When you are first operating Chia and wondering if the software is working, here are some tips to keep you sane.
First off, you'll want to have your configuration set up to do additional logging. The configurations can be found in config.yaml. This file is located in chia/mainnet/config.yaml.
The location of the .chia folder varies, On windows you'll want to look in C:/Users/your username)/.chia/mainnet/config.yaml. On Mac, this file is located in /Users/(your username)/.chia/mainnet/config/config.yaml.
Shut down Chia before config access. Open config.yaml and edit the first log_level, setting it INFO instead of WARNING. Save the file.
Now, you can relaunch Chia. Give it 20 minutes to run.
Opening the log file while Chia is running, you'll see additional messages. You can find debug.log in the log directory right next to config directory accessed earlier.
Log files are very informative. Once a log fills to 20mb another is created. If there are too many you can delete some of them.
Inside what you are looking for are these lines:
_07:02:41.663 harvester src.harvester.harvester : INFO 1 plots were eligible for farming f53c496e80... Found 0 proofs. Time: 0.00500 s. Total 8 plots_
This means Chia is working. The filter system is 2 parts. Chia found that 1 plot passed the first part, now it looks inside to determine if a pre-formulated "proof" will be able to do a transaction in the fastest time (2-3 seconds). If it secures one in your plot, you win. Many times it will say 0 proofs. But it shows it's working. This is where luck/time comes into play. At the end of that line it will indicate how many plots the software registers.
Another way to ensure your farm is operational is checking against a pool. Consistent payouts from regulary partials sent gives you peace of mind. This is opposed to solo farming where you may need to wait days, weeks, or months for a win - the whole time wondering if it truly is set up right. For more information, please check out pool-farming.