Laurentia Pool - BAD risk for miners

[Biffa]

Still waiting for you to remove the automated ban for the only proper (written from scratch open source) replacement cgminer ever had for the S9. That, or write your own kanominer we could easily drop in instead... But i guess its easier to stick to the bmminer tyranny which you love so much because you are too busy to audit someone else code since you don't trust the people who wrote it...

Has it found a block on the main BTC chain yet? I keep asking the dev's but they ignore me, I'd fucking love to run it, but its a big risk for me if I don't know that it will find a block or not.

Someone show me somewhere where its found a block, I'd like to see the miner status GUI showing a block found, the difficulty it found the block at and then the corresponding block info at the pool where it was found, preferably a reputable pool.

Be nice if there was more than one.

[philipma1957]

Well when I hit one with it I will let you know.
I have seen a screen shot of it hitting a block.

You would think there would be more as there is enough hash using it to hit a block.

[MoparMiningLLC]

I agree - there are great claims about how many are using these altered firmwares and to date I think I have seen only one screenshot of a firmware that found a block but it was also not open source code - a violation of the GPL --- so there is always something it seems.

[Biffa]

Well when I hit one with it I will let you know.
I have seen a screen shot of it hitting a block.

You would think there would be more as there is enough hash using it to hit a block.

Are you solo mining with it? I'd hate to think you were happy risking everyones potential earnings on a pplns pool with untested software.

I guess if you were mining on a PPS pool it'd be ok as its only the pool owner wallet you would be hurting.

[philipma1957]

my two braiins units point to solo.ckpool.

both are two board or about 8+8 = 16 th use around 1250 watts.

[Biffa]

Good to hear, I'd be very pleased to see some proof of a block hit with Braiins, as you said there should be loads of evidence given how many people are supposed to be running it. Although I doubt there are that many big farms running it because they just wouldn't have that many S9's.

[philipma1957]

@ biffa a lot is not known about aftermarket firmware

I did see a clear cut piece of evidence that shows at least one block hit with braiins. Plus braiins has some permission to run its firmware as i understand it.

While I have encourage aftermarket firmware development I have been particular about what I use for my 1.7 ph of gear.

I use all bitmain and a tiny bit of braiins.

While I would like to strike a deal about using t17 s17 and all the letters that go with that  I have not.

If and when I acquire working aftermarket gear for the above it will mine directly to a solo pool.

with the address published and no funds to be taken in and out of it if it indeed hits a block.

I only have access to one solo pool  that is solo.ckpool.

My hope would be to use 2 t17e miners with 1 pointed to solo.ckpool and one pointed to solo.kano.is pool.

If they hit a block I would give ⅓ to kano ⅓ to ck and ⅓ to me.

I really want the war to end { no sarcasm} so  I am working with thierry4wd.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1656984

I can't think of a better idea than this .

But if it were to  work and mine to the two solo pools that would be good.
if it were to hit a block that would be better.

risk to ck = zero
risk to kano = zero

risk to me I lose 115th of mining earnings for months to come.

benefits to ck ⅓ of a block possible.
benefits to kano ⅓ of a block possible
benefits to me ⅓ of a block possible oh  I look like someone trying to help everybody
benefits to thierry4wd proof his firmware works and can hit blocks

benefits to mining community working software/firmware that helps with bitmain 17 gear.

[kano]

No thanks, while I may have only 1/50th of the BTC ck has, I have no desire for people to donate me BTC.
I charge a low fee, I provide a much better service, and that's all I want.

If you find a block you keep it less the fee.
My pool fee for solo with be 0.5% - that's all I want, so no point saying you'll give me something I don't want.

The solo code on my pool will be only my own code modifications to KDB (and removal of some code from ckpool), which you cannot, in any reasonable and reliable way, run ckpool without KDB.

Yet another reason why Laurentia Pool is a BAD risk for miners.
If ckpool ever stops unexpectedly, the pool is 100% guaranteed to lose shares.
It only stores stats in a simple text file as at whatever time it writes them, no history, no reliable relation database, no shifts to specify clear cut data storage times, and no way to ever replay history, ckpool has no such code.
It has no 'reload' function, like KDB adds.

Also why I have no idea how he could come up with some excuse about a backup slowing down bitcoin.
ckpool only generates tiny text files, one for each miner.
(yeah that's what ckpool uses to store those 10 of thousands of dollars owed when a block is found, a directory full of text files)
What backup process of that tiny amount of data could cause a server to get behind?
Unless of course it was a cheap piece of crap and not monitored.
Straight forward negligence.

I also have no idea why people would use a server that always has been and always will be mismanaged by him.
... and he'll be doing that again with Laurentia Pool
Yet another reason why Laurentia Pool is a BAD risk for miners.

[mikeywith]

benefits to ck ⅓ of a block possible.
benefits to kano ⅓ of a block possible
benefits to me ⅓ of a block possible oh  I look like someone trying to help everybody
benefits to thierry4wd proof his firmware works and can hit blocks

thierry4wd (according to him) simply "hacks" or modifies the original firmware, not sure if a pool can differentiate between his firmware and the original one, and if that is the case, I see no benefits coming out of this test, also the only pool that blocks custom firmware is Kano.is which is a drop in the ocean as far as mining pools are concerned.

I am also not buying this whole idea of known custom firmware not finding blocks, simply put all these large PPS pools count on the ability of the miners to find blocks, taking all the risk ALONE, i am pretty sure if a pool went on for long enough without hitting a block or their luck was far from 100% they would have suspected that some miners use a firmware that doesn't find a block and they have MORE interest to ban those than Kano since the latter doesn't pay miners out of his own pocket, so it's safe to assume that all the known and widely used firmware DO find blocks, we have seen proof that Vnish (probably the most used custom firmware) found blocks on the mainnet, I also remember hearing about Braiins.

Also there is no problem here so not sure what are you trying to fix, the only thing that needs fixing here is that person's behavior towards everybody else who doesn't agree to everything he says, fixing such a problem is 1- impossible 2- Adds no value to the mining community, so why would you risk over a 100 terahash worth of hash power only be treated like shit by him? but again, your miners - your call.

[philipma1957]

Actually there is a very good reason to do what I am doing.

I am looking to encourage firmware development

Kano seems to not want to encourage firmware development

My goal is to help each and every btc miner in the world and it is worth spending 115th of mining gear for months.

Once I finish the theirry4wd testing I would move onto the vnish testing.

With luck a few others would point to the solo pools we would hit a few blocks and end the controversy of blockless aftermarket firmware.

I have more to do here. but that is it for now.

[Biffa]

I am also not buying this whole idea of known custom firmware not finding blocks, simply put all these large PPS pools count on the ability of the miners to find blocks, taking all the risk ALONE, i am pretty sure if a pool went on for long enough without hitting a block or their luck was far from 100% they would have suspected that some miners use a firmware that doesn't find a block and they have MORE interest to ban those than Kano since the later doesn't pay miners out of his own pocket, so it's safe to assume that all the known and widely used firmware DO find blocks, we have seen proof that Vnish (probably the most used custom firmware) found blocks on the mainnet, I also remember hearing about Braiins.

I'm not interested in any other "firmware" except BraiinsOS, I just don't understand that if it sooooo obvious that people are finding blocks using it, then surely the pools and the users finding these blocks with it should be shouting from the friggin rooftops, the Braiins web site should have a page with proof of every block found using Braiins, hell they even have a massive pool associated with their firmware that can EASILY help them prove it.

I think there are vast overestimates of how many people with large farm would bother to risk it, and big overestimate on the percentage of people bothering to use it period. I think that Braiins hasn't found one block using their software on mainnet.

I don't know how anyone who cares about mining and bitcoin can advocate using something as CRITICAL to the entire ethos and infrastructure of the system without knowing 100% that it actually does the job its supposed to.

It's not that much to ask. Its the least we should be asking.

Anything else and they sound like ye-olde-snakeoil-seller.

[mikeywith]

[...]

I know your intentions are good and that you are trying to help the community, however pointing 115th to a solo block needs 20 years of 100% luck to hit a block, also what you are trying to fix is not broken, Kano bans aftermarket firmware because according to him "They violate cgminer license", it's only Bifa who is worried about the "blockless" issue and given that he mines to a small pool his concern is 100% valid.

Vnish has a proof of finding blocks, but Kano still doesn't allow it on his pool, if you somehow managed to hit a block and prove that theirry4wd's version finds blocks, Kano will still ask theirry4wd for the source code, theirry4wd will say he doesn't have it because bitmain didn't release it, it's a dead end until bitmain provide the source code, which probably isn't going to happen, so you are going to be burning over $300 a month for almost nothing.

... I just don't understand that if it sooooo obvious that people are finding blocks using it, then surely the pools and the users finding these blocks with it should be shouting from the friggin rooftops...

Why would they want to do that? probably 99% of all miners with custom firmware mine on PPS pools or at least fairly large PPLNS pools where they don't seem to bother to check anything aside from their daily payment, also probably nobody except a few members around the forum take the "block finding ability" seriously, and the vast majority of miners don't even understand what does it mean to find a block, all they understand is that you point your gear to a mining pool and get paid accordingly, I don't understand on what bases do people expect that the average miner cares about finding a block when their mining gear is pointed to a PPS pool.!

... the Braiins web site should have a page with proof of every block found using Braiins, hell they even have a massive pool associated with their firmware that can EASILY help them prove it.

I agree 100%, it should be pretty easy for slushpool to prove that, they have a ton of money and they could probably afford to even PAY enough miners to test their firmware and prove that their firmware does find blocks.

The question is why would they want to do that? who is asking them for it? a random person on the forum like myself, you or phill? if you send a support ticket requesting that it will probably be automatically deleted, if someone who owns a 1EH farm request it, they will probably prove it to them (assuming their firmware does find blocks).

Keep in mind that even Vnish's proof of finding blocks came from regular users, Vnish probably doesn't care if  anyone believes that his firmware finds a block, he knows that most people want to overclock/underclock their gears, mine to a large pool, get paid and that's pretty much it, as terrible as it sounds this is the sad ugy truth.

I don't know how anyone who cares about mining and bitcoin can advocate using something as CRITICAL to the entire ethos and infrastructure of the system without knowing 100% that it actually does the job its supposed to.

Miners are incentivized by profit, most miners would do anything to make the most money, if they get their hands on something that would help them "cheat" the system to make more profit even if that was to bring bitcoin security and decentralization down, they would still use it, proof is Bitmain didn't blink an eye before using the patented covert Asicboost.

Long story short, the pools that accept miners with custom firmware carry the most risk, it's pretty much their JOB to ensure that every share they pay for is capable of finding a block and given that almost no mining pool that pays PPS (the pools that are most effected by not finding blocks) havn't banned those people - suggests that everything seems to be working just fine.

With that being said, I DON'T advocate using a firmware that doesn't find blocks.

[kano]

...
With that being said, I DON'T advocate using a firmware that doesn't find blocks.
...

Your entire diatribe says you DO.
Edit: back on ignore

[mikeywith]

Your entire diatribe says you DO.

That is your own conclusion which as usual is based on ZERO facts, you are just mad because I pointed out to the fact that IF these custom firmware were not finding blocks, most if not ALL pools would ban them, but nobody except you does that, simply because you think you know better than every other pool operator/owner.

A pool like F2pool which has over 17E worth of power pays about 125BTC every single day, that is about 1.3 million dollars, if they weren't finding that many blocks they would have gone bankrupt LONG time ago, these pools take a huge risk by paying "upfront" out of their own pocket, and the fact they survived all these years suggests that:

1- They are NOT losing blocks due to bad resources/connecivity
2- The hashrate they pay for actually FINDS blocks as "expected".

Assuming even a tiny percentage of hashrate say 5% was coming from mining gears that don't find blocks, then these pools would have lost MILLIONS of dollars and that would have triggered the alarm and they would have done exactly what you did.

The above is a fact, unless you think all other pools except yours are running a charity, it's pretty clear that your assumptions of your pool being the best pool is as accurate as all of these custom firmware aren't finding blocks.

[thierry4wd]

Hi all,
As far as I'm concerned, concerning my firmwares, I only spent the boot sequence in FIXED, the code is present, I only activated it,

If I understand correctly, in theory, I could not connect to the kano pool? because Kano blocks custom? I understand well ?

If so, I could prove it, that my firmware is basically "original" if I connect to the Kano pool? you confirm me?

[favebook]

Hi all,
As far as I'm concerned, concerning my firmwares, I only spent the boot sequence in FIXED, the code is present, I only activated it,

If I understand correctly, in theory, I could not connect to the kano pool? because Kano blocks custom? I understand well ?

If so, I could prove it, that my firmware is basically "original" if I connect to the Kano pool? you confirm me?

You could prove that it's original with few changes, but even original is breaking the agreement, therefore yours as well as any other custom firmware is also breaking an agreement since they are not providing source code.

And yes, afaik, you wouldn't be able to mine at Kano. I could try it for you, but I doubt it would work.

[thierry4wd]

I don't know how Kano blocks Custom Firmware, but I know mine is basically original, if you could test, it would have been great it would only be an argument / proof, that I didn't change the fundamentals code

[Biffa]

I don't know how Kano blocks Custom Firmware, but I know mine is basically original, if you could test, it would have been great it would only be an argument / proof, that I didn't change the fundamentals code

For your "firmware" it has nothing to do with changing the fundamental code, it has to do with distributing bmminer in your code, because bitmain do not give out the source code to bmminer (which is cgminer) and it is licensed under GPL 3 it means that you have to be able to provide the source code if you distribute the executable. You cannot do that so you are not compliant with GPL 3

That is what kano's objection is to these "firmware"

BraiinsOS is the only firmware that is not cgminer based so does not need to comply to this requirement. But until Braiins0S can prove it finds blocks on mainnet it also is banned as it felt that it is too risky to use.

Now if you could distribute your code without bmminer then there would be no problem I suspect.

[kano]

...
Now if you could distribute your code without bmminer then there would be no problem I suspect.

I think I remember him posting a 'patch' to change the miner web code, not change bmminer/cgminer, not a full firmware download.

i.e. if he doesn't distribute the whole firmware, just a patch to change the web code, and what he distributes doesn't contain any executable bmminer/cgminer then it isn't violating the cgminer license.

[favebook]

I think I remember him posting a 'patch' to change the miner web code, not change bmminer/cgminer, not a full firmware download.

i.e. if he doesn't distribute the whole firmware, just a patch to change the web code, and what he distributes doesn't contain any executable bmminer/cgminer then it isn't violating the cgminer license.

Not here to pour fuel on the fire but are you sure about that? Does that mean S17e and all other miners can be unlocked (to UC/OC) without editing bmminer/cgminer?