Best mining software settings for the BFL single

[Turbor]

http://pastebin.com/3pzivj32

I'm lazzy... i give out a 5 BTC bounty for a working (Icarus and BFL) windows build.

Please start your own thread for this.

Done, sorry for the hijack (OT)

[1l1l11ll1l]

So far for cgminer I have something similar to this.

Code:

-o http://pool.com:8332 -u username -p x -I 9 --api-listen --failover-only -S /dev/ttyUSB0 -S /dev/ttyUSB1 -S /dev/ttyUSB2 -S /dev/ttyUSB3 -S /dev/ttyUSB4

Since I am on linux and have more than 1 single, I have to specify each one in the config.

In BAMT to get things to show up in the monitoring tools I do:

Code:

settings:
  cgminer: 1
  cgminer_opts: -o http://pool.com:8332 -u username -p x -I 9 --api-listen --failover-only -S /dev/ttyUSB0 -S /dev/ttyUSB1 -S /dev/ttyUSB2 -S /dev/ttyUSB3 -S /dev/ttyUSB4
  do_cgsnoop: 1
  do_bcast_status: 0
  do_mgpumon: 1

You have to use cgsnoop to broadcast things directly from cgminer since GPUmon and mGPUmon are designed to work with, wait for it, GPUs.

Do I put the CGminer stuff in the bamt.conf file? I'm so lost :-S

[Epoch]

Well, for starters I can't be bothered to look through the cgminer thread to find out what I am doing wrong. What flags are usually used for no gpus and only BFL units with cgminer?

For ufasoft, I use this:

Code:

bitcoin-miner-x64.exe -i 2 -o http://user:pass@pool.com:8332

And I can add and remove devices without a software hiccup, since it recognizes them as soon as they are plugged in.

If you're using the cgminer binaries, it won't work - BFL is disabled by default, you need re-compile it with it enabled.

Ah that's where I was tripping up. I like the plug-n-play ufasoft version, so I don't have to specify each device, but I want my BAMT charts and graphs

rjk, what do you mean 'you do not have to specify each device' with ufasoft? You are using the "-i 2" flag, which specifies the 2nd device. My understanding of ufasoft is that if you have multiple devices, the others wouldn't do anything unless you specify "-i 2 -i 3 -i 4" etc. Similar to cgminer.

Or you could forego the "-i" flag altogether and ufasoft will default to use ALL devices, but since that includes your CPU it probably isn't something you want. Is there some combination of flags that will default to ALL devices EXCEPT your cpu?

[rjk]

Well, for starters I can't be bothered to look through the cgminer thread to find out what I am doing wrong. What flags are usually used for no gpus and only BFL units with cgminer?

For ufasoft, I use this:

Code:

bitcoin-miner-x64.exe -i 2 -o http://user:pass@pool.com:8332

And I can add and remove devices without a software hiccup, since it recognizes them as soon as they are plugged in.

If you're using the cgminer binaries, it won't work - BFL is disabled by default, you need re-compile it with it enabled.

Ah that's where I was tripping up. I like the plug-n-play ufasoft version, so I don't have to specify each device, but I want my BAMT charts and graphs

rjk, what do you mean 'you do not have to specify each device' with ufasoft? You are using the "-i 2" flag, which specifies the 2nd device. My understanding of ufasoft is that if you have multiple devices, the others wouldn't do anything unless you specify "-i 2 -i 3 -i 4" etc. Similar to cgminer.

Or you could forego the "-i" flag altogether and ufasoft will default to use ALL devices, but since that includes your CPU it probably isn't something you want. Is there some combination of flags that will default to ALL devices EXCEPT your cpu?

Yes, sorry, I hadn't tested with more than one device and assumed that all BFLs showed up as device #2 in Ufasoft. I would have left out -i altogether, but as you noted it then starts using the CPU, which sucks. What would be ideal is a flag to EXCLUDE things, so I could go -e 1 and exclude the CPU.

[Askit2]

If you read Ufasoft miners /? you see -t 0 is cpu disabled. Then you can leave -i off must be t not T as T is temperature.
If you find this worth something send some coin my way ( 1NwkQdmomQPLtdes5KuZhB1D22p7ZGRy4p )

[rjk]

If you read Ufasoft miners /? you see -t 0 is cpu disabled. Then you can leave -i off must be t not T as T is temperature.
If you find this worth something send some coin my way ( 1NwkQdmomQPLtdes5KuZhB1D22p7ZGRy4p )

Ehh, how the heck could I have missed that. Thanks for the info - I was able to start it with

Code:

bitcoin-miner-64.exe -t 0 -o http://herp:derp@hurr.durr:8332

which made it start and then wait for me to connect the Single. It said it was mining on the CPU, but the counter showed 0khash and the CPU usage was 0. As soon as I plugged in the single, it detected it and started mining.

[fred0]

Hello fellow bitcoiners,

Since BFL singles are flying out all over the world to eagerly awaiting purchasers, I wanted to start a thread to find and list the best settings to use with the single. So if you have a single and have tested some settings, share them!

Thanks,
gigavps

* Looks at Fred0  

Sorry this slipped by me.

General guidelines:

cgminer is the miner to use for its failover capabilities.

Use one instance of cgminer for all singles on the machine.  Tiny bit (~2% maybe) more efficient than multiple instances, YMMV, running your own benchmarks is preferred than accepting my general guidelines.

--submit-stale always use.

Use --queue, especially if you are seeing the pool not providing work fast enough--not a great solution, probably better to switch pools.

--quiet  

Regarding ufasoft, I noticed that it was not able to keep up with the hashing power of multiple singles. I would recommend that multiple instances of ufasoft miner be used for groups of singles using the -i argument. I haven't tested this, but I did notice that when running 15 units on a single instance of ufasoft miner that cpu use was way up, and share submissions decreased to less than 2/3 of what I was getting under cgminer.

[Epoch]

--submit-stale always use.

Fred0, thanks for that information. I do have some questions for you:

1. why do you suggest to use 'submit-stale' always? I suppose it can do no harm (other than increase your 'stale share' stats, which doesn't matter). And on merged-mining pools that longpoll after a namecoin block is found, it might actually be beneficial since the bitcoin blocks found after that are not actually stale. Perhaps I answered my own question. 
2. you seem to be in a position to test this: what happens to cgminer if one of the Singles drops out (e.g. the USB cable disconnects)? Does it continue to mine with the remaining Singles, does it quit with an error, does it do something else?
3. does cgminer support 'hot plugging'? That is, if it is mining with, say 14 Singles and you add the 15th, will cgminer recognize it and add it to the mining chain, or do you have to restart cgminer?

Does anyone else using Ufasoft have experience to answer (2) and (3) for the Ufasoft case?

Thanks!

[wogaut]

Subscribing (and eagerly awaiting arrival of my BFL single).

[fred0]

--submit-stale always use.

1. why do you suggest to use 'submit-stale' always? I suppose it can do no harm (other than increase your 'stale share' stats, which doesn't matter). And on merged-mining pools that longpoll after a namecoin block is found, it might actually be beneficial since the bitcoin blocks found after that are not actually stale. Perhaps I answered my own question.  
2. you seem to be in a position to test this: what happens to cgminer if one of the Singles drops out (e.g. the USB cable disconnects)? Does it continue to mine with the remaining Singles, does it quit with an error, does it do someI was thinking that I would write a script, but thing else?
3. does cgminer support 'hot plugging'? That is, if it is mining with, say 14 Singles and you add the 15th, will cgminer recognize it and add it to the mining chain, or do you have to restart cgminer?

1. That's exactly it. Until merged mining ends, --submit-stales. I think that if your pool/backup pool does not do merged mining then feel free to omit it.
2. Sometimes cgminer says thread died, sometimes it crashes. Recently, I upgraded to 2.3.2, and since, I've seen only crashes. Not that that happens often.
3. I'm not aware of usb hot plugging capability in cgminer.. I think that Luke was working on hot plugging, and I saw something about it in the configuration screen, but haven't had the chance to delve deeper.  cgminer restart is required.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Two things for cgminer: first, as P_Shep noted, FPGAs are not supported in cgminer's default build configuration. If working with Linux, build your BFL-only cgminer with

Code:

./autogen.sh && ./configure --disable-opencl --enable-bitforce && make

Second, due to the fact that the Singles are working the full nonce range en-block, there are no mining related parameters. If you read the BFL-only cgminer's help message (./cgminer --help), you'll see that those parameters you usually fight with to get GPU mining optimized (e.g. intensity) are missing. The only parameter that is considered for FPGAs is the --temp-cutoff that is meant to stop a device that reached the given temp (default: 95°C). But since the Singles are throttling themselves, they a) never reach the default cuttoff temp and b) it does not really make sense to use a lower value since the devices take care themselves to not burst into flames.

I'm still waiting for my Singles to test, therefore this is only from what the code says.


Tl;dr: there are no 'best mining settings for the BFL single' in cgminer.

I have a 5830 that I was planning on stuffing in a BFL single rig. With the opposition these two settings create with one another how much adjustability do you have through other outlets like CCC, Trixx, Afterburner, etc...?

[zefir]

Two things for cgminer: first, as P_Shep noted, FPGAs are not supported in cgminer's default build configuration. If working with Linux, build your BFL-only cgminer with

Code:

./autogen.sh && ./configure --disable-opencl --enable-bitforce && make

Second, due to the fact that the Singles are working the full nonce range en-block, there are no mining related parameters. If you read the BFL-only cgminer's help message (./cgminer --help), you'll see that those parameters you usually fight with to get GPU mining optimized (e.g. intensity) are missing. The only parameter that is considered for FPGAs is the --temp-cutoff that is meant to stop a device that reached the given temp (default: 95°C). But since the Singles are throttling themselves, they a) never reach the default cuttoff temp and b) it does not really make sense to use a lower value since the devices take care themselves to not burst into flames.

I'm still waiting for my Singles to test, therefore this is only from what the code says.


Tl;dr: there are no 'best mining settings for the BFL single' in cgminer.

I have a 5830 that I was planning on stuffing in a BFL single rig. With the opposition these two settings create with one another how much adjustability do you have through other outlets like CCC, Trixx, Afterburner, etc...?

Sorry, did not quite understood your question. For running with Windows the current official binaries are built with support for GPU and FPGAs, so you should be able to drive your 5830 and the Single.

As for tuning the card from an external tool (AB, ...), it should be doable when you do not use cgminer controlling options (--auto-fan --auto-gpu). If you are monitoring temps also externally, you can disable ADL completely (--no-adl). That's how it should be, but I'm not using Windows and YMMV.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Two things for cgminer: first, as P_Shep noted, FPGAs are not supported in cgminer's default build configuration. If working with Linux, build your BFL-only cgminer with

Code:

./autogen.sh && ./configure --disable-opencl --enable-bitforce && make

Second, due to the fact that the Singles are working the full nonce range en-block, there are no mining related parameters. If you read the BFL-only cgminer's help message (./cgminer --help), you'll see that those parameters you usually fight with to get GPU mining optimized (e.g. intensity) are missing. The only parameter that is considered for FPGAs is the --temp-cutoff that is meant to stop a device that reached the given temp (default: 95°C). But since the Singles are throttling themselves, they a) never reach the default cuttoff temp and b) it does not really make sense to use a lower value since the devices take care themselves to not burst into flames.

I'm still waiting for my Singles to test, therefore this is only from what the code says.


Tl;dr: there are no 'best mining settings for the BFL single' in cgminer.

I have a 5830 that I was planning on stuffing in a BFL single rig. With the opposition these two settings create with one another how much adjustability do you have through other outlets like CCC, Trixx, Afterburner, etc...?

Sorry, did not quite understood your question. For running with Windows the current official binaries are built with support for GPU and FPGAs, so you should be able to drive your 5830 and the Single.

As for tuning the card from an external tool (AB, ...), it should be doable when you do not use cgminer controlling options (--auto-fan --auto-gpu). If you are monitoring temps also externally, you can disable ADL completely (--no-adl). That's how it should be, but I'm not using Windows and YMMV.

That's pretty much what I was wondering. I have 1 extra card that I can't fit in my other rigs so I figured I would add it to the BFL singles I will be ordering Monday.

[zefir]

Sorry, did not quite understood your question. For running with Windows the current official binaries are built with support for GPU and FPGAs, so you should be able to drive your 5830 and the Single.

As for tuning the card from an external tool (AB, ...), it should be doable when you do not use cgminer controlling options (--auto-fan --auto-gpu). If you are monitoring temps also externally, you can disable ADL completely (--no-adl). That's how it should be, but I'm not using Windows and YMMV.

That's pretty much what I was wondering. I have 1 extra card that I can't fit in my other rigs so I figured I would add it to the BFL singles I will be ordering Monday.

Here's what confuses me: from what you write it sounds like you plan to stuff the card into the BFL Single, which most probably won't work . I assume you plan to set up another computer to control your Single(s) that has a free slot for your 5830 - and that should work. When your BFL device arrives (somewhere in June, good luck),  I'd first try the cgminer integrated control (they really are very effective and reliable) before bumbling around with external tools.

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

Sorry, did not quite understood your question. For running with Windows the current official binaries are built with support for GPU and FPGAs, so you should be able to drive your 5830 and the Single.

As for tuning the card from an external tool (AB, ...), it should be doable when you do not use cgminer controlling options (--auto-fan --auto-gpu). If you are monitoring temps also externally, you can disable ADL completely (--no-adl). That's how it should be, but I'm not using Windows and YMMV.

That's pretty much what I was wondering. I have 1 extra card that I can't fit in my other rigs so I figured I would add it to the BFL singles I will be ordering Monday.

Here's what confuses me: from what you write it sounds like you plan to stuff the card into the BFL Single, which most probably won't work . I assume you plan to set up another computer to control your Single(s) that has a free slot for your 5830 - and that should work. When your BFL device arrives (somewhere in June, good luck),  I'd first try the cgminer integrated control (they really are very effective and reliable) before bumbling around with external tools.

I was planning on taking apart my 5830 and soldering it into the BFL single. DE ULTRA DENSITY!... Wait? That won't work? Haha...

I have a computer that will be used to control the singles and has a vacant pcie slot. Vacant slot + extra 5830 = why not. The first comment kind of made me believe that in turning off opencl that CGminer would not see the GPU. I am glad to hear that it works though. I didn't think out my whole response before I typed it as I use 6 series cards in my one Windows machine and have to use an external tool to change the memory clocks. My linux rigs are much more straight forward to tweek as I do it all through CGminer.

[1l1l11ll1l]

I was planning on taking apart my 5830 and soldering it into the BFL single. DE ULTRA DENSITY!... Wait? That won't work? Haha...

I have a computer that will be used to control the singles and has a vacant pcie slot. Vacant slot + extra 5830 = why not. The first comment kind of made me believe that in turning off opencl that CGminer would not see the GPU. I am glad to hear that it works though. I didn't think out my whole response before I typed it as I use 6 series cards in my one Windows machine and have to use an external tool to change the memory clocks. My linux rigs are much more straight forward to tweek as I do it all through CGminer.

I'm running a 5870 in the rig running my BFL singles. Why not, eh?

[JWU42]

So it seems you need to enter each device manually (BAMT rig) with

Code:

-S /dev/ttyUSB0 -S /dev/ttyUSB1 ...

Couldn't do something like (assuming 6 devices)

Code:

-S /dev/ttyUSB[0,1,2,3,4,5]