Topic: [BOUNTY 0.1 BTC] is possible a rig with a Raspberry PI and 49 Block erupter USB? (Read 5594 times)

Yes, it is suggested to use usb 2.0 hub to do the thing.

are you both running the same os? and version?

Wasn't talking about any of the other comments, just that the code for erupters and cgminer is identical from 3.4.1 to 3.4.2, making the association one of coincidence. Not saying it didn't happen, just saying whatever it was got worse for you coincidentally.

Not sure what to tell ya man, the only difference between the setup would be switching cgminer to bfgminer...

The odder part about it is the fact when comm errors were being generated by say adding in another hub, bfg had no issues with it. I originally thought a few hubs I bought had some strange circuitry going on, as while being 5v 3.5a and 5v 4a, *should have* had enough power yet comm errors would start showing after plugging 4 erupters on those hubs w/cgminer.

I wish I had some log files for you, but I couldn't find anything about the crashes within the system logs on the rPi, it's kind of like when it crashed it just completely halted, since the rPi has no RTC, say the crash happened at 23:39, well, looking at the logs it would basically skip 23:39 every where and see the last written as 23:42 (after reboot) and before that at like 23:38... but nothing before that (was expecting to see a backdated log entry due to the lack of RTC).

That's a most interesting observation since the only code difference between 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 was code affecting the BFL SC devices.

Just ordered one can't wait to give it a try on my minepeon pi i'm tired of using my desktop

Negative, 3.4.1 was so far the most stable for me, when upgraded to 3.4.2 problems started, then 3.4.3 problems became worse... still running BFGMiner with not a single issue.

Right now my cpu utilization stays around 20-28%, That interesting your getting that high of cpu utilization, perhaps your using the older cgminer, i'm using cgminer 3.4.2 and its very stable. I know i had similar problem using older cgminer.  what i mean by the load average are the load average numbers that appear after you type the command
should have similar result like I have here
07:23:28 up 4 days, 12:02,  2 users,  load average: 4.42, 4.65, 4.82

I could have add those wifi and bluetooth, it wouldnt effect the cpu utilization just load average.

below is an article that explains in a bit more detail
http://blog.scoutapp.com/articles/2009/07/31/understanding-load-averages

Switched to BFGMiner...

haven't had any issues, wireless usb now works, bluetooth usb now works, avg cpu load is <=20% versus about 100-140% average with CGMiner.

Guess the miner makes the difference after all...

Cool setup, I have about 24 erupters on a single usb port. originally had an edimax wifi and bluetooth dongle, it works fine, but what i found is these usb devices made load increase by 2 which made it slow,  After i took the wifi and bluetooth dongle out the load avg came down to 4.5, i'm running latest raspbian with rpi-update firmware.  I'm not sure if the MinePeon has the same issue.

Running 20 currently, waiting for the rest of the hubs to come in.

Best hub for $/per port I found was Rosewill RHB-500 (10 port, 8 usable. $22 @newegg.com), I tried the D-Link 7-Port, only seemed like 5 were usable, I tried a few other hubs (got about $120 in hubs to return at the moment), so far the Rosewill RHB-500 has been the best. I plan on maxing trying to max it out on the one rPi to see how many I can get going just with one rPi with MinePeon.

Some pictures of my setup (not complete & dark, made from a NZXT Phantom case I had laying around), this setup is running MinePeon 0.2.3a (with some added stuff), still not done modifying the case, going to cutout a space for an lcd display on the side, remove the bay hard-drive bay (currently the rPi is sitting there, it will get moved to the back) to fit more hubs & fans, the PSU is getting switched out for one with less of a power draw (psu only controls the fans atm, it was all I had without ordering something).
- Raspberry Pi Model B
- ATXRasPi board (addon for rPi)
- Currently 3x Rosewill RHB-500 10-port hubs
- Currently 20x erupters
- Some erupters have heat-sinks, some do not.





Here's my test Pi, running raspbian w/4 erupters.





** Edit **
I did forget to put in one thing, every time I try to use a USB Wifi and try to connect to it using 'sudo wicd-curses' it completely locks up I've tried it with the USB Wifi on a hub, on a hub replacing an erupter, on the 2nd USB port of the rPi, always fails. I want to try a different wireless manager for arch, but haven't got around to it yet, mainly because I have wireless-to-ethernet adapter (Trendnet TEW-647GA) which makes it still wireless, but wired to the rPi).

Thanks for the update.  I can't seem to get more than 10 eruptors to work on one pi.

My current setup consists of 6 DUB-H7 hubs per rPi. That's 3 hubs to each USB port on the rPi. First hub in the chain feeds the other two from the charge ports. This configuration runs 22 Block Erupters on MinePeon 0.2.2.

I tried to daisy chain a third level of hubs but that didn't work. I tried filling all the ports on the six hubs but the setup becomes unstable beyond 22 Erupters. Either Erupters start shutting down or the whole setup stops mining. But it seems to run pretty well at 22.

I haven't tried 4 Amp power supplies for the hubs.

Apparently, this is what I read.
1) RPi cannot do daisy chaining for USB.
2) RPi can't handle more than 50 AMU as it has limited processing power...

I personally verified that it can't daily chain for USB but I'm gonna try again using 2 adapter powered USB hubs.

I has set up a version like this on a R-Pi.  I only had to DLinks but one was plugged into the other and I had 11 BEs working fine.  The other USB on the R-Pi was empty.  I also had a fan in one of the hubs and the R-Pi was powered by its own AC adapter.  Worked fine for over 6 weeks, then I sold it.   When I figure out how to add a pic I will upload it.    Got it.  So adding 6 more DLinks should not be a problem.  You need about a 4 amp AC adapter per 6 BEs.  My DLinks came with a 4 amp AC adapter.  You also some cooling, like  small usb fan.

http://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=0B3FpngUI07hpNFg2T2hHZFVmM0U

How is it working alexrossi?  Did you get 49 going?  Cheers.

I do not believe the proposed design will work.

I would start with a PC power supply that has a 5v rating of 30 amps.  The least expensive one I would consider on a major US distributor is an Antec Basiq BP500U for 50 dollars.  I would perform surgery on the supply to connect to the USB hubs as well as the raspberry pi.  You could also buy cables from a vendor on this site if you are not comfortable cutting and splicing wires.

I do not know that hub well enough to know whether it will provide the current to the erupters even if offered.  You may have to open the hub and bypass the protection diodes if there are only 4 of them and they are rated at 1A, or live knowing you are pushing too much current through them.

Next you will have to deal with the heat.  8 eruptors that close are going to get hot and you need to force air past them or they will not operate reliably.

Finally there are reports that 49 is at or past the limit of what a raspberry pi can drive.  A beagle bone black might make up the extra unless you want to overclock the pi.

I think your goal is achievable but you will have to deal with getting enough power to the erupters, getting rid of the heat and providing enough processing power to keep them all running.  I do not believe your design meets these goals.

Might I suggest http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/USB2HB7PRO/?utm_source=amazon&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_campaign=productads

Its supposed to be a 4amp PSU and will provide .5ma to each port(hopefully .510ma).  Its only 5 compared to 7 but has a rear port to chain the next hub or connect it back to the central hub.  But I highly doubt you will get all 7 running per each hub.  Ive read 6 is the max even without the pi (for that hub).  I am planning on doing the very same setup you are attempting so this will be informative.

You can always use the 7th port to connect another hub

good luck and let us know how you managed with this setup.