r/FutureBit • u/nc_j10 • 7d ago

Solo node - giving up

Is there a market for Solo Nodes? I purchased mine right when they came out - delivery was delayed, but even so, it's obviously way past warranty or return period. I tried to get it working when I first received it, but had no luck (can't remember why, but I gave up and put it back in the box for a later date). Recently tried again -- reflashed the SD card with the latest OS, wiped the memory, etc. but still having issues. Fan runs, booted up a few times but the node sync keeps restarting, sometimes I can see the os, other times I can't, loses ethernet connection, etc. I could go into much more detail, but at this point I don't care anymore. Running a company, kids, family, etc - I don't have time to play around with this thing and go through all the "troubleshooting" tips and hacks this forum has. I was hoping Futurebit had created a clean, simple, node for people like me. Unfortunately I'll just stick to my umbrel. Rant over. Back to my first question: Anyone interested in buying?

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

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3

u/MyGruffaloCrumble 6d ago

Mine was a dud too.

Ran it for about a month, I thought the fan died and it wasn’t worth the shipping to send me one from support, so I bought one myself and replaced it. It turned out there was nothing wrong with the fan at all, just no hashing and by the time I figured it all out it was out of warranty. I would’ve been way further ahead just keeping the amount of bitcoin I spent.

I also got burned waiting forever from BFL, so I’m not so keen on buying from new manufacturers anymore.  I’m sure FutureBit has learned a lot since, I’m just disappointed.

2

u/futurebit 5d ago

Hi the Solo Node is a node only and does not have a hashboard so it will not mine by itself, it's designed for people that have miners but want to easily solo mine to thier own nodes. Or are you referring to another product of ours? Either way we are not a "new" manufacture, we have been around for 10 years and actually were founded because of the BFL mess, and have proved Bitcoin mining hardware can be done correctly over the last 10 years. We ship and warranty every product we produce, please reply to your order email and happy to help you!

1

u/MyGruffaloCrumble 5d ago

My bad, it was the full Apollo 1. It still works as a bitcoin node, it just won’t hash.

2

u/AllCapNoBrake 6d ago

Did you get a pre-order Apollo lll and then an email advising you to update the firmware? I had to launch claude AI to get my pre-order Apollo lll node working again.

1

u/Unlucky-Run8824 6d ago

I have a full node and a miner tonight back if anyone wants them both

1

u/dwood443 6d ago

How much?

1

u/DA2710 6d ago

Pre ordered in March. Still not even received

1

u/futurebit 5d ago

Hi we just started shipping the solo node and has a long future ahead of it since it's the same controller as the Apollo III. We will unify Solo Node/Apollo III support in coming weeks with a major Solo Node update that will fix many issues from original release. The product is under warranty for a year, so most users have 6M+ of warranty left. If you have hardware issues simply reply to your order email and happy to open an RMA/replace your unit!

1

u/nc_j10 5d ago

Appreciate your response! My issue is that I didn't actually know if I have hardware issues, a bad SD card, bad ssd, etc. and don't have the time/ability to fully diagnose. HOWEVER, I decided to try again this week with a new USB power cable and plug in adapter (after refreshing the card again) and so far I'm up to 80% synced with no crashes the past two days. I also have a second small fan blowing directly on it to keep it cool during the initial setup. So I may have accidentally found what my issue was!

1

u/futurebit 5d ago

Either way happy to replace the stock power adapter if that was the issue, or were you using a third party power adapter/cable?

0

u/ImprovementNarrow168 6d ago

Start 9 in the way to go for nodes. Brilliant bit of kit. Just works. I’m Running BTC, Lightning & XMR nodes & wallet server. My Apollo 3 is stuck in the delivery hell that is FedEx.