Miner not working? Let’s find out why.

What exactly is happening?

No sign of life

Which power supply is connected?

Included power supply, no reaction

1. 1 Check the plug at the miner: the barrel plug must sit fully in, on USB-C devices the cable must click into place.
2. 2 Try another socket – power strips with a switch are a classic.
3. 3 Watch the power supply LED (if it has one): if it stays off, the supply is dead.
4. 4 If everything stays dark, it is a warranty case – send us your order number and a short video.

Own power supply, no reaction

1. 1 Check the voltage: the small single-chip boards need 5 V, Bitaxe GT, 702, every NerdQaxe, NerdQX and NerdOctaxe need 12 V. A 12 V device will not start on 5 V.
2. 2 Check the polarity of the barrel plug: positive must be on the inside. Reversed, the device stays dark – or breaks.
3. 3 Check the current rating: the supply must deliver at least the amps printed on the miner.
4. 4 When in doubt, test again with the supply that came in the box.

Setup Wi-Fi missing

Has the miner been set up before?

The miner is already on your home network

1. 1 That is normal: once a miner knows its home Wi-Fi, it no longer opens its own network. It is already on your network.
2. 2 Its IP address is on the display; without a display, look in your router’s device list or open http://bitaxe.local.
3. 3 To move it to a different Wi-Fi: enter the new network in AxeOS under Settings – or force the AP with the boot button on the device (hold it while powering on).

New device, no own Wi-Fi

1. 1 Hold your phone or laptop right next to the miner and refresh the Wi-Fi list – the network is called Bitaxe_XXXX, NerdAxe_XXXX or NerdQAxe_XXXX.
2. 2 Briefly switch off mobile data on the phone: some phones jump straight back because the miner network has no internet access.
3. 3 Power the miner off for a minute and restart – the AP appears about 20 seconds after power-on.
4. 4 If it still does not show up: factory install via the web flasher (untick “keep configuration”).

Connected, but nothing happens

What does AxeOS show under “Pool”?

The pool does not accept the connection

1. 1 Nine times out of ten the mistake is in the pool line: enter the host without “stratum+tcp://” (AxeOS adds that itself), the port exactly as the pool specifies.
2. 2 Check the stratum user: for solo pools your Bitcoin address (optionally .workername), for Braiins accountname.worker. A typo in the address means you are mining for someone else.
3. 3 Do not leave the password empty – “x” is enough.
4. 4 Compare your pool values character by character with the pool configurator.

Pool connected, still no shares

1. 1 Patience: depending on the pool difficulty a Gamma needs a few minutes until the first accepted share. Only after 15 minutes without a share is something wrong.
2. 2 Check the hash rate in the dashboard: if it sits at 0, the ASIC is not hashing – continue under “hash rate lower than expected”.
3. 3 Check the router: some routers block outgoing connections on unusual ports for “unknown devices” – rule out parental controls and device locks.
4. 4 Firmware current? Older AxeOS versions had stratum bugs that have long been fixed.

Hash rate too low

How high is the ASIC temperature in the dashboard?

The miner is throttling for temperature

1. 1 From about 70 °C AxeOS lowers the frequency itself – your hash rate drops although the clock stays set. That is protection, not a fault.
2. 2 Give it air: no closed cabinet, no shelf compartment without exhaust, nothing on top of the fan.
3. 3 Set a steeper fan curve in AxeOS or test the fan at 100 % – if the temperature stays high, the heatsink is not seated properly or thermal paste is missing.
4. 4 Overclocked? Back to factory values first, then improve the cooling.

Cool, but still too little hash rate

1. 1 Check the hash rate error in the dashboard: a few percent is normal. Noticeably more means the ASIC gets too little voltage for its clock – when overclocked, raise the voltage by 20 mV or lower the clock.
2. 2 Check the power supply: a supply at its limit delivers less under load and the miner computes slower – without any temperature standing out.
3. 3 The displayed hash rate is an average over minutes: after a restart it takes time until the value is right. Wait at least 15 minutes.
4. 4 Restore factory values and watch for 24 hours before doubting the device.

The miner keeps restarting

1. 1 This is almost always the power supply: it sags briefly under load peaks and the device reboots – with the temperature staying perfectly normal. Use a supply with headroom, no USB hub, no thin cable.
2. 2 Overclocked? Back to factory values. Too high a clock at too little voltage shows exactly the same way.
3. 3 Wi-Fi drops do not trigger a restart – but if the miner searches for minutes after every restart, it is too far from the router.
4. 4 Bring the firmware up to date via the web flasher; older versions had watchdog restarts.

Too loud or too hot

1. 1 Flatten the fan curve in AxeOS: the fan may only spin up at a higher temperature. Below 65 °C ASIC temperature everything is fine.
2. 2 Location: free air on all sides, not on carpet, not in the sun. Room temperature is the cheapest lever.
3. 3 On the Gamma, swap the 40 mm fan for a Noctua NF-A4x20 (14.9 dB) – the biggest improvement for little money.
4. 4 From the 4.8 TH/s class upwards a miner stays audible; there only another room or water cooling (Hydro models) helps.

Web flasher cannot find the device

1. 1 Browser: only Chrome, Edge or Opera on desktop can flash over serial. Firefox and Safari cannot – there only the update via the AxeOS interface works.
2. 2 Cable: it has to be a data cable, directly on the computer, no USB hub. Charge-only cables never show up as a port.
3. 3 Driver: if nothing appears in the port dialog, the serial bridge driver is usually missing on Windows – install CP210x or CH340 and restart the browser.
4. 4 Port in use? No other program (Arduino IDE, terminal) may hold the port open.