Bitcoin Forum

well guys, BOTH my installs have broken down at the same time, in different ways, and I'm at a bit of a loss

Let's start with the one on my main box so as to not muddy the waters.  This one was working fine till about 2 days ago.  Win7/64, Armory0.96.3, was syncing to an ABC node to extract BCH, its wallets are empty of BTC and BCH, I was content to leave it running on ABC for now and wait for the BTG signer to come along.

It has taken to hanging on the very first splash, full green bar at the top "Loading:100%" blue windows swirly if you mouse over it.  If you click on it "ArmoryQT.exe is not responding"

It does not seem to ever spawn the DB, checking in task manager.

clean log https://pastebin.com/dzW6Y2Qr

thanks

Is ArmoryDB running in the task manager already? If so, kill it and try again.

(Also, just to clarify, I assume you're not trying to run both instances of Armory on the same machine, or at least at the same time.)

no no no, other box is other box

This looks like the bug with RC2, but you are using RC3, which is weird.
Using a shortcut to launch, right? Change the "Start In" field to "D:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\"
See if that does anything.

Alternatively, launch ArmoryDB yourself with all the params above.

Yes, already was, save for the last \, adding that did not change the behavior.



cmd window syntax;

ArmoryQT.exe  --satoshi-datadir="E:\BCashChain\blocks" --datadir="D:\armory" --dbdir="D:\armory\databases"

same behavior

ArmoryDB.exe  --satoshi-datadir="E:\BCashChain\blocks" --datadir="D:\armory" --dbdir="D:\armory\databases"

'ArmoryDB.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.


Thanks for your patience with my relative illiteracy guys, I feel like I have the opportunity to really learn something here.

1) Use RC3

2) Use config files

3) You can't mix and match chains and DBs. Use a dedicated folder for each

4) What BCH node are you using? Armory is not compatible anymore with that stuff since they changed the address format and magic number.

am


OK goatpig, I will figure out the config file syntax and location, I promise, and wean myself off of shortcut args, but it was working fine until the other day and I want to understand


I believe I understand and am adhering to this, the BTC chain is in its own folder on an entirely different drive and I nuked my BTC Armory DB in the process of getting the BCH setup working so I only have one.


ABC, and again, it was working until 2 days ago and I did not change anything

Which version of ABC are you using? I seem to recall something about 0.16.1 working but 0.16.2 not working. There could be other timebombs in the code, changes to the network, etc. Have there been any recent changes in the Bcash network that you're aware of?

As for asking about ArmoryDB, I asked because a previously running instance of ArmoryDB would prevent spawning. If you've checked the task manager and ArmoryDB just never runs, then yeah, that's a problem of some sort. I just wanted to confirm.

0.16.1, this was, in fact, the golden spike that got my BCH setup finally working in the other thread.  No timebombs that I know of, but I don't really follow Vercoin developments so it is possible.  Still, wouldn't the DB spawn but then ack?


Yeah, I understand about killing DB, that was the first thing I checked.

That got me confused.


I understand your point but this is something you can investigate later, once you have a functional system. For now, since you are requesting assistance, you need to follow the instructions you are given, which allows for controlling the environment.


You have to cd to the folder containing ArmoryDB.exe to run it from the command line (or type in the full binary path). At any rate, delete dbLog.txt, setup your armorydb.conf and go run the DB from the command line.

fair enough

but first


Upon closer inspection, I am not seeing ArmoryDB.exe anywhere...starting to wonder if I have an impending drive issue

You mean ArmoryDB can't be found where Armory is installed? (I assume it's in that location. I've never installed Armory on my Windows VM.) If so, then yeah, that's weird. Are you having other issues with your system? I ask because I just had a drive fail on me on my NAS, along with one of the slots dying. :/ Was able to recover the data on the dying drive and swap in a fresh drive - haven't tried swapping out on the drive from the dead bay - but drives can go bad quickly if you're not on top of things.

yeah, definitely on alert for hardware issues now, comparing the \Armory folder with the other box it looks like I am missing 4 files, and they are not in the bin so not a fat finger or cat on kbd thing...

I think I will do a reinstall and keep an eye on things.

If you can, also do a SMART scan or whatever. Not sure what does it on Windows but I'm sure there are a million programs that can check the health of your hard drive. If it's failing, grab a new one (or an SSD if you can afford it), back up what you can, and swap the drives out.

Do you use an antivirus? If so, check the quarantine container.

Yeah, I actually have a NVMe setup ready to go in this one as the boot drive which will bump its current SSD boot drive down the totem pole


I just run MBAM every so often, have my browser locked down pretty hard, and don't click on random shit...so the mystery on that remains


So, everything is running fine with the reinstall, it picked up its old DB seamlessly, which was nice, let's get me up to speed on the config file stuff.

I am assuming it/they go in the \Armory folder with the executables.  Goatpig mentioned armorydb.conf, is there also an armory.conf?

Is the syntax the same as the shortcut args?

Armory data directory usually (C:\Users\stg\AppData\Roaming\Armory\). armoryqt.conf is the main one and you probably won't need the armorydb.conf if you're launching the db from Armory's GUI.
Same syntax, but no leading dashes: satoshi-datadir= not --satoshi-datadir=

ok

my armory data directory is custom, D:\armory

just help me understand, if I throw the config file in there, and then launch Armory with an unmodified shortcut...how would it even know where to look?

The config file is placed in the default Armory folder. When Armory starts, it reads the config file and uses any custom directories you've included there. This is also how Bitcoin Core works.

ahhhhhh, ok, to the C drive I go, thanks Holliday



hmmm

guess I should try one thing at a time...lol

took those lines out and it worked

These are lines for the node, i.e. they go into bitcoin.conf.

got it

thank you

tomorrow we can dive into the other box that steadfastly refuses to path

OK, first off, thanks for bearing with me folks.  It seems like I made nearly every possible mistake in that last process.  I am assimilating information though, and feel like that filled in some rather glaring gaps in my understanding.

So the other box, this one is really odd.  It used to work, it has probably been almost a year now though.  As I recall I was making some hardware changes and moving drives around and it never worked again.  I have battered myself against it multiple times, to the point of complete uninstall/reinstall cycles only to eventually give up in despair.

The behavior is that it refuses to recognize custom pathing args.  It just seems to ignore them.  It does not matter if they are entered under the file/settings/general/let Armory...dialog, as a shortcut arg or in a .conf file (I tried last night after getting that straight).

Win7pro 64
Core 0.15.1
RC3

armorylog entering args with armoryqt.conf https://pastebin.com/6KAhxf6U

the pathing SHOULD BE "G:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ArmoryQt.exe" -- satoshi-datadir="G:\Blockchain\blocks" --datadir="G:\armory" or the syntactical varient for the entry method

armorylog entering args with shortcut https://pastebin.com/WRJeHmRi

I apologize in advance, history would suggest that I am missing something embarrassingly boneheaded and obvious.

There is a space between -- and satoshi above, and in your logs for the shortcut version.

oh god...the shame

that hooked up, took it a while to finish up its database as it has not synced in a year or so

totally embarrassing, a little bit of dyslexia goes a long way in computers...

To rub salt in the wound, I had somehow managed to save armoryqt.conf.txt  which of course didn't work.

I'm going to go sit in the corner with the duncecap on now.

Good to know you're up and running again.
Don't beat yourself up - Having another set of eyes have a look things over works wonders - pretty sure that, at some point, everyone has been blind to some minor issue hiding in plain sight :)