Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread

[n0nce]

[...]

I'm on a mission to find a block with these just like I did with the Compac F's (which I am now running 30 of as well). If you look close you can see them in the rack as well as my table behind the rack. I have all 16 of these and 30 Compac F's pointed at Kano's solo pool equaling about 65TH/s.

I really like what these little miners / nodes stand for and do which to me helping secure the BTC blockchain while mining from home. I dig it!!!!

I see, so it's a more 'philosophical' motivation, then..
Yeah; home mining is great, just that you miss out on 'economy of scale' when buying dozens of low-hashpower units instead of a handful of big miners.

I even went out and bought my parents and nieces / nephews a full node as well as gifts.

Again, I dig these as single devices; if I had more than one, I'd also 'geographically spread' them a little, too! Just not sold on running dozens of them in one spot. At full throttle they're also not 'silent' either.

The motherboard is dormant remnants of my Eth rigs which are now offline for about 4 months. Great re-use of the empty racks though.

Heat and noise really prevent me from running larger miners in my existing space.

Oh I see; so this is indeed not an industrial space, but your home space, which is why you need low noise. That makes more sense.
Yet again, in case you're ever going to play with the idea of bringing those S19s home; there are very creative ideas to run them at low noise, too.

Bitcoin home mining on Twitter.

Don't beat your utility bill, Eat your utility bill!

A quick thread on a home mining project that will profitably heat a home this winter. This immersion rig heats water & augments the home furnace

#bitcoinmining #bitcoin #cryptocurrecy @CoinDesk
  @BitcoinBrains
 @SGBarbour

THIS IS TRUE DECENTRALIZATION

Pleb mining pic thread.

I hear ppl say home mining is dead, but then I see pics like these. I love how innovative our mining community is even during hash at ATH the stacking sats game is strong!

#Bitcoin
#blockchain
#BTC



[...]

[1715594937]

1715594937

[Sledge0001]

@Nonce

The BTC gods have been good to me so I want to give back and hopefully show that I can be successful again by using home / hobby miners using hardware from Futurebit and GekkoScience.

In my case I sold off all of my 3.5GH ETH mining setup over the past months and the in turn used that $ to buy more home BTC mining gear. So it wasn't really money out of pocket since my ETH rigs have more than paid for themselves over the years and I'm a geek who loves to tinker with stuff so this makes me happy. The electric bill is a big nut to crack but I am handling it every month without concern.

Now on the Apollo side I do only have 1 "Full" BTC node running in my environment although I do have several "Full" versions of the Apollo running (without the drive) so they aren't really doing anything more than being used as controllers / guis to access them and the 3 standards attached to each.

Even with the Apollo's running at 89-90% Power and 60 Frequency the noise is not audible from outside my "space" (Garage) and the heat is tamed with slow quiet fans blowing on the units (again all reused from my GPU mining) and a simple intake with negative pressure thanks to well placed exhaust fans.

I had 2 x S9's initially for testing and no matter how much I tried I just couldn't manage the noise effectively so I opted to go this route which I am quite pleased with.

I will also continue to buy professional miners and have them hosted in a proper colocation center when the timing and funds are right but this is a personal mission / journey that I am glad to share with everyone.

[a1 Hashrate LLC2022]

I am thinking you will hit soon. Maybe with the one I sold you. Maybe with sidehack's but I feel a hit.

I got a block of Doge with the Apollo doge. 10000 doge sold at 6 cents = 600 paid off the apollo for me.

[Sledge0001]

I am thinking you will hit soon. Maybe with the one I sold you. Maybe with sidehack's but I feel a hit.

I got a block of Doge with the Apollo doge. 10000 doge sold at 6 cents = 600 paid off the apollo for me.

I'm hopeful and optimistic. Would love nothing more than to see this all to pan out on Kano's solo pool for his efforts and guidance.

[Bude Stacks]

Anyone tried running Home Assistant from their Apollo?

Figure if it's online 24/7 maybe I can use it to host a local Home Assistant server at the same time.

https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/

[Muppet007]

Anyone tried running Home Assistant from their Apollo?

Figure if it's online 24/7 maybe I can use it to host a local Home Assistant server at the same time.

https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/

I would run it on a standalone PI and leave the miner SBC to do what it does.

[n0nce]

Anyone tried running Home Assistant from their Apollo?

Figure if it's online 24/7 maybe I can use it to host a local Home Assistant server at the same time.

https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/

I would run it on a standalone PI and leave the miner SBC to do what it does.

Installing software on your Apollo will more often than not require you to update your existing packages using apt upgrade, which is heavily discouraged by jstefanop to avoid bricking the miner.

Known Issues

• Using the built in system update function will brick your system DO NOT UPDATE USING THE SYSTEM UPDATE we will periodically post updated images that have the latest system updates

FAQ

Q: I updated the system and now my Apollo won't boot
A: DO NOT UPDATE THE OS THROUGH THE SYSTEM UPDATE PROMPTS Even though the Apollo is a full linux desktop, its still an embedded system with multiple system level changes to make it work with our proprietary hardware attached to it. If you do a system level OS update these will be whipped and you will end up with a bricked system, requiring a full SD card reflash using the stock image. Any system/kernel level updates will issue here with updated SD card images.

If you want to install more software on it, I'd recommend installing a whole new OS on a new microSD (keep the original one for backup), that way you can also experiment more freely without fear of breaking anything in general.
Boot from microSD is honestly one of the greatest features of these single board computers, since it allows to do these types of experiments easily.

My guide explains how to install everything that comes with Apollo except the web GUI, which I'm still working on, plus Lightning and Electrum.
[Guide] Futurebit Apollo BTC Custom Linux Install - Base

[jstefanop]

Anyone tried running Home Assistant from their Apollo?

Figure if it's online 24/7 maybe I can use it to host a local Home Assistant server at the same time.

https://www.home-assistant.io/installation/

I would run it on a standalone PI and leave the miner SBC to do what it does.

Installing software on your Apollo will more often than not require you to update your existing packages using apt upgrade, which is heavily discouraged by jstefanop to avoid bricking the miner.

Known Issues

• Using the built in system update function will brick your system DO NOT UPDATE USING THE SYSTEM UPDATE we will periodically post updated images that have the latest system updates

FAQ

Q: I updated the system and now my Apollo won't boot
A: DO NOT UPDATE THE OS THROUGH THE SYSTEM UPDATE PROMPTS Even though the Apollo is a full linux desktop, its still an embedded system with multiple system level changes to make it work with our proprietary hardware attached to it. If you do a system level OS update these will be whipped and you will end up with a bricked system, requiring a full SD card reflash using the stock image. Any system/kernel level updates will issue here with updated SD card images.

If you want to install more software on it, I'd recommend installing a whole new OS on a new microSD (keep the original one for backup), that way you can also experiment more freely without fear of breaking anything in general.
Boot from microSD is honestly one of the greatest features of these single board computers, since it allows to do these types of experiments easily.

My guide explains how to install everything that comes with Apollo except the web GUI, which I'm still working on, plus Lightning and Electrum.
[Guide] Futurebit Apollo BTC Custom Linux Install - Base

FYI this has already been fixed in the next firmware image that should be released in the next few weeks.

Its a large update that fixes all remaining security and image issues and lays the foundation for big feature updates now that we finally have both unit production and image software at a mature state. We'll finally be able to launch our app ecosystem and we have been listening to all the feature requests and will start rolling these out in the next few months!

[n0nce]

~snip~

FYI this has already been fixed in the next firmware image that should be released in the next few weeks.

Its a large update that fixes all remaining security and image issues and lays the foundation for big feature updates now that we finally have both unit production and image software at a mature state. We'll finally be able to launch our app ecosystem and we have been listening to all the feature requests and will start rolling these out in the next few months!

That's good to hear! Also great that this 'app ecosystem' is coming. But will it also allow people to update packages and operating system normally through their package manager?
Being able to use this as a 'desktop computer' has been one of its main selling points from day one, to be honest, so there are customers waiting for this update for literally years now.

And will it have the latest version of Armbian and nodeJS? Because the web dashboard as of now doesn't run on latest node..

[Sledge0001]

Is there a beta testing group?

[heslo]

Is there a beta testing group?

Second this! I did test for 0.3.1 and would love to be able to give the latest build a go and feedback should it be required

[jstefanop]

~snip~

FYI this has already been fixed in the next firmware image that should be released in the next few weeks.

Its a large update that fixes all remaining security and image issues and lays the foundation for big feature updates now that we finally have both unit production and image software at a mature state. We'll finally be able to launch our app ecosystem and we have been listening to all the feature requests and will start rolling these out in the next few months!

That's good to hear! Also great that this 'app ecosystem' is coming. But will it also allow people to update packages and operating system normally through their package manager?
Being able to use this as a 'desktop computer' has been one of its main selling points from day one, to be honest, so there are customers waiting for this update for literally years now.

And will it have the latest version of Armbian and nodeJS? Because the web dashboard as of now doesn't run on latest node..

There is nothing preventing you from installing any linux app on the desktop right now, but yes updating normally will no longer brick the system as long as you dont do anything crazy like a dist upgrade. Both the Armbian subsystem and linux kernel have been updated to 5.15.x

[n0nce]

~snip~

FYI this has already been fixed in the next firmware image that should be released in the next few weeks.

Its a large update that fixes all remaining security and image issues and lays the foundation for big feature updates now that we finally have both unit production and image software at a mature state. We'll finally be able to launch our app ecosystem and we have been listening to all the feature requests and will start rolling these out in the next few months!

That's good to hear! Also great that this 'app ecosystem' is coming. But will it also allow people to update packages and operating system normally through their package manager?
Being able to use this as a 'desktop computer' has been one of its main selling points from day one, to be honest, so there are customers waiting for this update for literally years now.

And will it have the latest version of Armbian and nodeJS? Because the web dashboard as of now doesn't run on latest node..

There is nothing preventing you from installing any linux app on the desktop right now, but yes updating normally will no longer brick the system as long as you dont do anything crazy like a dist upgrade. Both the Armbian subsystem and linux kernel have been updated to 5.15.x

'Right now' as in 'in the next release'? Since the latest version on page 1 is still from December '21 and the following message is still up.

Known Issues

• Using the built in system update function will brick your system DO NOT UPDATE USING THE SYSTEM UPDATE we will periodically post updated images that have the latest system updates

FAQ

Q: I updated the system and now my Apollo won't boot
A: DO NOT UPDATE THE OS THROUGH THE SYSTEM UPDATE PROMPTS Even though the Apollo is a full linux desktop, its still an embedded system with multiple system level changes to make it work with our proprietary hardware attached to it. If you do a system level OS update these will be whipped and you will end up with a bricked system, requiring a full SD card reflash using the stock image. Any system/kernel level updates will issue here with updated SD card images.

[JoeDirticus]

~snip~

FYI this has already been fixed in the next firmware image that should be released in the next few weeks.

Its a large update that fixes all remaining security and image issues and lays the foundation for big feature updates now that we finally have both unit production and image software at a mature state. We'll finally be able to launch our app ecosystem and we have been listening to all the feature requests and will start rolling these out in the next few months!

That's good to hear! Also great that this 'app ecosystem' is coming. But will it also allow people to update packages and operating system normally through their package manager?
Being able to use this as a 'desktop computer' has been one of its main selling points from day one, to be honest, so there are customers waiting for this update for literally years now.

And will it have the latest version of Armbian and nodeJS? Because the web dashboard as of now doesn't run on latest node..

There is nothing preventing you from installing any linux app on the desktop right now, but yes updating normally will no longer brick the system as long as you dont do anything crazy like a dist upgrade. Both the Armbian subsystem and linux kernel have been updated to 5.15.x

Are the new ones coming with the updated firmware already?

[edonaldson]

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any way to allow the miner to be monitored externally?   Something like the -api-allow switch?  If so, where and how is it done?

[n0nce]

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any way to allow the miner to be monitored externally?   Something like the -api-allow switch?  If so, where and how is it done?

I would recommend searching using https://ninjastic.space/.

In this case:
https://ninjastic.space/search?content=API&topic_id=5340015

The first hit is your post and the second is one by jstefanop that explains how to access the 'API'.

[edonaldson]

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any way to allow the miner to be monitored externally?   Something like the -api-allow switch?  If so, where and how is it done?

I would recommend searching using https://ninjastic.space/.

In this case:
https://ninjastic.space/search?content=API&topic_id=5340015

The first hit is your post and the second is one by jstefanop that explains how to access the 'API'.

Thank you.  I was hoping for something a little more straightforward so I could use awesomeminer to monitor the FutureBit as well as my other rigs for one consolidated view.  Maybe in a future release...

[jstefanop]

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any way to allow the miner to be monitored externally?   Something like the -api-allow switch?  If so, where and how is it done?

I would recommend searching using https://ninjastic.space/.

In this case:
https://ninjastic.space/search?content=API&topic_id=5340015

The first hit is your post and the second is one by jstefanop that explains how to access the 'API'.

Thank you.  I was hoping for something a little more straightforward so I could use awesomeminer to monitor the FutureBit as well as my other rigs for one consolidated view.  Maybe in a future release...

After the next release that will go out in the next few days you can port forward 80 and 5000 to your external IP address, and you'll be able to access the dashboard remotely. Latest release has security fixes that made our UI vulnerable to exploits that should be patched up now

[jstefanop]

Is there a beta testing group?

Yes email hello at futurebit dot io and put beta test group in subject to be added to the external beta group. Internal testing is almost complete for next release and well push update to beta group probably later tonight.

[n0nce]

I've searched the forum, but couldn't find anything.  Is there any way to allow the miner to be monitored externally?   Something like the -api-allow switch?  If so, where and how is it done?

I would recommend searching using https://ninjastic.space/.

In this case:
https://ninjastic.space/search?content=API&topic_id=5340015

The first hit is your post and the second is one by jstefanop that explains how to access the 'API'.

Thank you.  I was hoping for something a little more straightforward so I could use awesomeminer to monitor the FutureBit as well as my other rigs for one consolidated view.  Maybe in a future release...

After the next release that will go out in the next few days you can port forward 80 and 5000 to your external IP address, and you'll be able to access the dashboard remotely. Latest release has security fixes that made our UI vulnerable to exploits that should be patched up now

Well, that's still not a REST API.. Apparently edonaldson want to add the Apollo to their awesomeminer application, which would allow to monitor it in the same user interface as other ASICs.
I believe that would require building a 'proxy' type of service that offers a REST interface and makes use of /opt/apolloapi/backend/apollo-miner/apollo-miner.*.

@jstefanop

Good morning,

On Futurebit Apollo LTC, there is a switch in settings which give access to Api. ("api-allow"). Is there a similar feature on the interface of the Futurebit Apollo BTC?

Thanks in advance.

They use different software, so there's no api-allow option as far as I know in the Apollo BTC.

But if you're interested in reading the data from the miner, you can get that from a text file that gets written in the same folder of where the miner is. After you run the miner, a file with a name like this is created: apollo-miner.4A122E121471674B52383109. If you open it you'll see json encoded data in clear text. The "official" web UI uses that file to present it in a nice way in the browser. You can just read that file and you'll get similar data that the api in Apollo LTC sent.

Yes that file is essentially the Apollo-BTC api. You can just ssh and pull /opt/apolloapi/backend/apollo-miner/apollo-miner.* and parse the json and do what you like with it!