Very unofficial review of the BitaxeGamma miner.

[philipma1957]

Okay set it up today.

here is a quick gui shot.

first impressions are this will need to be tweaked a bit. before I fully review it.

https://solo.ckpool.org/users/146UJM5kgzLVUV23CXCf33KQKHckoX1gx3

it is under preforming but I may be having internet issues.

first tweak was use a different address

first tweak https://solo.ckpool.org/users/bc1qtcasgay4runad5kajafk0e7gz9c6r3akje5ref

working better with that address. than with the 146.... address

[philipma1957]

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first tweak https://solo.ckpool.org/users/bc1qtcasgay4runad5kajafk0e7gz9c6r3akje5ref

working better with that address.

unboxing



lots of packing



more packing

[philipma1957]

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[philipma1957]

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[philipma1957]

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[sidehack]

Check your thermal paste. I don't trust these two-point heatsinks very far and it probably wiggled in transit and jacked up the paste.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

As has been pointed out in other threads, the ESP32 micro-controller used is an extraordinarily poor choice for miners. It is made for use in very simple IoT devices such as sensors, thermostats, wearables, etc. that do not need good performance. Even the maker of them clearly states that. Even the best one only has 2 cores/threads which means that at best it can process hashes and do I/O without having to interrupt the processes provided the main and I/O threads are programmed to run independently. AFAIK the one used in the BitAxe has only 1 core...

All of that out of the way, does it work? Sure - but when there is a change of work and when it talks to the WiFi things slow down a lot. Because Skot is/was an IoT developer it makes some sense that he'd pick the ESP32 just because he is familiar with it. Unfortunately he did not know that you REALLY need a REAL multi-core/threaded CPU to ensure decent performance so the various processes running do not have to interrupt each other. Even the original RasPi-1 used a more capable chip.  ref https://www.elprocus.com/difference-between-esp32-vs-raspberry-pi/

FYI, while the 1st ones from Sidehack will be using the same micro he is already redesigning it to use the Pi Nano to eliminate the processing bottlenecks and also allow using USB along with hardwired LAN connections.
edit: struckout comment on redesign.

[sidehack]

You are a little bit mistaken, Phil Fuzzy. I'm working on designing an internal controller for proper GekkoScience gear, not for the Bitaxe or OSMU. You are correct though that the ESP32 is fairly inadequate.

[philipma1957]

You are a little bit mistaken, edit NotfuzzyWarm Phil. I'm working on designing an internal controller for proper GekkoScience gear, not for the Bitaxe or OSMU. You are correct though that the ESP32 is fairly inadequate.

fixed that for you,

It has settled down nicely.




overkill power supply that is also powering a second fan look at that fan and realize it has a usb a style end in that overkill power supply


the cools thing is the second fan is courtesy of Avalon (thanks DaveF)

I purchased the Avalon nano from  and Avalon sent the fan as a gift so Dave sent it to me the other day.

here it is stand alone.
 now you know how to use it (a secondary bitaxe cooler )

[philipma1957]

thoughts

1) it is cute.
2) I have to look for a better 5 volt power supply I do have a meanwell someplace.
3) it is quiet even with the Avalon nano fan


https://www.meanwell.com/upload/pdf/LRS-100/LRS-100-SPEC.PDF


I ordered the 5 volt from amazon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DM24C9C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?

can run 2 or 3 of these  can adjust as high as 5.5 volts

note my psu is set to 5.18 volts but reads at 4.8 volts due to draw from miner.

please with it and happy it likes the nano Avalon  fan for extra cooling.

this will stack


bitaxe on top
nano gift fan second
mean well psu bottom

[philipma1957]

and it is dead.  I am guessing they was a short.

temp would spike up and down.

overheat

I replace paste

temp would spike up and down

then go into over heat mode


it no longer goes into mining

I will talk to sidehack about a replacement.

[philipma1957]

After fucking with gear really long time I realize the two pin heatsink is a bad choice.

I thought there was an intermittent short that cause the heat to fluctuate like mad.

53
65
52
67
57
75 over heat mode

I am designing a fix.

It will involve
 four nylon machine screws
 four nylon washers
a 50 mm copper plate
the oem heatsink


the issue that causes the roller coaster temps is the oem heat sink rocks  due to the fan moving at 5000 rpm


the pcb board does have four heat sink mounting holes.

the chip is tiny and the fan will rock the oem heatsink changing temps all over the place.

if you use a copper square
you can mark where to drill it.

put the four washers on the oem pcb board run the four nylon screws under the board and through the washers

lay the 50x50x6 copper plate over the four screws.

tighten two of the screws on an angle
lay the oem heatsink with a lot of paste over the other two  nylon screws

tighten it all up.

the new plate will now rock it has four screws holding it.
it has the nylon washers under it making it level

the oem heatsink is now a tiny bit smaller than the 50 mm plate thus it keeps steady contact as it has no place to rock.

I have washers
I HAVE screw and nuts
i just ordered the copper plate

this should be a fun project

[heslo]

Please post pics of this when you're done! I should get mine tomorrow so looking forward to tinkering. Any luck with the failure or is it still dead?

[botor123]

400Mxз, 66C,100%fan - your cooling is very weak. replace it with an argon fan.

[philipma1957]

it is definitely the heat sink

the chip is tiny and the heat sink is big. thus it wants to wobble because of the 2 connectors.

I hope to have my mod done by Friday.

I got this plate


https://www.ebay.com/itm/284945811793


it will need 4 holes drilled into it and a small notch by the reset and boot buttons.

at botor123

I will keep your fan choice in mind

[Skot]

As has been pointed out in other threads, the ESP32 micro-controller used is an extraordinarily poor choice for miners. It is made for use in very simple IoT devices such as sensors, thermostats, wearables, etc. that do not need good performance. Even the maker of them clearly states that. Even the best one only has 2 cores/threads which means that at best it can process hashes and do I/O without having to interrupt the processes provided the main and I/O threads are programmed to run independently. AFAIK the one used in the BitAxe has only 1 core...

All of that out of the way, does it work? Sure - but when there is a change of work and when it talks to the WiFi things slow down a lot. Because Skot is/was an IoT developer it makes some sense that he'd pick the ESP32 just because he is familiar with it. Unfortunately he did not know that you REALLY need a REAL multi-core/threaded CPU to ensure decent performance so the various processes running do not have to interrupt each other. Even the original RasPi-1 used a more capable chip.  ref https://www.elprocus.com/difference-between-esp32-vs-raspberry-pi/

FYI, while the 1st ones from Sidehack will be using the same micro he is already redesigning it to use the Pi Nano to eliminate the processing bottlenecks and also allow using USB along with hardwired LAN connections.
edit: struckout comment on redesign.

Nah, the ESP32S3 (indeed dual core) is more than enough for a handful of ASICs. It's your Cortex-A running Linux that is overkill

[philipma1957]

As has been pointed out in other threads, the ESP32 micro-controller used is an extraordinarily poor choice for miners. It is made for use in very simple IoT devices such as sensors, thermostats, wearables, etc. that do not need good performance. Even the maker of them clearly states that. Even the best one only has 2 cores/threads which means that at best it can process hashes and do I/O without having to interrupt the processes provided the main and I/O threads are programmed to run independently. AFAIK the one used in the BitAxe has only 1 core...

All of that out of the way, does it work? Sure - but when there is a change of work and when it talks to the WiFi things slow down a lot. Because Skot is/was an IoT developer it makes some sense that he'd pick the ESP32 just because he is familiar with it. Unfortunately he did not know that you REALLY need a REAL multi-core/threaded CPU to ensure decent performance so the various processes running do not have to interrupt each other. Even the original RasPi-1 used a more capable chip.  ref https://www.elprocus.com/difference-between-esp32-vs-raspberry-pi/

FYI, while the 1st ones from Sidehack will be using the same micro he is already redesigning it to use the Pi Nano to eliminate the processing bottlenecks and also allow using USB along with hardwired LAN connections.
edit: struckout comment on redesign.

Nah, the ESP32S3 (indeed dual core) is more than enough for a handful of ASICs. It's your Cortex-A running Linux that is overkill

Well when I redesign the heatsink. I will post the design it's cheap to do it.

A question is the stock heat sink copper or colored aluminum?

I ordered both aluminum and copper plates to do the mod.

I am really hoping my idea is a big improvement as it is pretty cheap

[Skot]

Stock heatsink is aluminum. It's actually a repurposed PC northbridge heatsink. If you look around some people have found bigger versions. There is also the Argon THRML cooler if you want to go supercharged.

The stock heatsink and fan is capable of cooling the bitaxeGamma at stock hash frequency and voltage settings. If you aren't stable at the defaults, you should speak with the seller.

Because of the increased power of the BM1370 chip in the Gamma, there isn't much headroom for overclocking with the stock heatsink.

[philipma1957]

Stock heatsink is aluminum. It's actually a repurposed PC northbridge heatsink. If you look around some people have found bigger versions. There is also the Argon THRML cooler if you want to go supercharged.

The stock heatsink and fan is capable of cooling the bitaxeGamma at stock hash frequency and voltage settings. If you aren't stable at the defaults, you should speak with the seller.

Because of the increased power of the BM1370 chip in the Gamma, there isn't much headroom for overclocking with the stock heatsink.

I will be getting the parts to mod the heatsink setup. Sidehack thought it could be the heatsink. As I look at your design I see a small chip maybe 7mm square. A 40mm heatsink rests on that.

So you have a balance act because the heat sink sits on top of the small chip and only has a set of 2 fasteners.

Since the heat sink is raised off the pcb having 4 points vs 2 is better.

If it works cool if not then it has an issue I don't understand.

[Skot]

the ASIC is less than 1mm high. there isn't really much room to rock.