I used to have a raspi3 setup with 3x 2pacs and a couple of USB hubs. All powered from an atx psu. It was better to run the power from two USB ports to one stick.
https://imgur.com/a/JmYOV
Topic: GekkoScience NewPac / Terminus R606 (BM1387) Official Support Thread - page 99. (Read 61318 times)
February 18, 2019, 05:42:15 PM
February 18, 2019, 04:09:14 PM
New miner her, just bought 2 x NewPac in addition to the 2Pac I already got last week. I'm enjoying the potential modding possibilities here as a pet project and wanted to ask if anyone can share experience in replacing the heatsink or other fun mods? I would rather not try to drill a hole in aluminum, I'm a horrible driller and have an old corded drill. I think my options are either a single hole or using thermal adhesive compounds, not sure if there is enough surface area on the chip to hold a bigger heatsink.
My experiment is putting these stick miners completely on mini solar panels with the Pi Zero W and see what they can do. So far I have the Pi Zero W with the current 2Pac running at around 4-5w at the wall, waiting for solar panel and meter (and NewPacs) to measure more accurately DC draw.
Some discoveries of interest are the Pi 3b has a current limit, was only able to go to 143Mhz before power maxed out, on the Pi Zero I actually got it to hit 300Mhz and was drawing 12w from the wall. Got scared was gonna burned out my Pi Zero and turned it back down, but interesting nevertheless that the Pi Zero will pull a lot more power and apparently as much as you can give it. That's why a larger passive heatsink is something I'm pursuing. Also, found out the Pi 3b has a controllable USB HUB, you can use uhubctl to turn off power to the port. My plan was to put some solar panels on the back of my car and program a pi to automatically turn on/off mining as it detects open Wifi signal, or go into power saving mode by turning off the ASIC.
If anyone has any experience or suggestions to share, would appreciate it.
My experiment is putting these stick miners completely on mini solar panels with the Pi Zero W and see what they can do. So far I have the Pi Zero W with the current 2Pac running at around 4-5w at the wall, waiting for solar panel and meter (and NewPacs) to measure more accurately DC draw.
Some discoveries of interest are the Pi 3b has a current limit, was only able to go to 143Mhz before power maxed out, on the Pi Zero I actually got it to hit 300Mhz and was drawing 12w from the wall. Got scared was gonna burned out my Pi Zero and turned it back down, but interesting nevertheless that the Pi Zero will pull a lot more power and apparently as much as you can give it. That's why a larger passive heatsink is something I'm pursuing. Also, found out the Pi 3b has a controllable USB HUB, you can use uhubctl to turn off power to the port. My plan was to put some solar panels on the back of my car and program a pi to automatically turn on/off mining as it detects open Wifi signal, or go into power saving mode by turning off the ASIC.
If anyone has any experience or suggestions to share, would appreciate it.
February 15, 2019, 06:24:27 PM
I wish 419mining was within walking distance too. My wallet is happy they aren't.
I picked up a NewPac to play with so my son could see what mining bitcoins was all about.
We received a NewPac yesterday and had a seamless Raspberry Pi install thanks to the directions on this thread.
It's fun to play with overclocking, so I've been pushing it a bit without a powered hub.
The NewPac has been running great on the pi @225MHz and averaging just over 50 GH/sec. 250MHz causes immediate zombie (guessing power limit is reached?)
Small 40mm USB fan for active cooling and the heatsink is barely room temperature.
40mm USB fan link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CNJ4DYX/
Setup with temporary pi base: https://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h263/dfib/Mobile%20Uploads/20190215_151727_zpsrinv2sk7.jpg
Now I have to talk myself out of ordering a hub and a bunch more NewPacs!
I picked up a NewPac to play with so my son could see what mining bitcoins was all about.
We received a NewPac yesterday and had a seamless Raspberry Pi install thanks to the directions on this thread.
It's fun to play with overclocking, so I've been pushing it a bit without a powered hub.
The NewPac has been running great on the pi @225MHz and averaging just over 50 GH/sec. 250MHz causes immediate zombie (guessing power limit is reached?)
Small 40mm USB fan for active cooling and the heatsink is barely room temperature.
40mm USB fan link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CNJ4DYX/
Setup with temporary pi base: https://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h263/dfib/Mobile%20Uploads/20190215_151727_zpsrinv2sk7.jpg
Now I have to talk myself out of ordering a hub and a bunch more NewPacs!
February 15, 2019, 06:58:14 AM
You could, but it would be a long walk...
Yea im not all that great at swimming either
February 14, 2019, 09:42:02 PM
Yea i took out all the freq stepping info and tried just the serial option but no success. Its just sat on my desk awaiting replacement. Shoutout to 419mining again for superb customer service. Its s shame im on the other side of the pond and cant walk in the store lol.
You could, but it would be a long walk...
February 14, 2019, 03:20:01 PM
Yea i took out all the freq stepping info and tried just the serial option but no success. Its just sat on my desk awaiting replacement. Shoutout to 419mining again for superb customer service. Its s shame im on the other side of the pond and cant walk in the store lol.
February 14, 2019, 03:02:51 PM
...and I just remembered that the frequency scaling stuff doesn't work on the Newpac. (I assume its a Newpac?)
*slaps forehead*
Not sure why the serial part isn't working though.
but yeah, if its only showing one chip, that's a bad sign. good luck with your return/replacement!
*slaps forehead*
Not sure why the serial part isn't working though.
but yeah, if its only showing one chip, that's a bad sign. good luck with your return/replacement!
February 14, 2019, 12:02:41 PM
If you bought it directly from me, sure. Otherwise you need to discuss it with the reseller.
Were taking care of it.
February 14, 2019, 11:55:51 AM
If you bought it directly from me, sure. Otherwise you need to discuss it with the reseller.
February 14, 2019, 04:34:08 AM
Morlok8k thanks for the help. I cant seem to get the serial options to work though. Started the single instance with all the sticks and noticed that it says that particular stick only has one chip now 
I copied your second line of code to my file and changed just the relevant parts and no joy. Looks like I will have to get another stick.
sidehack did you want me to return the dead one to you for further analysis or for parts?
I copied your second line of code to my file and changed just the relevant parts and no joy. Looks like I will have to get another stick.
sidehack did you want me to return the dead one to you for further analysis or for parts?
February 13, 2019, 09:15:59 PM
2 things to try:
I had a 2pac that I had to underclock. I found that it was stable for about a week with "--gekko-2pac-freq 45" after a while that week turned into a few days, then a few hours. I went as far down as "--gekko-2pac-freq 25" to try to reach some stability, which helped for a while, but it doesn't last long anymore, so i took it out of service. but i got months of underclocked hashing power instead of 0 hash from that stick.
Anywho, an example of the command i used for that:
yes, the "--suggest-diff 1" is not a typo. The pool will kick it up to a difficulty of 3 after a few minutes when running at 25.
Also, concerning "--gekko-serial "GS-10019785" ", the hyphen replaces the D of GSD. D refers to the 2pac, C for the Compac, H for the Newpac, etc. Wont find any sticks otherwise, from what i can tell. Also, change the serial number to yours, of course!
but using the serial number is great, as you can run a separate cgminer instance. Just start it first so it gets locked out of the 2nd cgminer instance.
If you really want to play around with underclocking and finding that sweet spot, check this out:
This sets our maximum frequency to 100, but starts at 25. after an hour (3600 seconds), it will jump up to the next supported frequency (its like 6.25 or something, if i remember correctly) by rounding the 1 from "--gekko-step-freq 1" up to that minimum. Anyways, so for hour 1, it runs at 25, then for hour 2 it runs at 31.25, hour 3 at 37.5, hour 4 at 43.75, hour 5 at 50, ..., hour 9 at 93.75, and hour 10 and beyond at 100. play with the values as you see fit. i recommend logging it to a file so you can see when it failed.
I need to play with the voltage settings on my bad stick, so i haven't tossed it yet - maybe my voltage is just too high and needs to come down. I just haven't had the chance to really play with it.
- adjusting the voltage knob on the stick
- underclocking the stick
I had a 2pac that I had to underclock. I found that it was stable for about a week with "--gekko-2pac-freq 45" after a while that week turned into a few days, then a few hours. I went as far down as "--gekko-2pac-freq 25" to try to reach some stability, which helped for a while, but it doesn't last long anymore, so i took it out of service. but i got months of underclocked hashing power instead of 0 hash from that stick.
Anywho, an example of the command i used for that:
Code:
cgminer -o stratum+tcp://pool.ckpool.org:3333 -u 1HpnRjN2ru4NhYFrZFsXe3JXCyJWW9fDeh.2pac -p x --suggest-diff 1 --gekko-serial "GS-10019785" --gekko-2pac-freq 25
yes, the "--suggest-diff 1" is not a typo. The pool will kick it up to a difficulty of 3 after a few minutes when running at 25.
Also, concerning "--gekko-serial "GS-10019785" ", the hyphen replaces the D of GSD. D refers to the 2pac, C for the Compac, H for the Newpac, etc. Wont find any sticks otherwise, from what i can tell. Also, change the serial number to yours, of course!
but using the serial number is great, as you can run a separate cgminer instance. Just start it first so it gets locked out of the 2nd cgminer instance.
If you really want to play around with underclocking and finding that sweet spot, check this out:
Code:
cgminer -o stratum+tcp://pool.ckpool.org:3333 -u 1HpnRjN2ru4NhYFrZFsXe3JXCyJWW9fDeh.2pac -p x --suggest-diff 1 --gekko-start-freq 25 --gekko-step-freq 1 --gekko-step-delay 3600 --gekko-serial "GS-10019785" --gekko-2pac-freq 100
This sets our maximum frequency to 100, but starts at 25. after an hour (3600 seconds), it will jump up to the next supported frequency (its like 6.25 or something, if i remember correctly) by rounding the 1 from "--gekko-step-freq 1" up to that minimum. Anyways, so for hour 1, it runs at 25, then for hour 2 it runs at 31.25, hour 3 at 37.5, hour 4 at 43.75, hour 5 at 50, ..., hour 9 at 93.75, and hour 10 and beyond at 100. play with the values as you see fit. i recommend logging it to a file so you can see when it failed.
I need to play with the voltage settings on my bad stick, so i haven't tossed it yet - maybe my voltage is just too high and needs to come down. I just haven't had the chance to really play with it.
February 13, 2019, 03:15:27 PM
So it turns out that one of my sticks has died. 
Came home after work today and its reading zero. Tried swapping ports with other sticks and the problem follows the stick. If I unplug it and plug it back in while cgminer is running then it will start to hash around 200mh then fall off back to zero every time.
I can't see any burnt components at all and even a sniff test doesn't smell like the classic burnt circuitry.
Any ideas anyone?
Came home after work today and its reading zero. Tried swapping ports with other sticks and the problem follows the stick. If I unplug it and plug it back in while cgminer is running then it will start to hash around 200mh then fall off back to zero every time.
I can't see any burnt components at all and even a sniff test doesn't smell like the classic burnt circuitry.
Any ideas anyone?
February 13, 2019, 12:37:52 PM
Can you mine any other coins besides BTC with the NewPac?
As long as the coin uses the SHA256D algo, yes. By definition no ASIC chip can be re-programmed for other uses.
February 13, 2019, 11:43:41 AM
Can you mine any other coins besides BTC with the NewPac?
February 12, 2019, 08:37:29 PM
Oh yeah, I had forgotten about the gekko-serial option. That's ridiculously handy.
"Missing nonces" condition is more likely as you reach the threshold speed for any given core voltage. If you see this repeating, and more specifically your effective hashrate starts to go down, you need to turn up the voltage a bit or reduce your frequency.
"Missing nonces" condition is more likely as you reach the threshold speed for any given core voltage. If you see this repeating, and more specifically your effective hashrate starts to go down, you need to turn up the voltage a bit or reduce your frequency.
February 12, 2019, 07:08:24 PM
At 4.3GH/s, a 1 diff nonce should appear every second on average.
Scaled to your speed, if enough time passes where 20 of those appear consecutively missing from the asic, a "missing nonces" message will appear.
At that point, the software applies a quick reset on the chip to clear out any lingering issues in an attempt to revive it.
It's essentially the ZOMBIE clearing mechanism kicking in, an additional improvement over the 2Pac.
An occasional one of those at higher frequency could probably be overlooked, if all else looks normal.
Scaled to your speed, if enough time passes where 20 of those appear consecutively missing from the asic, a "missing nonces" message will appear.
At that point, the software applies a quick reset on the chip to clear out any lingering issues in an attempt to revive it.
It's essentially the ZOMBIE clearing mechanism kicking in, an additional improvement over the 2Pac.
An occasional one of those at higher frequency could probably be overlooked, if all else looks normal.
Thanks for the explanation. I now see says the blind man
I have not been getting too many of them. Just wanted to understand what they were.
If you run multiple instances of cgminer, you can target each instance to specific miners with the gekko-serial option.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.48649259
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.48649259
I had seen this message, but thought it was for Windows only. This is working nicely. Now need to let it run for some time and see if it is making any difference.
February 12, 2019, 03:20:34 PM
At 4.3GH/s, a 1 diff nonce should appear every second on average.
Scaled to your speed, if enough time passes where 20 of those appear consecutively missing from the asic, a "missing nonces" message will appear.
At that point, the software applies a quick reset on the chip to clear out any lingering issues in an attempt to revive it.
It's essentially the ZOMBIE clearing mechanism kicking in, an additional improvement over the 2Pac.
An occasional one of those at higher frequency could probably be overlooked, if all else looks normal.
If you run multiple instances of cgminer, you can target each instance to specific miners with the gekko-serial option.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.48649259
Scaled to your speed, if enough time passes where 20 of those appear consecutively missing from the asic, a "missing nonces" message will appear.
At that point, the software applies a quick reset on the chip to clear out any lingering issues in an attempt to revive it.
It's essentially the ZOMBIE clearing mechanism kicking in, an additional improvement over the 2Pac.
An occasional one of those at higher frequency could probably be overlooked, if all else looks normal.
If you run multiple instances of cgminer, you can target each instance to specific miners with the gekko-serial option.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.48649259
February 12, 2019, 01:28:45 PM
Thanks for the reply, cekolaw. Congrats on getting to 1TH.
I am new to mining, but not to tech I started at 100GHz (maybe lower with 1 Newpac) and gradually went up to 600 GHz when I had the right setup - an Icone hub that can provide 2.1A to each port and a fan to keep the Newpac's cool. I placed the hardware in my basement which is 42 deg F. At 600 Ghz I could still touch the heat sinks. I have 3 Newpac's on the hub. Plan to add another 5 soon, once I get things stabilized.
I think there is an issue with my GSH 1 chip. I am trying to gauge if it is the hub or the Newpac. When I go above 525GHz, things start to become unstable on GSH 1. The frequencies start to fluctuate all over the place. I think there is monitoring on the ASIC that tries to reset it and stabilize the ASIC. I wanted to know what "missing nonces" meant from a programmers perspective. Tried to look everywhere. Could not find anything.
There was another post in this forum that talked about what the power consumption were for some of the frequencies, very helpful. At 600GHz, I am at 13.62W (without AutoBoost. I have AutoBoost turned on). It would be within limits of the hub. I have throttled back to 525GHz. That seems to work best for all 3 Newpac's on the hub. I was trying to see if I could only set GSH 1 to 525GHz and the others to a higher frequency.
Happy mining...
I am new to mining, but not to tech
I started at 100GHz (maybe lower with 1 Newpac) and gradually went up to 600 GHz when I had the right setup - an Icone hub that can provide 2.1A to each port and a fan to keep the Newpac's cool. I placed the hardware in my basement which is 42 deg F. At 600 Ghz I could still touch the heat sinks. I have 3 Newpac's on the hub. Plan to add another 5 soon, once I get things stabilized.I think there is an issue with my GSH 1 chip. I am trying to gauge if it is the hub or the Newpac. When I go above 525GHz, things start to become unstable on GSH 1. The frequencies start to fluctuate all over the place. I think there is monitoring on the ASIC that tries to reset it and stabilize the ASIC. I wanted to know what "missing nonces" meant from a programmers perspective. Tried to look everywhere. Could not find anything.
There was another post in this forum that talked about what the power consumption were for some of the frequencies, very helpful. At 600GHz, I am at 13.62W (without AutoBoost. I have AutoBoost turned on). It would be within limits of the hub. I have throttled back to 525GHz. That seems to work best for all 3 Newpac's on the hub. I was trying to see if I could only set GSH 1 to 525GHz and the others to a higher frequency.
Happy mining...
February 12, 2019, 04:39:38 AM
Hi NewPac folks,
Like to thank all whom had contributed in the forum into optimizing the Gekko Sticks, and I have achieved my milestone getting about 100+ Gh/s for my 10 Gekko sticks after readings the threads experts have advise.
Now, I am getting above 1 TH/s for my little disco platform all the nights not just Saturday... dance away, John!
Hehe ...
Thank you.
https://imgur.com/bB8Gtfu
Cheers
Read the thread owner's 1st Post on how to get different frequencies for different types of Gekko Sticks, but not sure how it can be done on same type Gekko Sticks different frequency each.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/gekkoscience-newpac-terminus-r606-bm1387-official-support-thread-5053833
1st, take a step at a time from 100 to 125 to 150 to 175 to 200 to 225 to 250 ... then finally 450 MHz (my case) and check the hashes along the way... confessed that I did go 500 once skipping 400, some when zombie and disabled, some resetting... they were too hot using normal DC 12v FAN.
From what I understand, the sticks are running too... high frequency and getting very hot. Use a thermal IR gun to check the temp. and I normally point the beam red dot at the middle screw at the back of PCBA getting 39 to 45 degC.
Now, I am using a 12V PWM 3.9A with temp. control Fan to cool it, quite similar to those Innosilicon, Bitmain miner has and also the hashing Bitcoin whining $ound to my ear$...
Also, you need to know each sticks has its own unique character and need to be tweaked or re-calibrated in order to suit its environment.
My Sipolar USB3.0 20 ports hub only support upto 2.10A each port, so I need to ensure that my Sticks don't go above this limit or it gets very hot and unstable. Also, don't forget when the sticks toggle to set frequency the Voltage should be as close to 4.90-5.00V but I got some that are 4.85V with 2.09-2.10A @500Mhz however are somehow a couple of stable ones.
Keep in mind, that the sticks are not the best in quality as the it bends when plugged and may touch each other because the USB connector are not soldered correctly as these affects the air flow, and may cause component short when plugged into too close ports which I had to sacrifice the ports leaving empty port in between.
https://imgur.com/VwtdSeH
https://imgur.com/SyftUaj
I use a USB plug in functional tester with the sticks pick in to read out the voltage and current as a guide so I can adjust and tweak it little tiny bit ... at my window Laptop and plug it back to my Hub.
https://imgur.com/gDHDof0
Hope this helps, Happy Exploring, Evaluating ...
Getting my S15 and T3 soon ...
Can anyone else correct me if I am wrong, thanks?
Like to thank all whom had contributed in the forum into optimizing the Gekko Sticks, and I have achieved my milestone getting about 100+ Gh/s for my 10 Gekko sticks after readings the threads experts have advise.
Now, I am getting above 1 TH/s for my little disco platform all the nights not just Saturday... dance away, John!
Hehe ...
Thank you.
https://imgur.com/bB8Gtfu
Cheers
Can someone explain what the missing nonces mean?
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: missing nonces
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: Toggling ASIC nRST to reset
Feb 11 21:37:18 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: setting frequency to 600.00MHz
I am getting this on one of the Newpac. I have three running on a powered hub with fan. The other two does how have this issue.
Also, can I set different frequency for one of the newpac's?
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: missing nonces
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: Toggling ASIC nRST to reset
Feb 11 21:37:18 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: setting frequency to 600.00MHz
I am getting this on one of the Newpac. I have three running on a powered hub with fan. The other two does how have this issue.
Also, can I set different frequency for one of the newpac's?
Read the thread owner's 1st Post on how to get different frequencies for different types of Gekko Sticks, but not sure how it can be done on same type Gekko Sticks different frequency each.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/gekkoscience-newpac-terminus-r606-bm1387-official-support-thread-5053833
1st, take a step at a time from 100 to 125 to 150 to 175 to 200 to 225 to 250 ... then finally 450 MHz (my case) and check the hashes along the way... confessed that I did go 500 once skipping 400, some when zombie and disabled, some resetting... they were too hot using normal DC 12v FAN.
From what I understand, the sticks are running too... high frequency and getting very hot. Use a thermal IR gun to check the temp. and I normally point the beam red dot at the middle screw at the back of PCBA getting 39 to 45 degC.
Now, I am using a 12V PWM 3.9A with temp. control Fan to cool it, quite similar to those Innosilicon, Bitmain miner has and also the hashing Bitcoin whining $ound to my ear$...
Also, you need to know each sticks has its own unique character and need to be tweaked or re-calibrated in order to suit its environment.
My Sipolar USB3.0 20 ports hub only support upto 2.10A each port, so I need to ensure that my Sticks don't go above this limit or it gets very hot and unstable. Also, don't forget when the sticks toggle to set frequency the Voltage should be as close to 4.90-5.00V but I got some that are 4.85V with 2.09-2.10A @500Mhz however are somehow a couple of stable ones.
Keep in mind, that the sticks are not the best in quality as the it bends when plugged and may touch each other because the USB connector are not soldered correctly as these affects the air flow, and may cause component short when plugged into too close ports which I had to sacrifice the ports leaving empty port in between.
https://imgur.com/VwtdSeH
https://imgur.com/SyftUaj
I use a USB plug in functional tester with the sticks pick in to read out the voltage and current as a guide so I can adjust and tweak it little tiny bit ...
at my window Laptop and plug it back to my Hub.https://imgur.com/gDHDof0
Hope this helps, Happy Exploring, Evaluating ...
Getting my S15 and T3 soon ...
Can anyone else correct me if I am wrong, thanks?
February 11, 2019, 10:46:07 PM
Can someone explain what the missing nonces mean?
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: missing nonces
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: Toggling ASIC nRST to reset
Feb 11 21:37:18 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: setting frequency to 600.00MHz
I am getting this on one of the Newpac. I have three running on a powered hub with fan. The other two does how have this issue.
Also, can I set different frequency for one of the newpac's?
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: missing nonces
Feb 11 21:37:17 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: Toggling ASIC nRST to reset
Feb 11 21:37:18 raspsvr1 cgminer[8850]: GSH 1: setting frequency to 600.00MHz
I am getting this on one of the Newpac. I have three running on a powered hub with fan. The other two does how have this issue.
Also, can I set different frequency for one of the newpac's?
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