Bitcoin and Blockchain

Open source Bitcoin miners

Purpose

To promote the free and open development of an FPGA based Bitcoin mining solution.

Project Status

Project is fully functional and allows mining of Bitcoins both in a Pool and Solo. It also supports Namecoins.

Current Performance: 109 MHash/s On a Terasic DE2-115 Development Board

Note: The included default configuration file, and source files, are built for 50 MHash/s performance (downclocked). This is meant to prevent damage to your valuable chip if you don't provide an appropriate cooling solution.

Contributors

These people have worked hard to enhance and promote the Open-Source FPGA Bitcoin Miner project: Not listed in any particular order

teknohog 1HkL2iLLQe3KJuNCgKPc8ViZs83NJyyQDM

OrphanedGland 1PioyqqFWXbKryxysGqoq5XAu9MTRANCEP

udif

TheSeven 14Jc8vWq1mPv7vWnP5VquZZgpLEtzW2vja

makomk 15XX7BhQcZFUg47S4VKyiLygPTHTs9234J

newMeat1 1LbqTCA1cnpbbdKbXzZZfHYMe7teiczQc2

Supported Devices

Both Xilinx and Altera devices are currently supported. A binary configuration file and tools are provided for the Terasic DE2-115 Development Board, so it is easy to get up and running with that board. For other devices, you can modify and compile the correct projects for your specific development board.

Required Equipment:

• DE2-115 Development Kit (this is not a DE2. It has a Cyclone IV EP4CE115.)
• USB Cable
• Windows PC (Linux is also supported, but not documented)
• Altera's Quartus II (installed on PC)

###Instructions:

####Do These Once:

1. IMPORTANT: Please remove the clear acrylic cover on your DE2-115 board. This will restrict air flow and may cause the chip to overheat.
2. Navigate to 'scripts/mine' and follow the instructions in 'config.example.tcl' (open in Notepad or other text editor)

####Do these each time you want to run the miner:

1. Connect the DE2-115 Development Kit to your PC through USB, connect its power, and turn it on.
2. Ensure that the DE2-115's drivers have been installed successfully on your PC. Consult the DE2-115 User Guide for more information on setting up the DE2-115.
3. Navigate to 'scripts/program' and run 'program-fpga-board.bat'.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the program-fpga-board script. Select the correct cable and programming file. Once programming has succeeded, the DE2-115 is now ready to mine!

Note: This script sometimes fails immediately upon execution. Please try running it again.

5. Run 'mine.bat'
6. If working correctly, 'mine.bat' will leave a console window open where it reports hashing rate, estimated hashing rate and accepted/rejected share information.
7. Profit!

####Notes:

• You need to re-program the DE2-115 every time it is powered off and on again. Repeat steps 1 through 7 for subsequent uses.
• Your PC needs to stay on and connected to the internet. It is acting like a controller for the FPGA, feeding it data and getting back valid hashes.