ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[pinhead666]

Only Tx line is not what it should. It's that 1.8 before it starts to hash. When it's hashing that voltage drops somewhere between 1.5-1.6 volts. If you have an oscilloscope you can check if there are pulses,or is it a flatline. It's fourth pin from left in upper row. I would suspect pic's fw but if same thing happens with other controller too that can't be the cause. Check if oscillator is running on hashboard.

[wetwood]

Hi guys,
This is my first time using a dedicated miner, few years ago I used my graphics card.
Do these stats look ok regarding the s3? and what is the best method for making the s3 last? keeping the temps cool? turning it off once in awhile? cleaned out the fans and internals when purchased. Got this at a bargain price in the UK £80 looking to expand on this after a few months.

Current Setup, running at 428.4 Gh/s.
https://i.imgur.com/OrXnuOw.jpg


Iv noticed my miner drops to 350gh/s then back upto 400+ is this common?
https://i.imgur.com/lE64XZv.jpg

not sure if this is in the correct section.

[aarons6]

Hi guys,
This is my first time using a dedicated miner, few years ago I used my graphics card.
Do these stats look ok regarding the s3? and what is the best method for making the s3 last? keeping the temps cool? turning it off once in awhile? cleaned out the fans and internals when purchased. Got this at a bargain price in the UK £80 looking to expand on this after a few months.

Current Setup, running at 428.4 Gh/s.
https://i.imgur.com/OrXnuOw.jpg


Iv noticed my miner drops to 350gh/s then back upto 400+ is this common?
https://i.imgur.com/lE64XZv.jpg

not sure if this is in the correct section.

looks ok. its normal for it to fluctuate. its the avg you are looking for.

[wetwood]

looks ok. its normal for it to fluctuate. its the avg you are looking for.

Thank you sir (Y)

[pinhead666]

I have 2 antminer s3+. One that is fine and one that yesterday stopped finding the hashing boards. I can connect to the controller card and have reset and changed the firmware(downgrading to the first firmware for the S3+). I have also swapped the controller card from the working one and the power supplies to see if that fixes the problem but it does not.

When the S3+ boots up both fans turn and controller card and network are up(I can access the web server of the controller card). On the miner status page though it does not show any information under the “ant miner” panel. Pool is alive too by the way. LED lights are blinking both RED and GREEN quickly at the same time. Load seems very low compared to the other miner too. Under the system log it looks like the controller never finds “USB Bitmain asic”.

 I also see +3.3V on the controller and +12V on the hashing boards at the large capacitors on the top of each hashing board. So it seem like power is getting to everything the way it should.

Any help would greatly appreciated. I have a ton of S1’s and they have been happy hashing for a year now so I am surprised this S3+ seemingly not being able to recover.

I have also reset my router and my power supply is a CORSAIR CX series CX750M 750W which is running just the one S3+.

Just for a common knowledge: Faulty chip  is U21.Marking on top reads: EB=3L. Short circuits 1v8 and 3v3 lines. Controller seems to boot but after that red and green just keep flashing. Pretty easy to repair, just six legs in that component.

[rockyforever]

having an issue with my S3+

Just recently purchased through craiglist.

Worked for 3 days without issue now I get XXXXXXXX. I've tried new PCIE connectors, New PSU, updating and loading original firmware to no avail. Any assistance would be great. thanks!

http://imgur.com/cxxfUTL

Also the HWs are high as heck!

[rockyforever]

having an issue with my S3+

Just recently purchased through craiglist.

Worked for 3 days without issue now I get XXXXXXXX. I've tried new PCIE connectors, New PSU, updating and loading original firmware to no avail. Any assistance would be great. thanks!

http://imgur.com/cxxfUTL

Also the HWs are high as heck!

i have some thermal paste on order going to try that first with reapplication. One board shows ------- on another miner. Hoping the boards aren't dead just need some touch up. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!

[adaseb]

having an issue with my S3+

Just recently purchased through craiglist.

Worked for 3 days without issue now I get XXXXXXXX. I've tried new PCIE connectors, New PSU, updating and loading original firmware to no avail. Any assistance would be great. thanks!

http://imgur.com/cxxfUTL

Also the HWs are high as heck!

i have some thermal paste on order going to try that first with reapplication. One board shows ------- on another miner. Hoping the boards aren't dead just need some touch up. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!

Take it apart and measure the voltages going into each chips. They should be 0.75V

[rockyforever]

having an issue with my S3+

Just recently purchased through craiglist.

Worked for 3 days without issue now I get XXXXXXXX. I've tried new PCIE connectors, New PSU, updating and loading original firmware to no avail. Any assistance would be great. thanks!

http://imgur.com/cxxfUTL

Also the HWs are high as heck!

i have some thermal paste on order going to try that first with reapplication. One board shows ------- on another miner. Hoping the boards aren't dead just need some touch up. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. thanks!

Take it apart and measure the voltages going into each chips. They should be 0.75V

2 are also blinking red and green together. I tried new PSU and tried moving a miner that works control board to try that but nothing.

is there a guide to how to check the volts going to the chips?

[gecox22]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

[notlist3d]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

I think the problem will be getting the controllers.  I doubt bitmain has C1 controllers in stock anymore (I could be wrong, they may surprise me). 

But if you do I think if I remember right will allow 4 blades so I think you could hook up two S3's.  But by the time you add this I think it's just not worth it. S3 are getting dated I would try to use separate and squeeze out more profit instead of buying the new controller, unless your doing it for sake of modding and not based on ROI.

[gecox22]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

I think the problem will be getting the controllers.  I doubt bitmain has C1 controllers in stock anymore (I could be wrong, they may surprise me). 

But if you do I think if I remember right will allow 4 blades so I think you could hook up two S3's.  But by the time you add this I think it's just not worth it. S3 are getting dated I would try to use separate and squeeze out more profit instead of buying the new controller, unless your doing it for sake of modding and not based on ROI.

Was thinking it might be more efficient running 4 or more together than separate.

[notlist3d]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

I think the problem will be getting the controllers.  I doubt bitmain has C1 controllers in stock anymore (I could be wrong, they may surprise me). 

But if you do I think if I remember right will allow 4 blades so I think you could hook up two S3's.  But by the time you add this I think it's just not worth it. S3 are getting dated I would try to use separate and squeeze out more profit instead of buying the new controller, unless your doing it for sake of modding and not based on ROI.

Was thinking it might be more efficient running 4 or more together than separate.

It would be more efficient to run 4 blades vs 2.  The problem is the price of the controller if they even have them in stock on C1 controllers.  When you pay say 150 per S3 (was 100 before price of btc went up).  The 40ish dollars I'm guessing on controller just is a decent amount of the machines overall cost, even divided between the two.

Granted it makes it easier as 1 IP for the  4 blades.... but I think it's not worth it unless you happen to have controller laying around.

[pinhead666]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

Yep, I have done some testing with these. Original S3-controller was propably meant to control more than two boards. It's schematics show connections for 4 hashboards. But problem is that firmware has support only for 2 hashboards. In hw-level I can read code from pic-mcu and reprogram it, but changing that code would need assembler coding. It's propably easier to write new code to do that. But coding isn't one of my best skills. Open-wrt module's software is also capable to update that pic's code so it might be possible to tweak it's drivers. But again,it's beyond my knowledge.
There might also be a reason why they dropped that pic/ar9331 controller out: it has only 2 physical uart's. Some of pins can be programmed for uarts but I'm not sure if that pic is fast enough for it. Some wiser men have told me that it works if the baudrate is low enough. But I really don't know, I'm just a hobbyist.
Ofcourse it can be done with usb/uart adapters like cp2102. You only need to do level shifting too and provide 1v8 and 3v3 to hashboards. It works, I have tested it, but every hashboard needs its own cp2102 adapter. I might try to build an adapter with cp2108 in it. So it could drive 4 boards with one usb connection. And it should have some pwm-controller for fans too.

[RichBC]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

Yep, I have done some testing with these. Original S3-controller was propably meant to control more than two boards. It's schematics show connections for 4 hashboards. But problem is that firmware has support only for 2 hashboards. In hw-level I can read code from pic-mcu and reprogram it, but changing that code would need assembler coding. It's propably easier to write new code to do that. But coding isn't one of my best skills. Open-wrt module's software is also capable to update that pic's code so it might be possible to tweak it's drivers. But again,it's beyond my knowledge.
There might also be a reason why they dropped that pic/ar9331 controller out: it has only 2 physical uart's. Some of pins can be programmed for uarts but I'm not sure if that pic is fast enough for it. Some wiser men have told me that it works if the baudrate is low enough. But I really don't know, I'm just a hobbyist.
Ofcourse it can be done with usb/uart adapters like cp2102. You only need to do level shifting too and provide 1v8 and 3v3 to hashboards. It works, I have tested it, but every hashboard needs its own cp2102 adapter. I might try to build an adapter with cp2108 in it. So it could drive 4 boards with one usb connection. And it should have some pwm-controller for fans too.

I think it's all very interesting as an exploration and design exercise, but for most of us the S3, great miner that it is, is well past it's sell by date. Minor changes to efficiency through having a single controller are not going to change anything. So I think it's better to put effort into anything that would improve an S5, as for me anyway even that only lives up until the halving.

Rich

[pinhead666]

I know that it's not worth it. But it's fun. I have these S3's only for heating and experimenting. And I study S5's too. Just haven't time enough for all things I wanted to do. And I'm more interested in that open-wrt module than pic-part of S3-controller. That module might have use for another purposes.

[Epoch]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

Yep, I have done some testing with these. Original S3-controller was propably meant to control more than two boards. It's schematics show connections for 4 hashboards. But problem is that firmware has support only for 2 hashboards. In hw-level I can read code from pic-mcu and reprogram it, but changing that code would need assembler coding. It's propably easier to write new code to do that. But coding isn't one of my best skills. Open-wrt module's software is also capable to update that pic's code so it might be possible to tweak it's drivers. But again,it's beyond my knowledge.
There might also be a reason why they dropped that pic/ar9331 controller out: it has only 2 physical uart's. Some of pins can be programmed for uarts but I'm not sure if that pic is fast enough for it. Some wiser men have told me that it works if the baudrate is low enough. But I really don't know, I'm just a hobbyist.
Ofcourse it can be done with usb/uart adapters like cp2102. You only need to do level shifting too and provide 1v8 and 3v3 to hashboards. It works, I have tested it, but every hashboard needs its own cp2102 adapter. I might try to build an adapter with cp2108 in it. So it could drive 4 boards with one usb connection. And it should have some pwm-controller for fans too.

I think it's all very interesting as an exploration and design exercise, but for most of us the S3, great miner that it is, is well past it's sell by date. Minor changes to efficiency through having a single controller are not going to change anything. So I think it's better to put effort into anything that would improve an S5, as for me anyway even that only lives up until the halving.

I haven't run any S3 units for a while now for that very reason, but I don't think anyone will argue that the more recent generation of Ants (S5, S5+, S7) have become less 'friendly' to home mining if only for the sole reason that they are LOUD. The S3 is whisper quiet compared to the later generations.

The S3/S3+ is still profitable depending on your local electricity costs, and even more so in the northern hemisphere during the winter months because it offsets heating costs. An S3+ can be found on eBay for under $150USD which still makes it attractive enough in certain conditions. Certainly an S5 will be more efficient, but efficiency isn't the only criteria for everyone.

S3's are cheap, they are quiet, and they will remain profitable during the winter in many regions of the world.

[VirosaGITS]

Has any one thought of combining a couple of s3's together sort of like the C1 but not changing over the heat sink. I mean Sort of like how the s5 is done. Would it be worth it? I mean have one controller controlling all 3 s3 instead of three separate units?

Yep, I have done some testing with these. Original S3-controller was propably meant to control more than two boards. It's schematics show connections for 4 hashboards. But problem is that firmware has support only for 2 hashboards. In hw-level I can read code from pic-mcu and reprogram it, but changing that code would need assembler coding. It's propably easier to write new code to do that. But coding isn't one of my best skills. Open-wrt module's software is also capable to update that pic's code so it might be possible to tweak it's drivers. But again,it's beyond my knowledge.
There might also be a reason why they dropped that pic/ar9331 controller out: it has only 2 physical uart's. Some of pins can be programmed for uarts but I'm not sure if that pic is fast enough for it. Some wiser men have told me that it works if the baudrate is low enough. But I really don't know, I'm just a hobbyist.
Ofcourse it can be done with usb/uart adapters like cp2102. You only need to do level shifting too and provide 1v8 and 3v3 to hashboards. It works, I have tested it, but every hashboard needs its own cp2102 adapter. I might try to build an adapter with cp2108 in it. So it could drive 4 boards with one usb connection. And it should have some pwm-controller for fans too.

I think it's all very interesting as an exploration and design exercise, but for most of us the S3, great miner that it is, is well past it's sell by date. Minor changes to efficiency through having a single controller are not going to change anything. So I think it's better to put effort into anything that would improve an S5, as for me anyway even that only lives up until the halving.

I haven't run any S3 units for a while now for that very reason, but I don't think anyone will argue that the more recent generation of Ants (S5, S5+, S7) have become less 'friendly' to home mining if only for the sole reason that they are LOUD. The S3 is whisper quiet compared to the later generations.

The S3/S3+ is still profitable depending on your local electricity costs, and even more so in the northern hemisphere during the winter months because it offsets heating costs. An S3+ can be found on eBay for under $150USD which still makes it attractive enough in certain conditions. Certainly an S5 will be more efficient, but efficiency isn't the only criteria for everyone.

S3's are cheap, they are quiet, and they will remain profitable during the winter in many regions of the world.

S5's and S7's now have the fan control setting, so i'm running them at the same noise level as the S3. So no problem there. The only irk-ish is that their high performance fan wont go under 2400-2600 RPM so its not possible to make them exactly quiet, but nothing prevent you from getting better ones.

[pinhead666]

I have S5's and SP31 to create some coins for me but I can't really run them at my bedroom. S3 hisses quietly under my bed and keeps room temperature comfortable. S5's are in my sauna,windows are open and temps still 30-40C. And it's about winter-time here. S31 is in a cold storage running underclocked and still it keeps that storage temps at 20C. If I run it at full speed I have to ventilate air even there. And noise is terrible. S3's just pay their costs if I measure only electricity, but they provide pleasant amount of heat, and they do it quietly. My wife wants more of them and S5's out!

[enthus]

I used to own Antminer S3 and I still think it is one of the best miner out there