DCENT_Toolbox is built around one idea: one tool for every miner you own. It detects the vendor, identifies the firmware, fingerprints the control board, and then offers the actions that are safe and possible for that exact combination — rather than pretending every miner is the same.
This page is the honest map of what's supported. For the quickstart see Getting started; for the full feature reference see CAPABILITIES.md.
DCENT_Toolbox ships four real vendor backends plus a read-only fallback. Detection only sets a vendor when there's a positive signal — unknown gear routes to a read-only generic cgminer backend, never a silent write path.
| Vendor ecosystem | How it's driven | Read (scan/detect/info/pools) | Write (config/tune/install) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitmain Antminer | HTTP + SSH + cgminer RPC | ✅ | ✅ (firmware-dependent — see below) |
| MicroBT WhatsMiner | BTMiner write-API token crypto | ✅ | ✅ (config + OTA) |
| Canaan / Avalon | cgminer JSON-RPC + ascset |
✅ | ✅ (ascset privileged writes) |
| BitAxe / DCENT_OS for ESP | AxeOS-compatible HTTP REST + USB serial | ✅ | ✅ (settings, ASIC tuning, OTA + NVS + first-flash helpers) |
| Unknown / other | generic cgminer RPC | ✅ (read-only) | — (never auto-written) |
The toolbox also integrates asic-rs (Rust device abstraction, optional extra) for a wider read-only device matrix (Avalon, Innosilicon, Goldshell, Auradine, IceRiver, Hammer), degrading cleanly when it isn't installed.
Six firmware ecosystems are detected and driven from one CLI — for inspection, recovery planning, and route-specific install support.
| Firmware | Detect | Info / pools / config | Audit & clean | Revert-to-stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitmain stock | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | n/a (is stock) |
| BraiinsOS+ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (recovery-mode NAND rewrite) |
| LuxOS | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (uninstall.sh) |
| VNish | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (backdoor/telemetry/dev-fee audit & clean) | ✅ (vendor remove API) |
| DCENT_OS | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (uninstall.sh; A/B sysupgrade is self-update) |
| DCENT_OS for ESP / DCENT_axe | ✅ | ✅ | n/a | n/a (OTA/USB package rails) |
About the firmware audit: some closed-source third-party miner firmware ships hidden SSH backdoors, phone-home telemetry, a device blacklist, or a silent dev-fee redirection.
dcent auditdetects these anddcent cleanremoves them from hardware you own — a defensive, owner-side capability. The firmware names above are simply the firmwares the toolbox can detect and manage.
DCENT_Toolbox understands six Antminer control-board families plus the ESP32-S3 Bitaxe-class family. What's possible per family depends on the hardware, not on software effort — the firmware signing chain on newer Antminer boards is a real wall.
| Board family | SoC | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| am1-XIL | Xilinx Zynq 7010/7007 variants | S9 / S9i / S9j / S9D / T9+ plus evidence-only S11/S15/T15 variants |
| am2-XIL | Xilinx Zynq 7007S/7020 variants | S17/S17+/S17e; T17/T17+/T17e; S19/S19a/S19i/S19j/S19 Pro/S19 XP/S19k and Hydro variants; T19/T21; S21/S21 XP Hydro class |
| am3-BB | TI AM335x (BeagleBone) | Exact vendor-media evidence for S19-88 / S19j / S19j Pro; DCENT removable-media target only for S19j Pro |
| am3-AML | Amlogic A113D | S19j Pro / S19k Pro / S21 (Amlogic) class |
| cv1835 | Cvitek CV1835 | S19j Pro / S19k Pro / S21 / KS3 / S19 XP class |
| bcb100 | STM32MP15 | reference control board |
| esp32-s3 | Espressif ESP32-S3 | DCENT_OS for ESP / DCENT_axe on Bitaxe Max, Ultra, Supra, Gamma, Hex Ultra, Hex Supra |
"Install custom firmware on any Antminer, software-only" is not true, and DCENT_Toolbox is explicit about exactly where each rung holds. Stock units ship with SSH disabled and (post-July-2019) RSA-signed firmware; getting a root foothold hits a generational hardware wall.
Taxonomy: Public-gated route (route-backed, with publication and witnessed capstone still required) · Lab route (requires exact backup/recovery/proof gates) · No customer write route (named, intentionally no write path) · Hardware/manual route required (physical media/console required) · Hardware-limited (hardware-fused, board swap/external flash).
| Control board · generation | Software SSH-enable on locked stock | DCENT_OS install readiness | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zynq — S9/S9i/S9j/S9D/T9+ AM1 | Yes on evidenced legacy stock epochs | Route-backed S9 install; exact sibling host artifacts exist, but media write/boot remains denied until the physical selector is witnessed | S9 public-gated; siblings Experimental host artifacts |
| Zynq — S17/T17 AM2 | Board-specific foothold possible; exact stock path requires promotion evidence | S17 Pro Experimental media builder; exact S17/T17 recovery analysis, but no held first-stage loader for materialization | Runtime/host evidence; no stock write route |
| Zynq — S19 Pro / S19j Pro AM2 | SSH/root foothold depends on source firmware | Runtime routes plus lab routes gated by signed package, restore-verified backup, and recovery staging | Lab route |
| Plain S19 | Not inferred from S19 Pro/S19j Pro | Exact Xilinx vendor recovery media exists; it is not a DCENT_OS install path | Vendor recovery only / install evidence gap |
| BeagleBone / AM335x | SSH often present as non-root; 22322 escalation is fail-closed | Physical SD-first route; NAND install waits for SD recovery/full NAND backup/restore-to-stock promotion | Hardware/manual route required |
| Amlogic A113D | Mar-2024..Aug-2025 assisted USB-OTG downgrade exists; Sept-2025+ stock requires a physical route | Exact package/selector/backup-first planning for admitted identities; live rootfs-window execution remains proof-gated | Experimental lab / late-lock hardware-limited |
| CVitek / CV1835 | No stock-signing bypass — eFuse-locked FIP | Exact S19j Pro candidate staging, rollback, and one-shot external reinjection; no local hook, DCENT start, or OS-install authority | Experimental runtime preparation / install denied |
The rows above describe route-backed readiness, not a blanket write promise. The live write/flash
step is gated behind explicit operator confirmation (--yes) and the proof-ladder. Always run
dcent support --flash-readiness, dcent install --list-routes, and a --dry-run first.
Unlock/flash features are for hardware you own or are authorized to administer — see
SECURITY.md.
The ESP tier uses the DCENT_axe OTA/USB package rails. Running devices update over HTTP OTA; first
flash uses USB serial. Model-pinned DCENT_OS-for-ESP routes require the companion manifest, and the
toolbox validates boardTarget, deviceModel, payload SHA-256, factory flash map, and
ota.updateFitsSlot before upload or image write.
| Miner | ASIC | Board target | Current proof |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitaxe Max | BM1397 | bitaxe-max |
Host-tested driver path |
| Bitaxe Ultra | BM1366 | bitaxe-ultra |
Host-tested driver path |
| Bitaxe Supra | BM1368 | bitaxe-supra |
Host-tested driver path |
| Bitaxe Gamma | BM1370 | bitaxe-gamma |
Host-tested driver path; Gamma live-verified; legacy BM1370 lab evidence is internal context, not a public install target |
| Bitaxe Hex Ultra | 6x BM1366 | bitaxe-hex-ultra |
Hex dispatcher path host-tested; live soak pending |
| Bitaxe Hex Supra | 6x BM1368 | bitaxe-hex-supra |
Host-tested hex dispatcher path, including BM1368 job-id fix with internal 3.7 TH/s lab evidence |
LoRa mesh is planned/default-OFF in the firmware binary. Upload/image-write acceptance is not boot, rollback, thermal, or mining proof.
D-Central's companion firmware, DCENT_OS, has been
proven mining on five distinct platforms; dcent verify-mining encodes a cold-boot proof ladder for
each:
- am1 — Antminer S9 (BM1387)
- am2 (Zynq) — Antminer S19 Pro (BM1398) and S19j Pro (BM1362)
- am3 (BeagleBone) — Antminer S19j Pro (BM1362)
- am3 (Amlogic) — Antminer S21 (BM1368)
dcent doctor 192.168.1.50 # read-only triage: vendor, firmware, board, next steps
dcent fingerprint 192.168.1.50 --json > fingerprint.json
dcent controlboard-route --fingerprint-json fingerprint.json --json
dcent controlboard-route --list-targets --json # includes route kind, commands, and proof ceiling
dcent recovery xilinx-held am2-s17plus --json # exact held archive; no extraction/write/install
dcent sdcard xilinx-dcent --board-target am2-xil-s19jpro --ramdisk ./dcent-am2-s19j.uimg --output ./dcent-am2-s19j.img --observed-hardware-target am2-xil-s19jpro --dry-run
dcent amlogic-route --assess-model s19xp --json
dcent package am3-bb-evidence --list --json
dcent package am3-bb-evidence am3-bb-s19-88 --corpus-root <dcent-projects-root> --json
dcent install --list-routes # the install routes the toolbox knowsSee Getting started, the FAQ, and CAPABILITIES.md for more.