Antminer S9 March 4th, 2019 firmware experience?

[ccgllc]

Here is the same machine without LPM and LPEM enabled.



Short form:  It behaves fine.

Tried just enabling LPM mode, and the unit works fine.

Been watching it since it rebooted with both LPM and LPEM enabled.  Hashrate started out at a respectable 9TH, but within 15 minutes was down to 5TH and dropping.

[Artemis3]

Here is the same machine without LPM and LPEM enabled.

https://puu.sh/DdNkw/952e6a0432.png

Short form:  It behaves fine.

Tried just enabling LPM mode, and the unit works fine.

Been watching it since it rebooted with both LPM and LPEM enabled.  Hashrate started out at a respectable 9TH, but within 15 minutes was down to 5TH and dropping.

Well then i suggest you leave ELPM disabled with LPM enabled and keep them that way. I'm not very sure if this is pool or controller related, you could try different pools but its probably not worth it.

[ccgllc]

Its not pool related - I have over 70 other 13.5TH and 14TH S9s mining against the same pool without issue.

[PassThePopcorn]

Are the controllers different models? If it doesn't like LPEM there might be a setting in enhanced mode that controller / sub model doesn't like.

[Artemis3]

I'm sorry i didn't catch this earlier. DO NOT upgrade to Bitmain's firmware from 2019, it removes SSH access!!!

[ccgllc]

I'm sorry i didn't catch this earlier. DO NOT upgrade to Bitmain's firmware from 2019, it removes SSH access!!!

Ah... Yeah...  Going through the rather time consuming process of resetting via SD-Card now.  At least it gives me an excuse to clean each machine.


Have all the troubled 13TH Antminers working again.  Key was to boost the voltage up a bit per card.  Didn't have to do that with the 13.5s or 14s, but it was a regular event on the 13s.

Oh, for what its worth:  while I had my workbench setup for recovery, I grabbed a stack of "broken" S9 controllers.  Wanted to see if they would respond to being reset via the sdhc card.  Of (6) tried, all reset without problem.  I now have (2) of them running 14TH S9 that burned up their controllers during a snow storm last November.  (2) of the others had real problems:  one wouldn't bring up the ethernet adapter, the other would not recognize a fan as existing (fan we running, but I'm guessing it couldn't sense the speed.  Fan is working fine with another controller.)  But still, managed to at least rescue 2, and the other two are maybes.

[Artemis3]

This is good to hear, and i have read people "rescuing" boards with failed sensors that otherwise work fine, by using BraiinsOS which has an option to ignore sensors or even fans. Normally you would need to spend more money by getting replacement boards (or repair them), but now you have this choice, as long as you keep away from 2019 firmware that would lock you out from your own miner.

[mikeywith]

Here is an update regarding the S9 March 2019 firmware.

as far as the firmware goes, all of my gears have been running smoothly without an issue, temps are fine, hashrate reported by the pool is good, nothing really to complain about.

but as far as the downgrading of the firmware, i have tried every possible solution at my disposal with no luck, not that i  "need" to flash another firmware, but i don't like that fact that i have to be stuck with this firmware. it is really annoying.

I have contacted Bitmain, they were pretty straight forward and said there is nothing they would about it, in other orders they said "you have to live with it".

[ccgllc]

Here is an update regarding the S9 March 2019 firmware.

as far as the firmware goes, all of my gears have been running smoothly without an issue, temps are fine, hashrate reported by the pool is good, nothing really to complain about.

but as far as the downgrading of the firmware, i have tried every possible solution at my disposal with no luck, not that i  "need" to flash another firmware, but i don't like that fact that i have to be stuck with this firmware. it is really annoying.

I have contacted Bitmain, they were pretty straight forward and said there is nothing they would about it, in other orders they said "you have to live with it".

Which is not true.  You can downgrade via the sdhc card as outlined at the Bitmain site.  We have down well over 20 downgrades without a hitch, more almost every day.

https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019493654-S9-series-S9-S9i-S9j-S9-Hydro-Control-Board-Program-Recovery

[mikeywith]

well, they obviously have not offered me that as an "option" , i am aware of this this method, but noway on earth i will waste all that time to flash every s9 , not when the current firmware is running just fine, also given the fact that i have recently disassembled all my gears and cleaned them   (in the preparation of summer where temps can go above 40 degrees celsius / 104f ) so  i am not going to have to deal with them again now, maybe till winter.

i am also still trying to figure out another method that could be applied on a software level instead, here is the first attempt by  @thierry4wd >https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5131840.0 , no success so far, but let's hope one of us work something out.

[Artemis3]

well, they obviously have not offered me that as an "option" , i am aware of this this method, but noway on earth i will waste all that time to flash every s9 , not when the current firmware is running just fine, also given the fact that i have recently disassembled all my gears and cleaned them   (in the preparation of summer where temps can go above 40 degrees celsius / 104f ) so  i am not going to have to deal with them again now, maybe till winter.

i am also still trying to figure out another method that could be applied on a software level instead, here is the first attempt by  @thierry4wd >https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5131840.0 , no success so far, but let's hope one of us work something out.

At some point you should be seriously scheduling this. I got an independent report from a miner that reached 78t/w on S9s using BraiinsOS. You have a serious profit incentive to do so... And the longer you take, the more you lose.

It is smart not to jump when anything "new" comes, especially if you are committed to so many units. You should have waited patiently for reports from others. When i first heard that S15s did this, i got the feeling they might be tempted to "port back" the same garbage to their older units, and indeed they have...

So with 100 S9s how much do you think 78t/w would consume? Why, 1.3PH @ 1014KW of course. I bet you currently are using around 1170KW, does saving 156KW sound good enough for you?

Besides if you go BraiinsOS you can downclock and aim to 10T per unit at 800ish W and much lower temperatures, not as nice as 78t/w but a decent 80t/w. How much are you consuming with this 2019 firmware right now?

Ok, you can always wait if someone can break it via software alone, or perhaps give them financial incentive to do so (post a bounty in services?)

[mikeywith]

@Artemis3

Non of the above factors matters to me as i have totally free power for all my gears, the reason why i never went with BraiinsOS in the first place was the extra time needed to flash all the gears, i also don't know much exactly each s9s consumes with this 2019 firmware, but by looking at the voltage regulators that are installed for some of them its something between 1250w and 1300w more or less.

So technically i have no problem with the 2019 firmware (yet), but as far as the "bounty" goes i would be willing to make a good donation to the first person who break this firmware, tho i am not a big fan when it comes to bounties in such cases, as most of us here provide all kind of information and tools for free, but still if you or anyone else for that matter wants a bounty for it - i will be the first to reward them.

[philipma1957]

Well s-9's are dirt cheap.

if you do 100 at 13.5 th and use  1250 watts  to be a total of 125000 watts or 125 kwatts  getting 1350 th

on the software you have  it may seem good to you.

but

150 s9's   at  10 th  using 810 watts =

1500 th  using 121500 watts

so you have an extra 150 th  which is 0.176 btc  a month  or 916 usd a month

of course you are running 50 more pieces of gear  which may have been  150 each with psu or 7500 / 916 or 8.18 month to pay.

but  you so have  3500 less watts used and that is 1 m20 so you can argue what is best.  it is pretty close.

I am not sure I want to run 150 s9's vs 100 s9's to earn 916 extra.

[ccgllc]

At some point you should be seriously scheduling this. I got an independent report from a miner that reached 78t/w on S9s using BraiinsOS. You have a serious profit incentive to do so... And the longer you take, the more you lose.

I've come close to that number three times using the firmware-that-shall-not-be-named (or my post will get deleted, which it likely will anyhow):

550MHz at 8.0V yielded 11,486GH/sec using 905 Watts at the wall for 78.8 J/TH
475MHz at 8.2V yielded 10,300GH/sec using 800 Watts at the wall for 77.7 J/Th
475Mhz at 8.1V yielded 10,100GH/sec using 775 Watts at the wall for 76.7 J/Th - I was shooting for 75J/TH but never made it.

Note that only a few of my S9s can pull 550Mhz at 8.0Vs off, most have at least one hash card that simply needs more voltage.  550MHz at 8.2 volts is generally stable on most 14TH machines, with an rare but occasional card needing 8.3V to avoid auto-tuning significant numbers of chips to a lower frequency.  8.3V is pretty commonly needed on my 13.5TH machines, and 8.3-8.5V on my 13TH machines (later batches, not the original early batches).

[Artemis3]

@Artemis3

Non of the above factors matters to me as i have totally free power for all my gears, the reason why i never went with BraiinsOS in the first place was the extra time needed to flash all the gears, i also don't know much exactly each s9s consumes with this 2019 firmware, but by looking at the voltage regulators that are installed for some of them its something between 1250w and 1300w more or less.

So technically i have no problem with the 2019 firmware (yet), but as far as the "bounty" goes i would be willing to make a good donation to the first person who break this firmware, tho i am not a big fan when it comes to bounties in such cases, as most of us here provide all kind of information and tools for free, but still if you or anyone else for that matter wants a bounty for it - i will be the first to reward them.

Hmm too bad you didn't ask in the Braiins OS thread. It is possible to install it to all of them using a python script of theirs. AND you can go the other way, overclocking, if you don't care about spending more per hash. 16T or so is possible using the 1600w PSUs or a bit more with the 1800w ones.

I suggest you officially post the bounty offer (Service demand?) in the Services area to get things moving...

[mikeywith]

[...]

ya mathematically it does seem like a good "plan"- if i go with 810w instead of 1250w i will do a lot of room to fill in, but that means new wiring,racks etc, right now i have no near future plans for investing more in mining after that last batch of S9s i got.

also the next step would be moving to much more efficient gears, T15/S15 is what i am thinking, this all depends on how much will my S9s worth at that time as well as the price for those T15/S15.

AND you can go the other way, overclocking, if you don't care about spending more per hash. 16T or so is possible using the 1600w PSUs or a bit more with the 1800w ones.

Not a big fan of overclocking.

I suggest you officially post the bounty offer (Service demand?) in the Services area to get things moving..

does not seem like a bad plan, will do that , not that i really need it, but willing to share it with the community.

what would be a good title for the topic in the services section? something that can attract potential programmers who may be capable of breaking this firmware security.

[JohnDon87]

Which is not true.  You can downgrade via the sdhc card as outlined at the Bitmain site.  We have down well over 20 downgrades without a hitch, more almost every day.

https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019493654-S9-series-S9-S9i-S9j-S9-Hydro-Control-Board-Program-Recovery

Hey ccgllc, I just mistakenly installed the new 2019 firmware on my antminer S9. I am also pretty sure I blew out a hash board in doing so as well. I installed the T9+ toolkit and moved the 4 jumper to the right position. Miner still isn't booting off the SD card. I am only running 2 hashboards at enhanced lower power now. I am running 110V power from the wall on a 1850W PSU. How can I troubleshoot the hashboard and how did you boot the S9 miner from the SD card?

[ccgllc]

Hey ccgllc, I just mistakenly installed the new 2019 firmware on my antminer S9. I am also pretty sure I blew out a hash board in doing so as well. I installed the T9+ toolkit and moved the 4 jumper to the right position. Miner still isn't booting off the SD card. I am only running 2 hashboards at enhanced lower power now. I am running 110V power from the wall on a 1850W PSU. How can I troubleshoot the hashboard and how did you boot the S9 miner from the SD card?

It doesn't "boot" from the sdhc, it resets itself.  After a minute or so, both the red and green like should be blinking together.  Once that happens, power down, put the jumper back, reassemble, and it should boot back to the original factory firmware.

[JohnDon87]

It doesn't "boot" from the sdhc, it resets itself.  After a minute or so, both the red and green like should be blinking together.  Once that happens, power down, put the jumper back, reassemble, and it should boot back to the original factory firmware.

I got it. Although the instructions weren't thoroughly clear on the bitmain page where to switch the jumer. It took alittle working on it but I finally did it. Thank you!

[ccgllc]

I got it. Although the instructions weren't thoroughly clear on the bitmain page where to switch the jumer. It took alittle working on it but I finally did it. Thank you!

Too say the least.  Took me several back-and-forth e-mails with Bitmain tech support to figure it out.  But for others, its Jumper 4 - a 3 pin jumper.  Simply change it to cover the other two pins.  Then switch it back afterwards.

Note:  we have been using this as an excuse to clean our machines.  Once the hard cards are out, there is room to slide the control card out (if you disconnect the front fan).  You can boot the sdhc card without any any cards or fans connected.   We simply place a block of wood on top of the case, place the control card on that, plug into a space power supply, and clean the hash cards while the sdhc card is doing its thing.  Then reassemble.