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

[DJSniperwolf]

Hello!  New to the forums.  I have a question if anyone can assist me.

I have someone who offered me two non-working Antminer S4's for $100.  It is about an hour and a half drive from me, so before I drive out there possibly wasting my time I want to see if this is even worth doing.

He states that they may need new power supply or the beagle board may need to have it's SD-card flashed, though he doesn't have time to troubleshoot.

Is this venture worth it?  What may I possibly have to replace, or anything I should be asking?  I know the information is vague, but I am hoping to gather more on it.

Thanks

[dogie]

Hello!  New to the forums.  I have a question if anyone can assist me.

I have someone who offered me two non-working Antminer S4's for $100.  It is about an hour and a half drive from me, so before I drive out there possibly wasting my time I want to see if this is even worth doing.

He states that they may need new power supply or the beagle board may need to have it's SD-card flashed, though he doesn't have time to troubleshoot.

Is this venture worth it?  What may I possibly have to replace, or anything I should be asking?  I know the information is vague, but I am hoping to gather more on it.

Thanks

Should it be worth it? Most probably, even if you can rescue just 1 PSU its worth ~$100 to other bitcoiners. Controller based problems are either fixable or Bitmain USA should be able to dig you up a replacement if its more complicated than just a BB replacement. Think of it this way: 2 hashing boards, unlikely both have failed. 1 PSU, quite difficult to fail and potential for RMA repair. 4 fans, high rate of failure but replaceable. 1 controller, RMA'able hopefully. 1 BB, off the shelf replacements.

If I were you I wouldn't try and debug when you get there, he may back out of the deal or ask for more money. Anything after that is up to you which is why there is a potential for profit. Have a sniff, you'll know if something smells burnt. Try and locate the source (discretely) and write that part off in your mind.

[DJSniperwolf]

Sooo. Here is the update!

Picked up both units with 2 additional power supplies, which was very nice.  I tested all 4 power supplies and they check out as good.  I then started looking over the first unit, and it indeed was a fault.  Odd thing was, power supply was still good.  So I continued to disconnect the minining hardware to test the BeagleBoard,  it checked out as no good .

Second unit, displayed the same fault, but when I disconnected the Mining processor's, the Beagle Board booted up and showed life!  I plugged in each individual board to the power supply, lo-and behold, two of the boards are bad.  it looks as if one of the IC chips had burnt, I can give the IC# if needed.

I swapped the bad board for boards from the unit with a bad beagle board, as well as a fan.  One seemed to not spin up.
When I turned it on, the system came to life.  I brought up the info via INternet Explorer, and It is hashing on SLush's Pool at 1.99TH/s

Thank you for the fantastic recommendation as I was very hesitant, but one unit is back to life

Sooo, what could I do about the Beagle board and the 2 bad Processor boards in the other unit?  I'd really love to bring it to life if it isn't too costly.

Much appreciated Dogie.  

[dogie]

Thank you for the fantastic recommendation as I was very hesitant, but one unit is back to life

I'm glad to hear the trip was worth it.

Sooo, what could I do about the Beagle board and the 2 bad Processor boards in the other unit?  I'd really love to bring it to life if it isn't too costly.

I believe the BeagleBone Black can be purchased off the shelf and the 2 hashing boards are unlikely to be worth any repair costs. Sidehack might be able to give you more information if you send him some pictures.

[DJSniperwolf]

I believe the BeagleBone Black can be purchased off the shelf and the 2 hashing boards are unlikely to be worth any repair costs. Sidehack might be able to give you more information if you send him some pictures.

I Found the Beaglebone you had mentioned for about $50 which is quite reasonable on Digikey.  

I can see that two of the hash boards are non-salvageable as they have some odd sand-like substance on them and fault immediately.  The board with the blown IC seems that it had gotten power previously and looks repairable. I'll send some pics to Sidehack and seek his assistance.

Thanks again.

[jaipagare]

Hello All,

I have question, hope some one here can help me pls..

I recently purchased 3 X S4 Antminer. I was wondering what electricity configuration I need to setup to have all 3 X S4 antminer running.

I was thinking of building new circuit. i.e. •Three 40-Amp poles OR The 40-Amp 3 in. Triple-Pole Type BR Circuit Breaker.
OR
60 Amp 3 in. Triple-Pole Type BR Circuit Breaker

Each S4 takes/needs around 1400watts of power to keep it running and I have 3.

It will be highly appreciated for your response. BTW, I am in USA.

[jaipagare]

Or should I do,

30Amps Dual Pole => 240?

Again I want to run 3 X S4.

[DJSniperwolf]

Or should I do,

30Amps Dual Pole => 240?

Again I want to run 3 X S4.

Do you wish to run them on the same circuit or dedicated breaker for each antminer?

You will have about 3400 Available Watts on each pole with a 30amp dual pole breaker totaling about 6800 Watts of available power. Three ant miners will demand 4200W minimum.  Just Make sure to run 10ga wire, I usually run 10-3 to mark my second pole with red as opposed to white, electricians preference.  Just be sure that your Panel can handle it, check the total load vs. total available amperage to be sure.  

If you decide to put an antminer on each circuit, you can run them on 12 wire, but you will need dual pole 20-amp breakers.

Hope this information helps.

[Thisiserik]

Hi, I need to get this plug replaced. As you can see the wires are mangled and I get a loopback addy when the lcd comes on. Please advise; thank you.[/font]
https://i.imgur.com/Xpij2kf.jpg

[HagssFIN]

Hi, I need to get this plug replaced. As you can see the wires are mangled and I get a loopback addy when the lcd comes on. Please advise; thank you.[/font]

https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020160105102242316JqapyMif0705

""Please mark the AntMiner type and corresponding hash rate in the comment field, we'll provide the corresponding firmware before shipping out.""

[Thisiserik]

Hi, I need to get this plug replaced. As you can see the wires are mangled and I get a loopback addy when the lcd comes on. Please advise; thank you.[/font]
https://i.imgur.com/Xpij2kf.jpg

https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020160105102242316JqapyMif0705

""Please mark the AntMiner type and corresponding hash rate in the comment field, we'll provide the corresponding firmware before shipping out.""

Awesome , thank you. I am a big fan of the S4 and 5

[dogie]

https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020160105102242316JqapyMif0705

That non vertical photo makes me sad

[MikeMike]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them


MM

[dogie]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

[MikeMike]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

If you go to the Network tab in an S3 you will see the data transfer real time log in tx/rx.

I do not see this feature in the S4 Network tab and hoping there is a way to locate the tx/rx data usage log of the S4. I am in a dispute with Verizon Wireless. They seem to be logging a few times the data usage mining through my jetpack/hotspot.

[dogie]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

If you go to the Network tab in an S3 you will see the data transfer real time log in tx/rx. I do not see this feature in the S4 Network tab and hoping there is a way to locate the tx/rx data usage log of the S4.

I guess you could find it via putty, but I would have zero idea of the commands required.

[MikeMike]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

If you go to the Network tab in an S3 you will see the data transfer real time log in tx/rx. I do not see this feature in the S4 Network tab and hoping there is a way to locate the tx/rx data usage log of the S4.

I guess you could find it via putty, but I would have zero idea of the commands required.

Thanks problem here all that is Greek to me...

 

[dogie]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

If you go to the Network tab in an S3 you will see the data transfer real time log in tx/rx. I do not see this feature in the S4 Network tab and hoping there is a way to locate the tx/rx data usage log of the S4.

I guess you could find it via putty, but I would have zero idea of the commands required.

Thanks problem here all that is Greek to me...

CK might know, you can find him in his cgminer thread.

[MikeMike]

Hi dogie,

Where do I go to find the tx/rx data on the s4?
I'm still having issues with my verizon hotspot for some reason its logging 3 to 4 times the data that it's transmitting but I need to prove it to them

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Have you got an example you can show me of what you want in another case?

If you go to the Network tab in an S3 you will see the data transfer real time log in tx/rx. I do not see this feature in the S4 Network tab and hoping there is a way to locate the tx/rx data usage log of the S4.

I guess you could find it via putty, but I would have zero idea of the commands required.

Thanks problem here all that is Greek to me...

CK might know, you can find him in his cgminer thread.

Thanks,
 
Will check it out.

MM

[Katun]

I purchased an S4 off of Ebay and it is missing the micro sd card. Can one be purchased configured for an S4 or will I need to image the card myself? What card is best suited for use in an S4?