Mining Bitcoin using a FREE Windows OS!

[Dirt Rider]

why bother with hyper-v, just run an un-activated win7, completely legal and fully functional for mining purpose.

un-activated win7 stops working after 30 days - there are ways around that but it is NOT legal.

[mmortal03]

DavinciJ15, just FYI, the subject (title) of this thread has "bitcoin" spelled wrong.

[PandaMiner]

Davinci is busy hanging out with Joe, aka SilverFuturist.  I really wish he made an appearance in this thread.

[Zxian]

un-activated win7 stops working after 30 days - there are ways around that but it is NOT legal.

Actually, you can use the 'slmgr -rearm' command to reset the activation timer three times on any Vista/Win7 system. It's perfectly legal and is part of the MSDN documentation. This gives you 120 days total, although I'd still say that either LinuxCoin, Ubuntu, or Hyper-V would be better alternatives overall than having some sort of an activation timebomb on your hands.

[PandaMiner]

I wish I could get boot-from-USB-key and mine set up, in any OS, no matter if it's genuine or not. I tried this one, and linuxcoin. Very confusing, and a lot of down time wasted.  I need another rig to test on. catch 22.

[de_bert]

This works GREAT!
Also very complete and simple instructions! Thanks a lot!

One detail where I stumbled:
bootsect /nt60 <UFD partition letter> /force /mbr -> must be run as Admin.

[de_bert]

Another question: how did you solve the problem that you can't use secondary graphic cards? I tried the dummy plug trick, but this stripped down windows does not seem to use the second screen, and thus does not allow using the second card! I had now to boot up and manually start the miners with screen plugged into the corresponding card... At least I only have one rig ;-)

[DavinciJ15]

I downloaded this thing and put it on USB.  had some minor problems at first, like no network detected.

Also, the batch menu is not user friendly.  It asks for "device?" and I put some string like "XFX Radeon HD 6870" but now I realize it was asking for "0" or "1" etc.

Same thing goes for "pool url" I put "btcguild.com" but of course, it's "<server>.btcguild.com"

I exited the menu, and there is no way to run the menu up again.  Taskmanger works, so I was able to run CMD and finally see the miner1.bat file. There is no dos-based (or GUI based) text editor, so I had to use the ole "Copy Con" route.  Sigh.

But, Xanderdee, I mean Davinci, did say in the video it was difficult at first.  I had to draw on my old DOS 5.22 days, and even I think this HyperV is a new language, lol.  Man, i didn't realize how much I depended on GUI.

Thanks for the input on how to update the UI I will fix those bugs.

I was on vacation.

[DavinciJ15]

DavinciJ15,

- which sdk version is included? 

- what version are the drivers?  11.6 by any chance?

- which miner/s does it allow/include?

- is MSI Afterburner supported? if not, how do I overclock and set the fan speed?

Thanks!

I use 11.4 and 2.1 sdk installed but I have included the command line installable version of 11.5 and 2.4 sdk.

[DavinciJ15]

Hey Davinci glad to see you here, you been taking a beating on your silver channel ever since you started talking about bitcoins. lol. 

If you want to learn linux, just start with linuxcoin at first.  I didn't know crap about linux 3 days ago.. with linuxcoin i was up and mining in minutes, straight from a usb drive with no need for a hard drive. 

I realize that linuxcoin is mining for dummies kinda but its a good start and I'm learning more about linux.  I like it.  Hopefully i dont turn into a snob.

I don't mind linux however I wanted to leverage all of my windows skills and maximize my output.

[DavinciJ15]

Just so you guys know, this will only work with x64 compatible processors with Intel VT or AMD-V technology enabled.

No 32-bit option here for anybody running an Intel Atom netbook with a ViDock setup (in otherwords myself, and nobody else that I know of!)

To be specific, this won't work on any Atom processor, because current Atom processors either don't support x64, or don't support VT-x.

Good point

I forgot about that.

[DavinciJ15]

DavinciJ15, just FYI, the subject (title) of this thread has "bitcoin" spelled wrong.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[DavinciJ15]

Davinci is busy hanging out with Joe, aka SilverFuturist.  I really wish he made an appearance in this thread.

Yep good times!

[DavinciJ15]

Another question: how did you solve the problem that you can't use secondary graphic cards? I tried the dummy plug trick, but this stripped down windows does not seem to use the second screen, and thus does not allow using the second card! I had now to boot up and manually start the miners with screen plugged into the corresponding card... At least I only have one rig ;-)

Odd I have 7 computers working with this setup each with 4 GPUs and 4 dummy plugs what video card are you using? 

I also log into these computers using www.logmein.com because Remote Desktop will disable all the video cards.  When I use LogMeIn I have access to all the monitors and I can jump to each monitor.

[PandaMiner]

Thanks for the input on how to update the UI I will fix those bugs.

I was on vacation.

That's cool.  I still haven't been able to get it to work with my rig.  What I didn't mention before, was that my onboard networking wasn't being detected, but then it did at a later time.  However, still no go.

Let me know when you put out a new version, as I need a non-hdd mining rig, and linuxcoin is too foreign to me. (ubuntu too)

[syb3ria]

So anyone can confirm Hyper V is faster mining then Linux?

[de_bert]

So anyone can confirm Hyper V is faster mining then Linux?

Confirm it - no, not with certainty.
However:
I could reach comparable speeds on the same machine with linux, but only with very extreme values for -f (poclbm), which would make the UI completely unusable. Also, I have two jobs for each GPU, one primary with small -f and a secondary with larger -f, which works like a charm on windows (if primary pool goes down, secondary will take over). Under linux, this did not work well - both jobs would be executed at similar rates.

On windows, everything is fine.

BTW: I was able to fix the problem on the Hyper-V, where the second card was not detected - seems it depends which port you plug the dummy in!
Also: LogMeIn is damn sweet!

[DavinciJ15]

BTW: I was able to fix the problem on the Hyper-V, where the second card was not detected - seems it depends which port you plug the dummy in!
Also: LogMeIn is damn sweet!

I know isn't it the bomb!  I have it on my IPad and I am managing all my headless miners fast!  BTW Some cards work with a crossfire cable allowing you to drop the dummy plug but so far it only works for 68xx that I have.

[mmortal03]

Another question: how did you solve the problem that you can't use secondary graphic cards? I tried the dummy plug trick, but this stripped down windows does not seem to use the second screen, and thus does not allow using the second card! I had now to boot up and manually start the miners with screen plugged into the corresponding card... At least I only have one rig ;-)

Odd I have 7 computers working with this setup each with 4 GPUs and 4 dummy plugs what video card are you using? 

I also log into these computers using www.logmein.com because Remote Desktop will disable all the video cards.  When I use LogMeIn I have access to all the monitors and I can jump to each monitor.

When you use LogMeIn, is it laggy when viewing any of the monitors, like it would be when an actual monitor is plugged in to the graphics card, running at high aggression, or is it completely smooth?

[DavinciJ15]

Another question: how did you solve the problem that you can't use secondary graphic cards? I tried the dummy plug trick, but this stripped down windows does not seem to use the second screen, and thus does not allow using the second card! I had now to boot up and manually start the miners with screen plugged into the corresponding card... At least I only have one rig ;-)

Odd I have 7 computers working with this setup each with 4 GPUs and 4 dummy plugs what video card are you using? 

I also log into these computers using www.logmein.com because Remote Desktop will disable all the video cards.  When I use LogMeIn I have access to all the monitors and I can jump to each monitor.

When you use LogMeIn, is it laggy when viewing any of the monitors, like it would be when an actual monitor is plugged in to the graphics card, running at high aggression, or is it completely smooth?

I have not noticed any issues other than if I move things one of the GPU's MH/s drops.  I am happy with it but keep in mind I only use it to admin my systems only.