How To Mine Skeincoin For Beginner Miners

Recently, I had my first experience with mining coins! So, in this tutorial I'm going to show you how to get started mining skein coin. Even if you're a beginner (like me), and even if you don't have the best hardware you can still mine. You just need to pick something with a lower difficulty! I actually did a little mining with my laptop yesterday, but this is not the best. Laptops are slower at mining and they are not great at managing heat typically, but it is possible if you have no other options and you want to try it out. Some coins will even let you mine with an android phone!

Requirements

Desktop PC/Laptop
Awesome Miner Software
Skein Coin Wallet

Difficulty: Basic

Step 1.) Download The Official Wallet
The first thing you'll need is the official Skein Coin wallet! When you mine your coins will need somewhere to go. Please make sure you download version 0.9.3.1. This download has an updated block explorer, and the old version may have trouble getting connections to the network. Do NOT mine coins to an exchange wallet as these transactions will typically not be accepted, and you may lose your coins.

Once installed you should see some connections starting to filter in to the bottom right. If they don't make sure to check that your firewall or anti-virus is not blocking the wallet. Avast likes to send this straight to the virus vault for no good reason.

Next, click on settings > Encrypt wallet. Use this to create a password for your wallet. Since this is not a staking wallet it does not have to be unlocked unless you are sending coins. So leave it protected. You also may want to write this down on a sheet of paper. Losing your password means you won't be able to get your coins.

Lastly, click on file > backup wallet. Make sure to save this in a safe place. Preferably on an external storage drive. If your computer's drive bites the dust you'll need this backup to restore your wallet to a new PC and access your coins.

Step 2.) Download Awesome Miner

If you have no clue what you're doing Awesome Miner is the most straight forward and easy to use software I've found. It can be used with basically any pool, and it will even set up many miners for you under its software. This allows you to take your pick of algorithms and allows you to use CPU, GPU or even antminers. While many miners are command prompt types this one offers a user friendly GUI.

Since we'll be mining skeincoin we need to use the skein algorithm, but if you want to mine other coins you can also set up Awesome Miner for those!

Step. 3.) Set Up Your Mining Pool
Next we need to set up a pool to mine with! I'm using Cryptotastic. This is a n00b friendly pool that has Skeincoin available. While some pools require registration this one does not. When asked for a "username" you'll simply input your wallet address. Keep in mind that this is how you get paid so if your wallet address changes you'll need to update this!

You'll also need the port number for the coin. For skein it's "4028" as shown in the image, but if you'd like to mine another coin you'll need to change this. The home page will show you the respective port number that accompanies your algorithm.

Step 4:) Set Up Your Miner

Next you'll need to set up your miner! After selecting "new miner" on the menu bar the wizard will prompt you to select the type of miner. Choose "managed" miner. Next you'll be prompted to add a description. If you plan to run more than one miner this will help you figure out which is which.

Awesome Miner has a lot of built in miners that it will set up for you. If you're unsure what to do then just select the algorithm that you want to mine in the drop down. The software will show you which miners you should be using based on your algorithm of choice and your hardware. In our case we're choosing Skein.

I'm using CPU Miner Opt for my miner, but there could be a better mining software for you depending on the hardware you're using. You'll have to decide for yourself whether this is the best one or not. Keep in mind that a GPU miner will probably get you the best hash rate for mining, but you can mine with a CPU as well. You could even mine one coin with your CPU and one with your GPU if you wanted to, and your computer can handle it.

Last but not least, you'll need to select the pool you created in the previous step so the miner can connect you to the mining network.

Step 5: Start Mining!

Now you should be good to go to begin mining. Click start on the desired miner, and it should fire up. A window will appear showing the miner attempting to connect to the mining pool, and you'll be able to see the actions that it's taking. If your miner has failed to connect double check the information you entered to make sure you didn't enter any of the pool's information wrong.

At this point your PC will start adding to the pool's hash rate, working with the other miners in an attempt to find a block. When you see "accepted" pop up you know that your miner has contributed to the work for a block, and you are eligible for part of the payout. If you visit the "pool" page on the Cryptotastic site, and if you click on "skein" you'll be able to see information about mined blocks.

This will tell you how often blocks are being found, and the number of confirmations for the coins to be paid out. If you look at the top right of the web page you'll also be able to see when the next pool pay out will be. Keep in mind that if you've just started mining it can take longer than usual to receive your first payout. Let the miner run at least a day before you get antsy about it, and soon you'll start seeing small payments trickle in to your Skeincoin wallet.

You should also be aware that you are mining in a pool, and this means that the pay out will be distributed to all the miners who helped with that block. As a solo miner you would claim an entire block, and the coins would be all for you. However, it could take you a long time (if ever) to find a block. As a pool miner you will get many smaller payments that add up over time instead of one larger payment.

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