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Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: epeenor on January 21, 2013, 10:22:11 AM



Title: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: epeenor on January 21, 2013, 10:22:11 AM
I bought bitcoins for the first time and I put them into my bitcoin wallet (bitcoin.org, software on computer).

I didnt know the synchronizing network takes forever....so i cant access my bitcoins.

So this it what i did> i searched how to find the private key > i made account on blockchain.info and imported private key. I also synchronized the account with the "desktop sync".

I now have 2 same addresses 1 on bitcoin software and 1 on blockchain.info but i dont see my bitcoins?

What went wrong? the site i bought bitcoins is trusted finnish page and it says 0-1 days for transfer.

Are my bitcoins still stuck in the synchronizing or what? o_O


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:27:16 AM
Browse to http://blockchain.info and type the Bitcoin address (*not* the private key) into its Search and check what it says about the balance.

Assuming it is there then you just have to either wait for you client to "catch up" or change to a "lightweight" alternative client (such as "Electrum") that doesn't need the blockchain.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: epeenor on January 21, 2013, 10:32:22 AM
it still says 0. How long it takes to transfer the account from bitcoin software to blockchain.info? Because i did it about 30mins ago.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:34:22 AM
Okay - when you look at the address in blockchain.info does it have any tx's below it or does it say that it's probably a "new address"?


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: poblico on January 21, 2013, 10:36:31 AM
I had exactly the same problem (slow client) so I did the same and it worked fine for me.
blockchain.info on import I was asked if I wanted to swap (I think it means send the money from the address on my client to the blockchain address instead of importing the private key, that was the recommended option) so I did that and my money was sent immediately.

Hope you sort it out.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: epeenor on January 21, 2013, 10:37:24 AM
theres 2 addresses in the blockchain.info. I believe the first address is the default address from blockchain and the second address is exactly same as my bitcoin software address.

Did you mean these ? I clicked the address

Address (address here)

Hash 160 (dont know what this is)

Tools Taint Analysis - Related Tags

Transactions (Newest First)  
No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: thebaron on January 21, 2013, 10:39:22 AM
Welp, that will teach you to read the manual first.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:40:25 AM
Transactions (Newest First)  
No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet.

Yes - this is the relevant part - no tx has been detected - it would seem fairly likely that if after 30 minutes it does not even see an "unconfirmed" tx that the tx didn't actually occur (you did check "both" addresses?).


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: ingrownpocket on January 21, 2013, 10:42:50 AM
I don't understand the hesitation in posting here the address.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: John (John K.) on January 21, 2013, 10:43:11 AM
Transactions (Newest First)  
No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet.

Yes - this is the relevant part - no tx has been detected - it would seem fairly likely that if after 30 minutes it does not even see an "unconfirmed" tx that the tx didn't actually occur (you did check "both" addresses?).

Tl;dr: your bitcoins are not sent by the seller yet. Try contacting the seller.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:44:56 AM
I don't understand the hesitation in posting here the address.

I didn't ask for that as it is up to the OP if he wants to do that (am assuming he was able to paste it into blockchain.info himself per his reply to my question).


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:45:53 AM
Tl;dr: your bitcoins are not sent by the seller yet. Try contacting the seller.

John is almost certainly correct with this reply (I tend to take things slowly and to be overly thorough).


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: epeenor on January 21, 2013, 10:50:58 AM
Transactions (Newest First)  
No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet.

Yes - this is the relevant part - no tx has been detected - it would seem fairly likely that if after 30 minutes it does not even see an "unconfirmed" tx that the tx didn't actually occur (you did check "both" addresses?).

theres nothing else in the addresses. i still have 22k blocks to go and its really slow now...like 1 block every 3-5seconds...i guess its my only chance to see my bitcoins to wait it to synch to the end--


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on January 21, 2013, 10:53:05 AM
heres nothing else in the addresses. i still have 22k blocks to go and its really slow now...like 1 block every 3-5seconds...i guess its my only chance to see my bitcoins to wait it to synch to the end--

Just leave blockchain.info open on the address - if/when the BTC is sent you'll here a "beeping noise" telling you so.

As John suggested you might want to check with the sender that they actually have sent them (as it doesn't appear so).


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: ingrownpocket on January 21, 2013, 10:53:29 AM
Transactions (Newest First)  
No transactions found for this address, it has probably not been used on the network yet.

Yes - this is the relevant part - no tx has been detected - it would seem fairly likely that if after 30 minutes it does not even see an "unconfirmed" tx that the tx didn't actually occur (you did check "both" addresses?).

theres nothing else in the addresses. i still have 22k blocks to go and its really slow now...like 1 block every 3-5seconds...i guess its my only chance to see my bitcoins to wait it to synch to the end--

If it doesn't shown in blockchain.info (considering address is really the same), it won't show in your desktop client.
Contact the seller - like John said - and ask if they have sent the Bitcoins already.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: 0dayatciyam.org on February 04, 2013, 02:01:58 PM
Just leave blockchain.info open on the address - if/when the BTC is sent you'll here a "beeping noise" telling you so.

i wuld wonder who op really is? it seems you also lost a lot of bitcoin and should not be give advice,maybe keep working on your broken system. add some "beep" to that.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 04, 2013, 07:47:09 PM
i wuld wonder who op really is? it seems you also lost a lot of bitcoin and should not be give advice,maybe keep working on your broken system. add some "beep" to that.
What the heck are you talking about? I couldn't understand a thing you just said.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 04, 2013, 09:43:11 PM
I am having a similar problem, including an anxiety attack.

My Bitcoins have been sent, but not recieved.  My Bitcoin desktop wallet/client is not only OUT OF SYNC but displaying a message that says WARNING: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade! In the lower right hand corner the symbol indicates & is stuck on like 97% and has not budged or downloaded a single block for hours & hours ???

Is there a support department for the Bitcoin Desktop Wallet or can someone please assist. Please be clear and I will be very grateful.

Thnks
URGENT


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: Raoul Duke on February 04, 2013, 10:01:09 PM
i wuld wonder who op really is? it seems you also lost a lot of bitcoin and should not be give advice,maybe keep working on your broken system. add some "beep" to that.
What the heck are you talking about? I couldn't understand a thing you just said.

His username is very telling...


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 04, 2013, 10:24:43 PM
I am having a similar problem, including an anxiety attack.
First, you'll need to calm down.  Trying to address the situation while in the midst of an anxiety attack is a sure way to make a mistake, make things worse, and lose your bitcoins permanently.

Right now, assuming you haven't started messing around with deleting, re-installing, or moving your wallet yet, your bitcoins are almost certainly safe.  You can't see them because the wallet youa re using hasn't caught up with the blockchain yet, but they are probably still accessible.

If you know the bitcoin address that you expect to receive the bitcoins at, you can use the following link to see that they are fine.  Just replace the YOUR_BITCOIN_ADDRESS_HERE with the bitcoin address where you expect to receive the bitcoins:

https://blockchain.info/address/YOUR_BITCOIN_ADDRESS_HERE

If the bitcoin address that you expect to receive the bitcoins at is displayed in the "Receive Coins" tab of your wallet, then you almost certainly have the private key necessary to access those bitcoins.

Depending on how far behind your client is, it can take a long time to catch up with the synchronizing.  If this is a problem for you, you may want to consider accessing your bitcoins from a "lightweight" client such as Electrum or MultiBit, or even consider a web hosted wallet such as https://blockchain.info/wallet

It would be a good idea to make at least one backup of your wallet.dat file, just in case you mess things up accidentally while trying to solve your current issue.  The more recent versions of Bitcoin-Qt all have a menu option to "Backup Wallet".  That is probably the safest way to do it if you aren't comfortable moving files around by hand.

If you are sure you know what you are doing, you can also find the wallet.dat file on your computer and make a copy of it.  This is the only file you need to be able to recover your bitcoins.

If you want to use one of the lightweight wallets or the web hosted wallet, just say so, and I'll provide you instructions on how to get your bitcoins imported into the wallet you choose.

If you only want to use the Bitcoin-Qt reference client, and you are certain that it isn't downloading any blocks any longer, then just say so, and we'll see if we can get it restarted for you.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 05, 2013, 12:48:00 AM
Yes, DannyHamilton, thank you.

#1) "Receive Coins" has the 2 bitcoin addresses I used to have the bitcoins sent to (receive coins)..

#2) I believe I successfully made 2 backups of the wallet.dat file, to usb flash drives..as when I tryed to do it twice it asked if I wanted to replace the other...so that looks good..

#3) The client seems to be getting further behind as more blocks are stacking up but none being downloaded, it's like 92% now..

#4) I have not been able to get blockchain.info's wallet to work on this pc...so it appears I need to select one of the "lightweight" clients..

#5) I will select from one of your suggestions:  Electrum or MultiBit?  I havent looked at the yet?

#6) as far as the Bitcoin-Qt reference client not working, I can reinstall it later and move coins back to that app in the future? yes?

#7) I choose Electrum

OK, anything else?  Thanks again, DannyHamilton.



URGENT


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 05, 2013, 01:43:51 AM
#2) I believe I successfully made 2 backups of the wallet.dat file, to usb flash drives..as when I tryed to do it twice it asked if I wanted to replace the other...so that looks good..
This is good.  With this file, you should eventually gain access to your bitcoins even if you accidentally mess something up on your computer.

#6) as far as the Bitcoin-Qt reference client not working, I can reinstall it later and move coins back to that app in the future? yes?
Yes.  If you can ever get Bitcoin-Qt working on a computer, you can always send the bitcoins to that wallet.

#7) I choose Electrum

If you are using Windows you may not be able to import he private keys into Electrum.  It might still be a great choice for the future. You might want to consider setting up a temporary wallet at https://blockchain.info/wallet import the private key there and then send the bitcoins from there to your new Electrum wallet. You can download Electrum here:

http://electrum.org/download.html

If you are using some other operating system such as Linux or Apple's Lion, once you have it installed you can import your private keys using the instructions you'll find here:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Electrum#Export_and_import_addresses

To get the private keys for your addresses from your Bitcoin-Qt wallet:

  • Choose the "Help" menu
  • Choose "Debug window"
  • Choose "Console" in the Debug window

If you have encrypted your wallet, you'll need to enter the following into the console:

Code:
walletpassphrase YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE 600

Replacing YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE with your actual password.  This will unlock your wallet for 10 minutes (600 seconds).

To get your private keys, you'll need to enter the following into the console:

Code:
dumpprivkey BITCOIN_ADDRESS

Replacing BITCOIN_ADDRESS with the bitcoin address from your Receive Coins tab.  This will respond with your private key (it will start with either a 5, K, or L).  Do not give this private key to anyone.  With it they can take or spend your bitcoins.  This is the private key that you'll need to import into another wallet. If you want to access these bitcoins from some other wallet.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 05, 2013, 02:02:41 AM
Thank you, DannyHamilton..

Ok, I thought I covered it all..but I am using Windows XP..so I should have chosen the other lightweight client MultiBit? Correct? and the directions must be different ??  Can you send the procedure for that application please..Thanks again.


URGENT



Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 05, 2013, 02:11:19 AM
Thank you, DannyHamilton..

Ok, I thought I covered it all..but I am using Windows XP..so I should have chosen the other lightweight client MultiBit? Correct? and the directions must be different ??  Can you send the procedure for that application please..Thanks again.

URGENT
Unfortunately, I don't have much knowledge about MultiBit.  Perhaps someone else will stop by with more expertise on MultiBit who can explain how to import private keys.

As I mentioned, if you are using Windows, you might want to consider setting up a wallet at https://blockchain.info/wallet  It takes about 90 seconds to do.  Then you can import the private key there.  If you still want to use a lightweight wallet instead of a web hosted wallet, you can send your bitcoins from the blockchain.info wallet to your new Electrum wallet.



Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 05, 2013, 02:29:12 AM
What is the difference between using   https://blockchain.info/wallet   &   http://blockchain.info/wallet  ?


Thnks

URGENT


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: CIYAM on February 05, 2013, 02:34:01 AM
What is the difference between using   https://blockchain.info/wallet   &   http://blockchain.info/wallet  ?

Basically nothing as you'll find that you when you click on Login Now or pretty much any other button you end up in HTTPS anyway.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 05, 2013, 05:18:33 AM
Thanks for the assistance all. I'll give it a go..& let ya know, how I did.


URGENT


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 05, 2013, 05:35:56 AM
ONE MORE CLARIFICATION:  If I choose to import the Private Keys to the BlockChain Wallet do I use this string and replace Electrum with blockchain or BlockChain (does the caps matter ?)

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Electrum#Export_and_import_addresses

                                /blockchain#

or

                               /BlockChain#

Thnks

URGENT


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 05, 2013, 05:46:45 AM
ONE MORE CLARIFICATION:  If I choose to import the Private Keys to the BlockChain Wallet do I use this string and replace Electrum with blockchain . . .
No those instructions are only for importing a private key into Electrum.

To import private keys into a blockchain.info wallet, first create a wallet at the website, and then log into the wallet.

It should look like this:

https://i.imgur.com/ulIZFGW.png

Click on "Import/Export"

You should see the following:

https://i.imgur.com/37DAGIa.png

Click on "I Understand"

You should see the following:

https://i.imgur.com/GOSxRzS.png

Enter your private key in the text entry box under "Import Private Key" and click the "Add Private Key" button


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: 0dayatciyam.org on February 05, 2013, 11:17:23 AM
What is the difference between using   https://blockchain.info/wallet   &   http://blockchain.info/wallet  ?

Basically nothing as you'll find that you when you click on Login Now or pretty much any other button you end up in HTTPS anyway.


are you sure you know what is this https? seeing your screen is easy for me,but inside head not so much.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: LoveSosa on February 05, 2013, 11:51:51 AM
losing bitcoins is like losing real money am i correct?


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: ingrownpocket on February 05, 2013, 12:33:12 PM
losing bitcoins is like losing real money am i correct?
Losing Bitcoins is like losing Bitcoins. They're unique, and whenever I lose them (not that frequent) it feels like I lost x10 the total worth value in $.


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: Gabi on February 05, 2013, 03:16:08 PM
losing bitcoins is like losing real money am i correct?
1 bitcoin is worth 20$

I suppose you already know the answer  :D


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 25, 2013, 08:45:34 AM
I'm stuck. Trying to retrieve Private Key from Satoshi Bitcoin Client. Can anyone help me with this error code, please? Thanks.

Safe mode: Warning: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade. (code -2)


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: afbitcoins on February 25, 2013, 01:45:53 PM
I had problems similar to that described (using bitcoin-qt in linux) the client said it was catching up, but after hours nothing had updated at all, not a single block.

What I had to do to fix it was, keeping a copy of the Wallet.dat file first (this is most important, don't want to lose that). I renamed (or delete) the old bitcoin folder. I also upgraded the client to the latest version and ran it. I noticed that a new bitcoin folder was created, stopped the client, and replaced the new wallet.dat file with the one I had copied earlier. I then restarted the client. There were messages saying transactions had not been verified etc, however I could see that there was movment and it was processing blocks.

I left it running for about 3 days and nights before it was up-to-date but eventually it did catch up. I'll stick with this client just now because i think people running that helps the health of the network, however it does seem that eventually everyone will have to move to thin clients as the blockchain just becomes too big..


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 25, 2013, 11:01:35 PM
I am having a similar problem, including an anxiety attack.
First, you'll need to calm down.  Trying to address the situation while in the midst of an anxiety attack is a sure way to make a mistake, make things worse, and lose your bitcoins permanently.

Right now, assuming you haven't started messing around with deleting, re-installing, or moving your wallet yet, your bitcoins are almost certainly safe.  You can't see them because the wallet youa re using hasn't caught up with the blockchain yet, but they are probably still accessible.

If you know the bitcoin address that you expect to receive the bitcoins at, you can use the following link to see that they are fine.  Just replace the YOUR_BITCOIN_ADDRESS_HERE with the bitcoin address where you expect to receive the bitcoins:

https://blockchain.info/address/YOUR_BITCOIN_ADDRESS_HERE

If the bitcoin address that you expect to receive the bitcoins at is displayed in the "Receive Coins" tab of your wallet, then you almost certainly have the private key necessary to access those bitcoins.

Depending on how far behind your client is, it can take a long time to catch up with the synchronizing.  If this is a problem for you, you may want to consider accessing your bitcoins from a "lightweight" client such as Electrum or MultiBit, or even consider a web hosted wallet such as https://blockchain.info/wallet

It would be a good idea to make at least one backup of your wallet.dat file, just in case you mess things up accidentally while trying to solve your current issue.  The more recent versions of Bitcoin-Qt all have a menu option to "Backup Wallet".  That is probably the safest way to do it if you aren't comfortable moving files around by hand.

If you are sure you know what you are doing, you can also find the wallet.dat file on your computer and make a copy of it.  This is the only file you need to be able to recover your bitcoins.

If you want to use one of the lightweight wallets or the web hosted wallet, just say so, and I'll provide you instructions on how to get your bitcoins imported into the wallet you choose.

If you only want to use the Bitcoin-Qt reference client, and you are certain that it isn't downloading any blocks any longer, then just say so, and we'll see if we can get it restarted for you.

Hello Danny,

Are you still out there?   I cant get the private keys because when I enter:  dumpprivkey (BCAddress) , press enter , gives an error message:  Safe mode: Warning: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade. (code -2) ??

Is it still possible to try and get the Bitcoin-Qt reference client restarted ?  per your suggestion? --> ..." ,and you are certain that it isn't downloading any blocks any longer, then just say so, and we'll see if we can get it restarted for you."

Thanks


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: DannyHamilton on February 25, 2013, 11:08:48 PM
Hello Danny,

Are you still out there?   I cant get the private keys because when I enter:  dumpprivkey (BCAddress) , press enter , gives an error message:  Safe mode: Warning: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade. (code -2) ??

Is it still possible to try and get the Bitcoin-Qt reference client restarted ?  per your suggestion? --> ..." ,and you are certain that it isn't downloading any blocks any longer, then just say so, and we'll see if we can get it restarted for you."

Thanks

Can you get a screen capture of the error and send it to me?  I've not seen that error before, and I'm not sure what is occurring.

If you want to try to synchronize your Bitcoin-Qt wallet again...
There is a new version of the client available (version 0.8.0).  This version synchronizes much faster (only took 2 days for my computer).

Keep your backups of your wallet.dat file stored safely somewhere.

Remove your current Bitcoin-Qt from your computer.

Make sure that the %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\  directory in Windows is empty.

Download the new Bitcoin-Qt 0.8.0 from bitcoin.org and install it.

Wait for the synchronization to catch up.

When it is fully synchronized, shut down Bitcoin-Qt (wait for it to shut down completely)

Replace the wallet.dat in the %APPDATA%\Bitcoin\ with one of your wallet.dat backups.

Restart Bitcoin-Qt


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 26, 2013, 12:58:23 AM
Well, i'm already updating but the error was exactly as I had written it out.  Umm, I did copy the wallet.dat too 2 different flash drives and also saved it to my documents I believe. I opened, the wallet.dat file, that up last night & I couldn't make heads nor tails with what was in it? I just hope that it copied the right thing, because I think the bitcoin-qt was already frozen or possibly corrupted as the one gentleman wrote. I did see that the addresses that were in version7.2 were still there, as it was updating to 8.0. One is named "The first address I sent Coins to"," The second address I sent Coins too", then 3rd address (undeclared), 4th address (undeclared) & 5th address (undeclared). The reindexing of blocks was going very rapidly but looks like it may have slowed down, only 22,000 left. Seeing how the "recieving coins" addresses are still in the bitcoin-qt wont it pull down the two purchases I made that are currently in Limbo (I found them on Blockchain's address look-up) and complete the transactions? Wont the private keys be there as well-like I said cuz the addresses are still there?

sr


Title: Re: Bitcoins are lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 26, 2013, 01:06:30 AM
I guess I'll let it catch up and see what is or isn't there.  I may need a little more tutoring on how to swap those files..I will give you a buzz later. Thanks for your help.

sr


Title: Re: Bitcoins are NO LONGER lost?
Post by: URGENT on February 26, 2013, 10:31:18 AM
We have Success ! Thanks for the help & ideas !  Since updating the software essentially unlocked it, I stopped the program. Went to the console and dumped the Private Keys, imported them into blockchain, boom ! COINS ! Added some more security features, feel pretty good right now !

sr