[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive Bitmain Antminer S4 Setup [HD]

[edric]

Thanks!  Yes, I forgot that it took a few seconds to turn on.  I successfully turned it off for a about 8 hours so I could examine the power cord to make sure it was the correct one because it was getting very warm.  It was the right one.  Is that normal for it to get hot while operating - the cord?  I can still touch it, but it doesn't feel right.  Could this be an issue with the amount of power the outlet is providing or is it possible the cord is too old and I need a new one?  Thanks!

[notlist3d]

Thanks!  Yes, I forgot that it took a few seconds to turn on.  I successfully turned it off for a about 8 hours so I could examine the power cord to make sure it was the correct one because it was getting very warm.  It was the right one.  Is that normal for it to get hot while operating - the cord?  I can still touch it, but it doesn't feel right.  Could this be an issue with the amount of power the outlet is providing or is it possible the cord is too old and I need a new one?  Thanks!

Getting warm is not really a great thing for a electrical cable.  Are you sure it is original cord?

And can you define "very warm" that is not something good if it's as hot as I think your saying.   Yes it could be the amount of watts of a S4 if cable is not right gauge. So check cable and see if it is original.  And even if it is if getting "very warm" might be worth getting a new better gauge wire.

[edric]

Thanks!  Yes, I forgot that it took a few seconds to turn on.  I successfully turned it off for a about 8 hours so I could examine the power cord to make sure it was the correct one because it was getting very warm.  It was the right one.  Is that normal for it to get hot while operating - the cord?  I can still touch it, but it doesn't feel right.  Could this be an issue with the amount of power the outlet is providing or is it possible the cord is too old and I need a new one?  Thanks!

Getting warm is not really a great thing for a electrical cable.  Are you sure it is original cord?

And can you define "very warm" that is not something good if it's as hot as I think your saying.   Yes it could be the amount of watts of a S4 if cable is not right gauge. So check cable and see if it is original.  And even if it is if getting "very warm" might be worth getting a new better gauge wire.

Thanks.  It sounds like it is too hot to be good.  So you think it has more to do with the cord than the wall if the S4 has been running just fine at full hash rate for a 5 days now? What kind of power cable would you recommend for the S4 if I need a replacement?

[notlist3d]

Thanks!  Yes, I forgot that it took a few seconds to turn on.  I successfully turned it off for a about 8 hours so I could examine the power cord to make sure it was the correct one because it was getting very warm.  It was the right one.  Is that normal for it to get hot while operating - the cord?  I can still touch it, but it doesn't feel right.  Could this be an issue with the amount of power the outlet is providing or is it possible the cord is too old and I need a new one?  Thanks!

Getting warm is not really a great thing for a electrical cable.  Are you sure it is original cord?

And can you define "very warm" that is not something good if it's as hot as I think your saying.   Yes it could be the amount of watts of a S4 if cable is not right gauge. So check cable and see if it is original.  And even if it is if getting "very warm" might be worth getting a new better gauge wire.

Thanks.  It sounds like it is too hot to be good.  So you think it has more to do with the cord than the wall if the S4 has been running just fine at full hash rate for a 5 days now? What kind of power cable would you recommend for the S4 if I need a replacement?

The problem is I cannot see or really help with wall.  Could crap wire be a problem and cause issue... yes.  Your talking 1400 watts if you had cheap wire in wall... yes not good.

Only way you will know is if you are good with electricity and can look at wire and see if your lucky it is not to hard to tell guage.  Unlucky you will have a harder time.  Other option is call an electrician for a quote and ask them. Be careful as some electricians are great others will charge way to much. 

One of the electricians I wanted to put in 240 he wanted around 2k for around less than 100 dollars in parts.   Luckily I live on a farm with no zoning on it so I was able to do it myself and save almost 2 grand compared to the "bad" quote.

[VirosaGITS]

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

[dogie]

Thanks!  Yes, I forgot that it took a few seconds to turn on.  I successfully turned it off for a about 8 hours so I could examine the power cord to make sure it was the correct one because it was getting very warm.  It was the right one.  Is that normal for it to get hot while operating - the cord?  I can still touch it, but it doesn't feel right.  Could this be an issue with the amount of power the outlet is providing or is it possible the cord is too old and I need a new one?  Thanks!

Getting warm is not really a great thing for a electrical cable.  Are you sure it is original cord?

And can you define "very warm" that is not something good if it's as hot as I think your saying.   Yes it could be the amount of watts of a S4 if cable is not right gauge. So check cable and see if it is original.  And even if it is if getting "very warm" might be worth getting a new better gauge wire.

Thanks.  It sounds like it is too hot to be good.  So you think it has more to do with the cord than the wall if the S4 has been running just fine at full hash rate for a 5 days now? What kind of power cable would you recommend for the S4 if I need a replacement?

Make sure you're running the correct AWG mains power cable. If its getting anything you'd consider "hot" then you've not got a thick enough cable.

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

[VirosaGITS]

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

I see. Well its already running with only 3 fans, and i'm really interested in getting them to run at 1000 to 2000 RPM. The temps at the moment are at 40c and RPM is 2520. I already have the smit's firmware, does this allow to set a variable somewhere to get it lower than its set minimum?

Any method of making these fans quiet would be nice, short of swapping out the fans, since i would rather not buy more hardware for this S4.

If there is no known way to do this, then thanks anyways for your replies dogie!

[notlist3d]

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

I see. Well its already running with only 3 fans, and i'm really interested in getting them to run at 1000 to 2000 RPM. The temps at the moment are at 40c and RPM is 2520. I already have the smit's firmware, does this allow to set a variable somewhere to get it lower than its set minimum?

Any method of making these fans quiet would be nice, short of swapping out the fans, since i would rather not buy more hardware for this S4.

If there is no known way to do this, then thanks anyways for your replies dogie!

Even if you are trying for a more quiet miner.  I would put a replacement fan.  They are designed in a push/pull.   

S4's are not one I would recommend for apartment use if your looking for quiet as a general rule.

[dogie]

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

I see. Well its already running with only 3 fans, and i'm really interested in getting them to run at 1000 to 2000 RPM. The temps at the moment are at 40c and RPM is 2520. I already have the smit's firmware, does this allow to set a variable somewhere to get it lower than its set minimum?

Any method of making these fans quiet would be nice, short of swapping out the fans, since i would rather not buy more hardware for this S4. If there is no known way to do this, then thanks anyways for your replies dogie!

I am unsure what Smit's firmware does or any additional variables, why don't you flash the slow fan firmware? Have you got any weaker fans you could test with?

[VirosaGITS]

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

I see. Well its already running with only 3 fans, and i'm really interested in getting them to run at 1000 to 2000 RPM. The temps at the moment are at 40c and RPM is 2520. I already have the smit's firmware, does this allow to set a variable somewhere to get it lower than its set minimum?

Any method of making these fans quiet would be nice, short of swapping out the fans, since i would rather not buy more hardware for this S4.

If there is no known way to do this, then thanks anyways for your replies dogie!

Even if you are trying for a more quiet miner.  I would put a replacement fan.  They are designed in a push/pull.    

S4's are not one I would recommend for apartment use if your looking for quiet as a general rule.

Its actually cooler than the S5's for the same noise. But i hit a wall now with the S4 not wanting to go lower.

Is there any way to lower the fan speed further than with the smit's slow fan firmware? It won't go under 2520RPM even though its cold and its the only thing making noise in my apartment now.

The S5's are completely silent now.

S4s will do okay with their front fans swapped out but if you're saying temps are really good then you could remove the front fans altogether. I wouldn't recommend unplugging them and leaving them in the case as they're restrictive by design. In terms of noise levels it won't reduce it much but it'll at least save you 30W. Besides that you can't get them slower without firmware as they're modified by PWM signals and not voltage.

I see. Well its already running with only 3 fans, and i'm really interested in getting them to run at 1000 to 2000 RPM. The temps at the moment are at 40c and RPM is 2520. I already have the smit's firmware, does this allow to set a variable somewhere to get it lower than its set minimum?

Any method of making these fans quiet would be nice, short of swapping out the fans, since i would rather not buy more hardware for this S4. If there is no known way to do this, then thanks anyways for your replies dogie!

I am unsure what Smit's firmware does or any additional variables, why don't you flash the slow fan firmware? Have you got any weaker fans you could test with?

That is the slow fan firmware. It just won't go lower than 2520. Much better than the 4k it used to go at, but i still want it to go lower. There is no temp reason to not go lower so its the bottom limit smit set. I'd like to set it lower.

He most likely didn't foresee someone feeding 0-10c air directly into the miner. Any slower at 20-30c ambient would melt the thing so it must of not been necessary to let it go under 2520-3000 which seem to be the slow fan firmware's range.

[hp73]

Hello all, new to the forum!

Couple of questions regarding the S4. What Thermal compound do the ASICs have on them originally?

I just did the repasting. Now, I looked for a good while on the site and google and found nothing regarding how tight the screws be on the heatsinks?

I did what I always do with CPUs and GPUs: screw on till it locks (locks easily that is) and then tighten them just a little bit more, like an eigth of a turn. Is this how it should be done?

Also, I used AS5 for the repasting, would you guys recommend other paste? I am getting the same temps as I had before I took the old paste off. about 53-56 (one of the stock fans is starting to fail unfortunately.) I do have to wait till AS5 settles in a few days, so hopefully they will go down a bit.

Second, after doing the repaste I got a one or two X on the miner status page about 5 or 7 minutes in mining, however after shutting off the psu for 5 minutes and reconnecting it went away, since I wasnt sure if the job was done incorrectly or i hadn't tightened the screws enough(or maybe too much,) I lifted the heatsinks again and made sure they had enough paste and little bit more just be sure. And now it has been 30 minutes and no X anywhere.
 Has this happened to someone?



Thanks!

[dogie]

What Thermal compound do the ASICs have on them originally?

No idea

how tight the screws be on the heatsinks?

They're spring screws so until the thread stops the screw. The spring will apply the actual force.

Also, I used AS5 for the repasting, would you guys recommend other paste?

A non conductive paste. There are more exposed board components that would suffer should the AS5 be squeezed out.

(one of the stock fans is starting to fail unfortunately.)

Remove the dead fan, it will restrict flow.

[hp73]

I thought OLD productions of AS5 were conductive. But not anymore, and I double checked with an ohmeter just in case.

Yes I will be getting the new fan shortly.

So I am going to have to unscrew them a bit right?

[dogie]

So I am going to have to unscrew them a bit right?

Whatever feels right to you

[thebonenz]

Just brought one! and in Australia! So pumped right now!

Doggie where can I get the slow fan firmware? Thanks.

Has anyone had a go at creating any DIY sound proofing for this unit?

What mining pools should I look at? Keen to explore some - I know I want to give CKs solo pool a whirl.

[dogie]

So pumped right now! Doggie where can I get the slow fan firmware?

I don't know where his repository is but you could start the search from here or contact him.

Has anyone had a go at creating any DIY sound proofing for this unit?

You could attempt ducting front and back but the S4 doesn't have much thermal headroom and its not the easiest miner to do it on. If you want quiet then you'll have to use the firmware at some point.

What mining pools should I look at? Keen to explore some - I know I want to give CKs solo pool a whirl.

I used to always mine on BTCGuild long term, now on Antpool for the lower variance. Have a look around the Pools section to get started, I won't recommend anything specific. I would say to not dive into a solo pool with a single piece of hardware, there's a 90.6% ([1-[0.01652/25]]^150) chance that even without a difficulty rise and 100% uptime your S4 will never find a block. Put in more conceivable numbers and its 95%+. If you don't find a block on a solo pool you get zero.

[thebonenz]

So pumped right now! Doggie where can I get the slow fan firmware?

I don't know where his repository is but you could start the search from here or contact him.

Has anyone had a go at creating any DIY sound proofing for this unit?

You could attempt ducting front and back but the S4 doesn't have much thermal headroom and its not the easiest miner to do it on. If you want quiet then you'll have to use the firmware at some point.

What mining pools should I look at? Keen to explore some - I know I want to give CKs solo pool a whirl.

I used to always mine on BTCGuild long term, now on Antpool for the lower variance. Have a look around the Pools section to get started, I won't recommend anything specific. I would say to not dive into a solo pool with a single piece of hardware, there's a 90.6% ([1-[0.01652/25]]^150) chance that even without a difficulty rise and 100% uptime your S4 will never find a block. Put in more conceivable numbers and its 95%+. If you don't find a block on a solo pool you get zero.

Thanks Doggie! yeah I'm going to give up on solo for long term might just try it to see if I'm lucky for a few days.

My unit should arrive in two or three days so trying to figure out all the software side of mining now.

I'm definitely planning to upgrade the firmware for the noise reduction

[quantumgravity]

Great guide! Thanks!

[thebonenz]

If I was going to use a power over Ethernet kit to run this do I need to think about the 1400W PSU at all?

Or would something like this be fine?

https://www.kogan.com/au/buy/tp-link-tp-link-powerline-10100-ethernet-adapter-kit-twin-pack-tl-pa211-kit/

Thanks!

[dogie]

If I was going to use a power over Ethernet kit to run this do I need to think about the 1400W PSU at all? Or would something like this be fine?

PoE has no impact on your PSU choice, that one is fine. There are some other ones that have 2/4 ports or wifi repeaters if you want to future proof a bit. I use PoE and replaced my old one (which died) literally just this week.