Topic: How can I manually re-add a receiving address in MultiBit Classic Wallet-Corrupt (Read 1306 times)

The receiving address keys are generated as follows:

+ One key is generated when the wallet is created for the very first time.
+ When the user clicks on 'New' on the Request page, selects the number of keys to create, enters wallet password and then clicks 'Create new'.

You have to have the address first in the wallet so that it knows which transactions to look for from the Bitcoin network.

Thank you for your reply jim618. Due to my work schedule I have not yet had enough time to do anything with it just yet.

From what your saying that generation process of "the private key is derived from a random number that is created on your machine." That is very helpful and makes this worth pursuing. Im trying now to narrow the search somewhat as I know when it was disrupted but not when that key is supposed to be created. Do you know the sequence that key creation takes place? When does the key generation happen? and when does it get written to backup? after the coin is confirmed or at the beginning of confirmation process? or when the receiving address is generated beforehand?

At what point in time does MultiBit create that private key will be very helpful...when I created a new receiving address or after a sum of BTC has been confirmed as received? This would be helpful as I am wondering if the key was not created yet. The interruption happened sometime after the confirmation process started but long before completion. If the key is created after confirmation then it was not created yet, and I wonder if retrieving or manually entering the receiving address somehow into MultiBit wallet would then have it complete and create the key IF it works in that sequence. As the process never got that far along yet. On the other-hand if the key is generated by my MultiBit wallet at the same time the receiving address was then I will know I must locate that and that time of creation I know and can then narrow the files to look into. Im trying to narrow down which process to use.

I created the new receiving address, sent that address to payer and after the confirmation process started (it was slow) that is when the interruption occurred. When restarting MultiBit I got "null" and had to reopen wallet which then no longer had the receiving address weather it retrieved from last known key set and deleted the partial confirmation Im not knowledgeable enough to figure that one out...The missing receiving address did not appear even after the blockchain was run again...so no more of the confirmation process started either.

The point in the sequence of MultiBit generation of the key for the newly created receiving address would be helpful. If not yet generated would it be possible with getting the receiving address again and running the blockchain get the confirmation key to generate?  Thank you again.

With MultiBit Classic the private key is derived from a random number that is created on your machine.
It is not on the blockchain (otherwise anyone could steal your bitcoin).

Is your wallet encrypted ? i.e. does it have a password set ?
If so then in addition to any backups/ rolling backups you have you should also have an encrypted export of all your private keys.
See:
https://multibit.org/en/help/v0.5/help_fileDescriptions.html

When you create a new address in classic a timestamped expoort of your private keys is saved to disk. It is encrypted with your wallet password. As these are never deleted there can be very useful in recovering wallets.

To use them create anew wallet and then run through the steps in :
https://multibit.org/en/help/v0.5/help_importingPrivateKeys.html

Open to any suggestions...

I am in the process of looking at all the deleted files on the USB disk where MultiBit resides using recovery software. Trying to determine where and if there was ever any private key to recover it.

There appears that the private key was not deleted as there is none for that time period so it was not received before the disruption. I recall it only started the confirmation process. I used the wallet infrequently. Previous time being last year (2014). Since there was no private key, could I not reestablish the wallet as it was at the about or prior to the point in time of the disruption and have it complete or run the blockchain to get the private key? There are numerous wallet files which I can see all with time dates which were deleted that are recoverable. I assume that it the rolling backup wallet files perhaps? I can even read the contents of the text ones and am seeing the actual receiving address (that I wanted to manually put into my wallets list) it is in a wallet file that is still deleted and recoverable probably. Ive not done anything as Im trying to figure out what procedure to do in what order as far as un-deleting files. I dont want to make a bigger mess either.

In addition I have a second copy of the same wallet on another USB drive which had the key from last use prior to generating the new receiving address which was disrupted when conformation was just starting. That second USB drive I did run the blockchain on and it did not have that receiving address...only syncronized and brought the chain up to date.

I would like to attempt to recover but am still trying to think through what would be most likely to work to or highest probability of success. I was thinking to how can I reestablish the wallet at or prior to time of disruption (with that receiving address) and then see if it will show the coins confirmation then save so there is a private key. Does this make any sense? OR is there a better more likely to get success approach? Any suggestions appreciated. thanks

It is possible to import private keys into Multibit classic, there should be an option for it. However you will need the private key, and if you don't have that, you won't be able to recover the address. It looks like you don't have the private key anymore, so the Bitcoin is lost.

However, if you do have the private key, just put it in a text file and save that file with a .key extension. Then through multibit's import interface, you can import the private key.

Also, I recommend that you upgrade to Multibit HD or any other deterministic wallet. Deterministic wallets will prevent against this type of loss so you will always have access to your Bitcoin as long as you have the seed.

How can I manually add a receiving address to my multibit classic wallet? Corruption of .Info file destroyed an address generated by MultiBit I sent to payer. After restoration back to last good copy, the receiving address (which I sent to the payer) is no longer listed in my wallet in the list of receiving address in my MultiBit v0.5.16 wallet. Due to an interruption in transfer during confirmation or power outage or usb disconnect (take your pick) that address disappeared because of interruption.

The .info file for that .wallet event and time is totally corrupted from the power interruption. That probably explains the loss of the receiving address. My question and I should probably have been clearer about asking is "how can I manually add a receiving address to my multibit wallet receiving address list??" I know the receiving address and the precise amount as I sent it to the exchange and I can see it on the blockchain as one transaction at the address I sent the payer...Just am missing the receiving address in my wallet and as I was watching it be confirmed when the sudden interruption happened before the key export or clean exit could happen. When opening it again I now have the receiving address missing from the wallet list. The info file for that was totally unreadable and corrupted. I restored from the prior one. That was ok and then ran the blockchain again. However that put me back in time, before the new address was generated. The address was not there of course because of the info file corruption which has the address list and payment.

I tried generating another new address and it is not the same as the one that was generated previously and I sent to the payer. I understand that Multibit does not have a pool of receiving addresses included so its probably generating new each time.

My question is how to manually to enter a receiving address into multibit wallet receiving address list? I know the address as I sent it to the payer. I dont know how to put it into the info file? Tried it and didnt work... so please help.

How can I restore a specific missing address back into my wallet?? As I believe it would then reappear and complete the transaction if it was back on my address list. Thank you