Topic: Which USB hub to use with Block Erupters | NanoFury NF1 | BPMC Red Fury | Ant U1 - page 39. (Read 128592 times)

not at all... i should have found your thread first and posted here instead... oh well.

Relevant post... copy and pasted here... hope you don't mind.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.2719685

Correct,
What a lot of people dont realise is that USB supply is 5V DC supply by design, so if you have an external adapter with a 12V input, you are only putting 12V DC into a 12V DC - 5V DC adapter which is hidden inside the unit anyway. The actual supply to the ports is always 5V, hence we say 500mA required at each port to give 2.5VA which is USB 2 spec.

some good advice here guys, thanks, a must read for anyone contemplating running lots of BE's or K1's.

cheers,
kev.

the anker is a 12v adapter, so when they say dont exceed 7A that is still overkill for 10 USB 2.0 devices running 5v @ 0.5A each.

Removed from the table. What about the 10-port?

@kevinm: Nice plan for the set-up!  Could you give links to the hub and the card, where they could be purchased? Also, isn't the number of USB devices per machine limited to 127, or is it 127 per adapter (bridge)?

According to Amazon, Satechi 12-port can only handle 250ma per port. Not suitable for Erupters which need 500ma each.

also, the documentation with the Anker 10 port says not to exceed 7amps. i think that they combine their 5 amps with the 3 amps that are available from what the port is plugged into.

I am thinking of running hundreds of these on the following set-up:

use 3 of these on my motherboard:



then use a 1 - 2 USB minihub plugged into each of the 5 USB ports

Then connect 10 of these:



powered by 5V 8A supply with power splitter to each power socket giving 4A to each row of 8 ports gives 2.5VA at each.

That should theoretically give me 480 USB miners on a 3 x 16 PCI-e motherboard and 30 x 16 port USB multi hubs

cheers,
Kev

Also, which USB adapter for a raspberryPI USB HDD? Not all support turning off/spinning down with hdparm and so will overheat

I've started on a table over the hubs that were mentioned or look promising. See OP. If anyone had successful experience with any other hubs, please mention them here.

I have nothing to add to this thread except this link.

I just ordered a cheaper USB 2.0 powered Hub. I didn't think about 2.0 being lower power. I figure if i can't put erupters on it direcly i can plug my Ankars into it. or maybe a combination.

Provided all ports can be utilised due to power constraints. Maybe we should construct a "Consolidated list of USB hubs". I can modify the OP with a table of the ones mentioned so far.

Any more hubs that folk here have verified as working with Erupter?

The cost of Hubs is becoming significant. I'm starting to think that in addition to "is there enough power" we need to consider cost per port. some 7 port hubs might be cheaper than 10 port ones on a per port basis. We can alway plug Hubs into Hubs.

again it all comes down to the total output of the AC adapter.  if it doesnt specifically list what it is then I would pass over it.  i got burned on some 7 port HUBs from Amazon cause from the pics it looked like they would be 5V 3A but it wasnt specifically mentioned and they ended up being 5V 1.5A (cause i can only power 3 devices).

the max spec of USB 2.0 devices are 500mA or 0.5A.  some usb ports have a higher spec for charging devices like ipads but you dont need that shiz.

if you want short usb extension cables then go to monoprice.com.  they have them as short as 1.5ft - http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10303#1030304 for USB 2.0 and http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10303#1030309 for USB 3.0.  you dont need usb 3.0 cause the devices are only USB 2.0 so I wouldnt spend the extra $ on USB 3.0.

Anyone had any experience with Sabrent USB hubs? They have a few with AC power adapter:

http://www.sabrent.com/category/usb-hubs/

And even a 10-porter, which costs half of that you'd pay for the Anker:

http://www.sabrent.com/category/usb-hubs/HB-U10P/

Their 7-porter has the following in the specs: "- Maximum of 500Ma per USB port". Is that good or bad?

You're right. Thanks for the reminder - the USB 2 cables should be fine for the purpose.
 

I would think USB 2 extension cables should suffices - if those Erupters are USB 2, they will not be using USB 3 pins anyway.

I think that for the first 9  devices I will go for Anker 10-port hub and a USB-based fan from German Amazon branch for a setup displayed here: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/announcement-block-erupter-usb-195004

The remaining 11 will be spread across different existing motherboard ports and one PCI USB card that I already have.

Thanks for the suggestions and explanations, everyone. And if there any more setup/hub/card suggestions, do post them here.

Interesting and timely thread. I can't help much with advice yet as most of my stuff is on order - no track record yet. I ordered an Anker hub for one 'puter and tried to find a few short (6-inch) USB 3 extension cables to make room for cooling. No luck finding very short USB 3 cables so I'll probably use 6-footers. I have some 6-inch USB 2 extension cables to use on a GWG hub on a different 'puter. I've ordered a couple of Thermaltake AF0007 USB fans to move some air over the erupters. The host machines are core i7 desktops, liquid-cooled, already running 24/7. I've got some PCI/USB cards on an old P5 XP platform that I might experiment with - it's been running 24/7 for over a decade, so I'll be tempting fate.

I'm in Canada, so "waste heat" is usually money well spent, although not in July. Newegg, Tiger and/or Amazon (all dot ca) typically have good selection here. I ordered erupters from wtcr.ca in Winnipeg - their shopping cart takes payment only in BTC, nice to see!

Edit update:

Short version - the GWC HU2SA0 USB 2.0 10-Port Hub Model #:HU2SA0 is NOT recommended, the wtcr.ca retailer is recommended if you need a source of erupters in Canada that accepts payment in BTC, and the Anker 7-port hub is recommended (for Win7 desktop).

Longer version - I had seen an online review of the GWC hub in which the reviewer (who liked it) noted that the barrel plug was a sloppy fit and protrudes from the case. I can confirm this, but it's not just cosmetic. The contact is erratic, so power to the hub switches on and off at the slightest motion of the cable. The blue LED will change brightness and a USB fan will change speed as power switches unpredictably between the USB connector and the barrel connector. Once I added five erupters things got pretty wild, with random dropouts, error messages, and general chaos. That said, it now is running stable with three erupters, a USB fan and a Logitech USB mouse connected. I'm guessing the load is now light enough that it never needs the extra power from the barrel connector. I've put the two extra erupters onto the Anker 7-port hub and the Anker is now running 7 erupters without problems - a heavier load than I had planned for it. I'm cooling it with a desktop fan that I had sitting around. I'll probably replace the GWC hub with another Anker Real Soon Now.  
Oh - I wound up not using any of the 6-inch USB extension cables. I had thought to use them to make space for better cooling, but both the Anker and GWC hubs leave enough room to mount the erupters side by side.