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A completely open source implementation of a Bitcoin Miner for Altera FPGAs. This project hopes to promote the free and open development of FPGA based mining solutions and secure the future of the Bitcoin project as a whole. A binary release is currently available for the Terasic DE2-115 Development Board.

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Terasic DE2-115 FPGA Open-Source Bitcoin Miner


Copyright (C) 2011 [email protected]

See LICENSE.txt

Purpose

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

http://www.weusecoins.com/

http://bitcoin.org/

Project Status

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

Current Performance: 80 MHash/s

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.

Installation Instructions

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 EDIT 'mine.tcl' (open in Notepad or other text editor)

  3. Locate the following lines:

    set url "http://btcguild.com:8332" set userpass "[email protected]:yourpasswordhere"

Edit accordingly (N.B. the script has only been tested with btcguild and deepbit so far).

  1. Save and close 'mine.tcl'

####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.

  1. Run 'mine.bat'

  2. If working correctly, 'mine.bat' will leave a console window open which will fill with diagnostic information as it runs.

  3. 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.

Thank You!


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[email protected]
Donation Address: 1E1XgiJAzm1Wn7ZWuhkryzBoViBJ7CcRCQ

Donations are most welcome! They will be used to buy more equipment. I'm currently trying to get
an ethernet module up and running so the miner can run all on its own.
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A completely open source implementation of a Bitcoin Miner for Altera FPGAs. This project hopes to promote the free and open development of FPGA based mining solutions and secure the future of the Bitcoin project as a whole. A binary release is currently available for the Terasic DE2-115 Development Board.

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