The key difference between pool mining and solo mining is that for pool mining, you earn a pro rata share of each block found by the pool, based on your hashrate contribution, whereas for solo mining, you are working on your own to find blocks, but when you do find one, you receive the entire block reward.
Longterm, both pool mining and solo mining should mathematically give you very similar returns.
However, with solo mining, you also help to support the decentralisation of the Safex blockchain network by running a node.
Running a node comes with additional responsibilities: you need to stay up-to-date with project development and ensure your node is the latest code version, performing updates as soon as practicable after code updates are released by the development team.
THIS IS IMPORTANT!!
Failure to keep your node updated can be detrimental to the Safex blockchain network, and can also invalidate your mining hashes. Please consider your ability to stay current with project development when considering solo mining, or simply running a node.
Currently, there is only the option to CPU mine. If you have a high-end CPU (eg. Ryzen 9 3900X), you will get a much higher hashrate using safex-rig, rather than mining directly within the node.
Code for GPU mining is not currently available.
Depending on your computer-skill level, you have several options for solo mining. It is recommended that you take your computing skills into consideration when looking at the various solo mining options available.
WARNING: Do NOT mine to an exchange address, as they may not credit to your exchange account.
Ubuntu
- Node
If in Desktop mode, start a Terminal window.
For people looking to maximise their hashrate, you could try the hugepages and swapfile changes provided by @Cyberian in his Improve your Hashrate on Virtual Machines
Whilst the instructions were written for a Virtual Machine, these adjustments should also boost hashrate on a home mining rig, assuming you have sufficient RAM and HDD space available to accommodate the configuration changes.
screen -S daemon
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
wget https://github.com/safex/safexcore/releases/download/6.0.0/safexd-linux-6.0.0
mv safexd-linux-6.0.0 safexd
chmod +x safexd
./safexd
Allow blockchain to sync.
start_mining YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS T
where T = # of threads you want mining.
To detach the screen and allow it continue running without the Terminal window open, type
CTRL+SHIFT+A
CTRL+SHIFT+D
To return to the screen, start a Terminal window and type
screen -r daemon
- Node + Miner
If in Desktop mode, start a Terminal window.
For people looking to maximise their hashrate, you could try the hugepages and swapfile changes provided by @Cyberian in his Improve your Hashrate on Virtual Machines
Whilst the instructions were written for a Virtual Machine, these adjustments should also boost hashrate on a home mining rig, assuming you have sufficient RAM and HDD space available to accommodate the configuration changes.
screen -S daemon
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
wget https://github.com/safex/safexcore/releases/download/6.0.0/safexd-linux-6.0.0
mv safexd-linux-6.0.0 safexd
chmod +x safexd
./safexd
Allow blockchain to sync.
While the blockchain syncs, create a new screen window
CTRL+SHIFT+A
CTRL+SHIFT+C
To move between the two screens, use
CTRL+SHIFT+A
CTRL+SHIFT+"
In the second screen,
Edit 30/1/2020: follow https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig/wiki/Build
sudo apt-get install git build-essential cmake libuv1-dev libssl-dev libhwloc-dev
git clone https://github.com/safex/safex-rig.git
cd safex-rig && mkdir build && cd build
cmake …
make
Let it build the xmrig executable
The preferred way to configure the miner is the JSON config file as it is more flexible and human friendly. The command line interface does not cover all features, such as mining profiles for different algorithms. Important options can be changed during runtime without miner restart by editing the config file or executing API calls.
Create your config.json file in the same location.
sudo nano config.json
Copy and paste the following, changing YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS to your address
{
"api": {
"id": null,
"worker-id": null
},
"http": {
"enabled": false,
"host": "127.0.0.1",
"port": 0,
"access-token": null,
"restricted": true
},
"autosave": true,
"version": 1,
"background": false,
"colors": true,
"randomx": {
"init": -1,
"numa": true
},
"cpu": {
"enabled": true,
"huge-pages": true,
"hw-aes": null,
"priority": null,
"memory-pool": false,
"max-threads-hint": 100,
"asm": true,
"argon2-impl": null,
"cn/0": false,
"cn-lite/0": false
},
"opencl": {
"enabled": false,
"cache": true,
"loader": null,
"platform": "AMD",
"cn/0": false,
"cn-lite/0": false
},
"cuda": {
"enabled": false,
"loader": null,
"nvml": true,
"cn/0": false,
"cn-lite/0": false
},
"donate-level": 0,
"donate-over-proxy": 1,
"log-file": null,
"pools": [
{
"algo": "rx/sfx",
"coin": null,
"url": "127.0.0.1:17402",
"user": "YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS",
"pass": "x",
"rig-id": null,
"nicehash": false,
"keepalive": false,
"enabled": true,
"tls": false,
"tls-fingerprint": null,
"daemon": true,
"daemon-poll-interval":1000,
"self-select": null
}
],
"print-time": 60,
"health-print-time": 60,
"retries": 5,
"retry-pause": 5,
"syslog": false,
"user-agent": null,
"watch": true
}
Once your node has syncronized, then you can start your miner with
./xmrig
Win 7/10
- Node
In your preferred location, create a new folder: safexcore
In your Antivirus software, add the safexcore folder to your Exclusion List
Download the latest binary release of safexcore from the safex GitHub repository and save it to your safexcore folder.
Current: https://github.com/safex/safexcore/releases/download/6.0.0/safexd-windows-6.0.0.exe
When the dowload completes, windows will automatically prompt you to Discard . Click the dropdown to the right and select Keep .
Navigate to your safexcore folder. Your new file should be the only file in the folder.
On the file, right click - Properties and Unblock in the General tab.
Click on the Compatibility tab and tick the Checkbox beside “Run this program as an Administrator”.
Apply & OK
You can now launch the program and the blockchain will begin to syncronize.
This will take some time, depending upon your computer speed and internet connection. Once synchronised, you can begin mining.
start_mining YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS T
where T = # of threads you want mining.
- Node + Miner
In your preferred location, create a new folder: safexcore
In your Antivirus software, add the safexcore folder to your Exclusion List
Download the latest binary release of safexcore from the safex GitHub repository and save it to your safexcore folder.
Current: https://github.com/safex/safexcore/releases/download/6.0.0/safexd-windows-6.0.0.exe
When the dowload completes, windows will automatically prompt you to Discard . Click the dropdown to the right and select Keep .
Navigate to your safexcore folder. Your new file should be the only file in the folder.
On the file, right click - Properties and Unblock in the General tab.
Click on the Compatibility tab and tick the Checkbox beside “Run this program as an Administrator”.
Apply & OK
You can now launch the program and the blockchain will begin to syncronize.
This will take some time, depending upon your computer speed and internet connection.
Edit (23/12/2019): As of xmrig v5.4.0, the RandomSFX algorithm has been included in the official xmrig code.
Release info can be found at: https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig/releases
Trusted community member and long-time Safex Discord Moderator, @Astralite, has built a Windows 7/10 executable of the custom safex-rig version of xmrig. Please bear in mind, this is NOT an official Safex release, but many members of the Safex community are already using this build without issue.
Once the file finishes downloading, Windows may prompt you to Discard the file. The dropdown to the right of Discard allows you to select Keep.
Extract the files from the .zip (remember, password is safex )
Then rename the solo.json to config.json
Open (edit) the newly named config.json and add your wallet address in the “user” section.
Save the file.
Next, right click on the safex-rig file and select Properties .
You may find that Windows has Blocked the file from running. Select Unblock .
Next, go to the Compatibility tab and tick the checkbox beside Run this program as an administrator .
Click Apply , then OK .
Now simply run the safex-rig file by double clicking it.
Mac
- Node
Download the current release: https://github.com/safex/safexcore/releases/download/6.0.0/safexd-osx-6.0.0
Start the program and allow the blockchain to synchronize.
This will take some time, depending upon your computer speed and internet connection. Once synchronised, you can begin mining.
start_mining YOUR_WALLET_ADDRESS T
where T = # of threads you want mining.
- Node + Miner
As above, but dont start_mining
Edit (23/12/2019): As of xmrig v5.4.0, the RandomSFX algorithm has been included in the official xmrig code.