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Showing 8 of 8 results by Jemison
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Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 26/03/2014, 22:56:19 UTC
I'm going to try this mod using the Circuit Writer Precision Pen. Hopefully this none soldering solution works.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002BBVQO/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Good idea - I'm going to try this too.
Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 25/03/2014, 23:07:16 UTC
"Thanks for the photos.  How safely can we mix and match these mods?  Right now I don't have an iron tip fine enough to do the soldering mods.  I either need to modify something or order something.  I am interested in the pencil mod and the fan mod tonight though.  Would this be safe? "

No, I don't believe the pencil mod will do any good without the other 3 mods.
Pencil mod is to adjust PLL voltage which needs to be corrected due to the offset caused by the two solder jumpers and the resistor is a timing adjustment to smooth out clock transitions at higher frequencies I believe.

You can make the 5V fan mod any time but remember, it's recommended for Scrypt only operation.
It has not been tested in SHA or SHA / Scrypt mining mode!

As usual, do these mods at your own risk!

Wolfey2014


Wolfey,

Somewhere in this thread is mention of a cgminer version that allows you to set the voltage.  I realize you're using cpuminer, but do you think all 4 mods are required if we used the voltage mod cgminer?  Value your opinion.


Thank you!

You ask a GOOD question.

Well, from what I understand - the current mods bypass having to soft set the PLL and Core Voltages.
Personally, I can't say one way or the other if soft adjustment is beneficial or not. I have heard 'rumored' that soft fine adjustment of 1000MHz  up to 1048MHz stable is possible.

I'm going to have to convert over to one of the other programs to be able to read client side hash rates.
I just don't like all the tweaking that is still going on over the course of cg and bfg during it's 'use as it evolves' phase. I am not interested, at this stage of their evolution, in becoming an unwilling guinea pig Wink
I'm happy with cpuminer and what the pool's report in spite of their second by second inaccuracy. A bit of an understanding of odds, how they are avaraged out and common sense helps me figure out what the 'not so rough' improvement figure is for a given pod's clean hash rate.

Some sites like litecoinpool give a 24 hour average speed and that's close enough for me.
Besides and 'primarily' it only really counts what performance stats one sees pool side as that directly correlates to how much moolah it's gonna make you Wink - the end product, the result, the win! $$$$ Wink

I guess I'm gonna have to learn one or the other 'unless there is a better alternative' because I could give a hoot what else the program does. All I want it to do is show me an accurate local hashrate as a separate program from the rest of it. And it MUST not be memory hungry like cpuminer 'isn't!' Thank you very much GridSeed!  Wink
It would be cool if not great if GC would take back up updating / tweaking their very good and very stable program! It lives!  Grin
IMO, cpuminer is very optimized and user friendly compared to the others IMO.
If the others were less complex and learning curve intensive, I'd of bothered to test them too by now.
Lots of other people like/love them though. So, to each their own.

Peace!
Wolfey2014



I created my own local database and query the pool api hourly to get their reported hashrate for my miners. 
On average, over 48hrs, the pool is reporting  20% more shares than cgminer, and I'm okay with that, lol. 

I use cgminer's api to query the health of my miners and to re-start them if necessary.  cgminer has the ability to run all or a selection. 
Its api can be set on different local network ports so if you have multiple instances running on one box you can query them separately. 

I've only had one hiccup with cgminer in the 7 days I've been running - but I think that was caused by my linux attempting to self-update,
which I've now disabled.
Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 25/03/2014, 21:11:15 UTC
"Thanks for the photos.  How safely can we mix and match these mods?  Right now I don't have an iron tip fine enough to do the soldering mods.  I either need to modify something or order something.  I am interested in the pencil mod and the fan mod tonight though.  Would this be safe? "

No, I don't believe the pencil mod will do any good without the other 3 mods.
Pencil mod is to adjust PLL voltage which needs to be corrected due to the offset caused by the two solder jumpers and the resistor is a timing adjustment to smooth out clock transitions at higher frequencies I believe.

You can make the 5V fan mod any time but remember, it's recommended for Scrypt only operation.
It has not been tested in SHA or SHA / Scrypt mining mode!

As usual, do these mods at your own risk!

Wolfey2014


Wolfey,

Somewhere in this thread is mention of a cgminer version that allows you to set the voltage.  I realize you're using cpuminer, but do you think all 4 mods are required if we used the voltage mod cgminer?  Value your opinion.

Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 25/03/2014, 21:00:14 UTC

I can tell you that both modified miners have been running rock steady over 39 hours so far.
No errors except for a couple when first started for some reason.
Other than that, I have not seen any errors.

Wolfey2014

Seriously nice job Wolfey2014!

I found a community workshop that has both equipment and expertise.  Now I just need to find resistors.  Might be able to get at least one done in the next couple of days ^^

Where...?...US...?

No, it's in Montreal - but this is the site where I found the workshop - maybe your location has one: http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hackerspaces
Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 25/03/2014, 20:48:10 UTC

I can tell you that both modified miners have been running rock steady over 39 hours so far.
No errors except for a couple when first started for some reason.
Other than that, I have not seen any errors.

Wolfey2014

Seriously nice job Wolfey2014!

I found a community workshop that has both equipment and expertise.  Now I just need to find resistors.  Might be able to get at least one done in the next couple of days ^^
Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 25/03/2014, 13:42:37 UTC
Hi,
as you know Wolfey has done fantastic job on modding his GDs.

He is using 0.125W 38k resistor.
I can buy this resistor locally http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/metal-film-06w-39k-ohm-resistor-m39k

This one is 0.6W 39k and I'm not sure if difference in W makes any difference . 0.125W and 0.6W.

Can I use 0.6W instead of 0.125W ?

Thank you very much for your help Smiley

Thanks for your kind words.
As I stated in my PM's back to you, .6W 39K should be fine.
The main purpose of the wattage spec of 1/8W resistor is that the physical size is not too big to fit and the wires on the resistor are not too big to fit over and solder to the solder points on the pcb.
De-solder the 36K and replace it with the 38/39K resistor. You can solder it across the two solder points put there for the resistor / capacitor network. They left the capacitor out during manufacturing so there are two extra points one can use to solder the resistor wire across them.

Simply solder the new resistor in place like I did in the attached pics.

Here are the pics of my handy work. Please excuse the left over resin (black stuff) around the resistor connections. I didn't have any pcb cleaner on hand at the time, but the resin won't hurt a thing as it is completely non-conductive. Just looks a little bit messy  Cheesy
All mods  - Resistor - Jumpers - Pencil trace - 5V Fan connections
http://i.imgur.com/l7XM4hc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/S1XEaUU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uTknHx5.jpg 5V fan connections - http://i.imgur.com/yhuGpmS.jpg
Red wire (+) intentionally connected to the tiny fuse (FB25) as it's easier to solder to than any other point.
Fan start-up current is 140mA for 1.2sec then levels out to 78mA constant.
Tin your wire (if it isn't already) before you solder to the fuse terminal so as to keep from accidentally de-soldering the chip from the pcb. This way, it only takes a second to solder the wire to the terminal.

If this helps you, please feel free to show your appreciation by sending some coin. Wink
Not mandatory but, very appreciated! Wink

Make these modifications at your own risk!

Peace!
Wolfey2014

Thanks Wolfey - this is helpful.
Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 24/03/2014, 17:56:12 UTC
Hi all,

thank you very much for sharing your modifications Smiley

I can't find 5% resistor so would 1% resistor be ok ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VISHAY-DRALORIC-CRCW120638K3FKEA-RESISTOR-1206-38K3-1-/181228512324?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a320fa444

Thank you very much


Yes, 1% will work fine.
Still, it's just as easy, if not easier to install a standard axial 1/8W resistor in there.
You can bend the wires into an L shape to then bridge solder them on to the two terminals side by side.
They are wired in parallel as there is supposed to be a capacitor next to each resistor per the schematic.
I verified this with my DVM by the way. So that gives you two solder points per connection to fudge the resistor in place.
Much easier than working with nearly microscopic size resistor chips IMO. Wink
Plus you can buy them at Radio Shack. Wink 1/4W will work fine too.
Just keep the resistor inside the edge of the pcb so the fins won't touch it when re-assembled.
Piece of cake!
Wolfey2014

Pea Ess, remember, mods' are done at your own risk!

Hi Wolfey,

I'm interested in attempting this mod, but have no experience with soldering on boards.  
Can you post a pic of you mods and would you mind providing a near-idiot-proof guide with
the equipment and steps required to make the change.  

Obviously with the usual caveat of no guarantees, warranties, etc.  Wink

Thanks!

Your best bet is to have someone else do it If you have no experience with soldering. I do laptop power jacks and I had a problem with these. Just a friendly suggestion. I think Wolfey is offering it as a service. You might want to ask him. 

Understood!

A month ago, I would never have attempted to build a mining rig, but thanks to this forum, I'm up and running with relatively few hitches.

I saw Wolfey's offer - unfortunately, I'm not in the US - so it would cost me a few for shipping & duties.

The pencil mod seems fairly straightforward.  The resistor mod has me intimidated.  Having the steps would help me figure out if it's even something I'd attempt.
I'd probably experiment on some old boards for confidence/experience.  In the end, if it's beyond my skill level, maybe I'll just stay one of the slow pokes!

Post
Topic
Board Mining (Altcoins)
Re: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod
by
Jemison
on 24/03/2014, 15:50:30 UTC
Hi all,

thank you very much for sharing your modifications Smiley

I can't find 5% resistor so would 1% resistor be ok ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VISHAY-DRALORIC-CRCW120638K3FKEA-RESISTOR-1206-38K3-1-/181228512324?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a320fa444

Thank you very much


Yes, 1% will work fine.
Still, it's just as easy, if not easier to install a standard axial 1/8W resistor in there.
You can bend the wires into an L shape to then bridge solder them on to the two terminals side by side.
They are wired in parallel as there is supposed to be a capacitor next to each resistor per the schematic.
I verified this with my DVM by the way. So that gives you two solder points per connection to fudge the resistor in place.
Much easier than working with nearly microscopic size resistor chips IMO. Wink
Plus you can buy them at Radio Shack. Wink 1/4W will work fine too.
Just keep the resistor inside the edge of the pcb so the fins won't touch it when re-assembled.
Piece of cake!
Wolfey2014

Pea Ess, remember, mods' are done at your own risk!

Hi Wolfey,

I'm interested in attempting this mod, but have no experience with soldering on boards. 
Can you post a pic of you mods and would you mind providing a near-idiot-proof guide with
the equipment and steps required to make the change. 

Obviously with the usual caveat of no guarantees, warranties, etc.  Wink

Thanks!