ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[aarons6]

My concern is that one of my S3 devices reboots every few hours. I have tried flashing back to the first FW, doing a hardware reset, and then flashing back to the latest FW. The unit continues to reboot after doing this. I have now swapped the control boards between the rebooting S3 and another one to see if the control board is causing the reboot. My chief concern is determining if I have a bad control board.

hello,

do you have a single PSU on that S3 ?
Do you have a large PSU on multiple S3 ?

it could be the PSU restarting rather than the S3 itself ?

also you could run a putty session on that particular S3, log the output, and see what's the last lines ?

I am using a single 1000W PSU for two S3 and only the one S3 is rebooting. I have also attached that S3 by itself to two other PSUs with the same result. I think I will try running a terminal capture via PuTTY as you suggest.

How many PCIE cables are plugged into each S3?   Also what brand/model is PSU?

Also are you overclocking? Have you tried a lower freq?

Each hashing board has one PCI-E cable plugged in and is set to a frequency of 218.75 MHz. The PSU is a 1000W Corsair RM1000, but I have also used a a 600W Corsair GS600 and a 750W Ultra X4 with only this S3 plugged in. Each setup exhibited the same symptom. I have also tried different frequencies, but nothing above 225 MHz. I have stuck with 218.75 MHz or less whilst attempting to discover the root of the rebooting symptom.

when it reboots does the whole thing shut down and reboot or just cgminer restarting?

there is a watchdog script that restarts cgminer if it doesnt send in a share for a few minutes.. perhaps its internet related?

I opened an SSH session and was able to determine via "uptime" that the actual unit rebooted. It was not just a cgminer restrart.

ok then the only way it can physically reboot is a power problem.

software cannot make the unit reboot.

not unless you put /sbin/reboot in the crontab.. heh

[toptek]

My concern is that one of my S3 devices reboots every few hours. I have tried flashing back to the first FW, doing a hardware reset, and then flashing back to the latest FW. The unit continues to reboot after doing this. I have now swapped the control boards between the rebooting S3 and another one to see if the control board is causing the reboot. My chief concern is determining if I have a bad control board.

hello,

do you have a single PSU on that S3 ?
Do you have a large PSU on multiple S3 ?

it could be the PSU restarting rather than the S3 itself ?

also you could run a putty session on that particular S3, log the output, and see what's the last lines ?

I am using a single 1000W PSU for two S3 and only the one S3 is rebooting. I have also attached that S3 by itself to two other PSUs with the same result. I think I will try running a terminal capture via PuTTY as you suggest.

How many PCIE cables are plugged into each S3?   Also what brand/model is PSU?

Also are you overclocking? Have you tried a lower freq?

Each hashing board has one PCI-E cable plugged in and is set to a frequency of 218.75 MHz. The PSU is a 1000W Corsair RM1000, but I have also used a a 600W Corsair GS600 and a 750W Ultra X4 with only this S3 plugged in. Each setup exhibited the same symptom. I have also tried different frequencies, but nothing above 225 MHz. I have stuck with 218.75 MHz or less whilst attempting to discover the root of the rebooting symptom.

I would use all four PCEI slots on both miners my self i know bitmain says there is no need to if you don't over clock but I would  use all four anyway and all ways have on any s3 i ever owned and still do on the one i have left with a 750 gold psu any atx psu I bought for mining was gold before i started buying server psus, i never skimped on them if they were used for mining.even on my C1 i still use i use all 8 slots and plug the water pump and fans on there own power and watch them closely im about to replace the water pump etc with a good 100 dollar system that's just the pump and tank i haven't look into radiators yet). i plan to upgrade if and when the butfury broads happen .

[Mikestang]

Each hashing board has one PCI-E cable plugged in and is set to a frequency of 218.75 MHz.

Try populating each pci-e plug with its own power cable, sometimes there are issues with only using one per board.

[notlist3d]

Each hashing board has one PCI-E cable plugged in and is set to a frequency of 218.75 MHz.

Try populating each pci-e plug with its own power cable, sometimes there are issues with only using one per board.

Yep that is why I asked on amount of PCIe cables plugged in.  You might try a lower freq if you cannot get 4 PCIe cables. 

I have a feeling 4 PCIe cables will be the better fix, as you can go normal speed.  Or if you cannot lower freq is my second pick.

[toptek]

you should have all 4 plugged in, with 4 seperate wires not the one wire with 2 ends.


kano has a binary update.. its not a complete firmware update but it really makes the s3 more stable.

https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer-binaries/tree/master/AntS3

you have to SSH into the s3 to run the commands..
i suggest putty to do that..
http://www.putty.org/

Unfortunately it is no accessible anymore

This repository has been disabled.
Access to this repository has been disabled by GitHub staff. Contact support to restore access to this repository.

you can still get it here .

http://kano.is/AntS3/cgminer-ants3-4.9.2-94e04f6-3.tgz

 

Code:

cd /
 wget http://kano.is/AntS3/cgminer-ants3-4.9.2-94e04f6-3.tgz
 tar -xvzf cgminer-ants3-4.9.2-94e04f6-3.tgz
 rm cgminer-ants3-4.9.2-94e04f6-3.tgz
 cgset
 sync
 reboot
 cgminer-api version 

So just aces was not downloads, if you have the link , sadly thu that's the only link, i saved to his account there was other tweaks i don't use .
and i also have the one for S1s , no others . so if want it get while you can im sure one day the link won't work either and you have to ask kano for a copy .

[gt_addict]

Hi guys,

If I were to update the firmware so that my S3+ runs cgminer 4.6.1 rather than the 3.12.0 it currently has how would I do it?

Ive downloaded bitmains update :-

antMiner_S320141013.bin

which isn't the newest one but the one with the cgminer update and ive read the manual and it says to use the "flash new image" section to do it. Is that correct?

[zOU]

Why don't you want to use the latest one ?

https://enshop.bitmain.com/files/download/antMiner_S320150109.bin


It has all the fixes, I can't see the point of upgrading to a known bad version...

You could even use Kano's version...

[gt_addict]

Why don't you want to use the latest one ?

https://enshop.bitmain.com/files/download/antMiner_S320150109.bin


It has all the fixes, I can't see the point of upgrading to a known bad version...

You could even use Kano's version...

Ive already updated to kanos version but it didn't change the cgminer. The New(second hand) s3+ ive just hooked up is showing a 0.2235% HW, but the S3+ I have that's running 4.6.1 and kanos update has a rate of 0.001%HW.

That's the only difference so thought updating to the firmware with 4.6.1 would be beneficial.

Is the firmware update ive listed definitely a bad one that bricks miners?

[Mikestang]

Why don't you want to use the latest one ?

https://enshop.bitmain.com/files/download/antMiner_S320150109.bin


It has all the fixes, I can't see the point of upgrading to a known bad version...

You could even use Kano's version...

Ive already updated to kanos version but it didn't change the cgminer. The New(second hand) s3+ ive just hooked up is showing a 0.2235% HW, but the S3+ I have that's running 4.6.1 and kanos update has a rate of 0.001%HW.

That's the only difference so thought updating to the firmware with 4.6.1 would be beneficial.

If you are using Kano's update then you would have cgminer 4.9.0, not 4.6.1.

Kano and ck updated the cgminer, not the same thing as the firmware.  The firmware from bitmain contains the (old & outdated & buggy) bitmain fork of cgminer, if you did the Kano update first and then the bitmain firmware update, you overwrote the kano update.

You should first install the latest bitmain firmware from their website, antMiner_S320150109.bin.  Simply follow the directions from the manual:

Through 'System->Backup/Flash Firmware’ you will be able to upgrade your AntMiner.
‘Keep settings’ is  chosen by default, you should choose it if you hope to preserve thecurrent
settings. You should cancel this option if you hope to restore to initial settings. Click ‘Browse’ button to
choose upgrade file [this is the firmware you downloaded per above]. After choosing upgrade file, then click ’Flash image...’ button to start to download
this file to  your  system. After  downloading,  please  click ‘Proceed’ button, then upgrade system.
During the upgrade process, you need to wait patiently, and must keep power on, otherwise, AntMiner
will restore to initial settings. AntMiner will be connected to login interface after finishing system upgrade.

After you do that, follow Kano's instructions to update cgminer and verify that it installed 4.9.0.  You'll get a new status screen when successful.  You'll also notice the load on the machine is drastically reduced.  Error rate went down on my S3+ with it as well.

[gt_addict]

I've done kanos updates on both machines yet they both still show the cgminer versions I've mentioned previously in the software section.

Plus why are the HW%'s so different? They have been running about the same time since I turned them both on after booking up the new(second hand) s3+.

[Mikestang]

I've done kanos updates on both machines yet they both still show the cgminer versions I've mentioned previously in the software section.

Then you have not done kano's update, at least not correctly.  If done correctly you would be running cgminer 4.9.0 and you would have a -k on the gui pages.

[in2tactics]

Each hashing board has one PCI-E cable plugged in and is set to a frequency of 218.75 MHz.

Try populating each pci-e plug with its own power cable, sometimes there are issues with only using one per board.

Yep that is why I asked on amount of PCIe cables plugged in.  You might try a lower freq if you cannot get 4 PCIe cables. 

I have a feeling 4 PCIe cables will be the better fix, as you can go normal speed.  Or if you cannot lower freq is my second pick.

I tried running the S3 with four PCI-E cables and unfortunately the unit continued to reboot every few hours.

I then tried a control board swap with another S3 unit. I unexpectedly did not have any reboots of either unit during a 24 hour period. I swapped the boards back and within a few hours the same unit that was previously rebooting started misbehaving again. At this point, I guess that I will swap the control boards back again and see what happens over a longer period of time.

On a side note, any recommendation for operating an S3 with or without the top cover on? I usually operate my units with the cover on, but I have seen some folks leave them off.

[aarons6]

Why don't you want to use the latest one ?

https://enshop.bitmain.com/files/download/antMiner_S320150109.bin


It has all the fixes, I can't see the point of upgrading to a known bad version...

You could even use Kano's version...

Ive already updated to kanos version but it didn't change the cgminer. The New(second hand) s3+ ive just hooked up is showing a 0.2235% HW, but the S3+ I have that's running 4.6.1 and kanos update has a rate of 0.001%HW.

That's the only difference so thought updating to the firmware with 4.6.1 would be beneficial.

Is the firmware update ive listed definitely a bad one that bricks miners?

it wont change the cgminer version that is listed in the package info.. it just overwrites the bin..
so if you ssh into the s3 and do cgminer --version you will see 4.9.0

[Real-Duke]

version you will see 4.9.0

Just shipped my last sold S3+ with Kano's cgminer update so I can't see it on my own but if I remember correct it should be the latest version 4.9.2 working after the upgrade?

[gt_addict]

version you will see 4.9.0

Just shipped my last sold S3+ with Kano's cgminer update so I can't see it on my own but if I remember correct it should be the latest version 4.9.2 working after the upgrade?

I did check them this morning before work and both showed 4.9.2.  But that still doesn't explain the high HW% compared to the other one.

[zOU]

I've done kanos updates on both machines yet they both still show the cgminer versions I've mentioned previously in the software section.

Plus why are the HW%'s so different? They have been running about the same time since I turned them both on after booking up the new(second hand) s3+.

i know what you mean:



But:

Code:

root@AntminerS31:/usr/bin# cgminer -V
cgminer 4.9.2

So basically, do no trust the System info in the UI

[gt_addict]

So I've just got to ignore the HW% and readings then. I suppose on the pool side nothing has changed in regards to rejected work but it's still annoying that the new one reads 0.25%hw and the one with other reads 0.002%hw. Obviously I just want to maximise my share on the pool. Would this be a factor on the hashrate the pool receives?

[Mikestang]

@ gt_addict, did you verify via command line the cgminer version?

Yes, I think an increased HW error rate results in less shares being submitted to the pool, therefore the pool will show you a reduced hash rate.

It could be just a difference in the two machines, but 0.2% error is pretty darn high.  I overclocked my S3+ and its errors were less than 0.1% I'm pretty sure (or was it 0.01%?).

But:

Code:

root@AntminerS31:/usr/bin# cgminer -V
cgminer 4.9.2

So basically, do no trust the System info in the UI

Ah, well that must explain why he's done the kano updates but still thought he had the old cgminer version.  I never checked the version in the gui, I always checked via ssh connection.

[gt_addict]

Mike,  yea I ssh into it this morning and checked and both read 4.9.2 even though the gui says ones at 4.0.6 and the other is 3.8 something.

I'll risk updating the one that says 3.8something and then do kanos update again to see if it improves.

[gt_addict]

Well updated to the latest firmware and then uploaded kanos update aswell and the HW rate has gone from 0.225% down to 0.011% so it must have been the old firmware that was the problem.