Common Questions and Answers

General Education
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Feel free to link to this whenever a question on this list is asked. I don’t mind keeping the list up to date if something is asked repeatedly. Just let me know and I’ll edit this first post and add it. I personally don’t like to feel like I’m snapping at someone because they asked the same question someone else asked an hour ago or the day before, so I’m hoping this will take the strain off some of the regulars who try to help out as much as they can :slight_smile:

Last Updated: Feb 2nd, 2018

:stop_sign: WARNING: Do not use zcash-wallet.com. It is a scam. You will not receive any ZEC mined to an address from this site! :stop_sign:

Questions:

Best of the best?

How do I…?

Transactions and Payouts

Mining


Answers:


Best of the best?

Question: Which miner is the best?

As of this moment (1/14/18) there’s really only one choice for AMD GPUs. Claymore. On the nVidia side, there are 3 which are very close. Some find EWBF’s miner works better, others have found dstm’s miner to work better. bminer is new and seems to be picking up quite a bit of steam and appears to be faster and more stable than the other 2 listed. The dev fees on all are 2%. If you’d like a more detailed comparison you can check out this thread. Any other miner you use is either outdated or severely hindering you from getting the most hashrate from your GPUs.

Question: Which exchange is the best?

This isn’t so easy to answer. Nearly all exchanges have their pros and cons. You may have to try more than one to find which works best for you. Some exchanges have performance issues, some have delays in payment, some require loads of identification. Try more than one and settle on the one that gets the job done for you.

Question: Which pool is the best?

There are quite a few pools for zcash. Unfortunately, there are only a few that are profitable. Everyone here wants to make money and automatically gravitates towards the largest pool. Some pools have a very dedicated development team while others have a multitude of issues that rarely get resolved. Ultimately it doesn’t make a difference when it all comes down to the hashrate of the pool. The higher the hashrate, the more blocks are found. The payouts on a large pool come fast but small. The payouts on a small pool come in slow but larger. They average out over a period of time but keep this in mind when deciding.

Question: CPU Mining Vs. GPU Mining

While you can still mine using a CPU, it’s not recommended at all. The global hashrate on the zcash network is above 300 Million Solutions per second. A CPU generally hovers around 8 to 10 Solutions per second. Now add luck into that mix and you have a near 0% chance to find a block on your own. You can join a pool but it will not be profitable when you consider the electricity you’re burning and the tiny amount of shares you would be contributing to the pool. Most modern GPU’s will net you anywhere from 200 to 750 Solutions per second. At this point in time GPU mining is still profitable. You may need multiple GPU’s if you’re looking to make decent profit.

How do I…?

Question: How do I…?

Read. Read the manual. Read the README file. Read other forum posts. Nearly everything you need to know has been answered numerous times. It’s nice to have someone answer every single question you have but that’s not how the world works. You have to put in effort too. Your wallet comes with instructions and there are plenty of guides online. Your mining software comes with a very detailed README file. There’s a reason it’s called README. The pool you’re mining on has explicit instructions for how to connect and in most cases, literally gives you the command line to place in your config or bat file. Don’t ignore them!

Question: Convert ZEC to other currency

There are many ways you can convert your ZEC. The way to do this with minimal fees is usually through an exchange (Kraken, Poloenix, Bitfinex etc). Most exchanges will allow you to convert cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency without having to provide any identification. If you want to deposit or withdraw fiat currency though, most require you to provide some form of identification. If you don’t want to use an exchange, there are other options as well. Changelly and Shapeshift are two of the more popular ones. Just keep an eye on how much you’re spending in fees to convert.

Question: daemon is taking longer than expected

I was trying to avoid adding this to this list because I feel that people should really do their research when it comes to cryptocurrency, but it keeps coming up and the developer of the zcash4win wallet is being inundated with the same question over and over. This resolution is provided multiple times and is not a top secret hidden feature that’s impossible to find. On that note, here is what you need to do:

:stop_sign: Make sure you’re running the latest version of zcash4win. This is important because as older versions depreciate, they will start to lose functionality. :stop_sign:

  1. Shut down the zcash4win wallet.
  2. Open up Powershell.
  3. Run the following command: cd "C:\Program Files\zcash4win\app\"
  4. Now run: zcashd.exe -reindex -showmetrics=1 -daemon=0
  5. Allow it to fully sync. You’ll know when it’s done as the chain height will match that of the network. (Which you can find here: https://explorer.zcha.in/)
  6. Start up zcash4win. It should start up without issue.
  7. If you still experience issues, please use the official zcash4win thread. There’s no need to post multiple threads all over the forums. That thread can be found here: Zcash4win BETA is out!

Transactions and Payouts

Question: I downloaded the zcash client and have been mining for days. When do I get my ZEC?

Unfortunately, the zcash daemon mines using your CPU. Sadly this form of mining is no longer profitable. Even a single GPU will struggle to stay profitable mining zcash at this time. Your chances of finding a block are slim to none even when ignoring the luck involved. Feel free to continue running the daemon as it adds one more node to the network and contributes to the overall health of the network, but don’t expect to make any money doing so.

Question: I have not received a payout from <insert pool name here>, where is my zcash?

You need to speak directly with the support team for said pool. This forum is for the zcash coin itself, not the support forum for the pool you use.

Bonus Answer: Some zcash pools have staff that frequent this forum. You may be lucky and come across one who can help you, but the zcash team is not employed by or responsible for the pools you use.

Question: I have not received a payout from <insert exchange name here>, give me my zcash!

You need to speak directly with the support team for whichever exchange you’re using. As mentioned above, this forum is for the zcash coin itself. If you are experiencing an issue with your funds on Poloenix (for example), you need to contact Poloenix support. If you don’t get a response from them in a reasonable amount of time, I’m afraid there isn’t anything anyone here can do about that. You’ll have to keep trying.

Question: I can see my transaction on the blockchain, but it’s not in my wallet. What’s going on?

It is extremely rare that you would have a transaction on the blockchain and it doesn’t appear where it should. Not impossible, but rare. Make sure your wallet is syncronized to the blockchain 100%. If it’s not, you will need to wait until it’s synced entirely before you may see the funds in your wallet. If your wallet is 100% synced, perhaps you should double and triple check the address you sent to. Ensure there hasn’t been a user error. If both of those check out, contact the support team of whomever it was you sent the money from (eg. Poloenix, Kraken, Shapeshift etc). 1/7/18: Note: There have been some reports of some exchanges using fake/temporary/invalid transaction numbers recently. Some users are reporting this as being resolved after several days but you should keep an eye and contact the support team of your exchange in order to ensure you don’t lose your coins or money.

If you’re using zcash4win or another sling type wallet, this is what you’re looking for in the bottom right hand corner. If it doesn’t say 100% then it’s not synced to the blockchain:



Mining

Question: My pool hashrate differs from my miner’s hashrate. Why?

Generally, pools will show you 2 different types of hashrates. What your current hashrate is and then your average hashrate. The current hashrate will fluctuate based on how many shares you submit and how many are accepted. This is not a very good way to gauge your hashrate. Your average hashrate is what you should focus on. This should normalize between 24 and 48 hours of being on a pool and will give you a number very close to the hashrate your miners are producing.

Question: Unconfirmed Vs. Confirmed or Immature Vs. Mature

An Unconfirmed or Immature balance is your share of blocks that have been found before confirmation. On average most pools require at least 100 confirmations before they will pay out the funds. Until those confirmations reach 100, your balance is Unconfirmed or Immature. Once the number of confirmations required by the pool is reached, the balance is converted to Confirmed or Mature. If the amount confirmed is equal to or above the amount you’ve set for a minimum payout, the pool will either pay it out immediately or it will pay out on a set schedule. For example, if your minimum payout is 0.01 ZEC and you reach that, you may be paid out immediately or the pool may do payouts every 30 minutes. Some only pay out a few times a day.

Question: I have been mining for a short while and my payouts have been XX every 24 hours. The last day or so my payouts have decreased to XX every 24 hours. Why?

Your payout relies on a few different things. Most importantly, the number of shares accepted by the pool. If the number of shares being accepted hasn’t changed, take a look at how many blocks the pool has found over the time period where your payout has decreased. If the pool has found less blocks, you’re going to see less of a payout. This is based on luck. If the pool you’re using has found more blocks than usual, you should be seeing an increase in payout. If nothing has changed and the pool has found the same amount of blocks over that period of time, you may want to contact the support team of said pool as there may be an issue.

Question: Rig won’t boot with more than 3 GPUs

You will need to go into your BIOS and make sure 4G is enabled. If you can’t find that option in your BIOS, be aware that some manufacturers call it something different. Refer to your motherboard manual or visit the manufacturers website for more information on how to enable 4G.

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why isn’t this sticky?

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