how do i start mining and what do i do with the program also i just barley signed up for the worker thing my user name teksyndicate_Angel
Ok, so first you want to download bitcoin qt that is here: http://bitcoin.org/
Then, you need to download guiminer (found here): http://www.mediafire.com/?23q67zig9hw03l4
You said you downloaded a program, but you need those two (if you've already installed one, just get the other).
Then, open up bitcoin-qt. Once you open it, there should be a bar in the bottom right saying 'syncing blocks' or something like that. It will take ages, so just let it do its thing.
Meanwhile, open up guiminer. In guiminer, you need to fill in all the fields as shown on this thread http://teksyndicate.com/bitcoin
Then, click the 'start mining' button and you are good to go. If there is a Mhash reading in the bottom right then it is working. If you get an error message, let me know and then i'll fix it for you.
If you want to know more about how it actually works or whatever, ask away and i'll be happy to answer.
I too agree we should have a more in depth guide to getting started with mining
I have written a massive and comprehensive guide here that has now been updated for the new system that we hav moved to. I think i might have exceeded the character limit or something though and it won't update properly, so for now it won't work. I'll have to talk to Logan about it or something.
one more thing do i have a to have a dedicated gpu? i have a chip based gpu
yeah, you pretty much do
If he happens to have $250 laying around he can get a butterfly labs 5Gh/s miner
^no, you can;t. You can order one, which could take many months for it to come, which means that when you get it, it may be pretty worthless (and not even able to play games)
what is a good way to get started with bitcoin and be profitable then?
I have a 660. I followed the instructions the instructions on the link, and it won't let me generate a worker when I click the link. It only says Please wait... creating worker... but nothin happens. Also I typed in what the page told me, but when I press start mining, it just says IO error -1 tolerance 2.
It seems as if alot of people (including myself) are having this issue, clearing the cash might work for you (it's what has been suggested for me and others) but so far I have not run in to anyone that it has worked for.
the creating worker thing is a tricky one because it is something at teksyndicate's end. I have sent an email to Wendell about the problem and hopefully he can fix it at his end. The cache thing fixed it for a few people who had already created a worker but the API wouldn't update properly. If you guys look down the list are your names on there or not?
Sorry i can't be of more help but it;s a technical problem with Wendel's system that i don't have full access to.
hard to say, but i think the best way to do it at the moment is to buy a system with a 7970 or 7950 and just mine until it's not profitable any more. Then after it's not profitable, you still have a really good system so you haven;t really lost anything.
Since no one knows enough about the ASIC miners that are coming out it's really hard to say what will be profitable and what won't be. In addition, if ASIC's start being mass produced, the price of bitcoins will go haywire.
UPDATE: i just got an email from Logan and he said that something may have gone wrong with the net code. He said Wendell will look at it first thing tomorrow morning.