BITMAIN Antminer S3 support and OverClocking thread

[daehbew]

question..

there is the software for... SSH?

and then there is the modification under ADV SETTINGS...


are BOTH adjustments required in order to overclock
or just one will suffice (i.e. ADV SETTINGS will override without SSH..)?

one of my S3+ runs at around 500
the other one is around 410..  <<< not sure if I SSH's this one.. or if it is necessary..

[pekatete]

If you have the Advanced Settings page, then no need to SSH into the rig, just change frequency then click Save & Apply..
If you do not have the page, then YES, you'll need to SSH into the rig and edit the file manually. Google for Putty, it is one of the common software(s) for SSH'ing ...

[Zeta0S]

what do you mean?

I've ssh'd it to run at 250.. isn't that all that is required?

Check if you have an Advanced Settings tab under the Miner Configuration tab, if so, you need to click on it and set the frequency there. Latter firmware also does not read frequency settings from that file ... rather another one.

It worked!!! thanks!!!!
now if I can overclock the C1 miner

Under-clock it, not overclock it

why would I want to underclock... overclock = stronger hashrate = more bitcoins

Correct more hashrate = more BTC
But are you sure your calculation is complete? please replay

[daehbew]

no, I'm not sure.
If you're referring to power consumption though, I don't pay power.

I ultimately settled on a clockrate a bit lower than max as max would sometimes drop off at lower than optimal..

[bitsolutions]

If you have the Advanced Settings page, then no need to SSH into the rig, just change frequency then click Save & Apply..
If you do not have the page, then YES, you'll need to SSH into the rig and edit the file manually. Google for Putty, it is one of the common software(s) for SSH'ing ...

You can also upgrade the firmware to the latest which will have the Advanced Settings page.

[macsheadroom]

Is there anything useful to know about the "Best Share" number?

I have 2 S3s, after 2 days one has 14,598,073,804 and other has 1,712,428.

[no141]

Is there anything useful to know about the "Best Share" number?

I have 2 S3s, after 2 days one has 14,598,073,804 and other has 1,712,428.

Here's how I understand it, the share number is the result of the share you sent in to be counted towards your attempts if you are with a pool. It signifies the level of difficulty you found. So if the difficulty level was less than that 14,598,073,804 , you would have mined a block with that share. Today the number is a lot higher, if you see a number bigger than 46,684,376,316.8603 , there should have been a block created by that machine. This is why pools work. For an example, your machines together might find a share that big every 3-4 months, if we were stuck on this same difficulty or lower that whole time. Put more of those odds together and you can find block daily to even earnings out.

-------

After I changed the power supply on my one S3, it got so much cooler in the room I have it in. Thanks to overclocking it, it's warmer again, and the power supply wires are perfect.

I will note I got the unit secondhand, and not one clue what batch it is. It has been running just great at 250mhz, putting out 503.07 GH/s average for the day. The one issue with the explanation here is !wq did not work with the vi that is on my machine(vim pointed to vi). After escaping from the input mode, ZZ got it saved and exited. I imagine a lot of people could be confused by that.

Replace !wq to ZZ and there's no issues
(!wq is in the first post, they are incorrect)

[pekatete]

I will note I got the unit secondhand, and not one clue what batch it is. It has been running just great at 250mhz, putting out 503.07 GH/s average for the day. The one issue with the explanation here is !wq did not work with the vi that is on my machine(vim pointed to vi). After escaping from the input mode, ZZ got it saved and exited. I imagine a lot of people could be confused by that.

Replace !wq to ZZ and there's no issues

You wanted wq! not !wq
PS. wq! stands for write then quit by force if needed!

[hruxer]

So I changed the frequency file to run at 250 Mhz, rebooted the device and the clock is still sitting at 225 Mhz. I do have 2x 6 pin goin into each group and each of those 6 pin cables splits into two, so I use the splitted ones going into the other two 6 pins. Do you think the reason of why it doesn't go higher than  225 Mhz is because I need to use independent cables going into another 6 pin for this to work?

[no141]

So I changed the frequency file to run at 250 Mhz, rebooted the device and the clock is still sitting at 225 Mhz. I do have 2x 6 pin goin into each group and each of those 6 pin cables splits into two, so I use the splitted ones going into the other two 6 pins. Do you think the reason of why it doesn't go higher than  225 Mhz is because I need to use independent cables going into another 6 pin for this to work?

Things to look for:
Did you actually save the file? Open it back up and check if the edits were kept
Did you put a hashmark in front of the 225MHz three items you are not using? Got to comment those out

You don't need to have all four power connections populated, one from each long side is fine, as long as it supplies the needed power. Sometimes those splitting cables can heat up more than the actual cable from the power supply. I wouldn't split them.

[hruxer]

So I changed the frequency file to run at 250 Mhz, rebooted the device and the clock is still sitting at 225 Mhz. I do have 2x 6 pin goin into each group and each of those 6 pin cables splits into two, so I use the splitted ones going into the other two 6 pins. Do you think the reason of why it doesn't go higher than  225 Mhz is because I need to use independent cables going into another 6 pin for this to work?

Things to look for:
Did you actually save the file? Open it back up and check if the edits were kept
Did you put a hashmark in front of the 225MHz three items you are not using? Got to comment those out

You don't need to have all four power connections populated, one from each long side is fine, as long as it supplies the needed power. Sometimes those splitting cables can heat up more than the actual cable from the power supply. I wouldn't split them.

Yes and Yes. Overclocking generally means more power draw and since the cables are split and come from the same source and each cable can handle only 12V+ and there are three such cables per 6 pins.  I will try to plugin independent 6 pins from other cables and see if that will work. I think what the issue is that it is not getting enough power to support OC.

[no141]

Yes and Yes. Overclocking generally means more power draw and since the cables are split and come from the same source and each cable can handle only 12V+ and there are three such cables per 6 pins.  I will try to plugin independent 6 pins from other cables and see if that will work. I think what the issue is that it is not getting enough power to support OC.

I don't think there is a fallback if there's trouble at 250, should just start beeping, or no fan, if it doesn't work at 250. I would triple-check the edited file. Cables are rated for amperage, that's the real defining part if the cable can handle the miners need. I use a 460w power supply that can supply 38 amps, along with two of it's PCI-e cables, no issues what-so-ever. Cables stay at room temp.

After you triple check the file to edit, from the very top to the very bottom, then cycle the power on the power supply, or unplug and re-plug.

[hruxer]

Yes and Yes. Overclocking generally means more power draw and since the cables are split and come from the same source and each cable can handle only 12V+ and there are three such cables per 6 pins.  I will try to plugin independent 6 pins from other cables and see if that will work. I think what the issue is that it is not getting enough power to support OC.

I don't think there is a fallback if there's trouble at 250, should just start beeping, or no fan, if it doesn't work at 250. I would triple-check the edited file. Cables are rated for amperage, that's the real defining part if the cable can handle the miners need. I use a 460w power supply that can supply 38 amps, along with two of it's PCI-e cables, no issues what-so-ever. Cables stay at room temp.

After you triple check the file to edit, from the very top to the very bottom, then cycle the power on the power supply, or unplug and re-plug.

I'll check again when I'm back home. I run 600W with 45 A 12V rail so should be good. Will unplug everything and plug it back in and let you know if it worked.

[hruxer]

Hey Guys, so for anyone who might have the same problem here is what I have found out from the seller:

"Overclocking these units is no longer done by editing the frequency file; one of the recent firmware upgrades changed that. Now you do it directly through the web interface: go to Miner Configuration screen, and then the 'Advanced' tab. You'll see a dropdown with a bunch of frequency settings that you can pick from. Using all 4 6pin connectors can help with stability"


Surprised nobody here knew this... Anyways that's the solution.

[no141]

There was this info about the advanced tab further back in the thread, but that's for the newer machines and people that updated the bios. I have no interest in breaking something that works well, so I'm on the old bios still. I also figured anyone inquiring here about overclocking would have looked all through the miner web login. An oversight on my part.

What I'm really interested in seeing is charts showing the difference in different diff settings on these oc s3s.

[hruxer]

There was this info about the advanced tab further back in the thread, but that's for the newer machines and people that updated the bios. I have no interest in breaking something that works well, so I'm on the old bios still. I also figured anyone inquiring here about overclocking would have looked all through the miner web login. An oversight on my part.

What I'm really interested in seeing is charts showing the difference in different diff settings on these oc s3s.

Updating bios helps with efficiency as the firmware is further optimized to get the most out of your ASICs. Furthermore, I have gone through all the tabs when I got my S3, however, the other tabs were so grayed out and I use my 46" TV for a display that is further away I simply didn't see this advanced configuration.

Before Overclocking the unit my average hash rate per day chart showed 450 GHs;

After Overclicking (running only 2x 6 Pin) one of my ASICs chips became inactive (on 250 Freq) and the hashrate became more unstable still marginally better and the chart showed 470 GHs;

Because of this huge variance and instability I decided to give my S3 2 more 6 pins running total of 4x 6 Pin and once again attempted to run it on OC (250 Freq) and the hash rate is significantly better and the ASIC that was inactive before is now back to OK state. I haven't run the unit for a long time but I have been observing the hasrate over the period of 5 minutes and it is stable in between 515 GHs - 570 Ghs. Much much better! Anyone who OC's their S3 needs to run 4 x 6 Pin or otherwise it won't make any sense. OH, and the temps im getting is 40C~~

[no141]

There was this info about the advanced tab further back in the thread, but that's for the newer machines and people that updated the bios. I have no interest in breaking something that works well, so I'm on the old bios still. I also figured anyone inquiring here about overclocking would have looked all through the miner web login. An oversight on my part.

What I'm really interested in seeing is charts showing the difference in different diff settings on these oc s3s.

Updating bios helps with efficiency as the firmware is further optimized to get the most out of your ASICs. Furthermore, I have gone through all the tabs when I got my S3, however, the other tabs were so grayed out and I use my 46" TV for a display that is further away I simply didn't see this advanced configuration.

Before Overclocking the unit my average hash rate per day chart showed 450 GHs;

After Overclicking (running only 2x 6 Pin) one of my ASICs chips became inactive (on 250 Freq) and the hashrate became more unstable still marginally better and the chart showed 470 GHs;

Because of this huge variance and instability I decided to give my S3 2 more 6 pins running total of 4x 6 Pin and once again attempted to run it on OC (250 Freq) and the hash rate is significantly better and the ASIC that was inactive before is now back to OK state. I haven't run the unit for a long time but I have been observing the hasrate over the period of 5 minutes and it is stable in between 515 GHs - 570 Ghs. Much much better! Anyone who OC's their S3 needs to run 4 x 6 Pin or otherwise it won't make any sense. OH, and the temps im getting is 40C~~

Ok, your point about updating the bios is valid, if the version of cgminer included makes changes the speed of things on the device in question. For me, with an older, name brand, on sale when I got it, power supply while not overclocked, the miner would run for weeks, then die out with a bad bank of asics. Now on the new psu, no issues overclocked. Time will tell, but I've been testing the work utility, so I've been killing cgminer and starting it back up. With only two pins used, my average hashrate reported by the unit is 515 after 10million valid shares currently. Of course the 5s average can swing to bigger numbers, the swing being bigger with a higher difficulty--using 512 now.

In a 79-86F room, it stays steady at 43 to 45C now. I will optimize the cooling as it gets warmer, otherwise the room will get over 90F easily.

[soy]

May I ask which firmware you're using?  I tried one and got a failure to load the GUI situation forcing me back.  Is this usual or something to do with my setup?

[no141]

May I ask which firmware you're using?  I tried one and got a failure to load the GUI situation forcing me back.  Is this usual or something to do with my setup?

I think I am using the absolute oldest possible on these S3s.
OpenWrt Barrier Breaker r38031 / LuCI Trunk (svn-r9909)
Kernel Version   3.10.12
Copyright 2011-2013

If you downloaded the right firmware, did you follow instructions to the letter to install?

[soy]

May I ask which firmware you're using?  I tried one and got a failure to load the GUI situation forcing me back.  Is this usual or something to do with my setup?

I think I am using the absolute oldest possible on these S3s.
OpenWrt Barrier Breaker r38031 / LuCI Trunk (svn-r9909)
Kernel Version   3.10.12
Copyright 2011-2013

If you downloaded the right firmware, did you follow instructions to the letter to install?

Firmware version Thu Aug 7 Kernel 3.10.12

I was hoping to move up to a voltage option along with frequency.