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

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I should add, I get the solo-to-your-own node idea using modest (and cheap) amount of hash rate though I point my solo hash at a well connected pool (Kano.is) to do it. Losing a block in an orphan race is just something I will not risk. PAYING $$$ for hash to point at my own node that is not set up to provide very fast & well connected links to propagate the Block Found message - out of the question.

[quickmr2]

Is there a way to turn off the mining aspect on an original Apollo btc miner and just use it as a node?

Yes, you can stop the miner in the GUI and the node will continue to run
GUI options:
  1 on the miner screen at the top hit stop miner
  2 hit the power button top right and select stop miner

SSH options:
  1 sudo systemctl stop apollo-miner.service
  2 If you want to make it permanent after stopping the service sudo systemctl disable apollo-miner.service

Thanks for the help, I did try the GUI option but unfortunately I’m not able to mine with my s19 to my own node when I stop the Apollo from mining.  Guess I’ll just let her mine away and consume unnecessary power.   

[seatosky]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either.  

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II
0 TH/s
173 WAtts
66 C
20.9 A
2245 rpm
0%

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC
3.03 TH/s
196 WAtts
62 C
24.3 A
3148 rpm
4.8%

[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!

Apollo BTC or Apollo II? Make sure you have flashed the correct MCU image for your device otherwise the hashboard wont work.

Apollo BTC. I had the wrong MCU version flashed. So I reflashed it, and let the node catch up to the current block and hit start miner. Its been churning for 3 days with the message - 'waiting for the current miner status to match the desired one (online)'
This doesn't seem to be working itself out.
Do I need to reformat the SSD and start from scratch? Or should I be able to re-flash the correct MCU image and get this working again.

Thanks!

[PegasusNZ]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either.  

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II
0 TH/s
173 WAtts
66 C
20.9 A
2245 rpm
0%

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC
3.03 TH/s
196 WAtts
62 C
24.3 A
3148 rpm
4.8%

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

[BitMaxz]

Apollo BTC. I had the wrong MCU version flashed. So I reflashed it, and let the node catch up to the current block and hit start miner. Its been churning for 3 days with the message - 'waiting for the current miner status to match the desired one (online)'
This doesn't seem to be working itself out.
Do I need to reformat the SSD and start from scratch? Or should I be able to re-flash the correct MCU image and get this working again.

Thanks!

If your unit us Apollo BTC try to flash it back to MCU2 since according to futurebit support you can download either MCU1 or MCU2 so it means the MCU2 is supported on Apollo BTC and Apollo II is not compatible with MCU1.  Try to reflash it again and test it with MCU2 image.

[shaotai]

Possible power switch issue?
So I've been pretty happy with my Apollo II, running it in solo mode and even pointing two Avalon Nano 3's to it right now.
Besides the SQL bug for the GUI, it's been great.  Occasionally, I may need to reboot it as I haven't been sure how to work around the SQL bug and monitor the unit remotely.

Recently, when I reset my remote PDU switch to the outlet, the unit won't come back on. When I reset the power switch on the back of the unit, it would start to work just fine.
This happened a few times but now, when it reboots and starts to begin hashing, the unit turns completely off! It seemed the switch was acting as a safety, as if I barely touched it, it would "reset" and start to give it power again.

I decided to open the unit to see if I can see anything but everything looked great inside.  For me, I decided to bypass the wiring inside to skip the switch and have the power supply go straight to the outlet plug.
After verifying where the wires should go, I disconnected the wires from the PSU to the switch and plugged it into the wall plug to bypass the switch.  I powered it up now everything is working again and it has started hashing!

Not sure the quality of the power switch in the back of the Apollo II unit, but if needed, you can bypass it and it seems to work great now.

If you have random shut downs and resetting the power doesn't fit it, that little switch could be the issue.

[sopsy8t]

Apollo BTC. I had the wrong MCU version flashed. So I reflashed it, and let the node catch up to the current block and hit start miner. Its been churning for 3 days with the message - 'waiting for the current miner status to match the desired one (online)'
This doesn't seem to be working itself out.
Do I need to reformat the SSD and start from scratch? Or should I be able to re-flash the correct MCU image and get this working again.

Thanks!

If your unit us Apollo BTC try to flash it back to MCU2 since according to futurebit support you can download either MCU1 or MCU2 so it means the MCU2 is supported on Apollo BTC and Apollo II is not compatible with MCU1.  Try to reflash it again and test it with MCU2 image.

did that already. I'm wondering if there's something I need to dump in the drive, for it to rebuild and connect. just churning, and I hate to have to start from scratch.

[seatosky]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either. 

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II
0 TH/s
173 WAtts
66 C
20.9 A
2245 rpm
0%

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC
3.03 TH/s
196 WAtts
62 C
24.3 A
3148 rpm
4.8%

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either.  

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II
0 TH/s
173 WAtts
66 C
20.9 A
2245 rpm
0%

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC
3.03 TH/s
196 WAtts
62 C
24.3 A
3148 rpm
4.8%

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

yes

[PegasusNZ]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either. 

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

yes

ssh into Apollo and run this:
sudo screen -ls
there should be two screen sessions running?
then re-attach to the screen sessions
sudo screen -r <title or number>
ctrl AD to exit
and see what messages are been echoed?

[seatosky]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either. 

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

yes

ssh into Apollo and run this:
sudo screen -ls
there should be two screen sessions running?
then re-attach to the screen sessions
sudo screen -r <title or number>
ctrl AD to exit
and see what messages are been echoed?

You lost me. will probably just try to get the CEO to allow a return. Shouldnt be this difficult, never had a problem with any other miner

[jstefanop]

I have an Apollo 2 standard version linked to my MCU2 Apollo full node. Full node trucks away at around 3TH and has alway worked fine. I am not getting a single hash out of the Apollo 2 even though software is updated and I have flashed the Apollo 1 card numerous times now. Oddly the Apollo 1 seems to be recognizing the 2 and certain stats like temp, etc. No hashes on the UI or at the pool end either. 

I have tried everything, BTC Merch and FutureBit support, no luck. I even tried returning it and they want me to have a conference call with the CEO of BTC Merch to do so, I mean come on.

Anyone have a similar issue?


Hashboard #0 - Apollo II

Hashboard #1 - Apollo BTC

Have your read message #4 FAQ on this forum?

yes

ssh into Apollo and run this:
sudo screen -ls
there should be two screen sessions running?
then re-attach to the screen sessions
sudo screen -r <title or number>
ctrl AD to exit
and see what messages are been echoed?

You lost me. will probably just try to get the CEO to allow a return. Shouldnt be this difficult, never had a problem with any other miner

If you have trouble with them just reach out to futurebit support, sounds like this could be a hashboard issue and will swap it out for you.

[jstefanop]

Possible power switch issue?
So I've been pretty happy with my Apollo II, running it in solo mode and even pointing two Avalon Nano 3's to it right now.
Besides the SQL bug for the GUI, it's been great.  Occasionally, I may need to reboot it as I haven't been sure how to work around the SQL bug and monitor the unit remotely.

Recently, when I reset my remote PDU switch to the outlet, the unit won't come back on. When I reset the power switch on the back of the unit, it would start to work just fine.
This happened a few times but now, when it reboots and starts to begin hashing, the unit turns completely off! It seemed the switch was acting as a safety, as if I barely touched it, it would "reset" and start to give it power again.

I decided to open the unit to see if I can see anything but everything looked great inside.  For me, I decided to bypass the wiring inside to skip the switch and have the power supply go straight to the outlet plug.
After verifying where the wires should go, I disconnected the wires from the PSU to the switch and plugged it into the wall plug to bypass the switch.  I powered it up now everything is working again and it has started hashing!

Not sure the quality of the power switch in the back of the Apollo II unit, but if needed, you can bypass it and it seems to work great now.

If you have random shut downs and resetting the power doesn't fit it, that little switch could be the issue.

We have had a few power switches fail and yours could be one of them. The issue seems to stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket which causes the AC pins to overheat and eventually fails the switch.

Now that its heater season will probably send out another email to everyone to remind to make sure you are checking the AC cable for overheating especially when changes power modes from eco to balances/turbo

[PennyBit]

Possible power switch issue?
So I've been pretty happy with my Apollo II, running it in solo mode and even pointing two Avalon Nano 3's to it right now.
Besides the SQL bug for the GUI, it's been great.  Occasionally, I may need to reboot it as I haven't been sure how to work around the SQL bug and monitor the unit remotely.

Recently, when I reset my remote PDU switch to the outlet, the unit won't come back on. When I reset the power switch on the back of the unit, it would start to work just fine.
This happened a few times but now, when it reboots and starts to begin hashing, the unit turns completely off! It seemed the switch was acting as a safety, as if I barely touched it, it would "reset" and start to give it power again.

I decided to open the unit to see if I can see anything but everything looked great inside.  For me, I decided to bypass the wiring inside to skip the switch and have the power supply go straight to the outlet plug.
After verifying where the wires should go, I disconnected the wires from the PSU to the switch and plugged it into the wall plug to bypass the switch.  I powered it up now everything is working again and it has started hashing!

Not sure the quality of the power switch in the back of the Apollo II unit, but if needed, you can bypass it and it seems to work great now.

If you have random shut downs and resetting the power doesn't fit it, that little switch could be the issue.

We have had a few power switches fail and yours could be one of them. The issue seems to stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket which causes the AC pins to overheat and eventually fails the switch.

Now that its heater season will probably send out another email to everyone to remind to make sure you are checking the AC cable for overheating especially when changes power modes from eco to balances/turbo

jstefanop,
I don't entirely agree. The issue does not always stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket. Yes. maybe a few, but certainly not all. I have been the recipient of such units and I certainly plug my units in completely. As a matter of fact, I'm still waiting for a return for this very problem that's been over two weeks since you received it. And, I'm monitoring another that may also need an RMA. Just to let you know.

Regards

[shaotai]

Possible power switch issue?
So I've been pretty happy with my Apollo II, running it in solo mode and even pointing two Avalon Nano 3's to it right now.
Besides the SQL bug for the GUI, it's been great.  Occasionally, I may need to reboot it as I haven't been sure how to work around the SQL bug and monitor the unit remotely.

Recently, when I reset my remote PDU switch to the outlet, the unit won't come back on. When I reset the power switch on the back of the unit, it would start to work just fine.
This happened a few times but now, when it reboots and starts to begin hashing, the unit turns completely off! It seemed the switch was acting as a safety, as if I barely touched it, it would "reset" and start to give it power again.

I decided to open the unit to see if I can see anything but everything looked great inside.  For me, I decided to bypass the wiring inside to skip the switch and have the power supply go straight to the outlet plug.
After verifying where the wires should go, I disconnected the wires from the PSU to the switch and plugged it into the wall plug to bypass the switch.  I powered it up now everything is working again and it has started hashing!

Not sure the quality of the power switch in the back of the Apollo II unit, but if needed, you can bypass it and it seems to work great now.

If you have random shut downs and resetting the power doesn't fit it, that little switch could be the issue.

We have had a few power switches fail and yours could be one of them. The issue seems to stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket which causes the AC pins to overheat and eventually fails the switch.

Now that its heater season will probably send out another email to everyone to remind to make sure you are checking the AC cable for overheating especially when changes power modes from eco to balances/turbo

jstefanop,
I don't entirely agree. The issue does not always stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket. Yes. maybe a few, but certainly not all. I have been the recipient of such units and I certainly plug my units in completely. As a matter of fact, I'm still waiting for a return for this very problem that's been over two weeks since you received it. And, I'm monitoring another that may also need an RMA. Just to let you know.

Regards

I'm with you PennyBit, this is a switch issue for sure.  Since I own a RTX 4090, I've become OCD about plugging ALL my cords in fully until I hear a click, no matter what it is. 
It was more like the switch was tripping out on the load, not on the plug issue.  As soon as it began hashing and the watt/amps would go up, it would kill the connection while still "on".
Also, since you have mentioned in the forums about plugging the cord full in, I actually went back and double checked all my units. They were all fully seated...

[eagleye]

Is there a way to test the internal memory?  There should be some utilities included for testing purposes. 

 I have a new apollo II full node.  I've got through 2 microsd flashed cards, and two 1TB pcie cards to debug a crashing system.  The crash is random.  Happens more often when I am using the keyboard and screen on the raspberry pi  Leaving the browser and other programs open increases the crash occurance of the system.  So, I suspect it's not the microsd or pcie memory card.  I can leave the firefox browser open monitoring the node and firefox page will crash and sometimes completely drop out.  open file folders will freeze up.   I"ve formatted both drives and started node download on both.  i've reflashed both microsd cards to make sure thoses were not the issue.  System still randomely crashes.  The miner works perfectly and keeps running after a crash.  Sometimes, Im able to remote access and monitor the system even after the main display crashes.  A serious crash will freeze the system and require turning system off and on. 

The system crashes when I have miner running temperature is up.  64 on miner and system flucturates 50-64 depending on load.  This is why I think maybe the internal memory could have a defect.  I wanted to run a memory test to stress the system.  I have backup power supplies with line conditioning on the apollo II.

Right now, im reindexing my crashed node.  I keep everything on the raspberry pi keyboard screen closed and memory usage is only 30%.  I had the system monitor opened and even that has frozen up.  Remote monitoring and the node is still running.  This makes me think there is a problem with upper RAM memory on the raspberry pi.  Miner is not running to keep whole system cool.  system temp is 40-50.

[PennyBit]

Possible power switch issue?
So I've been pretty happy with my Apollo II, running it in solo mode and even pointing two Avalon Nano 3's to it right now.
Besides the SQL bug for the GUI, it's been great.  Occasionally, I may need to reboot it as I haven't been sure how to work around the SQL bug and monitor the unit remotely.

Recently, when I reset my remote PDU switch to the outlet, the unit won't come back on. When I reset the power switch on the back of the unit, it would start to work just fine.
This happened a few times but now, when it reboots and starts to begin hashing, the unit turns completely off! It seemed the switch was acting as a safety, as if I barely touched it, it would "reset" and start to give it power again.

I decided to open the unit to see if I can see anything but everything looked great inside.  For me, I decided to bypass the wiring inside to skip the switch and have the power supply go straight to the outlet plug.
After verifying where the wires should go, I disconnected the wires from the PSU to the switch and plugged it into the wall plug to bypass the switch.  I powered it up now everything is working again and it has started hashing!

Not sure the quality of the power switch in the back of the Apollo II unit, but if needed, you can bypass it and it seems to work great now.

If you have random shut downs and resetting the power doesn't fit it, that little switch could be the issue.

We have had a few power switches fail and yours could be one of them. The issue seems to stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket which causes the AC pins to overheat and eventually fails the switch.

Now that its heater season will probably send out another email to everyone to remind to make sure you are checking the AC cable for overheating especially when changes power modes from eco to balances/turbo

jstefanop,
I don't entirely agree. The issue does not always stem from people not plugging in the power cable all the way into the socket. Yes. maybe a few, but certainly not all. I have been the recipient of such units and I certainly plug my units in completely. As a matter of fact, I'm still waiting for a return for this very problem that's been over two weeks since you received it. And, I'm monitoring another that may also need an RMA. Just to let you know.

Regards

I'm with you PennyBit, this is a switch issue for sure.  Since I own a RTX 4090, I've become OCD about plugging ALL my cords in fully until I hear a click, no matter what it is.  
It was more like the switch was tripping out on the load, not on the plug issue.  As soon as it began hashing and the watt/amps would go up, it would kill the connection while still "on".
Also, since you have mentioned in the forums about plugging the cord full in, I actually went back and double checked all my units. They were all fully seated...

shaotai,

Lol, I actually received the repaired unit this afternoon (without any tracking or notice from Futurebit). FedEx just showed up after I got an email stating I had a delivery coming today. Well . . . swell. Wasn't sure what I was getting or from whom. Surprise!

In any case, the unit has not yet been plugged-in or tested, but the switch itself is much firmer and actually "clicks" when flipped. The original was very soft and just kind of "rolled"over without making any click or "rocker-lock" feel. Just an FYI as it appears to take at least a couple of weeks for the repair and you have to pay for the return shipping as well.

Cheers!


UPDATE: 10/13/24

So far so good on the repaired unit. Been running between ECO & BAL for the whole day and no problems. The switch seems to be functioning as expected. No strange shutdowns or resets or any other issues . . . so far. And, the cords are inserted all the way  . So, get your RMA and feel confident (and patient) that it will be repaired.

Cheers!

[Joelnolan]

Any recommendations? My apollo 2 node when I swtich it on is stuck in the boots phase and the loud fan wont stop and i can't connect to it via ip address. i had to shut off the unit because we had an electrician come to the house.

[eagleye]

Any recommendations? My apollo 2 node when I swtich it on is stuck in the boots phase and the loud fan wont stop and i can't connect to it via ip address. i had to shut off the unit because we had an electrician come to the house.

THat happened to me.  What I did was remove the shipping tape on the microsd card and click the card out and back in first.  IF that doesn't work you may need to reflash the microsd card from the futurebit instructions.  That is always a good idea to make sure the memory card is freshly programmed.  Even if the apollo boots up I think sometimes the memory in the flash is corrupted and a fresh reflash is a good move.  also get a backup microsd card and flash that one in case you need to swap out.  I also got a second 1TB memory stick, high performance, and use it to backup the blockchain after downloading so if any corruption in that memory happens, I can format the attached 1TB and copy the backup onto it to save download time.  I also have my unit laying sideways with HDMI port up so there is better airflow and fan runs slower/ cooler.  plus many more blinking lights to look at from the bottom. And I figured out the red light on the bottom means the memory card is active and shouldn't be removed.

[jstefanop]

I've been renting hash power and trying to send to my solo pool but it doesnt work because the difficulty is too low. Is there anyway to increase that or is it not worth it?

A. Renting hash to point at your node is a bad idea. Throwing $$ at your private node is insane... Do you have redundant infra and connections to the 'net to broadcast Block Found info to the multiple sites around the world that well run pools use? Odds are - no. I would NEVER risk losing a block in an orphan race against better connected pools like that...

 B. Most hash rentals require an initial connection minimum diff of 1,000,000 to run due to the size of the 'mega-miner' they are providing.

This is a misconception propagated (no pun intended ) by those that dont want more solo miners involved or more pools in the mix and scare them off with incorrect information. 

If you are solo mining simply increase your connection count, be on ethernet, and have at least 10mbps upload. Bitcoin was designed to run on systems in 2008 and the block size has roughly doubled since then, with bandwidth and processing 10x.

Mean propagation times have come down from 6+ seconds to nearly a second now...dont take my word for it here is some research we have helped out with: https://www.dsn.kastel.kit.edu/bitcoin/

For most "average" nodes your block will be seen in 1 second especially other bigger miners which are even more well connected. You are probably less than two-three peers away from all major pools.

Thats a 1/600 orphan chance or a tenth of one percent.

Real orphan rates currently are closer to 1/2000 blocks or so.

Statistically its nothing you have to worry about, and the network is designed for exactly that...people with low end hardware to be able to submit a block and have it accepted at nearly the same rate as everyone else, even pools with server grade machines.

The bigger threat is whether the cabal of Bitmain and foundry pools are doing something more sinister, like intentionally withholding blocks from their own nodes in case they find another block (essentially crippling smaller pools and solo miners) and forcing orphans

Research still ongoing on that one...