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Topic: Whatsminer firmware: cron for programmatically starting stopping mining process (Read 195 times)

legendary
Activity: 2394
Merit: 6581
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I am unsure whether or not this would result in the same level of wearout. I could imagine it depends on the specific implementation of the mining software/firmware and how it handles stopping the mining process. One thing that's different for sure is that fans can keep running a bit longer for cool down and that the control board will not suddenly turn on and off all the time. Given that hash boars are obviously the most important part of the miner this question is something I would really like to get to the bottom of. I'd probably have to ask a hardware engineer or developers of the firmware.

I am glad we both agree that the hash boards are the main focus here, and this is why i mentioned above I don't see how both ways differ, someone mentioned that the sudden change of temperature will negatively affect the solder/themal epoxy, I can't confirm/deny that but if that was true, then still both ways will cause a sudden change in temps, in fact, leaving the fans on will make it even worse.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that if the miner isn't generating heat and the fans still spin and they are in wet weather with high humidity you will be in big trouble, this is probably why Bitmain's firmware keeps the hash boards on (generating heat) even if they disconnect from the internet, something that almost all custom firmware devs changed thinking it's a good way to save on the power bill, which makes sense for someone who has a perfect environment to sustain such a thing.

On a side but related note, Whatsminer community in this forum is rather small, it's only a few of us around, you might want to check the telegram community as it's pretty much a lot more active.
newbie
Activity: 26
Merit: 35
I can't tell whether it would harm the hardware or not, but how does powering the miner off and pausing mining differ from one another? when you pause mining the control board will get the PSU to stop feeding power to the hash boards, so in other words, it's almost exactly similar to physical shutting the miner down as far as the hash boards are concerned.

I am unsure whether or not this would result in the same level of wearout. I could imagine it depends on the specific implementation of the mining software/firmware and how it handles stopping the mining process. One thing that's different for sure is that fans can keep running a bit longer for cool down and that the control board will not suddenly turn on and off all the time. Given that hash boars are obviously the most important part of the miner this question is something I would really like to get to the bottom of. I'd probably have to ask a hardware engineer or developers of the firmware.
legendary
Activity: 2394
Merit: 6581
be constructive or S.T.F.U
I am unsure how well this scales and if there are any security concerns running outdated firmware on a large number of devices. I may be getting some newer Whatsminers (like M30s) down the line as well and they might not be able to run outdated firmware. If the manufactures only stopped closing ssh ports all the time Huh.

The new models come with SSh disabled by default, so it will be very unlikely to get SSH access on those, and yes, of course there is a security concern when SSH is enabled, it isn't as bad as publishing your email and password online, but it's an extra door for hackers to try and break, and most attacks on miners come via SSH which is why most manufacturers started to disable SSH in order to provide less support to their clients/ SSH victims.

Quote
controlling the power input could harm the hardware in the long run. So I am hesitant to try this. Or am I wrong in this regard?

I can't tell whether it would harm the hardware or not, but how does powering the miner off and pausing mining differ from one another? when you pause mining the control board will get the PSU to stop feeding power to the hash boards, so in other words, it's almost exactly similar to physical shutting the miner down as far as the hash boards are concerned.

newbie
Activity: 26
Merit: 35
Whatsminer tool has remote control functions, one of them is (Suspend/Resume) mining, so that is somewhere to start from, also, if you don't use the latest firmware for the M20s you can still access the miner via SSH, so you can run a script to suspend and resume.

https://i.ibb.co/5YB5wPH/Whatsm.png

If that doesn't work out, you can always use something like "Sonoff Basic Smart Remote Control Wifi Switch" that controls a contactor that controls the miner power input, these smart plugs come with their own applications which you can shutdown/turnon from anywhere or set a timer for them, they switch costs about 3-5$ and the contactor is probably in the $15 range, not a very expensive project if the software road turns out to be a little bumpy.


Whatsminer Tool could have been a solution. Unfortunately they only support a 64Bit Windows application, but my existing miners are getting their "should I mine or should I not mine" information from a 32Bit raspberry pi. If nothing else works I could consider setting up an additional computer for managing Whatsminer devices (hopefully not).
Furthermore I am unsure whether or not I will be able to programatically turn miners on and off using the Whatsminer tool.
In the software manual (to be found at: https://qiniu.microbt.com/files/1617348991/WhatsMinerTool%20Operating%20Guide.pdf?attname=WhatsMinerTool%20Operating%20Guide.pdf)
there is no deeper explanation of the included API.

Using an outdated firmware may be another option. I am unsure how well this scales and if there are any security concerns running outdated firmware on a large number of devices. I may be getting some newer Whatsminers (like M30s) down the line as well and they might not be able to run outdated firmware. If the manufactures only stopped closing ssh ports all the time Huh.

As I have already stated, controlling the power input could harm the hardware in the long run. So I am hesitant to try this. Or am I wrong in this regard?


newbie
Activity: 26
Merit: 35
It seems there is no cron on Whatsminer I tried to search here even on Google I can't seem to find cron for Whatsminer except for Antminer.

So I guess your only option is to use a device that can automatically shut down and reboot the miner it might be a "programmable outlet timer" that looks like this below

https://i.ibb.co/3F6Hxj4/image.png

But you will need an outlet timer that can support a high amp. Since Whatsminer m20s consumption is around 3360W you will need a 4100w outlet timer or around 20 amp.

I tried googling the same thing, that's why I asking here. Appreciate your effort!
Unfortunately this solution will not fit to my requirements, as exchange electricity prices (and thus profitability) are not predictable.
I could pay 3 cents / kWh today at 10am and 12 cents tomorrow at 10am.
I need something that will allow me to actually run code to calculate profitability every time electricity prices change.

Also, wouldn't I damage my hardware if I kept shutting it off and turning it on all the time?
I'd prefer to stop the mining process, not turn off the device itself.
legendary
Activity: 2394
Merit: 6581
be constructive or S.T.F.U
Whatsminer tool has remote control functions, one of them is (Suspend/Resume) mining, so that is somewhere to start from, also, if you don't use the latest firmware for the M20s you can still access the miner via SSH, so you can run a script to suspend and resume.



If that doesn't work out, you can always use something like "Sonoff Basic Smart Remote Control Wifi Switch" that controls a contactor that controls the miner power input, these smart plugs come with their own applications which you can shutdown/turnon from anywhere or set a timer for them, they switch costs about 3-5$ and the contactor is probably in the $15 range, not a very expensive project if the software road turns out to be a little bumpy.
legendary
Activity: 3374
Merit: 3095
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It seems there is no cron on Whatsminer I tried to search here even on Google I can't seem to find cron for Whatsminer except for Antminer.

So I guess your only option is to use a device that can automatically shut down and reboot the miner it might be a "programmable outlet timer" that looks like this below



But you will need an outlet timer that can support a high amp. Since Whatsminer m20s consumption is around 3360W you will need a 4100w outlet timer or around 20 amp.
newbie
Activity: 26
Merit: 35
Hey guys,

I am running a bunch of Antminers on BraiinsOS, which has an implementation of cron that allows me to periodically execute custom scripts that will start or stop the mining process depending on the current profitability (I have changing electricity prices with high volatility).

So my question is: Is there a way to reproduce this behaviour using something like cron on a Whatsminer M20s?

Does the Whatsminer firmware even support cron (or some other job scheduler)?
Unfortunately I don't have any device to try this out myself.

Any hints are appreciated!

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