My wallet also says Minting suspended due to locked wallet, do I have to have an unlocked wallet to gain interest?
Thanks!
go the the console and type:
walletpassphrase
You only need to open and unlock your client once per 90 days to get the max 1.5% annual interest, that is called 'max weight'. If you get interest at every 30 days then the annual interest is more like 1.2%.
So take your wallet.dat file or private key and put it in (several) secure places and then remove it from your computer. Restart your client with a brand new wallet.dat file (and hence zero balance wallet). Once per 90 days toss in your main wallet.dat file or import your private key and collect your interest. At max weight, the PoS reward should be damn near instant.