EasyMiner - new version with Auto speed tuning

[BFL]

EasyMiner version 1.2 Beta is now up on the site's driver download page.

http://www.butterflylabs.com/drivers/


It's best new feature is Auto-Tune which finds the optimal firmware speed for each individual unit.  If you don't already know, every BitForce Single has it's individual variance in performance capability relative to heat.  This is the natural result of our using full wafer chips.  The nominal performance is 832 mh/s at 72F, but will range + - 10% from there.  Some can even run much faster.  The temperature of the air it's operating in makes a BIG difference.  

Using EasyMiner to make sure your units are getting the best performance in any given temperature situation should help you get the most out of your units without hours of manual observation testing individual firmwares.

You'll need the latest version of EasyMiner and the Auto Tune firmware package which is also on the site's driver download page.

To use Auto Tune, right click on the unit(s) you'd like tuned and choose 'Auto Tune' from the menu.  It'll ask you to point it to the auto tune package file we've provided.  EasyMiner will take care of the rest.

Regards,
BFL

PS.  Try auto-tuning your units at different room temperatures and you'll see a difference in performance.

[rjk]

I'm downloading the auto-tune package now, but the easyminer link still appears to be dead.

[BFL]

I'm downloading the auto-tune package now, but the easyminer link still appears to be dead.

Checking....     OK, fixed.

[kibblesnbits]

I'm downloading the auto-tune package now, but the easyminer link still appears to be dead.

Me 2

[kibblesnbits]

I'm downloading the auto-tune package now, but the easyminer link still appears to be dead.

Checking....     OK, fixed.

Confirmed working.  Some are taking longer to process than others, but so far so good. The one that finished auto tuned at 896Mh.  Does the auto tune automatically install the firmware or must I o it manually?  Thanks!

[BFL]

I'm downloading the auto-tune package now, but the easyminer link still appears to be dead.

Checking....     OK, fixed.

Confirmed working.  Some are taking longer to process than others, but so far so good. The one that finished auto tuned at 896Mh.  Does the auto tune automatically install the firmware or must I o it manually?  Thanks!

EasyMiner takes care of all the details for you.  After tuning, it's ready to unplug and go.  Nothing more is required.

[Phraust]

Trying it out now as well. Thanks.

[BFL]

Note to mini rig owners...  EasyMiner auto-tune works on the cards in the rigs as well.  They aren't as heat sensitive, but we don't ship them fully optimized and you may find increased performance with tuning.

[kano]

Is this simply a modified bitstream that is able to be told the clock frequency, or does it test the device and then load the appropriate bitstream?

[BFL]

Is this simply a modified bitstream that is able to be told the clock frequency, or does it test the device and then load the appropriate bitstream?

It tests and loads.

[BTC-engineer]

@BFL: This new, nice feature is making the process to find the unit-specific, proper clockrate more easy, thanks for it even if I don't need it.
It shows the same results, you would get by testing the different images manually.
However, in the end it shows me that my units are able to run the fastest available image without any problems, what I know from my own test already.

So when will faster images be released? BFL-Engineer announced them over one Month ago. I guess there is no need for them anymore in the ASIC era...
Also the 792 Image is corrupt and is still not fixed.

As you already stated the environment temperature is very relevant to the max clockrate you can use.
My units are in a room without A/C and are seeing over the year environment temperatures from ~17°C-33°C.
So to measure the proper clockrate only once, doesn't make so much sense. If you don't want to care about your units anymore you have to test it with the max. environment temperate and loose a lot of the possible hashing power over the year.
It would be much better if the mining software (e.g. cgminer) has the Auto speed tuning feature included for BFL singles.
Which means it will always load the most perfect image into the device and keep checking it.
Or even better, if the unit (firmware) is adapting itself to the new environment (like e.g. ztex).

[kano]

The ztex doesn't require loading a new firmware - the firmware allows you to tell it what speed to run at on the fly.
i.e. the actual code in cgminer adjusts the MHz up or down as required during mining on the ztex.

I'm not sure why that is a difficult option, but I guess that is just the ztex guys know what they are doing and how to do it ...

Yes getting one answer of how fast to run will not last for weeks or months - you'd have to regularly stop it and run speed tests to determine the optimal speed ... though I'd even suggest the obvious that between midday and midnight there would be a difference

I run my BFL on the standard 832 bitstream for a few reasons:
1) I don't have windows anywhere near that mining rig (and BFL wont tell us how to program it or provide linux softwre)
2) The temperature drop at the moment is below 10C at night since it is now winter here and during the day it varies quite a bit - but certainly always below necessary temperatures. I'm sure that it could run faster at night but I'm seriously not gonna setup windows on my main mining rig or have to reboot it regularly just to change the bitstream for day and night time - that would be immensely annoying

[Morblias]

Hehe, I saw that post you deleted BFL. I laughed!

[BFL]

Hehe, I saw that post you deleted BFL. I laughed!

Yeah...   

[byte1]

Note to mini rig owners...  EasyMiner auto-tune works on the cards in the rigs as well.  They aren't as heat sensitive, but we don't ship them fully optimized and you may find increased performance with tuning.

http://www.butterflylabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/more-minis.jpg

Looks cool. :-)

[BFL]

How long does the auto-tune take? Do we just stop it if we're happy with the performance/throttle situation or does it need to run for an extended period of time?

You need to let it run to completion.  Auto tune will announce when it's done it's work and list the end speed for each individual unit.  Please note that time to test will vary from unit to unit.

[rjk]

For mine, it settled on the maximum speed, but later started throttling. However dropping it down one notch manually fixed that, but it probably would have been fine if my room wasn't so dang hot. It's been cooking lately because the A/C isn't keeping up too well.

[cuz0882]

Has anyone got above 896? I'm still at 38c but it always chooses 896..

[crazyates]

Has anyone got above 896? I'm still at 38c but it always chooses 896..

896 is the fastest firmware released to date.

[cuz0882]

Has anyone got above 896? I'm still at 38c but it always chooses 896..

896 is the fastest firmware released to date.

It goes over 900 during testing.

[davidspitzer]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

[crazyates]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

CGMiner is the probably the best miner software out there. And last I knew, mining in EasyMiner was not actually enabled.

[davidspitzer]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

CGMiner is the probably the best miner software out there. And last I knew, mining in EasyMiner was not actually enabled.

Sorry for my ignorance - Just to verify  - you cannot actually mine with easyminer? That seems strange

[crazyates]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

CGMiner is the probably the best miner software out there. And last I knew, mining in EasyMiner was not actually enabled.

Sorry for my ignorance - Just to verify  - you cannot actually mine with easyminer? That seems strange

Most people use EasyMiner to update the firmware of their Single, and then use CGMiner to mine.

[davidspitzer]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

CGMiner is the probably the best miner software out there. And last I knew, mining in EasyMiner was not actually enabled.

Sorry for my ignorance - Just to verify  - you cannot actually mine with easyminer? That seems strange

Most people use EasyMiner to update the firmware of their Single, and then use CGMiner to mine.

is easyminer ever intended to mine if not the name is kind of ironic. ?

[rjk]

I see a lot of people using CGminer - Why would one want to use CGminer instead of easy miner? is there a trend or preference emerging for one over the other.

Thanks

David

CGMiner is the probably the best miner software out there. And last I knew, mining in EasyMiner was not actually enabled.

Sorry for my ignorance - Just to verify  - you cannot actually mine with easyminer? That seems strange

Most people use EasyMiner to update the firmware of their Single, and then use CGMiner to mine.

is easyminer ever intended to mine if not the name is kind of ironic. ?

If you load it up, you will see that it has a mining function, but that has been disabled. This is because it is not fully developed, but the firmware updates were needed so it was released with mining functionality disabled. Even if it were enabled, you would be stuck with EMC as the pool.

[BFL]

Hi guys, I thought I'd take the opportunity to clarify where EasyMiner fits into our plans.  

EasyMiner is not meant to supplant or compete with existing miners.  It's development followed the need for user friendly firmware upgrades & performance evaluation of Butterfly Labs hardware.  Outside mining on a live pool (any pool) is a secondary function scheduled for upcoming release.  As a miner, it's primary purpose is to provide easy mining for people not familiar with a Linux terminal command environment.  Professional miners who've built systems depending on CGminer and the like will surely want to continue using those mature & feature rich platforms.  We'll continue to encourage software miner developers in their support of our hardware by giving their dev teams early hardware access and by promoting their software platforms to our customers.

As a side note, I think there's been some drama between BFGminer and CGminer software leads (Luke-Jr & Con) with regards to who is ahead of the pack in post GPU mining software support.  Some favoritism seems to have been attributed to us in this drama, so maybe it's worth clearing the air on that issue while we're on the topic.  Both are excellent developers (no kidding, they're Ace + coders).  Along the way, we've had an open door policy for any software developer who would like to log in and test their code live while using any of our hardware platforms.  Ufasoft, Bitminter, BFGminer and CGminer dev teams have all participated in this program.  We've probably had the longest working relationship with Luke-Jr as he was also one of our earliest customers and showed steel nerves by pre-ordering with Bitcoin while most of the forum community was busy convincing themselves we didn't exist.  He was also enormously helpful in adding the initial support for our products to CGminer.  Although we've enjoyed Luke's collaboration we've not been aware of any of the miner software politics that have led some to think we're pushing Luke over anyone else.  Until recently, he's simply been the only guy from the CGminer camp who showed up at all, and we thank him for that.  

So once again...  to clear the air, I'd like to repeat that we have an open door policy and welcome any developer.  You'll always have special and early access to the hardware.  All you have to do is ask.  

[davidspitzer]

Hi guys, I thought I'd take the opportunity to clarify where EasyMiner fits into our plans.  

EasyMiner is not meant to supplant or compete with existing miners.  It's development followed both our and our customers need to program & evaluate Butterfly Labs hardware.  Outside mining on a live pool (any pool) is a secondary function scheduled for upcoming release.  As a miner, it's primary purpose is to provide easy one click mining for people not familiar with a Linux terminal command environment.  Professional miners who've built systems depending on CGminer and the like will surely want to continue using those mature & feature rich platforms.  We'll continue to encourage software miner developers in their support of our hardware by giving their dev teams early hardware access and by promoting their software platforms to our customers.

As a side note, I think there's been some drama between BFGminer and CGminer software leads (Luke-Jr & Con) with regards to who is ahead of the pack in post GPU mining software support.  Some favoritism has been assumed by us in this drama, so maybe it's worth clearing the air on that issue while we're on the topic.  Both are excellent developers (no kidding, they're Ace + coders).  Along the way, we've had an open door policy for any software developer who would like to log in and test their code live while using any of our hardware platforms.  Ufasoft, Bitminter, BFGminer and CGminer dev teams have all participated in this program.  We've probably had the longest working relationship with Luke-Jr as he was also one of our earliest customers and showed steel nerves by pre-ordering with Bitcoin while most of the forum community was busy convincing themselves we didn't exist.  He was also enormously helpful in adding the initial support for our products to CGminer.  Although we've enjoyed Luke's collaboration we've not been aware of any of the miner software politics that have led some to think we're pushing Luke over anyone else.  Until recently, he's simply been the only guy from the CGminer camp who showed up at all, and we thank him for that.  

So once again...  to clear the air, I'd like to repeat that we have an open door policy and welcome any developer.  You'll always have special and early access to the hardware.  All you have to do is ask.  

I have been researching bitcoin for about 6 months and have decided to start mining. I am purchasing about 10 of your wonderful Singles (From other miners - I would buy it direct but the lead time is just too long and I want to get a little mining experience under my belt before ASIC hits) I plan to put on order for a like number of your new ASIC singles. I look forward to working with your gear. (ps i am still looking for 5 more singles if anyone is selling)

david

[P_Shep]

...
As a side note, I think there's been some drama between BFGminer and CGminer software leads (Luke-Jr & Con) with regards to who is ahead of the pack in post GPU mining software support.  Some favoritism seems to have been attributed to us in this drama, so maybe it's worth clearing the air on that issue while we're on the topic.  Both are excellent developers (no kidding, they're Ace + coders).  Along the way, we've had an open door policy for any software developer who would like to log in and test their code live while using any of our hardware platforms.  Ufasoft, Bitminter, BFGminer and CGminer dev teams have all participated in this program.  We've probably had the longest working relationship with Luke-Jr as he was also one of our earliest customers and showed steel nerves by pre-ordering with Bitcoin while most of the forum community was busy convincing themselves we didn't exist.  He was also enormously helpful in adding the initial support for our products to CGminer.  Although we've enjoyed Luke's collaboration we've not been aware of any of the miner software politics that have led some to think we're pushing Luke over anyone else.  Until recently, he's simply been the only guy from the CGminer camp who showed up at all, and we thank him for that.  
...

And me

Q to anyone who's done the speed thingy... does it work on all devices at once? or does it just do one at a time?

[P_Shep]

It did a good job. Some went up in speed... some went down... but overall my U increased slightly and haven't had one instance of throttling in 4 days.

[btctraderr]

Has anyone tried Autotune on a Minirig? The OP states that it can be used with them however I don't see downloads available for different minirig firmwares.

[rjk]

Has anyone tried Autotune on a Minirig? The OP states that it can be used with them however I don't see downloads available for different minirig firmwares.

All the firmwares are presumably included in the auto-tune package, just like they are for the singles auto-tune package. As for individual downloads, I guess they aren't available.

[LordMord]

I just got my Single and was Diagnosing it when i noticed something wired with easyminer:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DrG-RGShL24/UCDnE7MMNeI/AAAAAAAAAOY/EZIM3BV-R8s/w769-h314-p-k/Easyminer.png

Is that a bug with EasyMiner or the Heat sensor? Any ideas what is going on here? I would guess that it is missing a dot or something.

[BFL-Engineer]

I just got my Single and was Diagnosing it when i noticed something wired with easyminer:


Is that a bug with EasyMiner or the Heat sensor? Any ideas what is going on here? I would guess that it is missing a dot or something.

This is very interesting (never seen it before). Can you please check what the decimal sign on your computer is? (Is it comma or dot, etc).
A very small possibility is Sensor Problem, but not likely since the number resembles 49.7 Degrees.  Please let us know how it goes.



Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

[LordMord]

I just got my Single and was Diagnosing it when i noticed something wired with easyminer:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DrG-RGShL24/UCDnE7MMNeI/AAAAAAAAAOY/EZIM3BV-R8s/w769-h314-p-k/Easyminer.png

Is that a bug with EasyMiner or the Heat sensor? Any ideas what is going on here? I would guess that it is missing a dot or something.

This is very interesting (never seen it before). Can you please check what the decimal sign on your computer is? (Is it comma or dot, etc).
A very small possibility is Sensor Problem, but not likely since the number resembles 49.7 Degrees.  Please let us know how it goes.



Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Not sure how to check that but it should be comma since it is a german system. But yea i also think it means 49.7 Degrees.

[btctraderr]

Has anyone run this on Minirigs, or is that even an option at this stage? The website states Easy miner is compatible with Minirigs but does not list any faster firmwares available for them.

[rjk]

Has anyone run this on Minirigs, or is that even an option at this stage? The website states Easy miner is compatible with Minirigs but does not list any faster firmwares available for them.

Look on the download page, there is an autotuning package available, but not individual firmwares. Make sure you download the second autotune package that is meant for minirigs.

[BTC-engineer]

I just got my Single and was Diagnosing it when i noticed something wired with easyminer:


Is that a bug with EasyMiner or the Heat sensor? Any ideas what is going on here? I would guess that it is missing a dot or something.

This is very interesting (never seen it before). Can you please check what the decimal sign on your computer is? (Is it comma or dot, etc).
A very small possibility is Sensor Problem, but not likely since the number resembles 49.7 Degrees.  Please let us know how it goes.



Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Not sure how to check that but it should be comma since it is a german system. But yea i also think it means 49.7 Degrees.

It's already a long time, but I've seen this before too.

[davidspitzer]

I had one single that  after tuning, was reporting running at 4500 mh/s (I wish)  I had to down step it to a little slower speed and now it works fine. I have 11 singles running now and they are averaging about 9200 mh/s total. I heard a rumor that there is a new tuning package being released soon  - I look forward to trying it out

[kano]

I had one single that  after tuning, was reporting running at 4500 mh/s (I wish)  I had to down step it to a little slower speed and now it works fine. I have 11 singles running now and they are averaging about 9200 mh/s total. I heard a rumor that there is a new tuning package being released soon  - I look forward to trying it out

4 - 6 weeks

[MykelSilver]

If I download the latest EXE, I suppose AutoTune is automatically included for my Jalapeno? Its a complete package right? The setup does everything?

[kano]

If I download the latest EXE, I suppose AutoTune is automatically included for my Jalapeno? Its a complete package right? The setup does everything?

This version has nothing to do with Jalapenos ...
It's for FPGAs

... That's why the last post is more than 8 months ago ...

[MykelSilver]

Strange. I'm using it atm with my Jalapeno.

EDIT: pic added

[HotSwap]

They have 2 verisons, one for FPGAs and one for ASICs

[dogie]

This is the natural result of our using full wafer chips not binning chips to maximise our scam.

[kano]

Strange. I'm using it atm with my Jalapeno.

EDIT: pic added
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1380448/EasyMiner.png

No you are not using it - the new version (in your picture) is a Java front end
The version discussed in this thread is a Windows program for mining on the FPGAs

[MykelSilver]

Got it! Thanks guys.