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I have been having all sorts of issues getting a second mining rig setup. The pc is very unstable and can run from anywhere between a few minutes and a few hours before it dies. When it dies the machine floods the network with Pause packets that takes out anything else on the same switch as detailed here. As the machine is headless and I can only access it via SSH I can't get any information from the machine about what the problem is.

In trying to diagnose this problem I have swapped or replaced every single component: processor, power supply, power cables, memory. I have also thoroughly tested all GPUs on another machine before moving them over.

In my last test I had miner B running in my second case and miner C running without a case. Miner C runs fine with no issues or instability at all. Miner B crashes regularly.

I took the motherboard (including processor, memory and hdd) from miner C and swapped it with the motherboard from miner B.

Now miner C is crashing and miner B is fine.

As I said, I have swapped different power supplies and cables already.

I now suspect that the "case" is somehow responsible for this.

I say case.. The case is actually just a frame with shelves for GPUs. The motherboard is screwed to a sheet of plastic.

Can anyone suggest what is going on and what I can try next?

All 3 machines have identical motherboards and have identical Ubuntu server OS installs. Machine A runs with 12 GPUs with no stability issues at all.

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    If you take CPU, memory hdd and gpu's and put them in another Mobo and it doesn't replicate the problem... That sounds like a motherboard failure of sorts from the PC in question. And when you take known working parts from another machine and plug them into the Mobo in question what happens? Take a visual inspection of the components on the Mobo in question, most modern motherboards have capacitors on board that are rated for about 50000 hours of use. If it seems like any are bulging or poped with black electrolyte coming out of the top replace the motherboard. Jan 21, 2018 at 20:29
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    The motherboard or your just not getting enough air flow to keep everything cool. Have you checked the 5V and 12v rails to make sure they are within 5%.
    – cybernard
    Jan 21, 2018 at 20:39
  • @cybernard good call, try take a digital multi meter and see what's going on with the PSU at the motherboard input when the problem starts happening. What is puzzling me is that it's not hard freezing if it's sending anything out on the nic. Jan 21, 2018 at 20:48
  • I have tried 3 different PSUs and replicated this with 2 different motherboards... All motherboards are only a month or 2 old (although I realise that doesn't mean that they are working)
    – Roaders
    Jan 21, 2018 at 20:57
  • ok, do you have this pc in questions HDD imaged? it sounds like this may be software related, (the problem is following the HDD unless im misinterpreting your post) make an image of your failing install. then make an image of a working one, assuming all hardware is the same. you should be able to write a bit for bit copy from miner-c to miner-b. if it works then you know where the issue is. Jan 21, 2018 at 21:06

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