Gigabyte & Mining

Well, I had a hell of a time debugging stability problems with an AX370 Gaming 5.  (Purchased because I didn't want to support Intel after their hardware bug fiasco, so I bought an AMD, and that mobo had a rebate....)  The thing would run for anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours, and then lock up.  I had no idea it was the PCIe version, until I saw on an Amazon page for a riser card that you need to use something lower than version 3.  Version 2 didn't help with the Leboo expander card I was using, but version 1 is solid.

The other problem I ran into was that the mobo gets stuck in a boot loop when trying to plug in more than 6 GPUs.  (Note that all 7 are Gigabyte branded!)  This is particularly nasty, because not only do I have to reset the CMOS (push the button), I have to unplug all video cards to get it to work: doing just one or the other is insufficient.  Having one card in the slot, the BIOS a message saying to plug in the auxiliary power connector, and that breaks the boot loop.

Now, I had the F5 BIOS on there, so I flashed F20, which gave a couple more options, like enabling memory above 4GB.  Well...that didn't help either.

Gigabyte has a page on mining using their "Ultra Durable" motherboard line.  The suggestions are:

1. Update BIOS to the latest one, and enable mining mode
2. Disable the CSM option for UEFI mode OS
3. Change Max Link Speed setting from Auto to Gen2
4. Change Initial Display Output setting from PCIe 1 slot to IGFX
5. Change Above 4G Decoding setting from Disabled to Enabled
6. Change Internal Graphics setting from Auto to Enabled
7. Use UEFI mode to install the OS

Amusingly, elsewhere Gigabyte says to not update the BIOS unless necessary.  I changed Max Link Speed and Above 4G Decoding; there's no option for this board for internal graphics when a PCIe card is plugged in.  Besides, on an Intel system with Nvidia graphics and Linux for an OS, trying to use the internal video causes annoying problems.

The only thing I haven't done is change the CSM option.  Based on my luck so far, I doubt that'll make a difference; then again, one page claims that CSM is a boot support option that is necessary for some video cards.  Even so, that the mobo somehow corrupts the CMOS--as the boot loop persists after switching the PSU off, unplugging it, plugging it back in, and turning it back on--seems like either a hardware compatibility problem or a firmware bug.

Anyway, this screwed me because I wanted to put 12 or 13 cards in this one frame I built.  Now I can only have six.  Perhaps I should try putting more than 6 in the ASRock board I added to my collection....