What sucks to work on?

[Steamtyme]

So I've been opening up one of my M10's lately, and it was the PSU swap that got me reminiscing. I haven't had 100's of machines pass through my hands or anything but have had to repair or attempt to at least 1 of each model I've owned. So I thought it would be fun to hear from miners past and present about their own expletive laden moments while repairing some hardware. Feel free to throw in some of the software side of things that were equally infuriating.

#1 - This by far still stands out in my mind every time I struggle. It was the T9+ and removing the ribbon cables from the hashboards. I remember 1 was bad enough but I had to remove a second just to be able to swap them around for troubleshooting. Lucky me got to remove the 3rd one as well because it turned out to be the troubled board. Finger tips were numb after the first.

I mention the PSU up top because I was reminded of it while disconnecting the M10 exhaust fan for the PSU swap. Swore a few times and looked for this invisible clip that had to be there because there was obviously something holding this in place with the force of a god.

I'll give an honorable mention to the Avalon 5 pin cables. Every now and then I get one that just seems to stick and grab hold. Then I was always worried I would yank something loose, hasn't happened so far, but every time I take down the 741's there's that moment.

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[philipma1957]

Avalon 5 pin to 721 or 841 or 851  or 921  all sucked.

m10 removing various parts sucked.

Avalon  821 or 841 easy to crack fan shroud when removing for cleaning

[mikeywith]

Changing the jumper on S9 to flash it via SD card is a pain in the ass, you have to take out all hash boards in order to see those jumpers, this is one of the  main reasons I am sticking to Bitmain firmware as appose of using another one such as Braiins OS.

I also hate unplugging those 6pins from the hash boards, when I do this on 10-20 gears my fingers start to hurt , I would say everything about mining is tiring but worth it.

[taserz]

Changing the jumper on S9 to flash it via SD card is a pain in the ass, you have to take out all hash boards in order to see those jumpers, this is one of the  main reasons I am sticking to Bitmain firmware as appose of using another one such as Braiins OS.

I also hate unplugging those 6pins from the hash boards, when I do this on 10-20 gears my fingers start to hurt , I would say everything about mining is tiring but worth it.

Should be able to command line it no?

[mgoz]

Avalon  821 or 841 easy to crack fan shroud when removing for cleaning

I had a couple with the plastic standoffs that seemed broken from the factory and they used different screws. Photos on their site showed them putting them together with impact drivers.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I had a couple with the plastic standoffs that seemed broken from the factory and they used different screws. Photos on their site showed them putting them together with impact drivers.

Not impact drivers. Technically, those are known as torque-controlled screwdrivers which allow for setting the max torque applied to screws. They *should* be electronically limiting the torque vs having the mechanical stick-slip clutch that an impact driver uses. Of course that also means that they have to be properly set and periodically checked for correct values...

As for the BM data cables, what works very well is a set of parallel pliers such as https://www.amazon.com/EURO-TOOL-Parallel-Pliers-PLR-866-00/dp/B009436GDO which will evenly squeeze the wide locking tab so ya can remove the cable.

[Steamtyme]

Avalon  821 or 841 easy to crack fan shroud when removing for cleaning

I might be fuzzy here, but I remember most of them being good, but I hated the little screws they used pretty sure it was the 741 I'm thinking as I had to replace the cracked shroud. Much prefer the ones using longer fasteners bolting to the frame, like the M10 and I believe most Bitmain fans.

I also hate unplugging those 6pins from the hash boards, when I do this on 10-20 gears my fingers start to hurt , I would say everything about mining is tiring but worth it.

I have to agree with this part; maybe not everything. I have so many mini moments in setting something up or planning it out to have had one minor oversight. I've probably done every stupid thing possible at one point or another, generally taking longer than I should to catch my mistake. 

As for the BM data cables, what works very well is a set of parallel pliers such as https://www.amazon.com/EURO-TOOL-Parallel-Pliers-PLR-866-00/dp/B009436GDO which will evenly squeeze the wide locking tab so ya can remove the cable.

Now if only I had been smart enough to ask back then lol. I did sort of Red Green it and used a pair of pliers or other similar tool not intended for this... carefully. I kind of want to expand on this a little, I know for me I had no previous experience with anything. Changing BB boards on the S5 were nerve racking lol funniest thing was trying to salvage a board off a dead one I bent a lot of Pins - Attempt #1. Never really got over that and am always a little more than nervous when little pins are involved. Anyone care to share their biggest F^*k up , or the general nerves of your first time. 

[Artemis3]

Changing the jumper on S9 to flash it via SD card is a pain in the ass, you have to take out all hash boards in order to see those jumpers, this is one of the  main reasons I am sticking to Bitmain firmware as appose of using another one such as Braiins OS.

I also hate unplugging those 6pins from the hash boards, when I do this on 10-20 gears my fingers start to hurt , I would say everything about mining is tiring but worth it.

Should be able to command line it no?

Yes, you can install it directly without moving the jp4 jumper, which is only needed for booting from the sd card which you don't have to do unless you installed a Bitmain firmware from 2019...

Actually, you can install it using the web ui as well.


I didn't find the T9+ particularly difficult to disassemble. All S9 era models are easy. I have yet to try with the newer models, the MicroBTs and Ebangs. The Avalon 7 is easy too, but that fan plastic thingie is easy to break. Never touched other models.