Ubuntu Natty Narwhal 11.04 Mining Guide / HOWTO

[supa]

I just spent 5 hours messing with Ubuntu on one of my rigs.   Only to find out it's been fucking up because for some reason PCI_16 Extension bridges don't work. 

What the fuck    $400 motherboard with 7x PCI and can't even use ribbons?   Fucking shenanigans.

Was this the final answer?  Is that a restriction with a bridge on the mainboard that is also present in Windows or some weird incompatibility/proprietary whacky drivers/general weirdness?

Congrats on finding the issue - hope you can get it solved.

resets fan speed to default, which I then change back to my fixed setting, but there is no change in the allowed clock speeds for me at all, whether it's running or not.

which brings me back to one of my earlier questions: do I need to configure something (profiles?) in the gui first for it to work? never had a screen attached to the box after the initial ubuntu setup, everything done in ssh, so i've not run AMDOverDriveCtrl or any other utility in the gui.

I didn't set any profiles in AMDOverDriveCtrl.  I like having a flexible config, so I generally set everything with aticonfig on boot.  That way, if I ever need to change something, it's an ssh/vi away.

Your mileage may vary - for me, just running AMDOverDriveCtrl drops the Memory Clock floor from 1125 (AMDOverDriveCtrl *not* running and aticonfig --odgc) to 150 (AMDOverDriveCtrl running and aticonfig --odgc).

[darkpandora]

Ahh.  Yea I'm using SSH at the moment.  I can hook up the monitor but a bit of a pain for the multi computers.  So how did you know how to do it the command line way?  Is there some list somewhere?    Also how does it know to go to the website to get it?   

ok, here the two steps:

wget -O amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb "http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/amdovdrvctrl/deb%20binaries/amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb?r=http%3A%2F%2Fsourceforge.net%2Fprojects%2Famdovdrvctrl%2F&ts=1307967653&use_mirror=switch"

sudo dpkg -i amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb

That's all

when i try to install amdoverdrivectrl i get this error:

~$ sudo dpkg -i amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb
[sudo] password for :
dpkg-deb: error: `amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb' is not a debian format archive
dpkg: error processing amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb (--install):
 subprocess dpkg-deb --control returned error exit status 2
Errors were encountered while processing:
 amdoverdrivectrl_1.2.0_amd64.deb

[supa]

Delete and redownload it.  Something went seriously wrong.

[darkpandora]

Delete and redownload it.  Something went seriously wrong.

thanks, worked
so how do i run amdoverdrivectrl from SSH and downclock memory and overclock gpu?
thanks very much.

[Dusty]

so how do i run amdoverdrivectrl from SSH and downclock memory and overclock gpu?

Open the program from the console, set everything, save the configuration to file.

Then from the commandline do:
export DISPLAY=:0
AMDOverdriveCtrl -b <filesettings-nama>

[darkpandora]

so how do i run amdoverdrivectrl from SSH and downclock memory and overclock gpu?

Open the program from the console, set everything, save the configuration to file.

Then from the commandline do:
export DISPLAY=:0
AMDOverdriveCtrl -b <filesettings-nama>

i have 6990, i cannot overclock the other core.
and when i set memory to lower then 1250mhz i get this error:

Invalid settings
The chosen overdrive settings are not valid.
Frequency settings must follow the rule:
low level <= mid level <= high level

[Dusty]

i have 6990, i cannot overclock the other core.
and when i set memory to lower then 1250mhz i get this error:

Invalid settings
The chosen overdrive settings are not valid.
Frequency settings must follow the rule:
low level <= mid level <= high level

As the error explains, you have to first lower the clocks on the mid level, and then the settings on the high one.

There are three profiles: low, mid and high. Each higher profile MUST be faster (or equal) to the lower one.
So for example if you have 1250 Mhz clock on mid level you can't set it to less in the high one.

[darkpandora]

i have 6990, i cannot overclock the other core.
and when i set memory to lower then 1250mhz i get this error:

Invalid settings
The chosen overdrive settings are not valid.
Frequency settings must follow the rule:
low level <= mid level <= high level

As the error explains, you have to first lower the clocks on the mid level, and then the settings on the high one.

There are three profiles: low, mid and high. Each higher profile MUST be faster (or equal) to the lower one.
So for example if you have 1250 Mhz clock on mid level you can't set it to less in the high one.

thanks so much man.. i will definitely donate to you if it works

[supa]

I don't usually even eff with the AMDOverDriveCtrl profiles.

You do need to make a profile and -b it.  Here's a "dummy" file you can edit with a text editor, save and load.  Make sure to change your values to something sane for your config.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="2" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1088"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="1" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="0" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <FAN_SETTING percentage="AUTO"/>
  <FAN_CTRL enabled="no"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_CURVE type="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="0" temperature="2000" percentage="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="1" temperature="4000" percentage="2500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="2" temperature="6000" percentage="5000"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="3" temperature="8000" percentage="7500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="4" temperature="10000" percentage="10000"/>
  <MONITOR_SAMPLE_TIME interval="10"/>
  <COLOR_PROFILE enabled="no" longitude="-13.000000" latitude="52.000000" color_
temp_day="6500" color_temp_night="4000" transition="30"/>
  <POWERTUNE percentage="0"/>
</OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>

I just launch it and leave it running, then use aticonfig.  It's probably cleaner/easier/better to do the profile thing, but I've grown on just using aticonfig.

[darkpandora]

I don't usually even eff with the AMDOverDriveCtrl profiles.

You do need to make a profile and -b it.  Here's a "dummy" file you can edit with a text editor, save and load.  Make sure to change your values to something sane for your config.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="2" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1088"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="1" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="0" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <FAN_SETTING percentage="AUTO"/>
  <FAN_CTRL enabled="no"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_CURVE type="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="0" temperature="2000" percentage="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="1" temperature="4000" percentage="2500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="2" temperature="6000" percentage="5000"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="3" temperature="8000" percentage="7500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="4" temperature="10000" percentage="10000"/>
  <MONITOR_SAMPLE_TIME interval="10"/>
  <COLOR_PROFILE enabled="no" longitude="-13.000000" latitude="52.000000" color_
temp_day="6500" color_temp_night="4000" transition="30"/>
  <POWERTUNE percentage="0"/>
</OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>

I just launch it and leave it running, then use aticonfig.  It's probably cleaner/easier/better to do the profile thing, but I've grown on just using aticonfig.

i use SSH to start my miners.
btw, i overclocked my 6990. holy s**t.. i got 426Mhash/sec on only 1 core, i changed the settings to 1000 gpu core and 75 memory.

but i was unable to overclock core 2. there is no option in atioverdrivectrl to chose core 2. how do i do that? thx

[darkpandora]

I don't usually even eff with the AMDOverDriveCtrl profiles.

You do need to make a profile and -b it.  Here's a "dummy" file you can edit with a text editor, save and load.  Make sure to change your values to something sane for your config.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="2" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1088"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="1" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <PERFORMANCE_LEVEL level="0" gpu="77500" mem="22500" voltage="1085"/>
  <FAN_SETTING percentage="AUTO"/>
  <FAN_CTRL enabled="no"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_CURVE type="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="0" temperature="2000" percentage="0"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="1" temperature="4000" percentage="2500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="2" temperature="6000" percentage="5000"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="3" temperature="8000" percentage="7500"/>
  <FAN_CTRL_POINT nr="4" temperature="10000" percentage="10000"/>
  <MONITOR_SAMPLE_TIME interval="10"/>
  <COLOR_PROFILE enabled="no" longitude="-13.000000" latitude="52.000000" color_
temp_day="6500" color_temp_night="4000" transition="30"/>
  <POWERTUNE percentage="0"/>
</OVERDRIVE_PROFILE>

I just launch it and leave it running, then use aticonfig.  It's probably cleaner/easier/better to do the profile thing, but I've grown on just using aticonfig.

i use SSH to start my miners.
btw, i overclocked my 6990. holy s**t.. i got 426Mhash/sec on only 1 core, i changed the settings to 1000 gpu core and 75 memory.

but i was unable to overclock core 2. there is no option in atioverdrivectrl to chose core 2. how do i do that? thx

never mind:D i found out after google search.

this is what i ended up with

~$ aticonfig --odgc --adapter=all

Adapter 0 - AMD Radeon HD 6990
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    250           150
             Current Peak :    1000           75
  Configurable Peak Range : [500-1200]     [75-1500]
                 GPU load :    0%

Adapter 1 - AMD Radeon HD 6990
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    250           150
             Current Peak :    1000           75
  Configurable Peak Range : [500-1200]     [75-1500]
                 GPU load :    0%

[supa]

Looks interesting!

And I think you already solved it, but AMDOverDriveCtrl -i X lets you choose card X.

[darkpandora]

Looks interesting!

And I think you already solved it, but AMDOverDriveCtrl -i X lets you choose card X.

yup i did , now i will overclock my 4870x2
i use this command for my 6990:

AMDOverDriveCtrl -b 6990.ovdr -i 1

[darkpandora]

Looks interesting!

And I think you already solved it, but AMDOverDriveCtrl -i X lets you choose card X.

yup i did , now i will overclock my 4870x2
i use this command for my 6990:

AMDOverDriveCtrl -b 6990.ovdr -i 1

damn:(
i was able to run AMDOverDriveCtrl command when i was on ubuntu terminal. i unpluged the screen and came on my room to start mining from SSH, then i get this when i type this command:

~$ AMDOverDriveCtrl -h
AMDOverDriveCtrl: command not found

why? whats wrong with SSH or putty?

edit: lol nvm, i was running "AMDOverDriveCtrl" instead of "AMDOverdriveCtrl".
it works now.

[supa]

Protip: Type AMDO, hit tab, hit enter.

Unless you have more than one thing that starts with AMDO..... but that's probably not likely.

[minerX]

I just spent 5 hours messing with Ubuntu on one of my rigs.   Only to find out it's been fucking up because for some reason PCI_16 Extension bridges don't work. 

What the fuck    $400 motherboard with 7x PCI and can't even use ribbons?   Fucking shenanigans.

Was this the final answer?  Is that a restriction with a bridge on the mainboard that is also present in Windows or some weird incompatibility/proprietary whacky drivers/general weirdness?

Congrats on finding the issue - hope you can get it solved.

No.  This was a NEW problem on a different box.  I decided to install my 5th 5850 on one my ubuntu boxes.  But I needed the PCI extenders for it to work.  After 2 hours of reinstall / crashing I decided to test all the components one by one.  Basically any time I added an extender ribbon the computer would freeze on Ubuntu startup.   Which doesn't make any sense because I have 2 other computers running extender ribbons. 

As for the 6950/6970 problem.  I just installed windows.  I have all 3 cards runnining between 400-425 mhash now.   I flashed the voltage and then did the CCC unlock trick.   (6xxx cannot use RBE to adjust ANY clock settings, due to RBE fault.)   I'm sad that I can't use Ubuntu but there doesn't seem to be a fix.     

In windows I had to turn all 4 cores on and am at 80-95% CPU.  Ubuntu with 2 cores @ 10% cpu.  Wacky.

[minerX]

Is it normal for AMDoverDRive ctrl to freeze at this point?  I've let it go like 5 minutes...


$ AMDOverdriveCtrl -b amdconfig

INF: Nr. of Adapters: 12
INF: Adapter index: 0, active, ID:14054336, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 1, inact., ID:14054336, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 2, inact., ID:14054336, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 3, active, ID:14671328, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 4, inact., ID:14671328, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 5, inact., ID:14671328, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 6, active, ID:15239248, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 7, inact., ID:15239248, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 8, inact., ID:15239248, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 9, active, ID:15807168, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 10, inact., ID:15807168, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index: 11, inact., ID:15807168, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
INF: Adapter index 0 choosen.
INF: Nr. of Performance Levels: 3
INF: Perf Level 0: GPU 157MHz Memory 300MHz Voltage 0.968V
INF: Perf Level 1: GPU 550MHz Memory 900MHz Voltage 1.068V
INF: Perf Level 2: GPU 850MHz Memory 900MHz Voltage 1.118V
ACT: Set fan speed to default
INF: Nr. of Displays to check 4
INF: Color temp disp(3) :
INF: current 6500K default 6500K
INF: min 4000K max 10000K step 100K

[darkpandora]

i have overclocked and configured the 4870x2 and the 6990 and saved the profile for each video card, like this 4870.ovdr and 6990.ovdr.

when i run: ~$ AMDOverdriveCtrl -b 6990.ovdr -i4

i get this message:
INF: Nr. of Adapters: 10
INF: Adapter index: 0, active, ID:12099968, ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
INF: Adapter index: 1, inact., ID:12099968, ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
INF: Adapter index: 2, active, ID:13011456, ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
INF: Adapter index: 3, inact., ID:13011456, ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
INF: Adapter index: 4, active, ID:13454064, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index: 5, inact., ID:13454064, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index: 6, inact., ID:13454064, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index: 7, inact., ID:13454064, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index: 8, inact., ID:13454064, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index: 9, active, ID:15688544, AMD Radeon HD 6990
INF: Adapter index 4 choosen.
INF: Nr. of Performance Levels: 3
Segmentation fault

the profile for 4870 runs fine, but i get this error for the 6990. how do i run the profile for the 6990?
thanks

[SchizophrenicX]

Hi, I finally got down to getting a fresh install and followed the guide. I had to reboot, aticonfig --initial --adapter=all then reboot again. cuz the first time I have no idea it seems like it didn't get through.

Anyhow. I kept having failed to connect from phoenix and can't get poclbm to run. Anyone can give me an idea?
Also via Aticonfig I can't underclock my mem to 300. I heard this got to do with the atiocl file but I don't know how to do it. I know AMDOverdriveCtrl can go to 300 and even below but I wanna write a simple script to run my miners and OC at the start of the machine.

EDIT: poclbm can connect but phoenix keeps saying Failed to connect. -.- I don't know why poclbm had error running previously after I reboot. It runs fine.

[supa]

darkpandora,

Try using the GUI to re-edit and save your 6990 config.  Seems like it might be exploding when it tries to load it - maybe a stray > or some other character somewhere?

Also - can you set the values you want for your 6990 with aticonfig?  If the values are a bit wonky, I'd imagine AMDOverDriveCtrl might take a dive trying to set them.


SchizophreniX,

Double check your arguments.  poclbm and phoenix have *VERY* different ways of defining username, password and host.  Did you possibly fat finger the phoenix line?  It should be something along the lines of -u http://username:password@thepooladdress.com:8332

poclbm lets you use the --user, --pass, --server, --port method.