How to properly use M1

[dannyboid]

Hello,

Specs :

MacBook Pro M1 2020
Memory 16

1TB Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD
(Up to 550 mb/s^1)

2x of 8TB Seagate Backup Plus Hub

About me:
Just to let you all know, I am very new to this. I don’t know much about scripts/codes my only experience was back in school where we created a very basic game and that was many years ago. Ive been buying/trading cryptos for 2 years now and finally decided to begin mining/farm. Thought chia would be a good place to learn because its relatively cheap (as in I don’t need the most epic computer to farm/mine).

Questions:
What should be my next step?
Is there any tutorials or articles that I can read? Can someone kindly explain? I read a lot of information but they’re all for windows so I’m not sure what I could apply. I did read through a lot of Reddit forums regarding info to M1 but its very difficult for me to follow through because like I said earlier I don’t have much experience in scripts.
A thing that I noticed a lot is using a python program so, I’ve downloaded the Python 3.9.5 from https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/ I have the program on but I didn’t type any script because I don’t know what I’m doing.
Also I read about running it natively will make it quicker, How do I check if its running natively? Ive downloaded everything from the chia website.

So far I have 2 plots than I ran in the default setting, 1 plot for each HDD. It took me around 64800 seconds (18 hours) to acquire the 2 plots.

All help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance!

[ghost]

Hello

I did the following on my M1 Mac Mini:

• Install Python from python.org, select the latest universal2 installer
• Install Rust
• Follow the Chia-Network INSTALL steps for Mac OS, I did not install the GUI part
  -- Open terminal
  -- git clone https://github.com/Chia-Network/chia-blockchain.git -b latest
  -- cd chia-blockchain
  -- sh install.sh
  -- . ./activate
• Now you should be able to execute the "chia" command.. if this works without error, then you're all set to start plotting.

I propose you execute a few plots through a terminal session before trying to automate plotting using Automator and launchd.
So go ahead and execute something like:

caffeinate -m -i chia plots create \
        --tmp_dir ${plots_tmp_dir}/${plots_id} \
        --final_dir ${plots_final_dir} \
        --size ${plots_size} \
        --num ${plots_num} \
        --num_threads ${plots_num_threads} \
        --farmer_public_key ${plots_farmer_public_key} \
        --pool_public_key ${plots_pool_public_key} \
        ${plots_options} > ${plots_tmp_dir}/${plots_id}.txt

I used the above command in a docker container, replace the variables with your own values.
caffeinate is used to prevent the Mac going to sleep - sleep would result in failed plots.

I have the following setup:

• Mac Mini M1, 16GB Ram
• 2x Samsung T7 external SSD 1TB

With this setup I am able to plot two tasks in parallel without stressing swap to much:

• size k32 (100GB) in 14'000 seconds / less han 4 hours
• size k33 (200GB) in 43'500 seconds / about 12 hours

Challenges

1. Automate the script execution so that the performance matches the Interactive session
2. Automate so that the script has the permissions to required Volumes
3. Write a script to upload the finished plots to the farm
4. Learn how to keep the chia-blockchain up to date

Inspiration

You might want to have a look at my forked chia-docker repository, especially into the scripts directory.

grep "Total time" *.txt
plot-k32-2021-05-09-22-08.txt:Total time = 14809.931 seconds. CPU (126.460%) Mon May 10 02:15:42 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-09-22-08.txt:Total time = 14121.762 seconds. CPU (134.770%) Mon May 10 06:20:44 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-09-22-08.txt:Total time = 14571.670 seconds. CPU (132.510%) Mon May 10 10:29:57 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-10-11-05.txt:Total time = 14257.890 seconds. CPU (134.250%) Mon May 10 15:03:28 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-10-15-13.txt:Total time = 13761.673 seconds. CPU (131.450%) Mon May 10 19:02:56 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-10-19-16.txt:Total time = 13859.481 seconds. CPU (131.640%) Mon May 10 23:07:06 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-10-23-25.txt:Total time = 14287.297 seconds. CPU (132.260%) Tue May 11 03:23:51 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-11-03-35.txt:Total time = 13862.240 seconds. CPU (131.100%) Tue May 11 07:26:56 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-11-07-38.txt:Total time = 13490.689 seconds. CPU (133.180%) Tue May 11 11:23:34 2021
plot-k32-2021-05-11-11-35.txt:Total time = 14183.155 seconds. CPU (131.240%) Tue May 11 15:31:40 2021

Happy plotting!
-Luca.

[dannyboid]

Wow! thanks for the step by step approach. i'm now able to plot a lot better and learned so much

[waitzShigoto]

Thanks for sharing the method that you use, get a lot knowledge from your article.

Could I ask a question about that can this approach plotting several task at a same time and consume less time?
Or it just can plotting one task and less than 4 hour?

I would like to plot 4 k32 task at same time but I,m not sure if this can afford at mac mini 16gb m1 device?

Thanks for your sharing.

[ghost]

Hi, I keep two plot create jobs running in parallel. Each plot create job uses a dedicated external SSD storage. I see the limiting factor is the available RAM - and the heavy usage of the swap.

You could experiment a little and see how many in parallel you can trigger:

• Turn on bitfield - according to the https://www.chia.net/2021/02/22/plotting-basics.html article it could have some minor impact
• Do not start the plotters at the same time, so that they are not in the same phase
• Try to move the swap to an external device, so that you do not harm the M1 Mac

Give it a try. Start 4 of them (with or without --nobitfield) and keep a close eye on the activity monitor, especially the Memory tab. If you notice a constant fluctuation of swap I would consider it unsustainable and start over.