Topic: Armory - Discussion Thread - page 136. (Read 521829 times)

Bug report:
I just created my first paper wallet and tried to import it after printing it out on an offline machine (so I used the Armory Offline Client ). I clicked "Restore from paper wallet" and typed in all the letters, I checked it three times for mistakes. After I clicked the OK button it  happened nothing (Tried it with checked and unchecked "Encrypt wallet" checkbox.). I clicked one more time OK and the app gave me no feedback beside of the visual button click effect. Armory did not crash, I was able to click cancel and go back to the main window.

Can it be that this did not work because my wallet was already imported? If yes I would expect a msg like "This wallet is already imported". Then I would also know that the import has worked and would not have to remove the wallet first, import and encrypt it again to ensure the functioning of my paper wallet and the import function)

Armory version: 0.8.63
OS: Ubuntu 10.04 32bit

still, check it out to make sure you can restore wallet from handwritten letters.  i tried it a few times and i couldn't recognize my own printing for some letters!  given how many there are with overlaps its not easy to figure out which combination might be right.

etotheipi is smart and only used lowercase letters

Also, thanks for the answer, I already split my paper wallet in two to be able to have it on me at all times and not be recognizable as a wallet. (Don't want to lose my coins if my house burns down )

that's a good thing.  ink rollers can't be stolen!

just make sure you can distinguish between 0OIl's.

So far, 1.35 is the only wallet version that has ever existed.  And 2.0 will be the next, and hopefully final one.  I expect that there will be a drop-down list to select the version -- given that paper backup information will look dramatically different for each version, it should be clear which version you used, just by the entry fields that show up when you select 1.35.

I've written the paper backup on notes by hand (I don't own a printer) and haven't noted the version of the wallet. It this a necessity?

You are a great developer. This is the perfect Bitcoin client for highest wallet security! Awesome. I will send you a donation very soon!

Paper backups are never encrypted.  Part of the reason is to guarantee that you have a useful backup in X years when you need it -- and most people would forget the encryption passphrase by then and it would be like not having a backup at all.

The paper backup displays the "Wallet Version", which is all you need to know.  Even though I'm making a new wallet version now, I will still support the old one.  Even in 10 years, any prior version of Armory that ever worked will let you recover the wallet and print off a list of all your private keys.   Either way, the code to create the private keys from your paper backup should be a permanent part of Armory, even if Armory doesn't produce those wallets anymore, but because I promised you it would still work 10 years from now

Okay I understand your intention

Two more question ->
- When my armory wallet is encrypted, is the paper wallet encrypted too?
- Do I have to worry that the wallet format of the paper wallet is no more supported in x years !?

I really love your client and hope you won't stop the development someday!

Either one will work, though you will need your encryption password for your digital backup.  The reason I recommend paper is because if the paper is intact, it's guaranteed to be useful 10-20 years from now when you need it (even if it's thoroughly faded, you'll still be able to recover it).  Making only one digital backup is like betting your life-savings that a $3 USB key sitting in box somewhere will still work 20 years from now.  I wouldn't make that bet

Okay I will let you know if I will try it. I have one more question regarding to offline wallet: Armory and your site tells me to make a paper backup of my wallet but I guess a digital copy does the job too or can the backup only be restored with a paper wallet? Maybe a stupid question but I want to get sure.

Thank you!

It's for users who want to wipe a computer/laptop and reinstall the OS without any initial connection to the internet. Usually those dependencies are downloaded by the OS.  The bundle is everything you need for a first boot of an offline 10.04-32bit installation to work with Armory.

It *might* work with 12.04/12.10 but only the 32-bit versions.  Please let me know if you try this.  I have been meaning to make a 64-bit version, and/or 12.04/12.10, but I hate adding more things to support (luckily, that's not part of the regular release schedule, only occasionally remake the offline bundle since offline version isn't so important).

Ah, I wasn't aware that existed. I don't see any reason it shouldn't work with 12.10, there just might be newer versions of the dependencies available in the repository.

I want to know if the Dependencies-Bundle for Ubuntu 10.04 32-bit (*.zip) also works with 12.10 !?

What do you mean "offline linux bundle"? The version of armory from Github compiles just fine on Ubuntu 12.10 with the property dependencies installed.

+1

?

Hi!

I love this client.

Is there a offline linux bundle for ubuntu 12.10 available or does the existing work with it?

thanks for your help

Hi I've got a (impossible) feature request and a potential bug:

First, the bug:

With a fully sync'd blockchain, when Armory first loads up and it hasn't registered any new blocks itself, if you hover your cursor over the block count (bottom right) it incorrectly displays the time passed since the last block came in.
Only when Armory discovers a new block itself does it correct.


Second, a feature request:

When Armory is loading up and scanning the blockchain, would it be possible for Armory to display the transactions it's discovered straight away.
Even better would be Amory doing that, and scanning the blockchain backwards (last block>first block), so if you're waiting for a transaction to come through, you could see pretty much instantly when starting Armory if it's come through and how many confirmations it has.
Then when it has scanned right to the beginning of the blockchain, it goes back to the end and updates with any blocks that have come through whilst it's been scanning.

Edit:

Sorry, another feature request:

Having the ability to display the last BTC/USD price within the client itself. I know this isn't the purpose of Armory, but it would be of a great help to me.

Since it's going to be a while before the new wallet format, I decided to go ahead and make "Fragmented Backups" available via the command line.   Take your regular (single-sig) wallet, and plug it into the "frag_wallet.py" script, to break it into M-of-N pieces (N pieces, need any M to reconstruct).  Use the unfrag script to test reconstruction to give yourself peace of mind that it really works.  Then distribute the fragments how you see fit.  Recollect M of them at a later time, put them in that directory, and it will recreate the Armory wallet for you!

I was going to wait for the new wallets, since they use considerably less data for the paper backup... but given the infrequency of actually having to use this solution (and it's got built-in error correction), a little inconvenience is acceptable in my mind.  

• Create M-of-N fragmented backup, for any value of N, and 2<=M<=8
• Works with any Armory *.wallet files, encrypted or not (will prompt for passphrase if encrypted)
• Creates N text files that can easily be opened and printed (sorry, no QR codes from terminal)
• Deterministic fragments means you can re-print lost fragments, or create more later (increase N)
• The git-commit version is put in the text file, in case you want to know exactly what version created it
• Error correction up to one character per line.  Identifies which file&line has 2+ errors that can't be corrected automatically.
• Use the "unfrag" script right after "fragging" to test recombining various subsets of fragment files (for your own peace of mind)
• Endless error checking to make sure you get it right, or know what you did wrong.

See my post about it here.

Feature request!  I'd like a feature where Armory auto-sweeps arriving funds from an imported private key to another known private key. 

Potential use-cases include:
- The private key related to a publicly published donation address has been stolen.  The legitimate owner of said private key would like to sweep any newly-arriving coins to a different address.
- A Casascius coin has been redeemed.  Just in case more coins are sent to the address in the future (accidentally or purposefully), the owner of the coin would like to sweep any newly-arriving coins to a different address.
- Someone purchases a premium Bitcoin address, and to limit potential liability, would like to sweep any newly-arriving coins to a different address.

Obviously, those who work to compromise other people's private keys could use the feature as well, but I think some of them have probably already programmed their own sweeping mechanisms, giving the average consumer a disadvantage without any such tools available to them.  Releasing a feature like this in a manner easily accessible to the public would help to level the playing field.

Ideally, the feature should include functionality to set the transaction fee on a per-address basis.  For example, a high-profile donation address might warrant a fee of 0.01 BTC per transaction to be sure all transactions are forwarded properly.  An address that is expected to receive only small amounts might warrant a much smaller fee.

Thoughts?