[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive Bitmain AntMiner S2 Setup [HD]

[pepto]

My new S2 is generating only 800 GH/s. Are two "chains" dead? Should I open the box and check if the boards are properly connected?

Yes, you are missing two cards.  Open the device and carefully remove and reseat all ten boards.

Let us know how it looks.

I went ahead and opened the device. Two cards were completely loose and couple were not seated all the way. I made sure all the cards were seated properly. The work on heatsinks was quite rough and the heat sinks have sharp edges. I cut my finger and couple of drops of blood dropped on one of the boards. I wiped the blood off with a tissue and reassembled the device. The sacrifice of virgin blood seemed to work and now all 10 boards are hashing, and I am getting 1 TH/s.

Well done!  A little blood never hurt anything, to be sure.

If you're not bleeding you aren't working hard enough 

[audiotopix]

Hey all, Just an update on my situation, and im seeking some information. Bitmain is replacing my bad blade, and are even covering the shipping cost. Ive come to really appreciate this machine,Its not quite as nice as a terraminer in terms of "bells and whistles", but it runs cooler and quieter, is cheaper and seems easy to tinker with, (not to mention Bitmain doesn't care if you open your machine and tech it, where as Cointerra has a warranty seal). Anyway so here is my question, I used my coupon $400 off to buy another S2 today,, and have decided that id like 10 more, but want to pay the coupon price for all ten. I emailed Bitmain and they said : "Hi only $400 coupon for each unit can be offered.Please place order in our website directly.Thanks." So it kinda didn't really answer my question, I logged into my account and noticed that the coupon I used earlier today is still there, it still has a donate button, and it shows 1 total count, but then has a column next to it that says "Use Count 1" So i guess my question is am i able to use the same coupon more than once?

[dogie]

Hey all, Just an update on my situation, and im seeking some information. Bitmain is replacing my bad blade, and are even covering the shipping cost. Ive come to really appreciate this machine,Its not quite as nice as a terraminer in terms of "bells and whistles", but it runs cooler and quieter, is cheaper and seems easy to tinker with, (not to mention Bitmain doesn't care if you open your machine and tech it, where as Cointerra has a warranty seal). Anyway so here is my question, I used my coupon $400 off to buy another S2 today,, and have decided that id like 10 more, but want to pay the coupon price for all ten. I emailed Bitmain and they said : "Hi only $400 coupon for each unit can be offered.Please place order in our website directly.Thanks." So it kinda didn't really answer my question, I logged into my account and noticed that the coupon I used earlier today is still there, it still has a donate button, and it shows 1 total count, but then has a column next to it that says "Use Count 1" So i guess my question is am i able to use the same coupon more than once?

No. Its a one off voucher to say thanks for ordering an early batch and sorry for any issues you had. Its $400 straight out of their pocket.

[PatMan]

ok I burned the image to a new microsd and got the same result
then when I tried to upgrade (Reinstall) the latest firmware from their support site (I tried the tar and the .sd) - I got this error:

(initramfs.bin.SD-20140410.tar)

System Upgrade Failed

mount: mounting /dev/mmcblk0p1 on /tmp/847.boot failed: No such file or directory umount: can't umount /tmp/847.boot: Invalid argument

That looks like a permissions problem. Check that the image file/folder isn't set to read only - if it is, uncheck it & re-burn the image again.

[bi0h4z4rd]

I got today my first S2, and i had some issues, so i will share my experience here in case it helps someone.

So, i connected the miner, it started good, then i turned off the PSU on the back and it would not start again. It looked like i killed the PSU somehow.

Solution: Turned off the PSU, removed the jumper on the mainboard connector (P_ON), turned on the PSU on the back, then put back the jumper, and the PSU started again. Didn't have the issue again.

Second thing, i started the miner, and then the ASIC status was like sh*t, and i was just getting 500GH/sec. It looked like the miner was half-dead.

-Solution: Took out all the cards, cleaned the contacts with toilet paper (ouuu yeahhh), and plugged and unplugged them several times to clean the slots, and then put everything back together. 100% of the asics are OK, and S2 is mining at >1TH


So, just that, hope it is useful for someone!


BR

[Biodom]

Did anybody successfully tried to move boards around when you have one that periodically throws a bunch of (x)s, like 00X00XX000000?
I my case (x)s could be fixed by a reboot every ~24hr which is not a biggie, yet I would like to avoid the reboot.

I noticed that at least in my machine boards differ somewhat with some having more massive sinks than others. A couple have a bent/dent that goes around chipset on the bottom-or is it accidental?

One curios piece of info that might be of some use: my machine seems to be sensitive to how far away the outtake fans are from the wall.
A bit more than half a feet (or 15-20cm) from the wall-not good, thermal shutdowns every 12 hours or so, 1.5 ft (~half a meter)-no thermal shutdowns so far.

[Biodom]

I got today my first S2, and i had some issues, so i will share my experience here in case it helps someone.

So, i connected the miner, it started good, then i turned off the PSU on the back and it would not start again. It looked like i killed the PSU somehow.

Solution: Turned off the PSU, removed the jumper on the mainboard connector (P_ON), turned on the PSU on the back, then put back the jumper, and the PSU started again. Didn't have the issue again.

Second thing, i started the miner, and then the ASIC status was like sh*t, and i was just getting 500GH/sec. It looked like the miner was half-dead.

-Solution: Took out all the cards, cleaned the contacts with toilet paper (ouuu yeahhh), and plugged and unplugged them several times to clean the slots, and then put everything back together. 100% of the asics are OK, and S2 is mining at >1TH


So, just that, hope it is useful for someone!


BR

interesting re jumper, could help avoid the business with class 10 card images, micro sd replacement, etc.

[dogie]

Did anybody successfully tried to move boards around when you have one that periodically throws a bunch of (x)s, like 00X00XX000000?
I my case (x)s could be fixed by a reboot every ~24hr which is not a biggie, yet I would like to avoid the reboot.

I noticed that at least in my machine boards differ somewhat with some having more massive sinks than others. A couple have a bent/dent that goes around chipset on the bottom-or is it accidental?

One curios piece of info that might be of some use: my machine seems to be sensitive to how far away the outtake fans are from the wall.
A bit more than half a feet (or 15-20cm) from the wall-not good, thermal shutdowns every 12 hours or so, 1.5 ft (~half a meter)-no thermal shutdowns so far.

Makes sense, you're significantly reducing the airflow by being close to a wall for a design like this.

[Majixagi]

When setting mine up, it was less sensitive to the distance from the wall when it was facing the wall so it exhausts into the room. It's not like I look at the LCD anyway..

[DebitMe]

Perhaps someone can help.  I ordered a S2 and it just arrived today, I am in the U.S., but the power plug that came with the unit seems to be different than a standard U.S. plug.  It has 3 prongs, but they are all flat, has anyone else encountered this and can I just go and buy a proper cord from a store to replace it?

[buckrogers]

Perhaps someone can help.  I ordered a S2 and it just arrived today, I am in the U.S., but the power plug that came with the unit seems to be different than a standard U.S. plug.  It has 3 prongs, but they are all flat, has anyone else encountered this and can I just go and buy a proper cord from a store to replace it?

Make sure you buy a power cord that is at least 15 amp rated at 120
They are the thicker ones than the standard PC or monitor cables which are only 10 amp at 120 rated.

If you go with the standard 10 amp one it will probably overheat and cause problems if not worse.

Standard PSU cables are the 15 amp kind.

I hope this helps.

[TracerX]

So BM sent me a new card to replace the card that was half x's, but I'm still seeing my S2 hashrate slowly drop over the course of 12-24 hours.  Reboots and config changes show random, scattered x's across various boards, although they always show all o's after I reset the PSU.

Do I need to break down and upgrade the PSU to a 1200-1300 Watt output?  I'm open to all suggestions!

[Biodom]

Wierd problem with S2:

slot#1 does not hash (ever!-no green light blinking)

moving boards around did not help
using a brand new powerboard did not help
even connecting fans to a neighboring set of pins did not help (one set is free in my miner)
reconnecting beaglebone, ethernet cable did not help
making sure that all PCIE connectors are tight did not help

next step will try to reimage the microSD card, then (if it does not work)-connect new power supply (I doubt it will help), then update the firmware (which is already 4/10/14).

Any suggestions? this is a crazy problem to have, and it wasn't fixed by a new powerboard as I hoped.

[dogie]

You're not testing with one board alone are you? That slot throws up errors if all the ones above aren't populated. Its also the most sensitive to low power or power issues.

[Darthswan]

This is a phenomenal thread.  I've had some S1's for awhile and now I'm going to pick up an S2.  I have a question about PSU.  I have a couple of HX 750 laying around.  Could I just use 2 of the HX to power the S2?  Run 3 PCI-E to each one?  Thanks for the great thread. 

[dogie]

This is a phenomenal thread.  I've had some S1's for awhile and now I'm going to pick up an S2.  I have a question about PSU.  I have a couple of HX 750 laying around.  Could I just use 2 of the HX to power the S2?  Run 3 PCI-E to each one?  Thanks for the great thread. 

I'd advise against it. Even though the PCI-Es likely share the same power plane, there is a significant risk of cross loading or one being loaded more than the other. Stock PSU is fine until it dies, mine is still going after months and months.

[Biodom]

You're not testing with one board alone are you? That slot throws up errors if all the ones above aren't populated. Its also the most sensitive to low power or power issues.

I tested all possible combinations of boards. First slot shows ------------ on all asics, no 0 or X.

Edit: reloading bitmain.img did not help, but i learned how to make bootable drive  
You are probably right about power- don't know how to check it apart from using my spare EVGA1300.
My suspicion is that either my enermax or enermax cords are defective in my machine.
My understanding is that slot#1 is farthest from the enermax, not closest.

[Biodom]

You're not testing with one board alone are you? That slot throws up errors if all the ones above aren't populated. Its also the most sensitive to low power or power issues.

I tested all possible combinations of boards. First slot shows ------------ on all asics, no 0 or X.

Edit: reloading bitmain.img did not help, but i learned how to make bootable drive  
You are probably right about power- don't know how to check it apart from using my spare EVGA1300.
My suspicion is that either my enermax or enermax cords are defective in my machine.
My understanding is that slot#1 is fartherst from the enermax, not closest.

After I reimaged theflash drive with bitmain.img, I got a nasty message after trying to ssh into S2

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the RSA key sent by the remote host is
<letters and numbers>.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /Users/<my user name>/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending RSA key in /Users/<my user name>/.ssh/known_hosts:6
RSA host key for XXX.XX.X.XX has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

How this could be remedied apart from hopefully going back to the old SD card? Is this normal when reflashing the SD card with bitmain.img?
How one finds out a correct host (mine) key?
Thanks. Right now I cannot ssh into the machine because of this.

[dogie]

You're not testing with one board alone are you? That slot throws up errors if all the ones above aren't populated. Its also the most sensitive to low power or power issues.

I tested all possible combinations of boards. First slot shows ------------ on all asics, no 0 or X.

Edit: reloading bitmain.img did not help, but i learned how to make bootable drive 
You are probably right about power- don't know how to check it apart from using my spare EVGA1300.
My suspicion is that either my enermax or enermax cords are defective in my machine.
My understanding is that slot#1 is fartherst from the enermax, not closest.

After I reimaged theflash drive with bitmain.img, I got a nasty message after trying to ssh into S2

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@    WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED!     @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
Someone could be eavesdropping on you right now (man-in-the-middle attack)!
It is also possible that a host key has just been changed.
The fingerprint for the RSA key sent by the remote host is
<letters and numbers>.
Please contact your system administrator.
Add correct host key in /Users/<my user name>/.ssh/known_hosts to get rid of this message.
Offending RSA key in /Users/<my user name>/.ssh/known_hosts:6
RSA host key for XXX.XX.X.XX has changed and you have requested strict checking.
Host key verification failed.

How this could be remedied apart from hopefully going back to the old SD card? Is this normal when reflashing the SD card with bitmain.img?
How one finds out a correct host (mine) key?
Thanks. Right now I cannot ssh into the machine because of this.

I don't usually SSH in so can't help you there. The first part of the message is common but I've never seen it become a problem.

Your slot problem is hardware though, and doesn't sound like power. You'd get a few chips working/dead rather than all blank.

[rileyminer]

its easy to fix
just remove the known_hosts file (I do this all the time on my mac)

bring up terminal

cd .ssh
rm known*

(and try ssh connection again)