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Firmware setup guide

Here you’ll find the latest firmware for your Proto-MDK (Mining Development Kit).

What is firmware?
Firmware is a form of software that runs on hardware. The Proto-MDK firmware controls system and performance functions.

How do I install the Proto-MDK firmware?
The Proto-MDK firmware is an image file that should be flashed onto a 16 GB microSD card (minimum). To learn how to install the firmware for your Proto-MDK, follow the instructions below.

Prerequisites

You’ll need the following to install the Proto-MDK firmware

Computer

16GB microSD card Do not use a smaller memory SD card, as errors can occur during update

microSD card reader Compatible with the external ports on your computer

Software to flash the firmware onto the microSD card You can use free software such as balenaEtcher to flash the firmware

Installation guide

The Proto team will notify Beta participants of updated firmware versions. We recommend updating to the latest versions on a recurring basis. This ensures regulatory and safety compliance.

Beta participants will receive an early release of firmware pre-flashed to a microSD card. The Proto team will contact users in September to update to the latest version.

Firmware release notes

The Proto-MDK firmware manages logging, database, API, and hardware configurations.

The beta firmware release notes provides a detail of features and functionality of current and previous firmware releases.

If you need assistance with firmware related issues, contact support at mining.support@block.xyz.

v 2.0

distro 0.1.8

Released October 22, 2024

Mining control

  • Hashboard mining voltage changed to 13500 mV / 13.5 V
  • Hashboard frequency changed to 800 MHz / 8e+8 HZ

API

  • Error messaging - Supports hardware and system-level error messages
  • Authentication - Supports Basic Auth
  • Supports JSON Web Tokens - Valid for 15 days
  • SSH - Disabled by default
  • Logging - Added search bar and error / warnings filter

Hardware and system limits

Supports recovery limits for Proto-MDK hardware and systems.

ASICs

  • Temperature limit set at 115 °C (239 °F)
  • For more information, see Troubleshooting

Hashboards

  • Temperature limit set at 75 °C (167 °F).
  • For more information, see Troubleshooting

Communication

Fans

  • Hysteretic fan tachometer
  • RPM changes dynamically over a gradient of temperature ranges
    [temperature°C, fan %] [0.0, 10] [40.0, 30] [60.0, 70] [80.0, 100]

User Interface

Added status indicators to Proto dashboard.

  • Mining pool connection indicator
  • Mining stats indicator
  • Hashboards indicator
  • ASICs indicator
  • Fans indicator

v 1.1

distro 0.1.3
Released August 2, 2024

Bug fixes

  • White box displaying on Mining pool login screen
  • Replaced overflow-scroll with truncating text to show full value on hover

v 1.0

distro 0.1.1
Released July 26, 2024

Mining control

  • Hashboard mining voltage set at 13750 mV / 13.75 V
  • Hashboard frequency set at 1000 MHz / 1e+9 Hz
  • Supports 1 V1 Stratum BTC pool and 2 backup pools
  • Test connection feature

API

API backend supports Proto dashboard — displays ASIC and miner-level metrics.

Current miner temperature displays historical temperature data based on time-range selection.

  • 12H, 24H, 48H, 5D

Current efficiency displays miner efficiency based on power consumption and hashrate.

  • Refreshed every 1 minute
  • On click, displays current miner efficiency (J/TH)
  • Displays historical miner efficiency based on time-range selection

Power usage displays miner power consumption (kW).

  • Refreshed every 1 minute
  • On click, displays current miner efficiency (J/TH)
  • Displays historical miner power usage based on time-range selection

Current miner temperature displays miner temperature (°C ).

  • Refreshed every 1 minute
  • On click, displays optimal ASIC temperature based on time range selection, and maximum miner operational temperature
  • Displays current miner temperature
  • Displays historical highest miner temperature based on time-range selection
  • Displays current hashboard temperature for all 3 hashboards
  • Tabular interface to view ASIC grid array

Current average fan speed displays average RPM for all 4 fans.

  • Tachometer displays current RPM average and graphical display for all 4 fans
  • On click, displays current fan RPM for all fans

Hashrate graph displays total miner hashrate.

  • Interactive historiographic interface
  • Displays total miner hashrate (TH/s)
  • On hover, displays hashrate by hashboard

Power button provides multiple power modes.

  • Sleep
  • Wake up
  • Reboot

Logs menu (>_) provides access to logs.

  • Streaming logs
  • Error counter
  • Warning counter
  • Export tab

Hashboard tabs display ASIC grid for selected hashboard.

  • Displays individual ASIC temperatures
  • Displays last 4 numbers of hashboard serial number
  • Displays USB port number for selected hashboard

ASICs graph displays an indexed grid of ASIC arrays based on hashboard tab selection.

  • Displays individual ASIC temperature