ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[OutlawsVices]

I have a question about the stratum difficulty.  I have two Antminer S3s, and I'm using the GHash.IO mining pool.  Their FAQ says:

The optimal settings of the stratum difficulty depends on your hash-rate:
16+ GH/s - 16 difficulty
32+ Gh/s - 32 difficulty
64+ GH/s - 64 difficulty
128+ GH/s - 128 difficulty
256+ GH/s - 256 difficulty
512+ GH/s - 512 difficulty
1 TH/s - 1024 difficulty

So based on that, the setting would be 256 for each miner.  Does anyone actually alter this setting in their mining pool?  Or do you just keep the default setting?

thank you.

I don't think it's for each miner (unless you have them as different workers). If they're set as one worker, then set it to 512 (or 1TH if you can get it stable over 1000 GH/s). If they're separate workers then yea, 256 should be fine.

[1714898509]

1714898509

[Atomar]

How do i set the difficulty?? My 1 miner ist set to 1000 ....

[Sector7G]

I have a question about the stratum difficulty.  I have two Antminer S3s, and I'm using the GHash.IO mining pool.  Their FAQ says:

The optimal settings of the stratum difficulty depends on your hash-rate:
16+ GH/s - 16 difficulty
32+ Gh/s - 32 difficulty
64+ GH/s - 64 difficulty
128+ GH/s - 128 difficulty
256+ GH/s - 256 difficulty
512+ GH/s - 512 difficulty
1 TH/s - 1024 difficulty

So based on that, the setting would be 256 for each miner.  Does anyone actually alter this setting in their mining pool?  Or do you just keep the default setting?

thank you.

I don't think it's for each miner (unless you have them as different workers). If they're set as one worker, then set it to 512 (or 1TH if you can get it stable over 1000 GH/s). If they're separate workers then yea, 256 should be fine.

They are set up with different worker IDs.  I thought that was required.  I didn't know I could have two miners in the same pool with the same worker ID.  Does that work?  Is there an advantage to doing that?

[ZiG]

I have a question about the stratum difficulty.  I have two Antminer S3s, and I'm using the GHash.IO mining pool.  Their FAQ says:

The optimal settings of the stratum difficulty depends on your hash-rate:
16+ GH/s - 16 difficulty
32+ Gh/s - 32 difficulty
64+ GH/s - 64 difficulty
128+ GH/s - 128 difficulty
256+ GH/s - 256 difficulty
512+ GH/s - 512 difficulty
1 TH/s - 1024 difficulty

So based on that, the setting would be 256 for each miner.  Does anyone actually alter this setting in their mining pool?  Or do you just keep the default setting?

thank you.

I don't think it's for each miner (unless you have them as different workers). If they're set as one worker, then set it to 512 (or 1TH if you can get it stable over 1000 GH/s). If they're separate workers then yea, 256 should be fine.

They are set up with different worker IDs.  I thought that was required.  I didn't know I could have two miners in the same pool with the same worker ID.  Does that work?  Is there an advantage to doing that?

No... It's hard to see/track your individual S3's performance...

I'm using separate workers for each of mine S3's ...256 diff...

ZiG

[BennyTheBall]

I have a question about the stratum difficulty.  I have two Antminer S3s, and I'm using the GHash.IO mining pool.  Their FAQ says:

The optimal settings of the stratum difficulty depends on your hash-rate:
16+ GH/s - 16 difficulty
32+ Gh/s - 32 difficulty
64+ GH/s - 64 difficulty
128+ GH/s - 128 difficulty
256+ GH/s - 256 difficulty
512+ GH/s - 512 difficulty
1 TH/s - 1024 difficulty

So based on that, the setting would be 256 for each miner.  Does anyone actually alter this setting in their mining pool?  Or do you just keep the default setting?

thank you.

I don't think it's for each miner (unless you have them as different workers). If they're set as one worker, then set it to 512 (or 1TH if you can get it stable over 1000 GH/s). If they're separate workers then yea, 256 should be fine.

But Yes it works in every pool I've tried (4 or 5 different pools)

They are set up with different worker IDs.  I thought that was required.  I didn't know I could have two miners in the same pool with the same worker ID.  Does that work?  Is there an advantage to doing that?

No... It's hard to see/track your individual S3's performance...

I'm using separate workers for each of mine S3's ...256 diff...

ZiG

[BennyTheBall]

I have a question about the stratum difficulty.  I have two Antminer S3s, and I'm using the GHash.IO mining pool.  Their FAQ says:

The optimal settings of the stratum difficulty depends on your hash-rate:
16+ GH/s - 16 difficulty
32+ Gh/s - 32 difficulty
64+ GH/s - 64 difficulty
128+ GH/s - 128 difficulty
256+ GH/s - 256 difficulty
512+ GH/s - 512 difficulty
1 TH/s - 1024 difficulty

So based on that, the setting would be 256 for each miner.  Does anyone actually alter this setting in their mining pool?  Or do you just keep the default setting?

thank you.

I don't think it's for each miner (unless you have them as different workers). If they're set as one worker, then set it to 512 (or 1TH if you can get it stable over 1000 GH/s). If they're separate workers then yea, 256 should be fine.

But Yes it works in every pool I've tried (4 or 5 different pools)

They are set up with different worker IDs.  I thought that was required.  I didn't know I could have two miners in the same pool with the same worker ID.  Does that work?  Is there an advantage to doing that?

No... It's hard to see/track your individual S3's performance...

I'm using separate workers for each of mine S3's ...256 diff...

ZiG

But Yes it works in every pool I've tried (4 or 5 different pools)

[contactlight]

After the latest firmware update, one of my chips started showing '-'.

oooooooo ooooooo-
oooooooo oooooooo

It is not even an 'x', which confuses me. Anyone has any idea what this means?

[bjalbert]

After the latest firmware update, one of my chips started showing '-'.

oooooooo ooooooo-
oooooooo oooooooo

It is not even an 'x', which confuses me. Anyone has any idea what this means?

I had that problem and the only way for me to fix it was to power off the unit and then back on. After that it went away.

[contactlight]

After the latest firmware update, one of my chips started showing '-'.

oooooooo ooooooo-
oooooooo oooooooo

It is not even an 'x', which confuses me. Anyone has any idea what this means?

I had that problem and the only way for me to fix it was to power off the unit and then back on. After that it went away.

Thanks, it is fixed now. A simple reboot from the web panel didn't fix it, a 'reboot now' from SSH didn't fix it either. It needed a full power cycle.

[GigaBit]

00620140714233434959nD8uDCRz06B5    AntMiner S3 Coupon 0.075 BTC    2    2    2014-07-12 00:00:00~2014-08-16 00:00:00

I still have 8 hours, wtf??

[cathoderay]

I do wish the BITMAIN would publish the device driver details so that a current version of cgminer could be attained. I know at least 2 releases in 4 had notes about queue improvements and one at least specifically stated it generated work much faster. Also one of the last 3's had an improvement about how work was loaded into devices. I know for sure 3.12 is very old and I am positive that many work generation improvements have been added since then.

Exactly. I don't understand why they don't work more closely with the cgminer devs - using such an old miner for this equipment is false economy. There have been many improvements & optimixations since this cgminer release, not to mention a very important fix for work redirection by a third party.

Can we just SSH in to it and compile CGMiner to a newer version ?

One would assume that we have access to their modified code and driver for cgminer which the cgminer license stipulates, however they have ignored our requests for making that code available. I am considering what direction to take now about that license violation.

Indeed, I saw your post requesting access to the code - ignoring it seems a very strange course of action by Bitmain, especially since agreeing & cooperating would not only benefit everyone - but would also stay within the legally binding license terms.......

I hope they realize their error & do the right thing - as well as live up to their claim of supporting the Bitcoin community.

@ckolivas: Is there anything we, the community, can do to help? Maybe if we all started mailing them they will take notice?

Hmmmm.......Sorry to quote myself, but the more I think about this - the more it doesn't make any sense. in fact, it smells.

Apart from the obvious legal obligations pointed out by ckolivas, one of the hardest working & well respected Bitcoin community members there is, I find myself wondering why on earth Bitmain won't release their code - are they trying to hide something? I mean, the third party redirect fix was a very important update - why on earth would Bitmain not want to implement it? There are also a multitude of other fixes & improvements which Kano (where is he by the way?) listed in a previous post regarding the S2, but are still relevent:

Because:
1) The version in there throws away valid blocks on p2pool
2) The version in there doesn't block the recent stratum redirect problem
3) The version in there passes all shares to the pool even if they are below target (I'm sure pools must hate the S2 due to the major increase in CPU requirements at the pool)
4) The version in there has the API set to W:0/0 so anyone with network access can change your settings/pool/username (and the web page doesn't let you fix that)
5) The version in there has a modified API with different field names to the standard API so anyone using other software that reads the API must get that software changed (or use a proper API version of cgminer in the S2 )
.
.
.

By not cooperating with the cgminer devs request to release the code as they are legally bound to do - and not updating cgminer to incorporate the very important security fixes, Bitmain are not only breaking the law - but they are also arousing suspicion amongst the Bitcoin community as to why they are refusing to do so. For a company that claims to respect & care deeply for the Bitcoin community, this makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Before anyone starts breaking my balls accusing me of stirring things up trying to discredit Bitmain - I am a customer who has Bitmain hardware & am quite happy with it. I am merely pointing out the legally binding obligations Bitmain are ignoring, as well as trying to highlight the contempt that Bitmain are showing towards ckolivas & kano - without who, mining & Bitcoin would not be what it is today. We, as a community owe it to the cgminer devs to make sure that all hardware manufacturers respect their requests to release their code as stated in the open source license agreement. If they refuse - we should all be concerned as to the reasons why.

Sorry to ramble, but I'm a great believer in Open Source & what the cgminer devs have done, and continue to do. We owe them  

THIS!  "If they refuse - we should all be concerned as to the reasons why."

Great post. Well said 

[DevonMiner]

THIS!  "If they refuse - we should all be concerned as to the reasons why."

Great post. Well said  

Having now read numerous posts and boned up on information, this is NOT GOOD NEWS. Bitmain need to get their act together and have respect for and abide by the rules ... ckolivas and others have a) Given SO much to the community b) Have rules relating to their software use. Bitmain use this software to power their devices. I am, like others in different threads have said ... now suspicious of Bitmain. Their contact with the forum is only ever to inform of new products, new pricing or (and this is rare) communication with someone who has a RMA situation.

Seriously people, stop and think what MAY be going on without your knowledge ... Bitmain are refusing access to what should be open source software, which has a license and a code of conduct to adhere to. You don't FREE RIDE and keep quiet.

Just a thought: What is YOUR MINER REALLY DOING? And why do Bitmain now consider themselves to be above the very community of loyal customers that have made them (and continue to) make them an absolute fortune.

For the records: I'm not trolling here ... (I have owned/own and mined/mine with S1s, S2s and S3s).

[OutlawsVices]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

[tom99]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

  most likely it will have B9.

[Phosphorous]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

Alleviate your fears by placing an order today.

[OutlawsVices]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

Alleviate your fears by placing an order today.

Yea coinbase sucks and it'll take sometime to get the btc sooooo yea.

[MoreBloodWine]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

Alleviate your fears by placing an order today.

Yea coinbase sucks and it'll take sometime to get the btc sooooo yea.

Not if you have instant buy like me.

[OutlawsVices]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

Alleviate your fears by placing an order today.

Yea coinbase sucks and it'll take sometime to get the btc sooooo yea.

Not if you have instant buy like me.

Don't have a credit card, just a debit card.

[JennaK]

Coinbase only takes Visa for some reason

[GigaBit]

I really hope Bitmain doesn't sell out of the S3+ B8 by Friday. Anybody know if they'll have a batch 9?

Alleviate your fears by placing an order today.

Yea coinbase sucks and it'll take sometime to get the btc sooooo yea.

Not if you have instant buy like me.

Don't have a credit card, just a debit card.

If it has a CC logo on it, most CC processing systems will accept them.

It's common is the U.S. that banks will use credit card issued cards to be used as debit cards.

Those are on equal grounds as regular credit line credit cards; very few only take actual CC.

They won't accept debit cards as in Canadian Debit cards, which are bank issued and cards are not CC property, but the bank's.

Same with travel credit cards, prepaid, you put money on it, no credit line, good anywhere mastercard (or visa whatever) is accepted.