New GekkoScience product, the Compac A1

[NotFuzzyWarm]

USB-C by itself defaults to 5v 2a (10w). Any higher requires USB-C PD which is now at v3.1 and will output higher voltages (up to 48v) and current (5A) for up to 240w when attached to the appropriate devices with the correct cables.

[DaveF]

USB-C by itself defaults to 5v 2a (10w). Any higher requires USB-C PD which is now at v3.1 and will output higher voltages (up to 48v) and current (5A) for up to 240w when attached to the appropriate devices with the correct cables.

Which is kind of my point. You can get enough power out of the ports to do this. Are there any limitations as to why it can't be done?
According to the 1st post "260GH from under 8 watts" Even allowing for 20% overhead that's only 9.6 watts. Bumping to the 10W max but still under.

PD can go even more, just don't know if you can move data or do other things at the same time.

Probably not the most useful thing, but any reason it can't be done?

-Dave

[Nexus9090]

USB-C by itself defaults to 5v 2a (10w). Any higher requires USB-C PD which is now at v3.1 and will output higher voltages (up to 48v) and current (5A) for up to 240w when attached to the appropriate devices with the correct cables.

Which is kind of my point. You can get enough power out of the ports to do this. Are there any limitations as to why it can't be done?
According to the 1st post "260GH from under 8 watts" Even allowing for 20% overhead that's only 9.6 watts. Bumping to the 10W max but still under.

PD can go even more, just don't know if you can move data or do other things at the same time.

Probably not the most useful thing, but any reason it can't be done?

-Dave

The only limitation is one of cost; the cost of adding a USB-C PD power supply to the design.

With standard USB, the power supply is pretty simple the host just provides 5V at up to 900mA(USB3.0 Type-A spec. Hubs tend to provide more power up to 2.5A) into a DC-DC converter to derive the core power supply for the ASIC.

However USB-C PD requires a more complex controller additional board space and the associated costs with it and a more expensive DC-DC converter solution that can operate at the higher input voltages from USB-C.

Data is on a separate set of wires, so you dont even need to draw power from the bus in self-powered devices and it is always available.

Otherwise I cant see anything that would prevent you from doing it.

[DaveF]

The only limitation is one of cost; the cost of adding a USB-C PD power supply to the design.

With standard USB, the power supply is pretty simple the host just provides 5V at up to 900mA(USB3.0 Type-A spec. Hubs tend to provide more power up to 2.5A) into a DC-DC converter to derive the core power supply for the ASIC.

However USB-C PD requires a more complex controller additional board space and the associated costs with it and a more expensive DC-DC converter solution that can operate at the higher input voltages from USB-C.

Data is on a separate set of wires, so you dont even need to draw power from the bus in self-powered devices and it is always available.

Otherwise I cant see anything that would prevent you from doing it.

When you are talking about the cost of stick miners like this in general, is all the additional cost of the parts going to matter?
I can see the added labor time of the design and testing but could it really be more then a few dollars more in parts?

Could be wrong, but when Canaan can get an Avalon Nano 3 out the door for under $100 then I can't see it driving up the price of a stick miner that much.

Just a thought.

-Dave

[Nexus9090]

The only limitation is one of cost; the cost of adding a USB-C PD power supply to the design.

With standard USB, the power supply is pretty simple the host just provides 5V at up to 900mA(USB3.0 Type-A spec. Hubs tend to provide more power up to 2.5A) into a DC-DC converter to derive the core power supply for the ASIC.

However USB-C PD requires a more complex controller additional board space and the associated costs with it and a more expensive DC-DC converter solution that can operate at the higher input voltages from USB-C.

Data is on a separate set of wires, so you dont even need to draw power from the bus in self-powered devices and it is always available.

Otherwise I cant see anything that would prevent you from doing it.

When you are talking about the cost of stick miners like this in general, is all the additional cost of the parts going to matter?
I can see the added labor time of the design and testing but could it really be more then a few dollars more in parts?

Could be wrong, but when Canaan can get an Avalon Nano 3 out the door for under $100 then I can't see it driving up the price of a stick miner that much.

Just a thought.

-Dave

You're right, but you're viewing the product development from the perspective of a user.

If you look at it from the perspecive of a small manufacturer, $5 on the BOM cost is many thousands of $ off your ROI if you're targeting a fixed MSRP and limited market size.

[soccerdude71]

Hello - Does anyone know where I can get the onboard plugin fans for the A1?

thanks!

[Crypto_Warrior_80]

What is a safe frequency to run these Compact A1s? What temps are safe? I have a smart hub and use the gekkoscience API.

[lrs40708]

I'm running the 4.13.1 build from kano under windows 11, installed the compac a1 zadig driver and I can see the module when I issue a -n switch, but cgminer cannot see the ASIC. I am running a capable USB hub which supports up to 3A on which I am also running a 2pac bm1384 and a compacF 1397 without issues. Does anybody have Any ideas ?

[MrJaekin]

EDIT: removed obnoxious quote, lol

Do you guys have a website I can purchase from directly? Thanks!

[NotFuzzyWarm]

<huge snip>
Do you guys have a website I can purchase from directly? Thanks!

www.Gekkoscience.com

[MrJaekin]

<huge snip>
Do you guys have a website I can purchase from directly? Thanks!

www.Gekkoscience.com

Thanks!

[MrJaekin]

Shout out to the peeps at GekkoScience! Super quick shipping and quality products. Loving my 2 Compac A1s and USB Hub! Now to start tweaking settings!

[MrJaekin]

How hot is too hot?

0: GSA 10081029: BM1362:02T 42C 317mV 369MHz T:369 P:369 | 99.1% WU:100% | 325.8G / 373.3Gh/s WU:5215.2/m
1: GSA 10081028: BM1362:02T 42C 317mV 369MHz T:369 P:369 | 94.3% WU: 97% | 391.2G / 366.0Gh/s WU:5112.8/m

Looks like I'm running about 42C. I have the small fans attached and a larger fan blowing on them.

[RisingAngel]

Hey mining friends! I've recently got a few of the Compac A1's, what's the best way to run the solo, or on a pool, software wise? Should I go with kano or other alternatives?

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Personally I use Kano's solo pool, better stats and unlike ck's solo pool his pool has NEVER lost a block. Over the years CK's has lost several blocks that were found - at least 4 AFAIK - due to various operational issues...

[RisingAngel]

Personally I use Kano's solo pool, better stats and unlike ck's solo pool his pool has NEVER lost a block. Over the years CK's has lost several blocks that were found - at least 4 AFAIK - due to various operational issues...

Thanks, appreciate it! Will stick with it as well. Do you mind describing briefly or dropping links to the exact miner you're using? I've done the research, and it seems it would be best to stick with Kano, although I'm curious which version would work best with A1?

[NotFuzzyWarm]

although I'm curious which version would work best with A1?

If you mean which version of cgminer, either of the latest 2 versions from Kano's git. The only changes has been to add the driver for BM's s21 chips, the A1 uses chips from the s19.

[slurfius]

I can’t find cgminer 4.13.2 to run A2 on windows

[slurfius]

I can’t find cgminer 4.13.2 to run A2 on windows

Spent hours following this tutorial
https://github.com/kanoi/cgminer/blob/master/windows-build.txt
New cgminer version doesn’t recognize a2 and yes I reinstalled winusb

[slurfius]

Had to recompile cgminer with a different usbutils.c file sidehack provided