Efficient BURST mining on macOS

BURST is a cryptocurrency on its own blockchain, which core uses PoC (Proof of Capacity) algorithm. Unlike PoW (Proof of Work) blockchains miners uses hard disk space to mine new blocks and get reward. The more capacity you have, the more coins you may earn. You should use a calculator to determine how much money you will get regularly for you capacity. Today you can earn 15 BURST (≈ $0.25) daily for each 1TB of space. You will only need to read 240MB from disk for each 1TB every 4 minutes and calculate some hashes – this sounds very energy efficient. To start mining you need to generate some huge files (called plots).

To start mining on macOS or linux you should be at with terminal.

1. Register a wallet

Use one of the following online wallets to create an account:

• https://wallet.burst-team.us:8126
• https://wallet4.burstnation.com:8125

This process is simple enough, please do it for yourself. Your wallet have a public address like mine BURST-MWTK-BKY8-ZJ2W-37NKN, you can find it in the top left corner. Anyone can use this address to send you some BURST coins. Inside online wallet discover a button "more info" near your account balance. Trigger it to get your "Numeric Account ID", mine is 1893347256907199281. You will need it for the next step of this guide. Also you will need at least 1 BUSRT for next steps, you can use one of the following faucets to get your first BURST coins for free:

• https://faucet.burst-team.us
• http://burstcoin.biz/faucet
• http://burst.mininghere.com/faucet.php

2. Plotting files

Download and compile my optimized fork of mjminer. My optimizations are not yet merged to upstream (original repo). I recommend to use my optimized version to create fully optimized plots directly.

git clone https://github.com/k06a/mjminer.git
cd mjminer
make

If you'll get following error:

--- Compiling for 64-bit arch ---
CFLAGS=-D OSX -D AMD64 -O2 -Wall -D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64 -m64
as   -o shabal64-darwin.o shabal64-darwin.s
shabal64-darwin.s:30:14: error: single quote way too long
#    64      'ptr' field (8 bytes)
             ^
make: *** [shabal64-darwin.o] Error 1```

then open file shabal64-darwin.s in any text editor and replace the single quote with double quote on line 30 as bellow

 64      'ptr' field (8 bytes)

to

 64      "ptr" field (8 bytes)

And try to make again:

make

Now you will be able to generate plots with ./plot program:

Usage: ./plot -k KEY [-x CORE] [-d DIRECTORY] [-s STARTNONCE] [-n NONCES] [-m STAGGERSIZE] [-t THREADS]

Here are options description:

1. KEY should be value of "Numeric Account ID" from BURST online wallet
2. CORE is plots generation algorithm implementation. Your CPU may support or not some of them (0 for default, 1 for SSE4, 2 for AVX2). Try AVX2 if possible, else try SSE4 if possible, else use default. AVX2 is the fastest, default is the slowest.
3. DIRECTORY should be path to plots location directory (usually /Volumes/MyHDD1)
4. STARTNONCE you should start from 0 and for every next plot add NONCES size of previous plot
5. NONCES is size of the plot, divided by 256KB, so value 4096 means 1GB
6. STAGGERSIZE is available size of RAM (in nonces) to use while plotting, also value 4096 means 1GB
7. THREADS is number of threads to use. Try to use number of physical cores multiplied by two.

I've used this sequence of commands to generate my plots. First one produces file 1893347256907199281_0_ 3801088_ 3801088 of 996GB size using 8 threads and 1GB of RAM:

$ sudo ./plot -k 1893347256907199281 -x 2 -d ./ -s 0 -n 3801088 -m 4096 -t 8

Using AVX2 core.
Total generation steps: 928
Creating plots for nonces 0 to 3801088 (996 GB) using 1024 MB memory and 8 threads
Using fcntl::F_SETSIZE to expand file size to 996GB
34.38% Percent done. 12330 nonces/minute, 3:23 left

Second one produces file 1893347256907199281_ 3801088_1900544_ 1900544 of 498GB size using 8 threads and 4GB of RAM:

$ sudo ./plot -k 1893347256907199281 -x 2 -d ./ -s 3801088 -n 1900544 -m 16384 -t 8

Using AVX2 core.
Total generation steps: 116
Creating plots for nonces 3801088 to 5701632 (498 GB) using 4096 MB memory and 8 threads
Using fcntl::F_SETSIZE to expand file size to 498GB
14.05% Percent done. 9680 nonces/minute, 2:48 left

Third one produces file 1893347256907199281_ 5701632_131072_131072 of 32GB size using 8 threads and 8GB of RAM:

$ sudo ./plot -k 1893347256907199281 -x 2 -d ./ -s 5701632 -n 131072 -m 32768 -t 8

Using AVX2 core.
Total generation steps: 4
Creating plots for nonces 5701632 to 5832704 (32 GB) using 8192 MB memory and 8 threads
Using fcntl::F_SETSIZE to expand file size to 32GB
25.00% Percent done. 11080 nonces/minute, 0:07 left

Now I have 3 plots:

1893347256907199281_0_ 3801088_ 3801088 
1893347256907199281_ 3801088_1900544_ 1900544
1893347256907199281_ 5701632_131072_131072

It is not a problem to have gaps between plots. And it is not a huge problem to have overlaps. Miner handle this issues correctly. Only corrupted plots is a problem for miner – because it can't check are plot bytes valid or not.

Your may notice your plot names contains of four numbers with last two equal. Equality of latest two numbers mean fully optimized files. Your plots are fully optimized – this means miner will read only 1 region in each file every 4 minutes. Older plotters may produce non fully optimized plots. You can read more about plots optimization.

3. Prepare Miner

Software you need to use is creepMiner (from development branch): https://github.com/Creepsky/creepMiner/tree/development

You can read Wiki (https://github.com/Creepsky/creepMiner/wiki/Compilation-&-Installation) or just do this:

brew install poco
ln -s /usr/local/opt/openssl/include/openssl /usr/local/include/openssl

git clone -b development https://github.com/Creepsky/creepMiner.git
cd creepMiner
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release .
make
cp burst-miner bin/

Miner is here bin/burst-miner and is ready to run. You just need edit bin/mining.conf subdir to setup miner.

4. Mining on pool

I prefer mining on pool – this is some kind of miners cooperation to get small reward for mining regularly, instead of huge reward once per several months (it directly depends on your plots capacity).

To start mining on pool you need:

1. Select pool from this list or another list I am using http://pool.burstcoin.ro, it looks strange but have a CloudFlare DDOS protection. Some pools are DDOSed regularly, I think some miners wanna to get more reward and attacks neighbouring pools.
2. Set reward recipient to pool wallet address, in 2 latest fields enter your password and pool wallet address and wait at least 4 transaction confirmations in your wallet:
   https://wallet.burst-team.us:8126/rewardassignment.html
   https://wallet4.burstnation.com:8125/rewardassignment.html
3. Configure miner, fill miningInfo, submission and wallet urls and plots array. Here is my mining.conf:

   {
       "logging" : {
           "config" : "information",
           "general" : "information",
           "miner" : "information",
           "nonceSubmitter" : "information",
           "output" : {
               "dirDone" : true,
               "lastWinner" : false,
               "nonceConfirmed" : true,
               "nonceFound" : true,
               "nonceOnTheWay" : true,
               "nonceSent" : true,
               "plotDone" : true
           },
           "path" : "",
           "plotReader" : "information",
           "plotVerifier" : "information",
           "server" : "fatal",
           "session" : "error",
           "socket" : "off",
           "wallet" : "information"
       },
       "mining" : {
           "intensity" : 3,
           "maxBufferSizeMB" : 128,
           "maxPlotReaders" : 0,
           "passphrase" : {
               "algorithm" : "aes-256-cbc",
               "decrypted" : "",
               "deleteKey" : false,
               "encrypted" : "",
               "iterations" : 0,
               "key" : "",
               "salt" : ""
           },
           "plots" : [
               "/Volumes/HDD1",
               "/Volumes/HDD2"
           ],
           "submissionMaxRetry" : 3,
           "targetDeadline" : "0y 20m 0d 00:00:00",
           "timeout" : 45,
           "urls" : {
               "miningInfo" : "http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080",
               "submission" : "http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080",
               "wallet" : "http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080"
           }
       },
       "webserver" : {
           "credentials" : {
               "hashed-pass" : "",
               "hashed-user" : "",
               "plain-pass" : "",
               "plain-user" : ""
           },
           "start" : true,
           "url" : "http://127.0.0.1:8080"
       }
   }
   

4. Run miner from bin subdir: ./burst-miner and see smith like this:

   MM:bin zzomrot$ ./burst-miner 
   12:53:24: creepMiner 1.6.0 BSD x64
   12:53:24: ----------------------------------------------
   12:53:24: Github:   https://github.com/Creepsky/creepMiner
   12:53:24: Author:   Creepsky [[email protected]]
   12:53:24: Burst :   BURST-JBKL-ZUAV-UXMB-2G795
   12:53:24: ----------------------------------------------
   12:53:24: Based on http://github.com/uraymeiviar/burst-miner
   12:53:24: author : uray meiviar [ [email protected] ]
   12:53:24: please donate to support developments :
   12:53:24:  [ Burst   ] BURST-8E8K-WQ2F-ZDZ5-FQWHX
   12:53:24:  [ Bitcoin ] 1UrayjqRjSJjuouhJnkczy5AuMqJGRK4b
   12:53:24: ----------------------------------------------
   12:53:24: using config file mining.conf
   12:53:27: Found an invalid plotfile, skipping it!
   12:53:27:   Path: /Volumes/HDD1/.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
   12:53:27:   Reason: The plotfile does not have all the required parameters!
   12:53:27: Found an invalid plotfile, skipping it!
   12:53:27:   Path: /Volumes/HDD1/.DS_Store
   12:53:27:   Reason: The plotfile does not have all the required parameters!
   12:53:27: Found an invalid plotfile, skipping it!
   12:53:27:   Path: /Volumes/HDD2/.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent
   12:53:27:   Reason: The plotfile does not have all the required parameters!
   12:53:27: Found an invalid plotfile, skipping it!
   12:53:27:   Path: /Volumes/HDD2/.DS_Store
   12:53:27:   Reason: The plotfile does not have all the required parameters!
   12:53:27: Total plots size: 1.81 TB
   12:53:27: Submission Max Retry : 3
   12:53:27: Buffer Size : 128 MB
   12:53:27: Pool Host : http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080 (104.28.17.30)
   12:53:27: Mininginfo URL : http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080 (104.28.17.30)
   12:53:27: Wallet URL : http://pool.burstcoin.ro:8080 (104.28.17.30)
   12:53:27: Server URL : http://127.0.0.1:8080 (::1)
   12:53:27: Target deadline : 1y 8m 0d 00:00:00
   12:53:27: Mining intensity : 3
   12:53:27: Max plot readers : 2
   12:53:27: Log path : creepMiner_20170612_095324.182808.log
   12:53:27: --------------------------------------------------
   12:53:27: block#      370213
   12:53:27: scoop#      320
   12:53:27: baseTarget# 345314
   12:53:27: --------------------------------------------------
   12:53:29: MWTK-BKY8-ZJ2W-37NKN: nonce found (7m 3d 07:47:12)
   12:53:29:   nonce: 4423910
   12:53:29:   in: /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:29: MWTK-BKY8-ZJ2W-37NKN: nonce on the way (7m 3d 07:47:12)
   12:53:29: MWTK-BKY8-ZJ2W-37NKN: nonce submitted (7m 3d 07:47:12)
   12:53:29:   nonce: 4423910
   12:53:29:   in /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:30: MWTK-BKY8-ZJ2W-37NKN: nonce confirmed (7m 3d 07:47:12)
   12:53:30:   nonce: 4423910
   12:53:30:   in /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce found (4m 6d 23:47:57)
   12:53:31:   nonce: 5365392
   12:53:31:   in: /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce on the way (4m 6d 23:47:57)
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce submitted (4m 6d 23:47:57)
   12:53:31:   nonce: 5365392
   12:53:31:   in /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce found (2m 24d 17:57:37)
   12:53:31:   nonce: 1384972
   12:53:31:   in: /Volumes/HDD1/1893347256907199281_0_3801088_3801088
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce on the way (2m 24d 17:57:37)
   12:53:31: MiniMiner: nonce submitted (2m 24d 17:57:37)
   12:53:31:   nonce: 1384972
   12:53:31:   in /Volumes/HDD1/1893347256907199281_0_3801088_3801088
   12:53:33: MiniMiner: nonce confirmed (2m 24d 17:57:37)
   12:53:33:   nonce: 1384972
   12:53:33:   in /Volumes/HDD1/1893347256907199281_0_3801088_3801088
   12:53:33: MiniMiner: nonce confirmed (4m 6d 23:47:57)
   12:53:33:   nonce: 5365392
   12:53:33:   in /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088
   12:53:34: /Volumes/HDD2/1893347256907199281_3801088_3801088_3801088 (928.00 GB) read in 6.264s (~37.03 MB/s)
   12:53:34: Dir /Volumes/HDD2 read (1 files, 928.00 GB total) in 6.265s (~37.03 MB/s)
   12:53:34: /Volumes/HDD1/1893347256907199281_0_3801088_3801088 (928.00 GB) read in 6.448s (~35.98 MB/s)
   12:53:34: Dir /Volumes/HDD1 read (1 files, 928.00 GB total) in 6.448s (~35.98 MB/s)
   

Thats all! Happy BURST mining!