S17+ Hashboard Swapping

[BlazinaBits]

Hello,

I am purchasing over 100 S17+'s, over half of which are broken and do not work. The seller claims that many could be fixed by simply swapping the hashboards around to build complete ones.

I have read that the S17's hashboards have specific voltages which are incompatible in different combinations of other hashboards. Im wondering if you guys could shed some light on the specifics of this, and what i would need to read these voltages and match properly. Or if there is a way to by-pass this, or change it in the computer. Im prepared to buy some tools or whatever i may need.

I have also heard that if you use a third-party firmware (im considering Braiins) this specific problem does not apply, and you can use any 3 hashboards together.

Any information relevant to these hashboard voltages, s17+ repair, or suggestions on how to undertake this job of going through 100+ s17's and 300+ hashboards is very welcome.

Thanks.

[philipma1957]

Hello,

I am purchasing over 100 S17+'s, over half of which are broken and do not work. The seller claims that many could be fixed by simply swapping the hashboards around to build complete ones.

I have read that the S17's hashboards have specific voltages which are incompatible in different combinations of other hashboards. Im wondering if you guys could shed some light on the specifics of this, and what i would need to read these voltages and match properly. Or if there is a way to by-pass this, or change it in the computer. Im prepared to buy some tools or whatever i may need.

I have also heard that if you use a third-party firmware (im considering Braiins) this specific problem does not apply, and you can use any 3 hashboards together.

Any information relevant to these hashboard voltages, s17+ repair, or suggestions on how to undertake this job of going through 100+ s17's and 300+ hashboards is very welcome.

Thanks.

I use vms for repair.  owner name is greg.





https://vmssecuritycloud.com/


tell him philipma1957 referred you.

he is usa based.

[serialgf]

hi , i was buy 20 pcs s17+ miner and all hashboard are death. If you finde solution pls inform me . Thanks

[BitMaxz]

hi , i was buy 20 pcs s17+ miner and all hashboard are death. If you finde solution pls inform me . Thanks

Are these units dead? I suggest try to run all hashboard one by one and maybe you'll find some that are still alive

If all of these hashboards are dead there is a guide on how to repair them but you will need some tools to check and repair them. Check this link below

- https://www.zeusbtc.com/manuals/Antminer-S17-plus-Hash-Board-Repair-Guide.asp

[danieleither]

From memory, with the standard Bitmain firmware you can not mix and match hashboards (unless they are the same voltage rating). You can obtain the voltage rating of hashboards from the kernel log, then label them and later combine 'like' voltage hashboards into one machine.

Alternatively, some aftermarket firmwares will let you mix and match difference hashboards (I have done this previously on S17 Pro's running Vnish with success).

[danieleither]

In order to ascertain the voltages of hashboards, look for an entry like this in the kernel log:

Code:

2023-07-01 01:08:51 voltage[0] = 1700
2023-07-01 01:08:51 voltage[1] = 1700
2023-07-01 01:08:51 voltage[2] = 1700

[mikeywith]

The seller claims that many could be fixed by simply swapping the hashboards around to build complete ones.

Unless they intentionally mixed them to brick them -- the above makes no sense, he is not being honest, chances are the majority of them are dead due to bad solder.

With that said, if you are going to buy 100+ of them you should buy the zeusbtc tool to write the same file in the EEPROM.

My personal advice to you is; unless they are dirt cheap and you have someone to fix them for cheap at your local area, do not buy them.

[BlazinaBits]

Update:

I bought them, yes because they were dirt cheap, and because I have connections with the seller rendering them trustworthy.

I have been installing BraiinsOS+ on them as I'm going through them and this does not solve the hashboard compatability, I'm having to randomly guess until I find one that works.

It seems that the BraiinsOS+ kernal log is different from stock bitmain? I dont see anything about hashboard voltages in there.

What I think I am going to do to streamline the process is: keep one stock bitmain firmware, and as you said, use that to individually plug in all my loose hashboards and label them with their voltages.

[mikeywith]

It seems that the BraiinsOS+ kernal log is different from stock bitmain? I dont see anything about hashboard voltages in there.

I want to be fair to BraiinsOS+, personally, I have not tried to mix and match 17 series hashboards using their firmware, I see people claiming that it's the case and that BraiinsOS doesn't even read the EEPROM but I can't confirm it, however, I have personally tried Vnish to overcome this mix-match issue and I can personally confirmed that it worked.

With that said, how are you sure that it is not fixing the compatibility issue, for all we know, the ones that don't work, might just be dead, to confirm that this isn't the case you are going to have to run them individually, i.e a single hashboard plugged, the only way you can come to a conclusion that the firmware isn't fixing the compatibility issue would be to have 2 (working) hash boards running together, if they don't work smoothly then you know it's a compatibility issue, of course, provided that you know the PSU is good and is capable of running more than 1 hahsboard.

Also, it would be great to comment on their topic, they have a representative here who is very knowledgable in that firmware aspect, and should confirm wether their firmware indeed fixes the issue, if I had to guess, I'd guess it does fix the problem and whatever results you are getting are caused by other issues.

[BitMaxz]

Update:
It seems that the BraiinsOS+ kernal log is different from stock bitmain? I dont see anything about hashboard voltages in there.

Braiins and stock firmware give you different logs if you are still using BraiinsOS you need to provide both kernel logs and system logs and post them here.
You can find most of the errors related to the power and Hashboard under the system logs.

Why not share both kernel and system logs here so that we can troubleshoot?

The braiins should ignore the different power voltages come from the hashboard I don't know about the mix-match but it ignores the power from the hashboard EEPROM.
Like I said in my previous post run them one by one while you are using Braiins OS don't mix them with other hashboard yet and test them to see if these hashboards work. Once you know these hashboards are all working start to run them all in Braiins then monitor both system and kernel logs.

[BlazinaBits]

What is happening is that I am getting 0 chips detected on a hashboard, so I am swap that one out with different hashboards until one is recognized.

I assumed this was because the voltages were different, but maybe it is because those hashboards are broken, and when one works its not becauses its compatible but because I found a good one?

[danieleither]

'0 Asics' in the kernel log (or any number of ASICS below the actual number on the board) means the hashboard needs repair. Swapping it into another machine won't fix it. If my memory serves me correctly, there are 65 Asic chips on an S17+ hashboard.

In some rare cases, aftermarket firmware 'may' get the hashboard going with unusual voltage / frequency settings but it's unlikely. I've have had some limited success with '0 Asic' boards by putting them in the *freezer for a few days, and/or running a hot air gun over the heatsinks - however they failed again a few weeks later. Sometimes if you can 'preheat' the Asics (e.g. blow a hairdryer into the air inlet of the miner before powering up) - this has occasionally been known to get a board working, but only until the next time the power is cycled.

A few years back, I sent a batch of faulty S17+, S17 Pro and T17+ boards off to a reputable repairer in the USA (recommended by several respected forum members), and this was also a waste of time. Out of 30-odd boards, they were only able to repair 5 boards, and at a cost of over $2000. If they can't repair your hashboard, there will still understandably be a charge for their time to inspect and diagnose. The 5 boards they repaired only lasted a month or so, with exception to 1 board which lasted years and is still running to this day, in what is the last of my 17-series miners.

In my personal opinion it is not worth sending 17-series hashboards off for external repair, as it is simply not worth the cost and risk. Repair charges can be up to $250 per board, however you can buy a brand-new entry-level S19 (e.g. 82T) for around $800 (the cost for 3 advanced hashboard repairs with postage). It makes no economical sense.

Bitmain miners are not built to last. The typical 'reliable' life of a Bitmain miner is 1.5 years, 2 years at a push. 17-series haven't been produced for well over 2 years now, so even if you get some ASICs replaced, chances are a hasboardboard will only last another few weeks or months before other ASIC's fail, rendering it useless again. It's quite feasible that these miners you have purchased have been running 24/7 for the past 2 or 3 years.

Combining hashboards into one miner will not fix broken hashboards, it will just reduce the amount of real-estate in your farm (for example if you had 100 miners with 1 working hashboard each, you could theoretically combine these working hashboards into 30-odd machines instead of 100, which would take up less space and racking - and require less airflow in your farm). BUT there is a downside to this, which is that 17-series PSU's become notoriously weak after a year or so. They may be fine running 1 or 2 hashboards, but then when you try to run 3 they will fail. Confusingly, this is often indicated by 127-127-127-127 temperature readouts in the GUI... Anyhoo, if you have miners with one or two working boards, it's probably best to leave them like this, rather than risk stressing what is potentially, a 2 or 3 year old PSU.

As for repair of your faulty hashboards, I'd say it's only worth it if you can learn to do this yourself. But you will require some specialist equipment, and you will be working with surface mount, very intricate work which requires skills and experience. There is a Bitmain training course which I believe is $5000, or if you're already a skilled technician, you may be able to teach yourself from videos online and resources such as ZeusBTC.

*If you plan to use the freezer method, you need to put the board into a sealed bag (e.g. a large freezer bag) and ensure it is kept dry.