Raspberry Pi 4 performance

[fillippone]

As you know new bitcoin version is out.
In the Release Notes: Bitcoin Core version 0.19.0.1, I can read:

Users setting custom dbcache values can increase their setting slightly without using any more real memory. Recent changes reduced the memory use by about 9% and made chainstate accounting more accurate (it was underestimating the use of memory before). For example, if you set a value of "450" before, you may now set a value of "500" to use about the same real amount of memory. (#16957)

This might be worth noting when running bitcoind on a Raspi4.

[1680025697]

1680025697

[Carlton Banks]

Users setting custom dbcache values can increase their setting slightly without using any more real memory. Recent changes reduced the memory use by about 9% and made chainstate accounting more accurate (it was underestimating the use of memory before). For example, if you set a value of "450" before, you may now set a value of "500" to use about the same real amount of memory. (#16957)

This might be worth noting when running bitcoind on a Raspi4.

yep

0.19 also adds 2 extra outbound connections to protect against a certain class of network-level attack. That means you're using slightly more memory than version 0.18 and before. So the 9% reduction in overall memory usage offsets that change nicely. Still a good idea to increase dbcache by at least 5% I would say, even if you're using the 1GB variant of RPi4 (and when you're syncing the chain, definitely use as much dbcache as you can temporarily)

[TheBeardedBaby]

I had some issues with the WIFI for a while with my RP4 and googled a bit for the problem. Surprisingly what I found is that HDMI is jamming it's own WIFI at 2560×1440 resolution, and I'm not the only one to have it, so this is something you should be aware of.

Here's the source and interesting read, short but interesting. > https://hackaday.com/2019/11/28/raspberry-pi-4-hdmi-is-jamming-its-own-wifi/
Anyone having issues with the WIFI?

[Mike Walters] on a Twitter post about this issue probed around with a HackRF and discovered a radio frequency issue. It turns out that at this screen resolution, the Pi 4 emits some RF noise which is exactly in the range of WiFi channel 1. It seems that the Pi 4 is acting as a WiFi jammer on itself.

[TheBeardedBaby]

Looks like RPi 4 have lots of issue with WiFi, but i had different problem where it won't connect to specific WiFi connection. Had to configure the router to 5 GHz with specific channel to it works.

Interesting, I use mine as a IPTV box now and I thought that the issues are  because of the heating problem but It turns out that is this jamming issue. After reading this artichel  I changed the resolution to 1080p it goes good. Try to see if this will help with your case as well it might be the same situation. I hope they find a solution.
 

[Carlton Banks]

Had to configure the router to 5 GHz with specific channel to it works.

5GHz Wifi has shorter useful range, I would consider just connecting the Pi4 over ethernet cable (and removing the Wifi driver module from the kernel build)

[Carlton Banks]

any reason you recommend removing wifi driver from kernel?

well, just that it sounds like an unusable piece of hardware (i.e. the WiFi chip when you're using HDMI displays of certain resolutions), so you may as well remove the driver module in case some other software on the Pi4 tries using the WiFi connection in future. In general, removing modules from the kernel you don't have a use for is a good idea, you can just compile it again should there be some module you later want to use

[philipma1957]

any reason you recommend removing wifi driver from kernel?

well, just that it sounds like an unusable piece of hardware (i.e. the WiFi chip when you're using HDMI displays of certain resolutions), so you may as well remove the driver module in case some other software on the Pi4 tries using the WiFi connection in future. In general, removing modules from the kernel you don't have a use for is a good idea, you can just compile it again should there be some module you later want to use

I am fairly anti rasp pi 🕵️‍♀️.

They are underpowered and can’t quite get the job done.

there are so many used lenovo tiny pcs available that simply are 10 to 100x better then a rasp pi.

I don’t understand why try to push a rasp pi past what it can do.

especially if it is wallet involved.  A lenovo m700 tiny

used on ebay under 150.

  it can use both a m2 ssd and a 2.5 ssd and have 16gb ram.  does wifi well.

[Carlton Banks]

They are underpowered and can’t quite get the job done.

there are so many used lenovo tiny pcs available that simply are 10 to 100x better then a rasp pi.

I don’t understand why try to push a rasp pi past what it can do.

they have (arguably) at least 2 things going for them that Intel/AMD does not:

• reasonably programmable firmware
• cheap

in the case of this Wifi/HDMI crosstalk issue on the Pi4, the latter point is actually a downside. RPi product development has always been driven by low price tags, and that's also always been reflected in the reliability/performance.

But overlooking the first point is also unwise, there's not much point in an independent bottom-up currency being run on hardware with potential corporate backdoors (basically a rootkit operating way below the level of the owner's root access, and that can be accessed over the internet, even when powered over ethernet while the main power supply is switched off ). If the whole Bitcoin network was running on such hardware, then Intel/AMD could in essence be in possession of a Bitcoin off-switch.

[philipma1957]

They are underpowered and can’t quite get the job done.

there are so many used lenovo tiny pcs available that simply are 10 to 100x better then a rasp pi.

I don’t understand why try to push a rasp pi past what it can do.

they have (arguably) at least 2 things going for them that Intel/AMD does not:

• reasonably programmable firmware
• cheap

in the case of this Wifi/HDMI crosstalk issue on the Pi4, the latter point is actually a downside. RPi product development has always been driven by low price tags, and that's also always been reflected in the reliability/performance.

But overlooking the first point is also unwise, there's not much point in an independent bottom-up currency being run on hardware with potential corporate backdoors (basically a rootkit operating way below the level of the owner's root access, and that can be accessed over the internet, even when powered over ethernet while the main power supply is switched off ). If the whole Bitcoin network was running on such hardware, then Intel/AMD could in essence be in possession of a Bitcoin off-switch.

I have owned each and every rasp pi other then the 4.

they all feel and act so underpowered compared to a lenovo m tiny or a mac min or a dell micro or an hp elite.

i run a lot of those four units from four companies.

but they all have intels in them.

even though i use linux win 7 win 10 and mac os.

I have yet to get a rasp pi to feel powerful enough to run like the intel models. but i guess having a third set of cpus running a core is not a bad idea.

maybe i will spring for a rasp pi. 4

[Carlton Banks]

yeah, Raspi's have always had underpowered CPUs. The RPi4 is a step forward, but really because of the 2/4GB RAM variants. CPU is better, but not alot. I think it has more crypto instructions in the ISA (Cortex A72 I think), but not SHA256 sadly. Supposedly SHA256 acceleration only improves Bitcoin tx validation performance on x86_64 by 5%, but maybe the improvement would be bigger on a future RPi, as it would be improving from a lower performance baseline.

[Transisto]

For those wondering how long it takes to sync,

Code:

2020-03-20T08:17:21Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000f813e7f23162e1a647cd07a4851f016170f30785259dc height=622126
...
2020-03-20T08:26:35Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000068db6dedd26ae638bf34a7498982483c77b117c4d7769 height=622262

549sec for 136 block

4 seconds per block

622262*4/60/60/24 = 28.8 days, assuming full block + segwit.

[DaveF]

For those wondering how long it takes to sync,

Code:

2020-03-20T08:17:21Z UpdateTip: new best=0000000000000000000f813e7f23162e1a647cd07a4851f016170f30785259dc height=622126
...
2020-03-20T08:26:35Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000068db6dedd26ae638bf34a7498982483c77b117c4d7769 height=622262

549sec for 136 block

4 seconds per block

622262*4/60/60/24 = 28.8 days, assuming full block + segwit.

That's vague information, can you tell us :
1. Which RPi4 do you use (1, 2 or 4 GB)
2. Do you know if there are any bottleneck (either from slow internet connection or slow storage)?

Yeah, that seems a bit slow. If you are on the high end of hardware.
RPi4 / 4GB / Samsung USB SSD / 300MB connection (before corona and everyone working from home killed my connection)  did if from scratch in under 10 days.
I keep feeling that towards the end of the sync when most block are full a spinning drive just kills performance vs. an SSD

-Dave