Topic: Official FutureBit Apollo BTC Software/Image and Support thread - page 8. (Read 51596 times)

Basically, you have three options:

1) Wait. It will eventually get to 32, but for how long is anybody's guess. Maybe a minute, maybe more, maybe less.
2) Increase your Max Connections if you want more than 31/32. However, I've seen that it will just as often stay one under even then: 37/38 - 41/42, etc.
3) Go to https://bitnodes.io/ and find some juicy nodes to add to your list using the addnode=IPADDRESS:8333 command. I've found this will usually max out my connection choice: 32/32 - 42/42, etc.

Cheers!

My Node shows 31/32 Connections. With number 31 in bold, but number 32 is grayed out.
I have confirmed with portchecker.co that my 8333 port is open. My node is synced months ago. I have also added port forwarding to my router.
I am sure I do not have inbound connections, what should I do?

Yup.  Your not alone.  My best way to minimize it from happening is to keep minimal processes running on the Raspberry PI linux interface.  Only the node, the miner status monitor and a couple of log monitor windows showing me the node report and the miner status.  no browser window open.  Backup UPS with line conditioning.

Sometimes, I've been able access the GUI remotely while the mouse and keyboard were frozen and shut down the miner and node exit and do a restart which fixed it.  Keep an eye on heat and fan speed, which tells you if its running hot. 

i'm on v2.0.5

I have not yet investigated the linux logs after a crash like this.

@bubbAJoe
Well, if you don't get satisfaction from Futurebit or your CC company, and you also decide to not and try to fix it yourself, you could always sell it at a loss for parts. I for one would be willing to pay an insultingly low price for your misfortune as I'm sure I could dissect it over time to feed my needs.

Cheers!

Did you buy it with a credit card? If so file a claim/charge back against BitCoinMerch.

If FutureBit is no help a VO meter is your best friend to check the PSU and the switch which was mentioned to be a problem.

I feel your pain. BitCoinMerch stopped getting my business some time ago for many reason, all beyond the scope of this topic. Good luck!

Cheers!

Well, silly me.  I didn't know you could purchase directly from FutureBit so I bought an Apollo II 1TB from BitCoinMerch.

Sam from BitCoinMerch just informed me that there is nothing they will do about my ded Apollo II because it's 3 days out of their 30-day warranty.  Yes, 3 days. Delivered on Oct 15, went ded on Nov 17.

So word to the wise, think twice before buying from a place like BitCoinMerch that only offers a 30-day warranty.

I'm hoping for mercy from FutureBit.  I filled out their support form yesterday, but last time I did that (to ask a setup clarification), it took them 7-days to respond.

If FutureBit won't  help me, I'm out ~ $1200 and now have a stylish paper weight.

In the meantime, BitCoinMerch won't be getting any more of my business.

Has anyone run into an issue where their mouse just refuses to click on anything after running for days?

I've had this continuously happen since before version 2.x and it still happens in 2.x. I can move the mouse around just fine, but I none of my clicks register. I can't click on desktop items, I can't click on the browser window or open new tabs to change focus. My keyboard inputs also don't work. It's weird that my mouse cursor moves around the screen but clicks aren't registering. My only option is to hard power off my unit and turn it back on. This usually happens after running for a number of days.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, by adding different wallet addresses for each miner you are actually adding different "users" to your Apollo pool and so the "User" count will go up accordingly, and it will also display a numeric total of "workers". However, in our case of being mostly "small home farms" this process is certainly the exception and not the rule. We can't be expected to create wallet addresses for each and every miner we want designated as a "worker" on our node just so we can monitor them. And in fact, I do believe at one point (possibly on v2.0.4) you could add a "worker" by using "same_wallet_address.worker" and each would display separately on the Solo Mining interface listing as a single User. See link for example image: https://ibb.co/THcqhHk

Also, I'm still trying to figure out why I have to use "stratum+tcp://" in front of the local IP on the Apollos I'm using to point at the full node: "stratum+tcp://192.xxx.x.x:3333" in the required pool URL field. I don't have to do this on any other miner I use to point at the Apollo full node as I can simply use the IP "192.xxx.x.x:3333" in the required pool URL field.

Cheers!

There was a batch of miners with a bad power switch. You might need to flip/jiggle it to get it to work.  I actually opened my unit up and bypassed the switch, so it feeds power directly from the plug into the PSU.
But they'll replace the switch if you send it back.

Yeah sounds like PSU to me

I wonder if the PSU went out? Should be covered under warranty

Well, less than 30 days and this POS is ded.  WTF? Apollo II, 1 TB.  Came home and it was off.  Won't power back on. Unplugged, let it sit, plugged it back in, nothing.  Any ideas?

I am not sure if this helps but I have 2 Avalon miners pointed to my Apollo node and I use different wallet addresses for each miner, so the solo miner page shows each miner separate with its best share and hash rate.

Has anyone come up with any ideas on the above issues? How about you jstefanop? Am I overlooking something simple?

Cheers!

It went smooth sailing!! I made sure to back up the sittings first. After flashing the new microSD card to the firmware and changing it, I just restored the settings and a few minutes later was back up to 32/32 connections.

Can you check the node on bitnodes.io? I tried every address config I could think of, and it keeps saying not a valid address?

edit: I got it and it shows up

It's strange as I can not access bitnodes.io from my network that I am running the apollo node on. I get a not authorize with my IP address. So i had to use my cell phone with the wifi turned off and enter my IP address (the  ID not authorized) and it says my futurebit apollo node is found and working.

Good day all

I am some what a newbie in this field and would like proper steps to take ie solo mine with Apollo 2 full node.I've had the Apollo 2 since its first batch released.The various times my node stops running with a note to direct the Apollo to a solo mine pool hence my confusion isn't the unit a full node solo mine setup guide never directed me to connect to a solo pool the forum is very explanatory for pool mines but for Apollo 2 full node solo miners kind feel like I am hanging out to dry.Most times I have reboot it may continue to solo mine but most of the time I have to reformat the node all this began when I naively updated to v2.0.5 this node situation occurs every 5-6 days and the system disk usage is at 13/14 gb practically full any help would be greatly appreciated.

Placed mine on its side and temp dropped 2-3 degrees. I guess by blowing the hot air up there is less of a chance for it to get drawn back in. Thanks for the tip!

RE: stuck blocks

Have you checked your debug.log in the bitcoin directory and are there error messages or is it finding and counting blocks? There is a real time counter of events in UTC that should have reports at least every 30 seconds.

is your bitcoind daemon running If its not then it crashed for some reason.

RE : crashing node

My experience from receipt of an apollo II is to make sure you have a fresh formatted pcie memory card.  Once the node gets running close all non essential browsers and stop mining.  They say you can mine in eco mode but I had more bitcoind crashes with the miner running than not.  

I also replaced the microsd supplied with a new card and flashed  The supplied microsd card seemed to be less stable than a new faster card

The flaw is the raspberry PI base that this system is built on from research in other forums on the rapsberry pi running nodes.  The system is very sensitive.
I monitor the node remotely as it only requests core data that does not load the CPU and memory of the raspberry PI.  
the IBD(Initial Blockchain Download) consumes a lot of CPU usage and the bitcoind is sensitive to timing and other apps consuming memory or processor time seems to crash the bitcoind program more often in my case.

Once the IDB is complete(make a backup of your bitcoin database to a second drive), my node v2.0.5 is rather stable and solo mining in normal mode works fine.

Also, heat, i turn my apollo sideways hdmi pointed up. for better airflow and my fan speed drops.  It needs a regulated ups.  any types of power surges in the electric line can crash the node.  If that happens it can crash the database in a possible write event.

pay attention to the debug.log after any system pause.  That's your key to what happened.  Sometimes when it just drops off you can just restart the node and it continues as expected.  If you stop the node half way through IDB and you get a successful stop on the node in the log with no errors you could backup the database to an external usb to pcie memory card to save a point in the download.  

every 2 weeks i am backing up my node database to my 2nd drive.  you have to stop the node and miner before backing up the data.