Topic: High Efficiency FPGA & ASIC Bitcoin Mining Devices https://BTCFPGA.com - page 93. (Read 218478 times)

NEWS UPDATE 07/30

Batches of professionally assembled ModMiner Quads are starting to trickle in and I am going to begin shipping them again today!

for more information please catch up with me on IRC later this afternoon, and also check your email later this afternoon for tracking numbers


due to a pcb snafu the first batch to go out do not have the reset/isp buttons for firmware upgrade however it can be done just as easily by touching wires to the contact points on the boards
and also the boards will already have the latest firmware loaded and will come ready to mine.

If anyone does not mind waiting an extra day or two for me to manually solder on the buttons please let me know

Over 1ghs? Cool! I actually just put an order in for a 2 backplanes and 5 plugin cards. I have plans to order a few more too.

Actually, Luke-JR is currently working on a new release of the firmware which would allow you to use other bitstreams, like the tri-cone mining firmware and get to speeds over 1g/hash

Earlier in this thread there was talk of these possibly running at 1ghs. How likely is this to happen? Im new to bitcoins and all this, however I am pretty interested and if each Quad can do 1ghs I would be much much more interested.

BFGMiner 2.5.1 should be good to go with the latest alpha firmware. I'll hopefully have a new firmware soon, but that one should work.

Any news on the builds of the miners, and the new bitstream working on the device?

your order is shipping tomorrow as we have already discussed over email

if anyone else has questions about shipping times this is not the appropriate place to ask that question

you can get a very quick response to your question by sending an email to [email protected]

thank you!

I have the same question although my order is not as old as yours. Any updates on shipping? 

Custom bfgminer 2.4.4 build to start at 200 MHz: http://luke.dashjr.org/programs/bitcoin/files/bfgminer/2.4.4mmq/

Any news when these start shipping again? It's been over 4 weeks since I ordered.

Did not work with cgminer 2.5.0, but did work with the mmq version which was posted. Also seemed to program the card a lot fast than before.

Phil

I recommend BFGMiner 2.4.4 at the moment, though CGMiner 2.4.4 should also work and depending on the circumstances 2.5.0 of either might work.

What version of cgminer works with the new firmware. I'm still using the mmq special version at the moment.

Phil

We have a working firmware for testing.

It only works at up to 200 MHz, and doesn't support temperature sensors yet, but it should be able to get you guys up and mining on your ModMiner Quad immediately.

Download the firmware binary here
Interested programmers can see the source code here

Upgrade instructions (Linux):

• Install GNU mtools on your host system: sudo apt-get install mtools
• Hold BOTH the buttons (orient the board so these are facing you)
• Release the left/Reset button, while still holding the right/ISP button
• Release the right/ISP button (ISP)
• Unplug USB and plug it back in, the board will now show up as a mass storage device (note it may take a minute to show up!)
• Use mtools to delete the old firmware: mdel -i /dev/disk/by-id/usb-NXP_LPC134X_IFLASH_ISP000000000-0:0 ::/firmware.bin
• Use mtools to copy the new firmware: mcopy -i /dev/disk/by-id/usb-NXP_LPC134X_IFLASH_ISP000000000-0:0 modminer-20120709-50c63a3.bin ::/
• Ensure the data is flushed to the USB: sync
• Unplug USB, hit the Reset button, and plug USB back in

Upgrade instructions (Windows):

• Hold BOTH the buttons (orient the board so these are facing you)
• Release the left/Reset button, while still holding the right/ISP button
• Release the right/ISP button (ISP)
• Unplug USB and plug it back in, the board will now show up as a mass storage device (note it may take a minute to show up!)
• Open the MSD and you should see one file named firmware.bin
• Delete firmware.bin and copy the new firmware file to the device
• Unplug USB, hit the Reset button, and plug USB back in

Just want to give an update for those who don't hang out in the IRC channel.

Luke-JR is continuing to work on the firmware which has been released above in the basic version
he is currently working on perfecting mining in the firmware and it should be completed very soon


You may all be mining at full capacity very soon - so keep your fingers crossed!

I received the hardware shipment from stcupp, and I have spare backplanes and other misc parts for those who need them, in the morning I am shipping a few packages out to individuals who were waiting for specific parts - you know who you are.

At this point it looks very much like there is no hardware issue with the MMQ, and the new firmware will resolve all issues - however this has not been 100% confirmed yet, Luke-JR is able to probe all four slots on the board and send and receive JTAG commands, but mining still has to be finished in the firmware. When the mining portion of the firmware is released and it is confirmed 100% that there are absolutely no hardware problems, I will release my order with screaming circuits to have enough units made to fulfill all current orders.

The entire lead time for production of these units is 10 days, please add a few days for completion of firmware, shipment and other things and you can have a general idea of when your units will be arriving with you.

Things are looking good and I couldn't be happier! As always you can reach me usually between 11am and 11 PM - 7 days a week via email, IRC, or the forum here at Bitcointalk.org

Received all refunds.
Great, honest guys, I recommend them to everyone!

Thanks!

Quick update before I get ready for bed... I have made significant progress tonight, and now have a firmware that will successfully mine. Keep in mind this code is still at a fairly early stage of development, and probably still less reliable than stcupp's firmware. One bonus, however, is that it also has a command-line interface you can access with PuTTY (it supports serial terminals) or GNU Screen (sudo screen /dev/ttyACM0); you can use this interface to dump specs on your ModMiner and play around with the JTAG directly (other developers: please don't try to use this as an interface for implementing mining! it's not a stable protocol, and I'll be providing a new one just for that soon). Note that the CLI cannot be used at the same time as a miner. This does not support bitstream uploading, so to make it work for mining, you will need to at the very least use stcupp's firmware to upload the bitstream first (and not remove power afterward - use the reset button!).

Here is the binary firmware file
Here is the source code

Edit: Also note this doesn't have any support for the temp sensors

got a refund for my google checkout order. Thank you!

I'm still waiting for refund for my order paid with BTC (Order #35). I guess it'll arrive soon.

Really nice customer service.

IMPORTANT EDIT:

we are working on a new theory that involves the old firmware causing problems on the forth slot of the back plane, please do not plug anything into the fourth slot until you receive the new firmware, thank you.

End of Day Update

I have worked very hard all day to answer emails and take care of most issues going on now

I am going to call it a day and pick it back up in the morning but here is an update:

I have brought on board another very talented and brilliant consultant to help work out this problem

TheSeven and Luke-JR have been working on developing the new firmware and troubleshooting the hardware all day and they are making a lot of progress. The most current estimate on completion of the firmware is another 10-20 man hours - so give or take another day or two.

It is very likely that once this new firmware is loaded CGMINER will just start working for you.

As far as hardware production and shipment goes we are in a very good place

I have enough parts to fulfill all current orders and our new production facility is ready to go

for more information on where all future ModMiner Quads will be assembled you can visit this web page:

http://www.screamingcircuits.com/Home/About

TRICONE MINING COMPATIBILITY:

Thanks to Luke-JR we are incorporating the necessary protocol in the new firmware to make the MMQ compatible with the Tricone Mining Bitstream for those customers who wish to use it, and gain the speed increases that come with it.


I encourage all current customers who are interested in seeing the development of this project or if you just want to ask me a question in real time drop by #BTCFPGA on the Freenode IRC Network, we use this channel for development / team work to fix this bug

On another Note stcupp is no longer with BTCFPGA, his personal life became too demanding and he could not keep up with his end of the business so I bought him out and he will be shipping all the hardware he currently has directly to me, once I receive his hardware I will distribute back planes and Spartan-6 cards to those who need them. Those who ordered first will receive top priority and I will ship them all for free via USPS Priority Mail in a timely fashion

Fourth Slot Issue:

It seems to be the general consensus that ModMiner Quad users can only mine on the first three slots, this should be fixed with the firmware update that is coming in the next couple of days but if it discovered that there is some hardware issue with the fourth slot instead of making you wait to get the newly designed and fabricated back planes I will ship you a free back plane from the stock I am getting from stcupp - this way you can get all your Spartan-6 Cards up and mining at their full capacity a lot sooner.




Expect more updates in the morning, good night and thank you.

Tom

Thanks for the update. More in on the current state of cgminer would be nice, also when shipping will or possibly happen for child boards would be nice.

Phil