For Monero using the RandomX algorithm, use the XMR-STAK-RX version
A program for mining coins using the CryptoNote family of algorithms (cryptonight_V8, cryptonight_lite, cryptonight_lite_v7, cryptonight_masari, cryptonight_v7, cryptonight_v7_stellite, cryptonight_haven, cryptonight_heavy).
In this step-by-step guide for beginners, we will show you how to use the miner and get the maximum performance out of it.
In addition to this, we will add some tips, tricks and performance improvements that will help you increase your profits by increasing the intensity and fine-tuning the program.
Features of XMR-Stak:
- Supports many devices (CPU/x86, AMD-GPU and NVIDIA-GPU)
- Supports all common operating systems (Linux, Windows and macOS)
- Supports cryptonight-light algorithm for Monero (XMR) and cryptonight-light (AEON)
- The program is easy to use (no need to edit the configuration file for the first launch)
- automatic configuration for each device
- Open Source Software (GPLv3)
- Supports TLS protocol
- Displays statistics in the browser via HTML
- Has a JSON API for monitoring the operation of your farm
Profitability assessment
The profitability of XMR mining depends on the hashrate of the selected equipment, the level of network complexity, currency exchange rate dynamics, and asset conversion strategy. Online profitability calculators will help you evaluate the profitability of your work. For example, the WhatToMine website has detailed statistics on mining profitability.
The profitability calculator below allows you to estimate the profitability of XMR mining by filling out the following fields:
- The speed of block processing ( Hashing Power ) on the network.
- Mining pool service fee ( Pool Fees ).
- Service collection of a cloud mining site ( Maintenance ).
- Power of mining equipment ( Power Usage ).
- Costs of paying electricity bills ( Power Cost ).
- Costs for purchasing a mining farm ( Hardware/Contract Cost ).
The miner enters the specified values, the profitability calculator automatically fills in the fields Difficulty (network complexity), XMR to USD price (Monero rate), Block Reward (income from signing a block in the network). By clicking the Calculate menu item, the user receives approximate information about the profitability of XMR mining in the short term. The profitability calculator is a convenient tool that takes into account technical features and the current state of the cryptocurrency market.
READ Mining Ethereum (ETH): pools, video cards, setup (photo)
Decoding the contents of the batch file
- xmr-stak.exe is the name of the program to be launched. Leave it as is
- -o xmr-eu.dwarfpool.com indicate the pool address after the -o key
- -u 4ALcw9nTAStZSshoWVUJakZ6tLwTDhixhQUQNJkCn4t3fG3MMK19WZM44HnQRvjqmz4LkkA8t565v7iBwQXx2r34HNroSAZ.5c01d3dd96ac8e1e4de53c736fd42a5f793d6ed e4fb776f2a186a84dba44f3e8 - here we indicate through a dot the address of your digital wallet and Payment Id (for some coins)
- .rig1 indicates the ID of your farm. This is necessary to track statistics on the pool. This is the name that will be displayed on the pool
- pause The pause key is needed to see the error code if something goes wrong. Otherwise, the program will simply close without displaying anything.
Example of a finished bat file:
xmr-stak.exe -o xmr-eu.dwarfpool.com:8050 -u 4ALcw9nTAStZSshoWVUJakZ6tLwTDhixhQUQNJkCn4t3fG3MMK19WZM44HnQRvjqmz4LkkA8t565v7iBwQXx2r34HNroSAZ.5c01d3dd9 6ac8e1e4de53c736fd42a5f793d6ede4fb776f2a186a84dba44f3e8.rig1 -px pause
We have indicated in the batch file the most necessary commands to start the cryptocurrency mining process. Below we list all possible command line arguments, in case you want to customize the program more finely.
Installing video card drivers
Video cards can be connected one by one and a driver can be installed for each, or both operations can be performed simultaneously. Drivers are divided into two types:
- AMD Drivers. The latest versions of applications are located on the website com, in the “Drivers and Support” section. The user should select the OS version and “roll back” the drivers if the mining client is unstable.
- NVIDIA Drivers. The current versions of drivers are published on the website com; you can find the appropriate version of the program through the search bar (menu item Start Search).
The correct operation of the drivers is checked after the system is rebooted: in case of technical problems, you should delete the latest version of the file through the control panel.
Pool settings:
-C, --poolconf FILE use pool configuration file
-o, --url URL URL, pool and port, e.g. xmr-eu.dwarfpool.com:8050
-O, --tls-url TLS pool URL and port, for example. xmr-eu.dwarfpool.com:8050
-u, --user USERNAME pool username or wallet address
-r, --rigid RIGID identifier (worker) for pool side statistics (pool support required)
-p, --pass PASSWD pool password, in most cases x or empty
What are they working on?
Team representatives are actively promoting and financing the Kovri project. The latter hides users' traffic and allows them to remain anonymous within the Kovri Network. In other words, Monero representatives support not only the anonymity of transactions, but also anonymity on the Internet.
Source: monero.cc
Future challenges include solutions for speed and scalability.
Other settings:
-h, --help show help
-v, --version version number
-V, --version-long show long version number
—benchmark BLOCKVERSION just do the test and exit
--benchwait WAIT_SEC test waiting time
—benchwork WORK_SEC control work time
-i --httpd HTTP_PORT use HTTP interface port
--use-nicehash use-nicehash pool should run in nicehash mode
—currency NAME name of the currency for mining
First start
This launch will create a configuration file. The program will then ask you to Select the currency you want to mine. Simply enter the name of the currency and press Enter. If the currency is not specified, simply enter the algorithm it uses. In this example we will use Monero.
xmr-stak algorithms
After this, the program will ask for the pool address for the currency you selected. For example xmr-eu.dwarfpool.com:8050
Choosing a reliable pool for your currency is the most important step.
Find the address and port on the Dwarfpool
By going to the pool page, you will find connection information. Select the correct address based on your location. We will choose a European address because... it is closer to our location. Accordingly, ping to the pool servers will be faster, which means new jobs will arrive and be sent faster.
Next, indicate the correct port depending on your equipment. For a farm of several cards, we will specify 8050, thereby the pool will send the work most suitable for several video cards. This improves productivity.
If we had only one video card, we would specify port 8005, and for the most powerful farm of top-end video cards, we would specify port 8100.
Enter the pool address in the command window and press Enter to proceed to the next step.
pool address
The program will then ask for your username, which is usually your wallet.
The wallet can be obtained either from any reliable exchange or you can download a cold coin wallet. It’s easier to open on the stock exchange, but less reliable. At the same time, sometimes exchanges close wallets “for maintenance”, so if the coin grows, you will not have time to transfer coins from the cold wallet to the exchange in order to sell them.
In our opinion, it is best to diversify risks and store part of the coins on the exchange and part in a cold wallet. However, it's up to you to decide.
Enter your wallet address and press enter.
Enter the wallet address
Then you need to enter a password. The password is extremely rarely used on pools. Therefore we put X
Then enter the identifier of your farm, for example Rig1. This is necessary to track statistics from the pool side.
The next option is to support pool port (TLS/SSL), just enter n.
Next, the program will ask if you want to use Nicehash - enter n (no).
Use multiple pools - n.
Once this list is completed, your miner will connect to the pool and begin mining the coin you have selected.
In addition, 4 more additional files will be created in the folder, such as cpu.txt, nvidia.txt or amd.txt and pools.txt.
start of mining
Mining Monero
Mining Monero is different from Ethereum, Bitcoin or Bitcoin Gold. The mining algorithm here is RandomX. Finding a block rewards you with 2.12 XMR, and it takes approximately 2 minutes to solve.
Source: CoinWarz
The network hashrate is at the level of 341 Mh/s. On October 14, the figure was 659 Mh/s, so the drop due to the current subsidence of coin rates is significant.
How to find out hashrate
You can find out your hashrate by entering your wallet address in the pool, but how can you check the results in the miner itself?
By default, the program's console window does not display hashrate or data mining results. To check your hashrate you have 2 options:
- Command line option
- HTML reports
Command Line Option: Simply press H on the command line to display power.
Press R to display sharing results. Everything is simple and clear.
display hashrate
If you want clean looking reports, then display your hashrate using the HTML reporting option.
HTML report: remember, when we first started we entered any number. This number is needed for HTML reports. If you forgot what you entered, then go to the config.txt file and find this line.
"httpd_port": 9999,
To check hashrate, results and connection reports, enter the following in the address bar of your browser.
https://127.0.0.1:9999/h
Where 127.0.0.1 is your local IP (it is the same for everyone) and 9999 is the port that we configured initially. You will receive a neatly displayed hashrate.
What is Monero
Monero is a cryptocurrency with an emphasis on private transactions. The secret is to use cryptography to hide the sender and recipient addresses. The transfer amount is also hidden.
These actions are carried out by default, so privacy here is permanent and not selective. An example of the latter is Zcash. Let us remind you that this cryptocurrency has both public and private addresses.
Source: 2Bitcoin
More than 420 developers contributed to the project. Monero forums are online, chats are live.
How to stop mining
Xmr-stak is a pooled miner and by default it uses both the CPU and GPUs of the farm. If the specifications of your CPU are too low or if you do not want to use your processor for mining, then you need to exclude them from the program.
In the xmr stak folder you will find the cpu.txt file. Open the txt file and scroll down where you will find the following lines:
"cpu_threads_conf" : [ { "low_power_mode" : false, "no_prefetch" : true, "affine_to_cpu" : 0 }, { "low_power_mode" : false, "no_prefetch" : true, "affine_to_cpu" : 2 }, { "low_power_mode" : false, "no_prefetch" : true, "affine_to_cpu" : 4 }, { "low_power_mode" : false, "no_prefetch" : true, "affine_to_cpu" : 6 }, ], { "low_power_mode" : false, "no_prefetch" : true, "affine_to_cpu": 4 }, {"low_power_mode": false, "no_prefetch": true,"affine_to_cpu": 6
To prevent CPU mining, set cpu_threads_conf to NULL (equal to zero).
"cpu_threads_conf" : NULL,
This will exclude the processor from mining.
Adding lists of pools or new coins to the miner
The easiest way is to simply create a new batch file with the required coin, while the basic configuration will remain the same.
The information you entered when setting up the program will be stored in separate text files. Whenever you launch the miner, it will connect to the pool and start mining the coin that you configured.
Fast start
In order to mine coins you need:
- Build a farm or use 1 video card
- Create a wallet on an exchange or use a cold wallet
- Download program
- Unzip to any convenient location
- Edit the .bat file with the desired coin
The contents of the compiled miner look like this:
list of files
Problem solving
xmrstak/backend/rwidia/nvcc code/cuda extra.cu
This error sometimes occurs on Nvidia video cards.
To solve it, you need to replace bsleep to 100 and bfactor to 10 in the nvidia.txt configuration file,
"gpu_threads_conf" : [ // gpu: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti architecture: 61 // memory: 9314/11264 MiB // smx: 28 { "index" : 0, "threads" : 54, "blocks" : 84, "bfactor " : 10, "bsleep" : 100, "affine_to_cpu" : false, "sync_mode" : 3, }, // gpu: GeForce GTX 1080 Ti architecture: 61 // memory: 9314/11264 MiB // smx: 28 { " index" : 1, "threads" : 54, "blocks" : 84, "bfactor" : 10, "bsleep" : 100, "affine_to_cpu" : false, "sync_mode" : 3, },
These steps should resolve the [CUDA] Error gpu 0 error.
Memory Alloc Failed: Virtual Alloc Failed
This is a memory error. Necessary . Click Run - gpedit.msc
You'll get about a 20% performance boost.
locking pages in memory
SOCKET ERROR — CONNECT error: GetAddrInfo: Temporary failure in name resolution
You specified the wrong port or pool address. Check the syntax of your configuration or .bat file carefully. Even if one character is missing: a period or a comma, the program will not start.
Application Has Been Blocked From Accessing Graphics Hardware error
"The xmr-stak.exe application has been blocked from accessing the graphics hardware."
This error on Windows 10 is one of the most common errors you may encounter. Especially in NVIDIA farms. If you encounter this error, here is a quick solution.
Go to the nvidia.txt file and at the bottom of the file you will find the following configuration.
"gpu_threads_conf" : [ // gpu: GeForce GTX 970 architecture: 52 // memory: 3374/4096 MiB // smx: 13 { "index" : 0, "threads" : 16, "blocks" : 39, "bfactor" : 6, "bsleep" : 25, "affine_to_cpu" : false, "sync_mode" : 3, }, ],
First try increasing the bfactor value from 6 to 8 or more. Save the file and run the program. If you still get this error, then try reducing the threads or blocks. This should solve the problem, but if the error still appears here is another solution.
- Open Registry Editor. In Run, type the command regedit and press enter, this command will open the registry editor.
- Now in the Registry Editor, navigate to the following folder. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers
- In the right pane of the graphics drive section, create a DWORD (32-bit) registry value named TdrDelay.
- Change TdrDelay, set its value to 8 and click OK to save the changes.
- After you have done this, you must reboot the system. This problem should now be resolved.
Setting the intensity and configuration of streams
XMR-STAK gives you too many options to configure to get the best results from your hardware.
By default, the miner creates a configuration file for the CPU, as well as for NVIDIA and AMD video cards. You can edit the values in these text files and see what works best for your farms.
Change the value of intensity, “work-size”, threads and blocks. You can add more GPUs, and you can also lower the power mode of your CPU.
You can obtain additional information about setting up equipment and code from the instructions in Russian in the archive with the program.
We hope this guide has enough basic information covering getting started with coin mining. If you think we have missed anything, please let us know.
Profitability of mining Monero
The WhatToMine service will traditionally tell you the prospects for coin mining. For example, select eight Radeon RX 570 cards and click on the desired algorithm.
Source: WhatToMine
With a kilowatt price of 5 cents or about 3.4 rubles, we get a little more than a dollar of net profit per day. The income is $2.22, the difference goes to the cost of electricity.
Source: WhatToMine
Radeon RX 580, Vega, Nvidia GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 are also suitable for Monero. By the way, there will be no problems with XMR mining on a GTX 1060 with 3 GB. We remind you that users of this model are already complaining about the impossibility of mining Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.
