Antminer S9 DCENT_OS Firmware: Release, Compatibility & Recovery
Try DCENT_OS on this S9 — reversible SD-boot
- Download
DCENTOS_XIL1_S9_SD_beta20260709.img+SHA256SUMS.txtfrom the release page. sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing— must printOKbefore anything touches hardware.- Write the
.imgwith balenaEtcher (a raw image write, not a file copy). - On a confirmed complete-board CRT0401/CRT0402 only: power off, photograph JP4's original position, insert the card, then move JP4 to its documented SD position.
- Power on; confirm dashboard + SSH come up management-only at
http://<MINER_IP>/before enabling mining. - Leave the card in for the whole trial; pull the card to return to your previous firmware — no NAND write ever happens.
Full walkthrough with expected output at every step: the reversible SD trial.
Make it permanent (gated)
dcent doctor <MINER_IP>
dcent support --flash-readiness
dcent install --list-routes --explain <MINER_IP>
dcent install <MINER_IP> -f <signed-package> --dry-runRun the dry-run freely — it writes nothing. But hear the runbook verbatim: "A dry-run is not a production success. Live writes require signed artifacts, recovery evidence, explicit --yes, and post-boot verification." Confirm the rootfs fits the UBI volume — oversized images fail dry-run; do not force. DCENT_Toolbox installs from a source checkout (the PyPI package is not yet published) — see the Toolbox page.
The exit door: SD trial — pull the card. Persistent install — your verified recovery path plus the documented revert lanes; recovery reading at rollback & UART recovery.
Current answer
Antminer S9 is Released on the Experimental channel. Verified prebuilt files exist for the exact am1-s9 Zynq/Xilinx lane, while installation and persistent recovery remain guarded evidence axes.
| Availability | RELEASED — publicly released on the Experimental channel |
|---|---|
| Maturity | EXPERIMENTAL — not Stable or GA; not recommended for irreplaceable production hardware |
| ASIC | BM1387 (63 chips per chain in the evidenced profile) |
| Control-board lane | Zynq/Xilinx am1-s9; redundant-slot NAND, with a separate removable-media boot route |
| Prebuilt binary evidence | A verified S9 Zynq/Xilinx sysupgrade archive and a bootable SD image are listed in the current artifact ledger. |
| Mining evidence | The project platform matrix reports standalone cold-boot mining with pool-accepted shares on the BM1387 Zynq lane; this website does not claim an independent reproduction. |
| Install readiness | Bitmain's S9 recovery documentation distinguishes complete-board CRT0401/CRT0402 (JP4), CRT0302 (AB pads), and CRT0301 (no SD slot). The public DCENT_OS trial documents only the JP4 route; no other PCB revision inherits that authorization. The current public evidence still lacks a complete witnessed first-install, soak and persistent-recovery capstone for this release. |
| Recovery readiness | For the documented removable-media trial, power off, return JP4 to its photographed original position, remove the SD card, then boot untouched NAND. Other S9 PCB revisions require their own verified route. A witnessed persistent stock-restoration procedure for this exact release is not published. |
| Production alternative | Experimental — use exact vendor stock or a mature, independently suitable production firmware for revenue-critical hardware. Compare production choices. |
Artifact and source evidence
Readiness comes before download. Review the dated hardware-status ledger and the recovery-first checklist. SHA-256 authenticates the downloaded outer file against this ledger. The sysupgrade archives also contain an Ed25519-signed payload manifest; no detached outer-archive or checksum-list signature is claimed.
| File | Size | SHA-256 | Signature scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCENTOS_XIL1_S9_beta20260709.tar | 23,009,280 bytes | e0bd9e30c7277a86f0c601bb882f41a7dd311160e29d7aefc4e017d2454ab845 | Embedded payload-manifest signature verified; no outer detached signature located. |
| DCENTOS_XIL1_S9_SD_beta20260709.img | 67,108,864 bytes | 1c61fde315ce6eadcef5df79690ed15558173c96216680970f8de3360081b266 | SHA-256 receipt only; no detached signature located. |
Open the plain-text SHA256SUMS file or review release provenance.
Primary project evidence: per-model platform matrix, four-tier testing protocol, and GPL-3.0 source repository.
Dated evidence ledger
| Website review | 2026-08-29 |
|---|---|
| Published proof scope | Project-reported accepted-share mining plus verified outer hashes for the S9 sysupgrade archive and SD image. |
| Open evidence gap | Publish a witnessed current-release install, boot, soak and persistent stock-restoration receipt. |
| Build / commit | No model-specific commit receipt is asserted on this page; use the named artifact manifest or the current repository commit when reproducing a test. |
| Independent reproduction | No independent reproduction is claimed unless a dated proof link is added here. |
What the status does — and does not — prove
Release availability, maturity, binary evidence, mining evidence, installation and recovery are independent questions. A positive answer on one axis never silently promotes another.
- Released means this model is publicly included on the DCENT_OS Experimental channel.
- Experimental means public test firmware, not Stable/GA or a risk-free production recommendation.
- Verified prebuilt means the current ledger records a real file, byte size and SHA-256 for the exact lane.
- No verified prebuilt in the current ledger is a binary-evidence limitation, not an unreleased-model status.
- Mining accepted requires accepted pool shares; detection or nonce flow alone is labelled separately.
- Lab-only or denied installation remains binding even though the model meets AVAILABILITY: RELEASED. MATURITY: EXPERIMENTAL.
Known limitations
- The S9 SE is a different BM1393/Ctrl_C43 target and must not use these files.
- A downloadable file is not evidence that every S9 control-board variant is authorized.
- No independent stock-versus-DCENT_OS benchmark is linked for this artifact.
Do not infer support from the miner name alone. Identify the exact control board, keep a known-good SD/UART recovery path, and never test experimental firmware on revenue-critical hardware.
Identify the exact control board
Use the ASIC control-board reference and physical board markings before interpreting this page. Connector shape, miner family and an ASIC generation are not sufficient identifiers. No stock photo or simulated dashboard is presented as proof for this lane.
Artifact-to-evidence receipt
| Exact verified prebuilt | Antminer S9 sysupgrade archive — SHA-256 verified; Antminer S9 bootable SD image — SHA-256 verified |
|---|---|
| Source commit / Git tag | Not recorded in the public website receipt for this artifact; do not infer one from the current repository head. |
| Manifest / signature | The sysupgrade package has a verified embedded Ed25519 payload-manifest signature; the outer file uses the published SHA-256 receipt, with no detached outer signature claimed. |
| Raw pool / console proof | No model-specific raw proof bundle is linked from this website page yet. |
| Independent reproduction | None published and linked. |
| Change history | Use the dated evidence ledger; no separate model changelog is claimed. |
Test this exact lane and publish success or failure. A report must identify the model, board, artifact digest, source/build state, raw logs and recovery outcome.
Installation and recovery policy
Exact model status: Bitmain's S9 recovery documentation distinguishes complete-board CRT0401/CRT0402 (JP4), CRT0302 (AB pads), and CRT0301 (no SD slot). The public DCENT_OS trial documents only the JP4 route; no other PCB revision inherits that authorization. The current public evidence still lacks a complete witnessed first-install, soak and persistent-recovery capstone for this release.
Recovery boundary: For the documented removable-media trial, power off, return JP4 to its photographed original position, remove the SD card, then boot untouched NAND. Other S9 PCB revisions require their own verified route. A witnessed persistent stock-restoration procedure for this exact release is not published.
Start with recovery, not features. Read the rollback and UART recovery guide, stock-restoration boundaries and the hardware-readiness checklist. If this page does not name an authorized route for your exact board, do not flash it.
The separate S9 SD-card guide documents the removable-media path. Treat it as experimental until the repository's public capstone is closed.
Performance data
No independent stock-versus-DCENT_OS benchmark dataset is asserted here. D-Central will publish hashrate, wall power, J/TH, thermals, fan RPM, reject rate and stability data only with the raw measurements, hardware identifiers, build commit, pool-side proof and test duration attached. See the benchmark and reproduction protocol.
Reviewed against the public repository and live artifact directory on 2026-08-29. Corrections: contact D-Central or open a repository issue.
Companion tool — DCENT_Toolbox: Install DCENT_OS on this S9 with DCENT_Toolbox · Confirm the S9 control board with a read-only audit.
Related: Confirm this is the am1-s9 board target · Antminer S9 — specs, power draw, CAD profitability and repair context.