ANTMINER U3 Discussion and Support Thread

[wlefever]

Guess I could pull my US out the trash and try 4.9.2 then

I was about to sell my U3s on ebay, but now I'm saving them for this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=995675.msg11874028#msg11874028

Yeah I'm looking forward to that. I hope he gets a working board for the old rbox as well. I have 4 of those sitting in a closet.

[_kai_]

I'm using 4.9.2 on my windows 7 x64 pc and it's running 2x U3 stable with these settings... in case it's a help to anyone.
Avg 115 gh/s.

cgminer.exe -o stratum+tcp://blah.blah.blah -u my.name --au3-freq 240 --au3-volt 790

(One would run fine on 775, the other needed more juice to work reliably. 800 caused zombie.)

I have each U3 on a separate motherboard-usb-hub (they're stacked 4 high, I have them in the 2nd and 4th holes).

YMMV.


Edit: Must be a dodgy U3, even after all the fiddling, it sits at about 30Gh/s. Whereas its friend is 65+.

[Phosphorous]

If you were horribly bored, had more time, and felt like throwing money at a problem that shouldn't exist in the first place... you could put something together with a powerswitch tail or other computer-controllable power strip, a switchdoc labs USB power control board, a generic USB GPIO thing, and appropriate software to effectively unplug the USB (cutting power on the USB end), unplugging the power cord (cutting power on the mains power strip), and re-plugging them.

Or you could use something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Minuteman-2-outlet-IP-Addressable-PDU-RPM-1521/dp/B002C9OMFQ
I didn't bother to shop and see if there is anything cheaper but I'm sure there is.

[TheRealSteve]

Or you could use something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Minuteman-2-outlet-IP-Addressable-PDU-RPM-1521/dp/B002C9OMFQ
I didn't bother to shop and see if there is anything cheaper but I'm sure there is.

That would be the equivalent of the powerswitch tail: http://www.powerswitchtail.com/Pages/default.aspx
( and yes, there's cheaper - not sure I'd want to go the supercheap route for things like this, though )

However, the problem is that you also need to disconnect USB;

The communication chip needs to be power cycled because it stops responding. Even power cycling the device doesn't work because the comms chip draws power from the usb coming from your pc while the device is off.

Which means either a little device like I mentioned, or have the entire computer shut down and enable wake-on-lan or somesuch to get it back up again.

It's still throwing money at a losing proposition though.  I like small miners, my sig even says FUN > ROI for small StickMiners.. but the U3 wasn't much fun.  At least the first batch was aesthetically pleasing, but that got killed off in the second batch.

[notabeliever]

If you are having problem with your U3, please PM us. 

or you can return the U3 to the following address in the original box, and the replacement will be send to you from the factory

Bitmain Warranty
3700 Quebec St.
Unit 100-239
Denver, Colorado 80207

tel; +1-844-248-6246

Please include the purchase receipt from where you purchased it from.

When I run my miner, it only mines for a brief amount of time then shows ZOMBIE


What can I do to fix this?

[jmintuck02]

i have had best luck with this command about 45GH/s but not even close to 63GH/s as advertised "hassle free setup" not really
cgminer.exe --bmsc-options 115200:1 -o stratum+tcp://us1.ghash.io:3333 -u user -p password --bmsc-voltage 0750 --bmsc-freq 0882

can anyone let me know how to mine with multiple u3 in the same cgminer

That WORKED!! tHANK YOU. I tryed that and IT WORKED! I can't thank you enough. Now to find a higher power brick from somewhere and try another one.

[isch]

Hey there.
I just bought 2 Antminer U3 to get in this topic "Bitcoin mining".

At the moment i'm running them on my desktop pc, just to figure out how it works.
After that i plan to run them on a raspberry pi.

But i've some problems with the GH/s.
One of them goes with ~55.. not the best but for the first i'm ok with that.
But the other guy only goes with ~15-20.
What's the problem with him?

They're running on USB 3.0 withount any hub, the standart psu (that thing they're delivered with) and cgminer 4.9.0. I've also tried version 4.8.0 - the same.
I've changed the USB Ports and the PSU to figure out if there is maybe a problem. But it's allways the same Unit who works so low.
Just when i start cgminer both work with the same speed, but after a few minutes one guy goes down.

http://www.bilder-upload.eu/thumb/29fd54-1438420541.jpg

edit: tried out version 4.9.2 - looks like the problem is solved!

[stonehedge]

It has taken me about three days of trial and error but I have finally managed to get 3 Antminer U3s running on a raspberry Pi B (1st Gen) with powered USB hub using minera at 177Ghs with a HW error rate of 0%.

My U3s came with 7.5A power supplies and to cut a long story short all my problems ended when I stopped trying to use cgminer and bmsc options and used bfgminer with the following command line

-S antminer:all --set antminer:voltage=x820 --set antminer:clock=x0982

Power supplies and U3s are running at reasonable temperatures too.  Lets see how long this lasts for

EDITED for better results.

[Mikestang]

ended when I stopped trying to use cgminer and bmsc options

If you were using bmsc options with cgminer then you were using an old, outdated version of cgminer.  You should try again with version 4.9.2 and the proper --au3 command line options from the ASIC README (volt 800 and freq 250 usually give about the max rated GH/s).

and used bfgminer with the following command line

-S antminer:all --set antminer:voltage=x820 --set antminer:clock=x0982

Do you use --set antminer:timing as well, or omit it entirely from your command line?

[stonehedge]

ended when I stopped trying to use cgminer and bmsc options

If you were using bmsc options with cgminer then you were using an old, outdated version of cgminer.  You should try again with version 4.9.2 and the proper --au3 command line options from the ASIC README (volt 800 and freq 250 usually give about the max rated GH/s).

and used bfgminer with the following command line

-S antminer:all --set antminer:voltage=x820 --set antminer:clock=x0982

Do you use --set antminer:timing as well, or omit it entirely from your command line?

I'm not exactly a 100% noob to mining and linux but if I buy a product and the latest version of the manual on the manufacturers web site tells you to use bmsc then thats what I'll try first.  I quite like Bitmain but I think the vast majority of people who are unhappy with the U3 just haven't been given the right information on how to use them.  How about an updated manual on your web site Bitmain??

I did update to cgminer 4.9.2 on arch linux and it appeared to be working really well for about 60 seconds then my Pi always froze.  That was with the au3 command line options.  When I've got a few days hashing with this config I'll go back and try again with cgminer because I'd like to see if I can get it working as well as bfgminer.

I completely omitted --set antminer:timing.   Mainly because I didn't know how to calculate it.

I'm just coming up to 18 hours of my current settings and hash rate is stupidly solid at 178Ghs with 0% hw errors.  

[stonehedge]

Well, after a few days of perfect steady performance I decided to shut everything down and tidy up the cabling.

Now I only get 150Ghs. 28Ghs lost just by tidying the cables?!

[Mikestang]

Welcome to the world that is the U3.  There is no rhyme, there is no reason.  If you get them working, for the love of god DON'T TOUCH THEM, but this you have learned too late.

[stonehedge]

Welcome to the world that is the U3.  There is no rhyme, there is no reason.  If you get them working, for the love of god DON'T TOUCH THEM, but this you have learned too late.

Lol. Lesson well learned!

I decided to slightly under clock my U3s last night to see if I could win some stability but this morning I awoke to one of them beeping and flashing at me. The other two were running fine.

I've just ordered some good quality USB cables and if they don't work I'm going to scrap the U3s (after a week of ownership) and see if I can find another hobbyist miner to buy.

Very poor show Bitmain.

[stonehedge]

Just running stock settings now and I have a beeping U3 after an hour of mining.

Does anybody know if the beeping is caused by a power or USB disruption? 

[baristor]

does anyone wnna do a group by of 60 ? Im in for sure then I dont mind even picking up 5 units

[TheRealSteve]

does anyone wnna do a group by of 60 ? Im in for sure then I dont mind even picking up 5 units

See also: Bitcoin Forum > Bitcoin > Mining > Hardware > Group buys > [Group Buy] [U3 Antminers] Intrest thread.
tl;dr: there wasn't enough interest.  This was for a European GB though.

[stonehedge]

If anybody wants to buy three units in UK/EU then I have some for sale

On my Raspberry Pi they all work fine individually or in pairs.  Even with a very good powered hub I can't get three to work reliably.

On my PC three seem to work fine together but I haven't tested that for very long.

I find that bfgminer is better than cgminer with the U3s (at least in minera) but your mileage may vary. I can't get them to work in minepeon at all.

[clarkjhaley13]

I ran my u3 units for couple of months with no issue. I used a atx power supply to power them with custom made plugin cables. I also ran the fans directly from psu power not thru the units board. Was the single biggest boost I got in reliability and performance from them. I used a 800 power setting and a *c ** frequency and I got 73gh/s from them.
All I can say is if you are powering them with the brick is good luck.

[Mikestang]

That's the first I've heard of powering the fan with external power, I wonder if that contributed to the stability you had?  Very interesting, something else to tinker with.

[stonehedge]

I ran my u3 units for couple of months with no issue. I used a atx power supply to power them with custom made plugin cables. I also ran the fans directly from psu power not thru the units board. Was the single biggest boost I got in reliability and performance from them. I used a 800 power setting and a *c ** frequency and I got 73gh/s from them.
All I can say is if you are powering them with the brick is good luck.

This makes me want to change my mind about selling my U3s.  I do like making things work