Official FutureBit Apollo II/BTC Software/Image and Support thread

[Wolf_schiesst]

My Apollo II has been fully syncced and is mining but with only 10/64 connections. I enabled the port forwarding as instructed in the futurebit FAQ and nothing has changed. Any idea what could be preventing the full number of connections?

They are not responding to my emails about this problem and I have not been able to find any information on this. If there are any links to threads which discuss this it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Did you open up port forwarding TCP to port 8333 in your WAN router for the Apollo's LAN IP address?

...

Other questions:
- For the (very unproble case) that my Apollo Solo Miner will maybe find a block (lottery) in the future somewhen, where would this be shown in the Apollo 2.0.6 Web-IF?
- Anyone knows why Apollo miners use private MAC addresses?

Anyone able to answer these 2 questions? :-)

[Sledge0001]

I just pushed my headless Apollo II over 2 PH/s with a few remote rentals along with my local miners while solo mining. All of these are low and medium difficulty miners. Has anyone tried using high-difficulty miners on their headless rig? And if so, please relate your experience in doing so. Thanks.

Cheers!


Image Link:
https://i.imgur.com/54WGZlq.jpeg

Can anybody answer this question? Thanks.

Cheers!

If you are referring to "pro level" miners like M50's, M60's, S19's & S21's as being "high-difficulty" then yes. The built in pool running CK's pool handles the connection from those miners quite well and will adjust their difficulty based on their hashrate.

Now if you are going to try to rent a chunk of hashrate from a place like Nicehash then no as the default pool difficulty is set too low by default to be compatible with their service. You would need to adjust the CK pool code to have a higher starting difficulty in this case.

...

Other questions:
- For the (very unproble case) that my Apollo Solo Miner will maybe find a block (lottery) in the future somewhen, where would this be shown in the Apollo 2.0.6 Web-IF?
- Anyone knows why Apollo miners use private MAC addresses?

Anyone able to answer these 2 questions? :-)

I can answer the block question.
You will see the highest share listed clearly (which will need to be over network difficulty) on the solo mining page.

Now the other question....
Mac addresses are hard encoded into every network card so not sure what you are referring to here.

[Sledge0001]

A BitAxe Ultra at only ~ 500GHs just hit a block!!

https://x.com/Crypto_Mags/status/1899238110208393640

Edit: looks like it had a little help, but not a whole lot.

And best share/difficulty it hit was 700T, holy cow!!

Keep things on topic....

[Sledge0001]

A BitAxe Ultra at only ~ 500GHs just hit a block!!

https://x.com/Crypto_Mags/status/1899238110208393640

Edit: looks like it had a little help, but not a whole lot.

And best share/difficulty it hit was 700T, holy cow!!

Keep things on topic....

Uh, solo mining is off topic?  I thought that was what the Apollo II was all about?  And if 500GHs can hit a solo block, then it's possible for 9THs to hit a solo block.  Now do you understand?

Um.....

Your post had nothing to do with the Futurebit Apollo II BTC or support of it which is what this entire thread is about.

Now after my clarification maybe you'll understand why its OFF TOPIC   .

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Forum etiquette and posting in the appropriate threads should be followed to help keep things on topic for those of us that want to read things on specific pieces of hardware.

Agreed. Also it is rather bad form to be posting about a competitors gear here. Reported BubbaJoe's post to mods so they will hopefully move it to the BitAxe thread where it belongs.

[bubbAJoe]

Forum etiquette and posting in the appropriate threads should be followed to help keep things on topic for those of us that want to read things on specific pieces of hardware.

Agreed. Also it is rather bad form to be posting about a competitors gear here. Reported BubbaJoe's post to mods so they can move it to the BitAxe thread where it belongs.

Dude, it's just a comparison of hashrate to illustrate that it is possible for an Apollo II ( of which I own 2) is capable of hitting a block. Get over it.

[jstefanop]

Forum etiquette and posting in the appropriate threads should be followed to help keep things on topic for those of us that want to read things on specific pieces of hardware.

Agreed. Also it is rather bad form to be posting about a competitors gear here. Reported BubbaJoe's post to mods so they will hopefully move it to the BitAxe thread where it belongs.

There are no competitors here, just a bunch of plebs reclaiming hashrate from centralized cartels. When Apollos and Bitaxes represent >50% of the hashrate we can talk about competition 

[PennyBit]

Forum etiquette and posting in the appropriate threads should be followed to help keep things on topic for those of us that want to read things on specific pieces of hardware.

Agreed. Also it is rather bad form to be posting about a competitors gear here. Reported BubbaJoe's post to mods so they will hopefully move it to the BitAxe thread where it belongs.

There are no competitors here, just a bunch of plebs reclaiming hashrate from centralized cartels. When Apollos and Bitaxes represent >50% of the hashrate we can talk about competition  ;)hy

Jeeze jstefanop, have a drink and relax. Too harsh. I'm sure it wasn't personal. Although there may be no competition here and perhaps there are a few "plebs" scattered about the community our mining endeavors are still closely related to an actual gambling mindset to one degree or another. In other words, the "house" has the better odds against all of us lone wolves even though we still step up to the table and keep up the hope, The house needs our hopes or else there won't be a house to play in to begin with. At least that's why I still run miners and nodes.

Cheers!

[Hamster123]

Forum etiquette and posting in the appropriate threads should be followed to help keep things on topic for those of us that want to read things on specific pieces of hardware.

Agreed. Also it is rather bad form to be posting about a competitors gear here. Reported BubbaJoe's post to mods so they will hopefully move it to the BitAxe thread where it belongs.

There are no competitors here, just a bunch of plebs reclaiming hashrate from centralized cartels. When Apollos and Bitaxes represent >50% of the hashrate we can talk about competition  

I appreciate this reply. I believe the intent of the original post in question was to illustrate the hash and a reminder that we, the Apollo miner owners community, may hit a block as well. I was disappointed by the defensive replies from a few of the "OG" posters on this forum. Thank you for your thoughtful reply @jstefanop.

I have two-thirds of my Apollo miners off at the moment because it's spring and warming up (I heat my home with most of them). I am running an Apollo 2 Node miner with one Apollo 2 miner attached. Just hit a new all time high best share of 5,993,670,844 in Eco Mode averaging 11.60Th. Getting there 😁

[Block888737]

Won one for the plebs today using an Apollo BTC Full node, Apollo BTC standard, Apollo II standard and one Bitmain S19kpro.  

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff

[eagleye]

Won one for the plebs today using an Apollo BTC Full node, Apollo BTC standard, Apollo II standard and one Bitmain S19kpro.  

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff

That is great news.  Thank you for the report.  Apollo nodes can submit valid block solutions in time when solved.  Congratulations.  Whose next???

[Hamster123]

Won one for the plebs today using an Apollo BTC Full node, Apollo BTC standard, Apollo II standard and one Bitmain S19kpro.  

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff

So awesome! Congrats! A win for the pleb miners!

[Sledge0001]

Won one for the plebs today using an Apollo BTC Full node, Apollo BTC standard, Apollo II standard and one Bitmain S19kpro.  

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff

Excellent news! Congrats and gave you your first merit!

[jstefanop]

Won one for the plebs today using an Apollo BTC Full node, Apollo BTC standard, Apollo II standard and one Bitmain S19kpro.  

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff

Congrats just found out on X that you posted here!

If you can share your bitcoind debug.log would be super helpful for us, and any other info like network setup (wifi/ethernet broadband speed general geo area)

I salute you, now make sure you secure that stack 🫡

[Block888737]

Congrats just found out on X that you posted here!

If you can share your bitcoind debug.log would be super helpful for us, and any other info like network setup (wifi/ethernet broadband speed general geo area)

I salute you, now make sure you secure that stack 🫡
[/quote]

Code:

2025-03-21T08:30:14Z CreateNewBlock(): block weight: 3992762 txs: 2455 fees: 3012753 sigops 9710
2025-03-21T08:30:44Z CreateNewBlock(): block weight: 3992700 txs: 2326 fees: 3226835 sigops 10111
2025-03-21T08:31:01Z Saw new header hash=00000000000000000000b7070e88525e4064ab36df7cfbe34d785bbc6eb491ea height=888737
2025-03-21T08:31:01Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000000b7070e88525e4064ab36df7cfbe34d785bbc6eb491ea height=888737 version=0x224c2000 log2_work=95.507384 tx=1168701371 date='2025-03-21T08:31:43Z' progress=1.000000 cache=135.1MiB(878642txo)
2025-03-21T08:31:01Z [cormorant] AddToWallet a96ab8da7247f7afa2ea75881ace307cc19961d1a63975ef0d06a259b3f49321  new
2025-03-21T08:31:01Z CreateNewBlock(): block weight: 3992723 txs: 137 fees: 1030720 sigops 13793
2025-03-21T08:31:19Z CreateNewBlock(): block weight: 3992426 txs: 186 fees: 1090101 sigops 13981

Apollo BTC MCU1. Ethernet. 270Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. Midwest USA.

The miner that solved the block was an SK19Pro running Brains OS underclocked to 2250 watts, 100TH. I run it at 1250 watts during the day at 1250 watts / 60TH to keep the noise down. If the complete log is helpful, just let me know.

[Benny Hill]

Block 888737
Hello, huge congratulations on the block sir, well done.

Do you ever look into the ckpool.log file, if so what is it reporting under Diff, it will be beside hash rate per min, 5 min, 1h etc.

What is it showing for shares per second for say 1hour.
How many node connections would you normally have and do you limit the number.

[Block888737]

Block 888737
Hello, huge congratulations on the block sir, well done.

Do you ever look into the ckpool.log file, if so what is it reporting under Diff, it will be beside hash rate per min, 5 min, 1h etc.

What is it showing for shares per second for say 1hour.
How many node connections would you normally have and do you limit the number.

Save using cron jobs to stop mining during peak electricity rates, my Apollo node has all the default settings, and sits at 63 of 64 connections.

Here is a bit more of the ckpool.log I already shared with the stats you requested.

Code:

[2025-03-21 04:29:41.617] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m":"109T","hashrate5m":"98.8T","hashrate1hr":"102T","hashrate1d":"57.4T","hashrate7d":"57.9T","lastshare":1742545781,"workers":4,"shares":76760092144,"bestshare":115310334129.55341,"bestever":115310334129,"authorised":1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:29:41.617] Pool:{"runtime": 414623, "lastupdate": 1742545781, "Users": 1, "Workers": 4, "Idle": 0, "Disconnected": 3}
[2025-03-21 04:29:41.617] Pool:{"hashrate1m": "108T", "hashrate5m": "98.6T", "hashrate15m": "99.9T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate6hr": "71.8T", "hashrate1d": "57.2T", "hashrate7d": "54.5T"}
[2025-03-21 04:29:41.618] Pool:{"diff": 0.09, "accepted": 104362366436, "rejected": 188624426, "bestshare": 115310334129, "SPS1m": 1.03, "SPS5m": 1.03, "SPS15m": 1.04, "SPS1h": 1.07}
[2025-03-21 04:29:44.912] Stored local workbase with 2209 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:30:14.926] Stored local workbase with 2455 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:30:41.620] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m":"93T","hashrate5m":"96.3T","hashrate1hr":"102T","hashrate1d":"57.4T","hashrate7d":"57.9T","lastshare":1742545841,"workers":4,"shares":76761291244,"bestshare":115310334129.55341,"bestever":115310334129,"authorised":1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:30:41.621] Pool:{"runtime": 414683, "lastupdate": 1742545841, "Users": 1, "Workers": 4, "Idle": 0, "Disconnected": 3}
[2025-03-21 04:30:41.621] Pool:{"hashrate1m": "92.6T", "hashrate5m": "96.2T", "hashrate15m": "99T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate6hr": "71.9T", "hashrate1d": "57.2T", "hashrate7d": "54.5T"}
[2025-03-21 04:30:41.621] Pool:{"diff": 0.09, "accepted": 104363565536, "rejected": 188624426, "bestshare": 115310334129, "SPS1m": 0.99, "SPS5m": 1.03, "SPS15m": 1.04, "SPS1h": 1.07}
[2025-03-21 04:30:44.906] Stored local workbase with 2326 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:31:00.699] Possible block solve diff 393692033929762.687500 !
[2025-03-21 04:31:00.718] Submitting block data!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.278] BLOCK ACCEPTED!
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Solved and confirmed block 888737 by bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m": "82.6T", "hashrate5m": "93.8T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate1d": "57.4T", "hashrate7d": "57.9T", "shares": 76761530792, "authorised": 1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Worker bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd.S19k:{"hashrate1m": "80.8T", "hashrate5m": "86.3T", "hashrate1hr": "92.1T", "hashrate1d": "49T", "hashrate7d": "49.4T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.308] Block solved after 104363805084 shares at 0.1% diff
[2025-03-21 04:31:01.530] ZMQ block hash 00000000000000000000b7070e88525e4064ab36df7cfbe34d785bbc6eb491ea
[2025-03-21 04:31:02.118] Stored local workbase with 137 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:31:02.119] Block hash changed to 00000000000000000000b7070e88525e4064ab36df7cfbe34d785bbc6eb491ea
[2025-03-21 04:31:19.980] Stored local workbase with 186 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:31:41.623] User bc1qa6y279yprwtuthnw0xqu6rzhrf8d6uujcdh9xd:{"hashrate1m":"94.2T","hashrate5m":"95T","hashrate1hr":"102T","hashrate1d":"57.4T","hashrate7d":"57.9T","lastshare":1742545901,"workers":4,"shares":76762504946,"bestshare":393692033929762.69,"bestever":393692033929762,"authorised":1735251121}
[2025-03-21 04:31:41.624] Pool:{"runtime": 414743, "lastupdate": 1742545901, "Users": 1, "Workers": 4, "Idle": 0, "Disconnected": 3}
[2025-03-21 04:31:41.624] Pool:{"hashrate1m": "92.9T", "hashrate5m": "94.7T", "hashrate15m": "98.3T", "hashrate1hr": "102T", "hashrate6hr": "71.9T", "hashrate1d": "57.2T", "hashrate7d": "54.5T"}
[2025-03-21 04:31:41.624] Pool:{"diff": 0.0, "accepted": 974154, "rejected": 0, "bestshare": 0, "SPS1m": 1.06, "SPS5m": 1.04, "SPS15m": 1.04, "SPS1h": 1.07}
[2025-03-21 04:31:49.943] Stored local workbase with 457 transactions
[2025-03-21 04:32:19.963] Stored local workbase with 468 transactions

[Benny Hill]

This is excellent information and thak you for sharing with us all, can you recall how long you where sitting on the best share of 104 billion before hitting the block.

[Wolf_schiesst]

...

Other questions:
- For the (very unproble case) that my Apollo Solo Miner will maybe find a block (lottery) in the future somewhen, where would this be shown in the Apollo 2.0.6 Web-IF?
- Anyone knows why Apollo miners use private MAC addresses?

Anyone able to answer these 2 questions? :-)

I can answer the block question.
You will see the highest share listed clearly (which will need to be over network difficulty) on the solo mining page.

Now the other question....
Mac addresses are hard encoded into every network card so not sure what you are referring to here.

Yes, thats correct. I wondered why Futurebit uses no IEE vendor specific mac address but a private, locally-administered one (C2:1A:02....)?
See https://www.oasys.net/fragments/identify-private-macs/

[bubbAJoe]

The miner that solved the block was an SK19Pro running Brains OS underclocked to 2250 watts, 100TH. I run it at 1250 watts during the day at 1250 watts / 60TH to keep the noise down. If the complete log is helpful, just let me know.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  Unfortunately, we don't have any clear indication that an Apollo II has hit a block (on it's own) as yet.  Congrats on the block!!

Oh, and be careful, the Karen's in this forum may report you to the mods for reporting that a device other than a FutureBit device hit a block.  Ask me how I know, LOL!!