NerdOctaxe – ECO Mode Won’t Disable
NerdOctaxe ECO mode toggle hangs in firmware: after toggling ECO off, the global frequency and core voltage stay at ECO defaults (~495 MHz / ~1100 mV) instead of restoring stock (600 MHz / 1150 mV), locking the miner at ~8.1 TH/s and ~153 W instead of ~9.6 TH/s and ~208 W.
Informational — Monitor and address as needed
Symptoms
- NerdOS web dashboard shows frequency stuck at 495 MHz (or another non-stock value) after toggling ECO mode off
- Total hashrate stuck at ~8.1 TH/s instead of expected ~9.6 TH/s stock or 10-12 TH/s tuned
- Wall-plug draw reads ~153 W instead of expected stock ~208 W at 600 MHz
- coreVoltage field reads 1100 mV or below instead of stock 1150-1200 mV
- ECO mode toggle in the UI shows disabled, but frequency value did not return to stock
- Manually setting frequency = 600 in the web UI either silently reverts to 495 MHz after reboot, or appears to write but dashboard reading never changes
- Per-chip hashrate is uniform across all 8 BM1368 chips at ~1.0 TH/s each (this is a global setting stuck low, not a per-chip tuning fault)
- Symptom appeared specifically after toggling ECO mode on, off, or scheduling an automated ECO window
- Serial console (USB-C @ 115200 8N1) shows nvs_get_u16: frequency = 495 on boot regardless of UI state
- Reboot from the web UI does not clear the stuck state; only an explicit NVS write or factory reset does
- Pool-side reported hashrate matches the dashboard at ~8 TH/s (confirms a real frequency drop, not a reporting artifact)
- Chip junction temps run cool (40-50 degC instead of stock 45-55 degC) because chips actually are clocked down
Step-by-Step Fix
Read the actual values first. Open the NerdOS web UI, navigate to settings or status page, write down on paper: frequency, coreVoltage, ECO toggle state, total hashrate. This baseline takes 30 seconds and is the difference between thinking ECO is stuck and confirming it. A photo of the screen works fine. This is your reference point for every subsequent step.
Manually enter frequency = 600 and coreVoltage = 1150 in the NerdOS settings page. Click Save. Wait 5 seconds. Click Restart. After the miner reboots (2-3 minutes from cold), reload the dashboard and re-read the same fields. If both stick at 600 / 1150 and hashrate climbs back to ~9.6 TH/s, you are done for now. Plan the firmware update in Tier 2 to make the fix permanent.
Hard-refresh the browser before declaring the UI does not save. Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+R on macOS. NerdOS ships HTTP cache headers that occasionally serve stale UI state from the browser even after a successful save. A fresh page load sometimes reveals the save actually worked and only the display was stale.
Toggle ECO mode on, then off, watching the dashboard. If frequency drops cleanly to 495 MHz on toggle-on and recovers cleanly to your stock setting on toggle-off, the toggle is currently working - your earlier stuck state may have been a one-off race that resolved. Note the firmware version, plan the update anyway, but no further action required this session.
If the toggle will not disengage in the UI itself - meaning clicking ECO off does not change the toggle state visually, not just the frequency - clear the browser session, log back into NerdOS, retry. UI-only state issues are rarer than NVS desyncs but happen with very old NerdOS builds.
Trigger Restore Factory Defaults from the NerdOS web UI. Settings menu, factory reset (exact name varies by build). This wipes user NVS keys including eco_mode, frequency, coreVoltage, frequency_pre_eco, voltage_pre_eco. WiFi credentials usually survive depending on build. After the reset the miner reboots into config mode.
Re-enter pool URL, BTC payout address, and tune. Use a public pool URL (Solo CKpool, Public Pool, Ocean) or your preferred pool. Enter frequency = 600, coreVoltage = 1150, autofanspeed = on. Save. The miner should boot to stock hashrate within 2 minutes.
Verify ECO toggle works cleanly post-reset. Toggle ECO on, watch frequency drop to 495 MHz and wall draw drop to ~153 W over 30 seconds. Toggle ECO off, watch frequency recover to 600 MHz and wall draw recover to ~208 W. If both transitions clean, you have recovered. If toggle-off fails to recover, go to Tier 3 firmware update.
Update NerdOS firmware via the D-Central web flasher. Browser-based, no install required on your laptop. Connect USB-C, click Flash, select the latest NerdOS build for NerdOctaxe (matched to your hardware revision - check your board sticker against the firmware compatibility note before flashing). The process takes 2-4 minutes. Do not lose network connectivity during the flash.
Re-do the factory reset and settings re-entry after the firmware update. Factory reset, re-enter pool/WiFi/frequency/voltage, verify ECO toggle. The race condition fix and the nvs_commit() improvement in newer builds should make ECO transitions reliable.
Open serial console at 115200 8N1 via USB-C. Use PuTTY (Windows), screen /dev/cu.usbserial-* 115200 (macOS), screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200 (Linux), or minicom -b 115200 -D /dev/ttyUSB0. Reboot the miner via web UI or RST button on the ESP32 module. Capture boot log to a file. Look for nvs_get_u8: eco_mode = X and nvs_get_u16: frequency = X lines specifically.
Document the NVS state explicitly. Write down: eco_mode, frequency, coreVoltage, frequency_pre_eco, voltage_pre_eco, firmware version. This snapshot tells you whether you have a UI/firmware desync (eco_mode = 1 while UI says off), corrupted backup keys (frequency_pre_eco = 0), or the race condition (eco_mode = 0 but frequency stuck low). Each diagnoses to a different fix path.
Run esptool.py erase_flash for a full nuclear reset. pip install esptool, then esptool.py --port COM7 erase_flash (substitute COM port; on Linux/macOS it is /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/cu.usbserial-*). This wipes everything - firmware, partitions, all of NVS. The miner will not boot until you re-flash NerdOS. Use the D-Central web flasher immediately after the erase to install the latest build.
After firmware re-flash, do not use the web UI's automatic config-mode credentials. Manually enter pool, WiFi, frequency 600, voltage 1150, fan auto. This guarantees clean NVS state. Verify ECO toggle works cleanly with one on/off cycle before declaring the fix complete.
If ECO toggle still misbehaves on the absolute latest firmware after a nuclear esptool erase, this is unusual. Capture serial console output across one full toggle cycle (ECO off, ECO on, ECO off with boot logs after each transition). File an issue against the NerdOS repo (or upstream shufps/ESP-Miner-NerdQAxePlus) with captured logs, hardware revision, and firmware version. Use manual frequency-entry workaround indefinitely until a patched build ships.
Stop DIY when ESP32-S3 is bricked from a failed esptool flash that lost network or USB mid-write; the web flasher cannot see the COM port at all; the ESP32 boots but never enumerates over USB. These are hardware-level recovery scenarios requiring an external USB-to-serial dongle wired to the ESP32's RX/TX/GND/EN/IO0 pads, or replacement of the dev module. Both are bench territory; book a D-Central repair slot.
What D-Central does at the bench: external USB-to-UART programmer wired to the ESP32-S3's bootstrap pads, force-bootloader entry via EN + IO0 strap, full flash erase and re-flash with a verified NerdOS build, post-recovery validation that ECO mode toggles cleanly across 5 consecutive cycles before the unit ships back. If the ESP32-S3 module itself is dead, replacement on the NerdOctaxe carrier board (a soldering job; not user-serviceable). Turnaround 5-10 business days, hand-recovered in Laval, Quebec.
Ship safely: anti-static bag for the assembled NerdOctaxe, double-box with 5 cm of foam every side, include a note describing symptom history (when ECO was first toggled, what versions of NerdOS were running, what recovery steps you tried). The more context D-Central gets up front, the faster the bench ticket closes and the cheaper your repair bill lands.
When to Seek Professional Repair
If the steps above do not resolve the issue, or if you are not comfortable performing these repairs yourself, professional service is recommended. Attempting advanced repairs without proper equipment can cause further damage.
Related Error Codes
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