ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[PatMan]

There's quite a lot wrong with this firmware update for me I'm afraid, apart from it being broken in the first place of course. Having to fix it before you can use your S3 again after flashing is pretty stupid on it's own, but the appearance of two invisible fan readings with no explanation & the voltage adjustment setting, again with no explanation, make it verging on the ridiculous.

I've been running it on two of my S3's for 24 hours now just to experiment & see if there is any improvement over my other Ants running the older firmware with ck's excellent S3 binary added, and from what I can see - it's worse. The load on the Ants has gone up from ~1.8 to over 2.4, the reject rate has gone up from ~2.5% to over 3.5%, the stale rate has gone from less than 1% to over 2% and the cpu usage has increased from ~75% to 95-100% - the only thing that hasn't changed is the HW error rate & the hash rate.

I'm not sure if Bitmain are using the same binary that ck done for the S3, but if they are, I can only imagine that all the extra needless additions to the (broken) firmware are overloading the already overloaded/underpowered controller which is causing the higher rejects/stales/cpu rate. One thing is certain though, Bitmain have once again not bothered testing their firmware whatsoever, making the same mistake as they did with the S4 - simply because if they had of tested it properly they would have noticed that it was not only broken in the first place, but also that the performance was worse than the older version.

I just thank the cyber gods that I didn't rush straight in & flash all my S3's in one go with this junk firmware, as I now have only two S3's to revert back to the older firmware with ck's binary - instead of 20 

Whoever "created" this firmware should be sacked.

Absolutely. The fact that they leave the broken firmware up for people to download is disgusting. I too have reverted back to the older firmware with ck's binary - it just works better. I was always under the impression that firmware updates were supposed to improve performance, not break it & degrade it......

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[aarons6]

i put the new firmware on my S3s and while the HW errors have went down i also noticed a slight drop in hash and an increase in stale shares.. one s3 is getting about 2 an hour vs the other one 2 in a whole day.

altho i havent noticed an increase in invalid shares from the pool.. so maybe the stale shares before wasnt being calculated? maybe the new cgminer has the dont submit stales tag set..

anyway, would it be beneficial to put the newer cgminer on top of the new firmware? has anyone tried this?

[PatMan]

I tried it - made little to no difference. The new firmware is too bloated for the S3 as well as poorly done, it can't keep up, it can barely keep up with the older firmware....

[aarons6]

I tried it - made little to no difference. The new firmware is too bloated for the S3 as well as poorly done, it can't keep up, it can barely keep up with the older firmware....

yep, just tried it, every 5 minutes the s3s beep and lose connection.
im going back to the 826 FW with the newer cgminer..

[InquiringMinds]

Is there a way to get an S3 to never ever beep for any reason without covering up or removing the speaker?

I have beeping set to false but whenever my mining pools take a dump i'm left with 4 beeping (crying) baby S3s.

Thanks

[mdude77]

Is there a way to get an S3 to never ever beep for any reason without covering up or removing the speaker?

I have beeping set to false but whenever my mining pools take a dump i'm left with 4 beeping (crying) baby S3s.

Thanks

Not that I've found.  And it's not a nice quiet beep like S1s, it's a loud annoying beep.

M

[kodiak1120]

Anyone have any coupons they want to donate to me? I'm looking for 2 to 3. Mine went missing from my account for some reason.

Thanks.

[aclass]

show us a screen of your disabled coupons ... maybe BITMAIN will help you out

Anyone have any coupons they want to donate to me? I'm looking for 2 to 3. Mine went missing from my account for some reason.

Thanks.

[firewire2013]

Is this ok

4x S3+ OC'd

[ltcnim]

I'm currently thinking about buying one of those. However, the price in the EU is kinda high (compared to the price from Bitmain directly (even with shipping)),
so I'd like to ask how many mBtc does one device generate at current diff in average per day? thanks in advance.

[firewire2013]

I'm currently thinking about buying one of those. However, the price in the EU is kinda high (compared to the price from Bitmain directly (even with shipping)),
so I'd like to ask how many mBtc does one device generate at current diff in average per day? thanks in advance.

If you talking to me, I have no idea. Im in the UK and mine are due next week I got the S3+ Antminers from eBay brand new for £185 + Free Postage. I bought 4.

[pekatete]

Is this ok

4x S3+ OC'd

You need to get the notion that you need 4 connectors populated to power an overclocked S3+ out of your mind.
I'll do some maths for you to judge what you need.

Each 6 pin PCI-e connector, fully populated with PROPER 16AWG cables carries 7.5A * 3 = 22.5A which equates to 270 Watts @ 12V
That is enough to power a board in an overclocked S3+ (just one socket!), so for a 1200W PSU, you can safely power 2 S3+'s overclocked. Having said that, a single S3+ will not draw that much power, so a 1000W PSU can safely power 2 overclocked S3+'s.

Depending on how much power is available on each rail of your PSU, one 6 pin PCI-e socket should be adequate per S3+ board (making it 2 for the rig), but if you chose to populate all four, go ahead. For the cost and headache of an off the shelf PSU, I'd recomend a server PSU which are fare more efficient and robust than their desktop counterparts (and cost next to nothing, again compared to their desktop counterparts!)

[firewire2013]

Is this ok

4x S3+ OC'd

You need to get the notion that you need 4 connectors populated to power an overclocked S3+ out of your mind.
I'll do some maths for you to judge what you need.

Each 6 pin PCI-e connector, fully populated with PROPER 16AWG cables carries 7.5A * 3 = 22.5A which equates to 270 Watts @ 12V
That is enough to power a board in an overclocked S3+ (just one socket!), so for a 1200W PSU, you can safely power 2 S3+'s overclocked. Having said that, a single S3+ will not draw that much power, so a 1000W PSU can safely power 2 overclocked S3+'s.

Depending on how much power is available on each rail of your PSU, one 6 pin PCI-e socket should be adequate per S3+ board (making it 2 for the rig), but if you chose to populate all four, go ahead. For the cost and headache of an off the shelf PSU, I'd recomend a server PSU which are fare more efficient and robust than their desktop counterparts (and cost next to nothing, again compared to their desktop counterparts!)

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Also I understand the concept of only requiring 2 pair device but that using 16awg, just looking at my Cooler master VGA cables and they say 18awg.

So in theory its not the device that requires the extra power, its the quality of cables used.

[pekatete]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

[firewire2013]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

Was looking at this one to power all four.

[pekatete]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

Was looking at this one to power all four.

img<<>>img

That will definitely power all four. All you need is solder a few wires, then connect those wires to an inline cable connector, and then have your PCI-e sockets off the inlines.

EDIT:
By straight division, each raile has 21.875A so all you'd have to do is have each rail power a single PCI-e socket!

[firewire2013]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

Was looking at this one to power all four.

img<<>>img

That will definitely power all four. All you need is solder a few wires, then connect those wires to an inline cable connector, and then have your PCI-e sockets off the inlines.

Ok I know what to do now...

Now where do I find a ''how to make VGA PCI-e cable with out blowing your self up'' thread

[pekatete]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

Was looking at this one to power all four.

img<<>>img

That will definitely power all four. All you need is solder a few wires, then connect those wires to an inline cable connector, and then have your PCI-e sockets off the inlines.

Ok I know what to do now...

Now where do I find a ''how to make VGA PCI-e cable with out blowing your self up'' thread

Actually, you can get those cables ready-made from moddiy.com
http://www.moddiy.com/products/DELL1950-2950-PE1950-2950-8-Pin-%252b-6-Pin-PCI%252dE-Power-Cable-%2850cm%252b10cm%29.html
(those are plug and play for that particular PSU!)
EDIT: Scrub that! They are not plug and play for that PSU!

or look on ebay for female pin connectors and 6 pin PCI-e sockets (normally, the person who sells the sockets does the pins too, so if you can not find the pins, search for sockets and enquire from them about the pins). Making them up yourself, I have to say, makes them dirt cheap!

[klondike_bar]

Yeah I've been looking at the Server PSU's and there dirt cheap, only problem is I cant find any breakout boards in the UK.

Breakout boards are over-rated! What PSU have you looked at? You can rig-up your very own contraption .... remember, bitcoin mining is about ROI and the less you spend on the PSU the better / faster to ROI. If you are not afraid of the solder iron, you can drastically reduce the cost of a PSU (both in terms of outlay and reliability) by over 90% if not more by going the server PSU way .... your choice!
I use Dell server PSU's and did not need breakout boards for them, simply soldered the wires.

Was looking at this one to power all four.

img<<>>img

That will definitely power all four. All you need is solder a few wires, then connect those wires to an inline cable connector, and then have your PCI-e sockets off the inlines.

Ok I know what to do now...

Now where do I find a ''how to make VGA PCI-e cable with out blowing your self up'' thread

Look at my signature.i sell 24" 16awg pcie cables. The ends are stripped, so it's easy to either solder them to the server PSU, or buy the correct size of pins at a hardware store and crimp them to the wires.

And way cheaper than most other sellers ($1.40-$2 each in the quantity you want, as opposed to $4-6 elsewhere, often with only 18awg)

[pekatete]

Look at my signature.i sell 24" 16awg pcie cables. The ends are stripped, so it's easy to either solder them to the server PSU, or buy the correct size of pins at a hardware store and crimp them to the wires.

And way cheaper than most other sellers ($1.40-$2 each in the quantity you want, as opposed to $4-6 elsewhere, often with only 18awg)

What is your shipping cost to the UK for 10?