ANTMINER U3 Discussion and Support Thread

[dogie]

Dogie, clearly there are several U3 users here who cannot get their U3s to operate reliably.

Please talk to Bitmain and find out what they will do to make us whole on these. It was around 3 weeks if not longer before CK released the first half-way usable version of CGminer. In total I have had mine almost 2 months and have not been able to get much use out of mine.

None of us probably purchased our units from Bitmain directly as you had to order a pallet of them and no one uses that many USB miners so we all have resellers to deal with.

This is a serious issue for a seriously defective product, and we want answers and resolution (and ideally, a refund).

I believe it was already offered that any non functioning U3s could be sent in for replacement or refund, but you'll have to confirm with BitmainWarranty (and arrange with them either way).

[1715030592]

1715030592

[1715030592]

1715030592

[Phosphorous]

Dogie, clearly there are several U3 users here who cannot get their U3s to operate reliably.

Please talk to Bitmain and find out what they will do to make us whole on these. It was around 3 weeks if not longer before CK released the first half-way usable version of CGminer. In total I have had mine almost 2 months and have not been able to get much use out of mine.

None of us probably purchased our units from Bitmain directly as you had to order a pallet of them and no one uses that many USB miners so we all have resellers to deal with.

This is a serious issue for a seriously defective product, and we want answers and resolution (and ideally, a refund).

I believe it was already offered that any non functioning U3s could be sent in for replacement or refund, but you'll have to confirm with BitmainWarranty (and arrange with them either way).

As I stated before, we can't get refunds (from Bitmain) unless we bought a pallet of them unless Bitmain can get their resellers to issue the refunds. My reseller (MinerSource) will NOT issue a refund.

I have been trying to RMA my U3 for 2 weeks now but I cannot get an RMA number or I can't get someone to say to send it in without an RMA#. At first I was PM'd by user BitmainWarranty on Dec 26 who saw these forum posts and told me:
a) if I bought it with a credit card I can do a chargeback with the vendor  (!)
or
b) if it is defective I can send it in for repair. They provided the Colorado address but no RMA #.

BUT IF ALL U3'S ARE DEFECTIVE HOW CAN IT BE REPAIRED?

I replied back and asked if I needed an RMA # and no response. I am not going to ship my U3 off without an RMA # unless I am told explicitly to do so, and even then I want to know that my unit is defective and that there are units that actually work that it can actually be repaired or replaced.

Then I was PM'd by BITMAIN_YHQIN who knew nothing of the PMs from BitmainWarranty, and rather than provide an RMA # they wanted to know where I bought it and the order ID and (ugh) a description of the problem (really?). I replied to this on Monday morning and have not heard back.

[irobb]

hack it all up and do what i did... so far it's stable Want to see pictures?

[richardamullens]

hack it all up and do what i did... so far it's stable Want to see pictures?

Yes of course - pictures of the device disassembled that is.

[irobb]

Look at the crap job of their thermal paste application versus mine.  All nearby SMD's soaked in it.
https://i.imgur.com/tf9uhbg.jpg

Cleaned and reapplied:
https://i.imgur.com/KLOJKRc.jpg

Cleaned and reapplied:
https://i.imgur.com/cgYDGRh.jpg

Loose capacitor came off.  I soldered back on:
https://i.imgur.com/g5JSVWI.jpg

Put all back together minus the case:
https://i.imgur.com/eTGaeOj.jpg

So far it's stable...  Will tell you tomorrow if it still is.
https://i.imgur.com/SE4d8iA.jpg

[richardamullens]

Thanks.

That mess of conductive paste is horrendous.

Well done for fixing it - I would not have liked to remove that crud myself.

[irobb]

NO ZOMBIE... 12 hours working... so far.

[Visvas]

Just tested for 24 hours approx with default settings  (225mhz, 750v) and extra passiv cooling. One of the units still goes zombie at times and needs to be re-plugged.
One of the units only gives me around 38-45 Ghs now, the other around 50-55.

[MyRig]

For U3 purchased from other than Bitmaintech.com, please PM us with your original proof of purchase (showing the payment date, shipping tracking from the seller, and a payment method) and description of what is wrong with it.

Original Buyer has 90-days of warranty from the date of purchase.

Resold units don't reset the warranty date based on your purchase date if you purchased it from other than Bitmaintech.com

To be considered for repair/exchange, PLEASE provide BitmainWarranty with your full purchase info and after-sale issue correspondence with the seller who decline to assist with you. (If there was no response from the sellers, please provide us the proof you attempted to initiate the contact but no avail.)

If you were given authorization to return to Denver, Colorado address, please include the PM authorizing you to return with the original purchase record with the miner.  

thank you!

[irobb]

For U3 purchased from other than Bitmaintech.com, please PM us with your original proof of purchase (showing the payment date, shipping tracking from the seller, and a payment method) and description of what is wrong with it.

Original Buyer has 90-days of warranty from the date of purchase.

Resold units don't reset the warranty date based on your purchase date if you purchased it from other than Bitmaintech.com

To be considered for repair/exchange, PLEASE provide BitmainWarranty with your full purchase info and after-sale issue correspondence with the seller who decline to assist with you. (If there was no response from the sellers, please provide us the proof you attempted to initiate the contact but no avail.)

If you were given authorization to return to Denver, Colorado address, please include the PM authorizing you to return with the original purchase record with the miner.  

thank you!

Considering that my power brick melted which forced me to modify the unit to accept power from 12V off my PSU, am I still covered for this warranty?
https://i.imgur.com/keNqqq6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DXsBvKOl.jpg
Also having to re-solder a connection?

[ppumkin]

Hey maybe that one capicotr was the why I was only getting 45GHS on of the units. Maybe it knocked out one of the ASICS.

Any way. I have been hashing almost 24 hours and no ZOMBIE. What I did was try and run cgminer 4.9.0 without any au3 settings.

It must be the overclocking that crashes the firmware and you MUST hard reset the whole thing. I suppose if you want to get 70ghs out of these puppies then you need to be ready to fix them everyday or create something to cut USB power and +12v with some kind of MCU... I could do it but not worth it really.

Both my U3 running stable neck in neck at 56.50gh/s WU:788.3

So they DID test it for long times on stock settings. The over clocking is the problem for ZOMBIES so it looks.... I hope after I post this I dont get ZOMBIE. heheh

Nice job on the thermal paste jobbie. Maybe they thought more was better.

[ppumkin]

For U3 purchased from other than Bitmaintech.com, please PM us with your original proof of purchase (showing the payment date, shipping tracking from the seller, and a payment method) and description of what is wrong with it.

Original Buyer has 90-days of warranty from the date of purchase.

Resold units don't reset the warranty date based on your purchase date if you purchased it from other than Bitmaintech.com

To be considered for repair/exchange, PLEASE provide BitmainWarranty with your full purchase info and after-sale issue correspondence with the seller who decline to assist with you. (If there was no response from the sellers, please provide us the proof you attempted to initiate the contact but no avail.)

If you were given authorization to return to Denver, Colorado address, please include the PM authorizing you to return with the original purchase record with the miner.  

thank you!

Considering that my power brick melted which forced me to modify the unit to accept power from 12V off my PSU, am I still covered for this warranty?
https://i.imgur.com/keNqqq6l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DXsBvKOl.jpg
Also having to re-solder a connection?

The power brick works just fine with stock settings. They did not warn about over volting that might caused this. Obviously higher amps. Any way it would not have burned.

The coil would have fused before any fire would start and that would trip your mains safety (taking into account you don't live in a house wired earlier than 1975ish) besides the plastic used is fire ratardand (FCC compliant). Go ahead and try set it on fire do it outside cause there are more fumes than flames!

[irobb]

i was using the cgminer off the instructions when the adapter did that... 

[Visvas]

It must be the overclocking that crashes the firmware and you MUST hard reset the whole thing. I suppose if you want to get 70ghs out of these puppies then you need to be ready to fix them everyday or create something to cut USB power and +12v with some kind of MCU... I could do it but not worth it really.

No, its not overclocking. My two has zombied from day one, before i even tried anything other than default. And one of them has only given me 40-45 for the most part since i got it.
Due to the shipping cost of them however, it's not worth it to return it from here, i'll just make sure to warn people of the low quality of these.. Too bad, other than that, i kind of like these units.

[ppumkin]

It must be the overclocking that crashes the firmware and you MUST hard reset the whole thing. I suppose if you want to get 70ghs out of these puppies then you need to be ready to fix them everyday or create something to cut USB power and +12v with some kind of MCU... I could do it but not worth it really.

No, its not overclocking. My two has zombied from day one, before i even tried anything other than default. And one of them has only given me 40-45 for the most part since i got it.
Due to the shipping cost of them however, it's not worth it to return it from here, i'll just make sure to warn people of the low quality of these.. Too bad, other than that, i kind of like these units.

Yea, mine just ZOMBIED on normal settings. Bugger it. I cant be asked going to pull the cables out and in every single fucking day just for this... but they are pretty sweet. I think i need to come up with something clever and automated... dont have enough time though.. sucks.
I might as well overclock them a bit since I have to to replug the fuckers every 24 hours any way.

Morning routine +replug U3's CHECK...

[dogie]

As I stated before, we can't get refunds (from Bitmain) unless we bought a pallet of them unless Bitmain can get their resellers to issue the refunds. My reseller (MinerSource) will NOT issue a refund.

I have been trying to RMA my U3 for 2 weeks now but I cannot get an RMA number or I can't get someone to say to send it in without an RMA#. At first I was PM'd by user BitmainWarranty on Dec 26 who saw these forum posts and told me:
a) if I bought it with a credit card I can do a chargeback with the vendor  (!)
or
b) if it is defective I can send it in for repair. They provided the Colorado address but no RMA #.

BUT IF ALL U3'S ARE DEFECTIVE HOW CAN IT BE REPAIRED?

I replied back and asked if I needed an RMA # and no response. I am not going to ship my U3 off without an RMA # unless I am told explicitly to do so, and even then I want to know that my unit is defective and that there are units that actually work that it can actually be repaired or replaced.

Then I was PM'd by BITMAIN_YHQIN who knew nothing of the PMs from BitmainWarranty, and rather than provide an RMA # they wanted to know where I bought it and the order ID and (ugh) a description of the problem (really?). I replied to this on Monday morning and have not heard back.

They're not all defective, there are 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of U3s doing fine. I can't force Bitmain / BitmainWarranty to accept a return or refund you because I don't have authority on behalf of the company, but send it in without RMA. Write the information you've provided here on a sheet, a long with minersource order info. Most likely your unit will be replaced.

If for whatever reason everything fails and after a few months you can't get emails replied, I'll cover you for the U3 personally. Not much more that I can do, sorry.

[dogie]

Considering that my power brick melted which forced me to modify the unit to accept power from 12V off my PSU, am I still covered for this warranty?

Yes you are still covered.

[dogie]

It must be the overclocking that crashes the firmware and you MUST hard reset the whole thing. I suppose if you want to get 70ghs out of these puppies then you need to be ready to fix them everyday or create something to cut USB power and +12v with some kind of MCU... I could do it but not worth it really.

No, its not overclocking. My two has zombied from day one, before i even tried anything other than default. And one of them has only given me 40-45 for the most part since i got it.
Due to the shipping cost of them however, it's not worth it to return it from here, i'll just make sure to warn people of the low quality of these.. Too bad, other than that, i kind of like these units.

Yea, mine just ZOMBIED on normal settings. Bugger it. I cant be asked going to pull the cables out and in every single fucking day just for this... but they are pretty sweet. I think i need to come up with something clever and automated... dont have enough time though.. sucks.
I might as well overclock them a bit since I have to to replug the fuckers every 24 hours any way.

Morning routine +replug U3's CHECK...

What type of hub are you on, powered or not powered? USB 3.0 or 2.0? There is also some newer firmware being tested which may fix some of the soft images, but zombie'ing is usually a brief interruption on USB.

[Phosphorous]

As I stated before, we can't get refunds (from Bitmain) unless we bought a pallet of them unless Bitmain can get their resellers to issue the refunds. My reseller (MinerSource) will NOT issue a refund.

I have been trying to RMA my U3 for 2 weeks now but I cannot get an RMA number or I can't get someone to say to send it in without an RMA#. At first I was PM'd by user BitmainWarranty on Dec 26 who saw these forum posts and told me:
a) if I bought it with a credit card I can do a chargeback with the vendor  (!)
or
b) if it is defective I can send it in for repair. They provided the Colorado address but no RMA #.

BUT IF ALL U3'S ARE DEFECTIVE HOW CAN IT BE REPAIRED?

I replied back and asked if I needed an RMA # and no response. I am not going to ship my U3 off without an RMA # unless I am told explicitly to do so, and even then I want to know that my unit is defective and that there are units that actually work that it can actually be repaired or replaced.

Then I was PM'd by BITMAIN_YHQIN who knew nothing of the PMs from BitmainWarranty, and rather than provide an RMA # they wanted to know where I bought it and the order ID and (ugh) a description of the problem (really?). I replied to this on Monday morning and have not heard back.

They're not all defective, there are 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of U3s doing fine. I can't force Bitmain / BitmainWarranty to accept a return or refund you because I don't have authority on behalf of the company, but send it in without RMA. Write the information you've provided here on a sheet, a long with minersource order info. Most likely your unit will be replaced.

If for whatever reason everything fails and after a few months you can't get emails replied, I'll cover you for the U3 personally. Not much more that I can do, sorry.

On what do you base that they are not all defective? No one has replied here yet saying that their unit does not ZOMBIE at least once a day.

[ppumkin]

It must be the overclocking that crashes the firmware and you MUST hard reset the whole thing. I suppose if you want to get 70ghs out of these puppies then you need to be ready to fix them everyday or create something to cut USB power and +12v with some kind of MCU... I could do it but not worth it really.

No, its not overclocking. My two has zombied from day one, before i even tried anything other than default. And one of them has only given me 40-45 for the most part since i got it.
Due to the shipping cost of them however, it's not worth it to return it from here, i'll just make sure to warn people of the low quality of these.. Too bad, other than that, i kind of like these units.

Yea, mine just ZOMBIED on normal settings. Bugger it. I cant be asked going to pull the cables out and in every single fucking day just for this... but they are pretty sweet. I think i need to come up with something clever and automated... dont have enough time though.. sucks.
I might as well overclock them a bit since I have to to replug the fuckers every 24 hours any way.

Morning routine +replug U3's CHECK...

What type of hub are you on, powered or not powered? USB 3.0 or 2.0? There is also some newer firmware being tested which may fix some of the soft images, but zombie'ing is usually a brief interruption on USB.

USB 2.0 Direct into Motherboard USB Slots, NO Hub, and proper USB shielded USB cable.
U3 12V Powered from 450WATT, separate PSU.

It happens only after some hours and a brief interruption USB should just restart mining, for example. Pull out USB cable, ZOMBIE after 10 seconds, plug in USB cable, ZOMBIE goes away.

In this situation the only way to remove ZOMBIE is to hard power cycle the unit, becuase cgminer does not pickup the USB, or if it does it cannot communicate with it, which means the firmware shat a brick sideways.

If you can turn off USB somehow, then thats the key to hard cycle the U3. I just noticed even with 12volt plugged, the red light inside goes out. Also, I deliberatly sacrificed a USB cable and cut the 5V. I wanted to see if I could just turn the PSU on and OFF which would also power cycle MCU on the U3. But no.. that would be to easy. The MCU is powered by the USB +5 and the ASICS are powered by the 12volt line.

Please note these are Pure deductions by trial and error. I have not fried anything, yet. Phew.