Mining with SBC

Single Board Computers (SBCs) like Raspberry Pi offer a low-power, cost-effective way to mine Pastella. This guide covers everything you need to know about mining on ARM devices.

What is SBC Mining?

SBC mining uses low-power, ARM-based single board computers to mine Pastella using the RandomX algorithm. While not as powerful as desktop CPUs, SBCs offer:

• Ultra-low power consumption - 5-15W typical
• Low cost - Raspberry Pi 4 starts at $35
• Always-on capability - Perfect for 24/7 mining
• Silent operation - No fans needed

Supported Hardware

Recommended Devices

Device	RAM	Hash Rate	Power	Notes
Raspberry Pi 4	8GB	50-100 H/s	~6W	Best option
Raspberry Pi 4	4GB	50-100 H/s	~5W	Good value
Raspberry Pi 400	4GB	50-100 H/s	~5W	Integrated keyboard
Rock Pi 4	4GB	60-120 H/s	~6W	Faster CPU
Orange Pi 5	4GB	100-150 H/s	~8W	Best performance

Requirements

• 64-bit OS - ARM64/aarch64 required
• 2GB RAM minimum - 4GB+ recommended
• Class 10 microSD - 32GB+ recommended
• Reliable power supply - Undervoltage causes crashes
• Network connection - Ethernet preferred over WiFi

Operating System Setup

Recommended OS Options

1. Pi64 (Recommended)

Pi64 is a specialized 64-bit OS for Raspberry Pi.

# Download and flash Pi64 image
# Use Raspberry Pi Imager or Etcher

2. Ubuntu Server ARM64

Official Ubuntu Server for Raspberry Pi:

# Download from ubuntu.com
# Flash to microSD

3. Arch Linux ARM

Lightweight option for advanced users:

# Follow instructions on archlinuxarm.org

Initial Setup

After flashing and booting:

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

# Enable SSH (if not enabled)
sudo systemctl enable ssh
sudo systemctl start ssh

# Set static IP (optional)
sudo nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf
# Add: interface eth0
#      static ip_address=192.168.1.100/24

Swap Space Configuration

ARM devices have limited RAM - add swap to prevent crashes:

# Create 4GB swap file
sudo fallocate -l 4G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

# Make permanent
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Verify
free -h

Building Pastella on ARM

Install Dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
  build-essential \
  g++-8 \
  gcc-8 \
  git \
  libboost-all-dev \
  python3-pip \
  libssl-dev \
  libsodium-dev

# Install CMake
pip3 install cmake

Clone and Build PastellaCore

# Clone repository
git clone -b master --single-branch https://github.com/PastellaOrg/Pastella
cd Pastella

# Create build directory
mkdir build
cd build

# Configure for ARM
cmake \
  -DWITH_LEVELDB=ON \
  -DNO_AES=ON \
  ..

# Build (this will take a while on ARM)
make -j$(nproc)

Build Options:

• -DWITH_LEVELDB=ON - Use LevelDB (better for ARM)
• -DNO_AES=ON - Disable hardware AES (ARM compatibility)
• -j$(nproc) - Use all CPU cores for building

Running a Node on SBC

Start the Daemon

cd ~/Pastella/build
./src/Pastellad \
  --rpc-bind-ip 0.0.0.0 \
  --rpc-bind-port 21001 \
  --data-dir ~/.pastella \
  --log-level 3

Create Systemd Service

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/pastellad.service

[Unit]
Description=Pastella Daemon
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/Pastella/build
ExecStart=/home/pi/Pastella/build/src/Pastellad \
  --rpc-bind-ip 0.0.0.0 \
  --rpc-bind-port 21001 \
  --data-dir=/home/pi/.pastella
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable and start
sudo systemctl enable pastellad
sudo systemctl start pastellad

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u pastellad -f

Mining on SBC

Build XMRig for ARM

# Clone XMRig
git clone https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig.git
cd xmrig

# Build for ARM
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. \
  -DWITH_OPENCL=OFF \
  -DWITH_CUDA=OFF \
  -DWITH_LIBCPUID=OFF \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

make -j$(nproc)

Configure XMRig for Solo Mining

Create config.json:

{
  "autosave": true,
  "cpu": true,
  "opencl": false,
  "cuda": false,
  "pools": [
    {
      "url": "127.0.0.1:21001",
      "user": "PAS1LqBfSfzeu7Khipaj1JbSvkJfP6yJ8Z16wZVjSdd75QqM8KTcnF",
      "pass": "x",
      "daemon": true,
      "keepalive": true,
      "daemon-poll-interval": 1000
    }
  ],
  "randomx": {
    "init": -1,
    "mode": "auto",
    "1gb-pages": false,
    "rdmsr": true,
    "wrmsr": true,
    "numa": false
  },
  "cpu-priority": 2,
  "threads": 3
}

ARM-Specific Settings:

• 1gb-pages: false - Not supported on ARM
• numa: false - Disable NUMA
• cpu-priority: 2 - Lower priority to prevent freezes
• threads: 3 - Leave 1 core for system (Pi 4 has 4 cores)

Start Mining

./xmrig -c config.json

Create Mining Service

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/xmrig.service

[Unit]
Description=XMRig Pastella Miner
After=network.target pastellad.service

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/xmrig/build
ExecStart=/home/pi/xmrig/build/xmrig \
  -c /home/pi/xmrig/config.json
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
Nice=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl enable xmrig
sudo systemctl start xmrig

Performance Optimization

CPU Governor

Set to performance mode:

echo performance | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

# Make permanent
sudo apt install cpupower
sudo cpupower frequency-set -g performance

Thermal Management

Monitor temperature:

# Check temperature
vcgencmd measure_temp

# Set throttle warning (80°C)
echo 80 | sudo tee /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/trip_point_0_temp

# Under-voltage detection
vcgencmd get_throttled
# Output: 0x0 = Not throttled

Overclocking (Optional)

Raspberry Pi 4 overclocking in /boot/config.txt:

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

# Overclock settings (at your own risk)
over_voltage=4
arm_freq=2000
gpu_freq=650

⚠️ Warning: Overclocking may reduce lifespan and cause instability.

Cooling Solutions

• Passive cooling - Heatsinks on CPU and RAM
• Active cooling - Small 5V fan
• Case selection - Ventilated case recommended
• Avoid enclosed spaces - Ensure airflow

Pool Mining on SBC

For more consistent rewards, join a mining pool:

{
  "pools": [
    {
      "url": "pool.pastella.network:3333",
      "user": "PAS1LqBfSfzeu7Khipaj1JbSvkJfP6yJ8Z16wZVjSdd75QqM8KTcnF",
      "pass": "rig1",
      "daemon": false,
      "keepalive": true
    }
  ]
}

Pool ports:

• 3333 - Low difficulty (Pi-friendly)
• 5555 - Medium difficulty
• 7777 - High difficulty

Expected Earnings

Solo Mining Example

With 80 H/s on Raspberry Pi 4:

• Daily: ~0.9 PAS (perfect luck)
• Reality: 0-5 PAS per day (high variance)
• Time per block: ~4 days (average)

Pool Mining Example

With 80 H/s in a pool:

• Daily: ~0.9 PAS (steady)
• Payout: Every 1-3 days
• Consistency: Predictable earnings

Power Consumption

Device	Idle	Mining	Daily (kWh)	Monthly (kWh)
Pi 4 (4GB)	2W	5W	0.12	3.6
Pi 4 (8GB)	2.5W	6W	0.144	4.32

Cost calculation (at $0.12/kWh):

• Pi 4: ~$0.43/month electricity
• Very profitable even at low hash rates

Monitoring

Local Monitoring

# Check CPU usage
htop

# Check temperature
watch -n 5 vcgencmd measure_temp

# Check mining status
tail -f ~/.xmrig.log

Remote Monitoring

Set up web-based monitoring:

# Install web server
sudo apt install nginx lighttpd

# Create status page
sudo nano /var/www/html/status.html

Email Alerts

Use cron to check uptime:

crontab -e

*/10 * * * * pgrep -x xmrig || echo "XMRig stopped" | mail -s "Mining Alert" you@example.com

Troubleshooting

"Illegal instruction" error

Build failed - recompile with -DNO_AES=ON.

System crashes or freezes

• Check power supply voltage
• Reduce thread count in XMRig config
• Add swap space
• Check temperature

Low hash rate

• Verify CPU governor is set to "performance"
• Check for thermal throttling
• Reduce thread count if system is unresponsive
• Use Ubuntu/Debian instead of Raspbian

Out of memory

# Add more swap
sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

Multi-Pi Mining Farm

Scale up with multiple Pis:

Setup

1. Flash all SD cards with same image
2. Use different static IPs
3. Run same daemon config
4. Mine to same wallet address

Power Management

• Use powered USB hub
• Consider industrial-grade power supply
• Monitor total amperage

Management

Use Ansible or similar for mass deployment:

# playbook.yml
- hosts: pis
  tasks:
    - name: Update system
      apt: update_cache=yes upgrade=dist
    - name: Copy XMRig config
      copy: src=config.json dest=/home/pi/xmrig/

Security

Firewall

sudo apt install ufw
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp    # SSH
sudo ufw allow 21001/tcp # RPC
sudo ufw enable

SSH Hardening

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no

Auto-updates

sudo apt install unattended-upgrades
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -plow unattended-upgrades

Next Steps

• Solo Mining Pastella - Solo mining details
• Getting Started with Mining - Mining overview
• Run a Mining Pool - Pool operator guide
• Help and Support - Community support

Additional Resources

• Raspberry Pi Documentation
• XMRig ARM Builds
• Pastella on GitHub