I am waiting on FedEx to drop off my Apollo II full node. Any tips on setting it up that you might have. Should I let the node populate the blockchain before doing anything else?
First thing, make sure both the MicroSD card and the NVME card are seated all the way before you even plug it in. Then after you get it up and running (preferably hard-wired with an ethernet cable) I would let the node sync up fully (could be several days) before trying to mine beyond ECO mode. Besides, you can't mine to your own node until it is sync'd completely - but you can pool mine, just stay in ECO until the node is complete. Anything higher than ECO during the sync really puts a strain on the system. That's pretty much it in a nutshell.
Here is the full getting started guide on the Futurebit website:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a9c84ac89c172bcf087f4c0/t/662173d150d84b057cb14192/1713468369163/FutureBit-Apollo-II-Guide.pdfCheers!