Identifying v1 Hotspots
Some early MNTD. Blackspot and Goldspot Hotspots are considered "v1" Hotspots and have minor differences from the current "v2" Hotspot versions:
- Manufacture date prior to October 2020
- No Bluetooth pairing button (on the side, next to the USB-C power port
Bluetooth Button on V2 Hotspot
Why is v1 vs v2 Important?
v1 Hotspots have their unique Helium Hotspot identifier (pubkey) stored in a file on the SD card, called the Swarm Key.
v2 Hotspots have their unique Helium Hotspot identifier (pubkey) stored in the ECC chip in the Hotspot.
Swarm Keys and v1 Hotspots
| ⚠️ WARNING - Losing the Swam Key of your v1 Hotspot will result in the Hotspot being permanently unusable! Take care to always keep a backup of the Swarm Key. |
The pubkey is your Hotspot's unique identifier on the Helium network and ties it to the specific Hotspot NFT owned by your wallet. Think of the pubkey as the identity of your Hotspot. The miner's "animal name" (such as Bright Daffodil Squid) is derived from the pubkey.
Without a pubkey, your Hotspot cannot perform Proof of Coverage and Data Transfer work on the Helium Network and is without an identity. Most of the time, this is only relevant when the ECC chip inside the miner has failed, however the first generation of MNTD. Hotspots (known as v1 Hotspots) had their pubkey information stored in a Swarm Key file on the SD card along with the Hotspot firmware.
For in depth information on Hotspot NFTs and miner pubkeys, check out our article on Lost Wallet Access/Lost Hotspot NFTs.
If this Swarm Key information is lost, the result is the same as another miner's ECC chip failing and results in an unusable Hotspot.
Backing Up the Swarm Key
Before replacing the SD card or flashing the firmware of a v1 Hotspot, it is critically important to back up the Swarm Key. Without the Swarm Key, the miner will be permanently unusable.
| 💡Note - It is recommended to make a backup copy of your v1 Hotspot's Swarm Key now, before an issue presents. If the SD card fails without a backup, the Hotspot will be unusable. |
To back up the Swarm Key of your Hotspot:
- Power down the Hotspot by removing the USB-C power cable
- Once the Hotspot has been powered off, remove the MicroSD card from the device by peeling back the covering sticker on the side of the Hotspot where the LoRa antenna connector is located
- Insert the MicroSD card into a card reader or USB adapter and connect it to a computer
- Browse the contents of the card, and locate the largest partition on the card. The Swarm Key will be located at the filepath data/miner/swarm_key
- Copy this Swarm Key file to your computer as a backup. Do not remove the file from the SD card, and do not edit the file or change its filename. We recommend creating a folder with your Hotspot's name and storing the Swarm Key inside it, so you can uniquely name the folder to describe which Hotspot the file belongs to while preserving the original filename
Should you need to replace the SD card and/or flash the firmware of your Hotspot, you can simply copy the Swarm Key file back to its original location at data/miner/swarm_key on the largest partition of the card after the flash is complete. Refer to our article on Replacing the SD Card for detailed instructions.
Updated