Block Erupter Prisma (>=1.4 T/device, 0.75-0.78 W/G, <1 BTC/T, October Shipping)

[Scorch]

i have be cotroller and if i will run it with him it's works but you can mining only in few pools :/

It sounds like everything you're doing should work.  Maybe it's time to try using BFGminer 4.10 as a proxy with your BE controller and see how that works.

now i'm waiting for rpi and i will try to have fun with it ;p

[TracerX]

i have be cotroller and if i will run it with him it's works but you can mining only in few pools :/

It sounds like everything you're doing should work.  Maybe it's time to try using BFGminer 4.10 as a proxy with your BE controller and see how that works.

now i'm waiting for rpi and i will try to have fun with it ;p

PM me when you get your rpi and I'll make sure you have everything you need!

[novak@gekkoscience]

or has anyone tried using a regular USB to UART adapter?

One user modified an old Block Erupter USB (those small things that plug straight into a USB port) to work with a Block Erupter Prisma;
[DIY] Tube/Prisma USB Adapter from USB Blockerupter

He notes:

You should theoretically be able to use any CP2102 USB-UART witha 1K pullup resistor from 3.3V to RXD in this fashion.

YMMV

Probably worth pointing out that someone else followed those steps and got a generic CP2102 adapter working.  Looking at tubes the reason the 1K resistor is needed is that the controller on the tube board connects to the UART via a 7407, which is an open drain buffer.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=865503

--
novak

[praeluceo]

or has anyone tried using a regular USB to UART adapter?

One user modified an old Block Erupter USB (those small things that plug straight into a USB port) to work with a Block Erupter Prisma;
[DIY] Tube/Prisma USB Adapter from USB Blockerupter

He notes:

You should theoretically be able to use any CP2102 USB-UART witha 1K pullup resistor from 3.3V to RXD in this fashion.

YMMV

Probably worth pointing out that someone else followed those steps and got a generic CP2102 adapter working.  Looking at tubes the reason the 1K resistor is needed is that the controller on the tube board connects to the UART via a 7407, which is an open drain buffer.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=865503

Thanks for the link! That's a good explanation too, the resistor is good to know about. Now I have a project for the weekend! Gotta rummage through my parts bins to see if I even have the CP2102 adapter.

[bigredbutton]

So after about a day or two of hashing at 1300-1400GH something happened and now my Prisma only reaches about 1000GH poolside.

I believe one of the boards went out? or isn't hashing for some reason? I didn't make any changes to my system so I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem. PSU is good and everything checks out, boards switches are correct etc. Running CrazyGuy's version of cgAM on a RPi.

The Kill-a-watt meter fluctuates from 950-1200 Watts. Sort of reminds me of my Titan with the failing die. Hopefully that is not the situation. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot?

[Blazed]

So after about a day or two of hashing at 1300-1400GH something happened and now my Prisma only reaches about 1000GH poolside.

I believe one of the boards went out? or isn't hashing for some reason? I didn't make any changes to my system so I'm not sure how to diagnose the problem. PSU is good and everything checks out, boards switches are correct etc. Running CrazyGuy's version of cgAM on a RPi.

The Kill-a-watt meter fluctuates from 950-1200 Watts. Sort of reminds me of my Titan with the failing die. Hopefully that is not the situation. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot?

I would try running 1 board at a time and find the bad one that way...or run 3 at a time unhooking a different one each time.

[bigredbutton]

IF/when I determine a board is not hashing then what? Does ASICMiner offer any sort of RMA? I bought the unit via Canary's GB.

[LordPaco]

I have still yet to receive any response from AsicMiner in regards to my bad boards, out of 32 boards, only 18 are working, or 56% of the paid hashrate.   

[Swimmer63]

This is the email they told us to use.  I got a response right away when I emailed a few weeks ago.

sale@bitquan.com

[tutorialevideo]

This is the email they told us to use.  I got a response right away when I emailed a few weeks ago.

sale@bitquan.com

This is the good address but no answer from them.

[praeluceo]

This is the email they told us to use.  I got a response right away when I emailed a few weeks ago.

sale@bitquan.com

This is the good address but no answer from them.

Likewise, we have sent several RMA request emails for one of the miners in our batch, no response since we got the tracking information. Has anyone tried reaching Phasebird or friedcat on QQ? I think I'll try that tonight, this is becoming really problematic. At least ASICMiner posted a public statement acknowledging their lack of communication, unfortunately it was 100% geared toward shareholders, and not their customers that pay the shareholders dividends (or would, if AM paid dividents lately):
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99497.msg9619178#msg9619178

[tutorialevideo]

This is the email they told us to use.  I got a response right away when I emailed a few weeks ago.

sale@bitquan.com

This is the good address but no answer from them.

Likewise, we have sent several RMA request emails for one of the miners in our batch, no response since we got the tracking information. Has anyone tried reaching Phasebird or friedcat on QQ? I think I'll try that tonight, this is becoming really problematic. At least ASICMiner posted a public statement acknowledging their lack of communication, unfortunately it was 100% geared toward shareholders, and not their customers that pay the shareholders dividends (or would, if AM paid dividents lately):
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=99497.msg9619178#msg9619178

Me to i had some custom problems in my country but i had to deal my self whit them, no answer.

[LordPaco]

I can confirm no response from the correct email address.

Last night a 3 prisma array wouldn't boot up with all hashing boards, so I took a physical examination.. One tested known good board has deteriorated to a 'hot' board where transistors see 80C+ and my IR gun measured over 95C on one BE200 chip, the same one that is the most burnt in my previous burnt prisma pic. I disconnected this newly bad board and resumed like normal, albeit another 300ghs short. I'm certain if these bad boards arn't serviced and removed they will lead to fire. I have found when this happens they do not recover from this state, I.E. once they run hot, they will always run hot (and not hash well because of it), and break/interfere with the daisy chain.

[praeluceo]

I can confirm no response from the correct email address.

Last night a 3 prisma array wouldn't boot up with all hashing boards, so I took a physical examination.. One tested known good board has deteriorated to a 'hot' board where transistors see 80C+ and my IR gun measured over 95C on one BE200 chip, the same one that is the most burnt in my previous burnt prisma pic. I disconnected this newly bad board and resumed like normal, albeit another 300ghs short. I'm certain if these bad boards arn't serviced and removed they will lead to fire. I have found when this happens they do not recover from this state, I.E. once they run hot, they will always run hot (and not hash well because of it), and break/interfere with the daisy chain.

This is a very similar issue we're having on one of our units. Also, we noticed some warping on the fan connector on one of the hashing units (this one is interfering with the daisy chain). It looks like it's at a similar spot as the burned out hashing units I've seen on the forum posts from those who have had their Prismas flame out. I'd speculate that there's an issue with a short between the first capacitor and the fan connector, and when that gets damaged, the issue builds up and cascades down the chain.

We really need some official word from an official representative of ASICMiner on here.

[Sine(X)]

What about MOQ? Did anybody buy 1 device per order?

[candcfarms]

I've been having problems with mine since i got them. I can't get them to hash more then a few minutes before throwing errors. I decided to look at them with the thermal scope here are a few pictures sorry about the quality. you can see one board that looks fairly uniform then the two others with some very hot spots. They get plenty of cool air constantly and all screws were tightened before first hooking them up.

https://i.imgur.com/OZbi618.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/79qZKbt.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/Ix7GJQx.jpg?1

[LordPaco]

That's a nice camera you got there    Thanks for sharing, it confirms the results I've been seeing. I am curious what they look like when they are being powered on from an off state, when the controller fires up, running, and when it fails to hash. Also if any change is seen from position in daisy chain, and record/log which hashing boards look proper to confirm new failure. Powerful being able to visualize all that information in real time. I suspect those hot spot boards were having problems when you captured those images.

[NotLambchop]

That's a nice camera you got there    ...

+1 +envy.

[Dexter770221]

Interesting that Tubes works ok, at least there's no many complains about Tubes. I would check quality of power delivered to chips with oscilloscope. Maybe DC/DC converter is oscillating and couses trouble..

[Blazed]

Interesting that Tubes works ok, at least there's no many complains about Tubes. I would check quality of power delivered to chips with oscilloscope. Maybe DC/DC converter is oscillating and couses trouble..

I am pretty sure that these are string miners? The chips are powered differently than the tubes. Why is it that AM will not even bother to support these? Who would buy anything from them in the future after they just ignore all these issues? AM needs to watch how Bitmain and SP-Tech handle issues and learn from them.  This company flat out sucks for end users...they can't not even be bothered to reply to emails.