[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive ASICMiner Tube Setup [HD]

[dogie]

Hi dogie,
like always: thanks dogie! Your guids are extremly helpful!

I'd just have another question: Can I control my this miner with another device as the BE Controller?

Thanks in advance

With one of the USB adapters, anything that runs cgminer

There exist USB adapters that don't need to be modded?

Yes, provided with Prismas.

[Jhawkfan101]

I just had a few questions:

1 - I have a rpi that I used previously when I had block erupters and I would like to use it for mining with a tube. I was going to use Minera but have been unable to find anything on how to set this up. Right now I do not have the USB-UART that comes with prismas but I do have a BE controller that I am running it on right now. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to setup the rpi as a proxy. Anyone know where a set of instructions are?
2 - Does anyone know if Minera can use the adafruit screen on the pi?
3 - Does anyone sell just the USB-UART Adapter? I would love to just plug in my tube straight to the rpi but havent been able to find one yet.

Thanks

[novak@gekkoscience]

3 - Does anyone sell just the USB-UART Adapter? I would love to just plug in my tube straight to the rpi but havent been able to find one yet.

I do.  I just ordered all the parts so it'll be a couple weeks until I can ship, but if you're desperate I can tell you how to make one yourself with any commercially available CP2102 USB-UART adapter, although to make it look nice you should buy specific ones and swap SMD parts.  Neither requires any equipment beyond a basic soldering iron, although SMD parts do require some dexterity and tweezers are nice.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=882348.0

--
novak

[iglasses]

Is there any way of telling operating temperature of these do you know? I can't see it in software stats anywhere.

No that's why you have to be careful, BE200s don't have onboard thermal sensors.

Wow that's pretty awful IMO.

[hedgy73]

Is there any way of telling operating temperature of these do you know? I can't see it in software stats anywhere.

No that's why you have to be careful, BE200s don't have onboard thermal sensors.

Wow that's pretty awful IMO.

Yeah that is pretty bad I agree. Luckily enough these seem to run ok with either 1 x standard fan (noisy) or 2 x Corsair high performance fans (quiet). I've been running both mine on twin Corsairs for a few weeks now without any problems. Upside is massively reduced noise, probably 80% quieter than the stock fan, I can hardly hear mine running.

Main problems with these is the pools you can use. Most pools don't like asicminer tubes, some do though. I've been running mine on www.bitcoinaffiliatenetwork.com and www.bitcoin.cz and been ok solo mining on www.solomining.com.

[iglasses]

This is my first one...just picked it up.  So far I'm not really impressed.  The PSU-Miner ratio makes it even more messy than usual.  No *good* stats page.  I'm connecting to guild w/out any issues but it would still be nice to have other options.
Have to say for me this one is not a winner.

I haven't been up long enough to collect any usable stats but so far the hash rate is about the only positive.  It's clocked @ 270 and hashing over 800 with (almost) no h/w errors.

[hedgy73]

This is my first one...just picked it up.  So far I'm not really impressed.  The PSU-Miner ratio makes it even more messy than usual.  No *good* stats page.  I'm connecting to guild w/out any issues but it would still be nice to have other options.
Have to say for me this one is not a winner.

I haven't been up long enough to collect any usable stats but so far the hash rate is about the only positive.  It's clocked @ 270 and hashing over 800 with (almost) no h/w errors.

I agree they are messy requiring 4 pci-e cables and the software is very, very basic. It would be nice to have access to some more detailed stats... Not working on most pools is my main issue. Only being able to enter a single pools details is another thing I have issue with, not being able to enter any backup pools is annoying if your first goes down...

As mentioned I've got 2, I'm running them @290 and averaging about 850GH/s. I did try running @300 for 900+GH/s but it tripped out my psu a couple of times (Corsair RM1000) because it was pulling too much power. 300 would probably be ok with a more powerful psu.

If it wasn't for the half decent mining speed for the money and relative quietness I would considered getting rid of these. However, they have been mining 24/7 for several weeks now pretty much faultlessly and are generating just enough btc to cover their electricity cost and enough heat to warm my office at home now its winter here in the UK so its not all bad .

[iglasses]

Yea I'm on the hunt for a PSU now.  I had it hooked up with 4 PSU's yesterday..lol
On the plus side the cables were all surprisingly cool.
It is a beast hashing, I'll give them that.

[hedgy73]

Yea I'm on the hunt for a PSU now.  I had it hooked up with 4 PSU's yesterday..lol
On the plus side the cables were all surprisingly cool.
It is a beast hashing, I'll give them that.

Ha ha 4 psu's bet that was cluttered, I had my first tube running off 2 x CX750's and that was cluttered enough. Both mine are currently running off RM1000's, if I had to buy another psu to run one I'd go for something a little more powerful so they can be oc'd to the maximum. Finding something with 4 x twin pci-e cables to feed the 8 pci-e connections is the tricky part. I like the AX1200 but its double the price of an RM1000 and will never even come close to return the extra cost in the additional overclocked hasrate.

Dogies psu guide is a handy source of info if you haven't seen it already: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=486121

[dogie]

This is my first one...just picked it up.  So far I'm not really impressed.  The PSU-Miner ratio makes it even more messy than usual.  No *good* stats page.  I'm connecting to guild w/out any issues but it would still be nice to have other options.
Have to say for me this one is not a winner.

I haven't been up long enough to collect any usable stats but so far the hash rate is about the only positive.  It's clocked @ 270 and hashing over 800 with (almost) no h/w errors.

I agree they are messy requiring 4 pci-e cables and the software is very, very basic. It would be nice to have access to some more detailed stats... Not working on most pools is my main issue. Only being able to enter a single pools details is another thing I have issue with, not being able to enter any backup pools is annoying if your first goes down...

As mentioned I've got 2, I'm running them @290 and averaging about 850GH/s. I did try running @300 for 900+GH/s but it tripped out my psu a couple of times (Corsair RM1000) because it was pulling too much power. 300 would probably be ok with a more powerful psu.

If it wasn't for the half decent mining speed for the money and relative quietness I would considered getting rid of these. However, they have been mining 24/7 for several weeks now pretty much faultlessly and are generating just enough btc to cover their electricity cost and enough heat to warm my office at home now its winter here in the UK so its not all bad .

The twins miss their brother https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=886325. Anything past 300 isn't viable, and 300s aren't going to happen on every tube without dropping some chips (which defeats the purpose).

[dogie]

Yea I'm on the hunt for a PSU now.  I had it hooked up with 4 PSU's yesterday..lol
On the plus side the cables were all surprisingly cool.
It is a beast hashing, I'll give them that.

Ha ha 4 psu's bet that was cluttered, I had my first tube running off 2 x CX750's and that was cluttered enough. Both mine are currently running off RM1000's, if I had to buy another psu to run one I'd go for something a little more powerful so they can be oc'd to the maximum. Finding something with 4 x twin pci-e cables to feed the 8 pci-e connections is the tricky part. I like the AX1200 but its double the price of an RM1000 and will never even come close to return the extra cost in the additional overclocked hasrate.

Dogies psu guide is a handy source of info if you haven't seen it already: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=486121

If you've got a PSU that can do the wattage but only has 2 PCI-E cable rails, you can use 2x molex to PCI-E adapters to make up the other 2 rails. Remember to mix and match though, so 1 PCI-E and one 2x molex PCI-E per board.

[hedgy73]

This is my first one...just picked it up.  So far I'm not really impressed.  The PSU-Miner ratio makes it even more messy than usual.  No *good* stats page.  I'm connecting to guild w/out any issues but it would still be nice to have other options.
Have to say for me this one is not a winner.

I haven't been up long enough to collect any usable stats but so far the hash rate is about the only positive.  It's clocked @ 270 and hashing over 800 with (almost) no h/w errors.

I agree they are messy requiring 4 pci-e cables and the software is very, very basic. It would be nice to have access to some more detailed stats... Not working on most pools is my main issue. Only being able to enter a single pools details is another thing I have issue with, not being able to enter any backup pools is annoying if your first goes down...

As mentioned I've got 2, I'm running them @290 and averaging about 850GH/s. I did try running @300 for 900+GH/s but it tripped out my psu a couple of times (Corsair RM1000) because it was pulling too much power. 300 would probably be ok with a more powerful psu.

If it wasn't for the half decent mining speed for the money and relative quietness I would considered getting rid of these. However, they have been mining 24/7 for several weeks now pretty much faultlessly and are generating just enough btc to cover their electricity cost and enough heat to warm my office at home now its winter here in the UK so its not all bad .

The twins miss their brother https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=886325. Anything past 300 isn't viable, and 300s aren't going to happen on every tube without dropping some chips (which defeats the purpose).

Yeah I bet they do . 290 seems to be optimal for the 2 I've got + psu's, I'm happy with their performance @ 850GH/s.

[hedgy73]

Yea I'm on the hunt for a PSU now.  I had it hooked up with 4 PSU's yesterday..lol
On the plus side the cables were all surprisingly cool.
It is a beast hashing, I'll give them that.

Ha ha 4 psu's bet that was cluttered, I had my first tube running off 2 x CX750's and that was cluttered enough. Both mine are currently running off RM1000's, if I had to buy another psu to run one I'd go for something a little more powerful so they can be oc'd to the maximum. Finding something with 4 x twin pci-e cables to feed the 8 pci-e connections is the tricky part. I like the AX1200 but its double the price of an RM1000 and will never even come close to return the extra cost in the additional overclocked hasrate.

Dogies psu guide is a handy source of info if you haven't seen it already: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=486121

If you've got a PSU that can do the wattage but only has 2 PCI-E cable rails, you can use 2x molex to PCI-E adapters to make up the other 2 rails. Remember to mix and match though, so 1 PCI-E and one 2x molex PCI-E per board.

That's a good point .

[iglasses]

Wow so after mining with this thing for 2.5 days I think my controller just shit the bed.  It won't mine and the ping is totally inconsistent...just drops off for about a minute...then comes back...then drops off... rinse/repeat.

So now I have a dead soldier until I can research & get some kind of replacement....less than one week from Christmas...nice.

[sidehack]

We have some controllers that are CrazyGuy's leftovers from hosting, ask him and he might sell you one we can ship out. Or grab one of Novak's USB adapters in the group buys and run it off cgminer.

[dogie]

Wow so after mining with this thing for 2.5 days I think my controller just shit the bed.  It won't mine and the ping is totally inconsistent...just drops off for about a minute...then comes back...then drops off... rinse/repeat.

So now I have a dead soldier until I can research & get some kind of replacement....less than one week from Christmas...nice.

That could also happen if its not mining / pool / network settings have gone bad. The units reset every ~100 seconds when no mining is detected.

[hedgy73]

Also check the units I.P. address is still what it should be same with your pool settings though the software just in case you've touched the reset button on the controller by mistake.

[iglasses]

Wow so after mining with this thing for 2.5 days I think my controller just shit the bed.  It won't mine and the ping is totally inconsistent...just drops off for about a minute...then comes back...then drops off... rinse/repeat.

So now I have a dead soldier until I can research & get some kind of replacement....less than one week from Christmas...nice.

That could also happen if its not mining / pool / network settings have gone back. The units reset every ~100 seconds when no mining is detected.

Well at least I'm not someone who has been in the IT industry for 20+ years...ohh wait.....

yeaaaa.....it's fine.  I fat fingered the dam pool and it was just rebooting cause wrong.
Still kinda sux that it does that but I have to take the blame for this one 

on the plus side (when you don't *k up the config) it hashes like a beast.  I compromised on my PSU setup and am running two Thermaltake 850's and it seems pretty happy.  Stock clock (270) she is pulling 900w through an APC 1500 and all cables and plugs are cool to the touch.  Still wish I had a temp reading on the boards but I thought I noticed someone had an IR app for an android...gotta see if there is one for the iPhone.

[hedgy73]

Glad you got it sorted, its pretty easy to get the pool details wrong, I've done it enough times .

Don't know whether you're interested but there's a couple of threads where Novac has built a usb controller for tubes and prismas which will allow you to use these on any pool I think rather than the select few available at the moment. They will control your tube via a pc, raspberry pi or beaglebone using cgminer. This replaces the tubes original controller with inherent problems.

The DIY thread is here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=857048 and the group buy thread is here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=882348.

I've ordered myself some, they're dirt cheap (only $4.50 ea.) and he sorts out very reasonable shipping rates. I'm getting 3 sent to the UK with economy shipping for 0.0635 which I think is very good.

[iglasses]

Thx hedgy I'm going to check that out.  I'm looking to get a rpi just for the fun of it. There was a post in the fish pool that said the tubes would work using bfgminer but I haven't been able to get it to work or confirm that anyone else has.