How to Shrink your Dynamic Disk on VirtualBox Ubuntu guest

How to Shrink your Dynamic Disk on VirtualBox Ubuntu guest:

Original instructions I found here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/312883/how-to-shrink-a-virtualbox-virtual-machine-and-free-up-disk-space/

I updated these commands to work for my system.

In Ubuntu Guest, grab zerofree:

sudo apt install zerofree

Now you will have to boot up Ubuntu in recovery mode:
Shut down Ubuntu.
Start it back up and hit “esc” while it is booting.
Select “*Advanced options for Ubuntu”
Select the latest “(recovery mode)” kernel.
Select “root”

Run df to find your root partition

df

It will look something like “/dev/sda1”

Now run zerofree:

zerofree -v /dev/sda1

When zerofree is done, halt the system:

halt

Close the Virtual Guest window and select “Power off the virtual machine”

Now you will need to run the “VBoxManage.exe” to shrink the physical snapshots and vdi file. Do the Snapshots first. Commands should look like this:

cd "C:\Users\Reynold\VirtualBox VMs\YourVirtualDiskName\Snapshots"

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" modifymedium disk "{0e420dca-8044-4d3a-a256-cf90ca19de42}" --compact

cd "C:\Users\Reynold\VirtualBox VMs\YourVirtualDiskName"

"C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" modifymedium disk "YourVirtualDiskName.vdi" --compact

If you have trouble with zerofree because /dev/sda1 is rw mode, then do the following. Found fix for this here:

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2399268

In single user root mode again:

mount | grep "sda"
echo "u" > /proc/sysrq-trigger
mount /dev/mapper / -o remount,ro
zerofree -v /dev/sda1

Building Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 from source on Ubuntu 18.04.1 desktop amd64

How to build Bitcoin Core 0.16.3 from source on Ubuntu 18.04.1 desktop amd64

You will need to use this PPA so the Berkley DB can get downloaded and installed.

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
sudo apt-get update

Here are all the dependencies that I used:

sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev m4 g++-multilib autoconf libtool unzip git python zlib1g-dev wget bsdmainutils automake libboost-all-dev  libboost-all-dev miniupnpc libdb4.8 libdb4.8-dev libdb4.8++-dev libqt5gui5 libqt5core5a libqt5dbus5 qttools5-dev qttools5-dev-tools libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler libminiupnpc-dev libqrencode-dev libssl-dev libevent-dev

Here, the code is in the ~/source folder, if you have it somewhere else, use that:

cd ~/source

Download the source code:

git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git
cd bitcoin

Now we will compile, this process is very lengthy:

./autogen.sh
./configure
make
sudo make install

Upgraded to:
Bitcoin Core version v0.17.99.0-1e8f88e07 (64-bit)

cd ~/source/bitcoin
git pull
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
sudo make install

But if you want the latest stable release, look for it here:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/releases

For this case:

v0.17.0.1  …
Bitcoin Core 0.17.0.1 final

So you would do:

cd ~/source
git clone https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git --branch v0.17.0.1
cd bitcoin
./autogen.sh
./configure
make
sudo make install

Setup VNC and RDP on Ubuntu 16.04

If you need to setup VNC and/or RDP on your Ubuntu system, you can do it.

Original instructions came from hiroom2.com, but I modified these instructions to work for my setup:

https://www.hiroom2.com/2016/05/24/ubuntu-16-04-remote-connect-to-gnome-classic-desktop-with-vnc-xrdp/#sec-5

Download the libraries you need:

sudo apt remove -y vnc4server tightvncserver
sudo apt install -y git and devscripts
sudo apt install -y gnome-panel metacity

You will need to download and compile from source:
(yes, you need these double folders)

cd ~/source
mkdir tigervnc
cd tigervnc
git clone https://github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc
cd tigervnc

This seems to be the specific build that was working:

git checkout 044e2b87da7121ef6cbd59e88b101d7d8e282896 \
-b 044e2b87da7121ef6cbd59e88b101d7d8e282896

Now we do the build:

ln -s contrib/packages/deb/ubuntu-xenial/debian

sudo apt install -y $(grep Build-Depends: debian/control | \
sed -e 's/Build-Depends://g' -e 's/([^\)]*)//g' -e 's/,//g')

chmod a+x debian/rules
fakeroot debian/rules binary

Now install the deb packages:

cd ..
sudo dpkg -i *.deb || (sudo apt -f install -y; sudo dpkg -i *.deb)
cd ..

Install GNOME:

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND="noninteractive" apt install -y gnome

echo "gnome-session-classic" > ~/.xsession

mv ~/.vnc/xstartup ~/.vnc/xstartub.bak

vncpasswd

RDP Installation:

sudo apt install -y xrdp
sudo systemctl enable xrdp

If you are running this in a VirtualBox, you will need to do some port forwarding:

Default VNC port: 5901
VirtualBox port: 15901 (or whatever)

Default RDP port: 3389
VirtualBox port: 13389 (or whatever)

New Windows 10 Mining Rig Checklist

I had this info scattered around in many posts, I thought I would put it all here for a generic checklist when setting up a new mining rig, no matter what you are mining.

Lets start with bios:

Set power to resume at latest state so if your electricity goes out, it will start up again.
Set boot beep on.

Install Windows 10 x64

Install the latest stable AMD Radeon Crimson Drivers:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows+10+-+64

The latest stable version for me is 16.12.1

Install Awesome Miner, or rather the Remote Agent if this is a mining node:

http://www.awesomeminer.com/

Setup Virtual Memory to 16 or 32 GB:

16 GB: 16384 MB
32 GB: 32768 MB

Control Panel
System and Security/System
Advanced system settings
Advanced (Tab)/Performance/Settings (Button)
Advanced (Tab)/Virtual Memory/Change (Button)
Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives"
Click "Custom Size"

If you can do 32, do it, otherweise 16 would be ok:
Min: 32768
Max: 32768

Click "Set" and get out of all the dialogs...

You may have to reboot.

Reboot straight into mining:

Auto login:

netplwiz
Set Awesome Miner to start on reboot.
Set your managed miner to start on reboot.

Lock after login: (Optional if your rigs are secure)

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Other Software you may want to install:

Chrome

https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/desktop/index.html

Notepad++

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/

TortoiseSVN

https://tortoisesvn.net/downloads.html

Other Settings you may want to adjust:

Give your computer a name
Allow Remote Access
Power Options
    Turn off display: Never
    Put Computer to sleep: Never
Windows Folder defaults:
    Unhide known extensions
    Unhide system folders
Set your time zone

Never get stuck after a windows crash. Run this as administrator: (This removes the prompt and always reboots normally into windows)

bcdedit /set {current} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures

Remove the popup after a crash: (Sometimes a mining crash has a modal alert waiting for you to hit “OK”)

gpedit.msc

Navigate to:
  Computer Configuration
  Administrative Templates
  Windows Components
  Windows Error Reporting

Double click on "Prevent display of the user interface for critical errors"

Set to Enabled

Exclude your Mining Software folders from Windows Defender. Don’t let Defender take down your whole mining operation by quarantining your mining software:

C:\common\apps (or wherever)
C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\AwesomeMinerService

Build ZClassic (ZCL) wallet on Ubuntu

Build ZClassic (ZCL) wallet on Ubuntu:

Build everything:

sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev m4 g++-multilib autoconf libtool ncurses-dev unzip git python zlib1g-dev wget bsdmainutils automake

The actual build takes a long time:

mkdir ~/source
cd ~/source
git clone https://github.com/z-classic/zclassic.git
cd ~/source/zclassic/zcutil
./build.sh
./fetch-params.sh

Run wallet and then stop it:

cd ~/source/zclassic/src
./zcashd -daemon
./zcash-cli stop

You will now see a folder ~/.zclassic
Create zclassic.conf in this folder that looks like this:

rpcuser=YourUserName
rpcpassword=YourPassword
rpcport=8234
gen=1

Now start the server again:

cd ~/source/zclassic/src
./zcashd -daemon

Use the cli (command line interface) to getinfo:

./zcash-cli getinfo

ZCL update (when you need to upgrade)

cd ~/source/zclassic
git pull
cd ~/source/zclassic/zcutil
./build.sh
./fetch-params.sh

CPU Mining Zcash (ZEC) on Ubuntu

CPU Mining Zcash (ZEC) on Ubuntu

Install dependancies:

sudo apt-get install cmake build-essential libboost-all-dev

Get code and compile:

cd ~/source
git clone -b Linux https://github.com/nicehash/nheqminer.git
cd nheqminer/cpu_xenoncat/Linux/asm/ && sh assemble.sh && cd ../../../Linux_cmake/nheqminer_cpu && cmake . && make

Here is an example mining command:

~/source/nheqminer/Linux_cmake/nheqminer_cpu/nheqminer_cpu -t 2 -l us1-zcash.flypool.org:3333 -u t1cN123qRbBXkQXKqPqq44E4cTh2a8SvwH1.YourMiner

Using SVN to backup

Some basic examples of how to use SVN as a backup system.

Install SVN:

sudo apt-get install subversion

How to create a backup:

mkdir ~/backup
cd ~/backup
mkdir yourcomputername

Copy all the files and folders you want to backup to yourcomputername:

svn import https://svn.yoursvnserver.com:9443/svn/yoursvnfolder/yourcomputername

How to add everything in the folder to SVN:

cd ~/backup
svn add --force * --auto-props --parents --depth infinity -q

How to commit everything that was saved in the backup folder:

svn commit /home/yourusername/backup/yourcomputername -m "yourcomputername backup"

Recovering Backup from SVN Server:

mkdir ~/work
cd ~/work
svn checkout https://svn.yoursvnservername.com:9443/svn/yoursvnfolder/yourcomputername

Delete missing files from an svn source folder:
Original info from: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9600382/svn-command-to-delete-all-locally-missing-files#

cd thefoldername
svn st | grep ! | cut -d! -f2| sed 's/^ *//' | sed 's/^/"/g' | sed 's/$/"/g' | xargs svn rm

Build zcash (ZEC) wallet on Ubuntu

Build everything:

sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libc6-dev m4 g++-multilib autoconf libtool ncurses-dev unzip git python zlib1g-dev wget bsdmainutils automake
mkdir ~/source
cd ~/source
git clone https://github.com/zcash/zcash.git
cd ~/source/zcash/zcutil
./build.sh
./fetch-params.sh
sudo make install

Run wallet and then stop it:

/usr/local/bin/zcashd -daemon
/usr/local/bin/zcash-cli stop

You will now see a folder ~/.zcash
Create zcash.conf in this folder that looks like this:

rpcuser=YourUserName
rpcpassword=YourPassword
gen=1

Now start the server again:

cd ~/source/zcash/src
./zcashd -daemon

The gen=1 turns on mining automatically.

Use the cli (command line interface) to getinfo:

./zcash-cli getinfo

ZEC update (when you need to upgrade)

cd ~/source/zcash
git pull
cd ~/source/zcash/zcutil
./build.sh
./fetch-params.sh

If you want to use the ZCash latest stable version:
https://github.com/zcash/zcash/releases/

This is currently: v2.0.2

I upgraded to ZCash v2.0.2

cd ~/source
mv zcash zcash_old
git clone https://github.com/zcash/zcash.git --branch v2.0.2
cd ~/source/zcash/zcutil
./build.sh
./fetch-params.sh
cd ~/source/zcash
sudo make install

Overclocking the RX 480 for the Claymore Ethereum-Decred Miner

Using Wattman, your values may have to be tweaked depending on the silicone lottery:

Memory: 2200mhz (overclocked), 975mv (underclocked)
Power Limit: +15%

This will draw 825w from the wall with 3 cards.

Stock for these cards are:

Memory: 2000mhz, 1000mv
Power Limit: 0

In the Claymore Miner config.txt:

-ethi 8
-dcri 60

I left the Core clock at stock which is defaulted to 1266 or 1288 (XFX version)

More can be done with tweaking the Core Clock, but my 850w power supply was already at 825w with 3 cards and motherboard/fans.

Installing another power supply for 3 more cards will let me tweak the numbers some more.

With the settings above, I was able to get:

ETH/ETC: 27 Mh/s (26 Mh/s on one of the cards)
DCR: 810 Mh/s (790 Mh/s on one of the cards)

Heat and Fans:

Max: 80 C
Target: 75 C

Windows 10 Claymore ETH/DCR Mining Rig using the RX 480 GPU

This build deals with setting up Windows 10 to mine Ethereum and Decred, using the RX 480 GPU.

Install Windows 10 x64
—-
Install the latest AMD Radeon Crimson Drivers

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows+10+-+64

Crimson Edition 16.7.3 (Main installer, run this.)

After Crimson is installed, then do an update within Crimson. You will then be at “Crimson Edition 16.8.3” (or later)
—-
Install AwesomeMiner

http://www.awesomeminer.com/

—-
Configure Claymore ETH/DCR

New Miner Wizard
—-
Example of config.txt for mining ETC (Ethereum Classic)

-r 1
-ethi 8
-dcri 60

-etha 0
-mode 0

-gser 2

### ETC ########################################
-epool us1-etc.ethermine.org:4444
-ewal 0xBAf5706B333F709211Ab5A2A5669970A55385934.YourMinerName
-esm 0
-epsw x
-allpools 1
-allcoins 1

### DCR ########################################
-dpool stratum+tcp://dcr.suprnova.cc:2252
-dwal YourUserName.YourMinerName
-dpsw YourPassword

Example of config.txt for mining ETH (Ethereum)

-r 1
-ethi 8
-dcri 60

-etha 0
-mode 0

-gser 2

### ETH ########################################
-epool us1.ethermine.org:4444
-ewal 0x7563A2D88F2151B659F22FAd213E3A0E6fedE943.YourMinerName
-esm 0
-epsw x
-allpools 1
-allcoins 1

### DCR ########################################
-dpool stratum+tcp://dcr.suprnova.cc:2252
-dwal YourUserName.YourMinerName
-dpsw YourPassword

Example of epools.txt

POOL: etc-eu.suprnova.cc:3333, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: YourUser.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us1.ethermine.org:4444, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: 0x57f57167a82da3de4e69de73d1bc9c731cdcbaf8.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us1.ethpool.org:3333, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: 0x57f57167a82da3de4e69de73d1bc9c731cdcbaf8.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1

Example of dpools.txt

POOL: dcr.suprnova.cc:2252, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: YourUser.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: dcr.coinmine.pl:2222, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: YourUser.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: dcr.pool.mn:4722, PSW: YourPassword, WORKER: YourUser.YourMiner, ESM: 0, ALLPOOLS: 1

—-
How to reboot straight into mining:

Setup Autologin In Windows.

Lock after login:
rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Set Awesome Miner to start on reboot.
Set your managed miner to start on reboot.
—-

Other Software you may want to install:
—-
Install Chrome
—-
Install Notepad++
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
—-
Install TortoiseSVN
https://tortoisesvn.net/downloads.html
—-

Other Settings you may want to adjust:

Allow Remote Access
Power Options
    Turn off display: Never
    Put Computer to sleep: Never
Auto login: netplwiz
Windows Folder defaults:
    Unhide known extensions
    Unhide system folders

Never get stuck after a windows crash. Run this as administrator:

bcdedit /set {current} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures

Remove the popup after a crash

gpedit.msc

Navigate to:
Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Error Reporting

Double click on "Prevent display of the user interface for critical errors"

Set to Enabled