ANTMINER S4 Discussion and Support Thread

[dkaufman]

Bitmain has released a second firmware update for the S4:

  Antminer S4 - Firmware

  initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz          fix a bug of share committing.
                                            modify miner status web page.
                                        MD5: BF5AB5F21AED999146800AB206A0CDA0

[dogie]

Bitmain has released a second firmware update for the S4:

  Antminer S4 - Firmware

  initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz          fix a bug of share committing.
                                            modify miner status web page.
                                        MD5: BF5AB5F21AED999146800AB206A0CDA0

Flashed fine for me. Note it resets settings again. Seems to be a small hash rate boost.

[Prelude]

Bitmain has released a second firmware update for the S4:

  Antminer S4 - Firmware

  initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz          fix a bug of share committing.
                                            modify miner status web page.
                                        MD5: BF5AB5F21AED999146800AB206A0CDA0

Flashed fine for me. Note it resets settings again. Seems to be a small hash rate boost.

Can you find out if they included ck's cgminer fixes? I think I'll hold off flashing for now.

Can anyone post a screen shot of the modified status page?

[Tim.Shao19]

This is Tim Shao from Bitmaintech.

At last! A real Bitmaintech employee who can offer some real support, not a moment too soon either.

I hope he cleans up all the dogie poo left on this thread......

hi, dogie is the right person to help u with the operation guide and technical support.
please understand that sometimes customers may come across problems with your miners due to various combinations. And it did happen before we received the so-called faulty items or even the whole unit and found it was actually running well.
And if you found some hardware problems, like the faulty hashing PCBs, controller boards,etc, you can send an email with your RMA request to this email address: info@bitmaintech.com or contact Bitcoinwarranty directly. We will arrange a return accordingly.
Anyway, we will try to improve our aftersales service.
  

I would rather deal directly with Bitmain than go through a paid off messenger boy with a bad attitude who's committing tax fraud, thank you.

Can you tell us why you still haven't released the S2 firmware you promised 9 weeks ago to fix the security issues & update cgminer?

Why have you not fixed the latest S3 firmware that actually breaks the S3 & lessens its performance - surely you should take it off your support page?

Will S4 users also have to wait over 9 weeks for a firmware fix & so allow them to use a pool of their choice?

I notice Spondoolies are now issuing compensation payments to their customers for lost mining time & underperforming units - will Bitmain be doing the same?

Thanks.

I would rather deal directly with Bitmain than go through a paid off messenger boy with a bad attitude who's committing tax fraud, thank you.
i don't know what's your accusation based on, but i personally think it's not appropriate to squabble over this in this support thread.

Can you tell us why you still haven't released the S2 firmware you promised 9 weeks ago to fix the security issues & update cgminer?
software engineer is testing the new firmware now, will keep you updated. and please pay attention to our official website.

Why have you not fixed the latest S3 firmware that actually breaks the S3 & lessens its performance - surely you should take it off your support page?
you can find the most recent firmware from the following link. And we would like to get your feedback on this.
https://www.bitmaintech.com/support.htm?pid=007201407180243004432lBQW28O0633
antMiner_S320141024.bin   better support for firefox and chrome.
MD5: 7189A012A7A3CECB9DB05090B7D0D64F

Will S4 users also have to wait over 9 weeks for a firmware fix & so allow them to use a pool of their choice?
https://www.bitmaintech.com/support.htm?pid=00720140930114518599JXGHWWD80660
initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz   fix a bug of share committing.
modify miner status web page.
MD5: BF5AB5F21AED999146800AB206A0CDA0
what is your problem here?

I notice Spondoolies are now issuing compensation payments to their customers for lost mining time & underperforming units - will Bitmain be doing the same?
first we will try to expedite the RMA process as per our aftersales service principles depening on the real situation, and we'll try to enhance our technical support guide to avoid any mis-configured or inappropriate operation from some customers who may not be that practised. As for the compensation, we'll  exercise discretion in light of the circumstances.

[Tim.Shao19]

Today received a new PSU for S4. To custom.
with the invoice 140 USD But you can not marked the cost of shipping.

Thanks a lot - BITMAINTECH - for stupidity.
For sending 2,5kg PSU in 1 kg   UPS shipment.  Do not have the option of weighing ? UPS does.

And now I have to pay custom duty for the shipment weight per volume. 3,5kg.  Declared value total 240EUR.
Only 48 EUR + 22.80 EUR for the custom declaration to UPS.

A total of 70 euros for the fact that you have sent me with the S4 a  piece of shit, not PSU

Thanks a lot, for new PSU.

Sir, we are sorry for that. Can you please first inquire your local customs about or ask UPS to provide the receipts, details on your payment for customs declaration? how they calculate they duties?
Normally we will list the items as warranty parts in the invoice to avoid any import duties or customs. Different countries may have different policies. I will confirm with our shipping team about this.

[Tim.Shao19]

just got my tracking number too.. but here's the question, do they expect us to pay for the import duty? and same with sending their psu back to them as suggested in the last email? cause thats gonna hurt my wallet if i have to pay for that again..

Duty? Not in the US at least. Is part of the shipping cost.
As for returns/replacements. No duty as long as parts are marked as warranty replacements. Even if Bitmain wants to old one back as long as marked as a Return no duty applies (plus if any did would be their problem, not yours)

the last time i had an issue with the s2 they took the old hashboard back, they were meant to pay the duty, they didnt pay it, and ups were up my ass for the money, so in the end i had to pay for that too

... We ship things to/from Asia all the time and never came across that before. I'd try and go after Bitmain for the monies. If anything to make it more palatable to them (though it IS their responsibility) email support an offer to buy a set of s3's if they deduct the current btc value of the duty you paid?

Hi, may i know which country do you come from? you do have to inquire the local customs about the specific customs procedures, the info on import duties and also ROI anticipation before placing the order from bitmaintech.

[Tim.Shao19]

Hi, yesterday I received an email about sending 3 new PSUs and information that other 7 will be shipped ASAP. I was really happy because I have had 3 miners without PSUs, but not for a long time. Nowadays I have 10 pcs S4 B1 and 10 pcs S4 B2 and a lot of S3+ miners.

Today morning when I arrived to work I smelled burnt stink. Employees were scared, called me and ran around. WTF I said for myself. I hoped that the reason for all arround was not caused by miners but I was not right. I looked at the miners and two of them were down. Immediately I switched off all breakers dedicated for miners. And yes, one miner had PSU burned down. It was very easy to find which miner was bad It was the fourth failed PSU. I checked all breakers and only one was switched off automatically.

When the smell disappeared from the building (after 2 hours) I started with switching on the breakers one by one. After that I switched on PSUs on S4s. But another one from B1 and also one from B2 could not start. Also fans were stopped. I tried to reconnect the power but nothing helped. I have not understood what happened. All miners were running more than one week continuously.
The PSUs do have really some problems. I hoped that PSUs in B2 were good, but....or today is only bad day for mining

Today status is 5 failed PSUs from 10 pcs from B1 and one failed PSU from 10 pcs from B2.

Truly sorry about that, Sir. This is Tim Shao from Bitmaintech. You may have received an email from info@bitmaintech.com asking you to specify the PSU type. And i wonder if you can provide some photos to show us the burned PSU, i'm not asking you to risk running the miner again. But it does help if we can glean some actual info from the affected customer and submit them to the PSU supplier, and this will also help us improve the product quality to prevent this from happening again. Thank you for your understanding.  
I have the following questions:
1.
"I looked at the miners and two of them were down. Immediately I switched off all breakers dedicated for miners. And yes, one miner had PSU burned down. It was very easy to find which miner was bad"
Two were down, and one miner had PSU burned down? Which one was burned down? And what about the other one? Stop running? cannot power it up?
2.
And you mentioned in the following posts that your B2 has barcode on it and you are sure it's not from the defective batch, can you provide me your order id for this miner, or would you please send me a photo of it? Thanks.

Hi all, yes I have received the email. I am sure that the PSU is from batch 2 (have sticker and SN). 
Answers for Tim.Shao19:
1. My miners are connected in pairs to single breaker(2xS4 to 1xC20 breaker). When one PSU burnt down and breaker for this miner went down also another miner switched off. Is it clear?
2. Order is 00120141014004349482tuQeQyd106EE from 2014-10-14 00:43:50.0. PSU SN:188A410120045 PSU don't have visible changes outside and also inside.

Hi there, we may have sent replacement PSUs to you, have u received any tracking no for the replacements? or you can provide me your email address or order id, then i will double check and keep you informed. And can you please provide any proof on your burned PSU if possible? (i know it may be difficult to tell the burned PSU from the appearance.) we need to glean some real info from customers and feedback with the PSU supplier rather than just claim that we got bad PSUs.  Thanks.

Hi Tim.Shao19,
I sent you  video with burned PSU last Friday. I really do not understand the purpose of that video you asked me for, as the burned  PSU is not feasible to switch on, the fan is out of order. If there was a visible black burned component, I would have sent you a photo. But on this PSU are not visible changes.
Today I have received information from customs office that I have two shipments. One with 3 PSUs and second with 7 PSUs. I was really happy, but...
BITMAIN encloses invoice for 3*140=420USD and 7*140=980USD. The customs officer asked me for 280USD tax and 133USD duty. Great help Bitmain!!!
Now I have 5 days to submit relevant documents that the shipments include only "warranty replacement parts" and the invoices with ZERO values!
TIM, if you want to help me send me ASAP the invoices with zero vales and RMA documents that will be a prove for customs office. I refuse to pay any additional money  your products related. I have spent a lot of time by the resolving problems with S4 miners.

may i know which country do you come from? and can i have more details on the RMA documents or customs clearance from your countries? the tax rate? Normally the replacement is listed as warranty part and should have waived the duties, even so, different countries may have different regulations. you can send an email directly to me: ting.shao@bitmaintech.com, thanks.

[pikachuy]

What's the complete changelog for the new firmware "initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz" I want to see if it's worth upgrading it or not.

[yxt]

it resets settings again

WTF

[MyRig]

Programmers are currently working on firmware revisions.  Any issues with the firmware, if you could, please include the screen shot and may be the error log and PM.  Thank you!

it resets settings again

WTF

[handytxg]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

[neo9436]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

I don't know why you couldn't. I swapped the new PSU I got in yesterday, you would just need to connect the 4 hashing boards and the control board with 6 pin PCIe connectors.

[dlowings]

Tim ……


Im a bit confused …. in one of your responces you posted "As for the compensation, we'll  exercise discretion in light of the circumstances."

In your Info Release you stated that you would give 10 days mining compensation to people who experienced a critical PSU failure . I have received my RMA from my critical failure, I have provided you the pictures of the PSU with burn marks all on the inside of it and the melted flux on the PCIe connectors. What other discretion do I need to submit proof of ? I have asked the question several times here and submitted it to the support email … My unit was down for far more then 10 days, but I'm only asking for what was stated in your press release on these PSU's… 

[dlowings]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

Is this your only S4 ? Did you hold the button in on the back of the PSU ? You can not just plug it in, You have to hold in the reset button for a few seconds … You can use another PSU while you wait on a RMA but remember you need a high end one… A RM1000 would only power half the unit, two hash boards and one controller, that would give you 1 THs.. an AX1500i would more then likely power the full unit … can not guarantee that, but by the numbers it should work..

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

Is this your only S4 ? Did you hold the button in on the back of the PSU ? You can not just plug it in, You have to hold in the reset button for a few seconds … You can use another PSU while you wait on a RMA but remember you need a high end one… A RM1000 would only power half the unit, two hash boards and one controller, that would give you 1 THs.. an AX1500i would more then likely power the full unit … can not guarantee that, but by the numbers it should work..

Like he said, you have to hold in the power/reset button in the back by the plug for a few seconds for it to power up.

As for using other PSU's, per what my UPS reports, power pulled 'from the wall' is 1,450-1,475 watts.

[handytxg]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

Is this your only S4 ? Did you hold the button in on the back of the PSU ? You can not just plug it in, You have to hold in the reset button for a few seconds … You can use another PSU while you wait on a RMA but remember you need a high end one… A RM1000 would only power half the unit, two hash boards and one controller, that would give you 1 THs.. an AX1500i would more then likely power the full unit … can not guarantee that, but by the numbers it should work..

Like he said, you have to hold in the power/reset button in the back by the plug for a few seconds for it to power up.

As for using other PSU's, per what my UPS reports, power pulled 'from the wall' is 1,450-1,475 watts.

Hi thank for replying..
Yes I have hold the power button and try different cable still not working. No sign of anything. No fan , No LED.
I'll try with Puma 1700, let see how it go.

The unit working fine now after I replace the PSU, its confirmed the PSU is dead. asking for RMA.
Thanks for all the help. Cheers

[Tupsu]

I recieve my s4 b2 today, but its Dead On Arrival, I think the PSU is dead. My first disappointment after I purchase alot of bitmain miner.
Send RMA request lets how it goes...Btw can I use my normal PSU to run the machine?
Thanks

My first and almost certainly the last S4,
worked with EVGA G2 1300W  and  waited for new  PSU  over a week .  
Max 1200W ,  Frequency 181,25M  GH/S(avg) 1800 , at pool 1630

[neo9436]

It's a shame there were so many S4's out with problems.

Mine came in, I manually set difficulty, increased the frequency and consistently hash at 2.3TH no problem and no complaints.

[Prelude]

It's a shame there were so many S4's out with problems.

Mine came in, I manually set difficulty, increased the frequency and consistently hash at 2.3TH no problem and no complaints.

Same here with my B2. My B1's PSU died, but it was replaced quickly. All in all I'm a fan of the S4s. CK's updated cgminer helped a lot too.

[pikachuy]

Assuming your S4's IP address was say 192.168.1.99:

Code:

ssh -l root 192.168.1.99 (or equivalent with putty)
wget http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer/antminer/s4/4.6.1-141018/cgminer
mv /usr/bin/cgminer /usr/bin/cgminer.bak
chmod +x cgminer
mv cgminer /usr/bin/cgminer
/etc/init.d/cgminer.sh restart

I think that might not keep across a power cycle though.

Would ckolivas latest cgminer for the S4 be better then "initramfs.bin.SD-20141016.tar.gz"? Since ckolivas's cgminer is dated 10-18-2014, and bitmains firmware is dated 10-16-2014?