Reserved for updates and FAQ
FAQ1. Will S3 support p2pool?The simple answer is we will. Bitmain has a very sincere interesting with p2pool, and we have invest human resource into this area. Sadly our firmware may not be able to give you a firm yes that we support p2pool right now, but we promise we will contribute much more to the p2pool mining idea than most of those who support p2pool mining well already.
Edit: AntMiners support p2pool. Static difficulty configuration recommended.
Since p2pool adjusts the difficulty frequently, therefore would bring hash rate loss when the difficulty changes at any time. As a result is that AntMiners' hash rate may be a little lower than that released officially when they are mining in p2pool.
We suggest you configure a static difficulty for AntMiner, when you mine in p2pool. Recommended difficulty is 256 or 512.
2. How to configure a static diff when AntMiner mines in p2pool?Through ‘Status->Miner Configuration‘, configure Pool Worker as 'BTC address/256+256' or 'BTC address+256'.
3. Will there be S1/S2 upgrade kit and what is your plan?Yes, there will be upgrade kit for both S1 and S2 customers. But we need some time to design and test it. After we have finished the homework, we will announce the plan publicly.
4. Beeper rings randomly?We set a beeper ring alert in the first version of firmware, to alert users when there is no
immediate hashing work due to bad pool configuration.
However this alert will be removed in the later version of firmware.
Users can download new version firmware on July 25.
UPDATES
2014-7-8: The bulk PCB will be arriving tonight, and we will start first batch production tomorrow. First batch usually takes a longer time than later. We may ship the S3 -B1 on or before 14th.
Antminer S3 Troubleshooting Guide 2014-9-12 *********************************************************************************
Q: Low hash rate underperformed miner …
ASIC showing ‘-‘ or ‘x’ in the ‘miner status’ of the web interface…
Antminer has a failed hash board, the machine is only mining at half speed… 
A: Antminer S3 is running at 440Gh/s with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 per cent.
And the calculation on hash rate of the mining pool is based on what you transmit to the pool after the hashing. It is normal that the hash rate of mining pool fluctuate and sometimes it may drop down sharply. Please first open the cover of the machine and check all cable connections and also your network conditions and maintain a stable internet connection.
You can try the following simple troubleshoot tests to determine which is the issue with the miner. And we will approve RMA for the faulty components.
I. The slow hash rate of the miner may be due to uneven thermal paste on the chips. Please refer to the following steps to re-apply the thermal paste.
Remove four screws securing the heat sink.
Hash board without heat sink attached.
Applying thermal paste
Use silicone-based thermal paste by applying a thin layer to the top of the chIP.
Beware of applying too much thermal paste.
Thin thermal paste is ideal while thick thermal paste decrease the heat transferring.
WARNING: Some electric conductive silver-bearing grease silicone thermal paste may cause damage to the circuit, and extreme caution is needed when you are applying it. Make sure that the conductive grease shall never be on the surrounding circuit.
You can also apply the grease to the big heat sinks if you want to improve the overall thermal efficiency of the miner.
II. Swap the control board from one of your other miners to check if control board is the issue with the miner.
Open the cover of the machine and you will find the controller board in the middle. And then disconnect the cables from the board and replace it with the one from the other working miners.
III. Test each hashing boards of the miner separately.
First: Disconnect the cable connected to Chain#1 to test Chain#2 hash board.
Second: Disconnect cables connected to Chain#1 and Chain#2, turn over the control board, and then connect the Chain#1 to Connector#2 of the control board, to test Chain#1 hash board.
Note: Since there is no +12v in the Connector 1#, you have to turn over the control board to test Chain 1#
When you are going to test Chain #1 hashing board...
Since both the flexible flat cables and connectors on the hashing boards and controller have there own polarity, you should plug in the cable in the correct direction.
If your cable from connector#2 is able to reach the chain #1 hash board, you don't need to turn over your controller board to test Chain #1 hashing board, but do not forget to reverse the other end and keep it plugged in the correct direction as shown in the below message.
Otherwise, you can never start up your miner.
sometimes, bad controller board or bad SPI cable may also cause the bad chips issues. In that case, it is easy to mis-diagnose as a bad hashing board, however the hashing PCB can be 100% fine, but the control board indeed has a problem, may be bad SPI cables or bad SPI slots on the controller board.
Test the hashing PCB 1 by 1 as usual, you will find the hashing board that is used to show bad chips could show no hashing problem, or when you turn over the controller board or flip the SPI ribbon cable to test the other chain, the bad chips moved one chain to the other.
Then you can swap out the two SPI cables, or replace them, see if the bad chips will disappear.
Or you can change the known good working controller board, the chip problem goes away.
After determining controller board caused the issues, we will approve RMA for it.
IV. Update the most recent firmware from our official website.
Firmware weblink 
If all parameters in web page are OK and your miner is working very well, you don’t need to update it. ***Go to ‘System->Backup / Flash Firmware’ you will be able to upgrade the firmware.
‘Keep settings’ is chosen by default, you should choose it if you hope to preserve the current settings.
You should cancel this option if you hope to restore to initial settings.
Click ‘Browse’ button to choose upgrade file. 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. Warning: Power outage during firmware update should be avoided. In case, the frequency does not show up or is different from the default value.
Go to:
"Miner Configuration" -->
"Advanced Settings" and change the frequency to
default at 218.75M. After setting, click "Save & Apply".
you can actually edit the config file to show 999mhz as freq speed in the web gui, the web gui just takes the text value of one of the asic-config file value to fill out the spot for the chip frequency for the visual effect
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Q: The miner just starts up with fans blasting at full speed and has no hashrate or Asic chain information... 
A: This can probably be due to the defective controller board. Just swap out the controller board with the other working miners and test this miner again. Then you can determine if controller board is the issue with the miner. And we will approve RMA for the defective controller board.
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Q: my S3 miner immediately shut down after powering up... A: 1. reconnect the power cable to make sure of good connection and check if the PSU is enough for 2 blades
2. Please connect the two hashing boards separately to find out where the issue is from
First: Disconnect the cable connected to Chain#1 to test Chain#2 hash board.
Second: Disconnect cables connected to Chain#1 and Chain#2, turn over the control board, and then connect the Chain#1 to Connector#2 of the control board, to test Chain#1 hash board.
Note: Since there is no +12v in the Connector 1#, you have to turn over the control board to test Chain 1#
refer to the "III" in the first case for some special attentions. 2014-9-15 *********************************************************************************
Q: a fan stuck on high, abnormal fan reading...
fan stop communicating randomly... 
A: Here below is the S3 fan specifications:
voltage: 12V DC
current: 1.2A (MAX)
3600rpm
PWM modulation
size: 119*119*38 (mm)
With the following simple troubleshooting steps, you will determine which part is the issue with the miner and we will approve RMA for the faulty parts.
i. temperature sensor is probably sending out the wrong reading, or there is a short somewhere in the circut for the fan.
You can also swap out the front and the back fan should be able to tell the difference. Or if you have another working fan, you can swap the fan from the working S3 or S1
ii. usually stuck high speed fan may be the hashing PCB.
You can test the two hashing boards separately to check which PCB is the issue with the miner
First: Disconnect the cable connected to Chain#1 to test Chain#2 hash board.
Second: Disconnect cables connected to Chain#1 and Chain#2, turn over the control board, and then connect the Chain#1 to Connector#2 of the control board, to test Chain#1 hash board.
Note: Since there is no +12v in the Connector 1#, you have to turn over the control board to test Chain 1#
refer to the "III" in the first case for some special attentions. iii. you can swap the controller board from the working miners to test this miner again.
iv. update the latest firmware may fix your problem. See above-mentioned steps for your reference.
2014-9-16*********************************************************************************
Q: All chips on both chains show up in the 'miner status', but the hash rate is lower… 
A: 1. First check your 'miner status', defaulty frequency value should be 218.75, 225 for S3 B8+.
Update the latest firmware and modify the frequency accordingly, see the above-mentioned steps for reference.
Sometimes this will not work out, you may need to use the old firmware to flush the system, then reconfigure the miner, and then reupdate the newest firmware.
2. You can also swap the controller board from the other working miners to test this miner again. If it's the controller board, we will approve RMA for the faulty board.
3. This may also due to the network outage for some time. There might be a network outage, during which the miner is still running, no hashing rate tho, there you got a low average hash rate shown in the 'miner status.'
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Q: Both chains do not show up in miner status … 
A: 1. Please first open the cover and check all cable connetions between hashing boards and controller board(controller board in the middle, hashing board on both sides.) You can also switch to the other two PCI-e connectors on the hashing boards. Please make sure you connect the PCI-e cables of the psu to the connectors on the boards.
2. you can reset your miner and update it to the most recent firmware to test the miner again
Update the latest firmware and modify the frequency accordingly, see the above-mentioned steps for reference.
3. Last you can swap the controller board from the other working miners to test this miner again. If the controller board is faulty, we can approve RMA for it.
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Q: psu cannot power up the miner…
miner kills the psu...A: You can first test your psu alone to check if the psu is defective.
And please make sure your psu is strong enough to power up your miner. See the below for your reference(for S3 B8 or plus batch, you can also select a psu according to similar principles).
As shown in the below photos, there are two 6-pin PCI-Express power female connectors on the top center of each blade(also called as ‘hash board’) inside the miner. Antminer S3 will draw about 332 watts at 220 volts and each blade of it need a 12-volt power supply.
Generally speaking, a 80 PLUS certified power supply unit, which is guaranteed to operate at a high efficiency, is recommended for the running of Antminer S3.
Please note that the higher total wattage alone is not necessarily synonymous with better, and a PSU with two 6-pin PCI Express cables cannot necessarily run a miner as well. Why?
The current draw of each blade will reach in the plus or minus 13.83 amp range (332watts/2blades/12volts) during the running of miner. That means you need to look at the +12v-rail amps in a PSU with single or multi +12v rails to judge whether 2 power PCI-E cables would be enough power up a miner.
According to our experiences,
a. You need a ATX PSU of at least 500w(sometimes the rated power may be different from the actual, that depends on the psu quality) wattage with 6pin x 2.
b. With the power supply in the OFF position, plug in two 6-pin PCI-E power outputs from your PSU. One into each blade. Please make sure your PSU can deliver enough power, otherwise the miner might shut down. If your power supply has low amperage per rail, you may need to plug in 4 6-pin power PCI-E cables. However, 2 will normally work (one on each blade). Note: Do not reverse +12v and negative(GND).
c. As for the PC power supply, you will need 1 jumper wire to short the Power-Supply- On (active low) pin-Green to GND-Black to switch power supply ON, disconnect from GND to switch OFF.
d. According to our power supply test, 800w psu can run 2 miners at the same time with 674W of power draw, and the total hash rate for the two miners is 800Gh per second.
