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

[jstefanop]

Hello , i need a quick help here.

I bougth more cheap apollo no controller no psu.

Connect a apollo on normal atx supply , works fine.

But i not have sucess on configuration. First i tried windows, plug apolo micro usb in pc, and run binarie winx86...
The log says, waiting device COM(1)...COM(2).....

I got a orangepi pc, i tried flash stock rom, not work (orangepi not boot)

I tried again, run orangepi on normal OS , and run binarie for ARM , same result of windows.. Aparentelly , OS not found device connected by microusb cable.

Anyone have a tip , or guide setup basic to run ?? Im really trying run, but its hard..

You have to open your device manager in windows and find the COM port that associated to your Apollo (it will come up after the light in front goes solid red). You then need to edit the start.bat file with that COM port and your pool info etc. All the instructions are inside the start file.

[nullama]

Hello , i need a quick help here.

I bougth more cheap apollo no controller no psu.

Connect a apollo on normal atx supply , works fine.

But i not have sucess on configuration. First i tried windows, plug apolo micro usb in pc, and run binarie winx86...
The log says, waiting device COM(1)...COM(2).....

I got a orangepi pc, i tried flash stock rom, not work (orangepi not boot)

I tried again, run orangepi on normal OS , and run binarie for ARM , same result of windows.. Aparentelly , OS not found device connected by microusb cable.

Anyone have a tip , or guide setup basic to run ?? Im really trying run, but its hard..

First, double check that you downloaded the binaries from the official site: https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries

Make sure your power supply can at least provide 200W, and is correctly connected.

Power it up, and connect it to your Windows PC. Does it show up in your device manager?, get the COM number from there and edit the .bat file with that number:

Check your device manager for ports, it will be listed as a STMicroelectronics Virtual COM Port(COM1), edit each file with the COM port and launch a new instance for each
:: Before starting, make sure you have BOTH 6 Pin power cables plugged into the back of your Apollo-BTC, running on one could overheat the port and cause a fire

You can then edit the .bat file with your COM number, and your pool details:

:: Format for running miner:
::
::      .\apollo-miner.exe -host <pool address> -port <pool port> -user <pool username/wallet> -pswd <pool password> -comport <board port> -brd_ocp <board power>  -osc <frequency> -ao_mode 1
::
:: Fields:
::      
::      pool address - the host name of the pool stratum or it's IP address. E.g. stratum.slushpool.com
::      pool port - the port of the pool's stratum to connect to.  E.g. 3333
::      pool username/wallet - For most pools, this is the wallet address you want to mine to.  Some pools require a username
::      pool password - For most pools this can be empty.  For pools using usernames, you may need to provide a password as configured on the pool.
::      board port - the name of the COM port you see under Ports(COM & LPT) in device manager (ie COM1 COM2 etc)
::      board power - this controls power/voltage for the board in %. It ranges from 30-95. See presets and tuning guide below
::   board frequency - this controls the hashboard's frequency. It ranges from 30-60

After you edit the .bat file with your details you can just double click on it.

[jstefanop]

When will be able to run a lightning node and how would i connect my storage wallet to my node?

This is what I want to know as well; it's been nearly a year of ownership for me and I've wanted this functionality from day one

Sadly its been a year of most of the team focusing on operations and supply chain issues to get all your orders out. We seem to have that mostly under control for the near future, and focus will definitely shit to building out our front end and features we have in the pipeline!

[nullama]

~snip~

Of course the more successful this product is, the less compromises we have to make...would love to port the firmware over to cgminer and hopefully we can get there soon.

Running the Apollo with cgminer instead of a closed source binary would be absolutely fantastic.

It seems that the Apollos are doing very well, Batch 3 is sold out, and it looks like things are going great in general:

Just want to take a moment here to thank you guys taking part in this movement, because FutureBit is not just some consumer hardware company making toy miners but it truly is a movement enabled by all you guys.

https://bitnodes.io/nodes/?q=Satoshi:0.21.1

So cool to see those Apollo user agents dominating that list

Hundreds of nodes have come online, and thousands more will once they are done syncing (and make sure you are all forwarding those 8333 ports!)

I am beyond humbled in seeing this play out in real time, and I take my hat off to everyone sitting there running these on their desks, not because its profitable, not because its cool, but because you truly believe in what Bitcoin is and should be and we are all taking the first step in reclaiming some balance back from these power hungry, greed seeking, centralized entities/individuals that have entrenched themselves in and are trying to soil the true vision of what Bitcoin is

We have a ways to go but the Future of Bitcoin is looking bright

~snip~

Sadly its been a year of most of the team focusing on operations and supply chain issues to get all your orders out. We seem to have that mostly under control for the near future, and focus will definitely shit to building out our front end and features we have in the pipeline!

How close are we to have Apollo's firmware ported to cgminer? some time in 2022?

[heslo]

When will be able to run a lightning node and how would i connect my storage wallet to my node?

This is what I want to know as well; it's been nearly a year of ownership for me and I've wanted this functionality from day one

Sadly its been a year of most of the team focusing on operations and supply chain issues to get all your orders out. We seem to have that mostly under control for the near future, and focus will definitely shit to building out our front end and features we have in the pipeline!

Awesome news!

[Alex_theMiner]

As I am setting up my Apollo Miner I get stuck at the "Initial Set Up Wizard". I have filled in the information needed but after pressing the "save" button a red box pops up in the upper left part of the browser right behind the wizard. The red box states "Internal Error". Additionally the Wizard stays stuck with a loading circle right where the "save" button was.

I am still having issues with this, does anybody have some sources that I can be directed to?
thank you

[jiminica]

Good to know, I'm almost there.  96%. If I can get the other full miner going, any way to short cut, downloading the node?

I know with Monero, I was able to download, and get it indexed.   Any similar process for bitcoin?

There is nothing like a 'official download' of the blockchain^{(and it is a bad idea)}, but if you already have one node, you could copy its blocks directory to the other node's SSD and then start it up. Bitcoin Core detects that the directory changed and starts indexing it without redownloading everything. Keep in mind that on many such small board computers you spend more time verifying (computationally intensive) than downloading, as evidenced by a usually much slower IBD speed than what your internet connection offers.

Yeah  figured.  Thanks for answering.

Getting ready to try the second miner and standard node again.  HOpefully it fires up.

Update:  It did fire up.  I've been trying for the last hour or so to get the node working.  It is just not starting.  Any suggestions?

New update: Now when I go to the miner I get internal error.  NO GUI.  What''s up with that.  The front still have the slow red blinking lights.  The miner is still mining.  

New New update:  2nd miner and standard unit have solid red lights. Formatted the NVME to try get node to work then got error,  Cant reach the Web Gui through the IP.  Going to try removing the SD and redoing it after reading more posts on this forum

Update 3: Flashed the SD got the Web GUI.  But now I cannot get Hasboard #0 going, Damn node still won't start.    Any suggestions?

Any one with ideas on the node? 

[okwasmo]

I'm still having issues with the node too, went to about 80%, then disappeared.
Posted this earlier, no response.
NVMe works in another system (Linux laptop).

[x3t9fi]

Hi Apollo Team

Had the Apollo BTC (Full-Set) running on Eco Mode about 5 Weeks on my desk - only the miner - stopped the node. On this weekend - i was at the office and had some time left and just startet the node and start syncing. After about 2 hours: freeze. No mouse/keyboard input - nothing responds. Had to restart the Apollo. Now, the powersupply just makes heavy "coil whine" noises. Can make a video if needed... When i start the apollo - all LED the front, the one at the back and the one below - are solid red. After 30 seconds the top fan starts spinning for 5 seconds and then it stops. No video output - nothing. I would guess the power supply id dead. But am open to your suggestions...

EDIT: I bought the full set: miner, controller and PSU...
EDIT2: Tried to run the Apollo on another PSU - Same issue... 

[n0nce]

For a change, since this is also an image thread, I want to chime in with something other than a support request, and instead speak out a big thanks for this nice little machine to jstefanop and his team. I've restarted it a few times to change settings and such, but it never stopped on its own, crashed or anything like that. I did add a PC fan on top and one below, which I run off of 5V from the controller (so roughly half speed on these 12V DC fans - very quiet).



There are few things more pleasing than a system with weeks or months of uptime that just chugs along tirelessly.

[quickmr2]

When will be able to run a lightning node and how would i connect my storage wallet to my node?

This is what I want to know as well; it's been nearly a year of ownership for me and I've wanted this functionality from day one

Sadly its been a year of most of the team focusing on operations and supply chain issues to get all your orders out. We seem to have that mostly under control for the near future, and focus will definitely shit to building out our front end and features we have in the pipeline!

Thanks....Care to share what's in the pipeline?

[Woe_ter]

Hello,

Anybody using standard unit with Rpi 4? What OS is compatible with delivered code?

I have Rri4 with umber LN and BTC Node running and now I need to connect BTC standard unit.

trying to run standard unit software on Rpi 4 getting an error message below:

./start_apollo.sh

./apollo-miner: /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version `GLIBCXX_3.4.26' not found (required by ./apollo-miner)


umbrel@umbrel:~/apollo $ ./start_apollo.sh

./apollo-miner: /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version `GLIBCXX_3.4.26' not found (required by ./apollo-miner)

umbrel@umbrel:~/apollo $ strings /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 | grep GLIBCXX

GLIBCXX_3.4
GLIBCXX_3.4.1
GLIBCXX_3.4.2
GLIBCXX_3.4.3
GLIBCXX_3.4.4
GLIBCXX_3.4.5
GLIBCXX_3.4.6
GLIBCXX_3.4.7
GLIBCXX_3.4.8
GLIBCXX_3.4.9
GLIBCXX_3.4.10
GLIBCXX_3.4.11
GLIBCXX_3.4.12
GLIBCXX_3.4.13
GLIBCXX_3.4.14
GLIBCXX_3.4.15
GLIBCXX_3.4.16
GLIBCXX_3.4.17
GLIBCXX_3.4.18
GLIBCXX_3.4.19
GLIBCXX_3.4.20
GLIBCXX_3.4.21
GLIBCXX_3.4.22
GLIBCXX_3.4.23
GLIBCXX_3.4.24
GLIBCXX_3.4.25
GLIBCXX_DEBUG_MESSAGE_LENGTH

Version:
cat /etc/debian_version
10.10

I am running a standalone on a RPi 4 and here are the steps that I went thru to get it running.

How to Install 64-Bit OS on RPi 4 (4Gb) and get FutureBit Apollo BTC Standalone miner working


Get 64-Bit Raspberry Pi Image
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_arm64/images/
Image with Pi Imager
Have to use Custom Image option for now as 64-bit version is not listed.
Raspberry Pi Imager Tool (https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ )

Boot RPi with new card
Perform normal settings (SSH, Wifi, password, etc.)
Optionally:  sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade to get all updates applied.

Download RPi software from:
https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries/releases/
Get the aarch64 files and download and expand to folder of your choice
These are the Apollo miner executable along with start/stop scripts
Scripts will need editing for the user’s pool information, otherwise your mining power will benefit someone else.   

Install Prerequisites for Apollo Miner
Sudo apt-get install screen
Required for the Start_all script

Update Libstdc++ code
Append a line to file “/etc/apt/sources.list”
Type: Sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list to edit the file.
Add this line:    deb http://deb.debian.org/debian sid main 
Ctrl-w, Ctrl-x to save and exit.
Then run
sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade libstdc++6

Confirm your Standalone Apollo-BTC is visible:
ls /dev/ttyACM*
You should see this form of output for each attached standalone miner:  /dev/ttyACM0

Cd into your miner folder and type this to get started:
sudo ./start_apollo.sh
Or this if you have more than one unit:    sudo ./miner_start_all.sh  

I documented this as I was going thru sorting out the issues that I had, but I think it will get you up and running..

Thanks for posting this thread, it got me up and running with a Pi. I had to set this up due to issues with my SSD drive.

The cmd "ls /dev/ttyACM*" shows all 3 units are connected and they start hashing(flashing red light and slowly warming up of the metal underplate).

ONLY thing is I can't see any fan control lines in the scripts. So as I felt the underplate of the miner warming up, I've switched them OFF and maybe somebody can verify IF the fan on the USB miner is controlled via the Raspberry script on the 3 different settings?

Hope somebody can help this script-nitwit, before I screw up my units.

Thanks in advance.

[Saitoh2319]

My batch 3 standard unit's fan is making grinding noises while it is running and this was recently received in January.  Is there anyway to replace this fan?  If I place the unit on the side, the grinding noise is minimal.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b6puf5oaygpaebf/Video%20Mar%2017%2C%208%2027%2016%20PM.mov?dl=0

Well known issue; the small fan on the SBC is pretty shitty. Contact customer support and they'll send you out another

It's been over a month and they still can't figure out the issue.  It's very frustrating, they sent me a new fan and it keeps running at over 5,000 RPMs.  They sent me a new firmware and that hasn't resolved the issue.  I have 4 of these running and the latest run is having all the issues.

[jstefanop]

For a change, since this is also an image thread, I want to chime in with something other than a support request, and instead speak out a big thanks for this nice little machine to jstefanop and his team. I've restarted it a few times to change settings and such, but it never stopped on its own, crashed or anything like that. I did add a PC fan on top and one below, which I run off of 5V from the controller (so roughly half speed on these 12V DC fans - very quiet).



There are few things more pleasing than a system with weeks or months of uptime that just chugs along tirelessly.

Thanks! Obviously this thread is full of support issues as that is its purpose, and couple dozen people with issues makes it seem like the product is full of issues but its nice to see posts like this once in a while since obviously there are thousands of happy customers and those thousands of people don't come on here to post they have no issues 

[apurgert]

When will be able to run a lightning node and how would i connect my storage wallet to my node?

This is what I want to know as well; it's been nearly a year of ownership for me and I've wanted this functionality from day one

I was able to get lightningd to run on the FutureBit today.  I tried a few different approaches, but I believe these steps will get it running.

From https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning

sudo add-apt-repository -u ppa:lightningnetwork/ppa
sudo apt-get install lightningd

We need bitcoin-cli since FutureBit doesn't ship with it

wget https://bitcoin.org/bin/bitcoin-core-22.0/bitcoin-22.0-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
tar -xvf bitcoin-22.0-aarch64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
cd bitcoin-22.0/bin
sudo install -m 0755 -o root -g root -t /usr/local/bin ~/bitcoin-22.0/bin/bitcoin-cli
ln -s /opt/apolloapi/backend/node/bitcoin.conf bitcoin.conf

That should be it, running lightningd should come up and at least start running.  I have not connected it any further than that yet.

[nullama]

Thanks @jstefanop for making this nice device. It works and looks great.

I'm trying to make the Apollo run at it's absolutely quietest setting, even below ECO. It would be awesome if you could answer a few questions I have about it.

ECO: This is the most efficient, quiet, and low power mode. Your Apollo will mine at about 2TH/s in this mode and consume about 120 Watts. The fan should be barely audible in this mode.

Based on the documentation, ECO is set to: -brd_ocp 48  -osc 30.

board power - this controls power/voltage for the board in %. It ranges from 30-95
board frequency - this controls the hashboard's frequency. It ranges from 30-60

Since I would like to run it even lower, I set brd_ocp to 30 and kept osc at 30(both minimums based on the documentation), this nicely decreases the fan speed (and sound) as expected.

My understanding is that the -osc parameter shouldn't affect the fan speed, and only brd_ocp would affect it. Is that correct?

One thing that I don't understand is why the minimum brd_ocp is 30?, would it be safe to run it at even lower numbers?, I'm aware that the hashrate will be reduced of course, but I'm mainly concerned about the hardware functioning properly at it's absolutely lowest value (for example, would it be possible to run it so low that the fans are not needed?).

Also, I noticed there's another fan in the "official" power supply. Since I'm planning to run it with very low power, I wonder if that fan is even needed as that's now the main contributor of noise. I guess I could buy another PSU without a fan for this "silent miner" project. Any suggestions for one? So far I've found this one, which should run without starting the fan until 220W so it should be absolutely noiseless.

[TheRipler]

Also, I noticed there's another fan in the "official" power supply. Since I'm planning to run it with very low power, I wonder if that fan is even needed as that's now the main contributor of noise. I guess I could buy another PSU without a fan for this "silent miner" project. Any suggestions for one? So far I've found this one, which should run without starting the fan until 220W so it should be absolutely noiseless.

Been using a couple of these: https://www.parallelminer.com/product/z9-mini-power-supply-460w-110-240v-80-platinum-94/

They are running 1-Full + 3-Standard on balanced, and can be paired/controlled together. The fans do move a little air, but I can't hear them. (only feel it coming out the back)

They appear to be sold out at the moment, but you can pick up the breakout boards / cables from above, and source the PSU used. I use the same ones in my old G8 HP servers, and you can pick them up from old server distributors for cheap. ($10-20) They are dead nuts reliable, and efficient. The Titanium versions are a bit harder to come by, and not worth the extra $$ to me. Standard Gold versions work fine as well, but they are usually almost the same price as Platinum.

4mo uptime here, BTW. Would be longer, but had a power outage during a snow storm a while back.

[terra.tec]

Since I would like to run it even lower, I set brd_ocp to 30 and kept osc at 30(both minimums based on the documentation), this nicely decreases the fan speed (and sound) as expected.

with 30/30 you have already increased the efficiency with reduced stability compared to ECO.
I think the binaries documentation is outdated? (Apollo UI ranges from 25-60)
So you can step to 30/25 if it's unstable?

One thing that I don't understand is why the minimum brd_ocp is 30?, would it be safe to run it at even lower numbers?, I'm aware that the hashrate will be reduced of course, but I'm mainly concerned about the hardware functioning properly at it's absolutely lowest value (for example, would it be possible to run it so low that the fans are not needed?).

In the end brd_ocp reduces the chip voltage and from some point the chip is no longer able to to keep up it's base load I think. Maybe <30 is too far out of specification?
A low power mode is also a nice idea for the apollo UI.

Also, I noticed there's another fan in the "official" power supply. Since I'm planning to run it with very low power, I wonder if that fan is even needed as that's now the main contributor of noise. I guess I could buy another PSU without a fan for this "silent miner" project. Any suggestions for one? So far I've found this one, which should run without starting the fan until 220W so it should be absolutely noiseless.

Yes, the official PSU is really interfering with the quiet operation of the apollo.
Maybe futurebit will design a PSU with a bigger and quiet fan in the future?

[baker240]

Anyone else have the issue with this error at start?

It seems there is a problem to communicate with the miner, check error message.

SyntaxError: Unexpected end of JSON input

Wait at least 1 minute, if problem persists, try to restart the miner, check the settings or try to reboot the system.

I am running the full node by itself connected via cable.

[jstefanop]

Anyone else have the issue with this error at start?

It seems there is a problem to communicate with the miner, check error message.

SyntaxError: Unexpected end of JSON input

Wait at least 1 minute, if problem persists, try to restart the miner, check the settings or try to reboot the system.

I am running the full node by itself connected via cable.

Shoot us an email with this error, its very rare and it seems to be caused by a specific pool/configuration and trying to narrow it down.