Originally posted to my blog: https://w3.do/-sJEHtvf
What is this ?
My Futurebit Apollo Miner in action
Futurebit is a company that manufactures home miners for retail users (see futurebit.io) - you can check out details on their website. These are targeted at individuals that want to participate in mining with an easy to use, quiet miner that does not use a ton of electricity. The idea here is to try and stay true to the original bitcoin concept of a computer which runs the bitcoin software and mines bitcoin, all in one. While mining has obviously evolved into a commercial industry and the mining process has long been separated from running a bitcoin node, I think there are still some valid reasons to want to participate in the mining process and attempt to keep this original ethos alive:
You learn a lot about bitcoin from mining. Reading about the process is one thing, but actually getting a machine running, pointing it towards the pool of your choice, and seeing the bitcoin process from this perspective is something I've found very enjoyable (mining is probably my favorite part of bitcoin, if I had to choose one). It can also be a gateway drug to more advanced mining, so...heavy care.
It is marginally valuable to the network. Sure, one person running a futurebit miner is nothing compared to the hashrate of MARA. But, if you have tens of thousands of plebs all running their own miners from home, pointing their hashpower to the pool of their choice, it does provide a legitimate decentralizing anchor to large mining actors. Every pleb should be participating in mining, in my opinion, and the Futurebit Apollo miner offers a casual and unobtrusive avenue to do just that.
Now, the Futurebit Apollo Miner you most commonly see is the 'Full Package.' The Full Package is an Orange Pi computer running on a custom linux distribution. You basically boot it up, and it starts running bitcoin core and mining in a few clicks. That is very cool, and I did own one. However, I will say that the Full Package is, unfortunately, not a great product. I won't go into too much detail, but its a very poor quality computer, the security upkeep of the custom linux distribution is lacking, and I found connecting to the node to use with wallets to be very difficult. The mining was also consistently inturrupted due to the pi freezing up. You are better off going with a different option for running a bitcoin node.
This is simply to say, I dislike the Full Package Futurebit Apollo Unit. With that said, I very much like the 'Standard Unit'. The Standard Unit is simply a mining hashboard without the computer OS that comes with the Full Package. I've been running two Standard Units in my house for 18 months now and they just quietly hum along in my house, I barely notice them and they rarely need to be restarted (honestly I can't think of more than 3 times that I needed to troubleshoot and even then it was typically restarting the miner). They are a great way to make your personal contribution to the security of the bitcoin network.
(Please Note: These things are pretty pricey brand new, so don't even think about buying one as being a profitable choice. You can sometimes find decent deals for them used, but buyer beware I can't speak to that experience. This is about hands-on learning about bitcoin mining and participating in the security of the network with a machine that won't drive your family crazy and that I believe is well-built enough to last you a long time. Heck, you could even set one up at your office and I doubt anyone would notice and mine with free electricity.)
So, that's some background. Now, a standard unit is not the most friendly user experience if you are not used to using command line. I wasn't, but I spent a lot of time figuring it out. With this guide, any user should be able to get a Standard Unit hashing :) Here is the step by step process guide on how to run a standard unit, in use with both a Windows OS computer and a Linux OS computer (Ubuntu is what I use)...enjoy.
I. Linux
Your Futurebit Apollo Standard Unit (referred to from here as 'the Unit') miner comes with a power supply and a usb cable. It's pretty straight forward, but you will want to connect the Unit to the computer of your choice (the computer needs to be on and running while you are mining, so a low power consumption computer and/or a computer that you are already running all the time for some other reason would be best). Also, plug in the power supply to your unit and turn it on (there are instructions in the Unit's manual for how to hook up the power supply correctly).
- Go to https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries
- You'll land on a page that looks like this:
For the purposes of this guide, I am going to be using the 'linux-x86_64' package as it is most appropriate for my computer. But, you would need to select the appropriate binaries for your computer. Odds are, if you are running ubuntu on your laptop or desktop, you are going to use the 'linux-x86_64' package.
- Once you have clicked on the linux-x86_64 folder, you will land here:
Open each of these 4 files and download them using the 'Download Raw File' link in each file's page. Here is an example:
Once you have downloaded, I'd recommend making a folder and putting all 4 of the files into that folder. I am going to make a folder with the name 'Mining Files'. I am also going to move the folder out of my Downloads folder (not necessary, but I'd recommend as it's not a great place to park a folder you want to hold onto). I am going to move it to my Documents Folder:
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http://usri6wfilambri77iwnapyyme43la4v2hgecoismowluriekrhuvxnid.onion/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/pic6.png
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Now, if you do not have a mining pool account, you will need to make one, otherwise you should be able to use your pool credentials in the next step. Alternatively, you can solo mine using solo.ckpool.org with only a btc address. However, for the purposes of this guide I am going to assume that you are using Braiins pool. If necessary, go ahead and make a login at braiins.com/pool. Note the username and password as we will need that later.
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From the files that you downloaded in step 3, we are going to double-click on 'start_apollo.sh' and open it up in Text Editor. The first 60 lines or so are explanations on how to prepare this script for your use. However, I am going to run you through all the options to update, so you shouldn't need to read the description. Instead, we are going to focus on the text in black font at the bottom of the file:
We need to update the info in the following fields as follows:
-host = stratum.braiins.com
-port = 3333
-user = username for your Braiins login. I'll use "braiinsexample" for now.
-pswd = password for your Braiins login. I'll use "Password123" for now.
-comport = Most likely "/dev/ttyACM0" or "/dev/ttyACM1" or "/dev/ttyACM2"
-brd_ocp = 48
-osc = 30
-ao_mode = 1
So, when our file is set up correctly, it will look like:
Make sure to save, then close out of text editor.
- Now, start up terminal on your computer. First, we are going to want to get into the correct directory. In our case, our file is in Documents > Mining Files. So, you would input the following command:
cd ~/Documents/Mining Files
Once you are in the correct directory, we will run the following command:
sudo ./start_apollo.sh
You will likely be prompted to enter your computer's password, input the password and, if all goes well, you should see a result like this in your terminal:
You are now mining! The setting we use run the Unit ins 'eco mode', which should yield 2 terahash per second in terms of mining power (you can monitor the performance from your respective mining pool dashboard). As long as you keep this terminal window open and the computer on that is connected to the miner, and you will be mining away :)
II. Windows
Your Futurebit Apollo Standard Unit (referred to from here as 'the Unit') miner comes with a power supply and a usb cable. It's pretty straight forward, but you will want to connect the Unit to the computer of your choice (the computer needs to be on and running while you are mining, so a low power consumption computer and/or a computer that you are already running all the time for some other reason would be best). Also, plug in the power supply to your unit and turn it on (there are instructions in the Unit's manual for how to hook up the power supply correctly).
- Go to https://github.com/jstefanop/Apollo-Miner-Binaries
- You'll land on a page that looks like this:
For Windows, you will click on the folder titled 'msvc19'. You'll see 2 files to download, go ahead and click on each and click 'Download Raw File' for each.
Please Note: Windows may see this file as a virus, so you may need to 'allow on device' in your virus & threat protection of your windows security service.
- Once you have downloaded each file, I'd recommend making a folder and putting all of the files into that folder. I am going to make a folder with the name 'Mining Files'. I am also going to move the folder out of my Downloads folder (not necessary, but I'd recommend as it's not a great place to park a folder you want to hold onto). I am going to move it to my Documents Folder:
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Now, if you do not have a mining pool account, you will need to make one, otherwise you should be able to use your pool credentials in the next step. Alternatively, you can solo mine using solo.ckpool.org with only a btc address. However, for the purposes of this guide I am going to assume that you are using Braiins pool. If necessary, go ahead and make a login with at braiins.com/pool. Note the username and password as we will need that later.
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From the files that you downloaded in step 3, we are going to right click on 'start_apollo' and select 'edit'. The file will open up in notepad. The first 60 lines or so are explanations on how to prepare this script for your use. However, I am going to run you through all the options to update, so you shouldn't need to read the description. Instead, we are going to focus on the text in black font at the bottom of the file:
We need to update the info in the following fields as follows
-host = stratum.braiins.com
-port = 3333
-user = username for your Braiins login. I'll use "braiinsexample" for now.
-pswd = password for your Braiins login. I'll use "Password123" for now.
-comport = go to the 'Device Manager' service on your computer, expand the 'Ports' section, and you should find a 'USB serial device' with COM#. Update with your COM# (COM1, COM2, COM3, etc).
-brd_ocp = 48
-osc = 30
-ao_mode = 1
So, when our file is set up correctly, it will look like:
- Now that the file is ready, save the file and exit out of notepad. You should be able to simply double-click on the file. The command prompt services will pop-up on your desktop, and should reflect this, indicating your connection is successful and mining has begun:
You are now mining! The setting we use run the Unit ins 'eco mode', which should yield 2 terahash per second in terms of mining power (you can monitor the performance from your respective mining pool dashboard). As long as you keep this terminal window open and the computer on that is connected to the miner, and you will be mining away :)