How to Run a Mining Rig: 24/7 Uptime


Running a mining operation just to have your rig go down every few hours is nobody's dream. Uptime is absolutely crucial to a successful operation, and 24/7 uptime is the dream. The goal of this page is to help you achieve that pinnacle of mining - easily, consistently, thoroughly.
Following these steps, my rigs have been mining 24/7 for months with no breakdowns or delays.


The idea here is three-fold:
  1. Eliminate (Or At Least Minimize) Crashes
  2. Fully Automate the Restart Procedure in the Event of a Crash
  3. Enable Monitoring and Remote Access in the Event of Restart Failure



1. Eliminate (Or At Least Minimize) Crashes


What Causes Your Rig to Crash?

Internal Factors
Crashes may be caused by either internal or external factors. Internal factors are numerous, but should be considered in this order:


Bad power connections? Faulty GPU drivers? Bad risers? OC settings too high?


Bad power connections are so often the culprit of rig crashes, especially early in the build. Unplug everything and plug it back in. Make sure everything that's supposed to be plugged in, is in fact plugged in. This sounds ridiculous, but remember that a 6-GPU rig has about 20 different cables - 40 different connections - and if any one of them isn't seated fully in its socket then the whole machine is crashing. Additionally, touch each wire with your hand and make sure they're not hot. Slightly warm is ok (especially if it's getting hit by GPU exhaust), but if they are hot then you're overloading that cable.

Faulty GPU drivers are the next thing to consider. For reasons unknown, even if you're been hashing away successfully for weeks sometimes the driver(s) will crash. Download the latest driver for your cards (Nvidia.com or AMD.com "Drivers" or "Support" sections) and reinstall.

Bad risers happen occasionally. From my experience about 2% of the risers I buy are duds. If you're hashing with these recommended powered risers then you should be in good hands. Those risers are each QC-checked and have a no-questions asked return policy if you do get a bad one. Check to see if the riser is bad by swapping it with another. If the problem follows the riser then that's your answer. If the problem is still there then the riser is not at fault.

Overclocking your cards too high and/or dropping the TDP too low results in crashes. If the above steps have been checked already, then lower your core and memory OC settings back to stock, and raise your TDP/Power level back to 90-100%.

Still crashing constantly? There's something bigger at play here. You likely have hardware incompatibilities or faulty hardware. Ensure your motherboard is compatible with your CPU and your RAM (PCPartPicker Compatibility Check). Ensure your motherboard has its latest BIOS installed, and "4G encoding" is enabled in the BIOS. If that all checks out, then unfortunately you'll have to start swapping out hardware to find the culprit. RAM then PSU then motherboard. Swap out your RAM with a different stick (and note in your motherboard manual which slot it should go in!). Try a new PSU. If all else fails, grab a new motherboard. If you've made it this far, I feel for you.


External Factors
External factors include loss of power or loss of internet connection. These are obvious but I'm being thorough here:


Loss of internet connectivity? Loss of power?


Loss of internet connectivity is best solved with a hardwired Ethernet connection to your router using 24AWG Cat6 Ethernet cable. Wifi connections from my experience simply don't cut it when mining. The added benefit of an Ethernet connection is a lower ping, reducing stale shares and improving your net hashrate by 0.5 to 1.0%!

Loss of power can be rectified with an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). These are expensive but are a lifesaver if you operate in a region with power outages and flickers. Even when the power is on, a UPS stabilizes the flow of power to your rig, reducing potentially harmful voltage fluctuation. Is it worth it? Probably not, unless you're experiencing significant power fluctuation that is otherwise out of your control.




2. Fully Automate the Restart Procedure in the Event of a Crash


Soft Crash
A Soft Crash is a freeze or termination of your mining software. Restart any batch file mining software using the "goto" command:
:restart
TIMEOUT /T 12
REM Total Delay = 12 seconds
ccminer -a [algo] -d [devices] -o [server]:[port] -u [wallet] -p [password]
goto :restart
Notice the very first line of the batch file is ":restart", and the very last line is "goto :restart". This way, any time the ccminer.exe command line stops running the whole batch file starts over again and there will be a 12-second delay (buys you enough time to jump in and stop it if necessary).

Does your mining software occasionally freeze in place until you click or press a key? Disable "QuickEdit Mode" and "Insert Mode" from within the CMD line "Default" properties settings. Find these settings by right-clicking the header of the command line interface:


Hard Crash
A Hard Crash is a complete shutdown of your entire system.

Configure Your Rig to Turn On Immediately After Power is Restored


Your motherboard has a BIOS setting to "restore" after loss of AC power. This means that if power gets interrupted and the rig shuts down, it will turn back on automatically as soon as power resumes. This an incredibly useful trick for the miner, or for anyone with a remote computer that needs 24/7 uptime. With the following setting enabled you'll no longer have to manually flip that power switch every time the rig powers off.


  1. Turn your rig off then back on.
  2. Load up your BIOS (immediately and constantly mash the DELETE, F11, or F12 key depending on motherboard).
  3. Open the “Power Management” settings tab.
  4. Find the “AC Power Recovery” option, and change it to “On” or "Enabled".
  5. Save your settings and restart your rig.

Skip Login Screen


Once your computer is rebooted, don't get stuck at the Windows login screen: Bypass Windows 10 Login/Password Screen


Applying Overclocks On Startup


MSI Afterburner is the tool of choice for overclocking. Allow it to start upon system startup by enabling the "Startup" button.


Open Miner Software Upon Startup


Automate the start of your mining software of choice via Windows' "Startup" folder.
  1. Click the Windows START key (bottom left) and type “run”.
  2. Open the RUN command.
  3. Type “shell:startup”.
  4. Create a shortcut of your mining start file (the file you typically doubleclick to start mining): right-click that file and "Create Shortcut".
  5. Cut this "shortcut" file and paste it into the aforementioned "Startup" folder.
Congrats! Now whenever your rig reboots it will automatically jump back into mining!




3. Enable Monitoring and Remote Access in the Event of Restart Failure


At the end of the day GPU's are not built to run 24/7. The occasional hiccups will occur every so often, which is why it's in your best interest to have monitoring and remote access in place.

Software Monitoring/Access
TeamViewer (https://www.teamviewer.us) is my preferred choice for remote desktop access. It is free, works flawlessly, and allows access from any computer or mobile device. Additionally, it has only a very minor drain of GPU power while activated. Yes, your hashrate will drop a tiny bit when any remote desktop software is active and running (meaning you are actively engaged in access). TeamViewer has less of this impact for my rigs than the competition: Windows Remote Desktop Connection, Chrome Remote Desktop, LogMeIn, etc.

Hardware Monitoring/Access
Smart Plugs are the best thing ever. I swear by the Wemo Insight Smart Plug specifically, because it can do a ton of things via IFTTT, but at its core it allows you to accurately and remotely monitor wattage use and uptime. Say your mining rig freezes and TeamViewer crashed too. First you can trigger the Wemo Insight to alert you that the rig has stopped running. Seeing this alert, you can power cycle your rig with the push of a button from anywhere on Earth.
The wattage monitoring is also nice when fine-tuning your OC specs for the best possible hashrate-to-wattage ratio.

End of Article! Hope this helps ya! Hash away!