Bitcoin Forum

This is probably one reason most average people will not use Bitcoin. The client needs to JUST WORK!! I'm so pissed right now because my bitcoin client has been showing 0.00 for my address wich has 1.001 in it. I've tried everything from trying different port # (9050,8333) to deleting the addr.dat file.

And this is the only client available at the moment right? Why don't any of the online "Banks" let us just upload our wallet.dat because I don't see any other way around this. I've tried transfering my wallet to another computer and still ballance is zero, not enuf F'ing connections. What do I have to do to get these dumb nodes to connect so I can be part of this stupid network.

Ok, let me calm down. This sucks. Maybe we need Apple to create a Bitcoin Client that actually works and I don't even use Mac. I can't believe this whole network relies on a single experimental, halfbaked software.  >:(

How many connections? What block are you up to? Why would you change the port number? How long have you left the client running? (It can take a day or so to sync up to the network, 8 hours is typical.)

I've been using it for almost a week. For about 4 days it's been stuck at 130687 blocks. The reason I changed it is because I had to try as many things as I could, I've put it back on the default 9050 now.

ZERO connections, great! Hate to say this but if we rely on this stupid client, this currency aint goin nowhere. Where can I go beg so i can get some connections.

jesus christ dude 99.999999999999% of people aren't having an issue, you think it might be user error on your end perhaps?

Your argument is that Bitcoin will not become popular because the 'average person' will encounter 'faults in the client', when in reality the overwhelming majority of Bitcoin users of all demographics encounter zero errors or faults.

Well tell me what i'm doin wrong.

First, the default port is 8333, not 9050. I can't guarantee that anything will work properly if you change that.

Second, you never answered whether you had any connections, and how many. If you don't have any connections then you need to get some. Try forwarding port 8333 from your home router.

Finally, this is the Bitcoin forum. We WANT you to have your bitcoins. So if you're having trouble, consider that it's probably something that (1) is easy to fix, and (2) people here will want to help you fix, if you don't piss them off in the process.

I've put it back on 8333 an now I get 1 or 2 connections, but blocks don't change at all.

yes, and yes. I've tried temporarily turning off ESET firewall and Windows firewall. Also, I've setup port forwarding but still max connection i've got is 2 and no change in block count.

What version of the client are you running?  I find that 0.2.23 is vastly improved with regard to finding and maintaining connections ...and downloading blocks.  With 0.3.22 I often had to let the client run for hours before it would download the last few hundred blocks.

Do you have more than one router? If so, then the port must be forwarded in both routers.

I'm using v. 3.23-beta, have only one router, forwarding is to correct IP. I guess maybe when I turn off my PC at night that couses a problem, if so, that is an issue with the software.

Considering Steve's suggestion, I'm going to try downgrading.

That will indeed cause a problem; Bitcoin will have to catch up every time it's restarted. If you're willing to wait for Bitcoin to catch up, then it isn't a problem. But if you aren't willing to wait, then you should leave it running 24x7.


I think you mean upgrading; I am sure that "0.2.23" was a typo and that he meant 0.3.23.

But what about peers, does it affect # of cnx this much to restart the PC?

Yes, you start from zero every time you restart Bitcoin. It does keep a cache of recently seen peers (in addr.dat file) but that doesn't necessarily mean any of them are online, especially if they too shut off their computers at night. :)

It would be great if there was a public list of peers that I can add to my addr.dat file, kinda like with BitTorrent. Is this planned for future releases? And I don't understand why it can't save the last block info/calculation whatever then resume from there. anyway, I'll leave the PC on tonight and see tomorrow. Thanks all for helping.

Also, a console to show the Clients activities would help, if any Dev member is listening.

I was having the same issue, then when upgrading to the new client I realized I was getting good connections and the block number was updating properly.  Then I noticed after shutting off my computer for the night the following day the Bitcoin client was stuck again.  I figured out that uninstalling and re-installing was the only solution however now what I am doing is backing up my wallet then deleting the wallet from the app file then I restart the client and it starts over again downloading and updating. Sounds tedious I know but it works. Not sure if my wallet is corrupt but it works well with the -rescan feature.

Connecting to specific nodes has existed for a very long time (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Fallback_nodes).

There is a list of peers built into the client, and it tracks peers discovered across sessions. One issue is that only a limited number of clients can accept incoming connections, so you will be able to get many more connections and do so faster if you can accept incoming connections.