Open Source Bitcoin ASIC miner project that uses 2x BM1387 (Antminer S9)

[Skot]

If you still are only using the USB connection for supplying power yer gonna have problems as the connectors simply cannot handle enough current to power the chips. The absolute max current rating for USB-A connectors is 3.1A and even that is intended to only be for a short time - not 24x7.

I don't think USB is suitable for power in this case. Data perhaps, but we need something much beefier for power. The spade connectors I've got on the bitaxe v2 now seem to be working pretty well.

My goal is to eventually have this powered by solar panels directly.

[o_solo_miner]

Hi Skot,
thank you for sharing this with us.
I liked your 5x5 design of the pic pcb, so nice to see it now with an asic.

[Cyl0nius]

Hi Skot,
thank you for sharing this with us.

I hope for a stand-alone-solo-miner with Esp32 as front-end.

[Skot]

Hi Skot,
thank you for sharing this with us.
I liked your 5x5 design of the pic pcb, so nice to see it now with an asic.

Wow! That 5x5 PIC design is from 11 years ago. I'm much better at designing PCBs now, I promise!

[Skot]

I hope for a stand-alone-solo-miner with Esp32 as front-end.

That is the plan! Hopefully soon I can get something working.

Although I'm tempted to use the new Raspberry Pi Pico W (https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-pico-w-your-6-iot-platform/) instead of the ESP32

[marshall3416]

good for you

[yxt]

nice to see something as
opensource hardware project

[n0nce]

I hope for a stand-alone-solo-miner with Esp32 as front-end.

That is the plan! Hopefully soon I can get something working.

Although I'm tempted to use the new Raspberry Pi Pico W (https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-pico-w-your-6-iot-platform/) instead of the ESP32

Hey Skot! I came up with a similar idea at the start of the year and had PCBs manufactured, but only recently got around to putting them together.
Compared to your design, it's a complete breakout board that provides access to all pins in 0.1" format, as I thought better having too many broken out pins than too few.

Anyhow; you beat me to uploading the whole thing and testing it out. Good job; I read that it's already working quite well, so far.
However I'm wondering what you use to supply the 0.8V at probably around 10A that those 2 chips should be pulling. My next step would have been to design a buck converter circuit. Do you just use a lab bench power supply?

I'm definitely interested in collaborating to maybe make this into a compact USB miner with integrated FTDI chip and buck converter (I have a lot of unused slots in my GekkoScience USB hub.. ).
Otherwise, I can see a pod miner with more than 2 chips being interesting, too, maybe targeting 95W so a standard quiet CPU heatsink could be used.

Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of sidehack's work / GekkoScience and don't think such an open source project is going to compete with them. For one, their flagship Compac F is much more efficient and much faster, and also it's a ready-to-go product. These are PCB files that users have to get produced themselves and get to work soldering them, too.

[MinerMEDIC]

I really wanna make an ASC tester out of these does anybody have a lead on a zif socket that will work(Maybe I need to go to Reddit do this)?

[n0nce]

I really wanna make an ASC tester out of these does anybody have a lead on a zif socket that will work(Maybe I need to go to Reddit do this)?

You mean ASIC tester? Like, for testing malfunctioning S9 hashboards or something like that?
How do you envision putting an SMD component into a ZIF socket?

For testing ASIC chips from an S9, I would recommend just getting some of these PCBs manufactured and soldering the ASICS to them, temporarily. There are no 'clip in' type sockets for these chips as they have a custom pin spacing and power requirements (huge non-standard power pads underneath themselves).

[sidehack]

You can find sockets on aliexpress for around $300 but they won't handle heat very well without modification.

[MinerMEDIC]

You can find sockets on aliexpress for around $300 but they won't handle heat very well without modification.

Maybe you can but while I’m no idiot I certainly have had zero luck. Can I bother you for something a little more concrete?

I really wanna make an ASC tester out of these does anybody have a lead on a zif socket that will work(Maybe I need to go to Reddit do this)?

You mean ASIC tester? Like, for testing malfunctioning S9 hashboards or something like that?
How do you envision putting an SMD component into a ZIF socket?

For testing ASIC chips from an S9, I would recommend just getting some of these PCBs manufactured and soldering the ASICS to them, temporarily. There are no 'clip in' type sockets for these chips as they have a custom pin spacing and power requirements (huge non-standard power pads underneath themselves).

ASICs are what we call Bottom terminated components (BTC lol), Bitmain’s chips are also a bastardized version or cross between a DFN and an LGA. in fact Intel may already have an LGA socket with the pins just right(angles &pitch), you just have to figure out which ones will be connecting to something and which ones aren’t, haven’t had time to go down that rabbit hole very far. But to answer your question, basically it will look like an LGA CPU socket. Just a lot less pins. Some factors which make you our suggestion problematic: the time it takes to Properly prep chip(and lands) for placement make testing more than a few an hour impractical, also The number of times a chip can be reworked as a finite number, you don’t want to place your Nice just-tested asic only to discover later it’s last useful reflow was used up in the tester(The IPC guideline is twice).

[paid2]

That is the plan! Hopefully soon I can get something working.

Although I'm tempted to use the new Raspberry Pi Pico W (https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/raspberry-pi-pico-w-your-6-iot-platform/) instead of the ESP32

Hey Skot

I have a lot of used S9k boards, with a lot of components in my basement. If you need some, send me a DM and will sent it for you for free if you need some parts for testing

[Skot]

Hey Skot! I came up with a similar idea at the start of the year and had PCBs manufactured, but only recently got around to putting them together.
Compared to your design, it's a complete breakout board that provides access to all pins in 0.1" format, as I thought better having too many broken out pins than too few.



Anyhow; you beat me to uploading the whole thing and testing it out. Good job; I read that it's already working quite well, so far.
However I'm wondering what you use to supply the 0.8V at probably around 10A that those 2 chips should be pulling. My next step would have been to design a buck converter circuit. Do you just use a lab bench power supply?

I'm definitely interested in collaborating to maybe make this into a compact USB miner with integrated FTDI chip and buck converter (I have a lot of unused slots in my GekkoScience USB hub.. ).
Otherwise, I can see a pod miner with more than 2 chips being interesting, too, maybe targeting 95W so a standard quiet CPU heatsink could be used.

Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of sidehack's work / GekkoScience and don't think such an open source project is going to compete with them. For one, their flagship Compac F is much more efficient and much faster, and also it's a ready-to-go product. These are PCB files that users have to get produced themselves and get to work soldering them, too.

Hey n0nce!

that PCB looks good! it's cool to see more people doing this. Were you able to get the BM1387 pin pitch right?

For now I have just been using a cheapo adjustable power supply from Amazon. You're right, an onboard buck converter is the way to go. Unfortunately they're a little hard to come by these days with the chip shortage. I did a test with the MAX20499 (https://github.com/skot/MAX20499_breakout) but then I realized Maxim won't give the full datasheet to plebs. Still looking for a better part. the TPS51219 on the Newpac is completely out of stock.

I want to experiment with offloading everything that cgminer does (fetching work via stratum and rolling the extranonce) to an onboard microcontroller in a pod miner setup. I've started with an ESP32 so I can connect over WiFi too. (https://github.com/skot/bitaxe/tree/max). Pair that all with a power supply suitable for solar and you could just litter your roof with these things

Is there a "standard" CPU heatsink with fan? I looked around at these but couldn't really come up with anything. It seems like the economies of scale with the whole PC water-cooling scene could be useful here.

[Skot]

You can find sockets on aliexpress for around $300 but they won't handle heat very well without modification.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256803866230304.html

[Skot]

Hey Skot

I have a lot of used S9k boards, with a lot of components in my basement. If you need some, send me a DM and will sent it for you for free if you need some parts for testing

Apparently I can't DM you. Anyways, thanks for the super kind offer! I don't need any HW at the moment, but I'll hit you up if that changes.

thanks again,
Skot

[n0nce]

Hey Skot! I came up with a similar idea at the start of the year and had PCBs manufactured, but only recently got around to putting them together.
Compared to your design, it's a complete breakout board that provides access to all pins in 0.1" format, as I thought better having too many broken out pins than too few.



Anyhow; you beat me to uploading the whole thing and testing it out. Good job; I read that it's already working quite well, so far.
However I'm wondering what you use to supply the 0.8V at probably around 10A that those 2 chips should be pulling. My next step would have been to design a buck converter circuit. Do you just use a lab bench power supply?

I'm definitely interested in collaborating to maybe make this into a compact USB miner with integrated FTDI chip and buck converter (I have a lot of unused slots in my GekkoScience USB hub.. ).
Otherwise, I can see a pod miner with more than 2 chips being interesting, too, maybe targeting 95W so a standard quiet CPU heatsink could be used.

Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of sidehack's work / GekkoScience and don't think such an open source project is going to compete with them. For one, their flagship Compac F is much more efficient and much faster, and also it's a ready-to-go product. These are PCB files that users have to get produced themselves and get to work soldering them, too.

Hey n0nce!

that PCB looks good! it's cool to see more people doing this. Were you able to get the BM1387 pin pitch right?

Thanks; it should also allow to mount a heatsink with thermal cement or adhesive thermal pads, if the pin headers are soldered on the bottom (or the heatsink fits in between them). I just thought for early tests like figuring out the pinout and which passive components to connect where, even a piece of copper clamped to it should suffice.
I did consider adding holes for a northbridge heatsink like you, though!

Regarding the pitch; I actually found a BM1387 footprint / component in https://easyeda.com/editor and crossed my fingers that it's correct (it is).

For now I have just been using a cheapo adjustable power supply from Amazon. You're right, an onboard buck converter is the way to go. Unfortunately they're a little hard to come by these days with the chip shortage. I did a test with the MAX20499 (https://github.com/skot/MAX20499_breakout) but then I realized Maxim won't give the full datasheet to plebs. Still looking for a better part. the TPS51219 on the Newpac is completely out of stock.

You mean a lab bench power supply or a random prebuilt buck converter? And just to clarify: you do have 1.8V regulators on-board, too, right?
As for the main step-down regulator, I actually envisioned building my own synchronous buck converter using a buck controller and two MOSFETS, just like GekkoScience.

As you noticed, GekkoScience / sidehack, uses a https://www.ti.com/product/TPS51219, which is a buck controller. It just controls two MOSFETS in a synchronous buck converter configuration, like this. The MOSFETS are in place of the switches and the controller is not shown here; it controls the timing to achieve the right output voltage.

Yup, he uses a synchronous buck controller IC together with 2 mosfets.
Looks something like this. They are switched on and off by the controller, which creates accurate timings to achieve the required duty cycle and thus output voltage.

I don't think that integrated (single chip) buck converters exist with the types of power we need to push and the efficiency required. For instance, a linear regulator going from 5V, 3A to 0.5V, 30A would go up in smoke immediately.

I want to experiment with offloading everything that cgminer does (fetching work via stratum and rolling the extranonce) to an onboard microcontroller in a pod miner setup. I've started with an ESP32 so I can connect over WiFi too. (https://github.com/skot/bitaxe/tree/pro). Pair that all with a power supply suitable for solar and you could just litter your roof with these things

That sounds like a cool idea, hadn't thought of that! Making a more standalone, pod-format device sounds great to me. I'd just personally focus more on the power supply first and getting my breakout running; feel free to work on the ESP stuff - then we can merge everything.

Is there a "standard" CPU heatsink with fan? I looked around at these but couldn't really come up with anything. It seems like the economies of scale with the whole PC water-cooling scene could be useful here.

Well I meant standard in the sense of 'Intel LGA 1151' or 'AMD AM4' - if we replicate their hole spacing and copper area, it would be possible to just take a box-standard thing like this:
https://www.newegg.com/rosewill-rocc-16003/p/N82E16835200114

They can easily cool 100W, only downside is pretty small copper area. So the ASICs will need to be very close and amount of chips per cooler would be space-limited.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

...
For now I have just been using a cheapo adjustable power supply from Amazon. You're right, an onboard buck converter is the way to go. Unfortunately they're a little hard to come by these days with the chip shortage. I did a test with the MAX20499 (https://github.com/skot/MAX20499_breakout) but then I realized Maxim won't give the full datasheet to plebs. Still looking for a better part. the TPS51219 on the Newpac is completely out of stock.

I want to experiment with offloading everything that cgminer does (fetching work via stratum and rolling the extranonce) to an onboard microcontroller in a pod miner setup. I've started with an ESP32 so I can connect over WiFi too. (https://github.com/skot/bitaxe/tree/pro). Pair that all with a power supply suitable for solar and you could just litter your roof with these things

Is there a "standard" CPU heatsink with fan? I looked around at these but couldn't really come up with anything. It seems like the economies of scale with the whole PC water-cooling scene could be useful here.

Ja as I pointed out in the thread in Development & Technical Discussion thread using on-board Vcore regulator is a must. At the low voltage and high currents involved only a properly bypassed bolted cable connection with remote sensing would work when using an external low voltage PSU. Any other kind of connector will simply have too much voltage drop unless it's huge and - be way too expensive.
TI has several good links regarding proper Vcore regulator design that I posted in that above link along with Those TI links also giving parts sourcing and availability links.

As for finding parts & sourcing them - use Octopart They link to every reputable component mfgr on the planet to show current and historical parts availability, full data sheets, Factory Approved distributors, 3D component models, etc.

[developeralgo]

Since my electronics soldering capabilities are limited. Is it possible to order for the manufacture BitAXE Max/Pro PCB + Assembly of all the parts using JLCPCB or PCBWay ? if yes please can you provide some details how to do go about accomplishing that. I am able to order the PCB manufactured without much hassle. I can source  almost all the parts from JCLPCB plus others but the BM1397 chips from AliExpress.

I would like to have the PCB + Assembly of all parts done by JCLPCB or PCBWay is that possible ? so that i just receive the complete unit that i can plug and test 

[n0nce]

Since my electronics soldering capabilities are limited. Is it possible to order for the manufacture BitAXE Max/Pro PCB + Assembly of all the parts using JLCPCB or PCBWay ? if yes please can you provide some details how to do go about accomplishing that. I am able to order the PCB manufactured without much hassle. I can source  almost all the parts from JCLPCB plus others but the BM1397 chips from AliExpress.

I would like to have the PCB + Assembly of all parts done by JCLPCB or PCBWay is that possible ? so that i just receive the complete unit that i can plug and test 

For the PCB and passive components you can have that done by those services by just uploading the Gerber files and clicking the box for the 'SMT service / assembly'. It only works for parts they stock, though - which doesn't include ASIC chips.
As far as I know, we both soldered our BM1397's ourselves with some hot air; not too hard.