Avalon

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Avalon is a company that produces bitcoin mining hardware.

Pictures (Batch#1)

Pictures (Batch#2)

Pictures (Batch#3)

Hardware Information

Chip Specification

Technology Summary:
   TSMC 0.11- micron G process
       5 Metal
Core Voltage: 1.2 V
I/O Voltage: 3.3 V
Core Frequency: 256+ MHz
Number of Pads: 48
   8 Data
   40+1 Power
Package Type: QFN48 -0.5 Pitch
Packaged Chip Size: 7 mm x 7 mm

Chip Interface
Data Pins (8 in total):
Clock                     i
Serial Data In  [2]       i
Serial Data Out [2]       o
Serial Data Bypass [2]    o
Reserved    [1]    -

Wafer

TSMC
TMEM91
Chip Size :   X = 3.9760 ,Y = 4.0560 mm
Reticle Size :   X/cell =  3 ,Y/cell =  3
Offset Value :   X = -3.7668 ,Y = -2.2990 mm
Alignment Mark :   (118.80,83.20),(-118.80,-83.20)
Alignment Mark Tolerant Distance :      1.6 mm
Notch Reserved Distance :   7.75 mm
Start Distance :   7.75 mm
Ring Edge :   3.0 mm
Photo Die Number:    4055

Power

Chip power efficienty: 6.6W/GHs @ 1.15 V
Module power consumption: 149W @ 20GHs / 164W@ 22GHs
Machine power consumption: 595W @ 220V-AC / 620W @ 120V-AC

Comfirmed working PSU list

The PSU Spec

  • 155mm recommend, MAX: 170mm
  • For 3 module units: 650W, 48A 12V, at least. recommend for a 20% margin.
  • For 4 module units: 750W, 60A 12V, at least. recommend for a 20% margin.
  • Plugs:
    • 1X ATX 24PIN
    • 1X EPS 12V (8PIN)
    • 2X PCIE 12V (8PIN)

The TP-LINK WR703N

Control Unit

PDU

Parts

User Guide

  • Connect your laptop to the eithernet port of the Avalon
  • Setup your laptop IP address 192.168.0.101
  • Open http://192.168.0.100
  • Make sure WR703N can access Internet, Configure WiFi: Network -> WIFI -> Scan(select your WIFI network) -> Join Network -> WPA passphrase -> Submit -> Save & Apply for connect to WIFI Internet
  • setup your mining worker: Status -> Cgminer Configuration.
  • Restart the cgminer service: System -> Startup,
  • Check your avalon status: Status -> Cgminer Status
  • Setup password/using ssh
ssh root@192.168.0.100 # Once you setup the password the telnet service will be stop. use ssh instead.

Cgminer option

--avalon-options 115200:24:10:45:282. this is the default avalon option. here is the details: 

115200: the serial baud. this have to match the controller baud.
24: the miner count.(there are 3 modulars in avalon. each modular have 8 miners), if your avalon have 4 modulars. change it to 32
10: the chip count pre miner.
45: the controller timeout parameter. the valid number: 50, 47, 45, 40.
282: the chip clock. the valid number: 256, 270, 282, 300.

Run cgminer manually

In case you need to run Cgminer in linux console please run the following command:

  • Restart Cgminer:
# /etc/init.d/cgminer restart

If your avalon does not mine properly, please run Cgminer in debug mode with -D --verbose option. For example: 

# cgminer -S /dev/ttyUSB0 -o stratum.btcguild.com:3333 -O xxxx:yyyy -D --verbose --avalon-options 115200:24:10:45:282 --api-allow "W:0/0" --api-listen 2>/tmp/cgminer-debug.log

TP-LINK TL-WR703N

There is a modify version of TP-LINK TP-WR703N inside Avalon. cgminer running at 703n, this 703n have 64MB ram and modified power supply. it power from the usb-client side(we moved a 0R resistor from J1 to R113 for that)

Why there is a ugly USB HUB there? you can find more information about AR9331's usb stability issue here.

How to reflash

  1. Download latest Avalon image to your PC.
  2. Goto:
 System -> Backup / Flash Firmware -> Flash new firmware image (make sure Keep settings is checked)
  1. Select the image you just download. then compare the md5 in next page. if everything fine. click Proceed

Attention: To avoid your WR703N become a brick, during flash your WR703N be careful DO NOT power off avalon, and DO NOT break your network connection. Just wait there till you see OpenWrt login web page again.

Attention: If not essential please do not re-Flash your Avalon. Because not all of WR703N issue could be resolved by reset button. If you want to play WR703N I would like to recommend you order a standalone TP-LINK WR703N from ebay or somewhere for studying purpose.

WIFI or Ethernet Cable ?

Avalon shipped with a 9db antenna after connect it to WR703N usually could establish good wireless connection with your WIFI router. But if for some reason you would like to use Ethernet Cable to connect Avalon with your network, please login OpenWrt and configure the LAN port: 

Network -> Interfaces -> LAN -> Edit -> Common Configuration -> General Setup
Disable the DHCP on Lan port

Attention: You need to configure it correctly based on your own network enviroment. If anything wrong you might could not access your WR703N any more.

Start to mine

To maximize your Avalon miner's performance, it is recommended that you choose pools with the stratum protocol supported. The default mining pool configured in Avalon is ozco.in. To change it login to OpenWrt: 

Status -> Cgminer Configuration
Click "Save & Apply" to save your update and restart cgminer immediately

Currently the stratum pools that could work stable with Avalon are:

To get more information about how to configure specific pools, please check their website. If you run multiple Avalons, we recommend that you create a dedicated worker for each of them. This will make it easier to monitor your Avalons through the pool's website and identify possible problems.

Source code

FPGA controller

V1.0 ~ V1.2

About P5 jumper: close this jumper will supply 5V to the USB-B port. in this system, the controller board power the 703N from the client side. if you connect the controller itself to a PC, you better remove the jumper.

V1.5

  • Remove the F1(Fuse) for fix the USB-HUB chip overheat,
  1. if you are batch2 user and your received Avalon between Apr 26 2013 ~ May 31 2013
  2. the FPGA controller is 1.5
  3. your FPGA contoller board still have F1 mounted

you need do this by yourself. removing F1 will not make the usb hub stop working, F1 powers the USB-A1 plug (which is normally unused), more info please checkout here

V1.51

  • Fixed USB-HUB chip overheat, NO NEEDS remove F1 anymore

V1.61

  • Batch3 will use V1.61 FPGA controller
  • New temperature sensors, mounted on PCB.
  • Move the Fan power from FPGA controller to PDU. reduce the interference.

Update FPGA controller firmware (NOT FINISHED/FULL DOCUMENT YET)

#mini-jtag load xc6slx16-2-ftg256.bscan_s6_spi_isf_ext.bit && sleep 1 && xc3sprog -c qi -v -I fpga_controller_2013-05-02-D.bit
xc3sprog -c qi xc6slx16-2-ftg256.bscan_s6_spi_isf_ext.bit && sleep 1 && xc3sprog -c qi -v -I fpga_controller_2013-05-02-D.bit
xc3sprog -c qi -v -I file.bin:R:0:bin
dd if=file.bin bs=68 skip=1 of=file2.bin
xc3sprog -c qi -v -I file2.bin:w:0:bin
rm -f file.bin file2.bin

P2Pool Operation with Avalon

Doing anything special is no longer required as of commit 11d63ef66 (which is yet unreleased). Since the recent P2Pool hardfork, dead-on-arrival rates of about 6% are normal, close to normal GPU rates (1-2%), so mining is nearly as efficient as solo mining.

About [usb 1-1: clear tt 1 (8030) error -71]

Not all 703n have this problem. ignore this section if you never meet this error
  • In order to fix it you need had to power down the WiFi modem by disable it, use Eithernet instead. The kernel no long report -71 errors. thanks to senseless and others who help on identify the issue.

Others

  • There is a pair of gloves in Avalon package. please put it on when assembling or carrying.
  • About the plastic sheets: please remove them BEFORE mining. we design the case as a part of heatsink, so remove the plastic sheets is a must
  • About FAN change: DO NOT change the fans to a low speed model. will cause over heat. DO NOT install extra fans at the rear "fan socket". will cause PSU over heat and nearly useless for module cooling.
  • About install extra heat-sinks on each avalon chip: please do not do that. there is a air gap between the die and package top, install a heatsink on chip is useless. and will cause overheating. because the top PCB copper act as a heatsink too. do not cover them.
  • About water cooling: yes, do it.

Firmware

  • Check your firmware version by goto Cgminer Status page
  • Latest Firmware is here
  • The Avalon firmware SDK: here

NEXT

Please always using the latest testing image for testing.
  • Update OpenWrt to r37008 (we have Linux version 3.8.13)
  • Update cgminer to 3.3.1 (Jun 21, 37815e0). new options for Avalon
--avalon-auto       Adjust avalon overclock frequency dynamically for best hashrate
--avalon-cutoff <arg> Set avalon overheat cut off temperature (default: 60)
--avalon-fan <arg>  Set fanspeed percentage for avalon, single value or range (default: 20-100)
--avalon-freq <arg> Set frequency range for avalon-auto, single value or range
--avalon-temp <arg> Set avalon target temperature (default: 50)
  • Add more overclock options (325, 350, 375)
  • Two new options on webui for the new batch3 machine, The batch3 machine have some hardware improvment, one is the temperature sensor was mounted on PCB. (no long glue to the heatsink) so the temperature will be higher compare to the old design (temperature tip), so by default we set the Target Temperature to 70℃ and Overheat Cut Off Temperature to 90℃, the new temperature sensor chip will be ~20℃ higher compare to the termperature tip when avalon work at same condition.
    • Target Temperature(--avalon-temp): The fan will goes to full speed when reach this temperature
    • Overheat Cut Off Temperature(--avalon-cutoff): The avalon will idle chips when reach this temperature

20130607

  • Update cgminer to 3.2.1, we have the direct USB feature now.
  • Add --lowmem by default
  • cgminer-monitor: change the schedule from 5mins to 2mins
  • cgminer-monitor: switch from Diff1 work to Last Valid Work
  • Disable DHCP on lan port.
  • Remove custom DNS (8.8.8.8)
  • Some minor changes on web page

20130519

  • Update cgminer to 3.1.1
  • Add More Options on web configure page(you can add 4th,5th pool here now)
  • Disable hotplug. useless on Avalon
  • Include usbmon in firmware, prepare/debug for usb code, this was for developers
  • Dynamic display [match_work_count*] base on Modular Count
  • You may want add --real-quiet under Cgminer Configuration --> More Options after upgrade
  • Change 300MHS timeout from 40 to 43
  • Change Modular Count(3 ~ 4) to Miner Count(1 ~ 32) on webui
  • Switch buildhost from Ubuntu 12.10 to Debian 7.0.0
  • NOTE: If your Pool URLs have trailing slash remove the trailing slash (symptom is: [2013-06-04 19:05:30] Failed to resolve (?wrong URL) host.name.com:PORT/ and/or all Pools with trailing slash listed as DEAD in status)

20130419

  • Merged to cgminer. BIG thanks to conman. so we have all cgminer's improvment
  • Idle avalon chips after reset. for save power. (idle needs ~50W)
  • Fix the cgminer restart bug.
  • Fix temp/fan have wrong value(the wrong result from fpga controller)
  • Fix the fan control. now base on the max value of temp2/3
  • Fix no_matching_work only count in debug mode
  • Update cgminer-monitor, replace [Accept] with [Diff1 Work], add killall before restart.
  • Fix a typo on /usr/bin/cgminer-monitor
  • More check/fliter on result. this make Avalon more stable
  • New status page, new api log page.
  • Improve the cgminer service. a restart takes ~2 seconds now. no needs ntpd when restart
  • Quiet some improvments on software develop/codeing. compile Avalon firmware is much eaiser with build-avalon-image.sh
  • Frimware version:
[Firmware Version] => 20130419
cgminer-8e8313c
luci-28b4ff2
cgminer-openwrt-packages-f2bc5dc

20130321

  • For fix the cgminer-monitor, please run this command after you reflash
 sed -i 's/ $B / "$B" /' /usr/bin/cgminer-monitor

If you "check the Keep settings", you need fill API Allow to "W:127.0.0.1" after reflash, edit it here: "http://AVALON_IP/cgi-bin/luci/admin/status/cgminer/", "DO NOT" left it blank

If you "uncheck the Keep settings" when reflashing, Please "reconfigure your Avalon" after reflash
  • Update Linux from 3.6 to 3.8.3
  • Update OpenWrt to r36095
  • When there is no network. automatic idle chip after detect avalon, save power and protect your avalon overheat
  • Idle chip when cgminer close avalon
  • Add device_reinit support
  • Add frequency, modular configure on web ui
  • Add API Allow on web ui
  • Add pool balance on web ui, by default balance on all 3 pools
  • Add stratum+tcp:// by default
  • Display Frequency on status page
  • Fix the kern.err kernel: ... ath: phy0: ... bug
  • Fliter >=100 degree result for debug
  • Replace TempMax with No Matching Work

20130225

  • A new cgminer status page
  • /etc/avalon_version include all repo commit
  • Fix temp_history_count, make sure 2~3s call adjuest_fan

20130218

  • Update adjust_fan()
  • Using avaon default worker

20130212

  • Update fan pwm

20130205

  • Update fan pwm MAX/MIN
  • Sync with upstream, fix the memory leak bug
  • Monitor the Accept number

20130127

  • Add overclock code
  • Change the cgminer configure to UCI system
  • Add the simple web ui

20130117

  • Update OpenWRt to r35097
  • Update cgminer to 2.10.4
  • Remove /www/miner.php, change cgminer cron job to */5
  • Start ntpd before start cgminer

Test Plan

  • New firmware don't break Avalon for sure
  • New firmware don't use all flash. have to keep some space for save configuration
  • Either and WiFI connect works fine
  • Cgminer works fine(the kernel user driver, cgminer it self, cgminer-monitor and uci configurations files)
  • After configure cgminer. [Save & Apply] can restart the cgminer
  • The Status/API log page works fine
  • Test mining
  • Test the cgminer-monitor
  • Make sure 80/22/4028 open on WAN.

Unofficial Firmware

How to Compile Your Own Firmware for Avalon

1. First check if you have met the building prerequisites. Checkout this page first OpenWrt Buildroot – Installation

For example, if your OS is Ubuntu/Debian, install the required packages like this: 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install  gawk flex quilt xsltproc  unzip subversion git-core build-essential libxml-parser-perl libncurses5-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev liblua5.1-0-dev

2. Now get the source code, prepare the code and build. this needs ~6GB 

wget https://raw.github.com/BitSyncom/avalon-extras/master/scripts/build-avalon-image.sh
chmod +x build-avalon-image.sh
./build-avalon-image.sh --clone #prepare the code and build, ONLY NEED ONCE
./build-avalon-image.sh

3. Update all repos 

 ./build-avalon-image.sh --update

4. Only rebuild cgminer 

./build-avalon-image.sh --cgminer

5. Finally you could get the freshly built firmware files under avalon/bin/

Compile with kernel usbmon

  • You need apply this patch to your OpenWrt for enable usbmon
  • Run make menuconfig goto Kernel modules --> USB Support enable kmod-usb-mon

IRC: #avalon @freenode.net

#avalon @freenode.net Thanks to midnightmagic create that channel

FAQ

  • Why there is a USB-HUB inside
AR9331's usb stability issue
  • Why ASIC bitcoin mining?
  • Why Avalon?
  • Who made Avalon?
  • How to order one?
http://store.avalon-asics.com/

Links

Donation

Retrieved from "https://en.bitcoin.it/w/index.php?title=Avalon&oldid=39828"