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

[jstefanop]

Out of curiosity, right now my 3 apollo 2's have hit a best share 7,632,598,247. Will it ever hit more than that? if so, is it a time thing or a luck thing?

Time + luck.

In general your best share should trend towards total shares submitted.

On the top you will see "Accepted Shares" this is the total work submitted to the solo pool. In a perfect world this would match your "Best Share".

Since bitcoin mining is completely random your best share is a totally random number. If you're unlucky it will be lower than total work submitted, and if you are lucky it will be greater.

You can get super lucky and get a 1T share which would take years of submitted work to "catch up" too.

And then you can hit the jackpot of course!

Has anyone hit near 1T on their Apollo II yet? Would be cool for you guys to post your best shares. Think highest we have seen is about 500B.

Also thinking about gamifying the Solo Pool and anonymously submit your best share for ranking on a site (and possibly give out prizes bases on best share as a cool incentive to solo mine without finding blocks).

Of course this would be opt in to collect this data and open source(and it would all be hashed data with no wallets or any personal data other than best share and maybe hashrate collected) but if you guys are interested might start working on it for 2.2 release.

This would also be a cool way to public display the state of the "FutureBit" hashrate network and show the impact all of you are having!

[jstefanop]

Thanks it's still syncing so should be OK.

One more thing. I notice when I select System - Shutdown from the UI menu on web browser that it shuts down the node and the miner but the fans on the Apollo II are spinning at full speed and for some reason do not spin down. The system doesn't halt so I have to manually switch the box off.
Is this a known bug or any idea how to fix?

This is normal operation. Once the controller shuts down the fan goes high speed on default. Its a hardwire pull up on the fan PWM as a safety measure (ie all if controller fails, then onboard temp sensor power kill switch fails, as a backup of the backup the fan would go high speed).

It's also an indicator that the unit is safe to shut off, since when you shutdown in menu it takes a while for the controller and node to safely save the state of the blockchain and shutdown.

[Joelnolan]

Out of curiosity, right now my 3 apollo 2's have hit a best share 7,632,598,247. Will it ever hit more than that? if so, is it a time thing or a luck thing?

Time + luck.

In general your best share should trend towards total shares submitted.

On the top you will see "Accepted Shares" this is the total work submitted to the solo pool. In a perfect world this would match your "Best Share".

Since bitcoin mining is completely random your best share is a totally random number. If you're unlucky it will be lower than total work submitted, and if you are lucky it will be greater.

You can get super lucky and get a 1T share which would take years of submitted work to "catch up" too.

And then you can hit the jackpot of course!

Has anyone hit near 1T on their Apollo II yet? Would be cool for you guys to post your best shares. Think highest we have seen is about 500B.

Also thinking about gamifying the Solo Pool and anonymously submit your best share for ranking on a site (and possibly give out prizes bases on best share as a cool incentive to solo mine without finding blocks).

Of course this would be opt in to collect this data and open source(and it would all be hashed data with no wallets or any personal data other than best share and maybe hashrate collected) but if you guys are interested might start working on it for 2.2 release.

This would also be a cool way to public display the state of the "FutureBit" hashrate network and show the impact all of you are having!

This is great to know! Yes Im at 3 billion total submitted and 7 Billion best share. I've only been live on the new apollo 2 units for a little over a week. Going to be sending more hash from my compass hosted units but they are terrible and taking forever.

Gamifying would be awesome!

Also, another user mentioned this but when do you think we will have visibility of units that aren't part of the apollo units that are contributing to a users solo mining? Just trying to see if I will be able to identify units that go down (hosted by compass)

[PennyBit]

If you cannot connect remotely again, try to access the miner, with a PC on the same network, as the Futurebit. If this fails, then try to ping it and last use a IP scanner to see all the devices, within your netwok.

Tried this.  When the issue happens it dissapears from the ip scanner as well.  Happened again for the 4th time last night.  Just turned it off at this point and emailed support.  Obviously I have a faulty unit so hopefully they will come through and give me a way to send it back for a fix or replacement since its only been in my home for around 30 dayshope it

When you get this straightened out let me / us know what the cause was please. Appreciate it. Cheers!

Will do.  They finally got back to me today and said it sounds like it's having an overheating issue and I'm shipping it back to them.  stinks I have to pay to ship it back but hopefully gets straightened out asap.  They said approx two weeks.

Yeah, I was thinking heat problems as well but since you were running ECO it didn't really add up (unless there's intermittent fan issues / malfunctions). Oh well, I hope it all works out for you. On a side note, I've still got an overdue standard unit just sitting at the FEDX hub in Memphis now 3 days late with no updates or explanations as to why or when I'll ever see it. Three cheers for PATIENCE!

UPDATE: 09/17/24
My unit finally arrived yesterday - 10 days lost but was found and delivered. A little beat up but no real damage (except the bottom cover has been knocked loose and falls out). I never got much info from FutureBit after I reported the problem and FedX was nothing more than an irritating Internet bot pretending to be a real company in a three-dimensional space- lol. In any case, patience paid off (I think).

[cryptocrow]

Oh great. This is good news!

Thanks it's still syncing so should be OK.

One more thing. I notice when I select System - Shutdown from the UI menu on web browser that it shuts down the node and the miner but the fans on the Apollo II are spinning at full speed and for some reason do not spin down. The system doesn't halt so I have to manually switch the box off.
Is this a known bug or any idea how to fix?

This is normal operation. Once the controller shuts down the fan goes high speed on default. Its a hardwire pull up on the fan PWM as a safety measure (ie all if controller fails, then onboard temp sensor power kill switch fails, as a backup of the backup the fan would go high speed).

It's also an indicator that the unit is safe to shut off, since when you shutdown in menu it takes a while for the controller and node to safely save the state of the blockchain and shutdown.

[eekbert]

Hi, I have been running an Apollo II on solo in ECO mode for many weeks. Recently, I see a strange behavior. The hashrate climbs to about 5TH/s then back to 0Th/s, over an over again. The temperature of the ambient is about 75F, them miner is reporting about 65C.  I have tried Balanced mode as well, doesnt seem to make any difference. Any ideas on how to fix it? or is it a web interface issue and the miner is actually running stable? 

[PennyBit]

Hi, I have been running an Apollo II on solo in ECO mode for many weeks. Recently, I see a strange behavior. The hashrate climbs to about 5TH/s then back to 0Th/s, over an over again. The temperature of the ambient is about 75F, them miner is reporting about 65C.  I have tried Balanced mode as well, doesnt seem to make any difference. Any ideas on how to fix it? or is it a web interface issue and the miner is actually running stable?  

To me it doesn't really sound like a web interface issue . . . and I assume you are on at least v2.0.5. That being said, I have noticed a few strange issues on v2.0.5 related to the web interface but nothing like you've described. And even if I lose internet connection the machines just mine away. When they get hot I have even seen them freeze-up and/or shut down. But I've never seen my hashrate jump up and down like you've described unless I'm on a pool and then my pool hashrate has fluctuated wildly before, but not my actual miner hashrate. The only cliché suggestion I can come up with at this point is perhaps a re-flash of the software. It may be worth a try. Wish I could offer you more.

One last thing, does your power usage (wattage) fluctuate wildly at the same time? How about the chip speed and cpu?

Cheers!

[sopsy8t]

3 questions

1) I'd like to connect a second unit to my V1 node using a USB hub. Do I use the USB-C on the side or the USB-A on the back?

2) Is there a limit to the number of units I can connect to a V1?

3) Whats the spec difference of the V1+2, because the V1 is running a on a pi - is the v2 also running on a pi?

Thanks!

[PegasusNZ]

1 Your cable would be the determining factor, you can use either
2 USB controller limitation is 7
3 Your extra unit could be a standard with no computer

3 questions

1) I'd like to connect a second unit to my V1 node using a USB hub. Do I use the USB-C on the side or the USB-A on the back?

2) Is there a limit to the number of units I can connect to a V1?

3) Whats the spec difference of the V1+2, because the V1 is running a on a pi - is the v2 also running on a pi?

Thanks!

[cryptocrow]

Hi,
My miner has been syncing the blockchain for several days and I'm unable to ever reach 100% synced blockchain. It reached over 95% synced but the following morning its dropped back to 81% synced so I guess there was some issue and it's starting re-syncing again (maybe corruption or something).

If I wanted to clear the whole BTC block database and start again in case of corruption can I do this via the web based UI or do I need to manually clear the blockchain directory ? - /media/nvme/Bitcoin

I see Format Node SSD on the Web UI but I guess this would also wipe directory structure.

[PennyBit]

Hi,
My miner has been syncing the blockchain for several days and I'm unable to ever reach 100% synced blockchain. It reached over 95% synced but the following morning its dropped back to 81% synced so I guess there was some issue and it's starting re-syncing again (maybe corruption or something).

If I wanted to clear the whole BTC block database and start again in case of corruption can I do this via the web based UI or do I need to manually clear the blockchain directory ? - /media/nvme/Bitcoin

I see Format Node SSD on the Web UI but I guess this would also wipe directory structure.

Yes, you can I do it via the web based UI with the Format Node SSD selection under SETTINGS / EXTRA. Give it enough time to format (there's no status bar). Once formatted you can either start node (if it doesn't start automatically) or reboot. Personally, I prefer a fresh reboot. That should do it (unless the actual drive has went bad or maybe it's not seated all the way).

Cheers!

[cryptocrow]

Thank you.. If it fails again I'll give this a go!

Hi,
My miner has been syncing the blockchain for several days and I'm unable to ever reach 100% synced blockchain. It reached over 95% synced but the following morning its dropped back to 81% synced so I guess there was some issue and it's starting re-syncing again (maybe corruption or something).

If I wanted to clear the whole BTC block database and start again in case of corruption can I do this via the web based UI or do I need to manually clear the blockchain directory ? - /media/nvme/Bitcoin

I see Format Node SSD on the Web UI but I guess this would also wipe directory structure.

Yes, you can I do it via the web based UI with the Format Node SSD selection under SETTINGS / EXTRA. Give it enough time to format (there's no status bar). Once formatted you can either start node (if it doesn't start automatically) or reboot. Personally, I prefer a fresh reboot. That should do it (unless the actual drive has went bad or maybe it's not seated all the way).

Cheers!

[iomon]

Has anyone tried to mine solo DGB in a NOPE Stratum pool with Apollo II?

I am receiving "Unknown stratum method" in my own pool  and no Shares Accepted/Submitted while other miners from Mining Rig Rentals have no issues. (Found block!)

Is it possible to install different miner SW (like cgminer) in the node?

[PennyBit]

Has anyone tried to mine solo DGB in a NOPE Stratum pool with Apollo II?

I am receiving "Unknown stratum method" in my own pool  and no Shares Accepted/Submitted while other miners from Mining Rig Rentals have no issues. (Found block!)

Is it possible to install different miner SW (like cgminer) in the node?

If I understand you correctly, you want to mine Digibyte using the Apollo II. Yes? Well, if that's what you're trying to do all I can say is that the Apollo II works with somewhat proprietary software that mines BTC only. I don't believe you can run CGminer in the "Apollo" environment, Although you might be able to run it outside that environment on the Linux side of the full node unit (it is a full computer) - but why? If I'm misunderstanding  your question I sincerely beg forgiveness. Please give more information.

Cheers!

[iomon]

Has anyone tried to mine solo DGB in a NOPE Stratum pool with Apollo II?

I am receiving "Unknown stratum method" in my own pool  and no Shares Accepted/Submitted while other miners from Mining Rig Rentals have no issues. (Found block!)

Is it possible to install different miner SW (like cgminer) in the node?

If I understand you correctly, you want to mine Digibyte using the Apollo II. Yes? Well, if that's what you're trying to do all I can say is that the Apollo II works with somewhat proprietary software that mines BTC only. I don't believe you can run CGminer in the "Apollo" environment, Although you might be able to run it outside that environment on the Linux side of the full node unit (it is a full computer) - but why? If I'm misunderstanding  your question I sincerely beg forgiveness. Please give more information.

Cheers!

Hi, I am just trying to mine something with less difficulty just for testing/learning purposes. I have a full node Apollo II

For now I have install BCH core and a ckpool version for BCH and looks fine, at least accepting and submitting shares. I have also some Bitaxe pointing to it.
Bu no luck with the DGB pool. Shares not accepted.

Testing XEC now, much smaller difficulty. Let see how it will go.

All these tests are just for hobby/educational purposes only.

[PennyBit]

Has anyone tried to mine solo DGB in a NOPE Stratum pool with Apollo II?

I am receiving "Unknown stratum method" in my own pool  and no Shares Accepted/Submitted while other miners from Mining Rig Rentals have no issues. (Found block!)

Is it possible to install different miner SW (like cgminer) in the node?

If I understand you correctly, you want to mine Digibyte using the Apollo II. Yes? Well, if that's what you're trying to do all I can say is that the Apollo II works with somewhat proprietary software that mines BTC only. I don't believe you can run CGminer in the "Apollo" environment, Although you might be able to run it outside that environment on the Linux side of the full node unit (it is a full computer) - but why? If I'm misunderstanding  your question I sincerely beg forgiveness. Please give more information.

Cheers!

Hi, I am just trying to mine something with less difficulty just for testing/learning purposes. I have a full node Apollo II

For now I have install BCH core and a ckpool version for BCH and looks fine, at least accepting and submitting shares. I have also some Bitaxe pointing to it.
Bu no luck with the DGB pool. Shares not accepted.

Testing XEC now, much smaller difficulty. Let see how it will go.

All these tests are just for hobby/educational purposes only.

Interesting what you're doing but it's above my pay-scale  as I haven't used DGB or ever tried to mine BCH with the Apollo. I have mined ckBTC but that's a no-brainer. Someone with more experience here may be able to jump in and help you. Sorry. Good luck my friend.

Cheers!

[PegasusNZ]

Has this update been released my Apollo hasn't seen any communication from Houston
and looks sad with error on the miner screen

From this monday i got an error every 24h

[GraphQL error]: Message: Int cannot represent non 32-bit signed integer value: 2262360428

This is a known issue, update to fix is a little late but will def be out next week.

FYI it's just a front end bug and does not affect the miner or node operation.

[sopsy8t]

Node is working but hashboard is not. I have a standard unit connected to the node, and that IS working.
Any steps I can take to get the hashboard in the node to work?
Thanks!

[PegasusNZ]

Node is working but hashboard is not. I have a standard unit connected to the node, and that IS working.
Any steps I can take to get the hashboard in the node to work?
Thanks!

Have you added the user that is running the miner software to the dailout group? I assume the standard unit is connected by USB?

[sopsy8t]

Node is working but hashboard is not. I have a standard unit connected to the node, and that IS working.
Any steps I can take to get the hashboard in the node to work?
Thanks!

Have you added the user that is running the miner software to the dailout group? I assume the standard unit is connected by USB?

Thanks for the reply -
Added the user to the dialout group? <-- what the heck is a dialout group?
Yes, Standard unit is connected via usb