[DIY] - Reward $100 | Antminer S1/S3 Blade on Raspberry Pi

[pekatete]

S1 arrived, time for some fun, I'll have a look tomorrow.
"Missing" headers on the control unit added for debug and also in circuit serial programming just in case I'd need it.

J4bberwock, YOU are the man.

[smit1237]

Looks like  it will be very easy. Just tx rx. Loks like we need just ttl converter for each blade. For example ft232. And i2c to read temp.

[J4bberwock]

Looks like  it will be very easy. Just tx rx. Loks like we need just ttl converter for each blade. For example ft232. And i2c to read temp.

no need for temp sensing if you don't mind the noise of the fans.
and yes, it's probably easy like that and having cgminer recognizing the boards.
That's the reason why I'll use the mr3020 router that have almost the same hardware than the control board. Firmware could work directly.
If it works as expected, updating cgminer for other platforms should be easy for software guys.
I'll have 1 or 2 hours to look at it tomorrow, willl keep you updated.

[smit1237]

using mr3020 is a good idea. Looks like cgminer build  for antminer u1 can recognize the chips through the simple uart bridge. Need to test it under linux.

[powersup]

Looks like  it will be very easy. Just tx rx. Loks like we need just ttl converter for each blade. For example ft232. And i2c to read temp.

no need for temp sensing if you don't mind the noise of the fans.
and yes, it's probably easy like that and having cgminer recognizing the boards.
That's the reason why I'll use the mr3020 router that have almost the same hardware than the control board. Firmware could work directly.
If it works as expected, updating cgminer for other platforms should be easy for software guys.
I'll have 1 or 2 hours to look at it tomorrow, willl keep you updated.

Good luck mate.  I still stand behind my donation amount if you can get this working.  It would also be a bonus if you can get it working on a windows platform using a simple USB->UART bridge.

I believe the other signal is for fan PWM to control fan speed.  I don't think this would be needed as fan can just run at full rpm.  So really it does come down to a 2-wire RX/TX signal

[smit1237]

Looks like  it will be very easy. Just tx rx. Loks like we need just ttl converter for each blade. For example ft232. And i2c to read temp.

no need for temp sensing if you don't mind the noise of the fans.
and yes, it's probably easy like that and having cgminer recognizing the boards.
That's the reason why I'll use the mr3020 router that have almost the same hardware than the control board. Firmware could work directly.
If it works as expected, updating cgminer for other platforms should be easy for software guys.
I'll have 1 or 2 hours to look at it tomorrow, willl keep you updated.

Good luck mate.  I still stand behind my donation amount if you can get this working.  It would also be a bonus if you can get it working on a windows platform using a simple USB->UART bridge.

I believe the other signal is for fan PWM to control fan speed.  I don't think this would be needed as fan can just run at full rpm.  So really it does come down to a 2-wire RX/TX signal

Yes just rx tx and ground.  Now i must figure out where cgminer stores vid pid of devices and change it to match my ttl bridge. I think windows build is possible.  I don't pretend to bounty, just want to help

[smit1237]

Cgminer 4.5.0 cannot initialize blade . Looks like driver waiting something more. Need to advice from developers. But old cgminer  for antminer u1 3.8.5 can detect chips and set frequency. I'm think we need a custom simplified driver. That's all. Antminer s1 back to mining now

[7queue]

Cgminer 4.5.0 cannot initialize blade . Looks like driver waiting something more. Need to advice from developers. But old cgminer  for antminer u1 3.8.5 can detect chips and set frequency. I'm think we need a custom simplified driver. That's all. Antminer s1 back to mining now

I built this version and it is running fine, built with and without curses, even have it solo mining... this is on the original controller that came with the s1

https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer/tree/ants1-4.3.2a-85fcf0c

note it is branch ants1-4.3.2a-85fcf0c


There are two bitmain specific kernel modules, kmod-bitmain-asic.control & kmod-bitmain-asic.list that are on the installed version of OpenWrt

8 )

[J4bberwock]

Cgminer 4.5.0 cannot initialize blade . Looks like driver waiting something more. Need to advice from developers. But old cgminer  for antminer u1 3.8.5 can detect chips and set frequency. I'm think we need a custom simplified driver. That's all. Antminer s1 back to mining now

I built this version and it is running fine, built with and without curses, even have it solo mining... this is on the original controller that came with the s1

https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer/tree/ants1-4.3.2a-85fcf0c

note it is branch ants1-4.3.2a-85fcf0c


There are two bitmain specific kernel modules, kmod-bitmain-asic.control & kmod-bitmain-asic.list that are on the installed version of OpenWrt

8 )

Ok, looks like we are waiting for the usb interface, I'll have a look at it for the next. 2 hours. If it works as I expect it to, I should have the hardware side ready by tomorrow. Waiting for 1 thing that should be delivered today or tomorrow.

[klondike_bar]

I'm getting an S1 in 2 days as a new toy to play with after the gridseed and zeus.
Considering what is the control board, I believe something can be done, but will almost for sure need custom firmware, and a few components.
I'll elaborate when I'll have the control board in hands, but it's not like splitting the data sent to one board to feed 2 or more boards.
I won't have the software skills to do it, but I'll probably have the hardware ones, if it can be done.

I've got my ear to the ground on that ma' friend!
I am convinced that those ribbon cables are simply rx/tx lines from a USB chip on the controller board. In my scheme of things, I was actually looking at running the boards without the bitmain controller board and simply powering them up and connecting to my own laptop's USB via a custom USB chip (I am guessing there are going to be at least 4 tx/rx lines per board) that can handle 4 lines then looking at kano's driver (I already have a miner) to run on a windows PC.

But hey, mine is probably more suited to me and will be in the works for a while now, nevertheless I await your results in a couple of days when you get your S1 (I personally want to use the boards from an S1 that I will be upgrading with the S3 kit).

You are right on the usb thing.
There is only 1 USB line from the atheros chip, and it's routed to some kind of USB hub on the board.
Then, each header is used for temp sensing, fan driving, and 1 usb line.

But the same atheros chip is used in the TPLINK 3020. I guess now, you understand what I'm looking for?

Hacking a TPlink firmware with the cgminer that supports the bitmain chips/boards is the easiest and most cost effective way to do it.

Then, the usb interface can be easily made with a simple and cheap PCB or even a usb cable to whatever pin header they are using.

Controling the temperatures and the fans would be lost if you use a simple usb cable.

I hope my explainations are clear enough so someone on the software side can implement them.
I started to look at this a few hours ago with nothing else than the schematics and a few pics of the board, so I don't have all the details yet, and I need the boards to work.

^sounds like a good way to go, the tplink would be a lot cleaner of a build than an RPi and even cheaper.

One easy way to do this may be to compare with the U1/U2 devices, which hosted a singular chip and acted as a UART-USB bridge. My understanding is that the chips communicate data in a singular chain, or at least as 4 chains per PCB.

undervolted boards could likely run with airflow only and no heatsink, making a restored S1 system very cheap to build as an open-air if many boards vcan control together

[J4bberwock]

Small update, it was easier than expected.
I still need zadig, and here we go 

[smit1237]

Small update, it was easier than expected.
I still need zadig, and here we go 

As i said tx rx nothing more
What version of cgminer do you use?

[J4bberwock]

before Zadig



The laptop is slow as hell, Zadig takes hours to update the driver.

[pekatete]

Small update, it was easier than expected.
I still need zadig, and here we go 

You need to spill the beans ma friend .... YOU are the man.
Easy is easy to say, do the hard bit, how easy? You can not begin to imagine the glee on ma ugly face right now! (Disclaimer: the glee don't make me look prettier!)

If it is that easy, then chaning should as well, a matter of getting one of those ribbon cables with a male/female on one end and a male on the other .... then plug them in.

[powersup]

before Zadig



The laptop is slow as hell, Zadig takes hours to update the driver.

Nice work, what are you using as the USB to UART bridge?

[J4bberwock]

And here is after zadig

I still need to figure how to change clock.




Since it's opensource, and cheap, here is what I used.

simple UART to USB converter with CP2102 chip
1 hashing board from the S1

and that's all.
I downloaded a cgminer build that was used for U1, fired it, and here is the result

We can now make a cheap control board that can handle as many antminer hashing boards as we want.
I'll have a look for a design within the next few days.
I suggest that the ones who initiated/donated for his project will get 1 free board manufactured using the bounty and shipped to them.

[powersup]

ok, official legend status goes to J4bberwock

[J4bberwock]

ok, official legend status goes to J4bberwock

It took me almost 1 hour 

[powersup]

ok, official legend status goes to J4bberwock

It took me almost 1 hour 

I had a feeling it was going to be easy, but you actually went ahead and got it done.  This should also work for the S3 as the chip is basically the same as the S1.  This has opened a new branch of S1/S3 modding.

[smit1237]

Nice. Now i can buy some s3 upgrade kits.
PS Damn, faulty ttl adapter