I can’t quite get to grips with mining.

[danker003]

Component

Miner (rustchain_*_miner)

What happened?

I’m completely new to mining.
I’ve launched the miner, but I can’t get it to work on Windows. And I can’t be sure it’s running properly. The website says I’m supposedly ‘online’. But after about 20 minutes, nothing has changed. I have a console that says ‘start mining’ and a window with a wallet and a start button. I’m also confused because there’s practically no load on the computer. Is there any way to check that I’ve definitely done everything correctly? And is there any way to increase the load on the computer?

Expected behavior

An increase in the balance of at least a couple of thousandths RTC.

Steps to reproduce

Please help

Version / Commit

No response

Operating System

Windows

Relevant logs

[danker003]

[Scottcjn]

Welcome! Here's how to get started mining:

Quick Start:

1. Download the miner: git clone https://github.com/Scottcjn/Rustchain && cd Rustchain
2. Install Python 3.8+ and pip install -r requirements.txt
3. Run: python3 rustchain_linux_miner.py --wallet your-wallet-name --node https://rustchain.org
4. First run will ask for consent and run hardware fingerprint checks

Key things to know:

• Your wallet name is your miner ID (pick something unique)
• The miner attests every ~10 minutes (one epoch)
• Rewards are proportional: vintage hardware gets bonus multipliers (G4 = 2.5x, G5 = 2.0x)
• VMs earn minimal rewards by design — real hardware only
• Check your balance: curl -sk "https://rustchain.org/wallet/balance?miner_id=your-wallet-name"

Useful commands:

• --dry-run — preview without connecting
• --show-payload — see what gets sent
• --test-only — run fingerprint checks only

Block Explorer: https://rustchain.org/explorer

What hardware are you running on? That'll help me give specific advice.

[Scottcjn]

Welcome to RustChain mining! Here's what to expect:

Normal behavior:

• RustChain uses Proof of Attestation (PoA), not Proof of Work — so there's very low CPU usage by design. This is not like Bitcoin mining that maxes out your hardware.
• The miner attests (proves your hardware exists) every ~10 minutes, then waits for the next epoch.
• Rewards are distributed per epoch (~10 min). If the node shows you as "online", your attestation is working.

How to verify you are mining correctly:

1. Check the block explorer: https://50.28.86.131/explorer — search for your miner ID
2. Check your balance: curl -s https://50.28.86.131/wallet/balance?miner_id=YOUR_MINER_ID -k
3. Check miners list: https://50.28.86.131/api/miners — look for your wallet name
4. Check miner logs: Look at the console output for lines like:
   • Attestation accepted = you are earning
   • Epoch settled = rewards distributed

How rewards work:

• 1.5 RTC is split among all active miners each epoch
• Your share depends on hardware type (vintage hardware gets bonus multipliers)
• Modern x86 hardware gets 1.0x multiplier (base rate)

Troubleshooting on Windows:

• Make sure Python 3.8+ is installed
• Run from command prompt: python rustchain_windows_miner.py
• If behind a firewall, ensure outbound HTTPS to 50.28.86.131 is allowed

What is your miner ID / wallet name? I can check if your attestations are coming through.

[Scottcjn]

Following up! I checked the node and we have 20 active miners right now. To help diagnose your setup:

Can you tell me your wallet name? (the name you entered when you started the miner)

I can look it up on the node directly and tell you:

• Whether your attestation is being received
• Your current RTC balance
• Whether there are any errors on our end

Quick diagnostic on your machine:

1. Open the miner console/terminal
2. Look for lines like Attestation submitted or Epoch reward
3. If you see HTTPS error or Connection refused, the miner can't reach the node

Expected timeline:

• First attestation: within 10 minutes of starting
• First RTC reward: after the next epoch settles (~10-20 min)
• Typical reward per epoch: 0.05-0.15 RTC depending on how many miners are active

The low CPU usage is correct and expected — RustChain uses Proof of Attestation, not Proof of Work. Your hardware proves it exists, it doesn't need to crunch numbers.

Share your wallet name and I'll check your status right now!

[Scottcjn]

I think I found you! Are you mining with the wallet name RTC?

If so, here's what I see on the node:

Field	Value
Wallet	RTC
Platform	Windows
CPU	Intel Sandy Bridge (Family 6 Model 42)
Attesting	Yes — last seen just now
Fingerprint	FAILED
Balance	0.0 RTC
Epoch rewards	3 epochs recorded, all 0.0

The problem: Your hardware fingerprint check is failing, so the node assigns you zero weight in reward calculation. This means you're connecting fine but not earning.

How to fix this:

1. Update your miner to the latest version — git pull in your Rustchain directory
2. Check fingerprint output — when the miner starts, it should print results for 6 hardware checks (clock drift, cache timing, SIMD, thermal, jitter, anti-emulation). Look for any FAIL lines.
3. Common Windows issue: If you're running in a VM (VirtualBox, WSL, Hyper-V), the anti-emulation check will fail by design. You need to run on bare metal Windows.

Also: Consider picking a more unique wallet name than just RTC — something like danker-windows or danker003. You can change it in the miner config.

Can you share the console output when your miner starts up? That will show us exactly which fingerprint check is failing.

[Scottcjn]

Update: You found a real bug! 🎉

After investigating, the issue is that the Windows miner does not include fingerprint checks at all. The attestation payload (line 221 of rustchain_windows_miner.py) sends no fingerprint field, so the server's validate_fingerprint_data() rejects it with "no_fingerprint_data" and assigns zero reward weight.

This affects all Windows miners, not just yours. The Linux miner was updated with fingerprint_checks.py integration back in December, but the Windows miner never got the same update.

Your bounty: 5 RTC for finding this bug (filed under #775 bug bounty). Please share your wallet address (or the RTC wallet is fine if that's what you want to use) and we'll send it.

The fix: We need to integrate fingerprint_checks.py into the Windows miner. This is also now a bounty opportunity — anyone can submit a PR to add fingerprint support to miners/windows/rustchain_windows_miner.py.

In the meantime, if you want to earn mining rewards right now, you can use the Linux miner (rustchain_linux_miner.py) which has full fingerprint support. It works on Windows via WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) too.

Thanks for reporting this — bugs found by real users trying to mine are exactly what makes the network stronger!

[Scottcjn]

5 RTC sent to your wallet! ✅ (tx confirmed, check your balance at the wallet)

---

How to fix your miner and start earning

The Windows GUI miner you're running doesn't have fingerprint support yet — that's the bug you found. Here's how to mine with full rewards right now:

Option A: Use the Linux miner via WSL (recommended)

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

   wsl --install
   

2. Restart your computer, then open the Ubuntu terminal
3. In Ubuntu:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install python3 python3-pip git -y
   git clone https://github.com/Scottcjn/Rustchain.git
   cd Rustchain
   pip3 install requests
   python3 rustchain_linux_miner.py --wallet RTC --node https://rustchain.org

4. The miner will run fingerprint checks on startup — all 6 should PASS on bare metal
5. Leave it running and you'll earn RTC every ~10 minutes

Option B: Wait for the Windows miner fix

We'll be updating rustchain_windows_miner.py to include fingerprint checks. Watch this issue for updates.

Important notes:

• Your wallet name is RTC — you can keep it or pick a new one (just use --wallet your-name)
• The node URL should be https://rustchain.org (not the old HTTP endpoint)
• Mining is low CPU by design — Proof of Attestation, not Proof of Work
• Typical earnings: 0.05-0.15 RTC per epoch (~10 min) depending on active miner count

Let us know if you need help with the WSL setup!

[Scottcjn]

Fix pushed! The Windows miner now includes hardware fingerprint checks.

How to update your miner:

1. Open a command prompt or PowerShell
2. Navigate to your Rustchain directory:

   cd C:\path\to\Rustchain
   

3. Pull the latest code:

   git pull
   

4. Restart the miner — you should see fingerprint check output:

   [FINGERPRINT] Running hardware fingerprint checks...
   [FINGERPRINT] ALL CHECKS PASSED — eligible for full rewards
   

If you downloaded the miner as a ZIP instead of git clone, download a fresh copy from https://github.com/Scottcjn/Rustchain and replace your files.

What changed:

• The miner now runs 6 hardware fingerprint checks on startup (clock drift, cache timing, SIMD identity, thermal drift, instruction jitter, anti-emulation)
• Results are sent with each attestation so the node can validate your hardware
• The GUI now shows fingerprint check status in the Miner tab
• Node URL updated to https://rustchain.org

After updating, you should start earning ~0.05-0.15 RTC per epoch (~10 min). Let us know if you run into any issues!

[danker003]

Hello, I was out at work and couldn’t reply to you. I’m starting the miner now. My wallet is ‘talant-dota’, NOT ‘RTC’. Sorry about that.

[danker003]

I'm using the ZIP file. I can't figure out how to update the ZIP file.

[danker003]

I've updated it. I'm going to try mining now.

[danker003]