ANTMINER U3 Discussion and Support Thread

[Mikestang]

is it possible to control fan speed on antminer u3

No, the fan speed is not adjustable.

[movellan]

I have problems with mine overheating and not working i am going to try the fan mod I was thinking about cracking it open to apply more thermal paste but the bulk of the heat seems to be on the bottom blue plate

That could indicate the lack of good thermal conductivity between the chips and the upper heat sink, hence the high temp on the bottom plate. All mine run cool enough to comfortably hold a hashing unit in your hand.  Might be a good idea to crack it open and check the paste on the top of the chips.

[mindtrip]

Yeah mine get really hot like it could burn you if you held it in your hand kind of hot, I think I will open it up and take a peak maybe they forgot the thermal paste all together. I remember what my first S1 looked like it had thermal paste all over the place like someone just smeared it everywhere. obviously the quality control on these things is all over the place and the U3's power brick gets crazy hot I already moded a cable to connect it to a regular ATX power supply but I still notice high HW error/reject rates like 20%

[Mikestang]

but I still notice high HW error/reject rates like 20%

Wow, 20% is really bad.  One of mine no matter what I do I can't get less than 2.5% error.

[VictorGT]

Hi,

Problems problems problems... with an U3 just purchased at Amazon...

I had read a lot of post from this thread, and I try all the things I read (as long as I have HW and
knowledge) but no success by now...

Testing it with MSI Wind netbook (Intel Atom n270, 1 Gb, XP, USB 2, Intel 845GSE chipset).

First problem:

CGMiner never detect de ASIC properly... The CGMiner standar fork from ck NEVER detect my U3.
I can only work with it if i use the CGMiner fork from Bitmain... And Bitmain CGMiner ONLY
detects the U3 if i unplugged it and plug it again with CGMiner running. This trick do not
work with ck CGMiner. Tried CGMiner 4.9.1, 4.9.0 from ck. The Bitman CGMiner is last version
from their web page. Always "not devices found" if I not unplug-replug...

Second problem:

Once U3 is detected, Bitmain CGMINER only runs about 20 GH/s... Pooling from COINKING I used
to get half that number (about 10 GH/s)... Pooling from Eligius the same results... About 20
GH/s at CGMIner and half at Eligius web page... Must I use other pools for testing?

Also, my U3 has at least 2 small red leds... (not the big one which indicates USB power).
I suppose they are for ASIC chips monitoring... Well, my U3 only shows one red light usually on,
and another one which ligths very few times, blinking... ¿The U3 must have 4 red leds when
working at 60 GH/s? Maybe my U3 has two chips dead?.

I think my U3 is defective... but not sure, is the first time i try mining...

I am going to test it with another PC (desktop with P4 3 GHz)... no more ideas to try...
Reinstalled Zadig several times... Same results... (problems do not seems related to Zadig).

May you help me? What more things I can test? I do not have powered USB hubs... but I have a few
non-powered, must I try with them? Any special optiones with CGMiner I can use for troubleshooting?
CGMIner options at USB menu may help me? How must I use it... Sorry, first time I use CGMiner...

I am testing it with U3 USB cable and U3 PSU...
Tested with two more USB cables (not high quality, standard quality). Same results...

NOTE: both the PSU brick and the U3 are warm when use, NO HOT.

(Sorry for my bad english, i am not native ;-)

Regards from Spain.
Victor.

[Bicknellski]

Is this a support thread?

Should we not move it to support to de-clutter the hardware thread?

We have 10 different Antminer threads pretty much all support based on page one continuously for months now.

[VictorGT]

Sorry if this is not a support thread, but the Subject say "support" ;-)

Thanks indigopsy, no idea about compiling CGMiner... I will try...

I use --bmsc parameters with bitmain CGMiner... but no compile anything...

Not use parameters with CGMiner from ck (supposed to have native
suport fot U3).

Thanks!.

[Mikestang]

CGMiner never detect de ASIC properly... The CGMiner standar fork from ck NEVER detect my U3.
I can only work with it if i use the CGMiner fork from Bitmain... And Bitmain CGMiner ONLY
detects the U3 if i unplugged it and plug it again with CGMiner running. This trick do not
work with ck CGMiner. Tried CGMiner 4.9.1, 4.9.0 from ck. The Bitman CGMiner is last version
from their web page. Always "not devices found" if I not unplug-replug...

...

Also, my U3 has at least 2 small red leds... (not the big one which indicates USB power).
I suppose they are for ASIC chips monitoring... Well, my U3 only shows one red light usually on,
and another one which ligths very few times, blinking... ¿The U3 must have 4 red leds when
working at 60 GH/s? Maybe my U3 has two chips dead?.

...

Cgminer 4.9.1 will not recognize the U3, but 4.9.0 will AFTER you Zadig it (you didn't mention using Zadig).

There's 1 red led when you plug in the USB, and 1 more when it's hashing.

[VictorGT]

Thanks mikestang... I will not use 4.9.1, only 4.9.0...

I use Zadig and I did mention it near the end of the post...

I can make it work stable (tested 20 hours) but only at 20 GH...
... and only with Bitmain version fork (labelled _20150107, seems to be a 4.8.0).
¿This means drivers are OK installed?

I was looking to the info about recompile CGMINER in order to add
--enable-bmsc
but difficult for me, not a Linux developer (only Windows developer).
¿really I need to compile CGMINER on my own?
¿maybe someone can send me those binaries?

About the red lights, my U3 has at least two small red leds...
(not the big USB red led). One is near always ON, and a little time OFF
The other is opposite: near always OFF a very little time ON...
Maybe one is hashing, and the other, who knows???

Help really appreciated. I will like to make this work...

[Mikestang]

The one that is nearly always off should be nearly always on when you're hashing properly.

Sorry, I missed the zadig reference.  Did you download and install the latest CP2102 driver? http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/USBtoUARTBridgeVCPDrivers.aspx

You should not need to compile your own cgminer, but you would is you wanted to use bmsc.  If you use bmsc, then you do not Zadig.

What is your command line to launch cgminer with the U3?

Keep trying to zadig, unplug and replug (be sure to plug in power first, then usb, and unplug in reverse order).  It's possible you have a defective unit, you can contact Bitmain Warranty for support if that is the case.

[VictorGT]

Of course, I had installed CP2102 driver first thing...

I followed all steps of U3 user manual carefully...

Also re-Zadig a couple of times...

When I plug and unplug the U3, Windows seems to find it OK
(USB sound alert fast, no messages about drivers requiered).

In an hour I will post here my bat files... Now I am not at home.

Thanks.
Victor.

[VictorGT]

I am using this with BM CGMINER 4.8.0

cgminer.exe  --bmsc-options 115200:0.57 -o stratum+tcp://eu1.coinking.io:9999 -u MY_WORKER -p x --bmsc-voltage 0750 --bmsc-freq 0882

this works but only at 20 GH, and I need to unplug and replug...

and using this with CK CGMINER 4.9.0

cgminer.exe  --au3-freq 225 --au3-volt 750 -o stratum+tcp://eu1.coinking.io:9999 -u MY_WORKER -p x

I can't make the second works anyway...

Lets try another PC...

Regards.

[Mikestang]

Very possible you have a faulty unit then.  If you're not overclocking you can leave the --au3 commands out, it will run at factory settings without them.

My basic command line:

Code:

cgminer.exe -o stratum+tcp://solo.ckpool.org:3333 -u USER.name -p password

With overclocking:

Code:

cgminer.exe -o stratum+tcp://solo.ckpool.org:3333 -u USER.name -p password --au3-volt 785 --au3-freq 243.75

Do you have another computer you can try it on?  Do you have another power supply to try?  I have 3 U3s and have had all sorts of problems with them.  One of them decided one day that it didn't want to be recognized by any computer, just out of the blue.  I sent it to a fellow who repaired it, but not sure what the exact problem was with that one...

[Jake-R]

Do these use the same power input connector as the Gridseeds, GAW and Zeus miners? I don't want to use the stock PSUs.

[MyRig]

Different size from Gridseeds 

Do these use the same power input connector as the Gridseeds, GAW and Zeus miners? I don't want to use the stock PSUs.

[TheRealSteve]

Do these use the same power input connector

To add to Bitmain's reply: it's a 5.5/2.5mm barrel jack.  The others are 5.5/2.1.

[mindtrip]

Don't buy these things they failed prematurely and Bitmain wont RMA one I bought that's only 2 months old and failed

[Jake-R]

Do these use the same power input connector

To add to Bitmain's reply: it's a 5.5/2.5mm barrel jack.  The others are 5.5/2.1.

Have you found a suitable aftermarket PSU? Thank you for the specifications.

Don't buy these things they failed prematurely and Bitmain wont RMA one I bought that's only 2 months old and failed

I already ordered one before you posted this. I hope it doesn't fail.

[TheRealSteve]

Have you found a suitable aftermarket PSU? Thank you for the specifications.

I just used an old LCD monitor adapter with the barrel connector from one of those 'universal adapter' cheapo things - comes with a bunch of different connectors.  Rather than shop for a PSU with a specific connector, I'd say look for a decent PSU (a desktop PSU tends to perform much better) - you can always wire up a different connector.

[Jake-R]

Do these use the same power input connector

To add to Bitmain's reply: it's a 5.5/2.5mm barrel jack.  The others are 5.5/2.1.

So in theory, this PSU would fit? Oddly, it is the same one I use for my Gridseed USB miners: http://www.amazon.com/Kastar-TV--Supper-Shipping-USA--18-Month-Warranty/dp/B003TUMDWG