mining I have a mining question - is a virtual machine or dual boot the safest way to mine?

[earlofpreston]

Hi, 

 

New poster here but long time ltt viewer!  So my question is a three parter:

 

part 1 - Is there a virtual machine that has direct gpu access that I could use for crypto mining? (I tried the hyper visor built in to windows 10 but I don't know if there is a way to get gpu access in it).

 

part 2 - is it better to dual boot and mine on a separate os and drive?

 

part 3 - how do you enable wifi on ubuntu 20.04 for a wireless usb adapter?

 

Basically i'm scared to put in an exception on norton antivirus to let the mining go if i were to leave it on a long time.  I have several drives on my gaming pc I'm planning on using. My ideal goal is to mine for awhile and see if its worth it but have a little fun while doing it -  Please note i had setup a basic usb asic on a raspberry pi 3 a while ago (but since stopped and want to go larger) so i have a basic understanding of the procedure (well sub basic as it still eludes me).

 

Also i have ubuntu 20.04 installed on a usb drive that i want to mine on but i can't get it to recognize my linksys usb WUSB6100M.  I've tried the rf kill command to reenable wifi but i'm still a rookie at linux so i'm not comfortable with terminal commands - though i grew up on dos 6.0 so i do have command line experience just not linux command lines.

 

Sorry for the somewhat disjointed post here.  It's kind of all related.  Basically whats the safest way to mine without subjecting my windows 10 gaming drive to unnecessary risk? 

 

Oh and if you're wondering my gaming rig is:

 

amd 3600

nvidia 3060 ti 8gb

16gb ram

 

Thank you!

 

edit - for the time being I just installed folding @ home and joined the team for the covid19 battle.  I had contributed some time a while back so I wanted to be useful again while I fool around trying to get the mining thing worked out.

[Electronics Wizardy]

40 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

part 1 - Is there a virtual machine that has direct gpu access that I could use for crypto mining? (I tried the hyper visor built in to windows 10 but I don't know if there is a way to get gpu access in it).

there is no gpu passthrough in windows 10.

 

41 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

part 2 - is it better to dual boot and mine on a separate os and drive?

Id argue the same os is fine for basic mining, but really depends on your threat model.

 

 

41 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

Basically i'm scared to put in an exception on norton antivirus to let the mining go if i were to leave it on a long time. 

This really isnt a big security risk.

 

42 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

Also i have ubuntu 20.04 installed on a usb drive that i want to mine on but i can't get it to recognize my linksys usb WUSB6100M. 

What chipset is it using? Run lsusb, and google wifi chipset name

 

 

[earlofpreston]

@Electronics Wizardy

Thank you for response.

 

Thats too bad about virtualization not having gpu access in windows 10.

 

Thank you for putting me at ease on the risk potential.  Is nicehash a good place to start?

 

Also  I cant seem to get the usb chipset on Ubuntu.  I can get my motherboard chipset.  I can see the linksys usb adapter listed in one of the hardware scans.  But I cant figure out how to get the manufacturer detail.  I also cant get the wlan status with rf kill.  I can get it to start but it keeps asking for command after the option.

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

@Electronics Wizardy

Thank you for response.

 

Thats too bad about virtualization not having gpu access in windows 10.

 

Thank you for putting me at ease on the risk potential.  Is nicehash a good place to start?

 

Also  I cant seem to get the usb chipset on Ubuntu.  I can get my motherboard chipset.  I can see the linksys usb adapter listed in one of the hardware scans.  But I cant figure out how to get the manufacturer detail.  I also cant get the wlan status with rf kill.  I can get it to start but it keeps asking for command after the option.

 

 

what does lsusb show you?

 

Id say most miners will be fine. Anti virus programs love to show as bad as there often used without the users awareness.

[earlofpreston]

Thanks!  I did get salad loaded once so ill try that again and add it to the exclusion list.  

 

For now I'll work on the windows side.  When I'm feeling more adventurous ill dig back into ubuntu.

 

Thanks again.

[Mick Naughty]

I prefer hiveos or nicehash os on a flash drive. Just turn off logging. 
But now that I use both of my normal rigs to mine, I just do it from windows with my regular drives. Just let it bypass windows defender and such. 
That way I can still use them to watch YouTube and game when I need to without selecting an os on reboot. 

[earlofpreston]

23 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

I prefer hiveos or nicehash os on a flash drive. Just turn off logging. 
But now that I use both of my normal rigs to mine, I just do it from windows with my regular drives. Just let it bypass windows defender and such. 
That way I can still use them to watch YouTube and game when I need to without selecting an os on reboot. 

Thanks for the details!

 

I did decide to go ahead and use it on the base drive as is.  I had a hard time getting everything exempted in norton but I did finally get it working.  

 

Since Monday afternoon I've gotten .0003 btc!  About 13.00usd at current rates.  Now I'm working on learning how to cash out my earnings.   I did see nicehash requires a minimum of .0005 before withdrawals.  

 

I've signed up for coinbase and kraken.  However kraken needs my social security number and coinbase needs my driver license. Im actively looking for alternatives.  

 

Nicehash has an exchange but says it doesnt work for my country (us).  I'll be scouring the net for the easiest and safest way.  

[Mick Naughty]

9 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

Thanks for the details!

 

I did decide to go ahead and use it on the base drive as is.  I had a hard time getting everything exempted in norton but I did finally get it working.  

 

Since Monday afternoon I've gotten .0003 btc!  About 13.00usd at current rates.  Now I'm working on learning how to cash out my earnings.   I did see nicehash requires a minimum of .0005 before withdrawals.  

 

I've signed up for coinbase and kraken.  However kraken needs my social security number and coinbase needs my driver license. Im actively looking for alternatives.  

 

Nicehash has an exchange but says it doesnt work for my country (us).  I'll be scouring the net for the easiest and safest way.  

I transfer to Coinbase from nicehash. Then convert to my currency of usd. Then send it to my bank. 
I believe PayPal has on option to receive Bitcoin. May be able to send it there and then send it to a bank or use for purchase from certain sites. 
There are transfers fees so do it less often with more to make the money money. 

[earlofpreston]

Thanks.  I'll keep coinbase in mind.

 

I did checkout PayPal which I already use.  It seems it currently only has purchase/sell options like a stock market not direct connection.  At least I cant see how just yet.  I think ill drop a line to PayPal support for more info.

I appreciate all the support.

[earlofpreston]

I thought I'd give a positive update.  

 

I've been running nicehash nonstop since February 8th and have been mining successfully.  I did turn it off Thursday for 24 hours to give it a rest but its back on.  

 

I did some digging and PayPal doesn't seem to accept bitcoin directly just purchase/sales of it.  Im not ready to give my license to coinbase.  I did find that there are bitcoin atms and some do withdraw cash from bitcoin.  I have to do some more research before going that route.

 

All is not lost as ive cashed in with Gift Cards!  

 

Yep got it working with bitcoing lightning wallet app wallet of Satoshi.  I was able to withdraw my bitcoin from the nicehash app.  Ive used two website - COINCARDS.COM and COINBEES.COM.  

 

I first started with two 10.00 usd amazon gift cards.  I was able to get an anime bluray and got it delivered Thursday!  I love it!  I also got a 10.00 domino's card that I just used.  I got another 10.00 amazon card and managed to find a visa gift card for 10.00 on coinbees.  So I got 50.00 in gift cards in just a week and a half!  Not bad for a nvidia rtx 3060 ti.

 

IM very thrilled with the results.im torn between holding the bitcoin longer so it would be worth more and cashing in before it might drop.  Its been a lot of work researching and getting accounts setup.

 

Thanks again for all your help

[tikker]

1 hour ago, earlofpreston said:

IM very thrilled with the results.im torn between holding the bitcoin longer so it would be worth more and cashing in before it might drop.

Time to learn the only term you ever need to know: HODL

 

Joking aside, great that it has been useful to you. Don't let the fear of missing out on imaginary future gains stop you from taking profits. This insane growth will stop at some point and the market will come down, but I'd say there is no harm in keeping some aside. Worst case everything crashes tomorrow, best case it's worth more.

[earlofpreston]

2 hours ago, tikker said:

Time to learn the only term you ever need to know: HODL

 

Joking aside, great that it has been useful to you. Don't let the fear of missing out on imaginary future gains stop you from taking profits. This insane growth will stop at some point and the market will come down, but I'd say there is no harm in keeping some aside. Worst case everything crashes tomorrow, best case it's worth more.

I had to look up hodl as I'm obviously a crypto noob :d. Very true.

 

I certainly wanted to get real value out of it.  As much as it was a learning excercise I wanted a payout too.

 

By the way i just bumped into a tip about lowering the voltage on the card to extend its life.  I have the aorus b450 board, would I be able to underclock it that way?  Also it may sound like it should be obvious but would under-clocking lower your hash rate?  Logically I wouldn't think so as I think its a function of the logic cores.  But if its not getting the full power do the Cuda cores work less?  Is it like running out of gas in a car?  The less power you have the slower you go?  

 

Thanks again for the tips and help.

[Mick Naughty]

32 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

I had to look up hodl as I'm obviously a crypto noob :d. Very true.

 

I certainly wanted to get real value out of it.  As much as it was a learning excercise I wanted a payout too.

 

By the way i just bumped into a tip about lowering the voltage on the card to extend its life.  I have the aorus b450 board, would I be able to underclock it that way?  Also it may sound like it should be obvious but would under-clocking lower your hash rate?  Logically I wouldn't think so as I think its a function of the logic cores.  But if its not getting the full power do the Cuda cores work less?  Is it like running out of gas in a car?  The less power you have the slower you go?  

 

Thanks again for the tips and help.

Everything will effect hash rate. Clocks and power. You do it via the miner or a gpu controlling program such as precisionx or afterburner. 
 

Undervolting won’t change the lifespan compared to stock. That comes down to temp. But you also have to understand lifespan and not compare it to forever. 
 

You run the card for what’s best for power/temps to performance ratio. Plenty of videos on the balance for each card. 

[earlofpreston]

17 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Everything will effect hash rate. Clocks and power. You do it via the miner or a gpu controlling program such as precisionx or afterburner. 
 

Undervolting won’t change the lifespan compared to stock. That comes down to temp. But you also have to understand lifespan and not compare it to forever. 
 

You run the card for what’s best for power/temps to performance ratio. Plenty of videos on the balance for each card. 

Thanks!  Didn't know those existed.  

 

I've been wondering about power settings a bit.  I have windows running full fat and 5 fans going (3 front, collermaster heatsink fan and a rear fan).  Im at 57c on the gpu the last time I checked.  I saw 60 to 70c is considered a target range for gpu mining so I think I'm OK there.  

 

I'll do some digging on power tuning since I normally just leave everything on since its a desktop and I dont need to worry about battery life.  But if I can lower watts that would be beneficial.  I dont have a killawatt meter though so im just going on the 14.00 a month electric estimate from nicehash.

[Mick Naughty]

6 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

Thanks!  Didn't know those existed.  

 

I've been wondering about power settings a bit.  I have windows running full fat and 5 fans going (3 front, collermaster heatsink fan and a rear fan).  Im at 57c on the gpu the last time I checked.  I saw 60 to 70c is considered a target range for gpu mining so I think I'm OK there.  

 

I'll do some digging on power tuning since I normally just leave everything on since its a desktop and I dont need to worry about battery life.  But if I can lower watts that would be beneficial.  I dont have a killawatt meter though so im just going on the 14.00 a month electric estimate from nicehash.

Not sure of your location but the new smart meters are being swapped into houses throughout the states. Can watch in on that or even get the app to watch it there. Normally run my cards at 70-75% power. Normally take a 3 h/s loss with dropping the power but still overclocking the cores. Normally saving 50-75 watts outweighs the hash loss. Even more drastic for multiple cards/rigs. 

[earlofpreston]

5 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Not sure of your location but the new smart meters are being swapped into houses throughout the states. Can watch in on that or even get the app to watch it there. Normally run my cards at 70-75% power. Normally take a 3 h/s loss with dropping the power but still overclocking the cores. Normally saving 50-75 watts outweighs the hash loss. Even more drastic for multiple cards/rigs. 

Thanks.  I'll look into that.  Sounds like a good savings combo.  Oh though my card is the gigabyte oc 3060 ti 8gb model.  Im assuming that means its already at peak optimization.

[Mick Naughty]

19 minutes ago, earlofpreston said:

Thanks.  I'll look into that.  Sounds like a good savings combo.  Oh though my card is the gigabyte oc 3060 ti 8gb model.  Im assuming that means its already at peak optimization.

Should be getting 60+ So I’d turn down as much as you can power wise and still maintain that. Then memory overclock to match. 

[tikker]

Yep, they've said it al pretty much already: use undervolting and lower power limit to minimize power draw and simulatenously overclock core and memory to maximise hashrate.

8 hours ago, earlofpreston said:

Thanks.  I'll look into that.  Sounds like a good savings combo.  Oh though my card is the gigabyte oc 3060 ti 8gb model.  Im assuming that means its already at peak optimization.

OC models are optimized to boost as high as possible, not to be as efficient as possible. With undervolting and lower power limits you are limiting the amount of power it is allowed to draw yourself. Often you can attain the same or just slightly lower hashrates at lower power usage by tweaking those in combination with an OC. Don't push memory too hard though, or it may get too hot. There should be plenty of guides with reasonable values for a 3060 Ti.

[earlofpreston]

@mick and tikker  - thank you!  I have some tweaking ahead of me :d

 

One prefollow up question.  I can simply pause nicehash now to play games.  With these modifications will I have to go to the individual controls then to restart gaming mode?  Or is there a front-end package for simple controls?  I haven't looked up the previously mentioned program yet.

 

[Mick Naughty]

1 hour ago, earlofpreston said:

@mick and tikker  - thank you!  I have some tweaking ahead of me :d

 

One prefollow up question.  I can simply pause nicehash now to play games.  With these modifications will I have to go to the individual controls then to restart gaming mode?  Or is there a front-end package for simple controls?  I haven't looked up the previously mentioned program yet.

 

I assume you mean the setting in the gpu program. It would be best to make a profile that you can easily switch to before you start mining. Then switch to a gaming one or just hit the default button and be able to game. 

[earlofpreston]

I downloaded afterburner and played with it a little. Found a post about lowering the power and the core count and raising the memory.  I did see where the profiles are stored.  Oddly i seemed to only be able to save one profile.  I'll keep fiddling with this off and on. I didn't see any noticeable difference in hash rate so thats good. 

 

Thank you again.  I'll keep looking up stuff on the whole power/performance angle.    I'm also afraid to mess with my fans as i don't want the card to overheat.  Though I suppose i could try lowering them  to the quite profile in corsair icue and see if that impacts temps at all. 

 

edit - in realtime i went from the balanced profile to quite and i saw the gpu rise from 57c to 58c.  If it holds at 58c i'll keep it on quiet).  I didn't pay attention to what the rpm drop (fyi it's currently right near 1500 rpm after switching to quiet) was but that must use less power especially spread across 4 fans (the 5th fan is a cooler master cpu fan tied to the motherboard - i don't think i have an app to control that).  (oh and so far 20 minutes in or so its still at 58c so i think i'll be keeping the quiet mode on - though i'll keep checking in on it)

 

edit 2 - i also looked up some power management tips and went into windows power settings and went to moderate instead of maximum. I also lowered the cpu minimum to 5% - im not doing any other tasks while mining.  I saved a screen shot of it to remind me.  I'll but it to max power mode when i do game again on it.  I didnt do the disable pci link thing.  I don't want to have to remember too much.