If you have gotten this far you probably already aware of that Gridcoin will award you for your work. But you are still uncertain on how to go further? I will try to guide you on how to get started with this little tutorial. We will not go into how it all works, or why it does. This will just get you set up and started with the pool.
This tutorial gives you step by step on how to:
- Set up BOINC
- Configure BOINC to the pool
- Set up a new wallet
- Finding your wallet address
If you aren’t already running the BOINC software, the program that does the actual work, then start here. Otherwise you can skip this step and go to the next that handles the pool.
1. BOINC – Get the workhorse! (On as many computers as you like)
The BOINC client is the one that does the work that Gridcoin awards you. The client is developed by scientists at the Barkley University. https://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php
You can install this client in any way, the default setup is how we will discuss in this tutorial. I would suggest not to install the client as a service since it will prevent you from running any GPU projects. But you have to make sure the client is running when anyone logs on the computer if there are different accounts on your family computer.
If the client asks you to sign up to any projects, you can for now just click cancel.
2. Configuring the BOINC Client to the Pool
There is currently only one pool that does Gridcoin work and it’s located at http://pool.gridcoin.co. There is a simple registration process and tutorial on how to get your client set up at their “How to Get Started” page.
You will now do work for the pool. The pool will know you are the one doing the work and send your share to the address you provide to them. This address is found in the next few steps when we set up the Gridcoin wallet.
Some things worth noting:
- You wish to sign in the an Account Manager with the address and credentials of the pool. Read their How to Get Started page for exact details.
3. Gridcoin Wallet – Setting up. (Only on your main computer)
The wallet can be found at http://gridcoin.us/Guides/pool-gridcoin-install.htm. This page also goes through the steps on installation.
Some steps that are worth highlighting:
- You are doing work for a pool. This means you are an INVESTOR, since you are not doing the work. This is a simple way of mining. This also means you do not have to provide any e-mail when the client starts the first time. Just click cancel.
- As a pool worker all you have to do is to make sure your wallet stays up to date and that you provide the pool with the correct address for the funds to be sent to. That's it :)
- The wallet only needs to be installed on the machine you want to use it on. As a pool worker you do not even need to install BOINC and the Wallet on the same machine. You can have BOINC running on as many machines as you wish.
4. Gridcoin Wallet – Syncing the wallet
This step is usually the one that most users find difficult. The Gridcoin client is a Proof of Stake wallet, meaning there can be a lot of blocks on the network that are not on the main chain. This can sometimes make the client “get stuck” on the process of syncing the chain. This is perfectly normal.
There are a few steps that can be done to prevent this to take any longer than it has to.
- The faster method: You can download a snapshot of the chain at http://download.gridcoin.us/download/downloadstake/signed/snapshot.zip
You unpack this in your %APPDATA%\Gridcoin folder. This will bring your client up to about 80% of the network chain. The client can still get stuck on the chain, but you will soon be up to date. - The slow method: Just let the client do its work. Whenever it gets stuck, you can just restart the client. This can be noted by the block count standing still on a number for a longer period of time while still saying it’s out of sync. Restarting the client can sometimes be required several times an hour.
5. Girdcoin Wallet – Finding you address
While the client is syncing to the network you can get your deposit address for the pool. You can find it by clicking on the left hand panel labeled “Receive coins”. There should be a default address available, but you can also create a new address just for the pool to send coins to. You can do this by clicking “New Address” at the bottom. For easier managing the addresses you can name this with a label that you can change by any time later.
Wrapping up and how to go further
This is just your very first steps into a new and very exiting cryptocoin. There are many places you can go for discussing and reading about it. Some places you can visit from here are.
https://cryptocointalk.com/forum/464-gridcoin-grc/
IRC: freenode.net #gridcoin and #gridcoin-help
Right here on steemit.com #Gridcoin