Know about Bitcoin mining? Help a noob.

jctusmc03

Gawd
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Messages
887
As the titles says, I'm looking for people that are familiar with bitcoin mining that would be willing to help me out with it, hopefully this is the right sub forum.

I've googled guides, and thus far none of them have really helped me with this, I just need some basic pointers to get me started. Or just link to me to a good up to date guide that mentions the correct software.

What is the "best" software to use for this?

From what I've seen it's best to use your video cards, and processor. Correct?

Should I join one of the groups and mine for them, or should I mine alone?

Any other pointers?

Thanks ahead of time.
 
to late to join the party, the profit/cost is a waste. if you had tried bitcoin mining 5-6 months ago it would of been worth it but the bottom fell out of bitcoin a while ago.
 
Okay, thank's for the heads up on that part of it. I'm not looking to do it for profit though, just for personal use.
 
yeah it's pretty much a bust -

the only reason I was interested the past week and playing with it was to heat my small apartment "for free" free meaning I'd spend the money on a heater anyways might as well get some free CPU cycles out of the deal.

Even after a week mining on my highly overclocked 6950 and i7 - I think I have maybe 0.5BTC apparently 1 week of mining like this gets me the equivalent of $1.25

I'm going to turn my cores and GPU to folding@home -- that way I heat my place off computer heat and do it for a good cause.
 
I'm just going to use my current rig as far as hardware, and I don't have an electricity bill. The power company usually ends up paying me $200+ every month actually, I have solar w/ battery's.
 
yeah it's pretty much a bust -

the only reason I was interested the past week and playing with it was to heat my small apartment "for free" free meaning I'd spend the money on a heater anyways might as well get some free CPU cycles out of the deal.

Even after a week mining on my highly overclocked 6950 and i7 - I think I have maybe 0.5BTC apparently 1 week of mining like this gets me the equivalent of $1.25

I'm going to turn my cores and GPU to folding@home -- that way I heat my place off computer heat and do it for a good cause.

Ah, nvm then. Didn't know it was that slow.

Thread can be locked or deleted.
 
This doesnt give me much hope for after this deployment.... damn I wish I would have jumped on when I first wanted to a year ago... I could have made a shit load back at the hike
 
Wow, that's a lot better than the .5 per week the gentleman up there said. I'll check out the thread though, and I may message you if I still have questions if you don't mind?

Sure.

Its not a good move to mine with the i7 or any processor for that matter - they'll do a whopping 6 mhash at full steam, so you're more likely to end up with a stale than you are a share to submit to a pool. A 6950 should be about equivilant to a 5870 as far as mhash production - circa 400 or so. If his mining is interfering with the CPU needs of the GPU miners, then his result is a bit more expected.

Looks like difficulty is going to drop again at the next adjustment, so you'll make slightly more per card at that time.
 
Sure.

Its not a good move to mine with the i7 or any processor for that matter - they'll do a whopping 6 mhash at full steam, so you're more likely to end up with a stale than you are a share to submit to a pool. A 6950 should be about equivilant to a 5870 as far as mhash production - circa 400 or so. If his mining is interfering with the CPU needs of the GPU miners, then his result is a bit more expected.

Looks like difficulty is going to drop again at the next adjustment, so you'll make slightly more per card at that time.
Nah,the 5870 is on par with HD6970,not HD6950.

And for 400MH/s,your 6970 must run at least at 900MHz.
 
Sure.

Its not a good move to mine with the i7 or any processor for that matter - they'll do a whopping 6 mhash at full steam, so you're more likely to end up with a stale than you are a share to submit to a pool. A 6950 should be about equivilant to a 5870 as far as mhash production - circa 400 or so. If his mining is interfering with the CPU needs of the GPU miners, then his result is a bit more expected.

Looks like difficulty is going to drop again at the next adjustment, so you'll make slightly more per card at that time.

Nah,the 5870 is on par with HD6970,not HD6950.

And for 400MH/s,your 6970 must run at least at 900MHz.

Cool, thanks gents. Now I'm just trying to get this crap set up. I've already opened a thread on bitcointalk.org yesterday but I haven't found out whats wrong still so I'll post it on here and maybe one of you can help:

Me:

"I've recently decided to start solo mining bitcoins for personal uses mostly and I'm having some trouble getting everything running correctly. I've been trying, and reading different tutorials for around 4 hours.

When trying to start GUIMiner (v2011-08-24) I keep getting "Problems communicating with bitcoin RPC" error. None of the probably...4+ guides that I've tried out so far have fixed this problem. I feel like it's something stupid I'm missing, but I would rather just ask and look stupid then keep trying to figure this out.

Can anyone help me out, and maybe give me some suggestions?"

I've posted my settings for everything over there as well (minus the username, passwords, and IP's) and they haven't been able to help so far either. But I'll go ahead and post them on this thread as well in the hope that maybe you all will be able to help me out.

This is my GUIMiner Settings:

{
"profiles": [
{
"username": "(Removed)",
"balance_auth_token": "",
"name": "Default",
"hostname": "localhost",
"external_path": "",
"affinity_mask": 255,
"flags": "-v -w128",
"autostart": false,
"device": 0,
"password": "(Removed)",
"port": "8332"
}
],
"bitcoin_executable": "D:\\Bitcoin\\bitcoin-0.5.0-win32\\bitcoin-0.5.0-win32\\bitcoin-qt.exe",
"show_console": false,
"show_summary": false,
"show_opencl_warning": true,
"console_max_lines": 5000,
"start_minimized": false,
"window_position": [
115,
205,
495,
287
]
}

These are my BITCoin settings:

# bitcoin.conf configuration file. Lines beginning with # are comments.


# Network-related settings:

# Run on the test network instead of the real bitcoin network.
#testnet=1

# Connect via a socks4 proxy
#proxy=127.0.0.1:9050

# Use as many addnode= settings as you like to connect to specific peers
#addnode=69.164.218.197
#addnode=10.0.0.2:8333

# ... or use as many connect= settings as you like to connect ONLY
# to specific peers:
#connect=69.164.218.197
#connect=10.0.0.1:8333

# Do not use Internet Relay Chat (irc.lfnet.org #bitcoin channel) to
# find other peers.
#noirc=1

# Maximum number of inbound+outbound connections.
#maxconnections=


# JSON-RPC options (for controlling a running Bitcoin/bitcoind process)

# server=1 tells Bitcoin to accept JSON-RPC commands.
#server=1

# You must set rpcuser and rpcpassword to secure the JSON-RPC api
#rpcuser=Ulysseys
#rpcpassword=YourSuperGreatPasswordNumber_385593

# By default, only RPC connections from localhost are allowed. Specify
# as many rpcallowip= settings as you like to allow connections from
# other hosts (and you may use * as a wildcard character):
#rpcallowip=10.1.1.34
#rpcallowip=(removed)

# Listen for RPC connections on this TCP port:
rpcport=8332

# You can use Bitcoin or bitcoind to send commands to Bitcoin/bitcoind
# running on another host using this option:
rpcconnect=127.0.0.1

# Use Secure Sockets Layer (also known as TLS or HTTPS) to communicate
# with Bitcoin -server or bitcoind
#rpcssl=1

# OpenSSL settings used when rpcssl=1
rpcsslciphers=TLSv1+HIGH:!SSLv2:!aNULL:!eNULL:!AH:!3DES:mad:STRENGTH
rpcsslcertificatechainfile=server.cert
rpcsslprivatekeyfile=server.pem


# Miscellaneous options

# Set gen=1 to attempt to generate bitcoins
gen=0

# Use SSE instructions to try to generate bitcoins faster.
#4way=1

# Pre-generate this many public/private key pairs, so wallet backups will be valid for
# both prior transactions and several dozen future transactions.
keypool=100

# Pay an optional transaction fee every time you send bitcoins. Transactions with fees
# are more likely than free transactions to be included in generated blocks, so may
# be validated sooner.
paytxfee=0.00

# Allow direct connections for the 'pay via IP address' feature.
#allowreceivebyip=1


# User interface options

# Start Bitcoin minimized
#min=1

# Minimize to the system tray
#minimizetotray=1

Bitcoind.conf:

.TH BITCOIN.CONF "5" "January 2011" "bitcoin.conf 3.19"
.SH NAME
bitcoin.conf \- bitcoin configuration file
.SH SYNOPSIS
All command-line options (except for '-datadir' and '-conf') may be specified in a configuration file, and all configuration file options may also be specified on the command line. Command-line options override values set in the configuration file.
.TP
The configuration file is a list of 'setting=value' pairs, one per line, with optional comments starting with the '#' character.
.TP
The configuration file is not automatically created; you can create it using your favorite plain-text editor. By default, bitcoind(1) will look for a file named bitcoin.conf(5) in the bitcoin data directory, but both the data directory and the configuration file path may be changed using the '-datadir' and '-conf' command-line arguments.
.SH LOCATION
bitcoin.conf should be located in $HOME/.bitcoin
.SH NETWORK-RELATED SETTINGS
.TP
.TP
\fBtestnet=\fR[\fI'1'\fR|\fI'0'\fR]
Enable or disable run on the test network instead of the real *bitcoin* network.
.TP
\fBproxy=\fR\fI'127.0.0.1:9050'\fR
Connect via a socks4 proxy.
.TP
\fBaddnode=\fR\fI'10.0.0.2:8333'\fR
Use as many *addnode=* settings as you like to connect to specific peers.
.TP
\fBconnect=\fR\fI'10.0.0.1:8333'\fR
Use as many *connect=* settings as you like to connect ONLY to specific peers.
.TP
\fBnoirc=\fR[\fI'1'\fR|\fI'0'\fR]
Use or Do not use Internet Relay Chat (irc.lfnet.org #bitcoin channel) to find other peers.
.TP
\fRmaxconnections=\fR\fI'value'\fR
Maximum number of inbound+outbound connections.
.SH JSON-RPC OPTIONS
.TP
\fBserver=\fR[\fI'1'\fR|\fI'0'\fR]
Tells *bitcoin* to accept or not accept JSON-RPC commands.
.TP
\fBrpcuser=\fR\fI'username'\fR
You must set *rpcuser* to secure the JSON-RPC api.
.TP
\fBrpcpassword=\fR\fI'password'\fR
You must set *rpcpassword* to secure the JSON-RPC api.
.TP
\fBrpctimeout=\fR\fI'30'\fR
How many seconds *bitcoin* will wait for a complete RPC HTTP request, after the HTTP connection is established.
.TP
\fBrpcallowip=\fR\fI'192.168.1.*'\fR
By default, only RPC connections from localhost are allowed. Specify as many *rpcallowip=* settings as you like to allow connections from other hosts (and you may use * as a wildcard character).
.TP
\fBrpcport=\fR\fI'8332'\fR
Listen for RPC connections on this TCP port.
.TP
\fBrpcconnect=\fR\fI'127.0.0.1'\fR
You can use *bitcoin* or *bitcoind(1)* to send commands to *bitcoin*/*bitcoind(1)* running on another host using this option.
.TP
\fBrpcssl=\fR\fI'1'\fR
Use Secure Sockets Layer (also known as TLS or HTTPS) to communicate with *bitcoin* '-server' or *bitcoind(1)*. Example of OpenSSL settings used when *rpcssl*='1':
.TP
\fBrpcsslciphers=\fR\fI'TLSv1+HIGH:!SSLv2:!aNULL:!eNULL:!AH:!3DES:mad:STRENGTH'\fR
.TP
\fBrpcsslcertificatechainfile=\fR\fI'server.cert'\fR
.TP
\fBrpcsslprivatekeyfile=\fR\fI'server.pem'\fR
.TP
.SH MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS
.TP
\fBgen=\fR[\fI'0'\fR|\fI'1'\fR]
Enable or disable attempt to generate bitcoins.
.TP
\fB4way=\fR[\fI'0'\fR|\fI'1'\fR]
Enable or disable use SSE instructions to try to generate bitcoins faster.
.TP
\fBkeypool=\fR\fI'100'\fR
Pre-generate this many public/private key pairs, so wallet backups will be valid for both prior transactions and several dozen future transactions.
.TP
\fBpaytxfee=\fR\fI'0.00'\fR
Pay an optional transaction fee every time you send bitcoins. Transactions with fees are more likely than free transactions to be included in generated blocks, so may be validated sooner.
.TP
\fBallowreceivebyip=\fR\fI'1'\fR
Allow direct connections for the 'pay via IP address' feature.
.TP
.SH USER INTERFACE OPTIONS
.TP
\fBmin=\fR[\fI'0'\fR|\fI'1'\fR]
Enable or disable start bitcoind minimized.
.TP
\fBminimizetotray=\fR[\fI'0'\fR|\fI'1'\fR]
Enable or disable minimize to the system tray.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
bitcoind(1)
.SH AUTHOR
This manual page was written by Micah Anderson <[email protected]> for the Debian system (but may be used by others). Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.
 
If you're only running a pair of 5870s, you really shouldn't be solo mining as statistically it will take you many months to find a block on average, and even then it isn't guarenteed. So you'll basically be looking at making 0 BTC until you find a block...

I have only done solo mining on one of the offshoots, i0coin, and if I'm remembering correctly I had to do something, perhaps in the client, to kick off the solo mining side of things once I got it pointed to the right files. Perhaps it was to get the daemon running?
 
From the statistics I've seen, and what people in the bitcoin forums have been telling me that are also running 5870's you will get on average of .6 per 24-48 hours. The difficulty is going to decrease on the next update or whatever they said as well.
 
That is in a pool, not solo, though i may be wrong

From the statistics I've seen, and what people in the bitcoin forums have been telling me that are also running 5870's you will get on average of .6 per 24-48 hours. The difficulty is going to decrease on the next update or whatever they said as well.
 
A few of them told me .6 per day to two days solo on 5870's and they said that that will most likely increase slightly as the difficulty is decreasing in the next several days. However none have answered in a day since I said I cannot figure out how to get this set up, dammit. Lol
 
that bmay be what it averages out to....i have never done bitcoin, but to my understanding unless you find a block you get jack shit, they are probably estimating ..... assuming a block is found
 
Yeah, me neither, this will be my first time. I'm just going to try it for a month and see if it's even worth it.
 
from a monetary perspective, unless you have free power, it won't be worth it
 
A few of them told me .6 per day to two days solo on 5870's and they said that that will most likely increase slightly as the difficulty is decreasing in the next several days. However none have answered in a day since I said I cannot figure out how to get this set up, dammit. Lol

I don't frequent the forums, but it sounds like the blind is leading the blind in your particular case.

.6 is accurate for a single 5870 over the course of two days when mining in a large pool (i.e. BTCGuild or Deepbit). A single 5870 over two days mining solo is most likely going to earn nothing, zilch, nada unless you have enough luck to chose the rigth lotto numbers whenever you buy a lottery ticket ;-).

If you did find a block in those two days, you'd have earned 50BTC on that single card in that period of time, however, that is highly unlikely. In theory, a 5870 will have to mine for about 6 months in order to find a single block at the current difficulty.
 
I don't frequent the forums, but it sounds like the blind is leading the blind in your particular case.

.6 is accurate for a single 5870 over the course of two days when mining in a large pool (i.e. BTCGuild or Deepbit). A single 5870 over two days mining solo is most likely going to earn nothing, zilch, nada unless you have enough luck to chose the rigth lotto numbers whenever you buy a lottery ticket ;-).

If you did find a block in those two days, you'd have earned 50BTC on that single card in that period of time, however, that is highly unlikely. In theory, a 5870 will have to mine for about 6 months in order to find a single block at the current difficulty.

I messaged you.
 
from a monetary perspective, unless you have free power, it won't be worth it
And even if you do... it's almost not worth it.

I have free electric and almost bout to shut down my farm. Having peace and quiet along with the extra cooling isn't worth the little extra it's at now. It's been surprising warm here. I thought temp would drop faster then it had recently. I'll get my spare bitcoin room back also. With the holidays coming up, I may need that extra space anyways.

I definitely wouldn't be starting anything like this up now. I had my gear and everything running up many many months ago and now it just sits there doing it's thing. Guess I should be considered lucky since everything has been well paid back and more now for me.
 
if electricity costs are low where you are, or free, and you would be using a heater anyway then it's a no brainer. But if you have to cool your miners with any sort of AC that you must pay for then more then likely your are going to lose money.
 
I'm just going to use my current rig as far as hardware, and I don't have an electricity bill. The power company usually ends up paying me $200+ every month actually, I have solar w/ battery's.

How much does the power company pay you per surplus kWh? You might be getting a better rate converting your kWh straight to $ with the power company than going kWh to BTC to $, not to mention the residual heat that's being generated. If you're in a good solar area, that probably means you're using additional power to remove that heat.

So, in conclusion, it depends on a lot of variables whether it will make sense for you to mine Bitcoins or not. Based on the current ~$2.50/BTC exchange rate, I'm going to guess it's probably not worth it.
 
To put it in perspective, my rate is $0.07 kw/h here. It's 55deg outside, so cold enough to kick the thermostat over to the heater side. I am now mining making about $5 per day after electricity costs and my heater hasn't kicked on yet. So for the moment I'm at a WIN/WIN situation.
 
I'm not exactly mining for profit, I'm just mining so I have bitcoins to spend on whatever. I mean, if I have a surplus every month or whatever I'll sell them but other than that, I'll be keeping what I get.

Parja - I usually end up getting $200-300 a month from the power company, sometimes more, sometimes less. My house is kept at 68 degrees at all times whether it's hot, or cold out so heat coming from the PC isn't exactly a problem.
 
What's generally considered the best pool to join that someone could link me to, or perhaps even a website that is reputable that handles rankings? I'm not so sure solo mining is going to get me anything.

I'm churning out 870 mh/s, I'm unsure if that's good enough for solo'ing exactly, or if I'm even doing this correctly. If that is good enough for solo what's a really good guide for solo mining that goes into great detail so a noob like me can learn the ropes to it?

What's the best software for mining? I'm currently using GUIMiner for my 2x 5870's and my 4670, is that good?

Also, my bitcoin wallet program had to be re-installed and I've lost my original receive coins address, is there a way to get this back or should I just concentrate on the new address?
 
Last edited:
wow, getting money back? Thats a folders dream lol
 
I can only tell you the best way that I've found for me.

I mine with all my cards aimed at https://deepbit.net/
The coins I create there are stored at deepbit until I feel I've made enough to transfer.
Once I've reached that amount, the coins are sent to my https://mtgox.com/ account.
After the coins have reached MTGOX, they are sold for however much I can get.
The funds I recieve for the coins are then sent to https://www.dwolla.com/default.aspx where the funds pool up until I'm ready transfer directly to my spare bank acount.

Adjust accordingly
 
I can only tell you the best way that I've found for me.

I mine with all my cards aimed at https://deepbit.net/
The coins I create there are stored at deepbit until I feel I've made enough to transfer.
Once I've reached that amount, the coins are sent to my https://mtgox.com/ account.
After the coins have reached MTGOX, they are sold for however much I can get.
The funds I recieve for the coins are then sent to https://www.dwolla.com/default.aspx where the funds pool up until I'm ready transfer directly to my spare bank acount.

Adjust accordingly

Any chance you could tell me how to get set up for GUIMiner with deepbit? I've already made an account there but I don't see anywhere on that website where it tells you what to put in the settings on GUIMiner (Server, Host, Port, Username, and Password.). Thanks if you can help.
 
Any chance you could tell me how to get set up for GUIMiner with deepbit? I've already made an account there but I don't see anywhere on that website where it tells you what to put in the settings on GUIMiner (Server, Host, Port, Username, and Password.). Thanks if you can help.

My 7-1-11 build of GUIMiner has it prepopulated in the dropdown... looking int he console, it is connecting to pit.deepbit.net:8332
 
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