Gridcoin-Research Mining Guide

Note: If you have not already setup BOINC, follow the steps here: https://boincstats.com/en/bam/ or in the step-by-step guide here: http://grcnation.com/en/bam-boinc-account-manager/ ***When signing up for BOINC projects be sure to join team "Gridcoin"; This is required to receive Gridcoin.***

Linux

Follow the Linux Guide

Mac

Follow the macOS Guide

Windows

To setup the wallet for staking and Proof-of-Research BOINC mining, follow these steps:

Download and install the GridcoinResearch.msi

Start the Gridcoin wallet.

The installer should ask for an email address, use your BOINC email that you used in all projects or in the BOINC Account Manager (BAM!). If you skip this step or use the wrong email see Manual Configuration File Instructions below. Allow the wallet to synchronize with the network. (You can use the downloadblocks feature to download the latest uploaded version of the blockchain. Go to Rebuild Block Chain -> Download Blocks in the Gridcoin wallet software.)

[Optional, but recommended] Encrypt your wallet by assigning a password. This will prevent other people from accessing your coins should they get a hold of your wallet.dat file. Go to Settings -> Encrypt.

If your wallet is encrypted, unlock your wallet by clicking the padlock icon in the bottom left of the wallet screen. This is necessary so that Gridcoin can access your wallet to measure "stake" or interest.

Go to Your Account page for each BOINC project that you work on. Join the Gridcoin team. This is necessary so that Gridcoin can verify the work you do for BOINC projects.

Obtain a small amount (~2000) of GRC. You can buy GRC on an exchange, for example https://c-cex.com/ using fiat, BTC, or another altcoin, or you can get a loan from an existing miner/researcher, for example by asking on the forum https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/32833-starter-coins-for-beginners/. You can join the IRC chat and ask for some starter coins. Also, you can get a starter package from http://uscore.net/ or sip from the faucets https://gridcoin.ch/faucet.php and https://gridcoinstats.eu/faucet.php.

Have patience!

It takes about 24-48 hours to get into the blockchain, and about 16 hours after deposit for incoming GRC to "mature". Keep your wallet fully unlocked (uncheck "For Staking Only" in the unlock procedure) if your wallet is encrypted until you send out a small transaction automatically (0.00011 GRC will leave your wallet). This is your "beacon", which means your wallet tells other nodes "Here I am, start to pay me". Once those things happen, you should start receiving "stake" or interest, and crunching credit. Once the "beacon" is sent, you can unlock your wallet only for staking again.

Troubleshooting

If you’ve followed all steps and you still aren’t receiving GRC, you can do the following things:

Check that your wallet is synchronous to the network and updated to the latest version.
Make sure you are in team Gridcoin in all BOINC projects that you wish to be rewarded with Gridcoin.
Make sure at least one of those projects has RAC > 100, which means your Recent Average Credit within BOINC system is at least 100.
Check that you have waited for at least 48 hours to let the BOINC statistics populate.
Check your wallet contains a few GRC at least for 16 hours.
Check to make sure your wallet has been encrypted, fully unlocked, and a "beacon" has been sent.
In the Gridcoin Wallet, open Help -> Debug Window -> Console. Enter getmininginfo. If your wallet has entered the blockchain, you will see ‘staking: true’. If you don’t see this, then your wallet has not been processed by the blockchain.
Enter list rsa in the debug console (Help -> Debug Window -> Console). If everything is working, then below “Payment Window: 14” you should see a list of CPID, Magnitude, Payment Magnitude, Daily Paid/Owed, and others. If nothing appears below Payment Window, then your CPID (from BOINC) has not been incorporated into the Blockchain.
Enter list cpids in the debug console. This will show a list of projects that your CPID is attached to and your RAC. If “CPID Valid” is false, then either you have not joined the Gridcoin team, the BOINC project is not whitelisted, your RAC is too low, or your CPID has not otherwise been connected with your wallet.
Enter beaconstatus to see if your beacon is in the Neural Network.

Manual Configuration Instructions:

Step 1: Close wallet, go to %AppData%\Roaming\GridcoinResearch (AppData is a hidden folder)

Step 2: If a file called gridcoinresearch.conf exists, edit it. If it does not exist, create the file in this directory.

Step 3: Edit the .conf to include the following lines:

email=[email protected]

addnode=node.gridcoin.us (full, updated list here: http://wiki.gridcoin.us/List_of_Addnodes)

If your BOINC data folder is not in the default path, you need to specify its location in the .conf file also. The following are examples of a non-default path.

Windows example (The double backslashes are necessary, especially at the end of the path.):

boincdatadir=D:\ProgramData\BOINC\

boincappdir=C:\Program Files\BOINC\

Linux example (Notice the trailing slash here.):

boincdatadir=/var/lib/boinc-client/

Note: Email address must match address used on BOINC projects or you will not receive credit. Note: To see this folder, go into folder options and show hidden folders and disable 'hide extensions of known file types', or open cmd and type %AppData%.

Step 4: Save and exit.

Cloud

You can use free trial cloud services to enhance your BOINC output in the beginning. Create an instance and run BOINC tasks there. A credit card is usually necessary, but you will not be charged if you are careful about setup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmGIP_88Rrc

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/free-trial/

https://aws.amazon.com/de/free/

Discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/BOINC/comments/3756wg/use_the_300_credit_from_googlecloudcompute_for/