Topic: Repair a fried Antminer S4 beaglebone card - page 2. (Read 6058 times)

Replace the BB board and runs good as new...



replaced into the machine...

Next I hook up the power source to the green board and verify the LED's are working. ...



Then power up the beaglebone card...

May you please explain why you didn't just swap out the dead BB with a new BB? What specifically is the mod solving?

Notice in the picture below that i removed the first 4 rows of the Expansion Connector.  (1-8 of P9). 1-8 are power connections. Pins 9-10 are the reset and power buttons (not present on the Antminer S4 beaglebone board). This info was obtained from the BB docs.   I used a box cutter to press throught the plastic down to the board and then broke it off with pliers.  I then removed the pins with pliers.  This is a necessary step because when I applied power and then reinserted the beaglebone board it would short and turn off.  ( I am keeping this tutorial simple and not going into much detail of why). So removing these pins and using an outside power source elimintates the problem.

You will notice there are 3 locations to apply the wires in the picture, for testing, apply the wires to the 2 spots closest to the ethernet port.  If it does not work then reverse them.  After identifying the way that works, label them.  Next I split the wire that goes to the spot closest to TP5-TP8.  The extra wire will be soldered to the "side spot" as shown below.


Don't make fun of the solder job, it was a quick fix---or i was really tired--

After identifying that it was a power issue I took an old cell phone charger and clipped the end off and applied it as follows to verify that the beaglebone card would light up...I used a 5v charger,  per the BB docs 5 volts was the rec.

Before i start I want to give out thanks:
1) I want to thank cryptocrane.com for quick delivery and being stand up and helping with the Antminer problems-- super cool
2) I want to thank Antminer for making a defective unit and being absolutely no help in resolving the problem, even though silmilar problems are written about on these forums from the S2.
3) I cannot remember who it was but a guide was written about the beaglebone issues on the S2 and how to replace the card--thanks

A quick introduction, I am new to BTC and come from a background of extreme overclocking etc.  I have followed BTC for years and decided it was time to play with some mining hardware. ( I know, a little late to the party).  I purchased 2 Antminer S4's about 2 weeks ago from http://cryptocrane.com and received my rigs 2 days after purchase.  Within 2 days one of the miners was dead.  It had the dreaded amber light on the PSU.  

This is a simple repair of a fried BB board.  It may or may not be easier to replace the BB board for $60.

After a little searching I realized the PSU issue and opened the unit and replaced it with 2 Corsair units that I had in my possession.  The unit was still dead and after playing around with it I got the LCD to at least come on but then realized I had a dead beaglebone card.  None of the beaglebone LED's were lighting up.  

I continued looking online and found the guide to replace the beaglebone card and update the SD card etc.  So i ordered a couple of beaglebone cards.  This is after getting no assistance from Bitmain. The guys at cryptocrane.com were replacing the PSU's and helping troubleshoot.

The problem with ordering parts is I have to wait--- not my strong point.  So i took out the parts and went to work.  

Again- these mods were on the non working BB board and I would not suggest doing these mods on a new BB card as it would be unnecessary.

I am still not sure if the PSU or the beaglebone card went first but I would bet the PSU shorted the beaglebone card.