Bitmain are simply too lax in this area rather than incompetent. But knowing the pace inherent in the bitcoin hardware space, they should have paid particular attention to tagging their boxes with the hardware versions .... but hindsight is a beautiful thing!

Nevertheless, we demand a working replacement for the Oct firmware, be that generic to all HW revisions or specific to batch numbers (the latter will be hard to track for 2nd had rigs!).

Even if it involves opening up the box to ascertain the HW revision, we demand a replacement working firmware!

Day 3 for me and I still have a S3 that can not hash as it doesn't display any hashing boards.  I flashed the ROM with:

antMiner_S320140811.bin
antMiner_S320140826.bin
antMiner_S320141013.bin
antMiner_S320141024.bin
antMiner_S320141126.bin

I've also tried the reset option from the GUI (button doesn't work),

The standard Antminer S3(+) fans (JDH1238B) do their job of cooling, but their noise level is evocative of a turbine rather than a high tech electronic device.

There is a fine replacement for them:

NOISEBLOCKER NB-eLoop B12-P

Just google it to find a nearby reseller.

It's much smaller (height 25mm instead of 37mm) but delivers nearly the same airflow — up to 132,4 m³/h.

The manufacturer states a life span of 120,000 hours and grants a 6 year (!) warranty, which completely backs up the relatively high price (about 20 bucks per fan).

Current measurements after 3 hours of full load hashing (Firmware from 2014-08-26, no shutdowns):

Fan Frequency    Temp   
1740 Hz             40 °C
1560 Hz             47 °C

Noise level: Barely hearable, per manufacturer well below 30dB. No comparison to the approximately 55+db fo the originals fans at full load.

No, I'm not an employee of Noiseblocker. I simply wanted to share my experiences with a fine peace of hardware that finally renders the Antminer into an equipment fitting any location, even a parlor.

It would be nice, wouldn't it ... but there again, just when problems continue with the S3 miner firmware they just crapped on all the L1 pe-order people ...

I'm curious how many people were having issues and upgraded firmware vs those who upgraded for the sake of upgrading.

Seriously, if it ain't broken don't fix it. I've got S3(+) from multiple batches and I haven't updated any of them. They all run 24/7 without issue.

For people with noise issues this may be worth looking into.  I prefer to go the other direction.  I have all my S3's blue wire clipped on BOTH fans.  I overclock and run temps below 30 (26-29) with fan speeds of 3600.  They are loud as fuck but I could care less because they are in a server room pulling 20kw and it never gets over 68 degrees in the room.  Heat is the enemy...it must be defeated or it will defeat you!  I've had BE Cubes running uninterrupted for 1yr.  and S1's that are going to run 2yrs. so cooling them properly is something I take very seriously!

Can I get some beta testers for a new S3 firmware please? Download link is here, it *should* be good to go but as you know....

Rolls back to the last good patch in Oct (1024), but fixes voltage adjustment and the important reset button. Hopefully.... let me know.

MD5: 7DF1B12D28B25E10AAC37E2EAFC7397B

[This is 1219 = 19th Dec 2014 firmware]

Link not working for me.

Maybe the cable from the controller board to the hashing board is not on properly. Have you opened it up yet to check internal cables?