Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread - page 7.

zentraveler

newbie

Activity: 2

Merit: 0

Quote from: jstefanop on February 24, 2024, 03:30:11 PM

Quote from: zentraveler on February 21, 2024, 07:20:26 PM

Hi,

My Apollo 1 BTC Full node suddenly stopped running with no changes made on my side. Only the cooling fan was running at high speed with no LED's or lights on for the board or the NIC.

Successfully flashed a new SD card with the latest image but NO change..... Huh

It will not boot and no lights are coming on. Only the cooling fan.

Is there ANY after sales support for the Apollo's? Or do I just own an expensive paperweight at this point?

Thanks!

We dont really monitor this forum anymore...all support is doing through email on the site, just either reply to your order email or reach out via contact form.

Also In the process of revamping our support site on a real support platform + knowlegebase...hope to have all that done after which ship out the initial Apollo II's

Appreciate the reply here and the update. Looking forward to the new support platform and will continue to reach out by email.

Thanks!

jstefanop

legendary

Activity: 2061

Merit: 1388

Quote from: zapomatic on January 30, 2024, 02:04:01 AM

Can I point the FutureBit Apollo to a testnet mining pool or solo testnet mine?
I tried pointed it to a local Public Pool instance that's sitting on a testnet Bitcoin Core, but the FutureBit Apollo shows the pool as inactive (I even tried rebooting the futurebit).
Do I also need to update the FutureBit bitcoin.conf to testnet=1 and reboot--I would have thought the pool is doing the work of the testnet node behind the scenes...

the UI is not setup for testnet, with the launch of Apollo OS 2 you'll be able to switch to test net to test your solo mining setup (not on initial release but its in the works for a . release)

jstefanop

legendary

Activity: 2061

Merit: 1388

Quote from: zentraveler on February 21, 2024, 07:20:26 PM

Hi,

My Apollo 1 BTC Full node suddenly stopped running with no changes made on my side. Only the cooling fan was running at high speed with no LED's or lights on for the board or the NIC.

Successfully flashed a new SD card with the latest image but NO change..... Huh

It will not boot and no lights are coming on. Only the cooling fan.

Is there ANY after sales support for the Apollo's? Or do I just own an expensive paperweight at this point?

Thanks!

We dont really monitor this forum anymore...all support is doing through email on the site, just either reply to your order email or reach out via contact form.

Also In the process of revamping our support site on a real support platform + knowlegebase...hope to have all that done after which ship out the initial Apollo II's

zentraveler

newbie

Activity: 2

Merit: 0

Hi,

My Apollo 1 BTC Full node suddenly stopped running with no changes made on my side. Only the cooling fan was running at high speed with no LED's or lights on for the board or the NIC.

Successfully flashed a new SD card with the latest image but NO change..... Huh

It will not boot and no lights are coming on. Only the cooling fan.

Is there ANY after sales support for the Apollo's? Or do I just own an expensive paperweight at this point?

Thanks!

nullama

hero member

Activity: 952

Merit: 938

Quote from: poonasor on February 19, 2024, 10:12:23 PM

has anyone tried to add btc usb miners to their futurebit apollos?

i'm just wondering if its possible to add like a USB hub and add some compact f usbs

It depends on the model you got.

The full model is basically the miner and a mini pc, so you should be able to connect any other miner to it, like a compac F for example.

If, on the other hand, you bought the miner only, then you don't have a computer in there to connect the miner. In fact you need a host computer to run this version of the Apollo. In that case you can use say a Raspberry Pi, and that Pi can also be connected to a compac F for example.

So, at the end of the day, if you have an Apollo mining correctly now, you should be able to add a compac F to the system that is running it.

Quote from: zapomatic on January 30, 2024, 02:04:01 AM

Can I point the FutureBit Apollo to a testnet mining pool or solo testnet mine?
I tried pointed it to a local Public Pool instance that's sitting on a testnet Bitcoin Core, but the FutureBit Apollo shows the pool as inactive (I even tried rebooting the futurebit).
Do I also need to update the FutureBit bitcoin.conf to testnet=1 and reboot--I would have thought the pool is doing the work of the testnet node behind the scenes...

You should be able to connect to it.

Here's a guide I wrote to do just that, using a compac F as example, but should work the same with the Apollo:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/guide-solo-mine-testnet-bitcoins-with-cgminer-bitcoin-core-and-a-compac-f-5415335

poonasor

jr. member

Activity: 49

Merit: 5

has anyone tried to add btc usb miners to their futurebit apollos?

i'm just wondering if its possible to add like a USB hub and add some compact f usbs

johnstewart

newbie

Activity: 21

Merit: 1

Hello , Today my apollo stopped the mining.

I looked at the raw stats and it shows : "brokenPwc": 4

it seems that is the problem ... what is that is it broken forever ?

Thanks you

zapomatic

newbie

Activity: 1

Merit: 0

Can I point the FutureBit Apollo to a testnet mining pool or solo testnet mine?
I tried pointed it to a local Public Pool instance that's sitting on a testnet Bitcoin Core, but the FutureBit Apollo shows the pool as inactive (I even tried rebooting the futurebit).
Do I also need to update the FutureBit bitcoin.conf to testnet=1 and reboot--I would have thought the pool is doing the work of the testnet node behind the scenes...

n0nce

hero member

Activity: 882

Merit: 5818

not your keys, not your coins!

Quote from: jstefanop on January 26, 2024, 03:10:04 PM

Both binaries will be updated with a bunch of fixes and updates (major fix is the device now powers down when there is no active internet connection).

Would it resume hashing when the internet connection comes back or do you really mean a full device shutdown?

jstefanop

legendary

Activity: 2061

Merit: 1388

Quote from: nullama on January 15, 2024, 10:50:41 PM

Quote from: jstefanop on January 12, 2024, 02:53:32 PM

Been trying to fight this, but it's a shared codebase we co-maintain and we are still under NDA. The 14nm IC is essentially "EOL" so hopefully we will be able to push to open source the firmware.

The 14nm IC is the one in the original Apollo? That would be ideal. Looking forward to your update regarding this.

Quote from: jstefanop on January 12, 2024, 02:53:32 PM

Updated Apollo-Miner binaries are in the works for the Apollo 2 release in the coming weeks.

Are there going to be any new miner binaries updates for the original Apollo or just for the Apollo 2?

Yes 14nm was the regional and 5nm is the Apollo II

Both binaries will be updated with a bunch of fixes and updates (major fix is the device now powers down when there is no active internet connection).

nullama

hero member

Activity: 952

Merit: 938

Quote from: jstefanop on January 12, 2024, 02:53:32 PM

Been trying to fight this, but it's a shared codebase we co-maintain and we are still under NDA. The 14nm IC is essentially "EOL" so hopefully we will be able to push to open source the firmware.

The 14nm IC is the one in the original Apollo? That would be ideal. Looking forward to your update regarding this.

Quote from: jstefanop on January 12, 2024, 02:53:32 PM

Updated Apollo-Miner binaries are in the works for the Apollo 2 release in the coming weeks.

Are there going to be any new miner binaries updates for the original Apollo or just for the Apollo 2?

luckyroll4

newbie

Activity: 2

Merit: 0

Does anyone know what new features and apps may be release with the new software version? Specifically I am interested in lightning support as that was hinted at in the past. I'm excited about the new hardware. My current unit has been running great for the past year and a half.

jstefanop

legendary

Activity: 2061

Merit: 1388

Quote from: nullama on January 09, 2024, 11:55:33 PM

Quote from: jstefanop on June 01, 2021, 12:40:21 PM

Quote from: yxt on June 01, 2021, 06:41:21 AM

~snip~
I like the product. Bring mining back to small people, decentralized, quiet etc. Would be happy to support the project and preorder.
But for sure I will not buy a closed source miner, which has never shown that it can find blocks.
Especially not if it is to be used for solomining. (Whether this is right for the target group "are first time miners" is another question.)

I really don't see any understandable reason not to publish the code.

If I could I would. The backend software runs Exahashes worth of hashrate, and finds BTC blocks everyday. Of course you have to take my word for it, and I wish you didn't but I think I have built enough reputation around here that im not some bad actor. Unfortunately to be able to provide a product like this I had to make some compromises I did not want, but we weighed those to be worth being able to get a product like this out to market.

Of course the more successful this product is, the less compromises we have to make...would love to port the firmware over to cgminer and hopefully we can get there soon.

We are now in 2024, almost three years after this statement was made. Apollos have been sold successfully over these years, and a new Apollo II has been recently announced.

You could argue that the product has been very successful. Given that you now can make less compromises, will it be possible to have an open source version of the Apollo miner?

Quote from: jstefanop on May 25, 2021, 08:27:59 PM

Apollo BTC Standard Software/Instructions

If your purchased an Apollo BTC Standard USB controlled version please find the software binaries for your system and instructions below:

https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries/releases/

This is the ONLY place you should download these binaries from. If that changes this post will be updated.

Detailed instructions are on the GitHub and inside the start scripts. As noted in the pre-order this is command-line based software and only intended for more advanced users. Support for the software is limited and initial binaries are for Windows and 64 Bit x86 and ARM based Linux systems.

This software is only for users that do not have a Full Package/Node version. Please follow the instructions above in the first post on how to hook up your standard unit to your Apollo Full Package unit for a plug and play experience.

The last official binaries were published in 2021 (Apollo-Miner v1.1)

It would be really handy to have an open source version of this, or at a minimum have a new binary after all these years.

Been trying to fight this, but it's a shared codebase we co-maintain and we are still under NDA. The 14nm IC is essentially "EOL" so hopefully we will be able to push to open source the firmware.

Updated Apollo-Miner binaries are in the works for the Apollo 2 release in the coming weeks.

Sledge0001

full member

Activity: 562

Merit: 139

Quote from: macpilot on January 10, 2024, 06:09:01 PM

I've been searching the thread with ninja search but haven't been able to find the answer so here it goes:

I already have a dedicated machine running a full node so I'm only using the Apollo1 for the miner functionality. Can I simply turn off bitcoind or do I need to change the configuration of the Apollo to point to my dedicated full node?

Thanks

Just shutdown the device and uninstall the NVME drive. It's 1 long screw to loosen on the bottom of the unit and gently slide the drive out.

Reboot and your node will not start but your miner will be chugging away on whatever pool you have configured.

macpilot

newbie

Activity: 4

Merit: 0

I've been searching the thread with ninja search but haven't been able to find the answer so here it goes:

I already have a dedicated machine running a full node so I'm only using the Apollo1 for the miner functionality. Can I simply turn off bitcoind or do I need to change the configuration of the Apollo to point to my dedicated full node?

Thanks

nullama

hero member

Activity: 952

Merit: 938

Quote from: jstefanop on June 01, 2021, 12:40:21 PM

Quote from: yxt on June 01, 2021, 06:41:21 AM

~snip~
I like the product. Bring mining back to small people, decentralized, quiet etc. Would be happy to support the project and preorder.
But for sure I will not buy a closed source miner, which has never shown that it can find blocks.
Especially not if it is to be used for solomining. (Whether this is right for the target group "are first time miners" is another question.)

I really don't see any understandable reason not to publish the code.

If I could I would. The backend software runs Exahashes worth of hashrate, and finds BTC blocks everyday. Of course you have to take my word for it, and I wish you didn't but I think I have built enough reputation around here that im not some bad actor. Unfortunately to be able to provide a product like this I had to make some compromises I did not want, but we weighed those to be worth being able to get a product like this out to market.

Of course the more successful this product is, the less compromises we have to make...would love to port the firmware over to cgminer and hopefully we can get there soon.

We are now in 2024, almost three years after this statement was made. Apollos have been sold successfully over these years, and a new Apollo II has been recently announced.

You could argue that the product has been very successful. Given that you now can make less compromises, will it be possible to have an open source version of the Apollo miner?

Quote from: jstefanop on May 25, 2021, 08:27:59 PM

Apollo BTC Standard Software/Instructions

If your purchased an Apollo BTC Standard USB controlled version please find the software binaries for your system and instructions below:

https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries/releases/

This is the ONLY place you should download these binaries from. If that changes this post will be updated.

Detailed instructions are on the GitHub and inside the start scripts. As noted in the pre-order this is command-line based software and only intended for more advanced users. Support for the software is limited and initial binaries are for Windows and 64 Bit x86 and ARM based Linux systems.

This software is only for users that do not have a Full Package/Node version. Please follow the instructions above in the first post on how to hook up your standard unit to your Apollo Full Package unit for a plug and play experience.

The last official binaries were published in 2021 (Apollo-Miner v1.1)

It would be really handy to have an open source version of this, or at a minimum have a new binary after all these years.

crypto_curious

full member

Activity: 924

Merit: 175

Quote from: reubadoob on December 28, 2023, 07:18:12 AM

Apologies if these questions have been asked before:

1. Is it possible to have my Apollo BTC change it's mining configuration from ECO to Balanced and/or Turbo Mode at night each night without any input from me? I'm thinking a kind of chron job/automation given this is a Linux box.

Yes, I did that. I configured Apollo so it's turned off/eco mode/balanced mode, depending on temperature read from external source.
You can easily program different speeds by time schedule, by using Standard Apollo via USB, connected to any controller like Raspberry Pi. In Pi, make a script for killing apollo-miner process and launching apollo-miner in desired mode again. Finally, add scripts to crontab, so they launch when you need them.
Scripting Apollo speed according to external temperature sensor is more tricky but it serve me very well.

mr_eee

newbie

Activity: 4

Merit: 1

Quote from: n0nce on January 05, 2024, 10:27:16 AM

Quote from: mr_eee on January 04, 2024, 11:03:44 PM

Could it be an issue with SD card needing to be reflashed?

It is very possible that you have a microSD wear issue. I'd even just go get a new microSD after 2 years, to be honest. Look for high endurance models like Samsung Pro Endurance or an equivalent by SanDisk. Normal microSD cards are often made for just a few 100,000 write cycles, which can be exceeded quickly when they're used as a single board computer's main drive, where you might get a lot of writes in some areas of the memory.

Re-flashing can be a good temporary fix, but you'll run into similar issues much sooner than if you were to just get a new card.

You could still use the old / worn microSD for less 'mission-critical' stuff.

Hello,
Just reporting back that I bought a new high endurance microSD card and flashed and installed it on the node/miner and all is well. Back to mining and syncing blockchain. Thanks for the help.

n0nce

hero member

Activity: 882

Merit: 5818

not your keys, not your coins!

Quote from: Cornyjokester on January 04, 2024, 08:43:33 AM

Quote from: Cornyjokester on December 22, 2023, 06:50:07 AM

Hi, I have a full node with 2 standards. They all seemed to boot up correctly and I even am able to log in fora moment and I get a spike in brains but the the fall node will reboot. Not enough time to explore what is happening. Samme behavior even if full node is by itself. Any thoughts?

The fan on my main cpu doesn't work. Can I get a replacement JDL2507S fan?

I'd recommend you to contact the support team of Futurebit or reseller where you bought your device through E-Mail.

Quote from: mr_eee on January 04, 2024, 11:03:44 PM

Could it be an issue with SD card needing to be reflashed?

It is very possible that you have a microSD wear issue. I'd even just go get a new microSD after 2 years, to be honest. Look for high endurance models like Samsung Pro Endurance or an equivalent by SanDisk. Normal microSD cards are often made for just a few 100,000 write cycles, which can be exceeded quickly when they're used as a single board computer's main drive, where you might get a lot of writes in some areas of the memory.

Re-flashing can be a good temporary fix, but you'll run into similar issues much sooner than if you were to just get a new card.

You could still use the old / worn microSD for less 'mission-critical' stuff.

mr_eee

newbie

Activity: 4

Merit: 1

After 2 years of running my Apollo BTC full node, I had my first major issue. Today I noticed it had turned off. So I restarted the PSU. The Apollo will do its usual start up routines, but will not start mining and the dashboard when I try to connect to the IP will not display. Also I cannot get a connection from the monitor using the HMDI connection. Red light on the front flashes and then stays solid. Green status light on the bottom is on. Ethernet lights are on yellow is solid and green is flashing. But I’m unable to connect to the apollo. Tried restarting a couple times with no luck. Any suggestions on how I should proceed? Could it be an issue with SD card needing to be reflashed? Thanks for your help.

Topic: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread - page 7. (Read 39380 times)