So you got your mining rig setup, this guide will get you through the basics of "Dual Mining with Claymore".
Firstly, always keep your mining software up to date with the latest release. We use Claymore for dual mining ETH + DCR/SIA or other supported coins. Claymore does not need installation, rather just download the files in a folder and start the miner (See configuration further).
You can download Claymore software for free, while the developer takes a small fee from your earnings for using this excellent piece of software he has developed. Here is the link to download V9.8 (Latest as of this point): Download Claymore
Now, unzip those files, preferably on your desktop (Assuming you use windows) and follow these steps:
Claymore Configuration for Dual Mining
Locate the file "config.txt" and open it
Scrap whatever it includes, add the following and save:
-epool eu1.ethermine.org:4444
-ewal 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1
-epsw x
-dpool stratum+tcp://decred.eu.nicehash.com:3354
-dwal 3NiDmSa79f1rNY2a2ia5E76pUeEW7RqVQU.miner1
-dpsw x
#-di 0,1,2,3,4,5
-allpools 1
-esm 1
-mode 0
-fanmin 75
-asm 1
-dcri 19
-ftime 0
#-cclock 1106
#-mclock 1875
#-mvddc 850
#-cvddc 875
-mport 10047
Additional configuration info:
Let's go through those settings to get you familiarized with each one
-epool
-epool is the ethereum pool of your choice. In our case we use ethermine.org and specifically the european pool location. If you are located elsewhere, please choose the closest one to your location from the following list and replace the -epool variable
- North America (East): us1.ethermine.org:4444 or us1.ethermine.org:14444
- North America (West): us2.ethermine.org:4444 or us2.ethermine.org:14444
- Europe (France): eu1.ethermine.org:4444 or eu1.ethermine.org:14444
- Asia: asia1.ethermine.org:4444 or asia1.ethermine.org:14444
-ewal
This is your ethereum wallet address that will receive your mining earnings in ETH. We recommend you use a contract address such as myetherwallet
WARNING: Do not use a Coinbase ETH address for mining. Coinbase changes your address with every transaction for additional security so this will NOT work for mining.
Get your wallet address from myetherwallet and replace the -ewal variable with yours.
You will notice that the wallet address is separated by a "." (Dot). The first part before the dot, is your wallet address, followed by the second part after the dot which is the name of your mining rig. Feel free to be creative with rig names but make sure you ONLY include letters and numbers (No special characters like %, $, -, etc) as this might break integration
-epsw
You do not need to change this line. This is a password variable that some pools may require. Ethermine does not need a password so the variable "x" is sufficient
-dpool
Secondary pool for your dual mining. Ethereum mining uses most of the memory of the GPUs (Graphic Cards), leaving some space and other minor resources to be utilized for a secondary mining thread, without affecting your ethereum mining speed or at least having a minimal effect. Crypto Currencies like Decred, SiaCoin, Lbry and Pascal are some of the supported dual mining algorithms.
In our example, we will use a Nicehash pool which pays out in BitCoin no matter what you are mining. If you make $10 worth of Decred you will get paid $10 worth of BTC.
Same as above for -ewal, there are several pool locations by nicehash, so choose appropriately from the list below and update this line:
- Europe : stratum+tcp://decred.eu.nicehash.com:3354
- USA: stratum+tcp://decred.usa.nicehash.com:3354
- Hong Kong: stratum+tcp://decred.hk.nicehash.com:3354
- Japan: stratum+tcp://decred.jp.nicehash.com:3354
- India: stratum+tcp://decred.in.nicehash.com:3354
- Brazil: stratum+tcp://decred.br.nicehash.com:3354
Note: We only included Decred pools above. If you wish to mine any of the rest coins like SiaCoin Lbry or Pascal, you will find a comprehensive list of pools by Nicehash on their website: Visit Nicehash
-dwal
This is your secondary coin wallet. If you mine directly at a pool paying in that specific coin, you will need to get a wallet for that coin itself. In our case, using Nicehash, we get paid in BTC so this should be your BitCoin wallet address (Again, no coinbase wallets, choose a reliable provider that does not change addresses on every transaction).
Same as for -ewal above, the variable is separated by a "." (Dot) in the form of wallet.minername (See -ewal above)
-dpsw
Same as -epsw, see above (*No change needed here)
-di
you will notice that in our configuration this line is commented out with a #. This renders the line inactive and will be ignored by the mining software. The purpose of -di is to specify which GPUs to use when starting the mining software (e.g. you have 2 GPUs but only want to use one of them). If you are going to use all of your GPUs, leave this line commented out as is. If you want to specify which GPUs to use for mining, you can do so by removing the # and specifying their number.
NOTE GPU numbers start from "0". So if you have 6 GPUs and want to use only the first and third, you would specify -di 0,2 (Note the numbering for 1st and 3rd GPU is NOT 1 and 3)
-allpools
This is a required field for the mining software and pools. Do not change
-esm 1
This enables the software to provide more info to the pool such as hashrate, invalid shares and several other info. While not required, it is always good to see the pool reports comprehensively and it does not pose any security threats whatsoever. Disable using -esm 0, if you so wish.
-mode
This specifies the mining mode.
- 0 = Dual Mining (Default)
- 1 = Ethereum Only
-fanmin
If your GPU drivers and Bios support this, -fanmin will control the minimum speed of your GPU fans (For cooling). The mining software displays fanspeeds and GPU temperatures when running, so feel free to experiment with this to achieve the optimal temperature and fanspeed (Less fanspeed = slightly less consumption *Negligible in some cases). GPU Temperatures should be anywhere between 40-65 celcius depending on GPU brand/model while you could work them above that. Anything below 75 is a relatively safe bet, 80+ you are torturing your GPU (Reduced lifetime), 90+ you are killing it by the minute, 100+ if your GPU lasted this far and it ain't burned yet, you should through a party in it's honor.
-asm 1
Leave this on if you are running AMD cards. comment it out with a # if you use NVidia
-dcri
This specifies the secondary coin mining "intensity". Start low, and adjust upwards until your ETH mining speed starts dropping. This is your threshold. The bigger the -dcri the more speed you will get on the secondary coin. Your best bet is finding your GPUs threshold and working a couple points below that (Lower temperatures and power consumption - minimal effect on ETH speed)
-ftime
This specifies the failover wait time. If the main pool gets disconnected for whatever reason, the miner will look for your alternative pools (See further down epools.txt and dpools.txt). The default wait/retry time is 30 minutes (A small downtime is expected periodically by any pool). We recommend you leave this at 0 as this signifies there is no main pool. The mining software will connect to the first available pool (Specified above) and will use the epools.txt and dpools.txt for failover pools if there is an issue with the current pool connected.
-cclock -mclock -mvddc -cvddc
Notice that these are also commented out with a #. If your GPU driver and Bios supports external customization for OverClocking the GPU, this is the best way to use OC for higher hashrates.
Rule of the Thumb: If you have modded the Bios of your GPU, this will work in most cases.
to use, uncomment the 4 lines and adjust the clock settings and voltage.
mclock is the memory clock of the GPU, some GPUs can go as high as 2200+, however please read the specs of your GPU and make sure you stay a notch below the highest supported clock (Risk of GPU Failure). In the case that you get a lot of "invalid shares" reported in the mining software or your system crashes, you may need to reduce this to achieve stability.
cclock is the onboard processor of the GPU. Same as above (Different range - see specs of your GPU)
mvddc and cvddc is the voltage supplied to your GPU memory and processor. Reducing this will achieve a lower power consumption minimal effect on your mining speed. Make sure you don't overdo it as this might crash your system.
The sample settings provided above, are for PowerColor RX470 Cards almost 2yrs old in mining. Adjust, play with settings and find the golden ratio for your cards.
-mport
Claymore comes with a remote manager software (EthMan) that allows you to monitor and control your rig remotely from another device. This specifies the port used for ethman but this part is outside the scope of this tutorial. (See claymore documentation if you intent to use this)
Additional configuration
locate epools.txt in the claymore folder. This file should include the failover pool locations for ethereum in case the main pool fails.
Here is the configuration for all the available pools by ethermine:
#ETHERMINE
POOL: eu1.ethermine.org:4444, WALLET: 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1, PSW: x, WORKER: , ESM: 1, ALLPOOLS: 0
POOL: us1.ethermine.org:4444, WALLET: 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1, PSW: x, WORKER: , ESM: 1, ALLPOOLS: 0
POOL: us2.ethermine.org:4444, WALLET: 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1, PSW: x, WORKER: , ESM: 1, ALLPOOLS: 0
POOL: asia1.ethermine.org:4444, WALLET: 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1, PSW: x, WORKER: , ESM: 1, ALLPOOLS: 0
POOL: eu1.ethermine.org:14444, WALLET: 0x3ba6Bec13899d67c4B9c37230bCd49dB822A6b35.miner1, PSW: x, WORKER: , ESM: 1, ALLPOOLS: 0Lastly, locate dpools.txt and update with the following:
POOL: stratum+tcp://decred.eu.nicehash.com:3354, WALLET: 3NiDmSa79f1rNY2a2ia5E76pUeEW7RqVQU.miner1, PSW: xWe do not use failover pools for the secondary coin, but feel free to populate this file with the additional pools from nicehash or other pools of your liking, if the secondary coin is that important to you.
NOTICE: Make sure you replace the wallet address, otherwise your rig will be making us a present everytime the main pool fails. Of course, if you are kind enough and enjoyed this tutorial, you could leave it as is and donate to us a few minutes of mining every now and then ;) (Thank you)
Final Step:
That's it, you are now ready to start reaping in rewards with your mining rig.
Find the file EthDcrMiner64.exe and start it up. If all goes well, you should be mining in a matter of seconds. The software takes a few seconds 5-20s to load up it's configurations, and shortly after you should be seeing your ETH mining speed in MHs and the secondary mining speed for DCR (Also in MHs).
use the key "s" from your keyboard to display the stats whenever you need them.
Use the "+" "-" keys to adjust the -dcri value until you find your optimal setting (Once you do, update your config.txt with this value)
Lastly, you might want to add a shortcut to auto-start the mining software in case your rig gets a power cut, restart for whatever reason (e.g. updates)
We'll be posting a tutorial on how to optimize your miner and autostart techniques soon.
Hope you enjoyed and found this Tutorial useful. Let us know if we missed anything or have any corrections/additions to the above.
Happy mining
