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Crypto Currency Information, How-To’s, Tips, Tools, and Guides

HOW TO ACCESS TOR SAFELY

This is a quick How-To on installing Tails OS to a USB Drive, so you can use TOR on any computer, Anywhere

To start, on your computer:

Download BalenaEtcher and install it

Visit https://tails.net/ to get your copy of Tails, which was created by the makers of TOR

Download Tails, the latest version

Insert a USB into your Computer

Open BalenaEtcher

Click Flash From File

Select Tails

Select Target

Select your USB Drive

Click Flash!

Once it is done being flashed, you can put it in a computer to use

Boot/Reboot the computer

Select your USB Drive on startup

Tails will begin!

Once you are in Tails, to use TOR, click Activities in the Top Left

Select Tor Browser

Connect the circuit to the tor network.

Once connected to Tor you can test it by visiting my website:

Go to https://jaylongley.com and navigate to the Contact Page

Note that UBlock Origin has found trackers on my website. It finds google analytics and whatnot. This is supposed to happen. You will see why in a minute.

There you will see a tor address. Copy that address

Open a new tab in Tor

Place the Onion address that you received from my contact page, and navigate there

You will see my darkweb page appear

Now note UBlock Origin, has NO trackers here. To use Tor and ensure your safety, only work with pages and sites that do not track you!

Happy Surfing

LINUX COMMAND LINE SHOW PUBLIC IP

This is a simple command that you can run on your local linux box, which will show you the public ip of the machine. Very helpful when mining on ethermine

First open a Terminal

Type:
dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com

That’s it. Your public IP will now show

ERROR: Can’t start miner, cuda exception in [check_if_cuda_really_exists, 248], invalid argument

I just rebooted my miner, had not run any updates, had not run anything, just rebooted my miner, tried turning t-rex back on, and received the following error: ERROR: Can’t start miner, cuda exception in [check_if_cuda_really_exists, 248], invalid argument

To fix this I had to perform the following
Login to the miner
Type:
sudo bash
apt-get update
apt-get upgrade
y
ubuntu-drivers devices
Check to see if the 450 driver is available:

vendor : NVIDIA Corporation
model : GP102 [GeForce GTX 1080 Ti]
driver : nvidia-driver-390 – distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-460-server – distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-450-server – distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-460 – distro non-free recommended
driver : nvidia-driver-418-server – distro non-free
driver : nvidia-driver-450 – distro non-free
driver : xserver-xorg-video-nouveau – distro free builtin

Now run the following command
apt purge nvidia-driver-460-server
y
apt install nvidia-driver-450-server
y
reboot

Once your miner comes back online, you can now run t-rex fine.

The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk

PAYPAL CRYPTO – CONVERTING CASH TO BITCOIN

  • Crypto

Recently Paypal has launched their crypto system, allowing you to purchase and sell crypto. Here is the rundown on how to do it, and what it does not do when converting cash to bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and others

To convert cash to Bitcoin
Open a browser and navigate to https://www.paypal.com
Login to your Paypal account

Side Note:
Make sure your Paypal account is connected to your checking account already.. If it is not, you will have to do this

Once logged into Paypal, click on the Crypto button at the top right
Click BUY next to Bitcoin
Select the Big Blue Buy button at the center again

Side Note:
If this is your first time buying crypto with Paypal you will need to Confirm some extra info before you buy

Next you will put your amount listed in USD, into the Paypal window
Paypal will also add their Fees on top of the amount you specified
Click Confirm, and your crypto will be purchased with Paypal.

You now own crypto

Now for my issues with it
1. Paypal does not let you transfer your crypto out. They hold your crypto, and you hostage to their HUGE fees.

2. You do not have control over your crypto. They get hacked, you lose your crypto. You can do nothing about it

3.They show a chart that says Bitcoin is $59,133, however when you go to sell it, they immediately take roughly half a percent off. So in trying to sell it you see Bitcoin is $58,823. Cancel out of that screen, and Bitcoin is magically back at $59,151. Go back into the sell screen and your half a percent or so is gone again. Over and over I did this, and over and over the spread didn’t make sense.

4. When selling you also have to pay a large paypal fee

5. Then to transfer your cash back into your account, you pay another 1%

All in all, on a $10,200 transaction, I paid $410.33 in fees immediately and will be hit by the other 1% when it goes to my bank. Bitcoin did not decrease in price either during my 10 minute test. It actually increased in value around $80.

UBUNTU 20.04, 1080 TI, ETH MINING IN 2021

This is a quick guide on how to use T-Rex on your Ubuntu 20.04 mining rig to allow your NVidia 1080 Ti cards to mine Ethereum in 2021.

On the rig
Open a Terminal
sudo bash
Enter your password
mkdir /tacticalware
cd /tacticalware

If you have Cuda 10 installed, download the following, otherwise find the one for your Cuda version
wget https://github.com/trexminer/T-Rex/releases/download/0.19.5/t-rex-0.19.5-linux-cuda10.0.tar.gz
Once it is downloaded
tar -zxvf t-rex-0.19.5-linux-cuda10.0.tar.gz
cp ETC-2miners.sh tacticalware-eth.sh
nano tacticalware-eth.sh

Now modify the contents of the file. I suggest replacing the mining site, and wallet address. My file looks like this:
./t-rex -a ethash –coin eth -o stratum+tcp://us1.ethermine.org:4444 -u 0xb6c1807520Fc60e39a29cD02a859c652B2910DB8 -w tacticalware

Note that there is a double dash before –coin and –fork. Sometimes your browser will show them as a double dash, sometimes it shows as a single long dash. they are double dashes

Save the file
Exit
Now you can launch it by running
./tacticalware-eth.sh

It will begin to mine. To monitor it you can do it through a web browser. Simply look for the address when the miner begins

The address will look something like this, and be displayed right when you begin mining
ubuntu t-rex


When you browse to that site you will see something that looks like this:

t-rex
That’t It. You are mining successfully. Thanks for reading

The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk

INCREASE ETH / ETC MINING BY 50% IN 2021 USING OHGODANETHLARGEMENTPILL-R2

If you are still using an NVidia 1080 Ti card, and are trying to compete with the 2080s and 3090s these days, you need to up your hash game. There has been a tool around for the past 2 years to help with this. It is specifically designed for teh 1080 Ti cards, and has increased my hashes in the area of 50% per card. I wanted to preserve the software on github, so I created my own fork of it. The fork will not be updated, or worked on by me. It is just there so we all have a place to draw from in the long run.

For my setup, I am running Ubuntu 20.04.01, headless, and an Nvidia 1080ti. My miner is T-Rex with the setup from this guide:
https://tacticalware.com/ubuntu-20-04-etc-mining-after-epoch-390-november-2020/

Back to the guide

On your miner, open a terminal
sudo bash
cd /tacticalware
git clone https://github.com/tacticalware/ETHlargementPill.git
mv ETHlargementPill/ ohgod
cd ohgod
chmod +x OhGodAnETHlargementPill-r2
screen ./OhGodAnETHlargementPill-r2

You will see the following message:



Your system is now capable of running at 50% greater speed.

Since you used screen you can close this connection and it will still run.
To reconnect to this screen you can resume it by opening a terminal again
Typing sudo bash
Then screen -r

All that is left is to start up your mining software, configure it to mine ETH or ETC and start mining.

Enjoy the extra hashes!

The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk




BOOT RASPBERRY PI 4 FROM M.2 USB DRIVE

If you want huge performance increases, consider getting rid of the Micro SD card, and moving your data and OS over to an M.2 Drive on the Raspberry Pi. How do you do this, you ask. First, make sure you have the same hardware as me, in order to follow along. Second, run through the following guide.

If you need to do this from scratch, follow this guide to setup your Raspberry Pi: https://tacticalware.com/install-raspbian-os-on-raspberry-pi-4/

Then, make sure your firmware / eeprom is up to date. If you need assistance with it, follow this guide:
https://tacticalware.com/update-new-raspberry-pi-4-firmware-eeprom/

Once you have both steps above completed, you can move onto setting up the M.2 drive

For this, I have inserted a WD 500GB M.2 Drive into a USB 3.0 dongle, and have it connected to my Pi. If you want to get the same parts as I have, skip to the bottom of this page.

Now, you will want to connect your M.2 dongle to your Raspberry Pi 4, and boot it up.

Once you are at the Desktop:
Open a Terminal
sudo bash
raspi-config
Select option 6 – Advanced Options
Choose option A6 – Boot Order
Select option B1 – USB Boot
Press Enter
You should now be on the “Usb device is the default boot device” screen
Select OK
Scroll to Finish and select it
You will see the message:
Would you like to reboot now?
Choose NO

Back on your Raspberry Pi 4 Desktop
In the top left corner, click on the Raspberry to access the drop down menu
Select Accessories
Scroll over to and choose SD Card Copier

A dialog box will open
If you have the same setup as me, using the same hardware below, you will want to select the same options, otherwise you will have to choose the relevant settings for you
Copy from Device – Select the option for the SC32G
Copy to Device – Select the option for the WDS500G3
Select Start
Choose YES – to erase all contents
Click OK once the contents are copies over successfully
Select Close
Shutdown your Raspberry Pi 4
Remove your Micro SSD
Power the Pi back on, it should now boot from the USB M.2 Drive
Open a terminal
Type
sudo bash
raspi-config
Select option 6 – Advanced Options
Choose option A1 – Expand filesystem
Press Enter
Root File system will be resized
Click Ok
Reboot

You are done!

Hardware that I used:
Raspberry Pi 4 (4gb)
https://amzn.to/3q551IO

SanDisk 32GB Ultra microSDHC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter
https://amzn.to/2Vfvo0y

CanaKit 3.5A Raspberry Pi 4 Power Supply (USB-C)
https://amzn.to/3fNTYPu

CanaKit Raspberry Pi 4 Micro HDMI Cable – 6 Feet
https://amzn.to/33u5hr9

Western Digital 500GB WD_Black SN750 NVMe
https://amzn.to/3nZ5pH4

Plugable USB C to M.2 NVMe Tool-free Enclosure
https://amzn.to/3lflV3L

Thanks for reading…….

USBIT – USB BACKUP TOOL FOR MINING RIGS

Simple, easy, fast backup utility for your mining rigs. I use this on mine, where Ubuntu 20.04 is running off of a usb drive.

Plug the Linux USB Drive into your Windows 10 computer

On a Windows 10 computer, download the latest version of the software from:
https://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/download/

Extract the software on your windows computer
Double Click USB Image Tool, to launch the program
In the White box on the left, select the USB Drive that your Linux VM is on
Select Backup in the bottom menu
Pick the folder where you want the backup to save to
Give it a name like tacticalware
Press Enter
Your backup will begin

Once your backup completes you are ready to go.

To restore the image, you can use the same tool (USBIT), select your Image, Select the USB Drive, and click restore.

Simple, easy, fast….Thanks for reading




CHROME REMOTE DESKTOP ON HEADLESS UBUNTU 20.04

Since the latest teamviewer update, I have had to switch away from it altogether for a better alternative. Enter Chrome Remote Desktop… This package allows me to connect to my Windows computers, and linux computers in a similar manner, and also allows for me to connect to my headless mining rigs. The guide below details how I set up chrome remote desktop on headless ubuntu 20.04 rig.

sudo bash

apt update

apt-get install –assume-yes wget

wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/chrome-remote-desktop_current_amd64.deb

dpkg –install chrome-remote-desktop_current_amd64.deb
apt install –assume-yes –fix-broken

sudo DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
apt install –assume-yes xfce4 desktop-base

sudo bash -c ‘echo “exec /etc/X11/Xsession /usr/bin/xfce4-session” > /etc/chrome-remote-desktop-session’

sudo apt install –assume-yes xscreensaver

sudo systemctl disable lightdm.service

sudo usermod -a -G chrome-remote-desktop $USER

exit

On a different computer
Open the Chrome browser
Go to
https://remotedesktop.google.com/headless
Sign In
Click Begin
Select Next
Click Authorize

Copy the code that looks like this:
DISPLAY= /opt/google/chrome-remote-desktop/start-host \
–code=”4/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” \
–redirect-url=”https://remotedesktop.google.com/_/oauthredirect” \
–name=

Enter in a six digit pin
Confirm the pin
Enter in your sudo password

Your installation should be complete

Open Chrome Remote Desktop on a computer, and connect to your headless system.

Thanks for reading

UBUNTU 20.04, ETC MINING, AFTER EPOCH 390 [NOVEMBER 2020]

This is a quick guide on how to use T-Rex on your Ubuntu 20.04 mining rig to allow your NVidia 1080 Ti cards to run after the epoch. Ethereum Classic has a hardform at Epoch 390 which should fall on or around November 28th 2020. To keep mining afterwards you will have to update your miner to one that supports the new fork. For this, I have chosen to switch over to T-Rex.

On the rig
Open a Terminal
sudo bash
Enter your password
mkdir /tacticalware
cd /tacticalware

If you have Cuda 10 installed, download the following, otherwise find the one for your Cuda version
wget https://github.com/trexminer/T-Rex/releases/download/0.18.11/t-rex-0.18.11-linux-cuda10.0.tar.gz
Once it is downloaded
tar -zxvf t-rex-0.18.11-linux-cuda10.0.tar.gz
cp ETC-2miners.sh tacticalware.sh
nano tacticalware.sh

Now modify the contents of the file. I suggest replacing the mining site, and wallet address. My file looks like this:
./t-rex -a ethash –coin etc -o stratum+tcp://us1-etc.ethermine.org:4444 -u 0xb2bc70cD85e20c96c8967CAECcE20a238ee9950D -w tacticalware –fork-at etchash=epoch:390

Note that there is a double dash before –coin and –fork. Sometimes your browser will show them as a double dash, sometimes it shows as a single long dash. they are double dashes

Save the file
Exit
Now you can launch it by running
./tacticalware.sh

It will begin to mine. To monitor it you can do it through a web browser. Simply look for the address when the miner begins

The address will look something like this, and be displayed right when you begin mining
ubuntu t-rex


When you browse to that site you will see something that looks like this:

t-rex

That’t It. You are mining successfully. Thanks for reading

The hardware that I used in this guide:
Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (QTY 6):
https://amzn.to/2JqvXC8

Motherboard (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqGJZ7

CPU (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/3qevp2X

Memory (QTY 1): 
https://amzn.to/2JqHn8Z

Hard Drive (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3lic3X5

Risers (QTY 6):  
https://amzn.to/33rIgVE

Power Supplies (QTY 2):
https://amzn.to/3fTRpLR

Add2PSU (QTY 1):
https://amzn.to/39s4URY

Power Switch (QTY 1):  
https://amzn.to/3ljmNVk