BFL Engineer: Multiple SC Singles Configuration

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BFL Engineer et.al.
How will multiple SC Singles connect to a single computer? Do they each require a unique USB port, or is there a way to chain some (or all) of them together to use one USB port? The SC mini-rig will apparently plugs into one port, and I'm assuming the submodules in it are essentially SC Singles (or Jalapenos). So, a daisy-chaining feature seems like it might be doble if not available.

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[1714858729]

1714858729

[1714858729]

1714858729

[BFL-Engineer]

BFL Engineer et.al.
How will multiple SC Singles connect to a single computer? Do they each require a unique USB port, or is there a way to chain some (or all) of them together to use one USB port? The SC mini-rig will apparently plugs into one port, and I'm assuming the submodules in it are essentially SC Singles (or Jalapenos). So, a daisy-chaining feature seems like it might be doble if not available.

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A USB port will be needed (in the first versions). We're looking into different methods of daisy-chaining (both wired and wireless).
However, it is not yet fully determined whether daisy-chain will exist and if so, how it will work.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

[||bit]

BFL Engineer et.al.
How will multiple SC Singles connect to a single computer? Do they each require a unique USB port, or is there a way to chain some (or all) of them together to use one USB port? The SC mini-rig will apparently plugs into one port, and I'm assuming the submodules in it are essentially SC Singles (or Jalapenos). So, a daisy-chaining feature seems like it might be doble if not available.

||bit

A USB port will be needed (in the first versions). We're looking into different methods of daisy-chaining (both wired and wireless).
However, it is not yet fully determined whether daisy-chain will exist and if so, how it will work.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

In the first version, would a USB hub that has several USB ports work to support several sc-singles?  It isn't exactly the same as plugging into a dedicated USB port on a computer, since it is connecting many USB ports to one USB port on a computer.

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[||bit]

Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

BFL Engineer,

This is a little off the topic I started above, but it is important for potential customers & for customers that may want to make further purchases in the near term. Can BFL provide some kind of rough projections on the impact it's hardware will have on the bitcoin mining difficulty levels in the first few months from initial sc-hardware shipments? This seems pretty important if one is to invest in sc hardware, as a reasonable ROI would be a big factor. Perhaps, you guys can provide some insight on what will happen, based on what you know of products on order.

I started one thread trying to assertain this from what little data we have avaialble, but we don't know the exact numbers of hardware or hashing power that are going to hit the network starting in October. Also, what rate it will increase on the network. For example, one projection derived from our scant data was assuming the current network hash rate of 12.5THash/s, that after one month BFL products will incline the network from 12.5TH to  124TH/s or as high as 300TH/s after the first month of shipment go online. That would jack the difficulty up a factor of 10x to 25x. This value has been criticised as unlikely, but I have used some very conservative numbers to consider worse case scenarios. Who know's it might be worse than that. If it is that high [especially before the first month of shipments are out], then I personally would rather hold off on ordering any extra hardware until I see a reasonable & predicatable ROI.

Would you expand on that?

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[psilan]

very conservative numbers to consider worse case scenarios

wat

[BFL-Engineer]

BFL Engineer et.al.
How will multiple SC Singles connect to a single computer? Do they each require a unique USB port, or is there a way to chain some (or all) of them together to use one USB port? The SC mini-rig will apparently plugs into one port, and I'm assuming the submodules in it are essentially SC Singles (or Jalapenos). So, a daisy-chaining feature seems like it might be doble if not available.

||bit

A USB port will be needed (in the first versions). We're looking into different methods of daisy-chaining (both wired and wireless).
However, it is not yet fully determined whether daisy-chain will exist and if so, how it will work.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

In the first version, would a USB hub that has several USB ports work to support several sc-singles?  It isn't exactly the same as plugging into a dedicated USB port on a computer, since it is connecting many USB ports to one USB port on a computer.

||bit

Yes it will support multiple singles and SC Mini-Rigs.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

[BFL-Engineer]

Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

BFL Engineer,

This is a little off the topic I started above, but it is important for potential customers & for customers that may want to make further purchases in the near term. Can BFL provide some kind of rough projections on the impact it's hardware will have on the bitcoin mining difficulty levels in the first few months from initial sc-hardware shipments? This seems pretty important if one is to invest in sc hardware, as a reasonable ROI would be a big factor. Perhaps, you guys can provide some insight on what will happen, based on what you know of products on order.

I started one thread trying to assertain this from what little data we have avaialble, but we don't know the exact numbers of hardware or hashing power that are going to hit the network starting in October. Also, what rate it will increase on the network. For example, one projection derived from our scant data was assuming the current network hash rate of 12.5THash/s, that after one month BFL products will incline the network from 12.5TH to  124TH/s or as high as 300TH/s after the first month of shipment go online. That would jack the difficulty up a factor of 10x to 25x. This value has been criticised as unlikely, but I have used some very conservative numbers to consider worse case scenarios. Who know's it might be worse than that. If it is that high [especially before the first month of shipments are out], then I personally would rather hold off on ordering any extra hardware until I see a reasonable & predicatable ROI.

Would you expand on that?

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I can't go fully into details as we speak, but as we have stated before, it will be in favor of the miners.
I will try to see if I can answer this question in detail today.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

[||bit]

I can't go fully into details as we speak, but as we have stated before, it will be in favor of the miners.
I will try to see if I can answer this question in detail today.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Thanks BFL Engineer, 'in favor of the miners' sounds promising. I look forward to any new details you find & provide later.

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[||bit]

very conservative numbers to consider worse case scenarios

wat

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=90366.0

[thatbluedude]

Yes it will support multiple singles and SC Mini-Rigs.

and jalapenos? If I use an active hub with enought amps?

[P_Shep]

Yes it will support multiple singles and SC Mini-Rigs.

and jalapenos? If I use an active hub with enought amps?

You'll need an active hub with some juice... Often hubs have more ports than their PSU can supply. i.e. 8-port hub with 1A power supply = 0.125A per port. You'd need a 4A PSU for 8-port hub (0.5A each port).

[||bit]

I can't go fully into details as we speak, but as we have stated before, it will be in favor of the miners.
I will try to see if I can answer this question in detail today.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Any new details on this yet?

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[BFL-Engineer]

I can't go fully into details as we speak, but as we have stated before, it will be in favor of the miners.
I will try to see if I can answer this question in detail today.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Any new details on this yet?

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Not yet unfortunately.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

[sadpandatech]

@BFL-ENG

This info really would go atleast some distance into winning your guys back some respect from us more critical types, BFL-ENG.

As much as I may not like some of the 'Company' BFL. I have a lot of respect for people that are capable of creating such technologies and that you had the balls to do it first. Please win us back.......

[||bit]

@BFL-ENG

This info really would go atleast some distance into winning your guys back some respect from us more critical types, BFL-ENG.

As much as I may not like some of the 'Company' BFL. I have a lot of respect for people that are capable of creating such technologies and that you had the balls to do it first. Please win us back.......

It seems the most people that have developed any comfort with BFL are those that have actually received products, or those that have been to the actual office site. However, neither provides me much comfort. Those are almost meaningless, and a common mistake people make when developing a new customer/business relationship with an unkown startup.

I know first hand how visitng an office guaranatee's you nothing. Afterall, that is how a boiler room scam works to build confidence. Regarding receiving some product, that also means nothing. Even an investment ponzi scheme will send you cash to build more confidence to take more of your money. So, considering this and the amount of money people have dumped into orders, it is disturbing that customer support & communications is still so awfully weak to neutralise any aggitations people are having.

Has anyone reading this ever tried callling BFL and actually spoke with a live person? Or did they just get an answering maching? Has anyone ever left a message and received a return call after doing so? Has anyone here ever asked for a full refund and actually received one? My bet is that the answer will be 'no' to at least the first two questions, and 'probably not' to the last. The solution to restoring confidence is simple, hire enough people for proper customer support. I suppose it might be a weakness that some engineers think that they know how to successfully start a business. When/if the open asic initiative comes online, we'll see how successful they actually are. My hope is that they improve on all fronts (and soon).

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[eleuthria]

Has anyone reading this ever tried callling BFL and actually spoke with a live person? Or did they just get an answering maching? Has anyone ever left a message and received a return call after doing so? Has anyone here ever asked for a full refund and actually received one? My bet is that the answer will be 'no' to at least the first two questions, and 'probably not' to the last. The solution to restoring confidence is simple, hire enough people for proper customer support. I suppose it might be a weakness that some engineers think that they know how to successfully start a business. When/if the open asic initiative comes online, we'll see how successful they actually are. My hope is that they improve on all fronts (and soon).

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I have received a full refund before.  Of course it was through PayPal, so they didn't have much choice since I could chargeback if they refused.  Just like their shipping times, it took them way longer than how long they said it would be refunded (almost started the chargeback process).

[||bit]

Has anyone reading this ever tried callling BFL and actually spoke with a live person? Or did they just get an answering maching? Has anyone ever left a message and received a return call after doing so? Has anyone here ever asked for a full refund and actually received one? My bet is that the answer will be 'no' to at least the first two questions, and 'probably not' to the last. The solution to restoring confidence is simple, hire enough people for proper customer support. I suppose it might be a weakness that some engineers think that they know how to successfully start a business. When/if the open asic initiative comes online, we'll see how successful they actually are. My hope is that they improve on all fronts (and soon).

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I have received a full refund before.  Of course it was through PayPal, so they didn't have much choice since I could chargeback if they refused.  Just like their shipping times, it took them way longer than how long they said it would be refunded (almost started the chargeback process).

Thanks for the insight on that, and glad you got a refund. Reading that it took them so long is just another example of how they need to hire more customer support staff. How long did it take you to get the refund compared to how long they said it would take?

I not only get impatient, but angry with the lack of any reliable connection to customer support. For example, still waiting on the Singles I ordered, but when I email support questions, it is more than 75% of the time that the email is not answered. They never acknowledge that they are late or even make an attempt to apologize. Again, maybe it's largely related to staffing issues, but it still gets fustrating as time goes on and it feels like your are not respectfed. It's very possible that I will simply boycott anything to do with asic hardware until I can elvaluate somethign tangible from the open project initiative, and in the mean time just get a full refund on all of my BFL orders.

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[||bit]

I can't go fully into details as we speak, but as we have stated before, it will be in favor of the miners.
I will try to see if I can answer this question in detail today.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Any new details on this yet?

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Not yet unfortunately.


Regards,
BF Labs Inc.

Is the atmosphere at BFL calm, busy, hectic or out of control insane?

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