BAMT Guide - How to setup Linux BAMT step by step


Introduction

What is BAMT?

BAMT is the short term for "The Big A Miner Thing".
It is a dedicated Linux OS specifically made for mining.

Why should I use BAMT instead of Windows?

There are several reasons why Linux is the better option for mining.
  1. It is super easy and fast to setup!
  2. BAMT doesn't need as many resources as Windows does.
  3. You can run BAMT from a single USB stick, making the need of a HDD or SSD unnecessary.
  4. It's more stable than Windows.
  5. No license needed.
  6. BAMT has an integrated webinterface which lets you check the stats of your miner easily and control is remotely.

But I have no experience with Linux!
No problem, that's why you are here.
Setting everything up is really easy and I will explain it for you step by step!




What do I need to get started?

  • • a computer with Windows
  • • a USB Stick with at least 4GB space. Make sure you haven't stored anything important on it, because all data will be deleted!
  • • a version of BAMT. I can recommend BAMT 1.3 for 280x and 7950 GPUs and will use it in this tutorial.
  • • "Win32 Disk Imager" to make your USB stick bootable.
  • • "Putty" for remote control of your miner.

Download mirrors:

Litecoin BAMT 1.3 R9 Series (Catalyst 13.11)

Litecoin BAMT 1.4 7xxx Series (Catalyst 12.8)

Litecoin BAMT 1.5 R9 Series (Catalyst 14.1)

Win 32 Disk Imager

Putty


Quick overview
  • Step 1 - How to install BAMT on your USB stick
  • Step 2 - Booting up your miner with BAMT
  • Step 3 - First steps in BAMT
  • Step 4 - Changing your config
  • Step 5 - Optimized scrypt kernel files
  • Step 6 - Seeing your sgminer in BAMT using root terminal
  • Step 7 - Seeing your miner stats through the webinterface
  • Step 8 - Remote controlling your miner using windows
  • Step 9 - Changing your config/pool with remote access

Step 1 - How to install BAMT on your USB stick

Plug in the USB stick to your computer.
Unzip the version of BAMT you have downloaded and start Win32 Disk Imager.


  1. Select your USB flash drive.
  2. Search for your downloaded BAMT image.
  3. Select the image and click open.
  4. Press "write" and wait until the program finishes.
  5. Thats it already! Now you have a bootable version of BAMT on your USB stick.

Step 2 - Booting up your miner with BAMT

Take your USB stick, plug it into your miner and boot it up.
If your miner doesn't boot from your USB stick, change the boot priority options in your BIOS.
To enter your BIOS you have to press "del" while booting up your miner (sometimes it is another key you have to press).

Step 3 - First steps in BAMT:


If you successfully bootet BAMT, you should see a screen like this.
Booting it for the first time will look just slightly different.

1. The first thing you should take a look is the ip shown on the desktop.
    Remeber that ip - you will need it later.

2. The next thing we want to do is to change your cgminer settings.
    Click on "Accessories" and open the "File Manager"




3. Click on the folder "BAMT" on the left side.
    If you don't see that folder, follow directories to "/etc/BAMT/".

4. This folder contains your cgminer configuration.
    To change the config you have to rightclick cgminer.conf and open it with leafpad.

Step 4 - Changing your config



Every graphics card is different and needs a different configuration to get the best results / hashrates.
There are good configs all over the internet. Just use google to find a config fitting your hardware.

Here are some configs that may help you: http://www.smos-linux.org/configs/

In my tutorial I am using a miner with 4x Sapphire HD 7950 (11196-19-20G) and reach stable 2610kh/s. Thats nearly 653kh/s per GPU and I could reach even higher hashrates with this card, but energy consumtion is rising exponentially while stability of the system decreases. All cards were undervolted to 1,15V to run cooler and use less energy.

Config for Sapphire HD 7950 Dual-X (11196-19-20G) - 653kh/s @ 1,15V:

Download: http://pastebin.com/x6fyjYKx


Click "Restart mining sessions" to start mining with your new settings.


A good cgminer config has the biggest impact on your hashrates, but using optimized scrypt kernel files for your miner can also help you to improve your hashrate by 10-30kh/s per card.
This files are modded bins with hardcoded constants like thread concurrency and improved loops to make the hashing process more efficient. There is no guarantee you will find bins fitting to your card and settings, but it is definitely worth to try and search on google for them.

You can download some optimized bins here:

Bins for 7950 cards including:
  • • for thread concurrency 16384, lookup gap 2
  • • for thread concurrency 20480, lookup gap 2
  • • for thread concurrency 21712, lookup gap 2
  • • for thread concurrency 22336, lookup gap 2
  • • for thread concurrency 22400, lookup gap 2
  • • for thread concurrency 24000, lookup gap 2

Bins for 280x cards including:
  • • for thread concurrency 8191
  • • for thread concurrency 8192

Note: The name of the file indicates which config you have to use with this bin in order to have success. If you are using a 64-bit system change the filename at the end from "*l4.bin" to "*l8.bin". 

Step 5 - Optimized scrypt kernel files

(If you could not find any optimized scrypt kernel files just skip this part.)



Download the bins on your computer and put them on your USB stick.
You can also download them directly on BAMT using Iceweasel
( "Start" -> "Accessories" -> "Iceweasel" ).

You will find the files with your filemanager in "/home/Downloads/".

  • • Copy all bins and open the directory "/opt/miners/cgminer/"
  • • Paste them into the cgminer folder and overwrite all files. Make a backup beforehand.
  • • Edit your cgminer.conf with the thread concurrencies the bins are optimized for.
  • • Restart mining session so your changes come into effect

Step 6 - Seeing your sgminer in BAMT using root terminal:



1. Open the Root Terminal.


2. Make sure your miner is running.
    If it is not running simply write "mine start" to start mining and "mine stop" to stop.

3. If your miner is running, type in "screen -ls" and press enter.



4. You will get a response smiliar to this. The information you need to know is "4167.cgminer"


5. Take the information from step 4 and write "screen -r 4167.cgminer" and press enter.


6. Voila! You can see the stats of your miner in realtime now.
    To stop mining and go back to the console simply press Q for Quit.

Step 7 - Seeing your miner stats through the webinterface


Remeber how you should remember the ip that you could see on your BAMT desktop?
Open a browser from your local area network and type in the ip.
This will show you this nice webinterface that is accessible through every browser which is connected to your LAN network. It's very useful to check quickly how your miner is doing even with your smartphone.

Step 8 - Remote controlling your miner using windows

In this step you will learn how to see your miner and change the config of your miner remotely.

Connecting to your miner using Putty.

Open putty and type in the ip-address of your miner under "Host Name" and click "Open".


If everything was right you should see a window like this.

Now you will have to login.

Username: user
Password: live

Don't worry if you don't see anything you type in the password field.



If your login was successful your next step is to become root.
Type in "sudo su" and press enter.


To see how your miner is doing use following commands:
"screen -ls"
You will need the information "4379.cgminer" for the next step.
If you don't get this info your miner is not running.
In this case you will have to to start your miner with "mine start".  

Now type:
"screen -r 4379.cgminer"




Step 9 - Changing your config/pool with remote access

If you follow step 8 you will have access to all the options sgminer gives you.
  • • Pressing P will give you the possibility to change your pool remotely.
  • • Pressing S will give you access to change your settings.
  • • Pressing Q will quit sgminer and stop mining.
Lets change the pool settings - simply press P on your keyboard.



To add a pool just follow the instructions sgminer gives you.
To add a new pool press A.
You will have to add your pool url, worker name and password.
To use the added pool you will have to press S and switch to it.



There is also another possible way to change your cgminer.conf and even paste a whole new config from your computer.



Quit your miner pressing Q. Now open your config with following command:
"nano /etc/bamt/cgminer.conf"




With this option you have access to change whatever you want in the config.
The options "^G" etc. are usable by pressing CTRL + G.
After changing your settings press CTRL + X.
You will have to define a name for your new config.
If you want to use it right away name it cgminer.conf.
Confirm your decision with [Y]es and thats it! Easy, isn't it?


I tried my best to get you started for using BAMT/Linux.
Feel free to tip me if I could help you :-)


Bitcoin: 1FbquakkHE7E77FjvLwFrThoxJTNGjaFUk
Dogecoin: DS1DA5ZnYEQdq7tL16XSfu8tgmGLw9GBNk

Thank you very much!


Recapture of commands you need to know for BAMT:
  • • sudo su
  • • mine start
  • • mine stop
  • • screen -ls
  • • screen -r "*.cgminer"
  • • nano /etc/bamt/cgminer.conf

Sonntag, 2. März 2014 Leave a comment

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