GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod

[david123]

0402? That's crazy 
I don't know if there exist jumpers or DIP switches of that size. Does someone have ideas
on how to do the mod in a nice and easily reversible way (easier then unsoldering)?

[Xer0]

Fan to +5V USB: works!

silent like the usb fans

[wolfey2014]

Fan to +5V USB: works!

silent like the usb fans

Yes, I said so in my earlier post last night and today.

And, as an update, it seems to be working stably. No glitching.

Wolfey2014

[wolfey2014]

0402? That's crazy 
I don't know if there exist jumpers or DIP switches of that size. Does someone have ideas
on how to do the mod in a nice and easily reversible way (easier then unsoldering)?

No way to do any of it without being able to handle soldering. Sorry.

You can hire me to do it for you, if you want to get it done professionally.

Wolfey2014

[david123]

Haha no of course I don't want to mod it without soldering
I'm asking for a mod which can be easily reversed without DEsoldering,
e.g. jumpers or dip-switches (which don't exist in that dimension I guess)

[Xer0]

running 6h now with 950Mhz

cgminer: 404kH
but Pool: 350kH

averages values, yes

[gamefixer]

Actually, the term you're looking for is 'over-volted' not overclocked,,, which they are in fact.
850MHz is 250MHz over the stock - default setting of 600MHz.
One of mine is now overvolted and further overclocked to 900MHz...running rock solid so far.
10 PM tonight will be its first successful 24 hour zero errors benchmark pass! Keep your fingers crossed folks!
Look ma! No fan! 

Wolfey2014

Guess you didnt want to wait anymore and decided to OV some grids huh wolfey?

Glad to see that its working out. Also glad I didnt do diddly to my grids as I've got 4-6 of them that keep crashing and going dead in bfgminer. Stupid things.

[wolfey2014]

Actually, the term you're looking for is 'over-volted' not overclocked,,, which they are in fact.
850MHz is 250MHz over the stock - default setting of 600MHz.
One of mine is now overvolted and further overclocked to 900MHz...running rock solid so far.
10 PM tonight will be its first successful 24 hour zero errors benchmark pass! Keep your fingers crossed folks!
Look ma! No fan! 

Wolfey2014

Guess you didnt want to wait anymore and decided to OV some grids huh wolfey?

Glad to see that its working out. Also glad I didnt do diddly to my grids as I've got 4-6 of them that keep crashing and going dead in bfgminer. Stupid things.

Yo GF!

I didn't want to wait, eh? I waited.
Yep, have 2 of them fully modded as of this afternoon. Decided to mod the 2nd one after I got back from a job and all my chores were done.
I've had rock steady performance with a way less resets/restarts over the last couple weeks since tweaking things up.
Still dealing with resets every 24 or so hours though but no where near as much as before and, certainly not as often as you evidently have to reset yours.
I have been using cpuminer Scrypt only version for weeks now. Works perfectly. Especially for those who have a few or up to 20 GS units.
Batch files can do all the tasks required including resetting and re-staring them.
It's probably not your GS5's causing the fuss. It could be port settings, it could be bfgminer. I read lots of complaints about it all the time. It's a tweaker's / debugger's dream program though, I guess .

I'm very pleased with the performance of the 2 miners I've modded so far.
Rock steady performance. Virtually ZERO HW errors. In fact, I haven't seen any in hours. Certainly no more than running them at 850 or even 600MHz.
That's a good thing!

Can I do anything to help you figure out whats going on and get your miners stably producing some income?

Fret not. Ayething go be aueight! 

Wolfey2014

[gamefixer]

Yo GF!

I didn't want to wait, eh? I waited.
Yep, have 2 of them fully modded as of this afternoon. Decided to mod the 2nd one after I got back from a job and all my chores were done.
I've had rock steady performance with a way less resets/restarts over the last couple weeks since tweaking things up.
Still dealing with resets every 24 or so hours though but no where near as much as before and, certainly not as often as you evidently have to reset yours.
I have been using cpuminer Scrypt only version for weeks now. Works perfectly. Especially for those who have a few or up to 20 GS units.
Batch files can do all the tasks required including resetting and re-staring them.
It's probably not your GS5's causing the fuss. It could be port settings, it could be bfgminer. I read lots of complaints about it all the time. It's a tweaker's / debugger's dream program though, I guess .

I'm very pleased with the performance of the 2 miners I've modded so far.
Rock steady performance. Virtually ZERO HW errors. In fact, I haven't seen any in hours. Certainly no more than running them at 850 or even 600MHz.
That's a good thing!

Can I do anything to help you figure out whats going on and get your miners stably producing some income?

Fret not. Ayething go be aueight! 

Wolfey2014

I've isolated the 4 that are giving me crap (well I know for sure where one is). I too have been using cpuminer since I got these things but I noticed that some of them were saying "yay" more and had higher accepts within cpuminers command box. Thats when I started using cgminer and bfgminer to see if I could nail down the bad grids. I thought that maybe putting 10 on three different computers was going to solve my problems but it didnt. Just logged into the host PC's and the 4 that I noted as acting up this afternoon were in fact claimed "dead" by bfg.

For what its worth zoomhash is going to replace them, I just have to ship the bad ones back to them.

What sized iron are you guys using to solder those bridges? Those are pretty small solder pads.

[wolfey2014]

Yo GF!

I didn't want to wait, eh? I waited.
Yep, have 2 of them fully modded as of this afternoon. Decided to mod the 2nd one after I got back from a job and all my chores were done.
I've had rock steady performance with a way less resets/restarts over the last couple weeks since tweaking things up.
Still dealing with resets every 24 or so hours though but no where near as much as before and, certainly not as often as you evidently have to reset yours.
I have been using cpuminer Scrypt only version for weeks now. Works perfectly. Especially for those who have a few or up to 20 GS units.
Batch files can do all the tasks required including resetting and re-staring them.
It's probably not your GS5's causing the fuss. It could be port settings, it could be bfgminer. I read lots of complaints about it all the time. It's a tweaker's / debugger's dream program though, I guess .

I'm very pleased with the performance of the 2 miners I've modded so far.
Rock steady performance. Virtually ZERO HW errors. In fact, I haven't seen any in hours. Certainly no more than running them at 850 or even 600MHz.
That's a good thing!

Can I do anything to help you figure out whats going on and get your miners stably producing some income?

Fret not. Ayething go be aueight! 

Wolfey2014

I've isolated the 4 that are giving me crap (well I know for sure where one is). I too have been using cpuminer since I got these things but I noticed that some of them were saying "yay" more and had higher accepts within cpuminers command box. Thats when I started using cgminer and bfgminer to see if I could nail down the bad grids. I thought that maybe putting 10 on three different computers was going to solve my problems but it didnt. Just logged into the host PC's and the 4 that I noted as acting up this afternoon were in fact claimed "dead" by bfg.

For what its worth zoomhash is going to replace them, I just have to ship the bad ones back to them.

What sized iron are you guys using to solder those bridges? Those are pretty small solder pads.

Okay. Sounds like you have things under control.
Bet knowing wtf was happening is a relief, eh?

The iron I use has two different type tips. Soldering the bridges and the resistor replacement are easy if you know what you're doing and have a steady hand. A pair of magnifying lenses helps too

I'm using my faithful WSL Weller soldering station.
It uses the Weller Pencil Micro Soldering WMP, for WSL station iron.

I don't know if you can find a decent 40W iron with a decently fine tip or not.

Hey, maybe you can help me set up cgminer or bfgminer for my pods.
I'm considering doing it just so I can see real time client side hash rates.
To bad they didn't build it into cpuminer. Sort of weird it's not standard.

Wolfey2014

[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

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.

Hello Sandor.
I made the modifications to 2 of my GS5 USB's.
Both jumpers done.
38k @ 5% resistor added in place of the original. I used a 1/8W linear type.
Pencil traced R112 to lower PLL voltage to 1.018 or so -virtually zero red nonce's.
I've never used the pencil trick before. Amazingly effective. Just hope its permanent.
1.05 seemed to high as it still got some red nonce's.
Both GS5's are rock steady for over 40 hours now. No problems at all.

They run sufficiently warm enough now that I put the fan back on them but am running them off the 5V USB with good results. Only pulling about 78mA. 140mA surge at start up but it lasts less than 2 seconds. They are whisper quiet and provide enough air volume to keep them nice and room temp cool. They were running at nearly 118*F fanless as expected after the mods.
I'm sure they can run hotter than that without problems but I also didn't want to just let the fans go to waste

I'm very pleased with their stable performance at 1000MHz!
Running it solo, I'm seeing nearly 600KH's out of it at the pool.
NICE!

So, what's next? How do we squeeze more performance out of them? Any ideas?
I'm game!

Peace!
Wolfey2014

[gamefixer]

I'm very pleased with their stable performance at 1000MHz!
Running it solo, I'm seeing nearly 600KH's out of it at the pool.
NICE!

So, what's next? How do we squeeze more performance out of them? Any ideas?
I'm game!

Peace!
Wolfey2014

Dayum! Your getting 600k out of ONE of them? Real nice!

[gamefixer]

Hey, maybe you can help me set up cgminer or bfgminer for my pods.
I'm considering doing it just so I can see real time client side hash rates.
To bad they didn't build it into cpuminer. Sort of weird it's not standard.

Wolfey2014

I'd be happy to help. Do you have dropbox? setup a shared folder for me and I'll dump bfg and cg in there.

FWIW, I'm finding bfgminer easier to use. With cgminer you have to start it with the grids UNPLUGGED, then plug them in and let it find them. You also have to change the driver from whatever's factory to WinUSB so if you want to go back to cpuminer you have to delete the thing and re-install it.

pm me for my email address if you want to setup dropbox.

You can also download the two programs but I'm too lazy to look up the links right now.

Oh wait.... I think you have to use cgminer with the volt modded grids. Theres a line in the config file (or bat file) that you have to change from voltage=0 to voltage=1 or something like that.

[david123]

They run sufficiently warm enough now that I put the fan back on them but am running them off the 5V USB with good results.

Can you explain where you took the 5V from? I mean, where did you attach the red cable on the PCB?

[gamefixer]

They run sufficiently warm enough now that I put the fan back on them but am running them off the 5V USB with good results.

Can you explain where you took the 5V from? I mean, where did you attach the red cable on the PCB?

One pin on the USB connector will be supplied +5VDC from either the hub or the computer that your grid is plugged into. Thats what he's talking about. Not sure which pin, probably pin 1 or pin 4.

[SVK]

Hi all,

thank you very much for sharing your modifications

I can't find 5% resistor so would 1% resistor be ok ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VISHAY-DRALORIC-CRCW120638K3FKEA-RESISTOR-1206-38K3-1-/181228512324?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a320fa444

Thank you very much

[wolfey2014]

I'm very pleased with their stable performance at 1000MHz!
Running it solo, I'm seeing nearly 600KH's out of it at the pool.
NICE!

So, what's next? How do we squeeze more performance out of them? Any ideas?
I'm game!

Peace!
Wolfey2014

Dayum! Your getting 600k out of ONE of them? Real nice!

Yep! Weird, eh? 
The pool is showing 657.04KH/s right now for this single
I doubt it will show that high of a hash rate while combined with the others.
Still, it's very interesting to see that kind of performance out of a single pod - post mods'.
Wolfey2014 

[wolfey2014]

Hi all,

thank you very much for sharing your modifications

I can't find 5% resistor so would 1% resistor be ok ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VISHAY-DRALORIC-CRCW120638K3FKEA-RESISTOR-1206-38K3-1-/181228512324?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a320fa444

Thank you very much

Yes, 1% will work fine.
Still, it's just as easy, if not easier to install a standard axial 1/8W resistor in there.
You can bend the wires into an L shape to then bridge solder them on to the two terminals side by side.
They are wired in parallel as there is supposed to be a capacitor next to each resistor per the schematic.
I verified this with my DVM by the way. So that gives you two solder points per connection to fudge the resistor in place.
Much easier than working with nearly microscopic size resistor chips IMO.
Plus you can buy them at Radio Shack. 1/4W will work fine too.
Just keep the resistor inside the edge of the pcb so the fins won't touch it when re-assembled.
Piece of cake!
Wolfey2014

Pea Ess, remember, mods' are done at your own risk!

[Jemison]

Hi all,

thank you very much for sharing your modifications

I can't find 5% resistor so would 1% resistor be ok ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VISHAY-DRALORIC-CRCW120638K3FKEA-RESISTOR-1206-38K3-1-/181228512324?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a320fa444

Thank you very much

Yes, 1% will work fine.
Still, it's just as easy, if not easier to install a standard axial 1/8W resistor in there.
You can bend the wires into an L shape to then bridge solder them on to the two terminals side by side.
They are wired in parallel as there is supposed to be a capacitor next to each resistor per the schematic.
I verified this with my DVM by the way. So that gives you two solder points per connection to fudge the resistor in place.
Much easier than working with nearly microscopic size resistor chips IMO.
Plus you can buy them at Radio Shack. 1/4W will work fine too.
Just keep the resistor inside the edge of the pcb so the fins won't touch it when re-assembled.
Piece of cake!
Wolfey2014

Pea Ess, remember, mods' are done at your own risk!

Hi Wolfey,

I'm interested in attempting this mod, but have no experience with soldering on boards. 
Can you post a pic of you mods and would you mind providing a near-idiot-proof guide with
the equipment and steps required to make the change. 

Obviously with the usual caveat of no guarantees, warranties, etc. 

Thanks!

[gamefixer]

Hi Wolfey,

I'm interested in attempting this mod, but have no experience with soldering on boards. 
Can you post a pic of you mods and would you mind providing a near-idiot-proof guide with
the equipment and steps required to make the change. 

Obviously with the usual caveat of no guarantees, warranties, etc. 

Thanks!

I'd like to see pics anyway.

FYI, the solder pads on this board are pretty small. Your usual suspect soldering iron isnt really going to cut it.