GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod

[jamieb81]

I am so happy to get rid of the controllers.  I had digital timers turning the power off every 2 hours for 1 minute to reset all the miners.  CGminer has been flawless so far.  Time to start soldering.

so what are you running all these on? just connected to powered usb hubs and then on a pi? or a pc?

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[jamieb81]

I am so happy to get rid of the controllers.  I had digital timers turning the power off every 2 hours for 1 minute to reset all the miners.  CGminer has been flawless so far.  Time to start soldering.

so what are you running all these on? just connected to powered usb hubs and then on a pi? or a pc?

I have had 0 issues running them off my Debian 7 Server and Cgminer.

Only one GS for now, but I have a hub waiting for when my next set comes in(will only have 4 total).

I have a very low watt (15) asus laptop with win8, I also plan to use 4 or 5 miners.

So one good powered hub hooked up to the pc with the GS's on there will be fine I guess?

( my questions may sound stupid to the "pro's" but yes I'm a total novice in this )

[wolfey2014]

How ever, you may want to try this first as there may end up being no need for any hardware mods.

*****************************
HASHRA TO THE RESCUE!
I have been authorized by HASHRA to announce....

New firmware for our controllers.

Firmware for some "controller" is not going to negate raising the core voltage with a hardware mod to obtain faster stable clock speeds.

Well, that's a given, isn't it.....

No one has proven yet, fully stable operation via such hardware mods. They are tinkering with possible disaster. No telling how much such over-volting and additional current is going to be tolerated by the uP's nor for how long before they take a powder...

The firmware upgrade has been tested and proven over a long period of time by experts who would know a lot more about 'their' hashers than any of us do!

But, you go ahead. Have at it. I'm going to wait and see what happens to the bold pioneering experimenters rigs over a period of time longer than hours or days before I make any such hardware mods.

But, You go right ahead!

Wolfey2014

[wolfey2014]

How ever, you may want to try this first as there may end up being no need for any hardware mods.

*****************************
HASHRA TO THE RESCUE!
I have been authorized by HASHRA to announce....

New firmware for our controllers.

Firmware for some "controller" is not going to negate raising the core voltage with a hardware mod to obtain faster stable clock speeds.

Nor will it help those of us that dont use controllers. I dont even know what the hell the two controllers I have are supposed to be. Web interface is full of chinese and they make zero sense to me. 

Obviously, the firmware won't help you or anyone else who doesn't own (like me) or want to use their controllers, for what ever reason.
It is however, an option for those who do.

If you want to risk the possibility of causing pre-mature failure, or worse of your miner's uP's, go ahead. No one is stopping you.
For me, I'm leaving the results to be had by those who are doing the actual experimentation right now. They're taking all the risks which is fine with me.
If I see that the hardware mods work stably over time, say a few weeks to a few months, I will then venture into doing the same over-volt mods.

It's up to each and ever individual to decide what they want to do with their miner's. No one is trying to 'tell' anyone what to do either way.

Chill! Have fun!

Peace
Wolfey2014

[sang]

Want to offer this if anyone is interested.

I have moded 8 units so far and they have been flawless. Running between 404 to 420khash depending on chip quality.

If anyone is looking for someone to mod their gridseeds for them, I could do it. PM me with how many units you need done and I'll send an estimate back. Not looking to make much - just to cover my time and risk. Also please make sure you have the gold unit with an ST32 USB controller. If I make a horrible mistake and brick your Gridseed, I will replace with one from my own farm.

[wolfey2014]

I am so happy to get rid of the controllers.  I had digital timers turning the power off every 2 hours for 1 minute to reset all the miners.  CGminer has been flawless so far.  Time to start soldering.

I'm starting to like CGminer more and more
I'm holding off on the over-volt / over-current mods for a while yet to see what happens to the ones who do.
Getting positive results on the profit end is a good thing but, is it temporary or is it permanent? Will the uP's take it indefinitely or will they fail prematurely at some point? Only time will tell.
Wolfey2014

[amix]

I am so happy to get rid of the controllers.  I had digital timers turning the power off every 2 hours for 1 minute to reset all the miners.  CGminer has been flawless so far.  Time to start soldering.

I'm starting to like CGminer more and more
I'm holding off on the over-volt / over-current mods for a while yet to see what happens to the ones who do.
Getting positive results on the profit end is a good thing but, is it temporary or is it permanent? Will the uP's take it indefinitely or will they fail prematurely at some point? Only time will tell.
Wolfey2014

If they're anything like video cards and cpu's, they'll be fine as long as you have the proper cooling and don't go too crazy with the voltage.  It really comes down to the devs and how much headroom they left us.

found thius in the geedseed specs for the gc3355 chip

Power and Ground

6.3 Operation Condition
PARAMETER MIN TYP MAX UNIT
Core Supply Power 0.7 1.0 1.2 V
PLL Supply Power 0.9 1.0 1.1 V
IO Supply Power 2.5 3.3 3.6 V
Operating Temperature -20 25 85 ℃
DVDD Operation Current 5000 mA
Power Consumption 5000 mW

and also this

6 ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
6.1 Crystal and Oscillator
PARAMETER MIN TYP MAX UNIT
Clock Period 40 ns
Clock Frequency 25 50 MHz
Clock Duty Cycle 45 50 55 %
Clock Jitter 50 ps

so the clock speed/cystal has 50% haed room and there is about 10-20 % headroom on the voltages. yet to find the actually spec for some of the other chips though.

[wolfey2014]

I am so happy to get rid of the controllers.  I had digital timers turning the power off every 2 hours for 1 minute to reset all the miners.  CGminer has been flawless so far.  Time to start soldering.

I'm starting to like CGminer more and more
I'm holding off on the over-volt / over-current mods for a while yet to see what happens to the ones who do.
Getting positive results on the profit end is a good thing but, is it temporary or is it permanent? Will the uP's take it indefinitely or will they fail prematurely at some point? Only time will tell.
Wolfey2014

If they're anything like video cards and cpu's, they'll be fine as long as you have the proper cooling and don't go too crazy with the voltage.  It really comes down to the devs and how much headroom they left us.

found thius in the geedseed specs for the gc3355 chip

Power and Ground

6.3 Operation Condition
PARAMETER MIN TYP MAX UNIT
Core Supply Power 0.7 1.0 1.2 V
PLL Supply Power 0.9 1.0 1.1 V
IO Supply Power 2.5 3.3 3.6 V
Operating Temperature -20 25 85 ℃
DVDD Operation Current 5000 mA
Power Consumption 5000 mW

and also this

6 ELECTRICAL CHARACTERISTICS
6.1 Crystal and Oscillator
PARAMETER MIN TYP MAX UNIT
Clock Period 40 ns
Clock Frequency 25 50 MHz
Clock Duty Cycle 45 50 55 %
Clock Jitter 50 ps

so the clock speed/cystal has 50% haed room and there is about 10-20 % headroom on the voltages. yet to find the actually spec for some of the other chips though.

Cool. Thanks for looking that up.
So, what is the core voltage being pushed up to at this point given the current mods?
How will these mods effect running in SHA should one wish to go back to mining them at some point and, it is still possible that people will end up doing just that. The potential I SHA coin game for we small fries is not dead yet. Not by a long shot.
I presume none of the other specs have been altered at this point?

Wolfey2014

[smracer]

Ok i modded 10 of my gridseeds.  They seem to be working fine.  3 of them were getting HW errors and I checked the solder and from another angle the solder wasn't touching all the way, so I fixed them and they work fine now.

How do I set just 10 of them at voltage 1?  Can I do a conf file with the serial numbers of just those 10 and change the voltage?

EDIT:  I figured it out.  You just set the gridseed-voltage in the conf file with the serial numbers of the units to run voltage 1.

Is there any way to scroll on a terminal window so I can have the font larger and see all the miners?

[smracer]

Also I have found that the big resistors or capacitors or whatever they are that are close to the chips do not allow the heatsink to touch the chip next to them.  So I added .016 of copper so that the heatsink is flush.  I don't think it really matters just running scrypt but I did it for fun.

[chanberg]

Also I have found that the big resistors or capacitors or whatever they are that are close to the chips do not allow the heatsink to touch the chip next to them.  So I added .016 of copper so that the heatsink is flush.  I don't think it really matters just running scrypt but I did it for fun.

thermal pads....

how is your poolside hashrate #'s average comparing to your cgminer hashrate?

I feel like all those units connected to one instance of cgminer is bogging you down in speed

Danny

[Xer0]

Actually, if you drop a 12V fan to 5V, the current draw will increase accordingly

do you have a source for that?
from what i read, the current stays the same, yielding less watts and so rpm

[gamefixer]

I'm chillin and seeing what others do in the long run with these volt mods. The only thing I'm doing is disconnecting the fans but I'm running in scrypt only so they are running just fine.

I'm with ya Wolfey.

[wolfey2014]

I am giving out 0.6BTC to the first to get his Gridseed miner stable at 1100 MHz (<10 HW error in 24h) and post the steps to mod the miner. So far I have managed to get it stable at 1013 MHz, but I feel we can push it further.
I have found the only way to push these further is by replacing the 36k resistor with a higher one and playing with PLL voltage, you need to lower the resistance of R211 or R212 by tracing it with a pencil. Measure the voltage across both resistors and it should be around 1.1v total. If you want to increase PLL voltage, trace R212, to decrease it, trace R211 (go back and forth atleast 10-20 times or you will not notice a change). Simply use an eraser to revert the mod. Personally 1.05v seems sweet spot.



Disclaimer: as always, I am not responsible for damage to your miner, do this at your own risk!

What is the test point on the card for checking/monitoring the voltage?

Thanks
Wolfey2014

[Yottabyte]

I'm new to soldering, does the type of soldering/flux matter? Heat? Any other variables that I should know about before attempting this? I picked up a soldering gun today but haven't talked myself into opening the package yet... Weller SP40NK. Comes with a tiny coil of lead-free solder... Any advice appreciated...
 
And to those who would advise me be not to this... I appreciate your advice, but probably wont take it 

[jamieb81]

I'm new to soldering, does the type of soldering/flux matter? Heat? Any other variables that I should know about before attempting this? I picked up a soldering gun today but haven't talked myself into opening the package yet... Weller SP40NK. Comes with a tiny coil of lead-free solder... Any advice appreciated...
 
And to those who would advise me be not to this... I appreciate your advice, but probably wont take it 

 did ask this similar question, hope you will get more answers than I did

[gamefixer]

A soldering gun probably wont work here. Your going to need a pretty fine pencil tip and a steady hand.

[wolfey2014]

I'm chillin and seeing what others do in the long run with these volt mods. The only thing I'm doing is disconnecting the fans but I'm running in scrypt only so they are running just fine.

I'm with ya Wolfey.

Cool

[sandor111]

I am giving out 0.6BTC to the first to get his Gridseed miner stable at 1100 MHz (<10 HW error in 24h) and post the steps to mod the miner. So far I have managed to get it stable at 1013 MHz, but I feel we can push it further.
I have found the only way to push these further is by replacing the 36k resistor with a higher one and playing with PLL voltage, you need to lower the resistance of R211 or R212 by tracing it with a pencil. Measure the voltage across both resistors and it should be around 1.1v total. If you want to increase PLL voltage, trace R212, to decrease it, trace R211 (go back and forth atleast 10-20 times or you will not notice a change). Simply use an eraser to revert the mod. Personally 1.05v seems sweet spot.



Disclaimer: as always, I am not responsible for damage to your miner, do this at your own risk!

What is the test point on the card for checking/monitoring the voltage?

Thanks
Wolfey2014

Core voltage can be measured across the 36k, assuming it's voltmodded (by default it would be the 33k)
PLL voltage can be measured across R211 and R212.

[wolfey2014]

Also I have found that the big resistors or capacitors or whatever they are that are close to the chips do not allow the heatsink to touch the chip next to them.  So I added .016 of copper so that the heatsink is flush.  I don't think it really matters just running scrypt but I did it for fun.

I'd think twice about doing that. I don't think you need that .016 spacer.
I found all of my GS units had lose or improperly torqued screws and when re-tightened properly, the heat sink sandwiches the chips very snugly and evenly. The two surface mount components you speak of are not a problem even though they stick up a 1/10000 more than the uP chips do.

Wolfey2014