureBit Apollo LTC Image and Support thread

[sanangeloninja]

Hello everyone, So i just bought my 2nd Apollo and iv been having a hard time setting it up. I was finally able to get it connected to the network and got it to starting hashing, but after 5-8 mins it stops working and turns offs then i just notice that the fan is not working properly. So i do not know what the deal with it is do i need to send it back or what?

[devincrypt]

Set --api-allow option to allow access to Bfgminer API from your LAN

Set to ON - API Allow. Now how do we access?

[dsaerpe]

Oh cool

Set --api-allow option to allow access to Bfgminer API from your LAN

What does it do?

[whiteogre]

Oh cool

Set --api-allow option to allow access to Bfgminer API from your LAN

What does it do?

It can do many things: https://github.com/luke-jr/bfgminer/blob/bfgminer/README.RPC

[jstefanop]

Hello everyone, So i just bought my 2nd Apollo and iv been having a hard time setting it up. I was finally able to get it connected to the network and got it to starting hashing, but after 5-8 mins it stops working and turns offs then i just notice that the fan is not working properly. So i do not know what the deal with it is do i need to send it back or what?

Is the fan not spinning at all? Try manually setting Fan speed to 20% or higher in settings.

[jstefanop]

Set --api-allow option to allow access to Bfgminer API from your LAN

Set to ON - API Allow. Now how do we access?

This is used for third party software that can directly control the miner settings through the local network. For the Apollo this only applies for pool settings though.

[NCarter84]

This has been made to bring mining back to the home. I want to get one... But, the only thing holding me back is the power supply. I just can't see an ATX or Server psu hanging out the back over the side of coffee table. Or, somehow extending a vga power out of your rig. I don't to short a desktop psu either.

What else have you guys been doing to power your units?

[Bez]

This has been made to bring mining back to the home. I want to get one... But, the only thing holding me back is the power supply. I just can't see an ATX or Server psu hanging out the back over the side of coffee table. Or, somehow extending a vga power out of your rig. I don't to short a desktop psu either.

What else have you guys been doing to power your units?

The Dell DA-2 power supply was suggested a while back and this guide was posted.  I decided to try it out and my apollo has been running fine in eco mode.

[devincrypt]

I've seen a pic of the FutureBit PSU - nice and compact. I have two Apollos and the ugly clutter are the OEM PSUs and their bundle of unused cables. If the FutureBit dedicated PSUs are competitively priced (hint hint) I'll buy two right away - clearing the clutter and making room for more.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1110203454767669249

[sanangeloninja]

Well im still trying to troubleshoot my New Apollo, just reflashed a new SD card and started the setup im able to connect to the futurebit server. After 5 minutes or so the fan kicks in and and the connection fails and the my apollo turns off. I dont know but i think the Apollo its self is not working period because i can put any SD card in my other one and get it to work no problem. But this one doesnt want to connect or even work more then 5 minutes.

[jstefanop]

I've seen a pic of the FutureBit PSU - nice and compact. I have two Apollos and the ugly clutter are the OEM PSUs and their bundle of unused cables. If the FutureBit dedicated PSUs are competitively priced (hint hint) I'll buy two right away - clearing the clutter and making room for more.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1110203454767669249

Its going to be priced 50-60 USD FYI. I chose quality over low price for this since I wanted 94%+ efficiency at the wall in a small sub 200 watt PSU and that does not come cheap.

It will also be bundled with Batch 2 Apollos.

[jstefanop]

Well im still trying to troubleshoot my New Apollo, just reflashed a new SD card and started the setup im able to connect to the futurebit server. After 5 minutes or so the fan kicks in and and the connection fails and the my apollo turns off. I dont know but i think the Apollo its self is not working period because i can put any SD card in my other one and get it to work no problem. But this one doesnt want to connect or even work more then 5 minutes.

Does the fan not start up right away? Ive noticed some of these fans wont kick in at 5-10% (think I need to change default again on next update). Try setting fan manually at 20%+ and see if that solves the issue.

[sanangeloninja]

The fan works , but what I am finding annoying is that the Apollo starts to do the startup the orange lights turns on and connects to the server. Then the green and red turns on then with in minutes it will discounted from the server and the fan will kick in high gear and won't stop till I turn off my psu.  I've traded out 3 SD Cards with this Apollo and 1 SD just doesnt work. The other 2 are good and they work with it but still do the same thing as described above. I know it's not the PSU because it's the same kind of PSU I have for my other one. So still cant figure out whats going on with it.

[jstefanop]

The fan works , but what I am finding annoying is that the Apollo starts to do the startup the orange lights turns on and connects to the server. Then the green and red turns on then with in minutes it will discounted from the server and the fan will kick in high gear and won't stop till I turn off my psu.  I've traded out 3 SD Cards with this Apollo and 1 SD just doesnt work. The other 2 are good and they work with it but still do the same thing as described above. I know it's not the PSU because it's the same kind of PSU I have for my other one. So still cant figure out whats going on with it.

Ok first, are you running the latest firmware image? Second, set mode to eco and fan speed to manual to 20%. Let me know if it still does this.

[sanangeloninja]

Yes I am running v.2 but it still only staying up for 5 mins and then disconnects

[philipma1957]

running 2 units now

all good

[jstefanop]

Yes I am running v.2 but it still only staying up for 5 mins and then disconnects

Ok shoot me a PM or reply to your order email with issue...I think you already emailed though.

[sanangeloninja]

Yes I already have

[miningcoins]

With the case on and no heatsinks the Apollo stopped hashing at high temperatures (40 degrees C ambient).
A restart fixed the issue, but this happened to me a few times in ECO mode with the fan on auto.
I think the fan could not cool the Apollo enough at high temperatures as it is only rated to run up to 40 degrees C ambient.

Have you installed the latest firmware image? You were probably experiencing the MCU overheat issue, and the latest image fixes this issue. If you want to make sure your MCU does not overheat pull it out of its socket and put a heatsink on the ARM processor (the big black chip on the other side of the blue board).

Thats probably the best use of all those heatsinks

The main heatsink/fan for the ASICs is way overbuilt. They can both dissipate over 300 watts of heat at max fan airflow.

Thanks for the reply @jstefanop. Yes I had the old firmware running on the Apollo that was resetting.
I am now running the Apollos in balanced mode and they are still quite quiet.

I will replace the 14mm MCU heatsink with a larger 20mm heatsink as there is space on the board.

A few suggestions for future firmware updates:
- ASIC status or/and count showing how many ASICs are working.
- Display the clock frequency (I assume 384 is the default ECO mode frequency)
- A graph showing the hash rate against time
- A super ECO mode which further undervolts and underclocks the Apollos for folks with high electricity costs and in readiness for the Litecoin halving in August to squeeze the efficiency. Although I hope the price doubles to compensate.

[jstefanop]

- A super ECO mode which further undervolts and underclocks the Apollos for folks with high electricity costs and in readiness for the Litecoin halving in August to squeeze the efficiency. Although I hope the price doubles to compensate.

You can always experiment with this on your own. Just go to custom settings and start lowering frequency/voltage.

You can't "break" anything when undervolting/underclocking. The ASIC chips will just produce a lot of HW errors if you undervolt too far. Things only get dangerous when you start over-volting.

FYI Eco mode defaults are ~740mV voltage and 600MHZ clocks. So there is still plenty of headroom to go even more efficient. I think the best i have gotten is ~ .9 W/MH at around 80-90MH