ANTMINER S4 Discussion and Support Thread

[dmwardjr]

Agreed, Dogie!

Anyone with a little bird egg shell full of common sense would know the dude has issues!

[1713491717]

1713491717

[Cyper_BLC]

HELP

Just received my Antminer S4 and having a difficult time setting it up.  When turning the machine on it whirls at full speed/noise, but never settles down.  The LCD screen is bright but never displays any text.  Anyone know what the issue is?

This occurs whether directly plugged into my computer, or plugged into a Netgear N300 wifi to Ethernet adapter.  I unscrewed the lid, and all of the cables appear to be plugged in properly.

this S4 couldnt boot from your own SD flash.
1-check the SD card
2-if not 1, you must to use winimage and reflash your SD card. Dogie can help you to find S4 image file.

[Biodom]

Looks like S4 is going EOL. Black friday deal posted on Saturday.
See bitmain sales announcement at the head (first post): 16 antminer S4 for ~13K with free shipping or ~$812 for 2Th.
Great price, but I have no use for 16 machines...
One machine is still ~$960 to US (with coupon that is expiring early tomorrow).

[MichaelRolland]

Dead screen on mine was easy fix, removed sd card and reinserted, issue was resolved.  Big thanks to Yoshi in customer support for helping me fast.

[Cassey]

Does anyone know what the CFM rating is on the S4 fans?  I have (3) of these units rigged into a temporary "hot aisle" in my equipment room, and I need better heat rejection.   If I knew the CFM rating, I could multiple by 6 each and get a decent estimate for ventilation requirements.

As is, I'm getting a bit of air mixing which is resulting in slightly raised temperatures (top unit is running at 54C per the LCD - not bad from what I hear, but I'd like to improve on it.).

Also clueless why one board is reporting to be so much cooler.  I'm guessing a faulty temp sensor.

[sEpuLchEr]

Does anyone know what the CFM rating is on the S4 fans?  I have (3) of these units rigged into a temporary "hot aisle" in my equipment room, and I need better heat rejection.   If I knew the CFM rating, I could multiple by 6 each and get a decent estimate for ventilation requirements.

As is, I'm getting a bit of air mixing which is resulting in slightly raised temperatures (top unit is running at 54C per the LCD - not bad from what I hear, but I'd like to improve on it.).

Also clueless why one board is reporting to be so much cooler.  I'm guessing a faulty temp sensor.

238 CFM

[dogie]

Also clueless why one board is reporting to be so much cooler.  I'm guessing a faulty temp sensor.

Yeah no way that is real - just ignore it.

[DieJohnny]

I've been running some numbers, one thing I see is that the SP-20 vs. the S4 is an under volt advantage that gains you money at the wall in favor of SP.. I may be wrong, but if they come out with new tech ANY batchs of the S4 won't even come close to ROI.. I bought some of the FIRST S4s to ship, and they are no where close to ROI . Even with the coupon, I can't pull the trigger when my first several S4's are so far under water. It takes me almost 15 days of mining to cover electricity cost alone. Anything after 15 days goes to the under water s4's .. This late in the game on the 28nm tech I can't find a reason to grab more. Anyone else have thoughts on how to make the s4 more profitable ?

With a coupon I can get 4 S4s for 3358 to my door. My calculations put me at Mid-February before i am losing money every day. All told I will spend $3358 and make about $1500 in revenue. So I lose $1800.

How is anyone buying these and making this work. Even with free power and difficulty increasing at 10% I don't break even until June of next year.

I would love to get into mining, but I cannot see how mining can make any sense to anyone anywhere unless you get the hardware for half what is the current going rate per mhs and free power.

[klondike_bar]

I've been running some numbers, one thing I see is that the SP-20 vs. the S4 is an under volt advantage that gains you money at the wall in favor of SP.. I may be wrong, but if they come out with new tech ANY batchs of the S4 won't even come close to ROI.. I bought some of the FIRST S4s to ship, and they are no where close to ROI . Even with the coupon, I can't pull the trigger when my first several S4's are so far under water. It takes me almost 15 days of mining to cover electricity cost alone. Anything after 15 days goes to the under water s4's .. This late in the game on the 28nm tech I can't find a reason to grab more. Anyone else have thoughts on how to make the s4 more profitable ?

With a coupon I can get 4 S4s for 3358 to my door. My calculations put me at Mid-February before i am losing money every day. All told I will spend $3358 and make about $1500 in revenue. So I lose $1800.

How is anyone buying these and making this work. Even with free power and difficulty increasing at 10% I don't break even until June of next year.

I would love to get into mining, but I cannot see how mining can make any sense to anyone anywhere unless you get the hardware for half what is the current going rate per mhs and free power.

1) https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty     difficulty is slowing, and its unlikely there will be any 10%+ increases until a dramatic price rise occurs - though next week may see a big jump due to the black friday deals by SPTech and Bitmain.
2) most people mining assume the bitcoin price will rise such that profitability is extended
3) you can underclock/undervolt to 0.5w/GH to extend the lifespan

If you look at your calculations you basically assume it wont be profitable past june because you are assuming the price of bitcoin is still only $375 at that time, when (i personally believe) a price of $800+ is likely. If it isnt, you can expect the influx of new equipment to grind even further to a halt as all 1w/gh+ equipment is turned off.

[Biodom]

I've been running some numbers, one thing I see is that the SP-20 vs. the S4 is an under volt advantage that gains you money at the wall in favor of SP.. I may be wrong, but if they come out with new tech ANY batchs of the S4 won't even come close to ROI.. I bought some of the FIRST S4s to ship, and they are no where close to ROI . Even with the coupon, I can't pull the trigger when my first several S4's are so far under water. It takes me almost 15 days of mining to cover electricity cost alone. Anything after 15 days goes to the under water s4's .. This late in the game on the 28nm tech I can't find a reason to grab more. Anyone else have thoughts on how to make the s4 more profitable ?

With a coupon I can get 4 S4s for 3358 to my door. My calculations put me at Mid-February before i am losing money every day. All told I will spend $3358 and make about $1500 in revenue. So I lose $1800.

How is anyone buying these and making this work. Even with free power and difficulty increasing at 10% I don't break even until June of next year.

I would love to get into mining, but I cannot see how mining can make any sense to anyone anywhere unless you get the hardware for half what is the current going rate per mhs and free power.

1) https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty     difficulty is slowing, and its unlikely there will be any 10%+ increases until a dramatic price rise occurs - though next week may see a big jump due to the black friday deals by SPTech and Bitmain.
2) most people mining assume the bitcoin price will rise such that profitability is extended
3) you can underclock/undervolt to 0.5w/GH to extend the lifespan

If you look at your calculations you basically assume it wont be profitable past june because you are assuming the price of bitcoin is still only $375 at that time, when (i personally believe) a price of $800+ is likely. If it isnt, you can expect the influx of new equipment to grind even further to a halt as all 1w/gh+ equipment is turned off.

Similar to after the 2011 "bubble", this 2013 "bubble" aftermath will not stop until we have multiple hash rate reductions; there were 8 in 2011, resulting in ~50% drop in hashing. We can get there awfully fast if BTC drops to $200-250 or slowly if BTC stays at $375 for a few months.
I looked at the numbers and new purchase of ANY miner does not make sense at current price IF you already have some hashing going.
I have multiple S3 (six at the moment), had S2 before. My S3 are very profitable at the moment as far as electricity costs are concern, so there is no impetus for buying or selling.
If I was a new miner, I would have purchased both S4 and S3 to check out the field (maybe some others as well).

[Biodom]

1) https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty     difficulty is slowing, and its unlikely there will be any 10%+ increases until a dramatic price rise occurs - though next week may see a big jump due to the black friday deals by SPTech and Bitmain.
2) most people mining assume the bitcoin price will rise such that profitability is extended
3) you can underclock/undervolt to 0.5w/GH to extend the lifespan

If you look at your calculations you basically assume it wont be profitable past june because you are assuming the price of bitcoin is still only $375 at that time, when (i personally believe) a price of $800+ is likely. If it isnt, you can expect the influx of new equipment to grind even further to a halt as all 1w/gh+ equipment is turned off.

You can not  underclock/undervolt Antminer S4   to 0.5w/GH

I assume that would be the S5 task. It would have to be 0.4-0.5 w/Gh, something like 1Th/400-500W.

[Tupsu]

>30% off Black Friday Deals

Special Sales for ANTMINER S4, 0.409USD/GH/s, FREE International Shipping. Shipping on Dec. 2nd

  BITMAIN - Please do not lie any more

This  is only free shipping , if you buy at one time 16 Antminer S4

You can use one 400 USD coupon per purchase 16 Antminer S4. One Antminer S4 price is 793 USD . It is not >30% off. This is  only free shipping.

[pak13]

No black friday deals, bitmain?

spondoolies is offering some amazing cyber monday deals. Naturally all before new tech is announced shortly.

Those amazing deals aren't that much better - if at all - than an S4 with a coupon. Am I missing something here?

Power usage is a rather large factor.
Underclocking to prolong profitability.

Check their thread and search for reviews not by Dogie since he's a paid employee these days. More evidence ... check sales of bitmain gear on ebay. I was in favor of bitmain till they came up short on price when you include shipping per GH and power per GH. Resale value is a short curve also.

I think you're reaching here. I own a ton of Bitmain and Spondoolies gear. From S1 and SP10 to S4 and SP20. SP31 coming soon too. I like the wide range of Bitmain stuff, I like the tough rack-mounted Spond boxes.

I don't see a significant difference in anything that you mentioned. I just sold an old S1 for $65 to someone in Montana, probably going to use for heat over the winter. S4 undervolts just fine.

The point is, both are solid manufacturers, both made some boo-boos (S4 first batch, SP30 specs), both seem to be able to support their customers. No need to disparage one at the expense of the other.

If you want to look at shipping and specs, SP20 is $815 shipped to the US for 1.7 TH/s and ~1150W, needs a power supply.

S4 is $960 shipped to the US for 2.0 TH/s and ~1400W, no extra cost.

Very close as far as I can see, and it makes sense - I bet both of these manufacturers are watching each other's pricing. Long live competition.

How far can you underclock the s4?

As for Dogie, he is a paid shill. Best to ignore trolls like him and stick to the facts.

[pak13]

>30% off Black Friday Deals

Special Sales for ANTMINER S4, 0.409USD/GH/s, FREE International Shipping. Shipping on Dec. 2nd

  BITMAIN - Please do not lie any more

This  is only free shipping , if you buy at one time 16 Antminer S4

You can use one 400 USD coupon per purchase 16 Antminer S4. One Antminer S4 price is 793 USD . It is not >30% off. This is  only free shipping.

Agreed, I too was trying to do the math for when the coupons expire and the Free Shipping on the 2nd Dec.

[pak13]

Looks like S4 is going EOL. Black friday deal posted on Saturday.
See bitmain sales announcement at the head (first post): 16 antminer S4 for ~13K with free shipping or ~$812 for 2Th.
Great price, but I have no use for 16 machines...
One machine is still ~$960 to US (with coupon that is expiring early tomorrow).

Exactly, coupon expires tomorrow, then free shipping on Dec 2. Marketing at it's best.

[klondike_bar]

1) https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty     difficulty is slowing, and its unlikely there will be any 10%+ increases until a dramatic price rise occurs - though next week may see a big jump due to the black friday deals by SPTech and Bitmain.
2) most people mining assume the bitcoin price will rise such that profitability is extended
3) you can underclock/undervolt to 0.5w/GH to extend the lifespan

If you look at your calculations you basically assume it wont be profitable past june because you are assuming the price of bitcoin is still only $375 at that time, when (i personally believe) a price of $800+ is likely. If it isnt, you can expect the influx of new equipment to grind even further to a halt as all 1w/gh+ equipment is turned off.

You can not  underclock/undervolt Antminer S4   to 0.5w/GH

explain?
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796839.0 clearly states that 500W/1000GH is the underclocking limit of the S4

[ChineseSavior]

Looks like S4 is going EOL. Black friday deal posted on Saturday.
See bitmain sales announcement at the head (first post): 16 antminer S4 for ~13K with free shipping or ~$812 for 2Th.
Great price, but I have no use for 16 machines...
One machine is still ~$960 to US (with coupon that is expiring early tomorrow).

Exactly, coupon expires tomorrow, then free shipping on Dec 2. Marketing at it's best.

wait i want to make sure i understand this clearly?

So they are running coupon and after that expires they are moving into free shipping?

Are the Psu's still going up in flames?

[DieJohnny]

I've been running some numbers, one thing I see is that the SP-20 vs. the S4 is an under volt advantage that gains you money at the wall in favor of SP.. I may be wrong, but if they come out with new tech ANY batchs of the S4 won't even come close to ROI.. I bought some of the FIRST S4s to ship, and they are no where close to ROI . Even with the coupon, I can't pull the trigger when my first several S4's are so far under water. It takes me almost 15 days of mining to cover electricity cost alone. Anything after 15 days goes to the under water s4's .. This late in the game on the 28nm tech I can't find a reason to grab more. Anyone else have thoughts on how to make the s4 more profitable ?

With a coupon I can get 4 S4s for 3358 to my door. My calculations put me at Mid-February before i am losing money every day. All told I will spend $3358 and make about $1500 in revenue. So I lose $1800.

How is anyone buying these and making this work. Even with free power and difficulty increasing at 10% I don't break even until June of next year.

I would love to get into mining, but I cannot see how mining can make any sense to anyone anywhere unless you get the hardware for half what is the current going rate per mhs and free power.

1) https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty     difficulty is slowing, and its unlikely there will be any 10%+ increases until a dramatic price rise occurs - though next week may see a big jump due to the black friday deals by SPTech and Bitmain.
2) most people mining assume the bitcoin price will rise such that profitability is extended
3) you can underclock/undervolt to 0.5w/GH to extend the lifespan

If you look at your calculations you basically assume it wont be profitable past june because you are assuming the price of bitcoin is still only $375 at that time, when (i personally believe) a price of $800+ is likely. If it isnt, you can expect the influx of new equipment to grind even further to a halt as all 1w/gh+ equipment is turned off.

I don't understand the price must rise to justify mining logic. I can spend 9 BTC on miners now, I don't care about the price in the future, i want my 9 BTC back. I will never get there with any calculation I come up with.

Anyone that is justifying buying a miner with a rising price, I suggest that you simply buy Bitcoin with your money rather than a stupid miner.

I would not be surprised to see a drop in hashrate and difficulty in the coming months. Which tells me the price is going down... not up.

[buysolar]

More S1 upgrade kits please!!

[klondike_bar]

More S1 upgrade kits please!!

you could feasibly use the C1 as a pair of upgrade kits, but its not ideal. Not sure why bitmain isnt selling upgrade kits for ~0.3BTC/kit