currently at 18 billion on apollo II.  I had a usb futurebit moonlander hit 1.2 trillion but just short of solving the block.  probably took about 2 years.  Anything is possible.  Can't solve it if its not running.

I was just thinking about that.  You could use a bitcoin cash address and mine in a pool.  But the funny thing is when you look at the difficulty to rewards, I'd rather stay on bitcoin.  The rewards just don't match up to being worthwhile.  THe longer I mine bitcoin the better the odds of hitting a block over time, or never.  But I'll take that chance.  The difficulty in BCH is very high and rewards are low. 

If you started a fresh Apollo II with blank node memory, you could redirect the bitcoind to a BCH node and download the BCH blockchain, then solo mine when it was complete.  That's what I was thinking about.  Would need a new memory card so you don't confuse it with Bitcoin.  Maybe even a new microsd after reprogramming the bitcoind to the BCH blockchain.

I read somewhere that if it gets above 76  it may shut down or enter a protection mode and ramp up the fans to full speed.
My operation eco mode is below 70.  normal is 70-72.  fast is 72 to 74 with much higher fan speed.  room temp is around 78 Fahrenheit .
I cant run turbo with room temp above 72F. 

if you have high temp issues, Have you shut down and cleaned the fan and box recently?   I get the air compressor out and blow air back through the apollo to blow all the fine dust out of it outside. lots of dust comes out, then my temp drops when I restart.  In eco mode I am not collecting as much dust with quiet slow fan speeds. 

Sounds like a bad power switch which is a known problem  Keep trying support for a replacement switch.

APC Backups PRO 1500.   Some real cheap backup UPS may flicker on a brownout which will knockout the apollo II

shutdown and restart the miner.  Turn off completely then turn on.  you want to reset the system this way.  the chainstate will rebuild itself.  Just restarting the node may not clear the error.  That has been my solution.  These chainstate files are temporary and get rewritten on bitcoind restart and when bitcoind flushes the database memory.  If the error continues after several attempts then you could have a corrupt database on the nvme and you'll need to format the nvme.  It's why I have a backup nvme.  Also, when you restart the apollo bitcoind will take several minutes rewriting the chainstate.  You'll see the cpu usage running 100% or close to it as it rebuilds the chainstate and verifies the database.  If you interrupt this process by stopping the node you interrupt this process and don't fix the problem.  Use the system monitor to look at bitciond running.  You'll see cpu usage and disk read/writes  as long as thats active bitcoind is running properly.

A few things to try.

When it says "connection refused" it means the bitcoind program stopped running.  Back a few messages, I recommend a way to monitor your node in real time with live scrolling of the debug.log.  It's very important to monitor that log as it tells you how the download is going with the database.
Sometimes you can just restart the node and it will pick up where it left off.  If you click on the button multiple times trying to force restart it can crash bitcoind.   

having a running log window open allows you to see the progress and see how it stopped.  Did it just crash or did it exit or close.  you can see that in the logs.

Having the miner running may stress the power supply and for some reason the cpu is sensitive to power spikes.   that can cause a crash.  open the system monitor so you can see how busy the cpu is when downloading the blocks.  It's not a simple download, it decrypts it which takes cpu power and sets up the database.   In system monitor you can also see if bitcoind is running or not and how much resources it is taking up.

I have my unit on backup power with line conditioners.  Also only running the IBD"Initial Blockchain Download" is best.  don't have multiple browsers open and really, don't mine until it's complete.  bitcoind will use a lot of memory when downloading. 

Once the download is complete I can tell you that the system runs pretty well.  In eco, normal, or turbo, depending on your temp and noise preference.

I had problems with my microsd card that i changed out and i got two of those and also 2 pcie cards.  Once the IBD is complete I made a backup of the blockchain on the second pcie in case i had problems in the future.  Saves downloading the whole blockchain and if something goes wrong I have a quick backup.

If you have a new apollo II then is seems you must run the 2.0.7 because its designed to work with the new systems they produced.  My understanding is you can't go backwards to an older version with the new system.

That is great news.  Thank you for the report.  Apollo nodes can submit valid block solutions in time when solved.  Congratulations.  Whose next???

Did you ever get yours to work?
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Honestly, I've had only the issue I mentioned with using the units on the "new" software version on WIFI. I prefer hardwired anyway but had one unit in my "back hall" with no ethernet cable access (I set up an older WIFI router as an "extender" on my network, hardwired the Apollo 1 Node unit to it, zero issues since). I also had to re-install the software once (Apollo 1 unit, early on) so replaced the original sim card with a newer one I had on hand with no issues since. I have one original Apollo Node Unit with two Apollo Miners running on it as well as 2 Apollo 2 Node units each with one Apollo Miner connected. I heat my small home with them and again, have had no issues other than what I've mentioned already. I did follow all of the set-up instructions to the letter, have very good internet service with my own high quality modem and router, and all my electronics plugged into APC Line-R Voltage Regulator units. Wish I could provide more help but would suggest:

*Replace the original sim card with a same size higher quality one (cheap) and re-install official software
*Consider buying a cheapish voltage regulator and use that to protect/ensure the Node Miner is getting clean voltage (and the one's I use act as a surge protectors too; we suffer spikes/minor outages here in the East Tennessee Valley due to storms at times)
*Review and be sure to follow directions for set-up to the letter
*Don't run the miner while downloading the chain

I realize this is all pretty basic but I honestly have had a great experience with these miners and can only suggest what has worked for me. I hope this helps even if just a little. Good luck!
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I tried the reindex.  It really doesn't work like you think.  Better to start over. 
Things to consider.  Have you monitored the bitcoin log.  Theres a command a few pages back explaining how to open a window and watch the bitcoin log live.  Sometimes you get errors that points you in the direction of the problems.  It will also show you the program is running when you think nothing is going on. 

Also check the bitcoind program in the system monitor and watch that run.  If it disappears you know the program crashed.   Sometimes its better to reboot the system and allowing the node to restart or restarting the node after a reboot.  Just restarting the node after a crash may mean strange things might be happening with memory or something and I've seen more problems just restarting the node.

I found that the bitcoind program would crash I reboot the system and it picks up where it left off.  A chainstate error does not get fixed by reindexing.  A restart and fresh run of bitcoind would usually fix this.  This is the database bitcoind writes from the blockchain database as a reference.  This chainstate is already rewritten on every reboot and over time with new block data.

One other thing I did was get another pcie memory stick and backup the blockchain during successful downloads after getting to a specific point.  As you get later in the download after i think around 2020 the blockchain data changed, got bigger and each new block took longer to process so the first 3/4 could take 2 days and the last 1/4 takes another 2 days.
Don't use the apollo to do anything else but download the blockchain.  no surfing or browsing.  I even close the browser windows and monitor remotely.  Uses less memory and processing power.

Once you get the IBD, my system is running very well in all modes.  ECO, normal and TURBO.  Right now I'm in ECO for quiet and running very stable.
A good surge suppressor/noise conditioner is important for the power to the apollo II along with a backup power supply.   Crashes have the chance of corrupting the bitcoin database. 

The original microsd cards seem very unreliable and old.  I had same problem.  Upgraded to a new Microsd and it worked fine.  Those supplied with the apollo II seem old and unreliable.  16GB was outdated a while ago.  Old cards sold at a discount in the major outlets are 32 and 64GB.  I bought an ONN and PNY 32 and 64 gB flashed v 2.0.6 and they worked fine and are very stable. They are slower microsd cards but time to boot is only 25% slower and while operating, OS minimal speed difference vs a newer fast memory card.

I've got a FIKWOT FN955 PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe 1TB that works fine and I haven't had any problems on the Apollo II.  I also have a PNY 1TB Nvme M.2 that works and use as a backup.  Read/Write speeds are no more than 200 MB/sec when monitored on the Apollo II. On my system

Yup.  you may need to format the nvme after you install it then reboot.

The one apollo at 5EH I've seen the photos and it's got over 150 big hitter miners up to over 300 miners on it.  No reason to connect to ckpool web server.  Your apollo is a ckpool.  A node you control, not someone else. One less hand in the pass.  You can connect over 900 miners to it if you want to.

As for pool hashing It's a great idea if you get over 5EH for many weeks.  But once that block is hit only the apollo gets it, its not distributed and the moment one miner doesn't play ball the next group mining will have fewer miners.  There is no guarantee all will participate and when you lose miners you lose hash power.

I had  futurebit moonlanders running 90GH.  It ran for years and it did hit a best share of 1.6 Trillion.  Difficulty was 25 Trillion.  So this is all possible.  Miners have to run to discover a better best share.  This is a lottery.  You may never hit or your could hit the jackpot tomorrow.  You need reliable miners and a reliable node that will successfully submit a block.  I now trust the apollo will do that when it hits.  Imagine if your connected to a pool not in your control and  your miner hits but the pool sight is down and doesn't report the found block.

This is proof that the futurebit apollo node can act as a pool and successfully submit solved blocks.  It may have taken a lot of hashpower to prove it but there were some questions if it was possible.  This is the proof.  Any apollo mining has a chance to solve the block and have it submitted successfully by the node.  My best share is proof as to how close I am getting to solving a block and yes it is rather difficult.

The chainstate is a temporary database that updates on every cycle of starting the node and it keeps a record of the blockchain status.  Forget trying to reindex.  Try to shut down and restart the node.  You will get the error but check if the  bitcoind program is running.  It takes a few minutes for bitcoind to rewrite the chainstate.  The program may run even with this error and will eventually overwrite the old corrupt data and run fine. 

More often shut down the apollo and start it up may get the download going again.  Trying to stop and start the node is less successful.  As long as bitcoind is running it will fix itself.  From experience, don't bother trying to reindex your chainstate or blockchain.  It is much easier to start a fresh blockchain download than trying to reindex.  The CPU is not fast enough.

Windows doesn't like mining software.  It gets flagged a lot and you have to exclude it from windows defender.  it will run fine then on a specific update they flag it.  It's from the days when viruses would load mining software to run in the background of the computer and use up resources.  I have old versions of mining software running my USB and CPU miners of other systems and a recent windows update flagged these files.  I have them running on isolated laptops and I tell defender to ignore the file as ok and not trojan.  It should isolate it out.  If you execute the defender fix then it gets deleted.

Your link gives tips to programmers for what is being detected and why with possible fixes to those detections. Some may be fixable, others may be the result of the miner software design. The programmers should sign the file and you can verify the checksum to make sure there was no additional manipulation of those files.  If there was and not a match, then I'd be suspicious and programmers should look into it.

APOLLO II in field temperature performance.

The case design is tight.  The metal case is critical in thermal dissipation.  Airflow is also critical.  When the fan increases speed it means the temp sensors need more airflow to compensate higher temperatures.  IF fan speed is lower there is sufficient airflow to cool the cpu and miner.

With the miner in normal position, the design as you say is to increase flow through the top vents.  THis is correct that the airflow through the top vents does help cooling of the power supply.  But there are only 3 fine vents on the top.  It looks like the design was for most airflow through the bottom.  The problem with this design is air is pulled through the top and bottom and then out the side.  The side exhaust creates a feedback airflow loop back to the bottom of the unit.  Thus, a percentage of hot exhaust air gets pulled back into the bottom increasing temps entering unit.   Next, in the real world where there is dust, if you watch with the correct light you will see dust pulled into the top vents and dust landing on the surface also gets pulled into the bottom at a higher rate than fans than intakes located on the side.  The top vents accumulate dust much quicker causing the same airflow problem that increases heat into the power supply.  Most computer designs I've seen and used have the intake and exhausts on the side.  I would think a future design with the fan vent pointed up and intakes on the side and bottom would be better as thermal heat wants to rise.

Now, for this SITU: The power supply seems to have a heat sink connected to the case looking through the vents.  WIth an infrared temp sensor I measured the metal sides and top.

In normal position the APOLLO II reported temps 2-3deg. C. higher and fan speed 200-300 RPM higher than turning my unit on its side.  This tells me the unit is not getting enough airflow based on measured temperatures.  The exterior side where the power supply measured 37-38 Deg. C.   When turning the unit with the HDMI pointed up.  miner temp dropped and fan speed dropped.  The temp on exterior case was 39-40 Deg C.  This all while running in turbo mode.  This should not be hot enough to create problems.  I would think running the miner cooler is more important to extend life of miner.  Case temperaure next to power supply was similar to apollo reported system temperaure.  System temperature was actually warmer than case temp and did not change much based on position.  Maybe there needs to be a temp sensor in the power supply for future design.  With intake on the sides there is no exhaust feedback to the bottom part of the case that is now on the side.  The volume of air pushed out the exhaust actually creates airflow over the sides helping fresh airflow into the vents and natural cooling of the metal case

Regarding the Switch.  Either its a design flaw in excess current through the small switch or its a faulty switch.  Temp measured at switch is same at case temp 38-40 Deg. C.  It's also next to fan.  I've had no problems with my switch from a unit shipped in october.  5A through a 5A switch will fail more often than 4A through a 5A switch and 3A through a 5A switch with fail much less if at all. 

Running the miner in normal mode or eco mode should automatically pull much less power reducing stress on the power supply, no matter what position the miner is placed.
In eco Mode the miner runs very well in the normal position. is very quiet and uses little power.

Overall this is a very nice design and I'm sure was not easy to fit everything into this small package and slick look.  The exhaust heat sink and heat pipes are very efficient to pull heat away from the cpu and miner.  The other reason I like the unit sideways is so I can look inside the bottom and see all the LED lights hidden from view which tell me how my miner is operating.   The LED light on my NVME lets me know when data to memory is active or inactive. 

Cleaning dust off the APOLLO II.

It's been 3 months since I received my Apollo II.  I have mine turned sideways for better airflow through the bottom, which it does.  The top vents are clogged from dust accumulation.  I suspect that would get worse faster if I had the top vents pointed up. 

Shut down my node, got the Air compressor blower and blew the dust back out.  Lots of fine dust was blown out the top and bottom.  No noticeable cooling difference.  I thought there might be but the unit seems to be cooling well even with a small coating of dust.  Now good for another 3 months.

running a fresh flash of v2.0.6 does seem more stable than v2.0.6 as long as I don't load up a bunch of other stuff In the browser.   And don't try to restore saved settings as this wipes the settings installed in v.2.0.6.  When I did this my node became less stable with the settings I saved from v.2.0.5  includes reverting back to 32 node connections.  On v2.0.5 when I upped the nodes to 64 the system would crash.  Not under v2.0.6.

IMO: This system is not designed to run a lightning node.  From what I've read to run a lightning node you need multiple open channels.  You need an efficient and online system 24/7 with quick response.  You need backup servers in case a server crashes.  Your dedicating 1 BTC or more to your lightning network to make it attractive to use.

The apollo II can barely handle a node and mining.  Anything else I think will just overload the small CPU in the system and a bitcoin node will conflict with a lightning node.

Many seem to choose an AWS service, or similar,  as being more reliable to run a lightning node  capacity and speed of server network connections.

I think the designers mentioned they designed this apollo system to do just one thing host a node and mine.  That's it, KISS.  Theres not a lot more you can add.  I've seen system performance deteriorate quickly when you try to run multiple programs above what's provided.  What is more impressive is your apollo II can pool multiple bitcoin miners within your network.

Software Bug Found:  Changing system time zone will cause miner data to reset to 0 while miner and node programs are running.  Stopping and restarting the miner did not fix the problem.

I changed the time zone on the Apollo II.  This caused all miner data to reset to 0 and not report any data.  I waited an hour and no update.  It did not affect node data and solo mining data.  Miner operated as normal and fan speed is working.  But you can't see temp data for the miner nor fan speed.

A reboot after setting the time zone did fix the problem.