Setup, software, connection and accessories under Windows 10 or higher
Connection & accessories
The miner requires a USB hub with an active power supply that is able to provide at least 2 A per USB port. We have had good experiences with USB 2.0 devices from Anker and Orico, but we also offer the GekkoScience 7-port USB hub, which was specially developed for mining with USB sticks. Be careful with USB hubs with Intel USB 3.0 chipsets. Users are increasingly reporting compatibility problems. Detailed HUB discussion for USB stick miners in the bitcointalk.org forum: here
For safe operation with a clock frequency of 200 MHz or more, we recommend using a suitable USB fan. We have had good experiences with the Arctic Breeze Mobile 92 mm. Very quiet, powerful and durable.
The Compac F USB stick miner is also offered with a Sunon 40 mm snap-on fan with USB splitter. This fan cools the miner reliably and is very quiet at 23 decibels.
Software
The Compac F USB Stick miner for SHA256D based coins requires a special branch of the mining tool CGMiner, which is available for download here as a 32-bit binary for Windows systems (recommended: Windows 10 or higher):
The miner registers itself in the Windows device manager as “Compac F Bitcoin Miner”. Under Windows 10 and higher, we recommend using the Zadig USB driver tool (http://zadig.akeo.ie/) and using the included WinUSB (libusb) driver.
Tip: After installation, activate the menu item “List all Devices” in the “Options” menu.
The Zadig tool must be run with administrator rights. If your device is connected but you cannot see it, use the menu: Options -> List all devices.
Select the “Install or Replace Driver” option and choose WinUSB.
If the USB miner is a composite USB device like the CompacA1, after selecting the “List All Devices” menu option, you may need to uncheck the “Ignore Hubs or Composite Parent” menu option to see the miner.
If this is the first time you’ve switched a device to WinUSB using Zadig and it shows correctly on the left side of the Zadig window, but there are still permission errors, you may need to unplug and re-plug the USB miner. Some users may need to reboot at this point.
You can use the following command to check whether the miner has been correctly recognized:
cgminer.exe -n
Setup
The command for starting the Compac F in the custom CGMiner in the console is as follows (example):
cgminer.exe -o stratum+tcp://pool.ckpool.org:3333 -u 1BURGERAXHH6Yi6LRybRJK7ybEm5m5HwTr -p x --suggest-diff 32 --gekko-compacf-freq 200
The pool data from the above example can be replaced with your own pool data. The above example illustrates operation in the solo mining pool of Con Kolivas. The clock frequency can be changed by changing the parameter gekko-compacf-freq. Continuous operation with an active USB hub and USB fan is only recommended for frequencies up to 400 MHz.
The performance of the miner varies depending on the set clock frequency and core voltage and can be approximately represented as follows:
The higher the hash rate, the more the performance varies with the manufacturing tolerances of the ASICs used.
Since the introduction of the new drivers, there are also other recommended console parameters:
--gekko-mine2
This parameter uses a new algorithm that outputs every automatic adjustment of the clock frequency together with the causes on the console.
With the –gekko-mine2 parameter activated, the following console parameters can also be used:
--gekko-tune2 60
This parameter allows the miner to test the originally set clock frequency again after a set period of time has elapsed. In this example, the miner tests the originally set clock frequency again after 60 minutes. To prevent the miner from constantly adjusting the clock frequency up and down again, the parameter can be used with values between 30 and 9999 minutes.
For further help and support, please take a look at the support forum on bitcointalk.org (in English) or simply send us an e-mail.
