Armory on windows just does not sync

Holliday

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Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

I do not agree with the opinion, that one has to have a top notch hardware just to run a crypto wallet.

I've never suggested as much. A used 4c/8t CPU running around 4GHz with a SATA SSD, is not "top notch" hardware (it can be had for around $200). My desktop syncs Armory from scratch in under 3 minutes and that's not even top notch hardware! 32c/64t processors and 4x M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 x16 raid cards are a thing.

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

You can think of this PC what you want, but there is no crap involved in DELLs precision workstation line, there never was.

I never commented on the quality of Dell's workmanship, rather the low IPC, core count, and clock rate of your processor (which was on the low end of Intel's product line at the time), along with the fact that HDDs are huge bottlenecks when it comes to software involving block chain data.

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

I do appreciate the efforts put into this software. I really do because I am a developer myself.

Well, I'm a lumberjack and I can get Armory to run, every single time with ease.

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

But as all in life, great projects can also get better if a healthy criticism is allowed.

Healthy criticism is great, but that won't stop me from pointing out that your hardware is older than Moses and will struggle when it comes to dealing with large amount of data. There are requirements here, the block chain itself, which no amount of coding skill is going surmount. At some point, you either suffer or run the software on better hardware. Or, you can do what most people do and sacrifice security and use a lite wallet. That's fine, we all make trade-offs every day to suit our needs.

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

Bitcoin Core runnin gas full node on the same PC does not seem to have a problem with the limited hardware and is ready to go in 30 seconds working on the same blockchain data up to the recent block

You are referring to Core start up. What does that have to do with anything? Do you know what Core does during start up? It isn't "load the local blockchain below 30 seconds" as you've mentioned up thread. Suggesting that Core's startup process is the benchmark for whether or not your computer can parse the block chain with ease is silly.

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

But unfortunately all I can do is to express my experience after I tried to test the software and donate some BTC if I get an adress from goatpig.

And all I can do is explain, apparently to deaf ears, that aging hardware is going to make the process far more painful than it needs to be. It can certainly work, but it is obvious from this thread and many threads in the past, it's going to take some additional effort on the part of the user. I'm simply pointing out that one may want to add some grease to the gears here...

Quote from: artur2000 on February 27, 2018, 05:21:11 AM

Quite in contrary - I need a clean, dedicated PC to run the wallet, so I can not use my day to day hardware for this to be fully on the safe side.

Armory's security model is that your private keys are created and forever remain on an air-gapped PC (which does not have to deal with the block chain itself) while the block chain is maintained locally on the internet connected PC. Anything less (private keys online / remote block chain data) is a trade off and ultimately far, far less security.

artur2000

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This should not become a philosophical discussions here.
I am quite experienced in any mainstream OS out there, started win MSDOS back in the late 80s and all windows versions all the way.
I managed linux servers of all flavours and was working on linux desktops as well as Mac OS on day to day basis.
I experimented with virtualization tech on all these platforms a lot.
And yes - I have as well built some custom PCs as well along the way - this is self evident looking at above.

Therefore I can surely say I am not an "avarage user" and I can asses whether a hardware is fully crap or not.
And I have a feeling of what a PC is capable of in terms of computation and I can surely decide what tradeof I can accept.
As I wrote at some point - I can wait, I have the time.

I do not agree with the opinion, that one has to have a top notch hardware just to run a crypto wallet.
Quite in contrary - I need a clean, dedicated PC to run the wallet, so I can not use my day to day hardware for this to be fully on the safe side. That is why I took an older but good PC I had spare.
You can think of this PC what you want, but there is no crap involved in DELLs precision workstation line, there never was.

I do appreciate the efforts put into this software. I really do because I am a developer myself.
But as all in life, great projects can also get better if a healthy criticism is allowed.

My critic point is this: A wallet software should be reliable and verbose about what it does at any stage because there is money involved.
Armory clearly does something without keeping the user informed. Then it reports a "redy to go" when it isn't so follow up issues arise.
Bitcoin Core runnin gas full node on the same PC does not seem to have a problem with the limited hardware and is ready to go in 30 seconds working on the same blockchain data up to the recent block, whereas armory get stuck at block 300-something and reports all ready to go after several days of "doing something".

Do not get me wrong, I really appreciate any effort of any opensource dev out there, especially ones like goatpig who manages a complex software like armory. My great respect for work like this.
If I was a python expert I would be ready to actively contribute to fix the problems I see.

But unfortunately all I can do is to express my experience after I tried to test the software and donate some BTC if I get an adress from goatpig.

So, the community can either appreciate my voice on this or keep the blinkers on and do not bother.

Holliday

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Quote from: artur2000 on February 26, 2018, 03:52:07 AM

average hardware.

Your hardware was average over a decade ago. Today you can buy 6c/12t CPUs that boost to 3.6GHz for less than $200. That's average! They make your CPU look like something from the dark ages. Today's high end CPUs have 12c/24t or more!

The block chain is a large amount of data, you can't just hand wave that away. You are going to need semi-decent hardware if you want to parse that data without difficulty. That is simply a fact.

Armory is wallet software which doesn't rely on outside sources for the block chain. In order to take advantage of that kind of security, there are certain trade-offs that need to be made. One of them is having a relatively decent computer.

Armory is also not for the "average user". It's for the advanced user who is comfortable with these programs and willing to run them on appropriate hardware, and willing to do some troubleshooting to get things to work. When operations takes ten times longer to complete due to ancient hardware, it's going to make troubleshooting settings that much more painful.

Basically, if you want a smooth experience with Bitcoin Core/Armory, you will want at the very least a 4c/8t CPU that boosts somewhere in the 4Ghz range and at least a SATA SSD (along with 4-8GB of RAM). SSD really can't be understated here. Many computers now use a m.2 drive which makes SATA SSD look silly. I haven't touched a HDD in 10 years. These systems aren't expensive. You can have a used system that will breeze through this for a couple hundred bucks.

I am no developer. I'm basically software illiterate. Linux is like a foreign language to me. I know hardware because I've custom built my PCs for years. I have no issues what-so-ever running Armory. In seven years I've never had it fail on me. As long as you have some semi-decent hardware, and you aren't using some crazy configuration, Bitcoin Core and Armory will simply work.

artur2000

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OK. I see I will not come any further here.

I will thank you for your support sofar, especially goatpig for keeping this software going and for the help.

But at the end I must honestly say, that armory seems to be only usable by its devs with deep knowledge about the internals and requires.
I am a dev myself but not really into python and not interested in learning python just to access my funds.
I know armory is powerfull, but there is no way a software gets any adoption if it is not robust enough to handle the basics for an avarage user or to run on average hardware.

Stil, all the best to you.

artur2000

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Finally. Armory was ready to build the database, organize blockchain and scan transaction history.
I was able to see my balance but "node ofline".
Now I started bitcoin core in paralell.
Armory went online and it shows green "connected" in the status bar. I could not be more happy.

So now I tried to get to stage 2. Sending my BTC out of this wallet.

Beeing in "advanced user" GUI I tried to "send bitcoins".
I entered the SegWit address of my trezor as recipient.
I left all settings to be default and adjusted the fee to be generous 15 sat/B (conservative auto gave 6.5 sat/B and trezor currently defaults to 8 sat/B for a "high" fee transaction).

Then I sent the whole amount unlocking the wallet.

5 seconds of nothing happening, then an error popup "The transaction that you just attempted to broadcast has failed with the following error: missing inputs"!

Is it safe to paste the armorylog.txt output on this?

goatpig

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Armory Developer

Quote

What do the two errors about mempool.bin mean.

Nothing. They are leftovers verbose pertaining to the database design back from 2011.

Quote

What exactly is happening now (CPU usage 50%)?

The DB is trying to resolve the longest chain.

Quote

Is it worth to wait now or are those errors fatal?

You should wait.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

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Thx for the reply.

I do not mind to wait little longer for things to happen. I mean I let the processes run overnight for several days in the past.
No matter how processing intensive an operation might be, it must finish at some point right?

Bitcoin Core is able to start up and load the local 170GB blockchain below 30sec on this machine so the machine might be slow for todays measures but it certainly should be capable to get the work done in general.

Additionally, the local blockchain is not on a USB2 drive anymore but an a new intermnal SATA drive.

Anyway, just to startower. I deinstalled armory, deleted the database directory. Made a reboot, installed armory RC3 from github again, provided the custom path to the local blockchain using the CLI parameter "--satoshi-datadir" with the desktop shortcut.
Then I synced the blockchain with bitcoin Core, made a reboot again and started armory again.

Now I see "organizing blockchain" again for several hours. checking the log file I see this

Code:

2018-02-15 09:48:10 (WARNING) -- SDM.pyc:398 - Spawning DB with command: C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryDB.exe --db-type="DB_BARE" --cookie --satoshi-datadir="F:\_bitcoin_new\blocks" --datadir="C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Armory\" --dbdir="C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Armory\databases"
2018-02-15 09:48:10 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.pyc:679 - Executing popen: ['C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Armory\\ArmoryDB.exe', u'--db-type="DB_BARE"', '--cookie', u'--satoshi-datadir="F:\\_bitcoin_new\\blocks"', '--datadir="C:\\Users\\artur\\AppData\\Roaming\\Armory\\"', u'--dbdir="C:\\Users\\artur\\AppData\\Roaming\\Armory\\databases"']
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1824 - Connecting on port 62445
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1924 - Setting netmode: 1
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1906 - loadBlockchainIfNecessary
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (ERROR) -- ArmoryQt.py:1198 - 3 attempts to load blockchain failed.  Remove mempool.bin.
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (ERROR) -- ArmoryQt.py:1203 - File mempool.bin does not exist. Nothing deleted.
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1924 - Setting netmode: 1
2018-02-15 09:48:13 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:4673 - Dashboard switched to "Scanning" mode

What do the two errors about mempool.bin mean.
What exactly is happening now (CPU usage 50%)?
Is it worth to wait now or are those errors fatal?

goatpig

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Activity: 3766

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Armory Developer

Quote

"organizing blockchain", CPU 50% and the log is filled with this line like a 1000 times maybe

Let it finish. Your CPU is slow enough that benign dashboard message ends up getting spammed.

Quote

P.s. This is an old but high spec professional grade machine with best components inside even if it is 5 years old.
If it can run CAD, adobe suite products, multiserver docker enviroments and really memory heavy IntelliJ Idea IDE at a decent speed it can not be considered ancient hardware in any means just because it has only 2 cores and usb2.

Professional grade? 2014 Xeons sported 18 Cores with HT. That's high grade. Your CPU doesn't even have HT. High end desktop from 2008 was 4c/8t...

As for USB2. The current blockchain folder is 166GB. At the effective sequential read speed of USB2, it would take 2h20 just to COPY the chain. How long do you think it's gonna need to actually process that data?

The blockchain organization process takes a few seconds on a modern computer. The reason this process has no detailed progress report is because it is so fast on a typical machine. I don't know where you got this PC, but it just doesn't fit the bill. The primary bottlenecks for blockchain processing are:

1) I/O
2) CPU

Both of which you the have low end of, from 15years ago. I can't help you there, sorry.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

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Armory starts now without the error, but then the same pattern repeats.

"organizing blockchain", CPU 50% and the log is filled with this line like a 1000 times maybe

Code:

2018-02-14 16:06:37 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:4673 - Dashboard switched to "Scanning" mode

For me, from the outside it looks like a endless loop somewhere.

https://pastebin.com/bkKTJtr9

P.s. This is an old but high spec professional grade machine with best components inside even if it is 5 years old.
If it can run CAD, adobe suite products, multiserver docker enviroments and really memory heavy IntelliJ Idea IDE at a decent speed it can not be considered ancient hardware in any means just because it has only 2 cores and usb2.

goatpig

legendary

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Armory Developer

remove the ram-usage line, see if it works.

artur2000

newbie

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This is the content of the armoryqt.conf.

Code:

db-type=DB_BARE
ram-usage=4

goatpig

legendary

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Armory Developer

Quote

Then started ArmoryQT which immediatelz reported an error "unable to spawn the DB"

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/0AsthNUL

Something is off with your armoryqt.conf. Post its content verbatim

Quote

p.s. my PC is "anemic"? :-)

2 cores, USB2. Moses' mobile phone was more powerful than that stuff.

artur2000

newbie

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Hi, if I understand you correctly, I should start ArmoryQT alone with the "manage bitcoind..." setting switched OFF.
Just did that, deleted current databases directory and the logfiles before. Rebooted th PC.
Then started ArmoryQT which immediatelz reported an error "unable to spawn the DB"

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/0AsthNUL

p.s. my PC is "anemic"? :-) It is a dell workstation grade PC with intel xeon processor and 12 GB of ram. minumum software installed and windows 10 up to date. It is pretty fast actually just from the feel.
What makes it kind of exotic is, the fact that "Hyper V" and "docker for windows" is installed and their services are running.

goatpig

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Armory Developer

1) Get rid of armorydb.conf. Create a file named armoryqt.conf instead, in the same folder. Put this in there:

Code:

db-type=DB_BARE
ram-usage=4

2) Delete the current DB.

3) Make sure auto bitcoind management is turned off (unchecked first checkbox in File > Settings).

4) DO NOT START BITCOINQT/BITCOIND. Your PC is anemic, it probably can't withstand the RAM load of both your node and the DB bootstrap at the same time.

5) Delete your logs (armoryqt.txt armorydb.txt)

6) Start ArmoryQt. Let it sync. If it fails post your logs again.

7) Once this is all done, you can start node manually. Doesn't really matter if the DB is running or not, but the preferred procedure is to start the node manually first, let it sync, then start ArmoryQt.

droark

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Thanks. In the DB log, it looks like the chain never finishes organizing. Looks and sounds like a bug to me. I haven't touched the DB code yet and wouldn't know where to look, though. goatpig?

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Ohh yeah. I forgot.

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/4tQMjgkK
dblog.txt: https://pastebin.com/STs8c094

droark

sr. member

Activity: 525

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Please post your logs again. Thanks for moving everything over to a SATA drive. It's a big help, even if an SSD would've been more ideal.

artur2000

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Just to get the USB2 controversy out of the way. I installed an additional sata hard drive into this PC and moved the blockchain to that drive.

Bitcoin core has been fully synced and correctly pathed, shows current block height.

Deleted armory databse, changed the path to datadir as well and started armory again.
Since 6 hours now like before as well "Organizing blockchain" without any progress beeing shown just a green shade transitioning from left to right and spinner spinning.

"goatpig" or some other dev of this software, please have a look again in this thread. thx.

PhoenixFire

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Quote from: Holliday on February 07, 2018, 01:22:32 PM

Quote from: artur2000 on February 07, 2018, 04:00:05 AM

is tha fact, that my blockchaindata is on an external USB 2.0 drive.

As someone who has been maintaining the block chain constantly for 7 years now on multiple machines, I would personally suggest anyone dealing with block chain data use a SATA SSD at a minimum. Anything less is just asking for additional difficulty. It can work... sure, but don't expect it to be a smooth, or fast, experience.

The faster the storage, the better Core and Armory will work... from my layman's experience.

Ouch... USB2 as well. If I remember right, that has a third the bandwidth of even a SATA I connection to play with - which itself is ancient. Might be the case that there is nothing wrong with the config now, but scanning the 160+ GB blockchain for the transactions is just going to take a painfully long time.

Holliday

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Quote from: artur2000 on February 07, 2018, 04:00:05 AM

is tha fact, that my blockchaindata is on an external USB 2.0 drive.

As someone who has been maintaining the block chain constantly for 7 years now on multiple machines, I would personally suggest anyone dealing with block chain data use a SATA SSD at a minimum. Anything less is just asking for additional difficulty. It can work... sure, but don't expect it to be a smooth, or fast, experience.

The faster the storage, the better Core and Armory will work... from my layman's experience.

artur2000

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In regards to my hardware, it is a fairly decent one. It is a dell precision T3500 workstation grade PC.
The only thing which is different, than in the most cases is tha fact, that my blockchaindata is on an external USB 2.0 drive.

In regards to my final goal - yes I will transfer BTC out of it as a first step.
But later I will get to a point, where I can get to he BCH etc. forks.

If I can do both with an external wallet like electrum in a safe way, this would be great.
In that case it is sufficient for me to get general idea and order of the steps to take.
I think I will be ablo to research the details myself.

As of the "real guys" :-) I am still waiting for them to find some time to have a look in the log files again.
They got me on track first, but then did not show up again - I hope I did not discourage anybody in some way.

PhoenixFire

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Okay, so it might be possible that you are running up against a weird issue that happens for some on Win10. We could spend time going over that, but different fixes seem to work for different people - no single thing to nail down and it is yet more trial and error. Could be something else entirely.

Do you know which addresses in your wallet have bitcoins on them? Just a few addresses, or many? Any of them start with 3? Or do they all start with 1?
Depending on that, we can probably help you export keys into another wallet. If I've read it right, that'd fit your goal of getting the coins out of Armory and might be the easier option.

jojo69

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diamond-handed zealot

I'm sorry man, we are at the limit of my ability to help. Hopefully one of the real guys comes by.

What kind of hardware are you running it on?

artur2000

newbie

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Please give me pointers what to do next. "Organizing Blockchain" forever. See my comment above.
Already killed armory once, and started it again. Again: "Organizing Blockchain" forever.
Bitcoin core runs continuously and is up to date.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

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The GUI got to a point "Organizing blockchain" and the spinner spins forewer (2 days probably), no progress is shown.

Please provide me with next steps to do you guru guys.

dbLog.txt: https://pastebin.com/bkUhL7Vc
armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/vzRBqCzF

jojo69

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diamond-handed zealot

I'm not at the level of interpreting logs yet, but the movement sounds promising!

I got my fingers crossed for you.

artur2000

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Thx for your hints.

I am sure Bitcoin Core is pathed correctly, because there is the correct path in the debug window.
Here the prove from Bitcoin Core log:

https://pastebin.com/0CL0HUGD

I did kill armory and armoryDB, deleted the database,
changed the shortcut to point to the correct blockchain directory: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" --satoshi-datadir="F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new".
Then started armory again.

And now something is moving :-) "Building Databases, 3%, 3 hours"

Will see tomorrow!

Here are is the armory log: https://pastebin.com/GRKPsnxK
Here is the ArmoryDB log: https://pastebin.com/7X2U0eKS

jojo69

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diamond-handed zealot

While it can be done in a config file, the way I do it is to right click on the Armory launch shortcut and select "properties"

edit the "Target" line with your custom path argument; example

Quote

"D:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" --satoshi-datadir="E:\your path here" --datadir="D:\armory"

In this particular case, my Armory install is on the D: drive, yours may not be.

Replace "E:\your path here" with your Bitcoin Core data path (the folder with "blocks" and "chainstate" folders in it)

The --datadir arg is if you are using a nonstandard location for your Armory database. This folder will have "databases" folder in it, wallet files, and "ArmorySettings" and log files in it. Again, replace "D:\armory" in my example with your path.

When you think you have all the syntax right (check the spaces and such, we are talking command line here) be sure to click "Apply" in the bottom right of the shortcut properties dialog.

I hope this helps.

edit/

On rereading your last post, I wonder if you have properly pathed Bitcoin Core itself. The procedure is very similar. Edit the Core shortcuts target field.

https://bitzuma.com/posts/moving-the-bitcoin-core-data-directory/

Quote

"D:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe" -datadir=E:\your path here

Of course correcting for the drive letters where you actually have your installs.

As always, upon making such changes, close Armory, check for and kill armorydb in task manager and delete the armory\databases folder before restarting Armory on top of a fully synced and running Core node.

artur2000

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Quote from: PhoenixFire on February 01, 2018, 12:12:38 PM

You'll need to shut Armory down and then delete your databases folder, then run Armory again, with that config option in place.

Nope, same result - no progress bars, 0% activity in process manager.

Just a reminder:

I have zero knowledge about the internals of armory - I am a regular user who transfered BTC some years ago into fresh installed armory wallet and forgot about it until recently. I did not use armory ever since.
My only goal is to be able to transfer BTC out of this wallet.

I am also using a non standard blockchain data location on a USB drive. I mentioned it multiple times.
Now I see that my non standard blockchain path is not beeing used at all, but the standard path instead.

See log file: https://pastebin.com/chKyYBBk

Please point me what setting (and how exactly) must be made in which config file to force the use of a custom blockchain path.
Using the GUI I mmade the correct setting, but now when "Let armory run bitcoined ..." is deactivated, my path setting is grayed out.
I was hoping it is stil beeing used but no.

Anyway - I do not understand why armory even bothers about the blockchain since it is supposed to talk to bitcoin core RPC server.

Stil - please threat me as a regular user noob user :-)

droark

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Quote from: jojo69 on January 31, 2018, 02:43:30 PM

Quote from: artur2000 on January 31, 2018, 05:58:23 AM

How am I supposed to know that? :-)

To be honest this was new to me as well. It is a big project, I'm sure a more comprehensive manual is somewhere on the list.

I think it can be difficult sometimes, not just in this project but software development in general, for the devs who are highly trained and informed, and very engaged with the inner workings of the code, to step all the way back and see what users might not know or understand.

Just FYI, I was a bit confused too when I started working on a code upgrade elsewhere. I've started channeling the info I found into this PR. I'll update in a bit with some more info. Let me know if I missed anything.

PhoenixFire

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You'll need to shut Armory down and then delete your databases folder, then run Armory again, with that config option in place.

artur2000

newbie

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No, this below gives the same result

Code:

db-type=DB_BARE

Thx

PhoenixFire

member

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Quote from: artur2000 on February 01, 2018, 10:38:14 AM

I did so in the Roaming/Armory directory.
I put the following into the first line:

--db-type=DB_BARE

Same result. GUI starts and does nothing after consistency check.
0% activity in proces manager

I think you'll just want this in the armordb.conf:

Code:

db-type=DB_BARE

artur2000

newbie

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Quote from: goatpig on January 31, 2018, 10:19:24 AM

Create a file name armorydb.conf in your Armory datadir, put the argument in there.

I did so in the Roaming/Armory directory.
I put the following into the first line:

--db-type=DB_BARE

Same result. GUI starts and does nothing after consistency check.
0% activity in proces manager

jojo69

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diamond-handed zealot

Quote from: artur2000 on January 31, 2018, 05:58:23 AM

How am I supposed to know that? :-)

To be honest this was new to me as well. It is a big project, I'm sure a more comprehensive manual is somewhere on the list.

I think it can be difficult sometimes, not just in this project but software development in general, for the devs who are highly trained and informed, and very engaged with the inner workings of the code, to step all the way back and see what users might not know or understand.

goatpig

legendary

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Armory Developer

Create a file name armorydb.conf in your Armory datadir, put the argument in there.

artur2000

newbie

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OK, and where to put this setting then? Which "config files"?
How am I supposed to know that? :-)
Please provide me some more details on how to do the things you ask me to do - I am just like a robot now ;-)

e.g. I can not find any setting in the only config file I see (ArmorySettings.txt) which resembles "db-type".

Thx.

goatpig

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Quote from: artur2000 on January 30, 2018, 03:49:14 AM

Thx,

I deleted "Roaming/Armory/databases" and edited the shortcut to be this:

Shortcut->Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" --db-type=DB_BARE

No difference, armory starts, checks wallets consistency and does nothing more, no activity in process manager.

That's a DB argument, not a GUI argument. Feed it to the DB. Use the config files.

artur2000

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Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Thx,

I deleted "Roaming/Armory/databases" and edited the shortcut to be this:

Shortcut->Target: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" --db-type=DB_BARE

No difference, armory starts, checks wallets consistency and does nothing more, no activity in process manager.

goatpig

legendary

Activity: 3766

Merit: 1364

Armory Developer

Delete your db folder and run the DB with --db-type=DB_BARE

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Hi, thx for the answer.

Armory has bee nrunning all the time since my last post. Last status was progressbar "Parsing TX hashes: 100% 1 sec".
No balance, offline, 0 blocks.

I did as you said.

I unchecked "run bitcoind by itself", let the path to my USB drive there.
I killed armory - exit caused "not responding" for 5 min.
I deleted [user]/AppData/Roaming/Armory/databases.
I ran bitcoin Core - it was already fully sinced - armory kept syncing the blockchain in the background all the time
I ran armory alongside with bitcoin core.

Armory did walle tconsistency check and nothing more, no progres bars, no CPU activity in process manager for armory processes.
Seems to do nothing.

I do not think patience will be enough but I let it run for the night.

Here are the logs:

https://pastebin.com/6HCsxjJZ
https://pastebin.com/szVT10Tp

See you!

jojo69

legendary

Activity: 3318

Merit: 4606

diamond-handed zealot

I would try;

unchecking the box that tells Armory to run bitcoin core under file/settings and saving that setting

close Armory

task manager kill ArmoryDB.exe if it is still running

delete \Armory\databases folder

start Bitcoin Core and let it sync fully

Leave Bitcoin core running and launch Armory

wait patiently

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

I did it to make a fresh start. I did in the past many times so assumed it is safe having restored my paper wallet many times already.

Status quo: bitcoin core was fully synced yesterday.
I restored my paper wallet then. Armory did the first steps of wallet restoration but then It just hang as soon as the main GUI appeared.
Progress bars empty, no activity in process manager for several minutes.
I configured armory to use the blockchain on my USB drive and to start bitcoind by itself.

I stopped armory and started it again.

After fresh start progress bars started spinning/blinking counting time from 6 hours down.
Then the progress bars changed labels I think and armory started to "organize blockchain".

It does so until today (12 hours passed). Progress bars are empty, spinner is not moving.
Activity in process manager is high (+50% CPU for ArmoryDB.exe).
No wallet balance yet. Status> "Node Offline (0 blocks)"

Here are the current logfiles:

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/j62cQGRt
dbLog.txt: https://pastebin.com/3Gpffde1

droark

sr. member

Activity: 525

Merit: 282

Quote from: artur2000 on January 22, 2018, 02:28:20 PM

Now I deleted the entire Armory directory in AppData/Roaming to start over, but now I need to restore the wallet again.

Why did you do that? I asked you to delete the Armory DB, not the entire Armory directory. Please confirm your actions here before doing something if you're unsure of what you're doing.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Yes core was fully synced.
It is a habit already to always start core first, let it sync, and then start armory.
I did it tens of times already, so I am kind of an expert in this basic step :-)

I stopped armory now. Ran core again and it was directly at the recent block.
This means, armory must have kept the blockchain in sync all the time but the GUI was stuck like described above.
Now I deleted the entire Armory directory in AppData/Roaming to start over, but now I need to restore the wallet again.
I do not have the paper wallet on me, so I make another try tomorow :-) again.
See ya!

droark

sr. member

Activity: 525

Merit: 282

Wait a minute. Has Core fully synced? Please make sure it's synced before trying to do anything with Armory. In addition, because of how you've bounced your config around, I'd recommend deleting your Armory DB, and making sure ArmoryDB isn't running in the task manager before starting Armory.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

OK, as you suggested. I reinstalled Bitcoin Core 0.15.1.
I installed Armory Armory RC3.
I configured armory to deal with bitcoind itself and to look for the blockchain data on my USB drive.

Then I restarted the computer and started armory.
The progress bars did start to run but now it stuck again with "Parsing TX hashes" being bold and the other 2 bars (synchronizing with network, build databases) being light grey.

It does not move since 3 days now, no progress indication, but constant ca. 50% CPU load for armorydb.exe.

Here are the logfiles:

armorylog.txt: https://pastebin.com/zdB3b9qL
armoryDb.txt: https://pastebin.com/CdZDdSgb

I let it run. I'am curious if it is downloading the blockchain again? In that case it takes weeks probably.
But to make it clear - this blockchain is complete - the Bitcoin Core QT client took care of that.

droark

sr. member

Activity: 525

Merit: 282

Yeah, you really need to pick one setup and stick with it unless told otherwise.

PhoenixFire

member

Activity: 270

Merit: 36

Are you running Armory RC3? Upgrade if not.
We'll likely need full Armory logs. Could you add your armorylog.txt and dbLog.txt to pastebin and post the links here please? Split if too large.

Quote from: artur2000 on January 17, 2018, 09:19:36 AM

How did you "downgrade" to bitcore 14?
I just deinstalled 15 and installed 14 but now it is saying me that the blokchain database is corrupt.

Please go back to using Core 0.15.1, otherwise you'll need to reindex your chainstate.

Quote from: Bitcoin Core 0.15 Release Notes

The chainstate database for this release is not compatible with previous releases, so if you run 0.15 and then decide to switch back to any older version, you will need to run the old release with the -reindex-chainstate option to rebuild the chainstate data structures in the old format.

There isn't a one fits all solution for problems, Artur2000. However, it will make it a heck of a lot more difficult for us to help you if you change your setup a bunch while asking for help.

artur2000

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Hi,

I try to restore an old paper wallet (2 years) since many weeks already.
First I tried to get it work on ubuntu, which I managed to a point that armory was online but the node was offline. Tried to get that working beeing not the only one with this problem and at end I resigned.

Then I tried to do it on a windows 10 professional machine, using the synched blockchain from ubuntu on an external USB drive.
At first armory did not do anything, no spinners no progression in progress bars.
I tried to startbitcoin QT alongside with armory disabling the bitcoind from armory - did not work either.
Bitcoin QT was fully synced and properly uses the external blockdata on my external harddrive.

I did countless restarts and reboots doing try&error of different configurations and at the and magically armory started to build the database and can the blockchain - bingo.
This happend in a very strange configuration: Bitcoin QT running in background but bitcoind-option in armory set as well! Additionally the path to the blockdata gven explicitelly in armory config.

After scanning and organizing the blockchain I was now able to see my balance and armory was online as well as the node. bingo!

Now I wanted to test the transfer from my armory wallet to my trezor by sending a small BTC amount which worked, but now armory is not able to fetch the confirmations, it just says I have no spendable funds!
The balance in wallet is OK, the small test amount went to my trezor successfully and has been confirmed countless times.
But the "spendable funds" are 0.00000000 BTC.
The green status in the lower right corner says "online (3xxxxx blocks)". So 3 hundred something - not the current block height of 504665.

I regrett not to have transfered the full amount directly first time but it was to dangereous for me, since I never really used armory before.
I just installed it years ago and did a paper backup straight away, then just forgot about bitcoin for a long while.

Please help - I am so tierd trying, each restart takes hopurs to evluate the result because of all this blockchain scanning and organizing beeing very slow - if it start at all.
I let it run, then check next day with very different results

I just want to transfer my funds out of this thing once and for all. Please help !!! :-)

BTW. I configured bitcoin QT to start the RPC server
bitcoin QT seems to have a problem starting the RPC server (2018-01-17 12:05:20 Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332 failed.) but when I check the used ports afterwards, windows states the following:

Code:

 TCP    127.0.0.1:8332         DELL-T3500-PC3:0       LISTENING
 [bitcoin-qt.exe]

Here is the full log from bitcoin QT

Code:


2018-01-17 12:05:19 Bitcoin version v0.15.1
2018-01-17 12:05:19 InitParameterInteraction: parameter interaction: -whitelistforcerelay=1 -> setting -whitelistrelay=1
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Assuming ancestors of block 0000000000000000003b9ce759c2a087d52abc4266f8f4ebd6d768b89defa50a have valid signatures.
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Setting nMinimumChainWork=000000000000000000000000000000000000000000723d3581fe1bd55373540a
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using the 'standard' SHA256 implementation
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Default data directory C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using data directory F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using config file F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\bitcoin.conf
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using at most 125 automatic connections (2048 file descriptors available)
2018-01-17 12:05:20 GUI: "registerShutdownBlockReason: Successfully registered: Bitcoin Core didn't yet exit safely..."
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using 16 MiB out of 32/2 requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using 16 MiB out of 32/2 requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using 2 threads for script verification
2018-01-17 12:05:20 scheduler thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:20 libevent: getaddrinfo: nodename nor servname provided, or not known
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332 failed.
2018-01-17 12:05:20 HTTP: creating work queue of depth 16
2018-01-17 12:05:20 No rpcpassword set - using random cookie authentication
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Generated RPC authentication cookie F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\.cookie
2018-01-17 12:05:20 HTTP: starting 4 worker threads
2018-01-17 12:05:20 init message: Verifying wallet(s)...
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using BerkeleyDB version Berkeley DB 4.8.30: (April  9, 2010)
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using wallet wallet.dat
2018-01-17 12:05:20 CDBEnv::Open: LogDir=F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\database ErrorFile=F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\db.log
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Cache configuration:
2018-01-17 12:05:20 * Using 2.0MiB for block index database
2018-01-17 12:05:20 * Using 8.0MiB for chain state database
2018-01-17 12:05:20 * Using 440.0MiB for in-memory UTXO set (plus up to 286.1MiB of unused mempool space)
2018-01-17 12:05:20 init message: Loading block index...
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Opening LevelDB in F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\blocks\index
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Opened LevelDB successfully
2018-01-17 12:05:20 Using obfuscation key for F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\blocks\index: 0000000000000000
2018-01-17 12:05:30 LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file = 1142
2018-01-17 12:05:30 LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file info: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=126, size=132902296, heights=504538...504663, time=2018-01-16...2018-01-17)
2018-01-17 12:05:30 Checking all blk files are present...
2018-01-17 12:05:35 LoadBlockIndexDB: transaction index disabled
2018-01-17 12:05:35 Opening LevelDB in F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\chainstate
2018-01-17 12:05:36 Opened LevelDB successfully
2018-01-17 12:05:36 Using obfuscation key for F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\chainstate: babf7d912f9469c5
2018-01-17 12:05:36 Loaded best chain: hashBestChain=0000000000000000001f3293288fdb981c8aee2ac4311b76695c337363204263 height=504663 date=2018-01-17 11:54:33 progress=0.999993
2018-01-17 12:05:36 init message: Rewinding blocks...
2018-01-17 12:05:38 init message: Verifying blocks...
2018-01-17 12:05:38 Verifying last 6 blocks at level 3
2018-01-17 12:05:38 [0%]...[16%]...[33%]...[50%]...[66%]...[83%]...[99%]...[DONE].
2018-01-17 12:05:45 No coin database inconsistencies in last 7 blocks (7690 transactions)
2018-01-17 12:05:45  block index           24781ms
2018-01-17 12:05:45 init message: Loading wallet...
2018-01-17 12:05:45 nFileVersion = 150100
2018-01-17 12:05:45 Keys: 1002 plaintext, 0 encrypted, 1002 w/ metadata, 1002 total
2018-01-17 12:05:45  wallet                  116ms
2018-01-17 12:05:45 setKeyPool.size() = 1000
2018-01-17 12:05:45 mapWallet.size() = 0
2018-01-17 12:05:45 mapAddressBook.size() = 1
2018-01-17 12:05:45 mapBlockIndex.size() = 504687
2018-01-17 12:05:45 nBestHeight = 504663
2018-01-17 12:05:45 torcontrol thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:45 Bound to [::]:8333
2018-01-17 12:05:45 Bound to 0.0.0.0:8333
2018-01-17 12:05:45 init message: Loading P2P addresses...
2018-01-17 12:05:45 Leaving InitialBlockDownload (latching to false)
2018-01-17 12:05:46 Loaded 66025 addresses from peers.dat  547ms
2018-01-17 12:05:46 init message: Loading banlist...
2018-01-17 12:05:46 init message: Starting network threads...
2018-01-17 12:05:46 net thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:46 dnsseed thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:46 addcon thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:46 opencon thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:46 msghand thread start
2018-01-17 12:05:46 init message: Done loading
2018-01-17 12:05:46 GUI: Platform customization: "windows"
2018-01-17 12:05:46 GUI: PaymentServer::LoadRootCAs: Loaded  42  root certificates
2018-01-17 12:05:47 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.1/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49946, peer=0
2018-01-17 12:05:47 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49947, peer=1
2018-01-17 12:05:52 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.13.2/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49949, peer=2
2018-01-17 12:05:57 P2P peers available. Skipped DNS seeding.
2018-01-17 12:05:57 dnsseed thread exit
2018-01-17 12:06:52 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0.1/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49960, peer=3
2018-01-17 12:07:17 version handshake timeout from 3
2018-01-17 12:07:25 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.1/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49966, peer=4
2018-01-17 12:07:26 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0.1/: version 70015, blocks=504663, us=89.78.6.75:49968, peer=5
2018-01-17 12:07:26 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.1/: version 70015, blocks=504664, us=89.78.6.75:49969, peer=6
2018-01-17 12:07:28 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.1/: version 70015, blocks=504664, us=89.78.6.75:49973, peer=7
2018-01-17 12:07:48 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0.1/: version 70015, blocks=504664, us=89.78.6.75:49975, peer=8

And here is what armory is logging for this scenario. Armory does nothing, no progress in bars, no spinner, no syncing, no activity in process manager:

Code:


Log file opened at 12:56:02.000: C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Armory\dbLog.txt
-INFO  - 12:56:02.000: (..\main.cpp:32) Running on 2 threads
-INFO  - 12:56:02.000: (..\main.cpp:33) Ram usage level: 4
-INFO  - 12:56:02.000: (c:\users\goat\code\armory3\cppforswig\BDM_Server.h:263) Listening on port 9001

For the other working (sometimes working and just to some extend working!) scenario (Armory magaes bitcoind and the blockchain itself) this is what is in the logs.
But then as I stated above I get no confirmations of my latest test transaction because armory seems to be stuck somewhere in the past

Code:


Log file opened at 08:57:39.000: C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Armory\dbLog.txt
-INFO  - 08:57:39.000: (..\main.cpp:32) Running on 2 threads
-INFO  - 08:57:39.000: (..\main.cpp:33) Ram usage level: 4
-INFO  - 08:57:39.000: (..\BlockUtils.cpp:915) blkfile dir: F:\__BACKUP\_bitcoin_new\blocks
-INFO  - 08:57:39.000: (..\BlockUtils.cpp:916) lmdb dir: C:\Users\artur\AppData\Roaming\Armory\databases
-INFO  - 08:57:39.000: (..\lmdb_wrapper.cpp:388) Opening databases...
-INFO  - 08:57:39.172: (c:\users\goat\code\armory3\cppforswig\BDM_Server.h:263) Listening on port 55069
-INFO  - 08:57:40.250: (..\BDM_Server.cpp:1114) registered bdv: 5f11321b77dcdca7e14e
-INFO  - 08:58:46.610: (..\nodeRPC.cpp:57) RPC connection established
-INFO  - 08:58:46.641: (..\nodeRPC.cpp:346) Node is ready
-INFO  - 08:58:46.641: (..\BlockUtils.cpp:1108) Executing: doInitialSyncOnLoad
-INFO  - 08:58:47.766: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:199) Reading headers from db
-INFO  - 08:58:48.781: (..\BitcoinP2P.cpp:947) Connected to Bitcoin node
-INFO  - 08:58:51.969: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:238) Found 352780 headers in db
-INFO  - 08:58:54.344: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:64) Rewinding 100 blocks
-INFO  - 08:58:54.344: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:71) updating HEADERS db
-INFO  - 08:58:54.391: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:493) Found next block after skipping 605177bytes
-INFO  - 08:58:55.016: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:281) parsed block file #258
-INFO  - 08:59:17.453: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:281) parsed block file #260
[...]
-INFO  - 11:11:28.297: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:281) parsed block file #1138
-INFO  - 11:11:29.297: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:281) parsed block file #1140
-INFO  - 11:11:29.563: (..\Blockchain.cpp:248) Organizing chain 
-INFO  - 19:08:31.781: (..\Blockchain.cpp:370) Organized chain in 28621s
-INFO  - 19:08:31.828: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:76) updated HEADERS db in 36576s
-INFO  - 19:08:31.906: (..\lmdb_wrapper.cpp:388) Opening databases...
-INFO  - 19:08:31.906: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:1231) verifying txfilters integrity
-INFO  - 19:08:31.547: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:1314) done checking txfilters
-INFO  - 19:08:31.672: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:134) scanning new blocks from #352780 to #352779
-INFO  - 19:08:31.672: (..\BlockchainScanner.cpp:52) no history to scan
-INFO  - 19:08:31.688: (..\BlockchainScanner.cpp:1019) no SSH to scan
-INFO  - 19:08:32.969: (..\lmdb_wrapper.cpp:388) Opening databases...
-INFO  - 19:08:32.969: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:186) scanned new blocks in 0s
-INFO  - 19:08:32.969: (..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:190) init db in 36585s
-INFO  - 19:08:32.969: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1890) Enabling zero-conf tracking
-WARN  - 19:08:36.078: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 5 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:36.078: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 10 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:36.094: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 15 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:49.610: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 20 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:49.610: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 25 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:49.610: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 30 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 19:08:49.610: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 35 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.156: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 40 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.172: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 45 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.172: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 50 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.172: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 55 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.172: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 60 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 21:33:03.172: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 65 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 22:13:39.875: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 70 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 18:40:18.547: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 75 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 18:40:18.563: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 80 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 22:34:40.156: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 85 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 22:34:40.156: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 90 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 22:34:40.156: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 95 zc parser threads
-WARN  - 22:34:40.156: (..\BDM_supportClasses.cpp:1943) running 100 zc parser threads
-INFO  - 12:47:46.891: (..\nodeRPC.cpp:415) Bitcoin server stopping
-ERROR - 12:47:46.688: (..\BitcoinP2P.cpp:1037) caught StopBlockingLoop in processDataStackThread
-INFO  - 12:47:46.703: (..\BitcoinP2P.cpp:969) Disconnected from Bitcoin node
-INFO  - 12:47:59.328: (..\BDM_Server.cpp:1143) unregistered bdv: 5f11321b77dcdca7e14e
-INFO  - 12:47:59.344: (..\BDM_Server.cpp:1054) proceeding to shutdown
-ERROR - 12:48:02.438: (..\SocketObject.cpp:267) poll() error in readFromSocketThread: 10038
-ERROR - 12:48:02.438: (..\BitcoinP2P.cpp:1027) caught SocketError exception in processDataStackThread: poll() error in readFromSocketThread: 10038
-INFO  - 12:48:05.453: (..\BitcoinP2P.cpp:969) Disconnected from Bitcoin node

Topic: Armory on windows just does not sync (Read 694 times)