Recently with my Banana Pi M3 I was having multiple issues while installing. One of them was an error message when trying to set up a new user. See the error message below.
Current password: New password: New password (again): passwd: Authentication token manipulation error passwd: password unchanged
Smyptoms
When adding a new user with
sudo adduser $user
The system does not accept a password and produces the above message.
Solution
I have found that removing the (non existing ?) password from the user is the only way to solve the problem quickly. It is a weird thing, I have no clue what is causing this.
While logged in as any user with root privileges (sudo), delete the$user password,
"Mumble is a voice chat application for groups. While it can be used for
any kind of activity, it is primarily intended for gaming. It can be
compared to programs like Ventrilo or TeamSpeak.
People tend to simplify things, so when they talk about Mumble they
either talk about "Mumble" the client application or about "Mumble &
Murmur" the whole voice chat application suite." [1]
Recently my Raspberry Pi broke down at home that was serving a small Mumble server (this is called Murmur). Since I am away from home I cannot fix it so I have decided to buy a VPS sever and run it off from there. I have found an amazing VPS provider that sells VPS plans starting from 9.99€/year with decent configuration (Affiliate link). This guide is for all those who want to easily set up and configure a server "ready to go" as fast as possible.
Installation
Installing Murmur (mumble server) is straightforward in Ubuntu, it can be done via the pat repository through apt-get commands.
Update your repository and packages that might be out of date
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Install and do an initial configuration on mumble-server
sudo apt-get install mumble-server
sudo dpkg-reconfigure mumble-server
The images below show what you will be prompted when running the dpkg-reconfigure command.
Select yes if you want mumble-server to start upon boot. This is a useful feature just in case the server or your OS crashes and otherwise you would forget to start your services.
Generally set this to "yes" as well to increase performance and audio quality of your server.
Finally, set a SuperUser password. This will be only used for logging in with the root account called "SuperUser" and administering channel properties.
The mumble server is now up and running, however it is not fully configured. Next is to set server password, audio quality, port and so on. Proceed to the next step.
Configure your Server
Mumble server has a single configuration file for interest for us located in /etc/mumble-server.ini. This file has to be edited with any kind of text editor of your liking.The configuration file is self-explanatory and there is also a complete documentation on it [2].
sudo nano /etc/mumble-server.ini
There are many settings here that you can tweak, however the most important ones (for a quick setup at least) are the following.
welcometext
This is the welcome message that will be displayed to clients when joining the server. The mumble client shows this message in the standard message window on the left side of the client.
welcometext="your welcome message comes here"
You can use standard html syntaxin the message to display something more than a plain text. Some examples:
<b>bold</b> - makes enclosed text bold
<i>italic</i> - makes enclosed text italic
<br /> - inserts a line break
port
The port where users have to connect to the server. If you change the default port, make sure to let your users know.
port=64738
serverpassword
Quite obviously, this is the server password users need to connect. Set it to something strong as the client is able to remember it, so users will not be promoted to enter this on every connection.
serverpassword=superstrongpasswordyeah
bandwidth
This is the audio bandwidth per user. The default is 70'000 bits/s and the higher you set this, the better the audio quality. Setting it higher to 130'000 has no effect, I usually go with 128'000 bits/s.
bandwidth=128000
users
Defines the maximum number of users allowed on the server. If you are running a small server for a handful of people, this probably isn't so important for you, although setting it to 20-50 wouldn't hurt anyway. It becomes important when you are running a larger server and your bandwidth is limited.
users=50
Apply Changes
In order for the changes to take effect you have to restart the mumble server
sudo service mumble-server restart
There are of course a lot more settings, but these initial points are probably the most important. Feel free to play around.
Managing Channels
Once everything has been set up on the server side it is time to log in with a client and start configuring the channels. For starters, there will only be 1 root channel on the server.By default only the SuperUser (the mumble servers "root" user) has the right to add, delete and edit channels. So it is useful to give your account (the one you will personally use on your server) administrator rights. This saves the hassle of logging in all the time with the root account. To do this, follow these steps, which are also nicely explained in the wiki [3].
Open a mumble client, navigate to Configure/Settings and check the "Advanced" checkbox at the bottom left corner.
Configure/Settings window after enabling Advanced view by checking the checkbox at the bottom left corner of the window.
Pick a username and connect to your server at the server's IP address, with the specified port and server password.
Click on Self/Register, which will lock your username on the server.
Disconnect from the server.
Reconnect to the server, however use the following username & password, username:SuperUser password:<the one you set in dpkg-reconfigure mumble-server>
In case you forgot the SuperUser password, don't worry. Log in to your server and re-run sudo dpkg-reconfigure mumble-server
At this point you should be logged in as SuperUser and you have the right to create and edit channels. Simply right-click a channel and see what options you have.
To give administrator rights to your user account select the root channel, right-click and select Edit.
Go to the Groups tab and select admin from the dropdown menu. Then at the bottom of the window type your username into the field and click Add. See the image below.
Root>Edit>Group
window showing my user account added to the admin group. Afterwards, I
can edit channels with my everyday user account.
Save changes by clicking OK. Now you can simply log out and log back in with you user account.
Editing channels is simply done by right-click/edit. You can also add new channel and sub-channels by selecting Add from the menu. Configure a server and channel structure of your liking!
But wait! There's more!
If you want to learn more about channel settings, groups and administration I strongly suggest watching the video below (10 minutes and you learn a lot). Groups and permissions are nicely explained and you can configure your server pretty good if you follow what is shown in the video.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
The Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV
and a keyboard. It is a capable little computer which can be used in
electronics projects, and for many of the things that your desktop PC
does, like spreadsheets, word-processing and games. It also plays
high-definition video. We want to see it being used by kids all over the
world to learn programming.[1]
This post will discuss the need and usefulness as well as short installation instructions of heat sinks for the Raspberry Pi. Information is related to the Raspberry Pi Model B (512 MB RAM)
Is it necessary?
The question often comes up, is it necessary to use some sort of cooling on the Pi or is it fine as it is?
From an engineering perspective it is most likely not necessary to use an additional heat sink. A product for sale should normally work "as is" without any major source of failure or a need from the consumer to do changes to the product. Maybe that is only my perspective in general, but the point has been made.
The ARM11 processor powering the Raspberry Pi Model B is used in a range of mobile devices that do not have any cooling, except for passive cooling heat sinks maybe. Forums and other sources say [2] that heat is not an issue with these chips until about 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). It is very unlikely that one would get to such temperatures under any sort of normal usage.
It is a personal choice to use a heat sink
on the Raspberry, but as mentioned above it is absolutely not necessary.
So what might influence you to buying a heat sink for your Raspberry?
Hot environments and overclocking
The looks of the device and peace of mind, knowing it will not overheat
Continuous heavy load and overclocking
Because you want to do it
Normal Operating Conditions
During normal usage my Raspberry in its original case is operating in the range of 46-48 C, based on my own measurements. This is slightly less than the temperatures of 51-53 C measured by Thomas [4] for an enclosed idling Raspberry Pi. Possibly due to the fact that I am reading off the values via a software whereas he was using thermal imaging.
Either way, these values are well within the operating limit and shouldn't cause any issue any time soon. However, I would sleep better if I knew that there was some sort of extra heat removal method on my Raspberry when I'm not at home and this little thing is working at full load.
Overclocking
Overclocking is the process of increasing the clock rate of the Raspberry Pi's processor. By default it is running at 700 MHz, however even from the default firmware this can be increased to 800 MHz or even further to 1 GHz.
Overclocking increases the speed of the processor, however it also means a higher energy consumption and therefore more heat generated. The temperature of a processor has nothing to do with the performance of the processor (speed), but rather its lifetime. At higher temperatures a processor is more likely to fail compared to one operating at lower temperatures, refer to image below.
Semiconductor lifetime with increasing junction temperature (source [3])
Hence it is of best interest to keep CPUs at as low temperatures as possible.
I am still running my Raspberry Pi at the original 700 MHz and do not plan to overclock any time soon. If I will need an increased performance I would look into it, but for now I do not see the point for my usage profile.
Which Heat Sink to Use and Where to Put It?
I went for Aluminium heat sinks (from eBay)
which were exactly the right size and made for the Raspberry Pi. For
easy application I chose the ones that have some thermal paste sticker
on the back, so it is literally as easy as peeling off the back and
aligning it properly on the chip.
Aluminium heat sinks ready to be glued onto the chip
Aluminium heat sinks applied to the Raspberry Pi
I would say position or aligning the heat sinks (which way the fins are facing) is barely going to affect the already small efffect they make. If you have an air flow over the Pi then from a heat transfer point of view it is more efficient to have the fins parallel to the air stream so that it moves between the fin and removes more heat. Nevertheless, do not worry about this as it will not make a significant difference, especially if you are using the Pi in a standard room condition without overclocking.
Be careful when position and dropping the glued heat sinks onto the board as they stick fast and removing-reapplying them may reduce the contact surface between the heat sink and the board. Apply pressure gently to make them stick nicely, but avoid damaging the board.
Conclusion
If you want to put some heat sinks on your Raspberry Pi because you are worried about it "burning out", then you probably do not need heat sinks. In some of the above mentioned use scenarios you can consider, but chances are it will not make much of a difference.
If you love tinkering with tech, want to learn a little about the RPi and are curious, then go ahead, It isn't much work nor does it cost a lot of money, but you will have a slightly more customized Raspberry Pi.
Canonical has announced today shutting down the Ubuntu One cloud storage and music storage system. The company said that they cannot compete any more with other service providers giving away free 25-50 GB of storage. As a consequence further releases of Ubuntu, starting with 14.04 LTS, will not ship with the Ubuntu One file services.
However, as the blog post states
"The shutdown will not affect the Ubuntu One single sign on service, the
Ubuntu One payment service, or the backend U1DB database service."
Important Dates to Keep in Mind
April 02 2014: It is no longer possible to buy additional storage or music files June 01 2014: Services will be unavailable (User data still available for download) July 31 2014: All files left in the cloud will be deleted
My last Software Update didn't go well and something got broken. Afterwards I had a nice little red mark on the top bar on my Desktop saying that the Update was unsuccessful. No matter how many times I tried to re-run the upgrade it didn't work.
sudo apt-get update
Returned that there are is a broken package and I should run apt-get -f install to repair broken packages.
Trying the command as per suggested in the terminal window gave the following result:
nargren@T808:~$ sudo apt-get -f install Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Correcting dependencies... Done The following extra packages will be installed: linux-headers-3.2.0-56 The following NEW packages will be installed linux-headers-3.2.0-56 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 14 not upgraded. 3 not fully installed or removed. Need to get 0 B/11.7 MB of archives. After this operation, 56.3 MB of additional disk space will be used. Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y (Reading database ... 803914 files and directories currently installed.) Unpacking linux-headers-3.2.0-56 (from .../linux-headers-3.2.0-56_3.2.0-56.86_all.deb) ... dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-headers-3.2.0-56_3.2.0-56.86_all.deb (--unpack): unable to create `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-56/arch/parisc/include/asm/superio.h.dpkg-new' (while processing `./usr/src/linux-headers-3.2.0-56/arch/parisc/include/asm/superio.h'): No space left on device No apport report written because the error message indicates a disk full error dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe) Errors were encountered while processing: /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-headers-3.2.0-56_3.2.0-56.86_all.deb E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
Saying that there is no space left on the device made me check my disk partitions.
It showed that there is plenty of space. Looking for further advice on my issue I stumbled upon this post on superb.com. Although the issue was not much related to my problem, I could use the techniques described there.
Using the command
for i in /*; do echo $i; find $i | wc -l; done What this does is it counts the number of files in the root (/*) directory. Once it finishes (can take some time) run it again on the directory that had most f the files in it. To do so simply change the "/*" part of the code. So for example if your /usr directory contained the most of the files, then it would be for i in /usr/*; do echo $i; find $i | wc -l; done
(Please not that this command can take a while to run, be patient)
I found that for me the /usr directory was overcrowded with files, 786000 to be exact. Most of this was occupied by the /usr/src sub-directory. After some more searching and research, turns out this holds the different kernel header files.
It is very handy to have some extra directories added to the sidebar in the Ubuntu file manager (Nautilus) to allow quick navigation, especially if one has rather complex file structures on your computer.
Adding bookmark
First, open the file manager
Select the directory you would like to add to the sidebar and enter that directory (!)
Once inside the directory, go to the Ubuntu title bar and select Bookmarks/Add Bookmark (Note that if you are not inside the directory, it will not work!)
The directory will appear in the sidebar of the file manager, granting fast access from now on to the files within that directory.
Remove Bookmark
If you want to remove the bookmark from the sidebar right-click it and select remove.
The brief promo video shows how fast the OS works on a tablet computer. Seamless change between applications and stunning multi task experience. Head over to Ubuntu.com to learn more!
The user interface looks mostly identical to that of the Ubuntu phone, hence the "unity", uniformity across devices. The same simple and fast interface on a larger screen allowing you to use both hands or watch videos, view and edit images or video chat with friends. Very nice first impression with the extremely fast and responsive system. I have used android tablets before, but this seems like a new user experience. I like the layout, the controls and the full utilization of the screen.
Just like in the case of the Ubuntu phone, I really hope that the tablet can run a terminal as well.
To learn more about functions and features read my post about the Ubuntu Phone and watch the video above. Don't forget to check out Ubuntu.com either!
If you are fan of Linux and Ubuntu just like I am, then there is some good news. Canonical is expanding the world's favorite linux-based operating system to smartphones, hence Ubuntu phone.
Watch the industry proposition with Mark Shuttleworth (founder of Canonical), talking about the latest achivements and introducing Ubuntu phone.
And a little hands-on review at CES2013 with Engadget, see Ubuntu in action.
Mobile Operating Systems
For the past years Android and iOS have been competing with each other and the users didn't have much a choice, it was either or (unfortunately RIM's BlackBerry OS is declining, although it is a very nice platform, and Symbian is almost totally disappeared). It is no secret that back in the day when the first iPhone came out it was aimed at the everyday customers who needed ease of use above all. Then came Android, the open-source system that has filled in the gap created by the very restricted iPhone and has experienced exponential growth and is still expanding. Both systems are user-friendly and preference over one or the other is purely a personal matter.
Then came Windows phone that has brought competition into the battle between the two major systems. It has received positive reviews and indeed is a very nice platform that is responsive and easy to use.
Canonical's Ubuntu however, will surely be a game changer and bring another refreshment in the field. They have taken their time and learned through the years to finally come up with a brilliant system, that is different from what we have seen so far from any mobile operating systems.
For those who have used Ubuntu before, many features will look familiar like the Unity interface, but those who are new to the operating system should not worry either as it is a very clean and pleasant user experience.
Use 100% Of Your Screen
On a desktop machine place (in terms of display) is not an issue - especially in Linux where you can have multiple virtual desktops providing almost unlimited space for a range of programs - on a phone however it is crucial. Screen size is limited to a few inches and although Android tries to utilize this place - similarly to Linux - with multiple home pages, the menu elements and application features are often taking away a large percent of the already small available place. Ubuntu will bring a huge change in this field as all 4 edges of the screen will have different tasks assigned to them and also offers to hide the menu by default and show it only when necessary.
Use the full capacity of the screen, open menus only when needed (Ubuntu.com)
A touch on the left edge of the screen will show the most recently used applications that allows to quickly launch what you need. No more going to home screen, scrolling through apps until you find what you need, no. It is just 1 touch away. Alternatively if you make a faster swipe from the left you will be presented to the home page where your currently running applications are show along with the installed as well as downloadable applications. Everything in one place, to let you use what you need and not look for it.
The top of the screen holds the different status icons like signal, battery life, messages and volume which is common on the smartphone operating systems. However Ubuntu allows you to directly access these by simply touching them and pulling the menu down. No mater what are you doing on your phone, these settings are available any time without interrupting you. Messages are the same. All messages are accessible from the top of the display while using any other application. Without the need to close or change the application or go back to the menu and look for the messages.
Touching the bottom of the screen brings you up the applications menu. This is similar to Android systems, but by default this menu is hidden to allow you utilizing 100% of your phone's screen. It is not necessary to sacrifice 10-20% of your screen when you are scanning through photos. Touch the bottom of the screen and you can edit or share the picture on your favorite social media site with just one click.
Multitasking has always been a core part of Ubuntu (see multiple virtual desktops) and this is not changing in the Ubuntu phone either. Swiping from the right side of the screen brings you back to the previous application you were using.
Applications
Applications or "Apps" are usually reachable through some sort of Application Store. Now for a long time Ubuntu Desktop has had this feature, providing an enormous amount of software available in their Software Centre. The same which will be available on the Ubuntu phone! Whats more, since this is a truly open source platform, anybody can contribute to this store and develop applications. In fact there is already a software package published by Canonical for this purpose at ubuntu.com. I am sure that the open source community will prove itself and cause an explosive growth of applications for the Ubuntu phone even before actual devices start shipping. I see a huge potential in the Software Centre and I believe that over time this will grow to be one of the dominant advantages over other mobile operating systems.
Availability
Although there are some working models already, unfortunately we have to wait until the end of this year or possibly until early next year to see Ubuntu phones showing up on the phone market. However there will be Ubuntu phone packages available to download before this time to allow Ubuntu fans to re-flash their Android phones to their favorite operating system.
Supported Phones
Canonical was at CES 2013 and is still in the process of consulting with manufacturers to ship their phones preloaded with Ubuntu. It is a new platform so it might be risky, but it also has huge benefits. At CES 2013 Ubuntu was shown smoothly running on a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, but it is said that it will be compatible with most Android devices. This means that even if the phone comes originally with Android, it can be re-flashed later on to Ubuntu. This versatility opens up a huge market where Canonical can spread their new operating system, not talking about all those who will replace their Android systems as soon as the Ubuntu package will be available.
One Device To Replace Them All
The idea behind the uniformity across Ubuntu devices (Desktop, TV, tablet and now the phone) is that sooner or later one device could replace the others. 20 years ago there were mostly only robust desktop computers, later these were replaced by lightweight, portable notebooks and in the recent years the smartphone industry has seen an explosive success. As smartphones are getting faster and stronger with better processors and video cards in them, more onboard memory and storage, they indeed are computers already. So what is stopping anyone from taking an Ubuntu phone, docking it at home, connecting a wireless mouse and keybord along with a screen and use it as a regular desktop? This could be done already and this surely is the future. There will come a point where it will be unnecessary (or pointless) to buy separate computers for home use, the smartphones will be powerful enough to replace them.
Dock your powerful Ubuntu phone to turn it into your Desktop (Ubuntu.com)
Summary
All I can say that I am very much looking forward to this new smartphone operating system and I am sure there are many others who feel the same way. All the awesome features of Ubuntu, the security of Linux squezzed into my handheld computer.
The phone is targeted at the average user and the aim was to make a clean design and an easy to use interface. However, what I personally would like to see are all the functionality of my Ubuntu desktop in the phone. I would like to be able to access the terminal for example, the file system of my phone, be able to install packages just like I am doing now with apt-get and so on. I do not see why these function should not be available, in fact I am almost certain that this open source platform will provide full access to phone features so that it can then be truly used as computers and not as smartphones.
This article contains some help for those starting to get into using bitcoin and contains help I have found when reading through different forums and experiences made. It also assumes some basic knowledge about Bitcoin in general, bitcoin client the meaning of mining, mining software, blocks, hashing rate and so on. All this information can be found in the Bitcoin Wiki and only requires some reading and no actual deep programming knowledge.
Contents of this Article
About Bitcoin
Installing the Bitcoin Client
Mining & Mining Software
Where to Mine
Downloads & Links
Earn Your First Coins (for free)
Sources
About Bitcoin
"Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part."[1]
Originally Bitcoin was developed by an anonymous person calling himself "Satoshi Nakamoto", his real identity is still unknown. [2]
The network uses the SHA256 algorithm that is very fast to compute and hence allowed technology companies to develop specialized hardware for bitcoin mining, the coin generation process. The mining process includes a "puzzle" a machine can solve and based on the outcome of this puzzle a block might be generated. Upon finding a new block, 25 BTC is added to the miner. Blocks are generated on a predictable rate (1 block every 10 minutes) and the reward for finding a block halves on a pre-determined basis. These factors limit the total number of available bitcoins in the system, which will be 21 million coins once the system reaches this point in the future.
The easy calculation of SHA256 hashes made it available to develop specialized hardware such as FPGAs (Field programmable Gate Array) and ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) that specialize in bitcoin mining. Such hardware have dramatically shifted the bitcoin mining process and increased the global hash rate of the network. Whether this is good or bad, everyone has to decide for him/herself. one thing is for sure, bitcoin is growing faster than before. Currently 1 coin (BTC) is worth over 500$ and it does not seem to slow down.
And here is a short video explaining a few things and introducing Bitcoin.
Installing the Bitcoin Client
First of all what you should know that there are 2 versions of the official bitcoin client, bitcoin and bitcoin-qt. Bitcoin is the command line client that is for more advanced users while bitcoin-qt is the graphical user interface (GUI) version that is easier to use (aim to use the bitcoin-qt, GUI version).
Known issue with the client under Ubuntu: The icon does not show in the Unity menu bar (top of the screen where email etc is.). It shows up when first installing, but after that it is gone. As said above, I tried building from source to see if the problem is solved that way, but it isn't. Not a big impact, just a minor issue, but I personally would like to be displayed there, hopefully this will be fixed soon. Update: This issue has been fixed in theLatest Client (as far as I saw).
1. Amending Software Sources (PPA) - Recommended
Update: This seems to be the predominantly supported and easiest way of installing bitcoin-qt on an Ubuntu system.
Edit your software sources by,
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
and add the 2 lines at the end of the file,
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/bitcoin/bitcoin/ubuntu YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE main deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/bitcoin/bitcoin/ubuntu YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE main
Where of course you replace "YOUR_UBUNTU_VERSION_HERE" with the name of your Ubuntu version, e.g. 12.04 is "precise". If this is not perfectly clear for you or you are using another version than 12.04 of Ubuntu then check out this link for help: https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/bitcoin.
After this simply run in the terminal,
It is now installed on your system in /home/[USER]/.bitcoin
You can create a desktop launcher or launch it from unity panel or your favourite place.
If you need more help: Bitcoin.org
2. Installing the Bitcoin Client - Alternative 1
Installation by downlaoding the latest bitcoin *.tar.gz file. As per the README file tells:
Download the latest *.tar.gz file from bitcoin.org
Unzip the contents into a folder
Run sudo apt-get install libqtgui4 to install Qt4 runtime libraries (if you had a previous version installed this should already exist on your system)
Run either of the 4 executable installers (according to your system)
This should install the bitcoin client onto your system.
3. Building from Source - Alternative 2
To get the bitcoin client clone the official github repository first and then decide whether you need the GUI version (bitcoin-qt) or just the terminal one. Clone the github repository,
where "ROUTE" is the route to the folder you want to copy to. Leave empty to clone it to your home directory. Also you will need some packages installed, get these by running
This is fully in the terminal. After the github repository as been downloaded and the necessary packages applied, simply execute (as per doc/readme-qt.rst)
qmake
make
Now note that as said this is the terminal version of the bitcoin client, it comes with no graphical interface, all arguments must be given in the terminal. It is highly advised that you do not use this option.
If qmake gives an error, try
qmake "USE_UPNP=-"
make
3.b. GUI Version
You have to get a program called "Qt-creator" from the software centre so go ahead and download it.
Also you will need the packages as mentioned above so install those if you have not done so already.
If you have it navigate to the cloned github repository, right-click bitcoin-qt.pro and select "Open with Qt Creator"
This will open up Qt, here click on run on the bottom left of the screen
and this will create an executable file in the bitcoin folder that will run bitcoin-qt. Run as you would any other file.
Mining & Mining Software
You can either mine alone - in "solo" - where the possibility of you finding a block (25 BTC ~ 7000 Euros, but doesn't matter as it is changing all the time) is above 40 years, or you can mine for a group - called "pools" - where you get a share of the 25 BTC based on the help you provided. With solo mining you may not receive anything at all, but you might find a block and get the total 25 BTC, whereas in a pool you will have more steady, but smaller payments. As the difficulty and global hash rate are high, it is highly advised to join and mine a pool.
Installing poclbm-GUI
Either way you want to go, you need a software to mine and start hashing. I suggest using poclbm-gui miner which is easy to set up and gives the same functions as the terminal version. The things you will need on your system installed are,
python 2.6 or above (3 is not supported) wxpython, get them from synaptic package manager.
nVidia Cards: numpy and PyOpenCL, that can again be again installed from synaptic package manager.
Launch synaptic package manager with:
sudo synaptic
and make a search for the packages and install.
ATI video cards:
If you have an ATI card and plan to use it for mining (which will be much faster than CPU or nVidia cards) the you also need an ATI Stream SDK downloaded and installed.
You can get the latest version of poclbm GUI miner from github,
git clone https://github.com/Kiv/poclbm
and then to run,
cd /home/[USER]/poclbm
python guiminer.py
This will run the guiminer (the front end software) and also poclbm miner, however if you want to use other mining software (e.g. cgminer), it has to be downloaded and installed manually (see links at end of the post and at List of Bitcoin Mining Software). I leave this to you, you have to decide what software you want to use or rather what does your hardware support (!). With all the different ASICS out you will need to check for support. Cgminer is generally a good option to go for and installing it is very simple and it is described in the readme file.
Look for what you need; clone git repo, cd to git repo, ./configure, make, make install or refer to documentation.
After say you have downlaoded cgminer, you can use the GUIminer to control it. This virtually poses no overhead on your hash rate. Make sure you set the correct path to your mining software! Refer to software screenshots below. I recommend you create a "miners" directory within the guiminer and put all miners you use in here. Just to keep things in one place.
Mining in Solo
Firstly go to ~/.bitcoin directory (to see hidden folders press "Ctrl+H" in the file manager, in your home directory) and create a new file called bitcoin.conf if you do not have it already. Put 3 lines in the file,
Keep these secure.
Setting up solo mining requires the bitcoin client to be started up in server mode. To do this, close the client if you have it already running and and start bitcoin-qt with the following command from the terminal,
Where192.168.0.* is you local IP address range, note that this might be different based on your home network settings. This is to tell the client to allow miner connections from the local network.
Start mining software as normal and set up a new solo miner, refer to picture below.
Ext. Path: Absolute path to your miners installed. Make sure it is pointing to the right executable file.
Server: Choose solo Host:localhost Port: Just use 8332, make sure it is the same as you have launched the client with & set in your bitcoin.conf
Username: As per set in ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf Password: As per set in ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf Extra flags: Flags for the miner, like "-v -w 128', this depends on the miner and graphics card you are using. You can look up a list of best settings for different cards Bitcoin Wiki
After setting up to mine in solo, you should see a similar window:
Ubuntu
Windows
If you have launched the client right, got the matching username & password you should be mining in solo.
Mining for a Pool
Pooled mining is the "easier" from the 2. From the dropdown menu simply choose which pool you want to mine for - or choose "other" if it is not listed - type in your account credentials and other information necessary, specified on the pool's homepage and start mining. Please refer to the images and information discussed above in "Mining in Solo".
Of course, username and password in this case will be the ones specific to your pool's one and not the one set it ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf !
If you are looking for a pool to mine for, scroll to the bottom of this post!
Note:
Setting all these up is not difficult at all, once you have figured out how to do it. I hope I could save you some time of looking around the internet and browsing through different forums for finding the right information.
If you however require any further help or anything was not clear or just got stuck, leave a comment and I will get back to you and do my best to help.
Downloads & Links
poclbm with GUI - Github (Kiv); GPU miner using OpenCL, Nvida & ATI; Recommendedas it contains GUI and mining software alike!
Ufasoft CPU/GPU miner - darkgamex.ch; has to be built from source (Windows & Linux)
Diablo GPU miner - Github (Diablo);Uses Java ant the OpenCL framework for hashing; ATI & Nvidia cards
cgminer - ck.kolivas.org; multi-threaded multi-pool GPU, FPGA and CPU miner
Dailybitcoins.org - Some micro bitcoins every hour, random prizes and advertising opportunity. Nice option for those new to Bitcoin to make their first coins fast and for people who want to advertise alike. Bitvisitor.org - Earn bitcoins for watching videos CoinURL.com - Earn bitcoins for publishing ads on your website, by shortening URLs and you can even advertise with bitcoins.
Where to Mine
Update: Please note that "hobby mining" may no longer be profitable with the ever-increasing difficulty and even the cheapest electricity prices. Furthermore cloudmining is often leading to losses and not to profit! At this point I can personally only recommend LTCGear that offers profitable mining power that scales with the difficulty and the below linked GAWminers.
After registration you will be given a short tutorial about the website. Click through the tutorial. (Important!)
At the end of the tutorial you will be given aGenesis Hashlet (10GH/s)
Select a Bitcoin mining pool for it and drag&drop onto your new hashlet.
You are done and mining Bitcoin with 10GH/s!
CEX.io
Join me mining and trading at CEX.io, here you get the following benefits:
Mine in the ghash.io pool with 0% fee
Rent Hashing Power (GH/s) (With BTC or NMC)
You can buy & sell GH/s from the cloud that will work for you OR you can simply make a profit on buying and selling these shares. No fee.
Invite others and get 3% bonus of their GH/s in extra to your account (this does not affect the invited person in a negative manner)
Merged mining ofBitcoin, Namecoin, Devcoin and IXcoin. These do not require extra work, but increase your profit.
Warning! Maintenance fees are so high that it practically only makes sense to TRADE at CEX.io. Buying hashing power and letting it work will make you lose money on the long term!
Triplemining
You can also join me mining at Triplemining where:
The pool gets all the shares
You have a chance to win the weekly jackpot of around ~0.4 BTC
You can make your own "minipool" and earn more by inviting others
Lowest payout limit that I have seen among pools (0.01 BTC)
Now since I am doing some designs for the PirateBox in the future it will be easier if I would make custom image files that could replace the original one. This would make life easier as there would be no need to mount, backup and change the original image file.
I am experimenting with some html5 videos in my custom PB design just to see how the server and router handles the "pressure". Also after reading some threads on reddit I am keen to try some browser games on my PB, but these will need a larger container than the default img (20MB). So here is a short note on how to handle these img files.
(Also sorry for the colours, it is just to illustrate parts of the code.)
Creating & formatting img files in Ubuntu
1. Open terminal and type
dd if=/dev/zeroof=file.img bs=1M count=50
This will create a file called "file.img" in your home directory with a size of 50 MB.
What is what? if=/dev/zero => input file, but since we want an empty container (no input file), we use the "universal" term for "nothing" /dev/zero
of=file.img => output file, file name & location
count=50 => Size of the file in MB
2. After this image needs to be formatted in some file format (ext4, fat32, ntfs and so on; ext3 for the PirateBox). Now you can either use gparted if you want some nice GUI or you can use mkfs command:
mkfs ext3 -F file.img
(For a quick and easy way to do this, you can use my script imgKreator from GitHub.)
Mounting the img file
I have tried mounting the PirateBox img file with different software, but that didn't work. So after some help through chat and forums here is the command to mount the img file:
sudo mkdir -p /tmp/mount_tmp/ && sudo mount -o loop,rw,sync piratebox/pbIMG_ws.img/tmp/mount_tmp
What is what? /tmp/mount_tmp/ => Create the folder where the img will be mounted piratebox/pbIMG_ws.img => Route to PB image file /tmp/mount_tmp => Mount location
I personally had issues trying to edit anything in the folder so I am running a mounting script with the second line being:
sudo chmod -R ug+rw /tmp/mount_tmp
Which just gives read+write permission to the folder.(Although this worked for me before, when creating a new file container use sudo chmod 777 otherwise the PB will not recognize the files and although connection to the network can be made, no website will load). After this editing is simple.
To unmount:
sudo unmount piratebox/pbIMG_ws.img
PirateBox: If interested here is a script that will allow you to quickly mount and unmount pbIM_ws.img file that contains the www folder and the UI/html files.
