Topic: Official FutureBit Apollo LTC Image and Support thread - page 40. (Read 49878 times)

Now I hear a Litecoin halfing will take place in less than 30 days. It sounds like the mining power of my 2 Apollos will be reduced to effectively just one. If I understand this event it means we'll have even a less chance of finding a block. I think if the price were to double the effective payout would remain the same although the amount of LTC mined would be 1/2.

Would like to get 2 more Apollos but my four would be just like having 2. Am I understanding this right?

https://www.litecoinblockhalf.com/

You must have had donation mode activated, and the rest went to jstefanop.

/s

The answer is going to depend entirely on how your network is setup. Check these things in order.

1. Open a browser tab, and go to http://futurebit.local. Under some conditions (though, not many, unfortunately), this will take you to the device, automatically.

2. Do you have access to your router/switch that it is plugged into? Log in to the administration panel, and it should be listed among the assigned DHCP addresses. I don't remember the default hostname, but it should appear as "futurebit" or "apollo". Some routers don't show, or have trouble capturing hostnames, and will just show an asterisk "*".

3. Plug your computer or laptop into the same router/switch as the Apollo (with a cable). Determine the IP address that the router assigned to your computer. It's probably similar to "192.168.1.100" or "10.0.0.100" or "172.16.0.100". You can then trial-and-error the IP of the Apollo. Keep the first three numbers the same, and change the last number sequentially, trying each address in your browser until you find it. For example, if your router assigned your laptop/computer "192.168.1.100" you would try "http://192.168.1.99", then "http://192.168.1.98", ... and so on...

Any recommended replacement fan, like stock or even something a little more quiet?

Yep. Thanks again for the double confirmation! Although I was more concerned about the PCIe cables since they are not PCI. But since that e apparently stands for efficiency, I figured it would be fine.

Also got your email update! Looks good. Can’t wait for them to arrive!

Yes you can easily run 5 Apollos in Turbo mode with that PSU.

I ended up getting the 900-1200W Server PSU I linked above. It came with the breakout board and (10) PCIe cables, 16AWG 6pin to 6pin. Which I'm assuming should work. But I could also be wrong.

This modular Coursair PSU has 6 PCI power ports and runs silent with my two Apollos on ECO: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015YEI7LK/. It could run 6 Apollos on ECO.

Right on! Order has been sent through! Thanks!

Thanks for the reply. If it happens again, I'll let it sit until I get to lay eyes on it myself. I just re-flashed it recently to 1.1, so I'm less inclined to think it's the SD card. We'll see if it happens again, and I'll report back.

1) Depends on the Amp rating on your breakers...most are 15A, so you dont want to push them more than 1500 or so so 900 is more than fine
2/3/4) Yes these are server rated PSUs designed to be run at max load 24/7...you can easily run 4 Apollos @ 800 watts on it
5)Just make sure you buy two pcie cables per Apollo and plug both of them in running turbo

S1)Because the input socket is standard for all PSUs (C14) but people have diffrent plugs around the world so its easier to just buy the PSU and buy your own power cable locally
S2)US shipments will have power cord for sure, ill probably stock one or two major Euro cord types (UK/Eurozone)

Could be your SD card starting to corrupt, which a re-flash would fix. Can you have someone physically check the device and see if its stuck on a red light? That would indicate some sort of hardware fault (Fan issue/MCU or ASIC overheat etc).

Alright. I don’t know. I guess I’m antsy. - I settled on one, but now I think I’ve decided that 5 Apollo’s sounds like a good amount.

But before I put the plan I’ve thought up in action, I figure I should share it and get some feedback from you kind folks who, unlike me, know your stuff. And really it’s a simple plan. - Since I’m dedicating space for an Apollo, I figure I might as well dedicated the entire outlet to Apollo(s).

I’ve done some research and have some numbers, but they are bit confusing, so instead of confusing everyone, I’m just going state my assumption that in an ideal situation, to run 4 Apollo’s, you would need a PSU that delivers about 1200W. - As that would give each Apollo 200W each use while running at 70% of it’s rated load.

However, the highest PSU I’ve found that will run off of a 120V outlet is 900W.

https://www.parallelminer.com/product/platinum-psu-kit-hp-1200-watt-x8-for-asic-gpu-miner/

My thoughts are that it seems like it could be pushing it to run 4 Apollos on a 900 Watt PSU. And it would be running at full load, which should be fine. But I’m curious to hear what you experts think.

Which brings me to a few more questions:

(1) Hooking all this up to one outlet should be fine, right?
(2) Does this plan sound reasonable?
(3) Is that PSU actually good?
(4) Would a 900W PSU support 4 Apollo’s running turbo?
(5) Is there anything else I should know?

Side questions:
(S1) Why don’t power supplies come with power cords?
(S2) Does anyone know if the official Future Bit PSU will come with the power cord?

Hi everyone. I had a nice long run with my Apollo on 1.0, with few to no issues. About a month ago I moved it to a new location which I visit once a week or so, and upgraded it to 1.1. Since then, on two occasions it has stopped mining. Because this is a remote site, I put an IP-enabled power switch at the location so I could remotely power cycle equipment at the site. Unfortunately, my Apollo is connected to an HP server power supply with a breakout board, which requires me to *also* physically press a button to turn power back on.

Anyhow, on the first occasion I tried power cycling the IP-enabled power switch, forgetting that the breakout board meant that I couldn't get the system restarted. So I don't have much diagnosis to go on. But on the second occasion when it stopped mining, I happened to be at the remote site. Before power cycling it, I could not get into the Apollo at all -- it wouldn't respond to SSH, ping, etc. It was down hard. I can presume, but cannot confirm, that the first lockup was similar.

I've since rebooted it and it is now mining successfully again. Is there anything I can look at -- log files, journal, etc. -- that may help diagnose what caused it to lock up? I had several months of successful running on 1.0 with no issues, and now two lockups on 1.1 within a month. (It may be mere coincidence, I'm just pointing it out.)

I'd like to get to the bottom of it, since I won't have the ability to remotely power cycle this thing except on weekends... until my Futurebit PSU shows up :-)

There is almost zero chance you'll hit a Litecoin block on Zergpool if you're using their merged/multi-currency switching (for example, unless you specify a coin to mine with mc=LTC). Because of "profitability" your miner(s) will be served work for the other coins far more often than LTC, if you get assigned any LTC work at all.

Would this thinking also apply to solo mining on zergpool? with zerpool I've made 0.73 litecoin in 7 weeks with 3 miners running middle mode which is making some profit ($70 after power costs). And there is still a chance I'd hit a litecoin block. Would this be the same as going back to litcoinpool and making nothing until/if a block is found?

Right on!  Thanks everyone!

I think for now I'll stick to the single Apollo+PSU I have already ordered, and well see what happens after it arrives!

Youll earn the same solo mining vs pool if you have enough hash rate within a certain amount of time. Remember mining is probabilistic...on average though there is no difference, your just reducing your "variance" by pool mining.

This is why people solo mine with small devices, because your betting on that variance (ie hoping that you hit that block next week instead of in 14 years). You essentially are buying one lottery ticket every day that has a 1/~5k chance of winning, which are much nicer odds than the real lottery 

I'm currently using an HP server power supply and Parallel Miner breakout board: https://www.parallelminer.com/product/baikal-bk-n70-power-supply-750w-110-240v-80-gold-92-efficiency/ At 750W, it could support 3 to 6 Apollos, depending on how you run them. On ECO mode 5 would be pretty safe; on TURBO it could handle 3 with a good margin of safety. You'd have to measure your power draw, and do some math to be sure.

Thanks jstnryan, devincrypt, and whiteogre! All great information and also some differing points of views!

I'll skip on Moon Landers and focus on the Apollo. - Which, I have another question, right now I have an Apollo + PSU + Card combo ordered. However the PSU from FutureBit only supports 1 Apollo. Are there any PSU that support 2 or 3 Apollos at a time?


I also was going to give solo mining a shot since the returns seemed bigger… however after some quick basic math, it seems that at the current rates, you would earn half as much as you would with pool mining if it did indeed take 14+ years to mine your first block!

Expected Rewards
24 hours   0.00491237 LTC   0.67 USD

Solo Mining Stats
Expected Time per Block   5190 days 23 hours