Bitaxe

BitAxe is an open-source project created by Skot and available on GitHub that allows for cost-effective mining experimentation.

It has reverse-engineered the workings of the famous Antminer S19 by Bitmain, the market leader in ASICs, the specialized machines for bitcoin mining. Now, it's possible to use these powerful chips in new open-source projects. Unlike the Nerdminer, BitAxe has sufficient computing power to be connected to a mining pool, which will allow you to regularly earn some satoshis. The Nerdminer, on the other hand, can only be connected to what’s called a solopool, which functions like a lottery ticket: you have a slim chance of winning the full block reward.

There are several versions of BitAxe, with different chips and performances:

In this tutorial, we will be using a BitAxe Ultra 204 equipped with a BM1366 chip, used for the Antminer S19XP. This one is already assembled and flashed by the retailer.

Generally, the power supply is sold with it. If not, you will need to purchase a power supply with a 5V jack cable and at least 4A.

When you first plug in your BitAxe, it will attempt to connect to a Wi-Fi network by default. After five attempts, it will display the name of its own Wi-Fi network so you can connect to it and configure it. To do this, you can use any computer or smartphone. Go to your Wi-Fi settings, search for new networks, and you will see a Wi-Fi called Bitaxe_XXXX. Here, it is Bitaxe_A859. Connect to this Wi-Fi network, and a window will automatically open.

In this window, click on the three small horizontal bars at the top left, then on Settings.

You will need to manually enter your Wi-Fi network information, as there is no automatic discovery system.

Therefore, indicate the SSID of the Wi-Fi, that is, the name of your network, the password, as well as the information of the mining pool you have chosen. Be careful, here the URL of the pool is not presented in the same way. For example, for Braiins, the pool URL provided is: stratum+tcp://eu.stratum.braiins.com:3333.

As you can see on the screen, you need to remove the stratum+tcp:// and :3333 parts, leaving only eu.stratum.braiins.com. Then, in the Port field, enter the 4 digits at the end of the URL given by the pool, but without the :. Here, it is therefore 3333.

In this tutorial, we are using the Braiins mining pool, but you are free to choose another one. You can find our tutorials on mining pools on the Plan ₿ Academy website.

Next, in User, enter your identifier and then the Password, usually, it is "x" or "Anything123".

The Core Voltage setting should be left at 1200 by default, and for Frequency, also leave the default value initially. It will be possible to adjust this setting later to obtain more computing power. However, it is important to ensure that the chip's temperature does not exceed 65-70°C, as the BitAxe does not have a system to reduce performance in case of overheating. If the temperature exceeds 65°C too much, it could damage your BitAxe.

Once you have correctly entered all the settings, click the Save button at the bottom, then restart your BitAxe simply by unplugging it and plugging it back in. If you have entered your information correctly, the device should quickly connect to your Wi-Fi, then to the mining pool, and start to display some information on its small screen. It will probably take a few minutes for it to appear on the mining pool's dashboard.

Three different displays will scroll through. On the third page, you will see the IP information, which is the IP address that allows you to connect to the dashboard. Here, the address is 192.168.1.19.

To access the dashboard, simply enter this address into your internet browser.

On the dashboard, you will find all the information displayed on the small screen, which we will now look at in detail.