Topic: EXPERTS ONLY !!!HOW to install electrum in linux with usb stick? (Read 5311 times)

ok thanks to all =)

Astronomically low probability, assuming the RNG is properly implemented.  For example, there was a bug on some android devices a while back that didn't generate proper random numbers, so the bitcoin addresses were compromised.

will electrum or any other bitcoin wallet generator , generates the same private keys? if so whats the probability?

Electrum 2.0 will allow 2 of 2 and 2 of 3 multisig deterministic wallets... This will mean you generate 2 - 3 different seeds, keep one offline, and one on your cell phone or something and even if one is compromised, you need the other to sign transactions.

But really, if you doubt chances that are larger than the number of atoms in the universe, I don't think anything will ever convince you you are safe.

Yeah who knows if someone would generate same as you even though it is a 1 in 341,543,870,028,173,427,817,970,975,906,360,000,000 chance.... Is that what you are saying?

You could also get attacked by wild monkeys while you are taking a bath.  Anything is possible.

ok.. i do know that the possibility of another offline computer with electrum generate the same seed and order as mine is very low.. but who knows that person first few tries and he might have the same seed and order as me...


i was wondering did it happen to anyone before since electrum started from 2011 to 2014??

That's a quirk that has a lot to do with your router at home, etc. Usually for me it just updates with a small time lag. But if you see it is taking a long time to update something you think should change.

1. Click Open Wallet From the file menu
2. select your wallet ("default_wallet")
3. Click "Open"

(So you basically are opening the wallet you already have open.)

This helps sometimes, and doesn't require restart.

ok thanks.. i also notice that on my seedless online computer i need to close and open electrum for it to refresh.. whats causing the problem? how to make it synchronize as real time as possible?

1. Always format the USB before saving the unsigned transaction on it.
2. Linux does not allow auto-running scripts on USB memory by default. (You would have to enable this by yourself... which would be dumb)
3. Your seed on your offline computer is encrypted (or at least SHOULD be encrypted.) so even IF you went into ubuntu and enabled auto-run for USB memory... you would still be safe if you had a good password.
4. The information you bring from your offline computer to your online computer is a tamper proof signed transaction. So once you sign the transaction on your offline computer, any alteration to the contents of the transaction will make it invalid.

tl;dr version. format the USB you're using to transfer the files before every transfer and don't enable auto-running of scripts on USB. (If you don't know what I am talking about, then you are safe. You would have to know about it and WANT to enable it in order to enable it.)

Edit: Also, when you use "Load Transaction" on your online computer and load the SIGNED transaction. Be sure to look at the transaction confirmation window and make sure all the outputs are correct. You should have the address you are sending to and then maybe another output sending to one of your "Change" addresses in there. One way the attacker could possible attack you is to change the transaction on your online computer before you save it to USB... But this attack is 100% preventable by checking the signed transaction on your online computer before clicking "broadcast".

Note: Checking the transaction on the offline computer will not work, because sometimes it doesn't recognize balance correctly / doesn't show your change addresses correctly because it doesn't have access to the blockchain. Offline computer is only for signing.

Just get python from python.org if sudo apt get command doesn't work.  get version 2.7. Because the  newer versions are not compatible.  You can get pip from https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/installing.html

For USB security you should have empty USB stick and scan it for viruses after you load unsigned transaction.

good link... but how about the security for using btcs offline using the sign method?
because what i know when u put the usb to the offline and sign.. and back to the online computer.. wont my private keys or seed be compromise? how to make sure that no viruses are in my usb while signing them?

http://pastebin.com/YhUj6fzt



the 12 word probability is one in 341,543,870,028,173,427,817,970,975,906,360,000,000

I rounded to the nearest 10 million because my calculator is old.

Edit: but to be honest, as long as you disconnect and reboot your system after downloading and installing Electrum, then after rebooting disconnected, you create your new wallet and never connect again, no one is gonna be waiting to send malware to a newly installed Linux system, and then what is it gonna do if it can't communicate with the network?

My link above is pretty complicated, but if you want to do it, go ahead.

The download > disconnect > create wallet method is good enough, I think.

ok this are the instructions given in the electrum website on installing them.. but i do not want to go to the internet from my linux to download because it defeats the purpose..
so can anyone tell me the commands lines to install from a usb stick and where to get the python qty and pip files?

Install python-qt4 and pip:
sudo apt-get install python-qt4 python-pip
On Ubuntu 13.10 do:
sudo apt-get install python-slowaes
Install electrum:
sudo pip install https://download.electrum.org/Electrum-1.9.8.tar.gz#md5=e3918fec0254267f08e41a1fb8691382
Run:
electrum


and whats the probability of more then 1 client that generate the same 12 words with the same order  ?