Topic: DyslexicZombei's Darkcoin Community MasterNode Svcs: CLOSED. Nodes 2 4 5 Refunds - page 4. (Read 27954 times)

Hello DZ,

I am so sorry to hear about that. It is sad that even the DRK community and Devs weren't able to help you.

Of course this is sad for the people participating here in this thread, but IMO it is worse for Darkcoin itself, because it shows the lack of support from Devs/Community for what seems to be huge problems with the masternodes, and it scares "normal" people away from the Masternodes idea and also from Darkcoin in a whole.

Thank you for your efforts. We know you have tried to help Darkcoin Community grow, and that is the most important.

Guys, the nodes are down again but doesn't seem to be related to masternode software; seems to be cloud provider related this time (the first time a node issue was cloud provider related from what I can tell). The bad news is they need to be rebuilt (yet again) which is what I was attempting again this evening. Sigh. They're cloned servers but there's still things you need to customize or set up from server to server.

Wish I had some good news to report on Node 3's database error. Was giving it another go but it seems to be out of my hands that when the wallet updates to July 2, it executes the phantom self-payment to an inaccessible self-address the same day the database error showed up. System restore points and having access to the orig. wallet file (and a copy of the corrupted database) are useless to address this database error. I can add an address label but there doesn't seem to be a way to manually add a receiving address (the receiving address is grayed out on the local wallet using the latest wallet client) else this would be a simple fix.

Re: Community and Full Nodes: Had to do some soul searching about this and made a difficult decision. I've talked this over with my wife; these nodes are just too finicky, and unstable right now IMO. Having to do constant server rebuilds and trying to troubleshoot Nodes 1 & 3 during a short vacation attempt wasn't fun either.

The nodes that were running operated at a net loss since payouts are so hit and miss and stability was a major issue. For over a decade I've worked with dozens of remote and local servers of various types and applications; remote servers running a non-taxing single simple task aren't supposed to need this much babysitting. For a remote server - except for patches and updates - You should be able to "set it and forget it" for the most part. I admin many remote servers that need attention a few times a year, if at all.

The excessive troubleshooting of this RC3 beta software and nodes might be worth the trouble if they paid out more often but to run these nodes with the services currently set up they would have to average more DRK a day for this to not be a net loss.

==

I'll be shutting down this community node service tomorrow on 8/2. Even with 2 nodes "running" they weren't profitable with current payouts and node instability. Perhaps they'd be more profitable if they weren't so unstable (IMO).

I may look at opening up this up again if nodes seem to be more stable after RC4 or RC5 but I feel that I may have gotten involved with this too early. There doesn't seem to be a good mechanism to get help if something weird goes on with node transactions: such as Node 1's RC2 hot wallet never being returned from mempool (where Evan ignored my polite request to take a look) or a database error on Node 3's local Cold wallet introducing a phantom self-payment to a self-address that doesn't appear accessible.

For myself: I'm out 450 DRK from Node 1's hot wallet payment never being returned from mempool when the orig. first server was shut down for a rebuild, and the node service/management fees have been a net loss so far, so I've lost funds on that end as well. In perfect hindsight, if I could pick a better time to be involved, I would've gotten involved either after RC5 or during Version 1.0 (whenever that is) and I would've spread that 450 DRK out to 4 nodes with 100 DRK in each node, to have spread "risk" to 4 nodes instead of 1.

==

Thank you for being part of this experiment/project. I didn't want to shut this down because I was the first to offer these setup services. I wish I could report this as being more successful but for now I deem this as too high risk even for someone with my high risk tolerance and willingness to operate and troubleshoot beta software/servers. Even though its beta software, I've spent way too much time troubleshooting what are supposed to be simple, single use application servers.

In the morning: I'll finish the payouts I didn't get to because I was trying to get the nodes back up this evening without having to build new servers or having to do another round of self-payments for cold wallets (because these self-payments sometimes"go bad").

In the afternoon/evening after those payouts: I'll be refunding Nodes 2, 4, 5 without any refund penalties. Please provide a payout address for this refund if I don't have one on record for you.


I am halting the setup AND management of full nodes as well. I'll still be willing to set them up but besides one large previous agreement which I plan to co-admin with another administrator, I'm now unwilling to manage a bunch of nodes if they're going to be this much trouble. Except for a large order I'll be able to focus on: the only nodes I plan to set up going forward would be 1 or 2 full nodes where I don't touch funds...and they'll need to find someone else to manage them (which I could point out to a couple of capable and experienced admins I met on DRKcoin talk).

I'm noticing a huge lack of communication.

End of month payouts a go?

Hi, DZ, it seems that it was not possible to fit me into a MN batch after all. So you can just send me the 280DRK back. I believe you already have my Wallet Payout Address.

Thank you

54.186.252.193 node 2  - 4 payments
lucky

Thank you for the news update. I am glad that it's good news, and really hope that DZ is successful fixing the issues.

54.186.252.193 node 2 is up again and already has 2 payments
Hope DZ solved issue with stability of a node!

Hey DZ,

I sent you a PM about the MN service over week ago - I know you're likely busy, but please could you give it a look?

Thanks,
John

OK, thank you for the update, DZ. I wish I could help. Funny that the guys at the darkcointalk are not being able to help either.

So let's see how things develop. Next week, by the end of the month, we decide if you just send me the 280DRK back, or if it'll be possible to fit me into a MN batch.

Still working it. Have some promising things to try. One of the DRK talk forum admins has seen this database error problem before but it was on a Linux PC and his fix may not be directly applicable to our error.

As for Node 2 which was down: Couldn't get it working no matter what I tried so I transferred the 1000DRK to a different local wallet and started from scratch on a different server. It was up during the weekend then it went down again yesterday. At least I only had to restart it this time instead of having to do July rebuild #7 for this node.

Node 2 has a new IP address since I had to house it on a new server. I'll just list it here so I don't have to re-share the Node 2's spreadsheet: 54.186.252.193

Node 4 has been steady (knock on wood) and has been up since the 7th without incident. All of these nodes are configured the same; just seems to be random chance whether a node is stable or if it needs constant rebuilds or re activations.

Weird. The PC that hosts those files is up 24/7 except for patch reboot because it does Scrypt and x11 mining, so those files should always be available from this end.

Then again, it's the first public release of Onionshare (and I opted for this as there's no centralization of data by a corp. 3rd party like Dropbox) so bugs may need to be squashed. I'll send you another link tomorrow evening and if that doesn't work I'll just email you instead.

Oh, thank you, DZ,

I hope you manage to figure out a solution for the node 3 problem.

Please let me know.

Success!

I'm having some difficulty access the Tor link, in Tor.
I was able read the Node 4 spreadsheet originally, and now am unable to.
I also have DRK in Node 3, and that spreadsheet is also unablet to open.

I sent a PM as well.

I know you are swamped, and we really appreciate the help, DZ.

Thanks man!

jwuerz

Ok, spreadsheet links sent to BTC members. I'll have to track down non-redditors tomorrow as its 11PM here (bregge, RyanArr, sabermage, mm....j).

I need an easier way to share these links with non-BTC members.

==

I capped fees at 10% otherwise with the poor mining results due to constant rebuilds (where a new privkey had to be prepped. Sometimes more than once a day) the fee percentages would have been very high, and unfair.

Hey CripLib,

You would be in Node 5, but the problem is I'm concerned about starting a 5th community node with all the unintended extra work and troubleshooting just 4 beta nodes has caused me.

I'm concerned enough to hold off full node setups unless the full node user only does 1 Node...and they may have to find someone else to manage it because 10% really isn't enough if some nodes require literally 5 rebuilds in a 2 weeks span. I can't be servicing full nodes in volume if each one is going to require excessive troubleshooting or that a cold wallet could get hosed from.

*If* I can get Node 3's control of the stake back into the wallet its meant to be in, I'll continue this service past this month. If not, I'm going to have to consider this too high risk for even someone with my high risk threshhold. This software's essentially Version 0.61 at the moment, before Version 1.0 in a few months.

Let me know if you just want me to send the 280DRK back or if you want to hold off to see if Node 3's phantom self-payment can be resolved.

Good evening, DZ,

Please let me know if I have been already fit into a node (and which), as I have sent you the "odd amount" of 280 DRK. Also, what is the most convenient solution for this "odd amount thing": I could send you 20 DRK more, in order to complete 300 DRK; or else you could simply make me a 28% stake. If not, then you can send the 30 DRK refund to my previously informed wallet payout address.

Cheers

Oh, it definitely is! I am so stressed out trying to do right by you guys. This was also in the middle of tense negotiations with a Govt. Accreditor re: the prototype Linux system I designed and hardened recently. As for Node issues: I donated the last of my held DRK (only about 6.5-7 DRK) to Node 3 and Node 4. This is the last of my DRK held after I couldn't regain control of our Hot Wallet in RC2 Node 1 which held 450DRK of mine.

To Node 3 Owners: My apologies that this is so late or if you didn't hear about the problems with Node 3 or that I was trying to deal with it during a family reunion. I froze this account while I was dealing with Node 3's local wallet database becoming corrupt on 7/2 and trying to fix this (and Node 1 and negotiations with a difficult Govt. Accreditor) during breaks during a family reunion. The latest rebuild still fails when the local wallet syncs to July 2.

All mining payouts have been sent and everything should up to date. I took the day off from work this morning and have been doing additional efforts to deal with the corrupt database error I saw on 7/2 and to get your mining payouts sent out. chaeplin and Propulsion have been contacted to see if they've ever seen this database error or if this is recoverable somehow.

It appears to be a phantom self-payment after the database was rebuilt (transaction shows a weird time of 00:16; I wasn't even up at midnight but would match a database being rebuilt at a perceived system time of about 00:00): http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/coldwalletdisappears.png

If its an external payment its supposed to show the receiving address as solid black instead of gray and there shouldn't be parentheses around the address. If it's a self-payment for a cold wallet node registration its supposed to show as 0 DRK with an address of (n/a), and our balance isn't supposed to be affected.

If I could somehow freeze the sync at 7/1 and then move the coins elsewhere, everything would be hunky dory. I have to get some work at the lab done but I'll send out the latest spreadsheet links this evening (which includes more info on Node 3 problems with the Cold Wallet). If you don't already have it: Please download and run the Tor Onion Browser to be able to access the PM link(s).

Glad you're okay DZ, and that you got some much-needed R&R.
I would post those issues to darkcointalk ASAP; it definitely sounds like there's some major issues and it's wearing on your personal life...not good.
JL

Very unprofessional!  Please take me off the list.