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

[crypto_curious]

~snip~
Yes sorry for the delay on this was supposed to have these out by now but ran into some issues with windows binaries..will at the very least release the linux binaries on Monday.

Are the binaries for Apollo I being updated as well or is that project abandoned?

It's been a few years since the last update.

December 2021: https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries/releases

Nope completely updated codebases for both Apollo I and Apollo II being released hopefully by tomorrow.

Half year later, still no release. Only unreleased files, which needs to be downloaded separately, that's a bit embarassing.
Any reason why release is not out yet?

[Sledge0001]

The core cpu is a raspberry pi

Nope! It isn't a RaspberryPi!

It is listed as "6 ARM Core CPU @ 2GHZ and 4GB of RAM" which I believe is actually an OrangePi 4!

[jdh3]

I’ve got my Apollo II desktop setup and running but have an odd problem that I was wondering if everyone could put an eye one. 
When I connect via Windows 11 (chrome and edge ) everything shows that it’s working but the miner.  Gives an error and shows no stats.  When I click the all info tab I can see the miners mining and fan speeds etc. I can’t get it to show that’s it’s working on the pc.
When I check pool side I see that it is hashing (ck pool as I’ve not set up my solo side on the Apollo yet)

Out of desperation I connected via my laptop on Mac OS safari and everything works fine.  Miners show all info no errors.  Tried the of again and it doesn’t work.  Refreshed pages, cleared caches, enabled Java scripts on the site, no block up or ad blockers. 
Can’t figured out why everything works but the mining page and works on the Mac??
What gives

Thanks !

[PennyBit]

I’ve got my Apollo II desktop setup and running but have an odd problem that I was wondering if everyone could put an eye one.  
When I connect via Windows 11 (chrome and edge ) everything shows that it’s working but the miner.  Gives an error and shows no stats.  When I click the all info tab I can see the miners mining and fan speeds etc. I can’t get it to show that’s it’s working on the pc.
When I check pool side I see that it is hashing (ck pool as I’ve not set up my solo side on the Apollo yet)

Out of desperation I connected via my laptop on Mac OS safari and everything works fine.  Miners show all info no errors.  Tried the of again and it doesn’t work.  Refreshed pages, cleared caches, enabled Java scripts on the site, no block up or ad blockers.  
Can’t figured out why everything works but the mining page and works on the Mac??
What gives

Thanks !

Try Mozilla Firefox browser. Chrome and Edge are bloated and don't play nice in my opinion. You can also try Brave browser. BTW, what kind of error do you see?

Cheers!

[jstefanop]

~snip~
Yes sorry for the delay on this was supposed to have these out by now but ran into some issues with windows binaries..will at the very least release the linux binaries on Monday.

Are the binaries for Apollo I being updated as well or is that project abandoned?

It's been a few years since the last update.

December 2021: https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries/releases

Nope completely updated codebases for both Apollo I and Apollo II being released hopefully by tomorrow.

Half year later, still no release. Only unreleased files, which needs to be downloaded separately, that's a bit embarassing.
Any reason why release is not out yet?

We are depreciating desktop support for the USB standard units. Binaries are there for the 1% of users who use them. Unfortunately too much work to maintain support across mutiple architectures and OSes when the vast majority of users pair a standard unit with a Full Node device.

[kekeck33]

I dont understant why more people didnt buy standard unit, its more cheaper then full node unit, I run on my computer with Windows, works OK. Its true that you cant mine solo on your ovn node but you can use solo pool (kano, ck). On the same computer I run BTC full node on Windows, costs me only 2TB SSD disk. If I be more comp freak I can mine with standard unit to ovn node.

[jstefanop]

I dont understant why more people didnt buy standard unit, its more cheaper then full node unit, I run on my computer with Windows, works OK. Its true that you cant mine solo on your ovn node but you can use solo pool (kano, ck). On the same computer I run BTC full node on Windows, costs me only 2TB SSD disk. If I be more comp freak I can mine with standard unit to ovn node.

They do, they just pair it with their Apollo Full node.

These forums are now an echo chamber of advanced users/early adopters, our user base is now almost entirely new bitcoin users/first time miner/node buyers.

They want a plug and play experience and will pay more for that and thats the market we obviously serve. It's even hard for me to understand sometimes but you have to place yourself in the shoes you were in the first time you heard about bitcoin.

If there was a device like the Apollo Full Node back then I would have jumped on it right away....there wasn't and thats why I built it

[Hamster123]

I dont understant why more people didnt buy standard unit, its more cheaper then full node unit, I run on my computer with Windows, works OK. Its true that you cant mine solo on your ovn node but you can use solo pool (kano, ck). On the same computer I run BTC full node on Windows, costs me only 2TB SSD disk. If I be more comp freak I can mine with standard unit to ovn node.

They do, they just pair it with their Apollo Full node.

These forums are now an echo chamber of advanced users/early adopters, our user base is now almost entirely new bitcoin users/first time miner/node buyers.

They want a plug and play experience and will pay more for that and thats the market we obviously serve. It's even hard for me to understand sometimes but you have to place yourself in the shoes you were in the first time you heard about bitcoin.

If there was a device like the Apollo Full Node back then I would have jumped on it right away....there wasn't and thats why I built it

Yes, and I am thankful you did. I bought an original Apollo Full Node unit and two standard units shortly after they came out. It was my first experience home mining and I bought them to help myself learn more about the network as well as support the Bitcoin network and have more "skin in the game". I now have four more of the Apollo 2s spread throughout my small home providing my heating, supporting the network, and lottery mining. I love these products and appreciate how much they've helped me learn. Thank you!

[eagleye]

The full node decentralizes the network.  Solo mining on your own node is more decentralized than mining on a pool.  A pool that you are not in control of means you have a risk of error affecting your ability to mine. You put trust in the pool operator to be fair and honest.  That truly is not always the case.  If you mine on your own pool you are in control of the rewards.   i also don't need to rely on a second computer to maintain the node.  I can, however connect many miners to my solo pool/node.  

[jdh3]

quick question, for workers that are on your same internal network.  will the bitcoin wallet "." + their name work as the proper syntax?
example

3FPnZE7VuXJ9icLsnfe8490kuQP19zhuKAMf8.bitaxe

will this work with payouts?  Thats how I run it on ck pool.

Thanks

[Sledge0001]

quick question, for workers that are on your same internal network.  will the bitcoin wallet "." + their name work as the proper syntax?
example

3FPnZE7VuXJ9icLsnfe8490kuQP19zhuKAMf8.bitaxe

will this work with payouts?  Thats how I run it on ck pool.

Thanks

Yes that is the correct way of naming your workers.

[jdh3]

quick question, for workers that are on your same internal network.  will the bitcoin wallet "." + their name work as the proper syntax?
example

3FPnZE7VuXJ9icLsnfe8490kuQP19zhuKAMf8.bitaxe

will this work with payouts?  Thats how I run it on ck pool.

Thanks

Yes that is the correct way of naming your workers.

Thanks!

[PennyBit]

Well, less than 30 days and this POS is ded.  WTF? Apollo II, 1 TB.  Came home and it was off.  Won't power back on. Unplugged, let it sit, plugged it back in, nothing.  Any ideas?

There was a batch of miners with a bad power switch. You might need to flip/jiggle it to get it to work.  I actually opened my unit up and bypassed the switch, so it feeds power directly from the plug into the PSU.
But they'll replace the switch if you send it back.

Still waiting to hear from Futurebit to see if they will warranty my unit.  I don't want to open it up before I hear from them, but what are the steps to get to the switch?

Of course we will warranty, all Apollo II units have at least 6 months of warranty left. If you have a bad switch we can either setup an RMA or send you the replacement if you feel like swapping it out yourself to save downtime. It's a pretty easy snap in module, but you need to cut off the tabs or take both top and bottom covers off to squeeze the old one through the case.

jstefanop,

I believe I have a standard miner unit with one of those bad switches that I've been monitoring for a while. This originally happened over the course of 4 weeks when it stopped mining twice and the switch was not lit. When I would flip the switch to off and then back on again it was fine. Two more weeks went by and all was good while I was hoping it miraculously cured itself. Now for the past four days it has happened 4 more times - once a day. I can't be in denial any longer. However, I'd rather avoid the downtime with an RMA and shipping back & forth and simply replace the switch myself. It doesn't appear to be a task outside my skills. How do we go about getting a switch sent out? Thanks in advance.

[Opazzno]

Hello, I noticed that my apollo2 sometimes loses synchronization of the node Connection refused. Your node is not running. With this mine works and I have to manually launch node start? Why does this happen? All ports are open.

[eagleye]

It happens if you are in the middle of the IBD.  The IBD is CPU intensive and mining can interrupt the bitcoind process causing it to halt.  You need to check the system monitor and see if the bitcoind program is running.  If it is not, just restart the node.  I'd monitor the debug.log in the bitcoin directory that will tell you if you have errors.  I found that if the node keeps quitting restart the  system, shutdown and restart can sometime fix this.   I found mining while this initial download was running in my apollo II caused more bitcoind halts.  A few pages back I mention a way to monitor the debug.log live so you can see the bitcoind running and when it shuts down or stops running.  it give you a window with live updates of the download progress. 

[bubbAJoe]

Can anyone get me started on the steps to replace the switch on an Apollo II?  I have a replacement switch coming, but FutureBit support has been zero help with instructions on how to replace the switch.

[jstefanop]

Can anyone get me started on the steps to replace the switch on an Apollo II?  I have a replacement switch coming, but FutureBit support has been zero help with instructions on how to replace the switch.

The instructions are inside the package, will post them online as well.

Well, less than 30 days and this POS is ded.  WTF? Apollo II, 1 TB.  Came home and it was off.  Won't power back on. Unplugged, let it sit, plugged it back in, nothing.  Any ideas?

There was a batch of miners with a bad power switch. You might need to flip/jiggle it to get it to work.  I actually opened my unit up and bypassed the switch, so it feeds power directly from the plug into the PSU.
But they'll replace the switch if you send it back.

Still waiting to hear from Futurebit to see if they will warranty my unit.  I don't want to open it up before I hear from them, but what are the steps to get to the switch?

Of course we will warranty, all Apollo II units have at least 6 months of warranty left. If you have a bad switch we can either setup an RMA or send you the replacement if you feel like swapping it out yourself to save downtime. It's a pretty easy snap in module, but you need to cut off the tabs or take both top and bottom covers off to squeeze the old one through the case.

jstefanop,

I believe I have a standard miner unit with one of those bad switches that I've been monitoring for a while. This originally happened over the course of 4 weeks when it stopped mining twice and the switch was not lit. When I would flip the switch to off and then back on again it was fine. Two more weeks went by and all was good while I was hoping it miraculously cured itself. Now for the past four days it has happened 4 more times - once a day. I can't be in denial any longer. However, I'd rather avoid the downtime with an RMA and shipping back & forth and simply replace the switch myself. It doesn't appear to be a task outside my skills. How do we go about getting a switch sent out? Thanks in advance.

Just reply to your order email and will open an RMA to have this sent out to you.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[bubbAJoe]

Can anyone get me started on the steps to replace the switch on an Apollo II?  I have a replacement switch coming, but FutureBit support has been zero help with instructions on how to replace the switch.

The instructions are inside the package, will post them online as well.

Thank you!!

The other part of this saga is that I still have not received the switch.  I was notified that it was shipped on Dec 12.  I have notified support and requested tracking.  I'm a little concerned that the package may be lost?

There is a package listed in my USPS Informed Delivery that was shipped from Brooklyn, NY and was last in Spokane, WA.  It was shipped on Dec 12, so I assume this is it and it somehow got sent to the west coast by our esteemed USPS employees?

I have filed a report with USPS and they will respond within 3 business days (should be tomorrow).  If that is the switch, then at least USPS should be able to get it back on track for correct delivery.

[Opazzno]

Guys, what could be version 2.0.6 Apollo 2 every 2-3 days the device disappears from the network, you have to turn it off and on hard. Then it works again for 2-3 days and also disappears from the network. Although Apollo itself works when you reboot it.

[eagleye]

I'm running v2.0.5.  I tried v2.0.6 but it kept crashing on my apollo II.  Have you tried reverting  back to v2.0.5 and if so, is that network issue stable on the old version?  I would think it's a problem with the network adapter, initially.  My node and miner are running happy on the old version right now.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'd love to upgrade, but it should be easy.  THe download and reboot crashed on me.  flashing a new microsd got the system to boot but then crash.

Plus I hate that when you flash a new microsd, it does not remember your address and you are forced to go through that at the initial startup.  Is there a way to skip the startup page so settings could be loaded from a backup?