Antminer U3 on Rasbian w/ cgminer 4.8.0 - need help

[donharper]

Hi.

I downloaded the latest version of cgminer 4.8.0 from github http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer.  It does at least have nominal support for Antminer U3 since it has two new options au3_freq and au3_volt and correctly identifies the U3 as AU3.  The latest bfgminer 5.0.0 does not support the U3 yet.

When I run cgminer, I get success for a while then errors that recover then more errors and finally it gives up:

2014-11-30 20:09:00] AU3 0 attempted reset got err:(0) LIBUSB_SUCCESS
 [2014-11-30 20:09:00] AU3 0 GetResults usb read err:(-9) LIBUSB_ERROR_PIPE
 [2014-11-30 20:09:01] AU3 0 attempted reset got err:(0) LIBUSB_SUCCESS
 [2014-11-30 20:09:01] Accepted 03f96980 Diff 64/16 AU3 0
 [2014-11-30 20:09:02] Accepted 9810c06f Diff 431/16 AU3 0
 [2014-11-30 20:09:02] AU3 0 GetResults usb read err:(-9) LIBUSB_ERROR_PIPE
 [2014-11-30 20:09:03] AU3 0 attempted reset got err:(0) LIBUSB_SUCCESS
 [2014-11-30 20:09:05] Accepted 0d45643d Diff 19/16 AU3 0
 [2014-11-30 20:09:05] AU3 0 GetResults usb read err:(-9) LIBUSB_ERROR_PIPE
 [2014-11-30 20:09:05] AU3 0 attempted reset got err:(0) LIBUSB_SUCCESS
 [2014-11-30 20:09:06] AU3 0 GetResults usb read err:(-9) LIBUSB_ERROR_PIPE
 [2014-11-30 20:09:06] AU3 0 attempted reset got err:(0) LIBUSB_SUCCESS
 [2014-11-30 20:09:07] Accepted 0f5c1fe6 Diff

cgminer is not just ONE program.  depending how you configure it prior to compiling it, it will have some drivers included and lots not included.  so just saying the U3 is supported with a simple command line like: cgminer and pool information isn't enough information.

what drivers are required?  I initially didn't configure icarus and it didn't work at all.  So I complied in icarus and get the above success/failures.  Can anyone give more complete information about what drivers are needed for the AU3? 

The anu_freq and anu_volt are not necessary since the device defaults to those values anyway.  In fact I think all the parameters except the pool information defaults to recommended values.  So all you should need it to type cgminer with pool information (or put it into the configuration file as I do) and it should run. 

What do I do with the output above that shows some successful and lots of errors?  With just one U3, I'm getting an average of 35GH/s without any overclock in spite of all the errors.

Any ideas?

Don Harper
donsjc@gmail.com

[1714920732]

1714920732

[-ck]

You're not doing anything wrong. The U3 is unreliable hardware and that's what you're seeing. There is a dedicated cgminer forum thread that you could use when you're running the official cgminer, please use it.

This is just indicative of the crap hardware that the U3 really is I'm afraid. Keep turning the frequency down and you might get lucky and find a stable frequency to run it at. Make sure to use a high quality shielded USB cable (I found that helped their stability compared to the default cable too). Don't overvolt them it will destroy the PSU. Don't put them on a usb3 port, don't use a powered hub, don't put too many other devices on the same hub port. Don't breathe on them, and make sure they're facing west...

[donharper]

Thank you!

I had the U3 plugged into a powered USB 2.0 hub (5amp) from Etekcity that I had used to daisy chain 4 hubs x 5 Antminer (20 total) U2s with ZERO errors in 3 months.  It never occurred to me that just ONE of these hubs with ONE U3 with all U2s retired would cause such a mess!

I removed the U3 from the powered hub and connected it directly to my PI+.  Now I'm getting about 56 - 62 Gh/s with NO ERRORS!

I haven't tried a better cable but it appears the one that came with the U3 works fine.  I also haven't tried facing it west 

Thanks for cgminer and thanks for the quick reply with just what I needed.

Don

[ppumkin]

For me.. the provided USB causes all these USB lib errors. I switch to antoher, shorter USB cable and it works fine withcgminer 4.8.0 and 4.9.0

apart from one that is running 45ghs and I cant work out why.. most likely a duff and needs to be returned. Running off PC PSU, Stable as a fort... apart from I need to power cycle these things about evey 2 weeks for some reason.. not too bad.