README.txt 47 KB

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  1. This is a multi-threaded multi-pool FPGA and ASIC miner for bitcoin.
  2. This code is provided entirely free of charge by the programmer in his spare
  3. time so donations would be greatly appreciated. Please consider donating to the
  4. address below.
  5. Con Kolivas <kernel@kolivas.org>
  6. 15qSxP1SQcUX3o4nhkfdbgyoWEFMomJ4rZ
  7. NOTE: This code is licensed under the GPLv3. This means that the source to any
  8. modifications you make to this code MUST be provided by law if you distribute
  9. modified binaries. See COPYING for details.
  10. DOWNLOADS:
  11. http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer
  12. GIT TREE:
  13. https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer
  14. Support thread:
  15. http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0
  16. IRC Channel:
  17. irc://irc.freenode.net/cgminer
  18. SEE ALSO API-README, ASIC-README and FGPA-README FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EACH.
  19. ---
  20. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ON USAGE:
  21. Single pool:
  22. cgminer -o http://pool:port -u username -p password
  23. Multiple pools:
  24. cgminer -o http://pool1:port -u pool1username -p pool1password -o http://pool2:port -u pool2usernmae -p pool2password
  25. Single pool with a standard http proxy:
  26. cgminer -o "http:proxy:port|http://pool:port" -u username -p password
  27. Single pool with a socks5 proxy:
  28. cgminer -o "socks5:proxy:port|http://pool:port" -u username -p password
  29. Single pool with stratum protocol support:
  30. cgminer -o stratum+tcp://pool:port -u username -p password
  31. Solo mining to local bitcoind:
  32. cgminer -o http://localhost:8332 -u username -p password --btc-address 15qSxP1SQcUX3o4nhkfdbgyoWEFMomJ4rZ
  33. The list of proxy types are:
  34. http: standard http 1.1 proxy
  35. http0: http 1.0 proxy
  36. socks4: socks4 proxy
  37. socks5: socks5 proxy
  38. socks4a: socks4a proxy
  39. socks5h: socks5 proxy using a hostname
  40. If you compile cgminer with a version of CURL before 7.19.4 then some of the above will
  41. not be available. All are available since CURL version 7.19.4
  42. If you specify the --socks-proxy option to cgminer, it will only be applied to all pools
  43. that don't specify their own proxy setting like above
  44. After saving configuration from the menu, you do not need to give cgminer any
  45. arguments and it will load your configuration.
  46. Any configuration file may also contain a single
  47. "include" : "filename"
  48. to recursively include another configuration file.
  49. Writing the configuration will save all settings from all files in the output.
  50. ---
  51. BUILDING CGMINER FOR YOURSELF
  52. DEPENDENCIES:
  53. Mandatory:
  54. pkg-config http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/pkg-config
  55. libtool http://www.gnu.org/software/libtool/
  56. Optional:
  57. curl dev library http://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/
  58. (libcurl4-openssl-dev - Must tell configure --disable-libcurl otherwise
  59. it will attempt to compile it in)
  60. curses dev library
  61. (libncurses5-dev or libpdcurses on WIN32 for text user interface)
  62. libudev dev library (libudev-dev)
  63. (This is only required for USB device support and is linux only)
  64. If building from git:
  65. autoconf
  66. automake
  67. If building on Red Hat:
  68. sudo yum install autoconf automake autoreconf libtool openssl-compat-bitcoin-devel.x86_64 \
  69. curl libcurl libcurl-devel openssh
  70. If building on Ubuntu:
  71. sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf automake libtool pkg-config \
  72. libcurl3-dev libudev-dev
  73. CGMiner specific configuration options:
  74. --enable-ants1 Compile support for Antminer S1 Bitmain (default
  75. disabled)
  76. --enable-ants2 Compile support for Antminer S2 Bitmain (default
  77. disabled)
  78. --enable-avalon Compile support for Avalon (default disabled)
  79. --enable-avalon2 Compile support for Avalon2/3 (default disabled)
  80. --enable-avalon4 Compile support for Avalon4/4.1/6 (default disabled)
  81. --enable-bab Compile support for BlackArrow Bitfury (default
  82. disabled)
  83. --enable-bflsc Compile support for BFL ASICs (default disabled)
  84. --enable-bitforce Compile support for BitForce FPGAs (default
  85. disabled)
  86. --enable-bitfury Compile support for BitFury ASICs (default disabled)
  87. --enable-bitmine_A1 Compile support for Bitmine.ch A1 ASICs (default
  88. disabled)
  89. --enable-blockerupter Compile support for ASICMINER BlockErupter Tube/Prisma
  90. (default disabled)
  91. --enable-cointerra Compile support for Cointerra ASICs (default disabled)
  92. --enable-drillbit Compile support for Drillbit BitFury ASICs (default
  93. disabled)
  94. --enable-hashfast Compile support for Hashfast (default disabled)
  95. --enable-icarus Compile support for Icarus (default disabled)
  96. --enable-klondike Compile support for Klondike (default disabled)
  97. --enable-knc Compile support for KnC miners (default disabled)
  98. --enable-minion Compile support for Minion BlackArrow ASIC (default
  99. disabled)
  100. --enable-modminer Compile support for ModMiner FPGAs(default disabled)
  101. --enable-sp10 Compile support for Spondoolies SP10 (default
  102. disabled)
  103. --enable-sp30 Compile support for Spondoolies SP30 (default
  104. disabled)
  105. --disable-libcurl Disable building with libcurl for GBT support
  106. --enable-libsystemd Compile support for system watchdog and status
  107. notifications (default disabled)
  108. --without-curses Compile support for curses TUI (default enabled)
  109. --with-system-libusb Compile against dynamic system libusb (default use
  110. included static libusb)
  111. --with-system-jansson Compile against dynamic system jansson (default use
  112. included static jansson)
  113. Basic *nix build instructions:
  114. To actually build:
  115. ./autogen.sh # only needed if building from git repo
  116. CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -march=native" ./configure <options>
  117. make
  118. No installation is necessary. You may run cgminer from the build
  119. directory directly, but you may do make install if you wish to install
  120. cgminer to a system location or location you specified.
  121. Building for windows:
  122. It is actually easiest to build a windows binary using cross compilation tools
  123. provided by "mxe" available at http://mxe.cc/ (use the 32 bit one!)
  124. Once you have followed the instructions for building mxe:
  125. export PATH=(path/to/mxe)/usr/bin/:$PATH
  126. CFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -W -march=i686" ./configure --host=i686-pc-mingw32 <options>
  127. make
  128. Native WIN32 build instructions: see windows-build.txt but these instructions
  129. are now hopelessly out of date.
  130. ---
  131. Usage instructions: Run "cgminer --help" to see options:
  132. Usage: cgminer [-DdElmpPQqUsTouOchnV]
  133. Options for both config file and command line:
  134. --anu-freq <arg> Set AntminerU1/2 frequency in MHz, range 125-500 (default: 250.0)
  135. --api-allow <arg> Allow API access only to the given list of [G:]IP[/Prefix] addresses[/subnets]
  136. --api-description <arg> Description placed in the API status header, default: cgminer version
  137. --api-groups <arg> API one letter groups G:cmd:cmd[,P:cmd:*...] defining the cmds a groups can use
  138. --api-listen Enable API, default: disabled
  139. --api-mcast Enable API Multicast listener, default: disabled
  140. --api-mcast-addr <arg> API Multicast listen address
  141. --api-mcast-code <arg> Code expected in the API Multicast message, don't use '-'
  142. --api-mcast-des <arg> Description appended to the API Multicast reply, default: ''
  143. --api-mcast-port <arg> API Multicast listen port (default: 4028)
  144. --api-network Allow API (if enabled) to listen on/for any address, default: only 127.0.0.1
  145. --api-port <arg> Port number of miner API (default: 4028)
  146. --au3-freq <arg> Set AntminerU3 frequency in MHz, range 100-250 (default: 225.0)
  147. --au3-volt <arg> Set AntminerU3 voltage in mv, range 725-850, 0 to not set (default: 775)
  148. --avalon-auto Adjust avalon overclock frequency dynamically for best hashrate
  149. --avalon-cutoff <arg> Set avalon overheat cut off temperature (default: 60)
  150. --avalon-fan <arg> Set fanspeed percentage for avalon, single value or range (default: 20-100)
  151. --avalon-freq <arg> Set frequency range for avalon-auto, single value or range
  152. --avalon-options <arg> Set avalon options baud:miners:asic:timeout:freq:tech
  153. --avalon-temp <arg> Set avalon target temperature (default: 50)
  154. --avalon2-freq Set frequency range for Avalon2, single value or range
  155. --avalon2-voltage Set Avalon2 core voltage, in millivolts
  156. --avalon2-fan Set Avalon2 target fan speed
  157. --avalon2-cutoff <arg> Set Avalon2 overheat cut off temperature (default: 88)
  158. --avalon2-fixed-speed Set Avalon2 fan to fixed speed
  159. --avalon4-automatic-voltage Automatic adjust voltage base on module DH
  160. --avalon4-voltage Set Avalon4 core voltage, in millivolts, step: 125
  161. --avalon4-freq Set frequency for Avalon4, 1 to 3 values, example: 445:385:370
  162. --avalon4-fan Set Avalon4 target fan speed range
  163. --avalon4-temp <arg> Set Avalon4 target temperature (default: 42)
  164. --avalon4-cutoff <arg> Set Avalon4 overheat cut off temperature (default: 65)
  165. --avalon4-polling-delay <arg> Set Avalon4 polling delay value (ms) (default: 20)
  166. --avalon4-ntime-offset <arg> Set Avalon4 MM ntime rolling max offset (default: 4)
  167. --avalon4-aucspeed <arg> Set Avalon4 AUC IIC bus speed (default: 400000)
  168. --avalon4-aucxdelay <arg> Set Avalon4 AUC IIC xfer read delay, 4800 ~= 1ms (default: 9600)
  169. --avalon4-miningmode <arg> Set Avalon4 mining mode(0:custom, 1:eco, 2:normal, 3:turbo (default: 0)
  170. --avalon4-freezesafe Make Avalon4 running as a radiator when stratum server failed
  171. --avalon4-ntcb <arg> Set Avalon4 MM NTC B value (default: 3450)
  172. --avalon4-freq-min <arg> Set minimum frequency for Avalon4 (default: 100)
  173. --avalon4-freq-max <arg> Set maximum frequency for Avalon4 (default: 1000)
  174. --avalon4-noncecheck-off Disable A3218 inside nonce check function
  175. --avalon4-smart-speed <arg> Set smart speed, range 0-3. 0 means Disable (default: 2)
  176. --avalon4-speed-bingo <arg> Set A3218 speed bingo for smart speed mode 1 (default: 255)
  177. --avalon4-speed-error <arg> Set A3218 speed error for smart speed mode 1 (default: 3)
  178. --avalon4-least-pll <arg> Set least pll check threshold for smart speed mode 2 (default: 768)
  179. --avalon4-most-pll <arg> Set most pll check threshold for smart speed mode 2 (default: 256)
  180. --bab-options <arg> Set BaB options max:def:min:up:down:hz:delay:trf
  181. --balance Change multipool strategy from failover to even share balance
  182. --benchfile <arg> Run cgminer in benchmark mode using a work file - produces no shares
  183. --benchfile-display Display each benchfile nonce found
  184. --benchmark Run cgminer in benchmark mode - produces no shares
  185. --bet-clk <arg> Set clockspeed of ASICMINER Tube/Prisma to (arg+1)*10MHz (default: 23)
  186. --bfl-range Use nonce range on bitforce devices if supported
  187. --bflsc-overheat <arg> Set overheat temperature where BFLSC devices throttle, 0 to disable (default: 85)
  188. --bitburner-fury-voltage <arg> Set BitBurner Fury core voltage, in millivolts
  189. --bitburner-fury-options <arg> Override avalon-options for BitBurner Fury boards baud:miners:asic:timeout:freq
  190. --bitburner-voltage <arg> Set BitBurner (Avalon) core voltage, in millivolts
  191. --bitmain-auto Adjust bitmain overclock frequency dynamically for best hashrate
  192. --bitmain-cutoff <arg> Set bitmain overheat cut off temperature
  193. --bitmain-fan <arg> Set fanspeed percentage for bitmain, single value or range (default: 20-100)
  194. --bitmain-freq <arg> Set bitmain freq options timeout:freq:regdata
  195. --bitmain-hwerror Set bitmain device detect hardware error
  196. --bitmain-options <arg> Set bitmain options baud:miners:asic:timeout:freq:regdata
  197. --bitmain-temp <arg> Set bitmain target temperature
  198. --bitmain-workdelay <arg> Set bitmain work delay (ms) 0-100
  199. --bitmain-voltage <arg> Set bitmain voltage - S2/S3 only
  200. --bitmain-dev <arg> Set bitmain device - S2 only
  201. --bitmainbeeper Set bitmain beeper ringing
  202. --bitmaintempoverctrl Set bitmain stop runing when temprerature is over 80 degree Celsius
  203. --bxf-bits <arg> Set max BXF/HXF bits for overclocking (default: 54)
  204. --bxf-temp-target <arg> Set target temperature for BXF/HXF devices (default: 82)
  205. --bxm-bits <arg> Set BXM bits for overclocking (default: 54)
  206. --btc-address <arg> Set bitcoin target address when solo mining to bitcoind
  207. --btc-sig <arg> Set signature to add to coinbase when solo mining (optional)
  208. --compact Use compact display without per device statistics
  209. --debug|-D Enable debug output
  210. --disable-rejecting Automatically disable pools that continually reject shares
  211. --drillbit-options <arg> Set drillbit options <int|ext>:clock[:clock_divider][:voltage]
  212. --expiry|-E <arg> Upper bound on how many seconds after getting work we consider a share from it stale (default: 120)
  213. --failover-only Don't leak work to backup pools when primary pool is lagging
  214. --fix-protocol Do not redirect to stratum protocol from GBT
  215. --hfa-hash-clock <arg> Set hashfast clock speed (default: 550)
  216. --hfa-fail-drop <arg> Set how many MHz to drop clockspeed each failure on an overlocked hashfast device (default: 10)
  217. --hfa-fan <arg> Set fanspeed percentage for hashfast, single value or range (default: 10-85)
  218. --hfa-name <arg> Set a unique name for a single hashfast device specified with --usb or the first device found
  219. --hfa-noshed Disable hashfast dynamic core disabling feature
  220. --hfa-options <arg> Set hashfast options name:clock (comma separated)
  221. --hfa-temp-overheat <arg> Set the hashfast overheat throttling temperature (default: 95)
  222. --hfa-temp-target <arg> Set the hashfast target temperature (0 to disable) (default: 88)
  223. --hro-freq Set the hashratio clock frequency (default: 280)
  224. --hotplug <arg> Seconds between hotplug checks (0 means never check)
  225. --klondike-options <arg> Set klondike options clock:temptarget
  226. --load-balance Change multipool strategy from failover to quota based balance
  227. --log|-l <arg> Interval in seconds between log output (default: 5)
  228. --lowmem Minimise caching of shares for low memory applications
  229. --minion-chipreport <arg> Seconds to report chip 5min hashrate, range 0-100 (default: 0=disabled)
  230. --minion-freq <arg> Set minion chip frequencies in MHz, single value or comma list, range 100-1400 (default: 1200)
  231. --minion-freqchange Millisecond total time to do frequency changes (default: 1000)
  232. --minion-freqpercent Percentage to use when starting up a chip (default: 70%)
  233. --minion-idlecount Report when IdleCount is >0 or changes
  234. --minion-ledcount Turn off led when more than this many chips below the ledlimit (default: 0)
  235. --minion-ledlimit Turn off led when chips GHs are below this (default: 90)
  236. --minion-noautofreq Disable automatic frequency adjustment
  237. --minion-overheat Enable directly halting any chip when the status exceeds 100C
  238. --minion-spidelay Add a delay in microseconds after each SPI I/O
  239. --minion-spireset SPI regular reset: iNNN for I/O count or sNNN for seconds - 0 means none
  240. --minion-spisleep Sleep time in milliseconds when doing an SPI reset
  241. --minion-temp <arg> Set minion chip temperature threshold, single value or comma list, range 120-160 (default: 135C)
  242. --monitor|-m <arg> Use custom pipe cmd for output messages
  243. --nfu-bits <arg> Set nanofury bits for overclocking, range 32-63 (default: 50)
  244. --net-delay Impose small delays in networking to not overload slow routers
  245. --no-submit-stale Don't submit shares if they are detected as stale
  246. --osm-led-mode <arg> Set LED mode for OneStringMiner devices (default: 4)
  247. --pass|-p <arg> Password for bitcoin JSON-RPC server
  248. --per-device-stats Force verbose mode and output per-device statistics
  249. --protocol-dump|-P Verbose dump of protocol-level activities
  250. --queue|-Q <arg> Minimum number of work items to have queued (0+) (default: 1)
  251. --quiet|-q Disable logging output, display status and errors
  252. --quota|-U <arg> quota;URL combination for server with load-balance strategy quotas
  253. --real-quiet Disable all output
  254. --rock-freq <arg> Set RockMiner frequency in MHz, range 200-400 (default: 270)
  255. --rotate <arg> Change multipool strategy from failover to regularly rotate at N minutes (default: 0)
  256. --round-robin Change multipool strategy from failover to round robin on failure
  257. --scan-time|-s <arg> Upper bound on time spent scanning current work, in seconds (default: -1)
  258. --sched-start <arg> Set a time of day in HH:MM to start mining (a once off without a stop time)
  259. --sched-stop <arg> Set a time of day in HH:MM to stop mining (will quit without a start time)
  260. --sharelog <arg> Append share log to file
  261. --shares <arg> Quit after mining N shares (default: unlimited)
  262. --socks-proxy <arg> Set socks4 proxy (host:port)
  263. --suggest-diff <arg> Suggest miner difficulty for pool to user (default: none)
  264. --syslog Use system log for output messages (default: standard error)
  265. --temp-cutoff <arg> Temperature where a device will be automatically disabled, one value or comma separated list (default: 95)
  266. --text-only|-T Disable ncurses formatted screen output
  267. --url|-o <arg> URL for bitcoin JSON-RPC server
  268. --usb <arg> USB device selection
  269. --user|-u <arg> Username for bitcoin JSON-RPC server
  270. --userpass|-O <arg> Username:Password pair for bitcoin JSON-RPC server
  271. --verbose Log verbose output to stderr as well as status output
  272. --widescreen Use extra wide display without toggling
  273. --worktime Display extra work time debug information
  274. Options for command line only:
  275. --config|-c <arg> Load a JSON-format configuration file
  276. See example.conf for an example configuration.
  277. --default-config <arg> Specify the filename of the default config file
  278. Loaded at start and used when saving without a name.
  279. --help|-h Print this message
  280. --ndevs|-n Display all USB devices and exit
  281. --version|-V Display version and exit
  282. Silent USB device (ASIC and FPGA) options:
  283. --icarus-options <arg> Set specific FPGA board configurations - one set of values for all or comma separated
  284. --icarus-timing <arg> Set how the Icarus timing is calculated - one setting/value for all or comma separated
  285. --usb-dump (See FPGA-README)
  286. See FGPA-README or ASIC-README for more information regarding these.
  287. ASIC only options:
  288. --anu-freq <arg> Set AntminerU1/2 frequency in MHz, range 125-500 (default: 250.0)
  289. --au3-freq <arg> Set AntminerU3 frequency in MHz, range 100-250 (default: 225.0)
  290. --au3-volt <arg> Set AntminerU3 voltage in mv, range 725-850, 0 to not set (default: 750)
  291. --avalon-auto Adjust avalon overclock frequency dynamically for best hashrate
  292. --avalon-cutoff <arg> Set avalon overheat cut off temperature (default: 60)
  293. --avalon-fan <arg> Set fanspeed percentage for avalon, single value or range (default: 20-100)
  294. --avalon-freq <arg> Set frequency range for avalon-auto, single value or range
  295. --avalon-options <arg> Set avalon options baud:miners:asic:timeout:freq:tech
  296. --avalon-temp <arg> Set avalon target temperature (default: 50)
  297. --avalon2-freq Set frequency range for Avalon2, single value or range
  298. --avalon2-voltage Set Avalon2 core voltage, in millivolts
  299. --avalon2-fan Set Avalon2 target fan speed
  300. --avalon2-cutoff <arg> Set Avalon2 overheat cut off temperature (default: 88)
  301. --avalon2-fixed-speed Set Avalon2 fan to fixed speed
  302. --avalon4-automatic-voltage Automatic adjust voltage base on module DH
  303. --avalon4-voltage Set Avalon4 core voltage, in millivolts, step: 125
  304. --avalon4-freq Set frequency for Avalon4, 1 to 3 values, example: 445:385:370
  305. --avalon4-fan Set Avalon4 target fan speed range
  306. --avalon4-temp <arg> Set Avalon4 target temperature (default: 42)
  307. --avalon4-cutoff <arg> Set Avalon4 overheat cut off temperature (default: 65)
  308. --avalon4-polling-delay <arg> Set Avalon4 polling delay value (ms) (default: 20)
  309. --avalon4-ntime-offset <arg> Set Avalon4 MM ntime rolling max offset (default: 4)
  310. --avalon4-aucspeed <arg> Set Avalon4 AUC IIC bus speed (default: 400000)
  311. --avalon4-aucxdelay <arg> Set Avalon4 AUC IIC xfer read delay, 4800 ~= 1ms (default: 9600)
  312. --bab-options <arg> Set BaB options max:def:min:up:down:hz:delay:trf
  313. --bflsc-overheat <arg> Set overheat temperature where BFLSC devices throttle, 0 to disable (default: 90)
  314. --bitburner-fury-options <arg> Override avalon-options for BitBurner Fury boards baud:miners:asic:timeout:freq
  315. --bitburner-fury-voltage <arg> Set BitBurner Fury core voltage, in millivolts
  316. --bitburner-voltage <arg> Set BitBurner (Avalon) core voltage, in millivolts
  317. --bitmine-a1-options <ref_clk>:<sys_clk>:<spi_clk>:<max_chip>
  318. --bxf-temp-target <arg> Set target temperature for BXF devices (default: 82)
  319. --bxm-bits <arg> Set BXM bits for overclocking (default: 50)
  320. --hfa-hash-clock <arg> Set hashfast clock speed (default: 550)
  321. --hfa-fail-drop <arg> Set how many MHz to drop clockspeed each failure on an overlocked hashfast device (default: 10)
  322. --hfa-fan <arg> Set fanspeed percentage for hashfast, single value or range (default: 10-85)
  323. --hfa-name <arg> Set a unique name for a single hashfast device specified with --usb or the first device found
  324. --hfa-noshed Disable hashfast dynamic core disabling feature
  325. --hfa-temp-overheat <arg> Set the hashfast overheat throttling temperature (default: 95)
  326. --hfa-temp-target <arg> Set the hashfast target temperature (0 to disable) (default: 88)
  327. --hro-freq Set the hashratio clock frequency (default: 280)
  328. --klondike-options <arg> Set klondike options clock:temptarget
  329. --rock-freq <arg> Set RockMiner frequency in MHz, range 125-500 (default: 270)
  330. See ASIC-README for more information regarding these.
  331. FPGA only options:
  332. --bfl-range Use nonce range on bitforce devices if supported
  333. See FGPA-README for more information regarding this.
  334. Cgminer should automatically find all of your Avalon ASIC, BFL ASIC, BitForce
  335. FPGAs, Icarus bitstream FPGAs, Klondike ASIC, ASICMINER usb block erupters,
  336. KnC ASICs, BaB ASICs, Hashfast ASICs, ModMiner FPGAs, BPMC/BGMC BF1 USB ASICs,
  337. Bi*fury USB ASICs, Onestring miner USB ASICs, Hexfury USB ASICs, Nanofury USB
  338. ASICs, Antminer U1/U2/U2+ U3 USB ASICs, Cointerra devices, BFx2 USB ASICs,
  339. Rockminer R-Box/RK-Box/T1 USB ASICs, Avalon2/3/4 USB ASICs and Hashratio USB
  340. ASICs.
  341. ---
  342. SETTING UP USB DEVICES
  343. WINDOWS:
  344. On windows, the direct USB support requires the installation of a WinUSB
  345. driver (NOT the ftdi_sio driver), and attach it to the chosen USB device.
  346. When configuring your device, plug it in and wait for windows to attempt to
  347. install a driver on its own. It may think it has succeeded or failed but wait
  348. for it to finish regardless. This is NOT the driver you want installed. At this
  349. point you need to associate your device with the WinUSB driver. The easiest
  350. way to do this is to use the zadig utility which you must right click on and
  351. run as administrator. Then once you plug in your device you can choose the
  352. "list all devices" from the "option" menu and you should be able to see the
  353. device as something like: "BitFORCE SHA256 SC". Choose the install or replace
  354. driver option and select WinUSB. You can either google for zadig or download
  355. it from the cgminer directory in the DOWNLOADS link above.
  356. When you first switch a device over to WinUSB with zadig and it shows that
  357. correctly on the left of the zadig window, but it still gives permission
  358. errors, you may need to unplug the USB miner and then plug it back in. Some
  359. users may need to reboot at this point.
  360. LINUX:
  361. The short version:
  362. sudo cp 01-cgminer.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
  363. The long version:
  364. On linux, the direct USB support requires no drivers at all. However due to
  365. permissions issues, you may not be able to mine directly on the devices as a
  366. regular user without giving the user access to the device or by mining as
  367. root (administrator). In order to give your regular user access, you can make
  368. him a member of the plugdev group with the following commands:
  369. sudo usermod -G plugdev -a `whoami`
  370. If your distribution does not have the plugdev group you can create it with:
  371. sudo groupadd plugdev
  372. In order for the USB devices to instantly be owned by the plugdev group and
  373. accessible by anyone from the plugdev group you can copy the file
  374. "01-cgminer.rules" from the cgminer archive into the /etc/udev/rules.d
  375. directory with the following command:
  376. sudo cp 01-cgminer.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
  377. After this you can either manually restart udev and re-login, or more easily
  378. just reboot.
  379. OSX:
  380. On OSX, like Linux, no drivers need to be installed. However some devices
  381. like the bitfury USB sticks automatically load a driver thinking they're a
  382. modem and the driver needs to be unloaded for cgminer to work:
  383. sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCDC
  384. sudo kextunload -b com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCDCACMData
  385. There may be a limit to the number of USB devices that you are allowed to start.
  386. The following set of commands, followed by a reboot will increase that:
  387. sudo su
  388. touch /etc/sysctl.conf
  389. echo kern.sysv.semume=100 >> /etc/sysctl.conf
  390. chown root:wheel /etc/sysctl.conf
  391. chmod 0644 /etc/sysctl.conf
  392. Some devices need superuser access to mine on them so cgminer may need to
  393. be started with sudo
  394. i.e.:
  395. sudo cgminer <insert commands here>
  396. ---
  397. Advanced USB options:
  398. The --usb option can restrict how many USB devices are found:
  399. --usb 1:2,1:3,1:4,1:*
  400. or
  401. --usb BAS:1,BFL:1,MMQ:0,ICA:0,KLN:0
  402. or
  403. --usb :10
  404. You can only use one of the above 3
  405. The first version
  406. --usb 1:2,1:3,1:4,1:*
  407. allows you to select which devices to mine on with a list of USB
  408. bus_number:device_address
  409. All other USB devices will be ignored
  410. Hotplug will also only look at the devices matching the list specified and
  411. find nothing new if they are all in use
  412. You can specify just the USB bus_number to find all devices like 1:*
  413. which means any devices on USB bus_number 1
  414. This is useful if you unplug a device then plug it back in the same port,
  415. it usually reappears with the same bus_number but a different device_address
  416. You can see the list of all USB devices on linux with 'sudo lsusb'
  417. Cgminer will list the recognised USB devices
  418. with the '-n' option or the
  419. '--usb-dump 0' option
  420. The '--usb-dump N' option with a value of N greater than 0 will dump a lot
  421. of details about each recognised USB device
  422. If you wish to see all USB devices, include the --usb-list-all option
  423. The second version
  424. --usb BAS:1,BFL:1,MMQ:0,ICA:0,KLN:0
  425. allows you to specify how many devices to choose based on each device
  426. driver cgminer has - the current USB drivers are:
  427. AVA, BAS, BFL, BF1, DRB, HFA, ICA, KLN and MMQ.
  428. N.B. you can only specify which device driver to limit, not the type of
  429. each device, e.g. with BAS:n you can limit how many BFL ASIC devices will
  430. be checked, but you cannot limit the number of each type of BFL ASIC
  431. Also note that the MMQ count is the number of MMQ backplanes you have
  432. not the number of MMQ FPGAs
  433. The third version
  434. --usb :10
  435. means only use a maximum of 10 devices of any supported USB devices
  436. Once cgminer has 10 devices it will not configure any more and hotplug will
  437. not scan for any more
  438. If one of the 10 devices stops working, hotplug - if enabled, as is default
  439. - will scan normally again until it has 10 devices
  440. --usb :0 will disable all USB I/O other than to initialise libusb
  441. ---
  442. WHILE RUNNING:
  443. The following options are available while running with a single keypress:
  444. [U]SB management [P]ool management [S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
  445. U gives you:
  446. [S]ummary of device information
  447. [E]nable device
  448. [D]isable device
  449. [U]nplug to allow hotplug restart
  450. [R]eset device USB
  451. [L]ist all known devices
  452. [B]lacklist current device from current instance of cgminer
  453. [W]hitelist previously blacklisted device
  454. [H]otplug interval (0 to disable)
  455. P gives you:
  456. Current pool management strategy: Failover
  457. [F]ailover only disabled
  458. [A]dd pool [R]emove pool [D]isable pool [E]nable pool
  459. [C]hange management strategy [S]witch pool [I]nformation
  460. S gives you:
  461. [Q]ueue: 1
  462. [S]cantime: 60
  463. [E]xpiry: 120
  464. [W]rite config file
  465. [C]gminer restart
  466. D gives you:
  467. [N]ormal [C]lear [S]ilent mode (disable all output)
  468. [D]ebug:off
  469. [P]er-device:off
  470. [Q]uiet:off
  471. [V]erbose:off
  472. [R]PC debug:off
  473. [W]orkTime details:off
  474. co[M]pact: off
  475. [T]oggle status switching:enabled
  476. [Z]ero statistics
  477. [L]og interval:5
  478. Q quits the application.
  479. The running log shows output like this:
  480. [2013-11-09 11:04:41] Accepted 01b3bde7 Diff 150/128 AVA 1 pool 0
  481. [2013-11-09 11:04:49] Accepted 015df995 Diff 187/128 AVA 1 pool 0
  482. [2013-11-09 11:04:50] Accepted 01163b68 Diff 236/128 AVA 1 pool 0
  483. [2013-11-09 11:04:53] Accepted 9f745840 Diff 411/128 BAS 1 pool 0
  484. The 8 byte hex value are the 1st nonzero bytes of the share being submitted to
  485. the pool. The 2 diff values are the actual difficulty target that share reached
  486. followed by the difficulty target the pool is currently asking for.
  487. ---
  488. Also many issues and FAQs are covered in the forum thread
  489. dedicated to this program,
  490. http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=28402.0
  491. DISPLAY:
  492. The display is roughly split into two portions, the top status window and the
  493. bottom scrolling log window.
  494. STATUS WINDOW
  495. The status window is split into overall status and per device status.
  496. Overall status:
  497. The output line shows the following:
  498. (5s):2.469T (1m):2.677T (5m):2.040T (15m):1.014T (avg):2.733Th/s
  499. These are exponentially decaying average hashrates over 5s/1m/5m/15m and an
  500. average since the start.
  501. Followed by:
  502. A:290391 R:5101 HW:145 WU:37610.4/m
  503. Each column is as follows:
  504. A: The total difficulty of Accepted shares
  505. R: The total difficulty of Rejected shares
  506. HW: The number of HardWare errors
  507. WU: The Work Utility defined as the number of diff1 shares work / minute
  508. (accepted or rejected).
  509. alternating with:
  510. ST: 22 SS: 0 NB: 2 LW: 356090 GF: 0 RF: 0
  511. ST is STaged work items (ready to use).
  512. SS is Stale Shares discarded (detected and not submitted so don't count as rejects)
  513. NB is New Blocks detected on the network
  514. LW is Locally generated Work items
  515. GF is Getwork Fail Occasions (server slow to provide work)
  516. RF is Remote Fail occasions (server slow to accept work)
  517. Followed by:
  518. Connected to pool.com diff 3.45K with stratum as user me
  519. The diff shown is the current vardiff requested by the pool currently being
  520. mined at.
  521. Followed by:
  522. Block: ca0d237f... Diff:5.01G Started: [00:14:27] Best share: 1.18M
  523. This shows a short stretch about the current block, when the new block started,
  524. and the all time best difficulty share you've found since starting cgminer
  525. this time.
  526. Per device status:
  527. 6: HFS Random : 645MHz 85C 13% 0.79V | 2.152T / 1.351Th/s
  528. Each column is as follows:
  529. Temperature (if supported)
  530. Fanspeed (if supported)
  531. Voltage (if supported)
  532. A 5 second exponentially decaying average hash rate
  533. An all time average hash rate
  534. alternating with
  535. 6: HFS Random : 645MHz 86C 13% 0.80V | A:290348 R:1067 HW:88 WU:18901.8/m
  536. The total difficulty of accepted shares
  537. The total difficulty of rejected shares
  538. The number of hardware erorrs
  539. The work utility defined as the number of diff1 shares work / minute
  540. LOG WINDOW
  541. All running information is shown here, usually share submission results and
  542. block update notifications, along with device messages and warnings.
  543. [2014-03-29 00:24:09] Accepted 1397768d Diff 3.35K/2727 HFS 0 pool 0
  544. [2014-03-29 00:24:13] Stratum from pool 0 detected new block
  545. ---
  546. MULTIPOOL
  547. FAILOVER STRATEGIES WITH MULTIPOOL:
  548. A number of different strategies for dealing with multipool setups are
  549. available. Each has their advantages and disadvantages so multiple strategies
  550. are available by user choice, as per the following list:
  551. FAILOVER:
  552. The default strategy is failover. This means that if you input a number of
  553. pools, it will try to use them as a priority list, moving away from the 1st
  554. to the 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and so on. If any of the earlier pools recover, it will
  555. move back to the higher priority ones.
  556. ROUND ROBIN:
  557. This strategy only moves from one pool to the next when the current one falls
  558. idle and makes no attempt to move otherwise.
  559. ROTATE:
  560. This strategy moves at user-defined intervals from one active pool to the next,
  561. skipping pools that are idle.
  562. LOAD BALANCE:
  563. This strategy sends work to all the pools on a quota basis. By default, all
  564. pools are allocated equal quotas unless specified with --quota. This
  565. apportioning of work is based on work handed out, not shares returned so is
  566. independent of difficulty targets or rejected shares. While a pool is disabled
  567. or dead, its quota is dropped until it is re-enabled. Quotas are forward
  568. looking, so if the quota is changed on the fly, it only affects future work.
  569. If all pools are set to zero quota or all pools with quota are dead, it will
  570. fall back to a failover mode. See quota below for more information.
  571. The failover-only flag has special meaning in combination with load-balance
  572. mode and it will distribute quota back to priority pool 0 from any pools that
  573. are unable to provide work for any reason so as to maintain quota ratios
  574. between the rest of the pools.
  575. BALANCE:
  576. This strategy monitors the amount of difficulty 1 shares solved for each pool
  577. and uses it to try to end up doing the same amount of work for all pools.
  578. ---
  579. QUOTAS
  580. The load-balance multipool strategy works off a quota based scheduler. The
  581. quotas handed out by default are equal, but the user is allowed to specify any
  582. arbitrary ratio of quotas. For example, if all the quota values add up to 100,
  583. each quota value will be a percentage, but if 2 pools are specified and pool0
  584. is given a quota of 1 and pool1 is given a quota of 9, pool0 will get 10% of
  585. the work and pool1 will get 90%. Quotas can be changed on the fly by the API,
  586. and do not act retrospectively. Setting a quota to zero will effectively
  587. disable that pool unless all other pools are disabled or dead. In that
  588. scenario, load-balance falls back to regular failover priority-based strategy.
  589. While a pool is dead, it loses its quota and no attempt is made to catch up
  590. when it comes back to life.
  591. To specify quotas on the command line, pools should be specified with a
  592. semicolon separated --quota(or -U) entry instead of --url. Pools specified with
  593. --url are given a nominal quota value of 1 and entries can be mixed.
  594. For example:
  595. --url poola:porta -u usernamea -p passa --quota "2;poolb:portb" -u usernameb -p passb
  596. Will give poola 1/3 of the work and poolb 2/3 of the work.
  597. Writing configuration files with quotas is likewise supported. To use the above
  598. quotas in a configuration file they would be specified thus:
  599. "pools" : [
  600. {
  601. "url" : "poola:porta",
  602. "user" : "usernamea",
  603. "pass" : "passa"
  604. },
  605. {
  606. "quota" : "2;poolb:portb",
  607. "user" : "usernameb",
  608. "pass" : "passb"
  609. }
  610. ]
  611. ---
  612. SOLO MINING
  613. Solo mining can be done efficiently as a single pool entry or a backup to
  614. any other pooled mining and it is recommended everyone have solo mining set up
  615. as their final backup in case all their other pools are DDoSed/down for the
  616. security of the network. To enable solo mining, one must be running a local
  617. bitcoind/bitcoin-qt or have one they have rpc access to. To do this, edit your
  618. bitcoind configuration file (bitcoin.conf) with the following extra lines,
  619. using your choice of username and password:
  620. rpcuser=username
  621. rpcpassword=password
  622. Restart bitcoind, then start cgminer, pointing to the bitcoind and choose a
  623. btc address with the following options, altering to suit their setup:
  624. cgminer -o http://localhost:8332 -u username -p password --btc-address 15qSxP1SQcUX3o4nhkfdbgyoWEFMomJ4rZ
  625. Note the http:// is mandatory for solo mining.
  626. ---
  627. LOGGING
  628. cgminer will log to stderr if it detects stderr is being redirected to a file.
  629. To enable logging simply add 2>logfile.txt to your command line and logfile.txt
  630. will contain the logged output at the log level you specify (normal, verbose,
  631. debug etc.)
  632. In other words if you would normally use:
  633. ./cgminer -o xxx -u yyy -p zzz
  634. if you use
  635. ./cgminer -o xxx -u yyy -p zzz 2>logfile.txt
  636. it will log to a file called logfile.txt and otherwise work the same.
  637. There is also the -m option on linux which will spawn a command of your choice
  638. and pipe the output directly to that command.
  639. The WorkTime details 'debug' option adds details on the end of each line
  640. displayed for Accepted or Rejected work done. An example would be:
  641. <-00000059.ed4834a3 M:X D:1.0 G:17:02:38:0.405 C:1.855 (2.995) W:3.440 (0.000) S:0.461 R:17:02:47
  642. The first 2 hex codes are the previous block hash, the rest are reported in
  643. seconds unless stated otherwise:
  644. The previous hash is followed by the getwork mode used M:X where X is one of
  645. P:Pool, T:Test Pool, L:LP or B:Benchmark,
  646. then D:d.ddd is the difficulty required to get a share from the work,
  647. then G:hh:mm:ss:n.nnn, which is when the getwork or LP was sent to the pool and
  648. the n.nnn is how long it took to reply,
  649. followed by 'O' on it's own if it is an original getwork, or 'C:n.nnn' if it was
  650. a clone with n.nnn stating how long after the work was recieved that it was cloned,
  651. (m.mmm) is how long from when the original work was received until work started,
  652. W:n.nnn is how long the work took to process until it was ready to submit,
  653. (m.mmm) is how long from ready to submit to actually doing the submit, this is
  654. usually 0.000 unless there was a problem with submitting the work,
  655. S:n.nnn is how long it took to submit the completed work and await the reply,
  656. R:hh:mm:ss is the actual time the work submit reply was received
  657. If you start cgminer with the --sharelog option, you can get detailed
  658. information for each share found. The argument to the option may be "-" for
  659. standard output (not advisable with the ncurses UI), any valid positive number
  660. for that file descriptor, or a filename.
  661. To log share data to a file named "share.log", you can use either:
  662. ./cgminer --sharelog 50 -o xxx -u yyy -p zzz 50>share.log
  663. ./cgminer --sharelog share.log -o xxx -u yyy -p zzz
  664. For every share found, data will be logged in a CSV (Comma Separated Value)
  665. format:
  666. timestamp,disposition,target,pool,dev,thr,sharehash,sharedata
  667. For example (this is wrapped, but it's all on one line for real):
  668. 1335313090,reject,
  669. ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff00000000,
  670. http://localhost:8337,ASC0,0,
  671. 6f983c918f3299b58febf95ec4d0c7094ed634bc13754553ec34fc3800000000,
  672. 00000001a0980aff4ce4a96d53f4b89a2d5f0e765c978640fe24372a000001c5
  673. 000000004a4366808f81d44f26df3d69d7dc4b3473385930462d9ab707b50498
  674. f681634a4f1f63d01a0cd43fb338000000000080000000000000000000000000
  675. 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000080020000
  676. ---
  677. BENCHMARK
  678. The --benchmark option hashes a single fixed work item over and over and does
  679. not submit shares to any pools.
  680. The --benchfile <arg> option hashes the work given in the file <arg> supplied.
  681. The format of the work file is:
  682. version,merkleroot,prevhash,diffbits,noncetime
  683. Any empty line or any line starting with '#' or '/' is ignored.
  684. When it reaches the end of the file it continues back at the top.
  685. The format of the data items matches the byte ordering and format of the
  686. the bitcoind getblock RPC output.
  687. An example file containing bitcoin block #1 would be:
  688. # Block 1
  689. 1,0e3e2357e806b6cdb1f70b54c3a3a17b6714ee1f0e68bebb44a74b1efd512098,00000000001
  690. 9d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f,1d00ffff,1231469665
  691. However, the work data should be one line without the linebreak in the middle
  692. If you use --benchfile <arg>, then --benchfile-display will output a log line,
  693. for each nonce found, showing the nonce value in decimal and hex and the work
  694. used to find it in hex.
  695. ---
  696. RPC API
  697. For RPC API details see the API-README file
  698. ---
  699. FAQ
  700. Q: Help, I've started cgminer and everything reads zero!?
  701. A: Welcome to bitcoin mining. Your computer by itself cannot mine bitcoin no
  702. matter how powerful it is. You have to purchase dedicated mining hardware
  703. called ASICs to plug into your computer. See Q regarding ASICs below.
  704. Q: I have multiple USB stick devices but I can't get them all to work at once?
  705. A: Very few USB hubs deliver the promised power required to run as many devices
  706. as they fit if all of them draw power from USB.
  707. Q: I've plugged my devices into my USB hub but nothing shows up?
  708. A: RPis and Windows have incomplete or non-standard USB3 support so they may
  709. never work. It may be possible to get a USB3 hub to work by plugging it into
  710. a USB2 hub. When choosing a hub, USB2 hubs are preferable whenever possible
  711. due to better support all round.
  712. Q: Can I mine on servers from different networks (eg xxxcoin and bitcoin) at
  713. the same time?
  714. A: No, cgminer keeps a database of the block it's working on to ensure it does
  715. not work on stale blocks, and having different blocks from two networks would
  716. make it invalidate the work from each other.
  717. Q: Can I configure cgminer to mine with different login credentials or pools
  718. for each separate device?
  719. A: No.
  720. Q: Can I put multiple pools in the config file?
  721. A: Yes, check the example.conf file. Alternatively, set up everything either on
  722. the command line or via the menu after startup and choose settings->write
  723. config file and the file will be loaded one each startup.
  724. Q: The build fails with gcc is unable to build a binary.
  725. A: Remove the "-march=native" component of your CFLAGS as your version of gcc
  726. does not support it. Also -O2 is capital o 2, not zero 2.
  727. Q: Can you implement feature X?
  728. A: I can, but time is limited, and people who donate are more likely to get
  729. their feature requests implemented.
  730. Q: Work keeps going to my backup pool even though my primary pool hasn't
  731. failed?
  732. A: Cgminer checks for conditions where the primary pool is lagging and will
  733. pass some work to the backup servers under those conditions. The reason for
  734. doing this is to try its absolute best to keep the devices working on something
  735. useful and not risk idle periods. You can disable this behaviour with the
  736. option --failover-only.
  737. Q: Is this a virus?
  738. A: Cgminer is being packaged with other trojan scripts and some antivirus
  739. software is falsely accusing cgminer.exe as being the actual virus, rather
  740. than whatever it is being packaged with. If you installed cgminer yourself,
  741. then you do not have a virus on your computer. Complain to your antivirus
  742. software company. They seem to be flagging even source code now from cgminer
  743. as viruses, even though text source files can't do anything by themself.
  744. Q: Can you modify the display to include more of one thing in the output and
  745. less of another, or can you change the quiet mode or can you add yet another
  746. output mode?
  747. A: Everyone will always have their own view of what's important to monitor.
  748. The defaults are very sane and I have very little interest in changing this
  749. any further. There is far more detail in the API output than can be reasonably
  750. displayed on the small console window, and using an external interface such
  751. as miner.php is much more useful for setups with many devices.
  752. Q: What are the best parameters to pass for X pool/hardware/device.
  753. A: Virtually always, the DEFAULT parameters give the best results. Most user
  754. defined settings lead to worse performance.
  755. Q: What happened to CPU and GPU mining?
  756. A: Their efficiency makes them irrelevant in the bitcoin mining world today
  757. and the author has no interest in supporting alternative coins that are better
  758. mined by these devices.
  759. Q: GUI version?
  760. A: No. The RPC interface makes it possible for someone else to write one
  761. though.
  762. Q: I'm having an issue. What debugging information should I provide?
  763. A: Start cgminer with your regular commands and add -D -T --verbose and provide
  764. the full startup output and a summary of your hardware and operating system.
  765. Q: Why don't you provide win64 builds?
  766. A: Win32 builds work everywhere and there is precisely zero advantage to a
  767. 64 bit build on windows.
  768. Q: Is it faster to mine on windows or linux?
  769. A: It makes no difference in terms of performance. It comes down to choice of
  770. operating system for their various features and your comfort level. However
  771. linux is the primary development platform and is virtually guaranteed to be
  772. more stable.
  773. Q: My network gets slower and slower and then dies for a minute?
  774. A; Try the --net-delay option if you are on a GBT server. This does nothing
  775. with stratum mining.
  776. Q: How do I tune for p2pool?
  777. A: It is also recommended to use --failover-only since the work is effectively
  778. like a different block chain, and not enabling --no-submit-stale. If mining with
  779. a BFL (fpga) minirig, it is worth adding the --bfl-range option.
  780. Q: I run PHP on windows to access the API with the example miner.php. Why does
  781. it fail when php is installed properly but I only get errors about Sockets not
  782. working in the logs?
  783. A: http://us.php.net/manual/en/sockets.installation.php
  784. Q: What is a PGA?
  785. A: Cgminer supports 3 FPGAs: BitForce, Icarus and ModMiner.
  786. They are Field-Programmable Gate Arrays that have been programmed to do Bitcoin
  787. mining. Since the acronym needs to be only 3 characters, the "Field-" part has
  788. been skipped.
  789. Q: What is an ASIC?
  790. A: They are Application Specify Integrated Circuit devices and provide the
  791. highest performance per unit power due to being dedicated to only one purpose.
  792. They are the only meaningful way to mine bitcoin today.
  793. Q: What is stratum and how do I use it?
  794. A: Stratum is a protocol designed for pooled mining in such a way as to
  795. minimise the amount of network communications, yet scale to hardware of any
  796. speed. With versions of cgminer 2.8.0+, if a pool has stratum support, cgminer
  797. will automatically detect it and switch to the support as advertised if it can.
  798. If you input the stratum port directly into your configuration, or use the
  799. special prefix "stratum+tcp://" instead of "http://", cgminer will ONLY try to
  800. use stratum protocol mining. The advantages of stratum to the miner are no
  801. delays in getting more work for the miner, less rejects across block changes,
  802. and far less network communications for the same amount of mining hashrate. If
  803. you do NOT wish cgminer to automatically switch to stratum protocol even if it
  804. is detected, add the --fix-protocol option.
  805. Q: Why don't the statistics add up: Accepted, Rejected, Stale, Hardware Errors,
  806. Diff1 Work, etc. when mining greater than 1 difficulty shares?
  807. A: As an example, if you look at 'Difficulty Accepted' in the RPC API, the number
  808. of difficulty shares accepted does not usually exactly equal the amount of work
  809. done to find them. If you are mining at 8 difficulty, then you would expect on
  810. average to find one 8 difficulty share, per 8 single difficulty shares found.
  811. However, the number is actually random and converges over time, it is an average,
  812. not an exact value, thus you may find more or less than the expected average.
  813. Q: My keyboard input momentarily pauses or repeats keys every so often on
  814. windows while mining?
  815. A: The USB implementation on windows can be very flaky on some hardware and
  816. every time cgminer looks for new hardware to hotplug it it can cause these
  817. sorts of problems. You can disable hotplug with:
  818. --hotplug 0
  819. Q: What should my Work Utility (WU) be?
  820. A: Work utility is the product of hashrate * luck and only stabilises over a
  821. very long period of time. Assuming all your work is valid work, bitcoin mining
  822. should produce a work utility of approximately 1 per 71.6MH. This means at
  823. 5GH you should have a WU of 5000 / 71.6 or ~ 69. You cannot make your machine
  824. do "better WU" than this - it is luck related. However you can make it much
  825. worse if your machine produces a lot of hardware errors producing invalid work.
  826. Q: What should I build in for a generic distribution binary?
  827. A: There are a number of drivers that expect to be used on dedicated standalone
  828. hardware. That said, the drivers that are designed to work generically with
  829. USB on any hardware are the following:
  830. --enable-avalon
  831. --enable-avalon2
  832. --enable-avalon4
  833. --enable-bflsc
  834. --enable-bitfury
  835. --enable-cointerra
  836. --enable-drillbit
  837. --enable-hashfast
  838. --enable-hashratio
  839. --enable-icarus
  840. --enable-klondike
  841. ---
  842. This code is provided entirely free of charge by the programmer in his spare
  843. time so donations would be greatly appreciated. Please consider donating to the
  844. address below.
  845. Con Kolivas <kernel@kolivas.org>
  846. 15qSxP1SQcUX3o4nhkfdbgyoWEFMomJ4rZ