Bitcoin Forum

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8/2 Update: Sigh, seeing too many problems with this RC3 beta software and too much rebuilds and re-activations needed at the moment IMO. Nodes 2, 4, 5 to be refunded late 8/2 with no refund penalty.

I may reopen this service again after RC5 or Version 1.0, if node stability improves a lot.


==

BATCH 1 CLOSED - 1.5% Management Fees, Setup Service Fees Waived

BATCH 2 CLOSED - 1.5% Management Fees, Setup Service Fees Waived)
Accepting Waiting List, new Batch 2 Waiting List sign-ups end 5/31 9PM HST

BATCH 3 CLOSED - (3% Management Fees, 30 15 (Until 6/21 6/18) FREE DRK MN Setup Service Fees, Sign up for B3 reservations end: Wednesday, 6/18 9PM HST.

6/19 Update: Unless you previously contacted me here, Reddit, or Darkcoin Talk regarding a B3 reservation: Batch 3 is now Closed. We're at 5 Community Nodes funded, so far!

BATCH 4 - UPCOMING - No firm ETA, Batch 1 Full node Q must clear first before Batch 4 Partial Nodes become available.
--

7/1 Update: There's partial funds for a Node #5! If you're interested please send a deposit to Batch 3 wallet address and please follow the instructions below.

6/2 Update: Estimated Monthly Operating Costs Per Team per DZ DRK MasterNode: Standard Package, meets FIPAA, NIST, PCI DSS 2.0, SAS 70 standards among others: Only $12 per month per Team for Highest Quality Professional Server Co-location Hosting + Power/AV/FW/DDOS protection! [Batch 1 stake owners are exempt from these monthly fees and management fees]

New! You may now opt to "pay as you go" for pre-configured pro level protection for all of the 5 services listed above + DZ DRK MN Management Services at only $1.50 per 25% MN stake per payout! (250 DRK coins out of 1000 DRK)

Estimated Monthly operating costs do not include a 1.5 - 3% Management Fee. Please see the bottom of Page 2 of this thread for a sample DZ DRK MN payout for a typical 250 DRK coin 25% stake.

Server Setup, MasterNode software installation and configuration, Network Administration, Network Security, & Pen Testing provided by a veteran Network Engineer who specializes in InfoSec and has multiple designed and certified DoD accredited systems and LANs as part of a design and installation history accumulated over 10+ years.

6/6/14 update: we're live on our first community node! Node payment start has been pushed back to 6/18 by Darkcoin dev team.

6/10 update: RC3 launch pushed back to 6/27 to thoroughly test upgrades and patches before public release. This is a good thing as the market tends to punish those who can't protect their own coins key variables & rules (double spending is an example of the abuse of the variables involved).

Devs are also adding the ability to hold the 1000DRK offsite (pref.in cold storage) which also reduces some of the incentive for trying to break into a MN.

With that in mind, we'll launch nodes at a slower pace which allows me to take even more time locking down security, which should be multi-layered and multi faceted, and requires constant attention as to the latest zero days and other cyber threats.

Also: since there's been another two week delay I'm now offering free MN setups for those that sign up before the 21st!

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Minimum Stake: 250 DRK minimum needed for a 25% stake, client may own entire DRK MN.
Small teams simplify accounting, paperwork and decision making.

We may consider 10% stakes on Batch 3 (Please send a PM if this interests you).

**  By Request: 10% Ownership stakes are Now available for Batch 3 until June 21, 9PM HST! **


Developer Update: MasterNode Payments have now doubled from 10% to 20%!
Source - https://twitter.com/DarkcoinCrypto/status/471332917235290114


New! Earn a 10% referral fee on 2 months of Darkcoin MasterNode Management Fees!

Simply tell your friends about this new service and have them mention your name when contacting us. If your referral decides to have us set up and/or manage their DRK MN, then you get 10% of the Management Fees for Two Months (+ 10% of Service Fees!)! [Offer limited to veteran BTC Talk members to reduce fraud. 10% Referral Fees are limited to members with an activity level more than 25]



I hope to offer the first legitimate matching service of vetted network engineers and administrators and those seeking help with securely setting up and/or managing their own Darkcoin MasterNode or DRK MN. I have a long history of helping others, standing up for fellow miners, and NOT taking community funds entrusted to me for volume priced miners that are NOT mine, when I founded DyslexicZombei's Miners Cooperative, the largest Bitcoin public miner's co-op of 2013.

I've discussed my credentials for holding such an important supervisory and security position in these threads below on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/268lnf/looking_for_a_5050_master_node_partner/

Helping others and volunteering in my local community is something I do for free:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/26ezfk/traded_all_my_dogecoins_for_darkcoin/
http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/26ffx8/shibe_herejust_checking_you_guys_out/
http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/26fmsf/im_thinking_of_setting_up_a_website_to_provide/
http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/26fvs9/i_want_to_be_part_of_a_masternode_but/

...and all over the internet from here, to Reddit, to Surfermag BB (user KauaiDKer, ID est. 2005), ebay (with my wife rainbowlady03, trust rating 162), and real life.


Benefits of running a Darkcoin MasterNode vs. ordering a Bitcoin Miner:

- Appreciates in value over time: One month ago on April 27, the USD value of a DRK node's reserved coins was $1.6K. On May 13, 14 days ago it was $2.7K. Today on May 27, it currently requires approx. $12K worth of reserved DRK to start a node.
- So far: Does NOT depreciate in value at double digits every month like a Bitcoin Miner which continuously yields less BTC as difficulty skyrockets
- Receives 10% 20%! of DRK coins generated on the DRK MN (5/27 dev. Update)
- Provides a revenue stream that pays out in DRK coins, the fastest growing major alt-coin, which has outperformed BTC growth in value tremendously in the last few months.
- To get started: Does NOT rely on an ASIC mfg. that may either keep the funds (looking at you HashFast) or delivers late and/or overpriced hardware that likely will never ROI.
- Coins can be removed at any time (but ownership transfers using separate transactions should be utilized instead of withdrawing coins from the team's 1000 reserved DRK for the MN when switching partial stake owners)

SERVICES OFFERED

1. DARKCOIN MASTERNODE SETUP AND HANDOFF
2. DARKCOIN MASTERNODE SETUP AND MANAGEMENT SERVICES
3. MATCHMAKING SERVICES (Planned)

1. I, or an IT Network Professional I personally vet, will set up and handoff your own Darkcoin MasterNode for a service fee of 30 DRK and/or perform ongoing management services. This includes setting up and securing pro-level protection for antivirus, firewall, and DDOS protection which *must* be paid by the team of 2-4 people setting up a DRK MN. Any used admin accounts will be handed over for Password changes. Beyond normal setup of security, we will not responsible for on-going security and losses incurred due to poor or non-existent security after the handoff. The handoff assumes that the client will have pro level firewall and DDOS protections that we installed kept in place and subcriptions kept active.

2. I, or an IT Network Professional I personally vet, will set up for a service fee of 30 DRK (setup fees are waived for Batches 1 and 2!) and manage your DRK MN for an agreed upon rate of 1.5% (recommended) to 3%. As a benefit to Batch 1-2 Partners for being first to recognize the value of them, these first Nodes will be services will only be managed at only 1.5%!

Payouts are twice a month minus the agreed upon management fee of 1.5% for Batches 1 & 2. Payouts and accounting of stake ownerships will be handled by thomas_s. , the head of logistics for MinerSource.net and my co-founder of the DZ MC. His integrity in the Crypto community is without question and he has handled literally thousands of BTC worth of the community's funds and mining hardware without issue.

3. (Planned) Please contact me if you are a Network Engineer or Administrator and you would like to help others set up their own Darkcoin MasterNodes. You must be willing to share your personal ID and your LinkedIn info to confirm your credentials to become vetted. So far, I have protected the personal information of about 12 vetted Group Buy Coordinators and/or Miner Hosts on this forum.


** For Engineers and Administrators who are referred to setting up or managing a client's DRK MN, a one time 10% Referral fee of management fees for the first month or 10% of the service fee is sent to DZ for helping to set up this matchmaking service, vetting qualified network professionals, and acting as a marketing agent for network pros. **


Referral fees will go to this DRK address: XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ

Resources Needed:

1000 DRK - Reserved only for function of the DRK MN. Can be removed at any time at loss of node function, so technically is not a "cost"

Costs Varies - Hardware or virtual hardware hosting (Amazon's cheapest ECS is sufficient), antivirus (highly recommended), firewall (mandatory, pro level recommended), DDOS protection (mandatory, pro level protection is MANDATORY or we will not be involved: typically costs for DDOS are $50-60 month fee for 1st level pro protection). Choose your own software suite or have me handle this for you at retail costs.


Quotes for the above hardware/software are customized based on client decisions OR we can handle these decisions for you and give you a non-marked up base quote should you not have the expertise to decide on a package. In other words no extra cost is added by us. Quotes prepped for hardware/software will be actual hardware and subscription costs at the same price as normal retail.

6/2 Update: Estimated costs for having me handle all of the above at normal retail costs = $8.50 - $10 per month per 25% DRK MN Stake Owner for my Standard Software Protection Suite Package - which includes hosting and a comprehensive security suite - chosen by a veteran IT Security Pro.

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Set Up Process

A. 2 to 4 people agree to set up a MasterNode together at 25% stakes for 4 stakes total per DRK MN team (excluding the first DRK MN we set up which will be setup as a 45/55 shared node). Trust should have been already been built among the team in some way such as thru a vetted network engineer or veteran miner who serves as the team leader.

B. Secure resources: 1) The team secures and sets up their own hardware, ISP service, professional antivirus, firewall, and DDOS protection pre-paid by the client either directly to the relevant 4 vendors of this hardware and these services.

Alternatively, you can have all of this easily set this up thru us in 1 total payment instead of 4 (and professional hosting at minersource.net), OR 2) arrange to have us set this up as part of setup services for a small additional fee

C. 1000 DRK per MasterNode that is set up through my new service must be deposited to the DRK address listed below.

XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ )

for us to begin setting up the team's DRK MN. Please post your transaction ID and info when making a deposit to this address when setting up a Team Node.

I will personally send the DRK needed to the allocated address to set up the DRK MN, once the team has their minimum funds of 1000 DRK deposited at said address.

D. Administration account(s) are handed over to the client for imminent password changes OR DRK MNs are managed by us at a 1.5 - 3% monthly fee deducted at time of payouts of accrued new DRK.

==

Stake Owner Cash Out - DRK MN Stake Owners may cash out provided they give a 3 day notification so that new stake owner(s) may be found to take your place.

- There is a 1.5% Stake Owner Swap Fee paid by the new Stake Owner.

- There is also a 1.5% Stake Owner Cash Out Fee deducted from original DRK funds.

These fees are meant to help deter Stake Owners from cashing out and causing chaos among DRK MNs as well as for administrative costs.

DZ DRK MASTERNODE LIST

The original Reddit post was successful and Batch 1 is CLOSED!

Batch 1 nodes -

1. DZ, Otoh (45/55 split)
2. Kauai Bitcoin Club (DZ and another DZ MC member), DRKsi
3. Otoh (100%)
4. Optional MasterNode2 (DRKsi, may be teamed with others)

Batch 2 DRK MN Waiting List (to be launched when team/funds complete and Batch 1 is stable) - CLOSED

5. jwuerz (Reddit)
6. Ozziecoin (Reddit)
7. RyanArr
8. Anon. Gentleman
9. Anon. Gentleman
10. 2dogs
11. Anon. Gentleman (d...7)
12. pyre

Batch 2 Deposit Address (Please leave Tx ID and amount in thread when making a stake deposit): XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh

This waiting list is closed.

Batch 3 Waiting List - (OPEN).
Batch 3 may be slotted in with Batch 2 Nodes in order to fill Batch 2 MasterNodes

13. Anon. Gentleman
14. RedditTooAddictive
15. JesseLivermore
16. Anon. Gentleman (25%, Reddit, d...b...m...n)
17. Anon. Gentleman (Reddit, s...m...e)

Batch 3 Deposit Address (10 or 25% stakes, Please leave Tx ID, amount sent, and a payout address in thread or via PM when making a stake deposit): XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE

Please make sure to include extra DRK for the transmission fee (such as 0.01 DRK extra if sending from Cryptsy, for example) when making a stake deposit as well as a DRK payout address (Feel Free to PM me if you don't want this info to be public).

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Referrals receive 10% of 2 months of DRK MN Management Fees for referred users who sign up for this Darkcoin MasterNode Service:

1. Anon. Gentleman, referred #7 #8 on Waiting List (sorry, I had to move Anon. Gent #7 to #8 as a Reddit user barely beat your reservation time)

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"Dear DyslexicZombei,

I'm willing to go with your service for setting up a Masternode for me. I've just a few questions left:

- In your post you state a 30 DRK fee for setting up to be able to cover costs for "antivirus, firewall, and DDOS protection which *must* be paid by the team". Am I able to purchase this myself so I can be sure of 100% pure ownership by me?

- When choosing your second package. Do I understand it correctly you or your team have full access to my wallet where DRK are stored?

- When I let you or your team set this up and have it managed, what are the total fixed costs and monthly costs? Does the % fee stop after a X DRK's as payment made?

Feel free to add me on Skype to discus all ins and outs. Make sure to PM me here since I've a few imposters. Skype: XYXYXYXY

Cheers!"


Hey man,

Now that I'm not as tired as when I posted that last night I'll try to clarify that further.

The 30 DRK is for setup fees. This setup fee is being waived for Batches 1 and 2.

The price of these mentioned protections are way too varied to nail down in one quote. What I meant about a client making 1 payment to us, they'd make 1 payment of the AV/FW/DDOS package of their choice that we buy on their behalf listing them as owners, which can easily be seen by anyone that takes the time to look OR we'll pick a package for them that should offer them sufficient protection without breaking the bank (that also can be named to a 100% MN owner who wants to move his or her software licenses to a new machine).

I'll really try to simplify that part of my post (I tend to edit and re-edit my sales posts).

I'd actually prefer that the client(s) already had their own antivirus, firewall, and DDOS protection already purchased or even pre-installed and set up (even if the client is willing to live with free DDOS) on their hardware of choice. FWIW, as a pro, I have access to all kinds of volume licenses and free software for all kinds of software, so I certainly don't need to go around stealing licenses.

To be safe, and so we're not a bunch of rank amateurs that get ripped off because we left the front door open, we can't even begin to think about putting a node up until these 3 conditions are met (and patches are up to date and set to autoupdate (but require a human to restart)).

"- When choosing your second package. Do I understand it correctly you or your team have full access to my wallet where DRK are stored?"

No, if you own the node 100% then the node is pointed at your wallet address but we don't have your private keys, passwords, authenticators, or trade accounts needed to make any use out of a wallet address alone. If you don't own the node, you're trusting us to payout your percentage of accrued DRK twice a month minus a 1.5% Management Fee for Batches 1 & 2, and 3% fees for everyone after.

"- When I let you or your team set this up and have it managed, what are the total fixed costs and monthly costs? Does the % fee stop after a X DRK's as payment made?"

Fixed and monthly costs would be dependent on customer decisions about Antivirus/Firewall/DDOS which are subscription based. When I did my original listing at the 1.5% management fee I was charging for, I was essentially hoping to break even on this (like companies have loss leader sales) just to get a couple of nodes up. The thought of making this a service came later, after I saw that there was interest.

I think 1.5-3% Management fees on top of monthly software subscriptions is more than a fair price for this service from veteran network pros, as we have a specialized skillset and experience that's taken us years to gain.

Getting back to the software package: The exception to this custom AV/FW/DDOS protection suite, is if a client didn't care or have enough knowledge to make these decisions and would like us to help them either choose a protection suite OR they could just let us handle the vendor decisions (which would be a base package that we use on nodes we own stakes in). Our own personal nodes will be hosted at Amazon or at minersource.net (still working out rates with my co-founders at minersource.net)

For the first couple nodes, they're essentially test platforms for those that will follow and I wanted to give myself enough time to get these nodes organized and running before tackling Batch 2 (which should roll out quicker when we work out this process in Batch 1).

Thanks for writing me! Hope this info helped.

Cheers,
DZ

=============================================================================================

Disclaimers/Terms:

DRK is not meant for illegal purposes and we will not assist in ANY efforts to circumvent or bypass local laws and regulations. DRK MasterNode partners must be willing to accept the following risks:

- That even with the best of intentions and the best pro security mitigations, that DRK MNs may be targets for hacking and brute force attempts, and that even the best defense can be beaten.
- That like cash, DRK can be misused for illegal purposes, but those participating is this venture will not knowingly participate in illegal activities and that should this activity become illegal in pertinent regions, we will cease activities and remove resources in exact proportion to the original terms, or remove stake owners, as necessary, to comply with local laws and regulations.
- Ownership is kept by the original stake owner(s), excluding sales of accounts, which are not prohibited but incur the following:

* 1.5% Owner Swap Fee** paid by the new owner upon completion of previously agreed upon terms between 2 parties
** 1.5% Owner Cash Out Fee paid by the original owner.

- Stake Owners must provide a 3 day notice to vacate their stake to allow arrangements to secure their original stake with a new stake owner. There is also the **1.5% Owner Cash Out Fee** meant to help dissuade Stake Owners from cashing out from MasterNodes, which can cause chaos to these small teams.

- Referral Program: Offer limited to veteran BTC Talk members to reduce fraud. 10% Referral Fees are limited to members with an activity level more than 25]

Additional Risks: We are not your business attorney or licensed financial adviser, but these are considered speculative investments. Do not invest funds you cannot afford to lose as even the best computer security can be beaten or circumvented (even companies with immense resources have been hacked previously). While near 100% uptime is the goal, we are not responsible for lost revenue in the form of Darkcoins for necessary downtime and other acts beyond our control

Please state "Reserved" below in order to sign up for Batch 2 before June 1st. Management fees double and setup fees will be incurred for Batch 3 signups.

Mahalo!

I can vouch for these guys.  They are legit.

Awesome, thanks Ozziecoin. I was going to PM you on Reddit later, but you saved me the time.  :D

thomas_s. will be along later to state his involvement with this new project when he wakes up. Otoh will stop by later as well.

Hey DZ, I did my own MNs, so you can take me off the Batch2.

Ah awesome. thanks for the update.

How'd it go?

I hope you have pro-level security set up. These nodes make attractive targets.

Define pro level.  :)

Heh, well something paid, instead of free services. Which can be good (I use them myself often)...but...there's tons to be said about getting what you paid for (and an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure).

I couldn't agree more DZ. I'm sure you guys are going to do a great job!

Thanks, much appreciated! Any tips you can add since you've now gone thru the process?

...heading off to bed, will check in with you tomorrow.

Don't use symbols in your wallet encryption.  ;)

I can confirm that I've agreed to invest in a Batch 1 Darkcoin Masternode (45/55 split, DZ/me), to be set up and run by DyslexicZombei under the terms above, I will post the transaction when my payment is sent for this.

Plus 100% of a second Batch 1 Maternode as well.

Awesome! Thanks Otoh.

I'll check the wallet balance when I get off work tonight. Please shoot me the transaction ID when the deposit is made for the shared MN.

Update: the community has been notified that DRK MN payouts will DOUBLE to 20%!

Sent you a PM :)

I've been up for a while just have been a bit busy I'll be able to do any administration things needed.

Wow, response has been great!

I may have been a bit muddled last night when I posted this so I'll share some additional info. Please check the last Original Post #3 for the newest info and clarifications to questions received.

Added:

- 10% Referral Fees! (Thank you for the first referral, anonymous gentleman. You were the inspiration for this referral program) Simply tell your friends about this service and if they sign up you get 10% of the Management Fees for 2 months! [Referral Offer available ONLY for Veteran forum members with activity over 25]
- Updated that MasterNode payments have doubled! Link: https://twitter.com/DarkcoinCrypto/status/471332917235290114
- Clarifications on Batch 30 DRK Setup Fees of 30 DRK in relation to separate Antivirus/Firewall/DDOS protection costs. [Reminder: Batch3 signups after June 1 will be charged this Setup Fee)
- Updated Waiting List
- Gooder grammar

Removed:

- Vitriol and negativity from OP (thanks Chief!)

Also, I received my first inquiry from someone who would like to offer this same service to others as part of my matchmaking services for MasterNodes. Thank you for your interest!

They may or may not choose to be vetted by me.

Sounds cool.  I wish ya'all luck!  Unfortunately you guys have way more DRK than I do...Only got 25DRK so that counts me out.  Cheers!

FYI:

Had interesting issue today.  Did all the steps. Installed wallet.dat - created by my contact's Win8 machine using 9.4.11 wallet. Got incapable masternode. Checked balance - 1000 darks exists in one wallet address.  He tried creating another wallet.dat using 10.8.11.  Also incapable masternode.  He then switched to Win7 9.4.11 wallet. Also got incapable masternode.  Then I used a test wallet.dat that I created using my Win7 and 9.4.11 wallet and it WORKS!  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any ideas?

If you experience this - don't panic.  It could just be the wallet.dat file and the address within the wallet. If I find a solution, I'll post it. In the meantime, I suggest you download a fresh wallet and send darks to that fresh wallet. Then encrypt it before using the wallet.dat file.

Super handy info. Glad you figured it out without too many issues.

 Thanks for the heads up mate!

Thanks and sorry about that. Please keep an eye out for our batch 3 or feel free to sign up and to also remove yourself from a waiting list at any time.

 We might lower the minimum stake to 100DRK for Batch3 sometime in June, if there's enough interest for these lower barriers to entry.

When would I start to profit once my node is up? How much would I make per month per node? I'm interested in Batch 2.

Sorry I just don't know what this is, but it already sounds interesting because I could spend my money on a node instead of a bitcoin miner.

Why setup a Masternode you ask?

Now, with the new 20% of block reward payment to MNs (starting from June 14th), below are the new estimated ROIs, (Masternode count on left and ROI on right):

374 = 56% p.a. (current Masternode count)
500 = 42% p.a.
750 = 28% p.a.
1000 = 21% p.a.
1500 = 14% p.a.
2000 = 10.5% p.a.

This is based on the price in Darks (or the USD/BTC at the time you buy the Darks to setup the Masternodes and assumes the price in USD/BTC does not change). You need 1000 Darks per Masternode.

Therefore, in time the system could level out to between 2000 and 4000 MNs for a 5 to 10% annual return.  However, this implies 2 to 4 Million darks, which is 50 to 93% of current coin supply.  This also implies the price of Darks are likely to rise, if people kept trying to setup MNs.

Get your MN setup and get regular income starting June 14.

Ah, I didn't hear the latest on the dates of the payouts not starting until June 14.

Wow, we have a lot of time to get ready then and work out kinks.

Also, it turns out Redditor RyanArr had beaten Anon. Gent #7 as far as reservation time, so I had to shift this gentleman down one spot to be fair to all participants.

BTW, even if you change your mind later, please feel free to leave a "Reserved" message below as a dated placeholder. You can change your mind and remove yourself from the waiting list at any time if you're on the fence.

Payment sent for my share of the first MN. 1 + 549 = 550 DRK.

Status: 0/unconfirmed, broadcast through 8 nodes
Date: 29/05/2014 14:09
To: DZ MN Fund XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ
Debit: -549.00 DRK
Transaction fee: -0.001 DRK
Net amount: -549.001 DRK
Transaction ID: cc9ab9795db1fae0eac4c31c50121c9babb4c7d80b393cf3d407cc81ff2c13c2

Payment of 1,000 DRK for the second MN to be sent nearer the June 14th payments launch date.

Awesome, Thanks Otoh!

That completes funding for the first public community node and I confirm that I have received the 2nd payment for your 55% portion of our shared MasterNode, Node #1.
Funds were received and identified as TrxID: cc9ab9795db1fae0eac4c31c50121c9babb4c7d80b393cf3d407cc81ff2c13c2 from Otoh.

It looks like we're a go for the first DZ DRK MN later tonight. :)

reserved

Hey 2dogs. Noted and updated. Thanks!

That was nice talking to you over PM.

Reserved 250drk stake. PM sent.

Noted.

Thank you!

News:

- Updated B2 Waiting List
- got word yesterday I get to lockdown a Linux prototype server at work with DISA STIGs. I laugh at those that say Linux is safe or secure by nature and that its better than windows out of box. If its so safe then why am I manually applying 500+ security remediations to get it certified? :D
- Unfortunately, because of this rush job that got dumped on me, I need to delay the first node launch to sunday or monday night. But when I do get to them B1/2 is all free set ups and network hardening.
- Corporate Antivirus/Firewall package ordered for first batches (1-2 business days)

 :) :) :)

so if i invested 100 drk. then 30 would be for the start up fee and 70 would go to the master node. and i would receive a percentage based on the 70 and the 70 would also be there when we shut down?

Hi Kuttingcorners,

At this point  I'm only setting up these nodes with teams maxing out at four people (minimum 25% stakes each) to simplify ownerships and decision making. We may go to 10% ownership stakes in the near future but not quite yet.

I'm paying for Pro AV/FW/DDOS for the first two nodes in Batch 1 just to get started with this service and to gain experience with administrating DRK MNs.

Going forward: Batches 2 (CLOSED) & 3 (OPEN) -

1. Team pays for Pro Antivirus/Firewall/DDOS prior to setting up node OR pays me to buy and set this up for you (at normal retail prices). This protection suite can be pre-installed or I can install and configure this for you.

The Team is either pre-made or does matchmaking through this service. If you need help building a team, please add yourself to the waiting list and I will match you with the next available pool.

2. DRK funds pooled will go to ONLY towards meeting the 1000 DRK needing to be sent to a specific address which upon confirmation of receipt of funds, registers and qualifies your server as a Darkcoin MasterNode. These DRK funds can be returned in 3 days at any time minus a 1.5% Change Ownership Fee paid by the Original stake owner. A 3 days notice must be given first so that we can replace your stake in the node without having to take the MN offline. The New stake owner also pays a 1.5% Change Ownership Fee for access to an already working, secured DRK MN).

3. Either you give me remote admin access to a server already pre-configured with AV/FW/DDOS for MasterNode software installation (15 DRK) or I set up a server for you from scratch (30 DRK).

4. Setup includes post-installation security testing.

5. DRK MN is either handed over for immediate admin PW change(s) or the node is managed on a month to month basis at the following rates which are deducted from the bi-monthly payouts of accrued DRK:

- Batch 2: 1.5% Management Fee (CLOSED)
- Batch 3: 3% Management Fee

Example (not meant as a profit projection): Timmy puts up 25% of the DRK needed to run a Batch Three DZ DRK MN AND 25% of the agreed upon Server/AV/FW/DDOS subscription fees - either monthly or annually. Over the course of ~15 days, let's assume 30 DRK was accrued by the team's node for performing DRK MN services for the DRK network.

In this case, with a 25% stake, Timmy would be paid out one-fourth of this node's coins minus a 3% fee: 7.5 DRK minus a 3% Management Fee (7.5 * 0.97), or 7.275 DRK after about 15 days.

Hope this helps!

==

Don't forget: These nodes are set up and secured by a veteran Network Engineer with a background in InfoSec and network/system design, by someone who has handled 1-2K worth of community BTC for Bitcoin rig orders, and not just "some guy that's pretty good with computers" (possibly without a trust rating anywhere). No offense to talented amateurs but I regularly work with and design Windows & Linux systems and networks that must meet the world's most stringent Certification & Accreditation requirements to be allowed to operate in field tests.

My past and present IT client list includes 3 US National Labs, MIT, NASA JPL, the County of Kauai, the State of Hawaii, and every branch of the US military including the MDA (as can be seen in my "one of a kind" series of pics in my sig below which I originally shared as KauaiDKer on the SurferMag BB).

Finished my nightmare weekend locking down a Linux server meant for Certification & Accreditation. Budget cuts meant I had to compress a few weeks of work in a few days with little notice <grumble grumble>.

At the very least, if someone is going to insist on running a 'net connected Linux server to run a DRK MN, I recommend they at least take a look at implementing all CAT I DISA STIGs for their particular flavor of Linux. I highly doubt that a fraction of the nodes out there utilize security best practices & I bet that only a handful could pass a DISA CAT I vulnerability scan if they can be reached.

I can speak from experience that to do this properly takes hours (or even days) to do this just for one machine, as there's no automated tools for doing this. Fortunately you can just image or clone what you need once you get a solid locked down configuration for additional similar servers.

Need to take a small break as my mind's a bit fried after working OT all weekend but I'm setting up the DRK MN server and protection suite today and installing/testing security. As there's no rush, I probably won't send the funds & implement the MN functions till Wednesday or Thursday night as I'll be on work travel to one of our sister labs all day tomorrow and the extra time gives me additional time to lock it down tight prior to starting node functions.

- One more thing: no promises but there's a possibility that some Batch 3 signups may make it into Batch 2 if any Batch 2 participants decide to remove themselves from the list, so please feel free to Reserve a spot below.

If a Batch 3 sign up is fortunate to make it into Batch 2, setup fees are free and management fees are only 1.5%.

Have you posted a link to this thread in the main DRK thread? This is fantastic.

Thanks, I did a couple posts on Reddit last week but it's due for a refresh there. Batches 1 and 2 are already closed and several people signed up on Reddit.

I meant to post this on the main DRK forum but I couldn't recall my PW and the PW reset function wasn't working for me when I had a few minutes to try to add it to the forum this weekend. Might've been a browser error, didn't have time to dig into it.

If you have a forum account over there, please feel free to post a link, as any nodes where I'm involved with the setup somehow will involve previously vetted Network Engineers or Administrators, and I hope to add legitimacy and some minimum security standards for those looking to either provide or receive services related to Darkcoin MasterNodes.

I'm also giving 10% DRK Referral Fees for 2 months of Management Fees to veteran forum members here (Activity +25) who refer someone else that signs up for this service.

They would get 10% of Management Fees earned per referral for 2 months (4 payments total). If the new user found out about this service from another person, then the new user signing up for services MUST mention the referring person's username for the referring person to receive this credit.

Great news everyone! I finished my market assessment and have a close estimate of monthly operating costs for DRK MN stake owners if you choose to have me handle your Hosting/AV/FW/DDOS protection for you. I updated the OP with this new info.

For our MasterNodes, we're setting them up with both configured built-in OS tools (such as OS Firewalls) + Professional Software Suites for Hosting/AV/FW/DDOS protection. These servers will be zero day protected and although they don't require it, will meet NIST, FIPAA, SAS 70, PCI DSS 2.0, and a bunch of other regulatory requirements.

The estimated price per 25% stake owner Team per node for this pro level AV/FW/DDOS protection is only $8.50-$10 $12 per month!
 
It should only cost a team or a person $12 a month in hosting costs + subscription fees to get a top notch, comprehensive security suite with hosting and DDOS if they have me handle their security suite requisition decisions, so I'm not asking anyone to break the bank to get pro level protection.

These fees can be paid either straight to the manufacturer prior to setting up a MasterNode paid by a Team Leader who has a Credit Card on record with them, or you can pay me at regular retail and I purchase and install it for you (must pay for 3 months of subscriptions minimum if you're having me set up your Node). Either way: I'm NOT setting up any MasterNodes unless AV/FW/DDOS protection is in place or I have access to the license to install this protection before proceeding.

[Sidebar Note: If 1 person, say a Team Leader buys this Pro level service for the rest of the team just to get the node started for me to work on, the other team members would need to pay that Team Leader for their share of Pro AV/FW/DDOS protection and re-payments would be negotiated amongst the Team.]

==

Opinions matter at this early stage. As a community, we need to set a high standard for security so that Darkcoin MasterNode Administrators aren't stereotyped as simple rubes who can't keep control of the equivalent of thousands of dollars worth of DRK. These high standards aren't being enforced at this time, but that doesn't mean that Administrators cannot follow best practices or expend the resources necessary to get adequate protection. I offer a base package that uses Highest Quality Vendors with some of the best protection that money offers while getting similar protection to what many Fortune 500 companies and the DoD use.

After canceling my previous protection suite for my first batch of nodes because I found a better fit that also costs less so...the savings get passed on directly to you!

The first community owned DZ DRK MN is partially set up! Lots more to do but at least I've gotten started. For anyone doing an Ubuntu install: get used to doing a lot of vi text editing (only a fellow nerd would understand).  :D

Thank you Otoh for being the first and fastest to believe in this concept.  :)

I figure I'll let this server simmer and take my time locking it down. There shouldn't be any network traffic on it when I get back from my 1 day business trip or I'll have more work to do. Otoh's funds and my own are ready for start up which should be Wed. or Thurs. night. 2 things I'm adding to help out and to simplify things:

- You can now opt for "Pay-as-you-go" protection for pro level Hosting/AV/FW/DDOS protection at only $1.50 per monthly payout (2) per 25% stake for only $3 per month! This simplifies things for team setups, requisition, billing, team members having to pay one another...

- Until June 8, I'll reduce my DRK MN Server Setup Fees to 50% to 15 DRK for those that sign up for Batch 3 before June 8 (6/8/2014) to help out those that set up MNs before payments go live on the 14th.

Sounds good, many thanks for offering this service DZ :)

Quick update: I have the MasterNode software installed and the darkcoind client running.

Steps to take:

- hardening
- installing AV/Fw etc

It's been fun, interesting, and definitely right up my alley. :)

Exciting times! I'm more than happy to be part of the leading edge of it and gaining experience setting these up and administrating MNs. Didn't get a chance to work on this yesterday, but I'm working on our server this evening for a few hours before I have to switch to *another* IT project (work related. When it rains it pours). Here's an update:

- I'm at the point where I need to create the encrypted wallet file with the 1000 DRK contributed by Otoh and myself:

" using home pc, make 1000 DRK encryped wallet.dat to upload
* use home pc, not ec2
* install new wallet
* check account address 0 / getaccountaddress 0
* https://www.darkcointalk.org/thread...ternode-requirements-masternode-payments.225/
* send 1000 DRK to that address
* encypt wallet
* backup wallet
* using scp upload encypted backup wallet.dat to ec2 ubuntu home directory"

still a ways to go as my wallet client is syncing and it's at 11 days behind. The 1000DRK will temporarily go to this wallet address:

XmXXRQtRMMxHRxRX7eKowGpckTvyxJtiAa

prior to encryption and being sent for node registration. I paused at this step because of...

- continuing hardening, temporarily installing a lightweight GUI (which is helpful for graphical monitoring as long as resources used are minimal) to Ubuntu Server 12.04 and for also checking that only the packages/software I want are installed
- The Security Suite is a bit of a bear to install and I can't believe that they expect a client to download 12 different install files to get it up and running. It's capabilities are impressive but the installation package leaves much to be desired.

8 more days to go before payments go live.  We're definitely going live this weekend with our first node just as soon as the following 3 are done:

- Standard & custom security enhancements and Security suite installation/configuration are complete
- My wallet finishes syncing later on tonight/tomorrow
- The initial 1000 DRK stake completes transfer to the wallet address for encrypted upload to register as a node owned by Otoh & I.

I'm setting this up so that launching additional MasterNodes with these same standard & custom protections will take much less time thanks to imaging/cloning.

Nice, the first transaction went thru to the address I listed. Sent 1 DRK, forgot about the transaction fee. so only 0.99 got thru.

I'll have to remember to send extra DRK for both the 2nd & 3rd main transactions to encrypt the wallet so that there's exactly 1000DRK being sent.

Rest of the funds to that address being sent now, since the first test transaction went well.

1000DRK sent to our MN "holding place" that darkcoind sets up for you. It's very close but I'm seeing this error I'll need to research and will likely have to pick this up tomorrow morning.

"Error: You must specific a masternodeprivkey in the configuration. Please see documentation for help."

Solved. We're up!

/.darkcoin$ tail -f ~/.darkcoin/debug.log
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 107.170.79.105:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 107.170.237.136:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 54.215.181.251:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:42 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 211.99.224.198:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:42 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:45 ThreadRPCServer method=getmininginfo
2014-06-07 04:33:56 Added 1 addresses from 90.188.39.87: 1 tried, 1820 new
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 107.170.79.105:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 107.170.237.136:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 54.215.181.251:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:40 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:42 dsee - Got NEW masternode entry 211.99.224.198:9999
2014-06-07 04:33:42 dsee - Rejected masternode entry
2014-06-07 04:33:45 ThreadRPCServer method=getmininginfo
2014-06-07 04:33:56 Added 1 addresses from 90.188.39.87: 1 tried, 1820 new

Thanks once again to Otoh for teaming up on this. Woohoo!

I still have quite a bit of work to do before this is complete but this is the first confirmed community owned Darkcoin MasterNode!

It's about 99% ready for when payouts begin on the 14th (not including whatever new updates MN admins need to install/test).

Congratulations on a job well done!  You clearly have high level skills & created the MN in barely a week, I read the entire thread from the first post.  I'm potentially interested in Batch 3, but 25% of 1,000 DRK is a fair amount of crypto when buying currently in USD. Do you agree with this math from Minotaur's post?  https://darkcointalk.org/threads/some-simple-questions-about-masternodes.1094/ 

"MASTERNODE PROFITABILITY FORMULA

Assuming the minimum block reward of 5DRK, to have a worst case scenario. If difficulty goes down then adjust accordingly.
Masternodes take 20% of the block rewards.
Masternode payments start mid June [​IMG] Need to divide between the total number of masternodes, I am assuming 500 MN for the example, but adjust accordingly for your projections.
Finally, Masternodes are randomly selected so this is just an indicator, some masternodes may be more lucky than others, you get the idea but it should even out over a year.

(5 drk/block x 576 blocks/day x 0.2 = 576 DRK / 500 MN = 1.152 DRK/day x 365 = 420.48 DRK/year x 15USD = 6307.2 USD/Year"

Of course, if DRK goes up, so much the better. :)

Thank you! I can't say enough that I wouldn't have gotten this far without community support and Otoh's buy in for the first node.

Once I feel comfortable with a roll out and management process I'm strongly considering making a future Batch with 100DRK ownership chunks (10%) in order to improve accessibility to more DRK holders.

Regarding potential returns: I was considering future plausible scenarios before considering whether to offer this service. Using the sample parameters you mentioned, If one were to run the numbers backwards on a hypothetical $15K loan of $15 DRK over 1 year with simple interest that comes out to about a **45%** annual interest rate!

http://www.csgnetwork.com/apr2calc.html

...and this doesn't take into account potential appreciation in value of Darkcoin itself over this time period. Some interesting food for thought for those considering setting up a MasterNode: you essentially get the benefits of making incredible interest on coins that one was likely planning to hold anyway.

The genius of the system Evan built is that Node operators are essentially next gen banking services where people can easily open their own "mini-Bank" franchise without all the massive barriers and regulations that would be necessary to open a brick n mortar fiat bank.

Lots of variability in the variables above. They are definitely not guarantees nor promises of future returns.

Great to see that you are making such good progress on this.

Do you have an ETA on batch 2 currently?

Thank you, Scott. Unfortunately, I have to work all weekend. First time in a long time where I've had to work consecutive weekends. I jump on the forums in between backups or package installs on the server I'm working on.

Realistically: and this is dependent on whether promised DRK arrives - I won't have time to set up the next one until Tuesday. Additional nodes should be much easier to launch, but I don't want to rush out nodes without  making sure you're they're set properly.

My goal is that for whoever signed up and is still interested that I can get them in a node or two before payments start (on the 18th), so that we all hit the ground running.

Teams need to come together well, and in the next week I will be introducing people to their teammates so that contact can be made and consensus formed as to how they would like their protections set up and paid for (whether pre-paid or pay-as-you-go).

Excellent! Many thanks, very glad to be a part of this.

6/10 update 6/13 update: RC3 launch pushed back to 6/27 6/20 to thoroughly test upgrades and patches before public release. If you missed the news, MasterNode payouts go live on June 20th. Sign ups end on the 18th for free set ups. You must be signed up by this date to reserve a free setup but you must have your stake deposit in by the 18th to be guaranteed a spot in a live hardened node on the 20th.release. This is a good thing as the market tends to punish those who can't protect their own coins key variables & rules (double spending is an example of the abuse of the variables involved).

Devs are also adding the ability to hold the 1000DRK offsite (pref.in cold storage) which also reduces some of the incentive for trying to break into a MN.

With that in mind, since payments won't begin until the 27th 20th, we'll launch nodes at a slower pace which allows me to take even more time locking down security, which should be multi-layered and multi faceted, and requires constant attention as to the latest zero days and other cyber threats.

Also:

- since there's been another two week delay I'm now offering FREE MN setups for those that sign up before the 21st 18th. (This service will cost 15-30 DRK for nodes set up in July)

- By popular request: Batch 3 *will* include 10% stakes. That means you can now own 10% of the Node output by only using a 100 DRK stake! Operating and software protection fees are only $12 per node per month for a limited time.

Just state 'Reserved' below or send me a PM if you wish to remain anonymous. You can also still request stakes at multiples of 25% MN ownership.

Following

Just one small detail, the 27/6 date is not fixed yet. Devs have only said late June in the official communication. One of them had said that maybe the 27th before that, but it maybe another day around the 27th.

If offline storage will be available, does this place less of a burden on providing security for the Masternode?

As I understand it, the worst a hacker would be able to do would be to disable the masternode. Definitely worth protecting against, but doesn't compare to losing DRK.

Thanks again for your work - looking forward to launch day  :)

I PMd this to Dyslexic but maybe one of you can answer?
With regards to doing a 10% share of a MN:
-you state many fees for each batch and I'm kind of confused by it now so could you tell me what the total monthly fee is for this 3rd batch?
-is that fee taken from the DRK node payments which accumulate over the course of the month or do I pay via credit card?
-what is required of me, besides agreeing to join and sending 100 DRK to join in?
-Am I locked into holding this 10% share for a certain amount of time? And what happens if some people want to redeem their share of the MN? Do you take their place or does that person have to find a new partner to replace them?
-what if something happens to you? Do you have disaster recovery steps in place to make sure all 'investors' get their DRK back?

RC3 brought forward to June 20th.
https://darkcointalk.org/threads/rc3-hard-fork-on-june-20th.1241/#post-8076

that is really cool!
The excitement is rising :)

Hi Jesse,

I'll just answer these publicly so as not to repeat myself since there's confusion here and on Reddit, since this service is so new.

There's only two fees for all batches: a small management fee and a small hosting/operations fee of $12 per node per month which includes server rental(s), power, Antivirus, Firewall, and DDOS protection.

Batch 3 is open and if you save a spot in the queue by making to do a soft reservation below or via PM before 6/18 (the new date I'm setting as the moved up deadline for free setups). no deposit needed for a reservation, and you can remove yourself from list anytime.

Batch 3 management fees are 3% per month. The hosting/operations fee came out to 2.28% when I ran the numbers for a node averaging 1.152 DRK per day with the values provided in an earlier post to give you some idea of what these fees cost. There will be variability involved but if your node was the prototypical average node (and DRK is $15 to keep this variable constant for this example):

your average secured & hardened node in this subnetwork we're setting up, would have a total monthly all-inclusive fee percentage of about 5.28% per month.

This is still almost half of what DarkDice, the second group to offer node setup and management fee, will be charging at 10% total per month. They will also be giving some cut of player losses to node owners but you will have to be at peace with the notion of potentially directly enabling gambling addiction.

To give a fair comparison:

- I'll add that I have a much longer track record in the crypto economy having been a crypto miner seller since July of last year and the co-founder of what still appears to be the biggest public BTC miners co-op.
- at this point, have handled much more community funds without major incident: 1-2K BTC worth 105TH + ~650 DRK so far
- our team has already handled hundreds of K worth of refunds in multiple rounds when things occasionally fell apart due to mfg. delays (and when mfgs. finally gave back the funds used for ordering)
- Have the highest BTC talk trust ratings of any operators in the Darkcoin space; not even Evan or the Dev team have built up a trust rating here as high as the trust ratings for myself and thomas_s.
- designed and installed servers & networks in 3 world class labs
- am a veteran DoD certified IT Pro doing developmental R&D work for some of our country's cutting edge tech for over 10 years, with my prototypes operating in field tests around the country and the Pacific
- Have been vetted by John K. Escrow and have my real ID and/or work address known by: John, thomas_s., bobsag3, -Redacted-, philipma1957, jungle_dave, BeepBeep2, and a few others should anything happen to me.

(Continued)

2. So that ~5.2% average monthly fee (could be more or less slightly as DRK value fluctuates) from the average example I mentioned, comes out of gross fees earned: DRK rewarded for being an operational node in the Darkcoin network.
3. You just have to sign up and provide a payout address for bimonthly payouts.
4. You can leave at any time...as long as you give a 3 days prior notice before leaving. This is so that we can find a replacement without having to move the original stake funds around (which would cause remaining team members to lose operational rewards).

At this point, since there's no automation for something like this, I'm hoping that there's only minimal movement out, as we're trying to build a service here that directly strengthens the DRK ecosystem, and allows more people access to the benefits (and risks) of owning and operating a MasterNode.

There's a 1.5% cash out fee taken from the stake funds for the leaving stake owner, as well as a 1.5% Entry Fee for a new stake owner who gets the benefit of an already working and hardened MasterNode. This Exit/Entrance fee is to discourage those with a short term mentality from getting involved.

I'm not here to help those with a day trader mentality that don't really believe that this coin has a future.

5. Server recovery is easy thanks to imaging. I'm not so easy to replace, and do recognize that I'm a single point of failure. As an occasional designer of systems and/or networks: I don't like single points of failure.

To that end: I was planning on encrypting and sending thomas_s. the keys and PWs for him to access should something happen to me, with recovery instructions so that the node can be turned off and the stake funds removed from Darkcoin's mempool. Getting involved with my services means that you understand that thomas_s. will be handling payouts and ownership changes, so the sharing of this key info is logical for emergency redundancy. This is a side project for him and we've worked well together for nearly a year.

Thanks for the questions. Hope that helped!

Thanks for the latest update. I adjusted my free sign up period accordingly.

DyslexicZombei
I sent you a PM

Sounds good, I'm in for a 10% MN stake.
JL

Awesome! Thanks Jesse, and Welcome Aboard!

I'm going to a different set up method because I've been getting slow response from some that had contacted me for earlier reservations. We're a week out from node payments starting. Batch 2/3 nodes will be set up on a first come, first served basis now. (Shouldn't be a big deal as long as deposits for partial stakes are made before the 18th)

Just make sure to update the thread with your Batch Number, Tx ID, stake amount, and a payout wallet address when making a deposit.

Updated OP:

Batch 2 DRK MN Waiting List (to be launched when team/funds complete and Batch 1 is stable) - CLOSED

5. jwuerz (Reddit)
6. Ozziecoin (Reddit)
7. RyanArr
8. Anon. Gentleman
9. Anon. Gentleman
10. 2dogs
11. Anon. Gentleman (d...7)
12. pyre

Batch 2 Deposit Address (Please leave Tx ID and amount in thread when making a stake deposit): XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh

This waiting list closes June 18 9PM HST, in which case management fees double to 6% and service set up fees of 30DRK are incurred for setup fees.

Batch 3 Waiting List - (OPEN).
Batch 3 may be slotted in with Batch 2 Nodes in order to fill Batch 2 slots

13. Anon. Gentleman
14. RedditTooAddictive
15. JesseLivermore

Batch 3 Deposit Address (10 or 25% stakes, Please leave Tx ID and amount in thread when making a stake deposit): XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE

Please make sure to include extra DRK for the transmission fee (such as 0.01 DRK extra if sending from Cryptsy, for example) when making a stake deposit as well as a DRK payout address. Feel Free to PM me if you don't want this info to be public.

Batch 2 MN Deposit:

100 DRK for 10%
Kauai Bitcoin Club (Optional: include extra name if representing more than one person)
TrxID: 0fc98a444630af31a49cc6cbc282dccebc1a2770352cbc2b5046d7eeda1f11d4
Payout address: XoMwHrqSCqQGYXQjUyodGeju6bqtyDdnqJ



=====

Just made this deposit for the first 10% of the first Batch 2 MasterNode. Please follow this format for deposits. When the wallet address hits 1000DRK I'll know to get the next node ready and to log the ownerships of that particular node.

It's possible that there may be mixed B2/B3 nodes where 2 people might own half of it, and 5 people from Batch 3 own the other half in five 10% stakes.

At this point: any deposits made before or on the 18th *should* lead to a fully functional and hardened MasterNode when payments start in one week on the 20th. If you're a later signup/deposit you may have to wait for a Node to fully fill up before your Node begins operations.

Mahalo!

Hi,
thnx for the news...
However my DRKs are on cryptsy.. not sure if i can make messages when transfering dark.
Please advice how to proceed.
thnx

One more thing: if you were planning on sending 1000DRK, please hold off and you can send me the remote secure wallet public access once RC3 makes the hot/cold wallet access available for your 1000DRK so that you don't have to send me the coins or give me private access to your 1000DRK in the first place.

As Scott mentioned this is more secure and should've been implemented this way in the first place, so am happy to see it now.

I wish I had 1k,
however I can arange max 300 DRK at the moment
 :)

My latest batch was on there too. You can just sign on this thread or via PM if you want that info to be private.

Also: anyone wanting a whole node should hold off sending 1000DRK. I really don't want to have to directly deal with your stake funds in the first place to earn a management fee, but understand the need for it for partial stakes, so I'm glad that safe public access to your 1000DRK should be sufficient for me to set up a node for you, where I don't have access to associated private key info.

Well, that would still be about a third of what would be the equiv. of receiving payouts for a 45% loan if DRK is $15 and 1.152 DRK are earned on avg. per day for a year.

While coins appreciate and depreciate over time, you just don't see those types of returns from Buy/Hold in other coins; BTC doesn't naturally earn interest on itself just sitting there. The closest I've seen seems to be NXT but you need to hold at least a hundred thousand just to have a tiny chance to forge some coins.

I wouldn't be involved without those 10% 20% rewards offered for node ops and believe that the economic reward system Evan has set up with his background in economics will help set it apart from other alts.

2 more entries added to the Batch 3 Waiting List, both via Reddit.

Thank you gentlemen and Welcome Aboard!

==

BTW, received a PM from someone looking for a new miner host because CEX.io is charging them 44% Management Fees for having his miners hosted there! I def. don't feel bad at all about a 3% Management Fee for Batch2/3 MasterNodes after hearing about this.

Ah, just realized, that since the Kauai Bitcoin Club (all 3 of us) took a 10% stake in the Batch 2 node...the first four Batch 3 sign ups will definitely slot into Batch 2 instead (or 40% worth, which could be 2 or 3 people; whichever option that fills the node quickest).  So those guys score an earlier set up by getting their node set up earlier in the B2 queue ahead of Batch 3 setups.

One of the benefits of being quicker than the average bear, I suppose. :D

==

Also, any nodes brought up before the 20th will only be brought up for brief testing and to print output of the node being functional with public node data that can be publicly cross referenced from the node debug logs and transaction history. The orig. node is actually down at the moment, and will be until later this evening when I continue locking it down with the darkcoind software not running. I will then quickly test that the latest hardening steps didn't limit node communications & functions, before taking it back down again.

I took it down because there's no need to risk our orig. stake funds when payouts aren't live yet, & better options are right around the corner in a week, which greatly reduces risk to 1000DRK wallet files meant for registering in the Darkcoin mempool as a confirmed Darkcoin MasterNode.

And if you missed the earlier update: if you're looking for a whole node, please don't send me your 1000DRK, rather wait until the method for safe public access of your 1000DRK wallet file (hopefully well encrypted by you, the 100% node owner) is made available in RC3 on the 20th before proceeding. That way, I won't have to touch your 100% stake or be responsible for your 1000DRK orig. stake as a whole node owner.

I may not be able to set up your node until the 21st or 22nd if you're a 100% node owner (and Otoh gets the first one, most likely on the afternoon/evening of the 20th; what we call "pau hana time"), but at least you'll be able to keep your 1000DRK and the private key info all to yourself for waiting until then.

DZ:

1) I've signed up for a 250 DRK stake. Could I increase that to 500 DRK?
2) So let's say I send 500 DRK and you team me with another 500 DRK person. I'm assuming that you keep our stake money in a cold wallet using the new system, correct? The other team member never has access to anything/no trust is required?
3) You mention that three days' notice is required to withdraw funds so that you can line up another stakeholder. Do you really think the "market" for new stakeholders will be that liquid? I'm concerned that if my partner pulls out their money and you can't find a new stakeholder in three days, the MN will go down.

Thanks!

Hey DZ,

Given the higher security standards that are being implemented with the MN code wallets, I think I'll be in for 1000drk instead of 250.

Thanks a lot for running this service, mate. It's a good deal and you're comporting yourself like a true professional. I'll have my coins ready for you on the 21st or sooner if you need.

Cheers.

1. Sure, the more the merrier.  :D
2. Yes, that's the beauty of taking advantage of the built in forum trust ratings. You don't have to trust some random team member, but hopefully a community member/operator that you did your due diligence on.
3. I think so. In general, I think that the value of these node slots will appreciate both slowly and with big growth spurts, so that owning a MasterNode or part of a functional and hardened node will be a valuable commodity and crypto asset in the long run, where just holding it with a Buy/Hold mentality comes with built in "interest" from MN operations rewards, when your Darkcoins are employed with trusted MasterNode Operators/Administrators as ownership stakes in nodes.

I've found after founding a large international miner's co-op that oftentimes teammates will happily take over a larger stake in something that is either paying out or due to payout shortly, when someone needed to drop out for whatever reason.

If I'm fortunate, and through hard work and word of mouth, perhaps I'll even have a running Reserve list of people either waiting for a node to fill up to 100% or to fill in a spot that will be vacated in 3 days. That would help tremendously for liquidity and to keep the rewards flowing without pause.

Ah, good choice! I'd do the same if I was in your shoes and I had over 1000DRK.  :)

You're welcome! I'd like to take this moment to actually say: "No, thank you." Seriously, this is where I'm in my natural element: both dealing with something technical and also having fun in marketing putting together innovative projects like this that help out fellow nerds like myself.  :D

It's very much a 2 way effort, in which feedback from community needs/concerns drive how a deal/project is structured and secured.

So, from the bottom of my heart: an earnest Mahalo for those signing up for this brand new service, which I'm proud to have been the first to offer, and for those that have asked questions publicly or via PM that helped to clarify this service.

Also: a big thank you to Evan, the Dev team, and the Testing team for making this amazing coin and ecosystem possible in the first place. Alright, I have to get back to my job job, and not my fun job. Be back later if you sent me a PM here or on Reddit. Backed up getting a lot of PMs and questions so I'll try to get to your PM as soon as I can. Thanks.

DZ if I'm reading this correctly I can join batch 2 if I send my 10% to the batch 2 address now before it officially fills up?

batch 2 slots are closed/reserved for those already signed up whether via PM or publicly.

However, yes for the first batch 3 sign ups that claim up to 40% (or some combo of this w multiple people), your node would be the next or 2nd next node to be set up as part of the first Batch 2 node.

DyslexicZombei please advice how to make a transfer from Cryptsy as I cant find option to add comment for transaction.
EDIT: (If there is a need)

I'm also interested in at least a 25% stake. Would this allow me to get in Batch 3? I'm unclear as to how you're dividing up the batches. Will there be multiple nodes available for Batch 3's pricing? I'd like it to be setup and managed. Please advise on the next step. Thank you.

DZ I sent you a PM.

I'm mixing and matching B2/B3 sign ups to most efficiently fill up a node. However, priority will be given to those who signed up earliest and they'll be placed in the next available node that can fit them.

With that said: should an early B2/B3 sign up take too long to make a stake deposit a whole bunch of new sign ups could beat them to the punch and fill up a node or two. All of this is academic -  with no real advantage to earlier sign ups except for lower management fees for early sign up - as long as they get their stake deposit in by the 18th, they should be part of a working, hardened node on the 20th, if they wanted to be part of the start of MN payouts.

Cool, thanks. Will check that in a bit. Working OT 3rd week in a row but I'm not complaining because work was slow in the spring. Been working on locking down Linux servers at work and at "play".

There's no need as long as you comment here publicly or send me a PM to keep your details anonymous if you prefer. It's good to sign if your client allows it (such as Darkcoin-qt) but if you can't, a msg. here or via PM will suffice.

Quick update before I head back to the Linux mines  ;D

- 2 deposits received today:

Net amount: +250.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 3e516463ec96851dbf5a1d0a99a408e1b5582a6842da27acfa603010d139665c

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: a42f38f03040ae7c901a73a5958dd13f6bf239a515115XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


I'll check my PMs later to log your stake deposit, or you can claim them publicly here. I know the first one was from a gentleman from Reddit d..b...n

=============================================================================================


Community Node #2 Wallet Total:

100 DRK - ???, may stay anon.
250 DRK - Reddit, d...b...n
100 DRK  - Kauai Bitcoin Club
-----
Total Deposits

450 DRK - Slots needed to fill to complete: one 25% stake + three 10% stakes  

This is for the next node to be prepped this weekend based on improvements & hardening steps from the first community owned node brought up last week.

DZ

I made transaction details are sent in PM where to point my profit stream :)

Thank you for this great opportunity!

You're welcome! Wallet address noted. And thank you for teaming up with us to be part of this leading edge of live, fully functional MasterNodes.

We're looking for one more 25% stake deposit from a 25% sign up to complete the next node which should go live in a day or two. I'm *still* tightening security down for the first DZ DRK MN, which is a never ending task and there's always more you could do, no matter how secure you actually may be. This first server is the template from which all other nodes in this subnet will be spawned and then customized to your particular node's keys and addresses.

==

Also: these nodes that are currently being filled up by partial stakes will be the last community owned nodes I set up for about two weeks or so.

This service offering has received a lot of community support and great response within the Darkcoin community, so thank you everyone for your questions and your support.

After RC3 releases I am going to be very, very busy setting up nodes owned 100% by one person or entity and can't give an estimate for when community owned nodes in 10 or 25% chunks will be available again if a person missed the deadline for stake deposits on the 18th.
TL;DR: due to overwhelming response for these services, Batch 4 sign ups may be weeks away if you miss this sign up/stake deposit period.

Community Owned Darkcoin MasterNode Setup Queue

#1 - Intermittently Up for testing purposes, dormant until RC3 and offsite storage of 1000DRK becomes available
#2 - 75% Deposits Complete - Assuming 100% filled, ETA 6/16-6/17
#3 - 10% Deposits Complete

I m very excited to be in your team and to have possibility to make more DRKs, even dont have 1k DRK,
will promote your proposal on official DRK thread and am pretty sure we will fulfill MN in no time :)

PS. I sent u another PM :)

Dyslexic, after doing some further due diligence into you and reading through about 100 of your previous posts on your other BTC endeavors, and after reading what others have to say about you (particularly those who were unhappy), I've come to two conclusions:
1) your communication via these forums is not the best, but 2) there is a good enough probability that you will not run off with my DRK.

Having said that, I am ready to deposit but you seem to be making this 'batch' stuff way more confusing then it needs to be.
Now that your batch 3 address (XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE) only needs a 25% stake, do you want me to send my 100 DRK to the batch 2 address (XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh) or should I just send it to the batch 3 address anyhow?
JL

Jesse , I also went trough due diligence of DZ, and also thought about sending to some "stranger" all of my hard made DRKs...
But after reading all I could source about DZ I really without any fear made an transfer :)

ofc you dont know me neither but you can read my past on this forum, and can see that I actually asked before if anybody willing to join coins together for MN. I am happy that DZ has strong background and he is great candidate for this role (at least second best after chaeplin :)).

BTW if i understand DZ correctly, node 2 and 3 are based on first come first served.
So I believe if you make the transfer earlier you have more chance to be in node 2.

I dont know where my DRKs belong either :), but I think I am 4th who did the transfer from time node 2 and 3 opened - so hoping to be in node 2 :)
DZ, if i misunderstood something or put false explanation please correct me.

Thnx

1) Point taken. I may have been too wordy on this launch but I'm trying to do better on this project as far as information sharing but the simple fact is if I don't have something new/different to say, I've given up saying it just to repeat myself.

I attempted to build a democratic Bitcoin miner's co-op, which worked out well when mfgs. delivered. At one point we were the 6th fastest team on the largest pool, outranking the teams from countries like Russia, Germany, Poland, Canada, & 1 of the 2 China teams. When mfgs. delivered late or never delivered at all: my team & I ended up being the unfair targets of some of the community's unhappiness about manufacturers being late. For example, my only negative trust rating was from someone pissed off about not receiving a refund from Black Arrow, when the simple fact of the matter is BA had all of our funds & had not released the funds back to us yet, and after speaking about the whole manner and defending the co-op's leaders, I was advised not to say anything about the situation from partners so as not to further inflame things.

It hasn't been fun to repeatedly have to mediate disputes within the co-op; to play the neutral party or defender of the minority in a decision, and to deal with mfgs. that straight up lied to us one hand while having to deal with infighting and false accusations that one or more us took the money and ran with HashFast or Bitcmine order money (or were somehow involved with a conspiracy with the mfgs). The last straw was a persistent stalker troll that kept at it for weeks, who finally dragged my daughter of all people into our long running internet pissing contest.

I was so disgusted that the forum allows such behavior and so disturbed that a grown man would drag some stranger's child into their feud over nothing (the troll wasn't even a paying customer!), that I took a month+ long break, where other co-op leaders covered for me, after working for free for the co-op for 7 days straight for months on end. Actually I've paid to work for the co-op so far, being that I'm the one that came up with most of the funds in our ongoing 2 state legal battle vs. HF to get them to live up to the promises they made to Batch 1 buyers and if you know how much attorneys charge, it hasn't been cheap.

When it came time to defend my fellow miners: I put my money where my mouth is, got publicly called a liar by Hashfast by a new employee that didn't know the case history, and I didn't ask for a single satoshi from co-op members in Rounds 1-4 while doing it.

When mfgs. have delivered, payouts have gone on without major incident. What's different here is that we're not waiting for some lying or completely lost manufacturing team to deliver us cutting edge ASIC hardware with a short half life. What's different is that you just sign up and get paid out, and there doesn't have to be much interaction besides checking on payout problems and changing ownership; we're not on pins and needles hoping that our promised "good deal" ASIC rig finally ships.

Besides: I can't run off. It's against my ethical code, my spiritual beliefs, and since so many Sr. and Hero members know me, I'd lose my job/clearance over short term temporary gains, when I can just build a needed service that could pay off much greater over the long run, then some type of short term scam scenario.

I just got a big order for full nodes. What you're seeing here for the community owned nodes is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the demand for full node setup/management. I've thankfully been asked to set up and manage a significant percentage of the new full nodes that are going to come online in the next week or so. I won't be able to do a Batch 4 for a while because of it. For these full nodes: I happily won't even have access to their 1000DRK stake. There's no need to steal/scam my fellow miners for such stupid risks when I can make more offering a service to my own community. The time off has been good to me. I'm recharged, refocused and happy to never directly deal with an ASIC mfg. again.

2) It's all mix and match at this point. Some people have gone silent, and some have even upped their stakes. I'll clone and customize these servers as their wallets are ready.

Thanks for the supporting comments rentahash.  :)

You made it into Node #2 by claiming three 10% stakes, and we're just awaiting one more 25% deposit from someone in either Batch 2 (who signed up in Batch 2) or from Batch 3 (who signed up in Batch 3 or just now).

Community Node #2 Updated Wallet Total:

100 DRK - Huh, may stay anon.
250 DRK - Reddit, d...b...n
100 DRK  - Kauai Bitcoin Club
300 DRK - rentahash
-----
Total Deposits

750 DRK - Slots needed to fill to complete: one 25% stake

Status update: I'll be taking a break from my ongoing Linux work project to perform more hardening steps on Node #1 - the template - this evening.

Great! I am sure it will fulfilled in next 24 hrs...
BTW here is dark :), I m going to sleep! speak to you soon

DZ, Check your PM's
JL

I'm in. 25% stake sent to Batch 3 address. Sent in two transactions.

PM'd the transaction ID's.

DZ: Sent my stake to the Batch 2 address. PM'd you transaction ID.

Bunch of transactions came in today. Awesome!

Status: 248 confirmations
Date: 6/15/2014 08:31
From: unknown
To: XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 3 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 100.00 DRK
Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: f4242d574d1306587e96da57e39571e105fa038f3bb2754a766d3f837f2febd3

Status: 96 confirmations
Date: 6/15/2014 15:05
From: unknown
To: XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 2 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 100.00 DRK
Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 6485e51d4041367a03ae205a98e550ce0f797cdd8e82c9d55ab7e8b47489b4bc

Status: 97 confirmations
Date: 6/15/2014 15:05
From: unknown
To: XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 2 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 100.00 DRK
Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 6485e51d4041367a03ae205a98e550ce0f797cdd8e82c9d55ab7e8b47489b4bc

Status: 18 confirmations
Date: 6/15/2014 18:24
From: unknown
To: XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 3 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 1.00 DRK
Net amount: +1.00 DRK
Transaction ID: b171b17e935690dc1dc32970b75db5ef4c74afd2db98a6fef866a4d8d1c17e79

Status: 15 confirmations
Date: 6/15/2014 18:29
From: unknown
To: XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 3 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 249.00 DRK
Net amount: +249.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0b7a30d04c046ac98821d3d18247d556e6026a4f76fe14fa2514107112f675b8

Status: 2/unconfirmed
Date: 6/15/2014 19:06
From: unknown
To: XvJXGuqUBzdMxXjFJdX5fTzAXgxcpM5jWh (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 2 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 750.00 DRK
Net amount: +750.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 13d5aa657bfbd7f0b963f961c7ca0498954cea12ad169e7ab838fd3131c29b38

Thank you everyone! We already have enough for Node #2 and Node #3 is nearly full. If you haven't either claimed a TrxID publicly or forgot to send me a PM, please do so, and don't forget to include your payout address.

Signing off this evening. Will check PMs later to match user IDs to TrxIDs before getting to finally play with Node #1 and tightening security even further. I should be finalizing the security configuration this evening or tomorrow. It's a custom security configuration that does standard Linux hardening steps combined with steps taken from DISA CAT I STIGs, influenced by my own background in InfoSec and protecting Linux servers.

Sorry, chaeplin is doing a great job and not to disparage his IT experience but IMO he has neither a track record of being a conduit for hundreds of community BTC nor my security chops and IT experience in high pressure/high stakes R&D testing. For years, while launching rockets for a living and helping rocket scientists to do their job, I've personally dealt with high powered MDA & DoD Program Managers running programs with multibillion dollar annual budgets during true mission critical situations. You just can't get this type of experience and level of intensity anywhere else. All you need to do is see the one of a kind pics in my Photobucket account in my sig for proof of my handiwork.

250 drk sent! details sent pm

Thank you! Confirmed a number of deposits via PM.

Current Community MasterNode status

#1 : Complete
#2 : 100% Filled
#3 : 75% Filled
#4 : 20% Filled

I sent you a PM, DZ!

Thanks!

Hey DZ! I'm R2A from Reddit and I replied to you, but no answer from you yet!

Hey R2A, sorry, I didn't see your reddit response. The PMs and questions here soaked up what little free time I had this weekend when I wasn't at work (the downside of being able to work from home).

It's probably best to PM me here or you can just ask your question publicly if its not sensitive. Essentially: I'm just matching stake ownerships up like puzzle pieces so that they equal 100% stakes on a first come, first served basis.

As long as the node's full and ready to go, as far as the earning power of Node #2 vs. #4 and so on:  all of these full nodes should be on equal footing once payouts begin on Friday.

Hey jwuerz! Good seeing you on this forum. I didn't see a PM here so I'll check Reddit later.

nice progress :)

Agreed! There's definitely a demand for this service as we've all shown and I'm happy to be a key player in launching community owned MasterNodes.

Quick update before heading to work:

#1 : Complete
#2 : 100% Filled
#3 : 100% Filled
#4 : 20% Filled

There's a great chance you'll get into a full node if a stake deposit is sent in the next day or two. For people who might be late and make a deposit late on the 18th and are part of a node that didn't fill up, I'll ask these people if they want their DRK back or if they want to wait for either a node to fill up or someone to drop out, since I can't do partial owned nodes for awhile after Batch 3.

I'll be back this evening to check PMs, update this thread, and launching Node #2, if all goes well with finishing the necessary changes implemented for Node #2 to get it up and running.

Cool, we just got another 10% stake deposit.

Status: 0/unconfirmed
Date: 6/16/2014 07:38
From: unknown
To: XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE (own address, label: From Various - DZ DRK MN Batch 3 Deposits Only (List Tx ID in Thread))
Credit: 100.10 DRK
Net amount: +100.10 DRK
Transaction ID: c4e1e47d671eeea6fc284e12ad9996bfe8ed96363fXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Please send me a PM with the rest of the TrxID if this was your 10% stake. Thanks!

Node #4 : 20% 30% Full

I figured a .10 tip was in order.  ha!
I'm sure we will be all tipping you once we get the nodes online.
Thanks!
PM was sent with a few questions as well!

I've decided to leave this for now (need the liquidity).

Good luck with the project though, looks very good  :)

No worries! Thank you for the update.

Please let me know if you become interested again, later on. Aloha.

Heh, thanks. You didn't have to do that but thank you jwuerz. I'll check PMs in sec.

Hey DZ,
hows going with Node #2 :)
are we on schedule for the 20th :)

cheers

DZ,
How are those of us which are vested in a percentage of a node going to be able to track and keep tabs of that node. I for one will want to know all the details. Currently I believe tracking is done through the IP address of a node. I'd like to be able to see for myself how often the node is being selected and paid. Also, are you planning on hosting on your own servers? I thought I read in an earlier post the use of Amazon but I'm a little concerned with using Amazon because such a large percentage of masternodes are going to be hosted there. In my opinion, a masternode network which is spread out and diversified is a stronger one. What are your thoughts?
Oh and thanks again for providing a killer service.

Nodes 2 and 3 have completed funding. I never got to work on the node last night. I have a deadline on a Linux server that's the same day nodes go live unfortunately. This lovely machine connecting to a prototype sensor somewhere in the Pacific is at about 500 vulnerabilities out of 550 closed and it only took me 3 weeks to do it manually since there's no sanctioned automated tools for this.  :P

What's doubly ridiculous is that I'm doing all this for a standalone controller server that doesn't touch any wired or wireless networks and no one will stick their neck out for a waiver of some sort. Is it any wonder why our R&D process has become so slow and expensive?

Anyway, our nodes aren't going to be locked down to this uber-draconian level as a lot of it is unnecessary in the first place. I am def. working on our MasterNode template tonight though, and the wallets are full for 2 more nodes.

I am unsure if the hardening will be complete. I was at about 95% when I left off. I believe that we're still well on track for the 20th. Security looks good but I'm not going to clone the instance until I'm 100% happy with the security. No stake funds will be held in the nodes but someone could technically point a node at a different wallet (by bringing it up as a new node with a new privkey) or they could disable the node, if they somehow got in past multiple layers of security (and common sense security), so I definitely don't want to underestimate the security aspect.

Those of us in InfoSec tend to be paranoid by nature. For example, you'll never see one of us picking up some strange thumbdrive they found and plugging it into corp. LAN or classified PC (a classic vector for directed malware via phishing attack).

On the 20th: I'll go to work later that day, but I'll only have a few hours to work on nodes before heading to work Friday morning so hopefully the fork goes well. If all goes well, I won't have to be worried sick about our nodes while still trying to make this important work deadline that my co-workers are depending on.

You're welcome! And thank you for being part of this first wave of community owned MasterNodes.

At the moment: I have the correspondence and notes in a journal keeping track of stakes at the moment but will be putting this to spreadsheet. I likely won't have time for this until this weekend (Been on OT 3 weeks: had 1 day off this month and that day (last Tuesday) I worked here and on Reddit on this project). My priority is getting these nodes up and running for those that made deposits so that we all can start payouts as soon as RC3 forks. As long as RC3 launches on the 20th, the first payout will be on the last day or the next day after the last day of the month (30th or July, 1).

I've thought about how best to share what could be sensitive info. I've decided that only the people involved with that node will know the IP and wallet address for reward deposits. I need a secure way to share this spreadsheet with just the node owners. Anyone know a good Dropbox alt?

I'd like to be able to see good auditing info somehow on these nodes so that besides tracking deposits, we can all see whether the algorithm is fair or not. I'm a big proponent of fairness and would hate to see that some nodes are consistently outearning other nodes, as all the variability is supposed to even out over time, right?

Re: Amazon: it's true Batches 1-3 are on Amazon but they're only 4 nodes at this point (3 and a partial). That free trial was too good to pass up as a training platform. Decentralization is good for a cryptocoin...as I recognize the irony that this is essentially the centralized place for anyone wanting hands off partial ownership of a node through a trusted community member. I'm looking at other options as these services expand and doing inquiries into what it would take to procure lots of static IPs for clients: https://darkcointalk.org/threads/for-those-running-several-nodes-whats-your-approach-for-static-ip-addresses.1347/

One weak point of the current Node system is the reliance on IPv4 static IPs. IPv4 is almost out of addresses and MasterNodes will need to implement IPv6 implementation (capable of 2^128 possible addresses) sooner rather than later. It's possible that we could see some sort of 6to4 tunneling implemented as an intermediate step before a native IPv6 MasterNode solution.

Node #2

Owners of these Trx IDs (you know who you are.  ;D ) :

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0fc98a444630af31a49cc6cbc282dccebc1a2770352cbc2b5046d7eeda1f11d4 (Kauai Bitcoin Club)

Net amount: +250.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 3e516463ec96851dbf5a1d0a99a408e1b5582a6842da27acfa603010d139665c

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: a42f38f03040ae7c901a73a5958dd13f6bf239a515115aea86047acebbfc61d8

Net amount: +300.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 865be4a57cf29f19b64dd01f7026b3fee3abbc493ed8fa798f2278c46170fb4b

Net amount: +1.00 DRK
Transaction ID: b171b17e935690dc1dc32970b75db5ef4c74afd2db98a6fef866a4d8d1c17e79

Net amount: +249.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0b7a30d04c046ac98821d3d18247d556e6026a4f76fe14fa2514107112f675b8

==

Node #3

Net amount: +750.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 13d5aa657bfbd7f0b963f961c7ca0498954cea12ad169e7ab838fd3131c29b38

Net amount: +250.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 7c423fa74c6047cc369eb819822c6dda5ebc48eb40796947c8aedf7c2e7f0c25

==

Node #4

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: f4242d574d1306587e96da57e39571e105fa038f3bb2754a766d3f837f2febd3

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 6485e51d4041367a03ae205a98e550ce0f797cdd8e82c9d55ab7e8b47489b4bc

Net amount: +100.10 DRK
Transaction ID: c4e1e47d671eeea6fc284e12ad9996bfe8ed96363f02723caf5ccd3464ce1dfa

==

We have about 28 hours to fill node #4. Because of the math, I had to fit the 750 and 250 DRK deposits together even though they came in a little later than most of the 100DRK deposits. If it doesn't fill up by tomorrow night there's 3 options for those involved with Node #4:

1. A refund with no penalty since nothing happened
2. You can wait for the node to fill up as people belatedly realize that payments went live. I think it'll sound good to be part of a node both in the short and long term and there's no other partial nodes currently available from a crypto operator with a track record and a trust rating.
3. You can wait for someone to drop out of a Node (probably not likely for a while with this being so new and there being a 1.5% Cash Out fee)

If you guys opt to stay the course if it doesn't fill, I'll keep the funding for Node #4 open, but that'll be the last community node I can set up for a while. Signing off for the evening, and back to work.

That sucks. I'm on node 4. I'll give it a couple days though of live masternodes to see if anyone else realizes this awesome potential and jumps in and fills this bad boy up.
JL

If things go well, I may add to node 4. Let's see how the fork goes first. I'm not quite ready to go all in yet.

I want to go in with 300drk in node #4, what have i to do?

If node 4 is short of the 1,000 DRK, I'm happy at any time to top up to the full amount when DZ needs it to go live, likewise for node 5 etc, so if you put coins in to a shared node you're guaranteed it will be a full functioning one, I'll leave the time frame up to DZ when to ask me to fill partially invested nodes, maybe once a week or when they get up to 500 DRK or something.

great community DRK has!

Thank you for taking this matter on this professional level, I am very grateful for your concerns and cautious in regards to security.
It makes me feel that it is more secured in your "MN wallet" then to keep DRKs in my laptop or Cryptsy :).

Cheers!

Thanks for all involved!

I am in node 4 and it is very nice of you guys to offer to help fill her up.

I would do with 300drk but dont know how.

You just send to the address he listed a few pages back, then PM him your transaction ID and a darkcoin address where you want to receive your MN payments. It's easy!

That's awesome of you to make that offer Otoh. Thank you!

We might have to take you up on that depending on how the next 13.5 hours works out.

The Node #4 wallet is currently 95% full! Depending on how the deposits work out, one of the later deposits may have to shift to a possible Node #5, due to the way the stake ownerships must fit like a puzzle to equal 1000DRK - hence the mixing/matching of earlier B2 reservations and later B3 reservations.

People in Node #5 can wait to be generously rescued by Otoh to fill the Node OR ask a penalty free refund (since nothing happened).

I have to head to work, but I'll check PMs this evening on Reddit and here, before giving the final community fund raising update for this launch period of this service.

Thanks for helping him out ddink7. I love it when a community pulls together to help one another out. I know capitalism is a dog eat dog world, but I do love it when cooperation, altruism, and compassion can be integrated into capitalism.

Hey Zombie, R2A from Reddit here,

I was just wondering if I had something to do for the setup of my full node (1k dark) or not,

I'm so eager to have mine setup  :P

Good luck with your work!

I'm happy to put in a float that you can use to complete any node, say when it gets to 750 DRK or what ever, just draw from my deposit what's needed to cleanly complete it any time rather than needing to juggle odd amounts in the final stages of each node, you choose when you wish to top out any node and move on to the next basically.

If this works for you then I'll send 1,000 DRK specifically for node top up completions to use at your discretion and will keep the float refilled as necessary upon request.

Wow that is so awesome of you Otoh! What an amazing community.

You rock, Otoh!

DZ: Otoh kind of gave me an idea.

Once the nodes fill up and get rolling, what if you had somebody that filled the role of liquidity provider. Let's say this person committed 1000 DRK to (temporarily) fill up any nodes that were about to go offline because of withdrawals. As soon as a new investor was found, the liquidity provider's money would be returned to him/her, along with a portion of the 1.5% withdrawal fee.

Let's say Bob needs his 250 DRK back, but Bob shares the node with me (David). Under the present system, Bob pays a 1.5% penalty (3.75 DRK) and gets his withdrawal in three days. In those three days, Sally decides to put in 250 DRK to fill up the node. She is also charged a 1.5% fee (3.75 DRK). Total fees of 7.5 DRK go to you for administrative overhead. But what if there is no Sally? What if the node goes a week or two without being filled. Then I would be understandably unhappy and would be losing money!

Under the proposed system, we'll use Otoh as an example liquidity provider. He has 1000 DRK in his own cold wallet that only he has access to. Bob decides to pull out his 250 DRK and pays the 3.75 DRK fee. You contact Otoh (the liquidity provider) who immediately sends you 250 DRK to fill the node back up. You then process Bob's withdrawal. A week later, Sally buys in, pays her 3.75 DRK, and you return Otoh's 250 DRK to him along with a portion of the fees (say half, or 3.75 DRK).

Benefits: Node never goes offline, person who is withdrawing money gets their money back faster, you have less administrative headache because I'm not going to be sending you PMs bitching about my node being offline, and the liquidity provider makes a healthy profit (maybe not as much as running a node themselves, but still decent). What do you think?

Thanks to all who are willing to help get these nodes online!

Also, DZ,  I will raise my investment from 10% - 15% in order to cover the rest of node 4.

Thanks for the help again!

Edit:  Transaction ID:  f3f2da53d535f46c7bf36b020bf3abfbf5e9737bd215d20abf1421771c5ade83-000

DZ, please post a tipping address if you can.

Thank you! We're waiting for RC3 and instructions to go public before the cold storage of DRK wallets for nodes owned by one person can be implemented. Please *don't* send me your 1000DRK if you want a full node or two...or a bunch.

If I had my way, I wouldn't touch anyone's DRK stake funds to set up these partial nodes, but alas...

Full node owners with a Setup Reservation: please be patient and wait for RC3 to release before sending me an encrypted and complex password protected wallet file in which I won't have access to the original stake funds (and there's less anxiety on my part about handling large amounts of other people's funds).

Also, I'll be contacting full node owners in the order in which they contacted me before or when RC3 releases so for prompt set-up when I get to your full node in the Q, please have your encrypted 10000DRK wallet files and other relevant info per developer instructions. Assuming the first few nodes aren't having issues with the hard fork, I'll be starting full node setup on the evening of the 20th when I get back from work. On Friday or this weekend: If you can have this wallet file(s) and other relevant info ready for me, that will help immensely with speeding up setup time.

Since this thread has taken on a life of its own but is starting to branch off into discussion about Full Nodes: I'll likely start a Full Node thread on this subforum tomorrow night to help organize that effort to separate it from the Partial Node aspect of this thread, so also please keep an eye out for that.

Hi tifozi,

That's not necessary but thank you very much for the sentiment. If someone wants to buy me a beer, a lollipop, or something: XcbPGJKXPq4UMNrCBzza7kWEWeDjLSsTdq

Ah, that was you. I hadn't checked PMs yet but ah what the heck: you can be the one 15 percenter. As far as partial MasterNode owners and their stake percentages: You're one of a kind my man.  ;D

I confirm that Node #4 is also full thanks to jwuerz and his 15% stake. Nice!

From PMs I'm going through on other sites on Darkcoin Talk & Reddit, it looks like Node #5 may fill up or almost fill up as well. I extended the funding deadline a day just for those that sent me an offsite PM yesterday, since we still have a little time.

For everyone else: the deadline is in 3 hours and 20 minutes to get a partial stake deposit in before nodes go live on the 20th.

And a 250DRK deposit was just received.

Looks like we're definitely doing a Community Node #5.  :)

Please send a follow up PM with your TrxID when you get a chance. Mahalo!

Here's output from a typical debug log I just took:
ReviewingTransaction:
CTransaction(hash=72da8129fe8851002ff861f15758dcec25754b40fb4e6769edfd7db5c2744f68, ver=1, vin.size=1, vout.size=2, nLockTime=0)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(fd6ccdec860fc4c7acd538b864edf53b186a834f4607b56b2c7f43c6407c2c64, 1), scriptSig=304502201469358bc4758d34)
    CTxOut(nValue=1.00000000, scriptPubKey=OP_DUP OP_HASH160 367d56751ff6)
    CTxOut(nValue=0.88279505, scriptPubKey=OP_DUP OP_HASH160 40bb6e9b10bd)
ReviewingTransaction:
CTransaction(hash=2773bc3003ac85467acc0289d5d70b2f65222f9277d33b1f833e381485ae2ed8, ver=1, vin.size=9, vout.size=2, nLockTime=0)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(0e4e58c93ef40bf6049d061369ad8bbfb4e4b1b3285728a2a432e708ed757507, 1), scriptSig=3045022000c2fcce9417bf77)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(b0255491365873a9d47d133e0d7aa77ae0481314c9d59d9e7eef95ac2efb05b1, 1), scriptSig=30450221009c8b3d1f19fdb4)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(2350f4a60e02d5ad9e655fd535a0b1ded10dbd6aacb290cf31ddbe036ab43f90, 26), scriptSig=3045022100c437f2a10dfd29)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(271ea3569d2b95d0dbffff3b6f2c4e70d33e840dfdceed5869813a358e5223d6, 32), scriptSig=3046022100e343d5d1a5996d)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(52c5296e4a5d039a52db026ac2f9aaa6a6b56c3d048efdc811235e2a91202edc, 25), scriptSig=3046022100d761c4c64fc538)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(58045bd6153676e09a17ff50a3fe238da04050d9ab7ad3f19c08def6bbfc7021, 1), scriptSig=3044022005a8e7ccfc5e4c4d)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(2745086909404394122f3389175eb72d00f28cc0b1245a635be9c4c6bf3abc5a, 27), scriptSig=304602210099911256b6eddc)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(9aa2b1a26b2905986e16a13a575c91fc2372112560498bb6d378852565a09321, 0), scriptSig=3044022048db7a0a0bb23b1d)
    CTxIn(COutPoint(2e849df93c6b85a8e5b1a8ea3f3923f859032a2ce98c05f41cfc5f9a47a4d709, 25), scriptSig=304302203e773da4948e3407)
    CTxOut(nValue=0.10000000, scriptPubKey=OP_DUP OP_HASH160 77e323dfc07e)
    CTxOut(nValue=0.01000262, scriptPubKey=OP_DUP OP_HASH160 5087f657c107)

and...

~$ darkcoind getmininginfo
{
    "blocks" : 84280,
    "currentblocksize" : 0,
    "currentblocktx" : 0,
    "difficulty" : 3944.60143001,
    "errors" : "Hard Fork Alert: Masternode Payments begin on Friday, June 20th. Please update! http://goo.gl/ucp4m7",
    "generate" : false,
    "genproclimit" : -1,
    "hashespersec" : 0,
    "networkhashps" : 92037686122,
    "pooledtx" : 0,
    "testnet" : false

DZ, as far as security goes, a potential hole here is that our bitcointalk logins could be compromised (probably much easier than a 2fa MintPal account) and someone could pm you claiming to be one of us stakeholders telling you to close out the stake and send the DRK to a different address than the payout addresses we initially provide you.
Because of this potential security lapse it might be wise to make the payout address also be the cash out address and then not enable anyone to ever change their cashout address. Or maybe we should email you now our own email addresses and you could simply send a confirming email if someone absolutely must change their cashout address?

Damn good idea. Does Darkcoin allow the signing of messages like Bitcoin does? If so, DZ could only accept properly signed messages.

Thanks for your answer! Please, if possible, post the thread link in this thread so I see it immediately :)

Good luck with your work!

 TxID: c574af1636e77891b04ced5e3c32f9ff92cf454abd18f8fb31d022cf2b98e1b6
Sent: 250.00 DRK
Payout address: XrpE7NzLM9sTzQPTpt8G5aFoMqqF12akRx

Thank you. Confirmed.

We are at exactly 4.5 Nodes funded and thanks to Otoh's generous offer, those in the fifth node won't be left out.

==

Also: I don't have much time with two deadlines fast approaching, one fun and the other work, but real quick -

- good idea on the float ddink7: I don't know if Otoh would want to essentially be a community bank for ownership swaps, but if/when I can get to the point of helping to keep nodes afloat, I'd do it without hesitation. Since we were setting up the first node, we were setting a template for the nodes to follow. Otoh and I discussed the structure of this and what would be fair: we decided that 3 days notice was fair in that the original stake owner wouldn't have to wait long (esp. if they planned ahead) to withdraw from a node, and we should hopefully be able to fill that hole in ownership within 72 hours so that the node doesn't have to go down due to a stake fund shortage.

If you think about it: as long as ownership/management is kosher (or you're doing it yourself), partial node ownerships are great places to store DRK you weren't going to spend anyway and then you get to earn interest on them. At this point the two main minting/reward systems for cryptocoins are PoW and PoS. Darkcoin essentially combines the best of both worlds and becomes both a Proof of Work and a Proof of Stake coin tomorrow: Work is represented by mining, like in the BTC realm. Earning from Stake are offered via Masternodes, like forging in the NXT realm.

- re: BTC Talk forum security being used to either force a fake withdrawal or change a payout address falsely. The forum's been hacked before as we all know and it relies on SMF which has been pooh poohed by some as being woefully out of date and insecure. As far as compromised accounts: If it's a problem, then it's a problem every vendor and operator has to deal with (esp. the ones doing payouts). To my knowledge the forum system has never been compromised in this manner (forcing fake trades/deals) but it's also not out of the realm of possibility.

I honestly don't know how we as a community could deal with this at the moment, with the tools we currently have available. It's certainly a risk for us, as I've used this centralized forum to bring together the disparate cryptocommunity in one place for this new service which you all have been helping me to improve and evolve.

I'm open to suggestions from those that have ideas about how to reduce or prevent a fake trade or false payout redirection.

Why don't you get a list of emails and/or phone numbers from all your stakeholders. If somebody wants to withdraw to the payout address you have on file, no problem. ***If somebody wants to change their payout address, you require email and/or voice confirmation.*** What do you think?

250drk send some hours ago,check PM
Transaktions-ID: 9ab5810fcec1e54338c2f355ce025e08841dfccb92db3d1740269bf33813fb7e
payout: XuRE3QHnmT6oUM1ctqmd4zxYzWhhuEg7e8

If needed i can deposit 150drk more for fillup the node.

Thanks bregge. Noted, Mahalo and Welcome Aboard! We should be fine, as there's a few more that might straggle in (late PMs on other sites) and Otoh has offered to fill up any partial nodes left hanging.

Also: I posted the FULL NODE thread but there's not much info yet because we know little at this point: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=658285.0

As you hear about the cold storage setup for full nodes, please feel free to share anything new you learn with the rest of us.  :)

New batch Three Reservations are Closed. Only those that contacted me offsite for the first time yesterday will get a 24 hour extension to 9PM HST tonight.

After that: partial node set ups will be completely closed until the backlog of first Batch of Full Nodes clears from the daughter thread for Full nodes that this thread spawned.

DZ: I know you have been busy with work, but was just wondering if you had any updates on the ETA for having MNs set up? Thanks a bunch!

If all goes well, they'll go live sometime tonight after I harden the 2nd template (turns out there's two at the moment based on two different Linux OS systems :P ). First template's almost finished and I'm working on node prep/hardening this evening without too much distraction (family's at the movies).

I plan on heading to work a little later tomorrow morning but I leave before payments go live at I believe 11am my time. Cross your fingers for us that there's no major stumbling blocks that keeps us from being live with at least 4 community nodes by tomorrow morning.

==

Last update of the night: Template #1 survived a pretty intensive scan of...well, everything, audit and check of logs. I don't want to say it's bulletproof because we all know how that goes but this system as is, would be near DoD CAT I STIG standards if submitted for Accreditation; I deviate because I disagree with certain vendor choices.

Node #1 is good to go except I need to take it down to implement cold storage for RC3 for even better security, and it will be the first to be up with cold storage.

BTW, we ended up at 4.75 Nodes filled.

Ok, back to work.

Node #2 is now up utilizing cold storage and RC3. It's all ready for tomorrow. :)

sumguy@XX-XX-XX-21:~/.darkcoin$ ./darkcoind getinfo
{
    "version" : 100811,
    "protocolversion" : 70015,
    "walletversion" : 60000,
    "balance" : 0.00000000,
    "blocks" : 86914,
    "timeoffset" : 0,
    "connections" : 1,
    "proxy" : "",
    "difficulty" : 3601.02705821,
    "testnet" : false,
    "keypoololdest" : 1402136780,
    "keypoolsize" : 101,
    "paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
    "mininput" : 0.00001000,
    "errors" : "Hard Fork Alert: Masternode Payments begin on Friday, June 20th. Please update! http://goo.gl/ucp4m7"

This was the movement of funds into cold storage for Node #2:
Status: 64 confirmations
Date: 6/19/2014 21:18
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Credit: 1000.00 DRK
Net amount: 0.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 12cb0d02f4f3aee8ca1b55f1ce7883e32d20822ff322c9a73eee85337b4f1994

==

Node #1 is also running but with the orig. hot wallet at the moment:

SumbunnythatIusedtoknow@xx-xx-xx-147:~$ darkcoind getinfo
{
    "version" : 100811,
    "protocolversion" : 70015,
    "walletversion" : 60000,
    "balance" : 0.00000000,
    "blocks" : 88632,
    "timeoffset" : 0,
    "connections" : 1,
    "proxy" : "",
    "difficulty" : 3117.28726659,
    "testnet" : false,
    "keypoololdest" : 1402136780,
    "keypoolsize" : 101,
    "paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
    "mininput" : 0.00001000,
    "errors" : "Hard Fork Alert: Masternode Payments begin on Friday, June 20th. Please update! http://goo.gl/ucp4m7"


Still trying to figure out how to send the coins back from Node #1 to the orig. wallet so I can put stake funds from #1 into cold storage. Interestingly, when you implement this it tells you you're paying a payment to yourself and your balance stays the same.

Node #3 Cold storage transaction and current status:

Status: 6 confirmations, broadcast through 11 nodes
Date: 6/19/2014 23:53
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Credit: 1000.00 DRK
Net amount: 0.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 26e347b1f6119915e59b561d5145a03ad65f31e55528a72ea0fd46305af47b14

unkofester@ip-xxx-xx-xx-22:~$ darkcoind getinfo
{
    "version" : 100811,
    "protocolversion" : 70015,
    "walletversion" : 60000,
    "balance" : 0.00000000,
    "blocks" : 87547,
    "timeoffset" : 0,
    "connections" : 2,
    "proxy" : "",
    "difficulty" : 3270.72867714,
    "testnet" : false,
    "keypoololdest" : 1402136780,
    "keypoolsize" : 101,
    "paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
    "mininput" : 0.00001000,
    "errors" : "Hard Fork Alert: Masternode Payments begin on Friday, June 20th. Please update! http://goo.gl/ucp4m7"

Node #4 wallet transaction to cold storage:

Status: 0/unconfirmed
Date: 6/20/2014 00:09
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Credit: 1000.00 DRK
Net amount: 0.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 30762d9e5644cb8f486a7e27c4db4cc7f07ae64e0ad8cfc00b01d800f17bcaeb

sumofallpears@xxx-xx-xx-19:~$ darkcoind getinfo
{
    "version" : 100811,
    "protocolversion" : 70015,
    "walletversion" : 60000,
    "balance" : 0.00000000,
    "blocks" : 86402,
    "timeoffset" : 0,
    "connections" : 2,
    "proxy" : "",
    "difficulty" : 3198.16472526,
    "testnet" : false,
    "keypoololdest" : 1402136780,
    "keypoolsize" : 101,
    "paytxfee" : 0.00000000,
    "mininput" : 0.00001000,
    "errors" : "Hard Fork Alert: Masternode Payments begin on Friday, June 20th. Please update! http://goo.gl/ucp4m7"

Whew! Ok that does it. I have a little more to do to finish up but that's it for the night.
Otoh if you can send 250 DRK for the last node, we'd have a complete 5th node I can launch pretty quickly.

Sent!

Status: 0/unconfirmed, broadcast through 8 nodes
Date: 20/06/2014 15:23
To: DZ MN deposits XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ
Debit: -250.00 DRK
Transaction fee: -0.001 DRK
Net amount: -250.001 DRK
Transaction ID: ee4833c9978fa7bf4afeb08cf1b7799e20be65aa95f2752aa6b2479cd6c289db

It's best to email me or PM as I don't have time to check the thread often, I will be traveling in a few days and so may be afk from time to time as well, especially around the 26th, but all new node top up requests will be filled as soon as I get back online.

Also I'm happy to leave a permanent float to cover anyone wishing to withdraw from an existing node, I'd then be taking their position either temporally until new funds come in or permanently, which ever is easiest to administer and keep track of. Nodes once set up would then be guaranteed to stay working even if some of the join investors withdrew funds from them.

Thanks Otoh. I'll shoot you a PM later. We"re not quite out of the woods yet: I keep running into this console error on my local wallet when I try to startup the MasterNode via cold storage & local wallet: says to set MasterNode=1 in conf file, and it *is* set in both conf files to 1.

I've gone thru the instructions & config with a fine toothed comb and the conf file settings match exactly on both ends. Worked till 1am on it. Slept a few hours and got back to it at 630: looked at config again. config was good but I keep getting the error without documentation around about what to do if you see this error.

I think I'm seeing weirdness from the Darkcoin network itself too. Otoh's deposit still hasn't shown up although its been a while and I upgraded qt last night to the latest ver. Hmm, we're up but we're literally at the final step of implementing node activation from cold wallet and stymied at that very last step! It's a bit frustrating to have had to troubleshoot this final step for hours without seeing anything wrong with the config.

I may have to just re-visit this when I get home this afternoon. I left a comment up explaining what I was seeing on the RC3 setup thread at Darkcoin Talk. There's steps you can do with troublesome nodes which involve moving funds around and regenerating keys but to do it properly I'll need more time and I want to see network stability. If there's forking problems we may have to wait for the network to settle down. Feeling a tad nervous moving several K of DRK around - even self-payments - if the network is acting funky.

Let's hope this fork goes smoother than last time.

Darnit. Just as I suspected there *is* network instability. You get a feel for it when you've been working with networks for so long (and other times it just slaps you in the face).

Evan confirms there's some forking issues: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg7421501#msg7421501

Sigh. Sorry gents, I worked hard to get us ready for RC3 but we better wait for the situation to settle down before I start troubleshooting this again.

With network stability being low, Doesn't seem like much point of doing all this work just to possibly end up on the wrong fork and have to redo the config again. Looks like node payments are still disabled anyway until this is solved, so at least we're not losing out on rewards. I'll check the network status when I get home from work and continue troubleshooting that last step if the forking issues are solved by then.

DZ: As a network engineer, what's your read on the forking situation today? Do you think this is something Evan can resolve fairly easily?

TBH: I don't know enough to have an informed opinion since I don't have time to be a testnet operator which would've likely informed me more. I don't know where and how the code is failing and that's out of my area of expertise.

This is more in the realm of program debugging with an assist from network admins/engineers involved behind the scenes.

Also I forgot, I need to update the wallet that I'd sent the 250 DRK from, if that makes any difference to the transfer, it's still on v0.9.4.11-unk-beta, I can update it tomorrow and resend if that was the problem.

Strange. Nothing yet.

I would've thought that it would be fine to send DRK between the two client versions before the planned fork but it's possible that your transaction went out on some orphaned block in an unplanned side fork.

Oh, I may a solution for the RC2 to 3 upgrade to cold storage for our node #1: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg7424706#msg7424706

I'll explore this tonight to see if its both applicable and possibly helpful. Turns out that occasionally there's good info in there amidst the trolling and mudslinging.

I've updated that wallet to v0.9.10.2-unk-beta now, which is showing about double the confirmations that the old wallet had I think, let me know if it needs to be resent please, many thanks, hopefully it's working now.

Status: 369 confirmations
Date: 20/06/2014 15:23
To: DZ MN deposits XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ
Debit: -250.00 DRK
Transaction fee: -0.001 DRK
Net amount: -250.001 DRK
Transaction ID: ee4833c9978fa7bf4afeb08cf1b7799e20be65aa95f2752aa6b2479cd6c289db

I'm out of sync with v0.10.10.1.

I'll revert the client tomorrow morning to check for the deposit. The Post Mortem is they're estimating a 2-3 week delay in Node Payments:

https://darkcointalk.org/threads/6-20-rc3-post-mortem.1463/

Evan also has programming reinforcements so that should help as well.

Forgot about my buddy's wedding today. One of those years long common law marriages finally turning into the real thing. Some women have more patience than others.  ;D

Taking a break for the rest of the day. Haven't forgotten about those that contacted me privately. My day job doesn't usually fill up my weekends. I know people have PMed me but with this project consuming the days off I did have, today was essentially my first day off this month and I needed the downtime and extra sleep. I'll be back to pick up on PM discussions either this evening or tomorrow morning if the reception...runs late.  ;)  :)

I haven't confirmed Otoh's transaction yet but I'll just confirm here Otoh's second claim of a community node: this one being 25% in Node 5.

That means Node #5 is complete and we successfully raised 5000 DRK on these first batches of community nodes! Nice job everyone! We've proven there's demand for this type of service and that significant amounts of funds can be raised thru a trusted community operator.

I'll be bringing up Node 5 either when I get thru the bug/issue I was seeing on the final command or if the upcoming RC3.1 (?) fixes the issue I was seeing.

Please keep us posted on this, DZ...  I was looking into setting up my own MN but decided against it as I just don't have the time.  I'd be very interested in a service like this.

DZ: Since the fork didn't quite go off as expected, would it be possible to get my stake funds back, without penalty (since nothing actually went live). I would like to combine them with some other funds I have and likely use your service to set up a full node within the coming weeks. Thanks!

I had a bit of an emergency at work that required me to work a 3rd weekend in a row (although I took off Saturday). Looks like I'm finally past this work project that caused me to work so much OT this month.

Tonight is my first night to re-dig into troubleshooting and to catch up on PMs. Since we weren't live anyway, and this big project had been troublesome (mostly because I was limited to 2 vendors for security), I had to pause troubleshooting the final step. All I can say is the two "biggest" names in AV - which are required for DoD ops even on a standalone computer (!) - have awful AV suites IMHO. Told one of the two Tier 3 engineers I'm dealing with: "It shouldn't require 10 days and 4 engineers to install a (standalone) AV program."

Sure, why not. Like I said: "Nothing happened."

I'll send it tonight sometime after dinner. I need to track down your orig. deposit and finally update my wallet client to .2. This work project was a zombei that kept coming back to life and I just couldn't get a headshot nor a break. Can you believe that a Certification (on a dang standalone PC no less) on a server can fail simply because the two giant AV companies have awful Linux AV programs with not enough tech support? It's not like I was using a Linux version that was brand new nor out of support. Both vendors are trying to force the user or admin to install 32 bit AV suites on a 64 bit system and the fit can be awkward or sometimes impossible, at times. Sigh. Sorry for venting but our current security guidelines often put those in R&D between a rock and a hard place as they simply try to do their job.

Anyway, feel free to remind me which one(s) were yours, as I don't have my notes in front of me at the moment.

==

Oh, BTW, as of yesterday Evan *thinks* it'll be ready in "a few days" in the last update if you decide to change your mind:

https://darkcointalk.org/threads/rc3-relaunch-strategy-and-testing.1482/

Stake sent as requested.

Status: 19 confirmations, broadcast through 7 nodes
Date: 6/23/2014 20:23
To: Refund to ddink7 XnYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY7
Debit: -750.01 DRK
Net amount: -750.01 DRK
Transaction ID: 3c59fae22ff93595be4cbba7de6361ed1ae6d366f1ae62636b1407169d4cee9a

Hope to see you again soon! :)

==

Otoh's deposit(s) never arrived but we're still currently at 4 complete Community Nodes with room for 1 more partial node as others have offered to fill your spot(s). I'm currently on wallet v0.10.10.2 FWIW.

I confirmed that the nodes were all working well this evening (sans that whole payout and cold storage thing we're promised in RC3) and did normal updates to our community node servers.

6/29 update: 250 DRK from Otoh found. Was sent to Batch 1 address, which wasn't being checked as B2/3 addresses were funding Nodes 2-4. Whew! :)

Thank you! I've got to get about 30 more DRK in the next day or two and I'll have enough for a full node and will be in touch!!

It didn't get returned to my wallet, I have no idea what to do about it:

Status: 2378 confirmations
Date: 20/06/2014 15:23
To: DZ MN deposits XuFmZmR5x66gbyR4rKMNBj3wPXzdoybFZJ
Debit: -250.00 DRK
Transaction fee: -0.001 DRK
Net amount: -250.001 DRK
Transaction ID: ee4833c9978fa7bf4afeb08cf1b7799e20be65aa95f2752aa6b2479cd6c289db

I can send another 250 LTC, but of course I would rather get the original ones back, if they have that many confirmations being sent to hopefully the correct address then where did they go if they've not arrived?

https://darkcointalk.org/threads/rc3-prelaunch-testing.1523/page-8#post-9849

we are almost there :)

Hooray!
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg7518409#msg7518409

Are the current MN's up and running?

Sorry, these should be updated tomorrow morning. Evan didn't give us much of a heads up this time. The cold wallets for Nodes 2-4 were prepped from the last false start. They're up with the old software but I'm not synced yet with the latest updates.

Got caught off guard by the insta start & I was still working out weirdness with RC2 Node 1 as I couldn't seem to remove coins from the hot wallet to prep Node 1 for cold wallet storage and was still troubleshooting this issue on Darkcoin Talk. As of now, I still haven't gotten good instructions on releasing back our 1000DRK from mempool in Node 1 and may have to contact Evan and team.

I'm off tomorrow so I'll be working on nodes most of the day. Tomorrow: I'm *not* going to be answering PMs on any forum (except for Evan if he gets back to me) as I'm going to be knee deep in CLI land trying to get our node payments started.

Is there somewhere a list for who is in which node and which IPs they have?

Sorry not yet. My priority was figuring why the hell the daemon still hasn't released our 1000DRK from RC2 Node 1 and then getting the other 3 nodes fully running and payments started before I worked on less pressing matters like spreadsheets. I thought I had a bit more time to figure out this problem as the orig. estimate was a 2-3 week delay.

As you can imagine: there's a bit of angst and concern about this 1000DRK since that was set up with the old hot wallet method and I sent that payment with an older v.09 client. I had enough concern that I just messaged Evan on the DRK forum about the problems I was seeing and how community responses I was receiving weren't helpful. (BTW, these problems are *just* with RC2 Node 1 set up with the old wallet client; the other community nodes were set up with the RC3 cold wallet method and the deposit to the associated getaddress 0 happily shows up as a self-payment of 0). It was suggested that the node could be on the wrong blockchain with RC2 software which could account for the problem I saw; that it could be because Node 1 was running RC2 and I didn't update it to RC3 when they halted the June 20 launch.

Hoping the software updates I apply tomorrow will sort all this out so I can start chipping away at the backlog.

Early afternoon update:

- Been troubleshooting since this morning. The errors I was seeing that I hoped would go away with software updates are still there: still stuck on that last step. The nodes are operating as part of the network, it's just that the payout activation command (the very last step) fails when applied either locally or on the remote server.
- Still no closer to getting a solution to why node #1 funds not released back even w/ new software and turning off masternode. Contacted Evan. I know he's busy but hoping for some response eventually.
- Went to node #2 since #1 is stalled. Here's a running log of the problems I was seeing with this error with a 2 DRK bounty for troubleshooting this error:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/296jlx/2_drk_bounty_you_must_set_masternode1_in_the/

- Did 2 updates on both ends as mentioned and waiting for yet another self-payment for cold wallet storage with yet another generated privkey to confirm to test latest fix attempt.
- Also reached out to certain node operator vets and also taking applications for vetted co-administrators:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/297092/taking_applications_for_coadministrators_of/

Please remember: this is still very much beta software and sometimes problems crop up.

Holy cow. You won't believe how simple the problem was.  :-\

Good thing I was going to manually move my darkcoin.conf file over to another folder in DOS or I wouldn't have noticed that the FULL name of my local darkcoin.conf file was darkcoin.conf.txt. Hours of work to be tripped up by one little detail that's a function of a windows text editor. Sheesh. Forgot that notepad appends that on if you're not paying attention. Sorry, bounty's closed.

Node #2 is running! On local console:


14:22:50 masternode start LongPW


14:22:50 successfully started masternode


The following cmd. ran from the node confirms that Node #2 is part of the darkcoin masternode list:

unkofester@ip-x-x-x-147:~/.darkcoin$ darkcoind masternode list | grep y.y.y.236
    "y.y.y.236:9999" : 1

Quick break & now the next challenge of setting up multiple nodes from the same wallet. If all goes well, replication should be easy.

Of course it wasn't going to be easy. The guides out there are meant for people setting up one node...not 5 or 30.

It's inelegant but I'm setting up the Darkcoin client and completely new wallet.dat files on a couple of laptops, in which I'll make sure to back up the wallet files on other media.

This will work for 2 more nodes, but it's really not going to work for when I have to set up 30 nodes or so. I have another 2 DRK bounty out there for those out there that can help me grok what flare and weirdgod meant by using a datadir trick to activate multiple nodes with cold storage from the same windows PC:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/297ga6/another_2_drk_bounty_whats_the_datadir_trick_to/

I think he means deleting/moving the wallet.dat on the local PC and putting it in a subdirectory that gets called in DOS when you start the Darkcoin Client but details were sketchy. No fancy illustrated instruction manuals here at this stage of the software's development.  :D  :P

Anyway, gonna be awhile to sync they were 22 weeks behind when I walked away.

Any ETA on when MN 4/5 are going to be up and running?

No ETA. But it's the next one. Trust me: this isn't easy. Should be a bit quicker than #3 because most of the wait was waiting for my laptops to sync from 22 weeks back. Still several steps that need to be made to modify a node and workstation to operate as a node, and a workstation configured to operate that node via qt. I'm having to offer bounties just to try to get good info on how to scale this so that I can offer these services to you guys.

Node #3 is up:
19:33:15

masternode start PWofsomesort


19:33:16

successfully started masternode

==
Most of the delay in the next node coming up was the lack of information about having to deal with trying to run multiple cold wallets from one windows PC; a necessity if I'm going to scale this up to meet demand. It's a necessity also for my full node clients to understand so that if they have multiple nodes themselves, they'll know how to prep multiple cold wallet files without endangering their Darkcoin or screwing up the previous configuration.

BTW, full disclosure. Had to move 1000DRK x2 to other PCs I control, since there's no good directions about running multiple cold wallets from the same windows PC yet.

Status: 29 confirmations, broadcast through 8 nodes
Date: 6/26/2014 18:32
To: DZ DRK MN #3 New Wallet Stake Deposit XbpgwPKYSv1XL6je5HJRVJugWhpmvBdUB7
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Net amount: -1000.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 71a2d77bc5d65ea12de746e0af507fa544a738a158a02a2d0cfc8641f51845e1

Node #3

==

Node #4

Status: 0/unconfirmed, broadcast through 7 nodes
Date: 6/26/2014 19:47
To: DZ DRK MN #4 XuExBLCw43yot5jw46BMEaEmPYv52BdsDt
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Net amount: -1000.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 40e9d5181758ac473de6f31fb4b43a8b6083cd5a66b1ad2ca09a9dfe3d6bba93

Also: since ddink7 dropped out of Node #2, a 75% stake opened up so those in Nodes #3,4,5 will be moved up. Not sure how it all shakes out but I'm going to fit people's stakes like puzzle pieces.

Gotta eat dinner. Won't have time to do spreadsheets this evening as I put off work work to get this up. You should be able to guess from the previous public deposits which node you ended up in.  I've been at this about 12 hours with some breaks here & there.

node #4 is up! of course it wasn't easy and came with its own set of challenges/problems to overcome even though they're all based on the same base image.

22:20:13

masternode start somelongcomplexPW


22:20:13

successfully started masternode

==

fwiw, I haven't seen any payouts to nodes 2 or 3 yet but then again they're supposed to average about 1 DRK a day by some estimates, which would mean that a node was picked once a day with the current network. need to confirm that this node is on the official masternode list, but other than that, i'm done for the night.

plans for tomorrow afternoon/evening:

- make sure nodes still working as paying nodes and check if any payouts made
- attempt to relaunch RC2 node #1 with what I learned today...and I learned a lot in about 15 hours and troubleshot a few dozen things/obstacles. it was comparatively easy to launch a MN. Wasn't so easy to activate the cold wallet and node payouts.
- catch up on PMs and reservation updates for full nodes.
- work on spreadsheets and notify people as to which node they're in and the IP address of their node(s)

Thanks for being patient everyone! I'm sure that the wait hasn't been fun for you either but we appear to have three fully functional (hopefully) paying masternodes now and the original node which has been a different challenge since it was originally set up to be a hot wallet w/ RC2. This first wave of Community MNs is about 75% done.

Hey there!

I've visited your thread, and I would like to participate. I've got 250DRK to invest! It would be great.

Please, let me know how can I participate.

I'd also love to be notified when another round is opening up

Did this issue resolve itself? I quick read the thread but may have missed any response.

I never saw this deposit. There's weirdness afoot with this beta network, for sure, with all the forking that's gone on and coins not making it but not being returned if they fail to be delivered. The only activity for that day shown in my wallet is a 0 dark self-payment from a RC3 wallet zero address. The day before was a 1 DRK tip I sent to a Darkcoin Talk member for info, and the day after is a 750DRK refund to ddink7.

I hope it's not showing as a minus deposit on your end as I never received this.  ???

Regarding Node 1: I put up a Darkcoin Talk thread where I was fishing for community answers and I PMed Evan 2 days ago but he still hasn't responded back to me about why the network daemon hasn't released back our coins from Node #1 from this transaction:

Status: 11879 confirmations
Date: 6/6/2014 18:08
To: Otoh/DZ MN XcFvsJ5JWnNNWaECCkUgLC5vBFJeXT3EDC
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Net amount: -1000.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0fb1c39fb2a49faed971eae5d743444649344b465c0fd8e421ce544189b65ac4

Which was sent following RC2 instructions and the coins still haven't come back although I disabled the masternode and darkcoind was turned off. The address above was generated from a getaccountaddress 0 command and I copy/pasted the info into a notepad for future reference. I did the same for the privkey. I'm in the process of recreating Node 1 from scratch (nearly finished) and hoping that I can manually activate the wallet from the node or my local PC.

This guy claims he lost 1000DRK too, but for different reasons:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/2955u5/tried_to_setup_masternode_and_lost_1000_drk_coins/

The thing is: you're supposed to regenerate an accountaddress0 and associated privkey if you're having problems getting payouts started. But what are you supposed to do if it hasn't released the coins back to you in the first place because it was set up during RC2 before the cold wallet storage method was made public?

Good news / bad news:

Good news is the first "mined" deposits are in for Node #2!

Status: 590 confirmations
Date: 6/27/2014 07:30
Source: Generated
Credit: 1.00 DRK
Net amount: +1.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 044c57b57af453faa0b7901ec59a9becb85fef19880f11451f29d6cd6d11db65

Generated coins must mature 120 blocks before they can be spent. When you generated this block, it was broadcast to the network to be added to the block chain. If it fails to get into the chain, its state will change to "not accepted" and it won't be spendable. This may occasionally happen if another node generates a block within a few seconds of yours.

==

Status: 374 confirmations
Date: 6/27/2014 16:57
Source: Generated
Credit: 0.50 DRK
Net amount: +0.50 DRK
Transaction ID: bcd8719a492aa6d70a8dfa1d4bada59e1be2528144687554de682a372c2b04b7

Generated coins must mature 120 blocks before they can be spent. When you generated this block, it was broadcast to the network to be added to the block chain. If it fails to get into the chain, its state will change to "not accepted" and it won't be spendable. This may occasionally happen if another node generates a block within a few seconds of yours.

Bad news is that I screwed up and didn't update darkcoind correctly (wasn't in the ~/.darkcoin/ folder when I ran update) on Nodes #3 and 4.

Since that was entirely under my control and an oversight on my part due to fatigue (no excuse) for this one time and since it's my fault, I'll pay estimated payouts to Nodes #3 and 4 of 1.5 DRK for each node, which assumes that this is what you likely received if they had been running with the right version...no wonder they didn't show up in the masternode list correctly...sigh. That's about 2 months worth of mining from my 750TI, so I hope this is an acceptable compensation for Node owners. If something's my fault, I'll own it & do my best to not repeat it.

Spreadsheets going out tonight, I'm sure you want to help keep track of your own node. I have a day at the beach with the kids later this morning, but they'll def. be sent out tonight and I'm testing onionshare for the first time to share it.

Thanks for your hard work, DZ, and your honesty.
If we can help out in anyway, let us know.

Thank you, but all I did is what anyone with a conscience is supposed to do. In online sales and services, all you have is your reputation and track record, so I don't understand how some ASIC mfgs. bite the hand that feed them and expect to be in business for the long haul.

As for help, the community support has been great and exactly what was needed for me to get experience under my belt. One regret: In hindsight, if I knew that cold wallets were around the corner, I would've delayed launching node 1 with its RC2 hotwallet setup. Having gotten 3 RC3 nodes properly working, I feel much more confident with this RC3 coldwallet method which keeps Masternode deposits internal to your local wallet arnd doesn't send coins to some external address in mempool, that may or may not return your 1000DRK.

Ah! I may have a possible solution as to why Node #1 never released our coins back. I should have thought of this earlier, but I was still trying to understand how masternodes  are authenticated and how privkeys are handled. I do acknowledge though that experience with RC3's cold wallet method gave me some troubleshooting hints.

1. I tried to set up Node #1 with a hot wallet which is what RC2 had available. It was up and running (not paying yet), but it wasn't up with an associated local hot wallet...with proof of this stake deposit.
2. The reason why Node #1 didn't have a hot wallet is because SCP failed for me and wouldn't let me authenticate thru Putty even though I was using the correct key and method of using PEMs to transfer files to the Amazon instance.
3. Because Node #1 didn't have an associated wallet file, while it had the proper privkey, the remote server had no way to know whether or not I actually funded the associated zeroth address...which is what the wallet.dat file is for.

Possible solution: Switch cloud server provider that has a different file upload method and attempt to upload the wallet.dat file to rebuilt Node #1.

*If* I can upload the wallet.dat with a history of funding Node #1's zeroth address, the remote server *should* register that its a capable masternode when using the associated privkey.

Which means I have to go harden and prep another server template other than Amazon. *If* I can get it properly working, I should then be able to properly disable the node, hopefully get our DRK back, and then prep it as a cold wallet instead.

==

Since this is a good sized chunk of DRK that's a little less than half mine for Node 1, I have a lot of incentive to either get that node working or get our DRK back, so this has to become my priority this evening. If Node 1 still fails to register as a masternode even with an uploaded wallet.dat then perhaps I'll have a valid criticism of the hot wallet method.

Thank you gentlemen.

Please keep an eye on this thread. It'll change to OPEN when Batch 4 of partial nodes becomes available.

I have promised to clear out the Batch 1 and 2 of Full nodes before Batch 4 of partial nodes open up again. I still plan to offer 100 and 250 DRK stakes when Batch 4 becomes available.

Didn't get to work on spreadsheets, while trying to rebuild Node #1 with hot wallet setup:

I promise they will be done this afternoon/early evening. Node 1 has earned 2.5 DRK so far. Since I don't have a Linux GUI available at the moment (tons of CLI though), if onionshare isn't windows ready yet I may have to Dropbox the spreadsheets to you guys from some PC I don't care much about, unless someone has a better solution.

==

As for Node #1, which has caused me tons of headaches with the old hot wallet setup, the RC2 guide used was: https://darkcointalk.org/threads/master-node-setup-guide-for-your-normal-vps-v1-0-work-in-progress.873/

I still had trouble uploading my wallet file to the Node #1 server - which is what caused me to pause this in the first place (Putty/WinSCP failed because the properly created generated PPK files failed to allow authenticated access to the remote Linux server for file transfer between PCs. I finally hit on a workaround to get the file uploads working. I followed the directions for uploading the wallet (encrypted, of course) to the /home/ directory and then proceeded to replace wallet.dat with a renamed wallet containing proof of the 1K payment to the network daemon. This daemon was represented by an external Darkcoin address where this payment was sent:

Status: 12551 confirmations
Date: 6/6/2014 18:08
To: Otoh/DZ MN XcFvsJ5JWnNNWaECCkUgLC5vBFJeXT3EDC
Debit: -1000.00 DRK
Net amount: -1000.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0fb1c39fb2a49faed971eae5d743444649344b465c0fd8e421ce544189b65ac4

After uploading the wallet per directions (then renaming it to wallet.dat before copying it to ~/.darkcoin/ directory), I now get the following error:

************************
EXCEPTION: St13runtime_error
CDB() : can't open database file wallet.dat, error 13
darkcoin in AppInit()

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
  what():  CDB() : can't open database file wallet.dat, error 13

==

This seems to point to a corrupt wallet.dat file, so I proceeded to try it with two other backup points of the same wallet taken on other days...and the same runtime error.

With this stalled again: I'll be working on spreadsheets then contacting full node owners. Sorry if I haven't gotten to your PM. I have a responsibility to do everything I can and exhaust every possible approach if something was lost or is stuck in limbo on my watch.

In the meantime...

Community owned Masternodes Mining updates (Period from 5/26 to 5/29):

Node #Two - 2.5 DRK
Node #Three - 1.5 DRK* (* Compensation for running wrong server version)
Node #Four - 2.5 DRK* (* 1.5 DRK Compensation for running wrong server version)

==

Total: 6.5 DRK earned (3 DRK Compensation added)

All nodes have happily been steady after I sorted out the last issue keeping payouts from being activated on Nodes 3 & 4. As for the mining output variation: keep in mind that this is a very short sample size. Over the long run, there should be little variance on mining returns amongst MasterNodes.

When will payouts be received?

Payouts are within 24 hours of the middle and last day of the month. So this first set of payouts will go out on July 1st. The next payout would be on July 16th. As agreed upon: $12 monthly operating fees for nodes will be applied but for this first payment: I prorated it to $2 per node, as they will have been up about 1/6th of the month by the end of the month. 3% management fees will also apply.

If you forgot to send me your DRK wallet address for payouts please don't forget to send me a PM so I know where your payout needs to be delivered. Alternately, if you don't care about keeping this address private, you can just leave your wallet address public here.

Hey DZ, the MN does not use the or take hold of the 1000 Drks. It just checks that the 1000 Drks are at the address. If you have the wallet.dat, just load it into another wallet like a windows wallet ver 0.9.11.5. And you will be able to shift the Drks. Hope that helps you out.

Hey ozzie,

Thanks, I saw your PM on Reddit, just was too busy to get back to you and a lot of others waiting for full node setups.

The method I was using was the hot wallet method of uploading the wallet.dat to reside on the server. Some people do this just so they don't have to mess around with multiple local wallet.dat files and hacks around this limit. The associated privkey has been funded for weeks via the zeroth address. I'll give it a shot on another PC, but I'm losing hope that we'll get our hot wallet DRK back.

Good point about using the older client w/ the old wallet.dat...it was sent via that client and it's worth a shot at this point.

If you have the server and can access the wallet.dat; I have zero doubt you'll get your Darks back, so don't lose hope mate.

Sigh, I hope so. I saw that the guy that lost 1000DRK was able to get his DRK back from his corrupted wallet file with a lot of help, but in my case: the wallet.dat doesn't seem to be corrupt when I restore it locally. I'm getting this error after uploading my wallet.dat with proof of Node 1's stake deposit to address0:

************************
EXCEPTION: St13runtime_error
CDB() : can't open database file wallet.dat, error 13
darkcoin in AppInit()

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
  what():  CDB() : can't open database file wallet.dat, error 13

Seems to point to a permissions problem or a corrupt wallet file. However, I uploaded other wallet save points and still saw the same error.  ???

Spreadsheets going out tomorrow, been working on them this evening.

Reminder of Previous Deposits:

Node #2

Owners of these Trx IDs (you know who you are  :) ) -

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0fc98a444630af31a49cc6cbc282dccebc1a2770352cbc2b5046d7eeda1f11d4 (Kauai Bitcoin Club)

Net amount: +250.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 3e516463ec96851dbf5a1d0a99a408e1b5582a6842da27acfa603010d139665c

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: a42f38f03040ae7c901a73a5958dd13f6bf239a515115aea86047acebbfc61d8

Net amount: +300.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 865be4a57cf29f19b64dd01f7026b3fee3abbc493ed8fa798f2278c46170fb4b

Net amount: +1.00 DRK
Transaction ID: b171b17e935690dc1dc32970b75db5ef4c74afd2db98a6fef866a4d8d1c17e79

Net amount: +249.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 0b7a30d04c046ac98821d3d18247d556e6026a4f76fe14fa2514107112f675b8

==

Node #3

Net amount: +750.00 DRK Refunded to ddink7
Transaction ID: 13d5aa657bfbd7f0b963f961c7ca0498954cea12ad169e7ab838fd3131c29b38

Net amount: +250.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 7c423fa74c6047cc369eb819822c6dda5ebc48eb40796947c8aedf7c2e7f0c25

==

Node #4 #3

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: f4242d574d1306587e96da57e39571e105fa038f3bb2754a766d3f837f2febd3

Net amount: +100.00 DRK
Transaction ID: 6485e51d4041367a03ae205a98e550ce0f797cdd8e82c9d55ab7e8b47489b4bc

Net amount: +100.10 DRK
Transaction ID: c4e1e47d671eeea6fc284e12ad9996bfe8ed96363f02723caf5ccd3464ce1dfa

==

So deposits made after this last one of 100.10 DRK on 6/16, will likely be in Node 4 if your deposit kicked it over 1000DRK, and deposits like the last one above, made on or before 6/16 are in Nodes 2 or 3. Based on your deposit date and/or Trx ID above, this should tell you which node you're in when until the spreadsheets go out tomorrow.

Also: testing out onionshare for anonymous, decentralized file sharing of the spreadsheets. Only the relevant node owners will receive this link to their spreadsheet(s).

Good news: will use best anonymity technology - TOR. No centralized "man in the middle" who could be compromised such as Dropbox.

Bad news: If you don't already have it, you might have to download and install the TOR bundle to properly open the private link if the link doesn't work correctly.

No offense to DropBox but I'm not a fan of their security model and the vulnerabilities that were uncovered and glossed over: http://www.zdnet.com/dropbox-drops-the-security-notification-ball-again-7000029216/

Try using older wallet version. Or just load it into the win wallet. Should work.

I tried this. It showed the 1000DRK external payment but nothing was sent back even though the node was set to 0 and the darkcoind daemon turned off.

I did think of something though...wonder if this is the error msg. you see if you try activating a 2nd node from the same wallet? I figured it wouldn't matter since one was set up via the hot wallet method using RC2 and the other node was set up with cold wallet with RC3. Worth a shot. My last shot probably since I never heard back from Evan, who I'm sure is busy what w/ the pool going down and RC4 still coming up. I might have run into a system check where it catches someone trying to activate multiple nodes from the same wallet.

I'm separating these funds tomorrow evening and seeing if that's the cause of this error. Grasping at straws here...

First payouts should be due in the next 6 hours. It's only from a few days of operations so they're not very large, of course. Projected over a year, however, and the returns look like the inverse of the kind of loan you wouldn't want to be responsible for paying, even without any DRK price movement upwards. It's quite an interesting way of earning funds just from holding cryptocurrency one hopes that you meant to keep anyway:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=626715.msg7006991#msg7006991

Thank you everyone for bearing through this rough introductory period. With the written guides out there all catering to single wallet setups, I ran into all kinds of problems trying to scale up, and I just had to take on the obstacles one at a time to get to where my understanding of multiple cold wallet setups is today.

It really didn't help that at the same time I got busy with nodes this is the most work I've seen at my day job in several years, which was a blessing and a curse. I don't recommend 1 day off a month. It's probably not too good for you. So glad to have shipped product earlier today. I'm sure I'll have to deal with more work around it (spec. paperwork) but I can focus some time to help others get their full nodes going. A good sized chunk of reservations of Batch 1 Full Node reservations have also patiently decided to wait to launch their nodes until we can meet in person, so that's great news for those in Batch 1 or 2 of Full Node reservations. :)

You'll need to download the Tor bundle if you want secure, private access to your spreadsheet. I have to do this approach if we're going to respect people's rights to privacy and to those who do not want to have a centralized source somewhere (like Dropbox and its competitors) have possible access to this info/file.

Also: anyone know the best way to track mining output of nodes on the web over time? This is useful info for everyone. Also a heads up: I do have family coming down so I could possibly go camping or something fun like that for a few days in the near future but before the next payout on the 16th.

Need to take a small break to recharge. The nodes are operating well, but I'll be sure to check notifications are set up correctly before I go.

BTW, there's interest in a 5th community node. Recently received a 25% stake for it.

So...if you're interested, there's a 75% stake available in Node 5. It should go live the same day it gets full, as long as it doesn't go full too late in the evening. If it doesn't fill up, there's a person that has thankfully agreed to fill in the rest to complete the node.

Load the wallet you sent the funds to. :)

Of course I tried that. What I haven't done is separate the wallet holding proof of cold *and* dark wallet payments. That I'll get to tomorrow sometime...along with the spreadsheet share.

The spreadsheets are done, brain's just fried trying to figure out where one node was short deposits and one over. I'll share those when I get up in the morning.

The first wave of community node payouts has just gone out! It's a modest haul, but it's a start.

im interested. give me the address i will send 250 drk ;D

Nice opportunity. I would like to invest 250 DRK. How should I proceed? Please let me know to what address should I make my deposit, and also the total to be deposited (250DRK stake + fees + etc).

I remain at your disposal.

Great, I made a 280 DRK deposit to Batch 3 Deposit Address (XucWymKo3MCmVvFwGW1SKBtNrshbmfBmpE) as instructed, being the Tx ID: 9d3a64d01e88e49be8460af040738dd8d82af51b617f1f3e470338aaa7b952fb

Wallet Payout Address: (sent by PM, thank you)

I remain at your disposal for anything necessary.

I wish we all Success!

Thanks and welcome aboard!

That's an odd amount. I may have to refund you 30 DRK when I get caught up as the stake sizes are 100 or 250 DRK and I can't fit that in.


==

Gents: I sent out Node 2 and 4 spreadsheets and re-sent payouts that didn't make it. Had to redo payouts for all 3 because DarkSend only sent to top 3 address payouts!

Node 3 is out of sync and won't connect to network for some reason but I'll get those spreadsheets out as well once I can sort that out and pay the last 1 or 2 people.

If you're on reddit I'll have to get you the link later. I'm still slammed w/ some work.

Oh, thank you, please do. It's because I thought I would also have to pay some 30DRK fee or something lol If it is possible to make me a 28% stake, great, or I could send 20DRK more, in order to complete 300DRK, if possible. If not, then you can send the refund to my previously informed wallet payout address. Please tell me the more convenient option.


I hope you have succeeded fixing the above mentioned problems, and are making good progresses.

Please, try to reserve some time to keep us informed.


This is a really important subject. I have sent you a PM with all my contact info.

A good option is if we exchange e-mail addresses (or, even better, Bitmessage addresses) to be used as a "redundant confirmation"/"Two-factor authentication" in cases when extra security is necessary. I have also sent you a request to add me as contact in skype.

I remain at your disposal.

Thank you.

Any links for the spreadsheets yet? Also I added you on Skype, would that be an easier method of communicating?

I don't know if it's too late to get in on this but if not i'd like to purchase a 250 DRK 25% stake.

I have the money, just not in DRK (and gonna have to figure out the best way to get the equivalent amount of either BTC or just Wire transfer USD to DZ because there are so very few exchanges available in Canada).

I PRAY I can still be a part of this because I was quite excited when DZ told me about it, just hadn't logged onto bitcoinforum for a week.  I'd be quite quite upset if i've been screwed out of another good potential due to timing again, happens all my life and I hate it.

Anyway's, i've sent DZ a PM so waiting to hear back what he say's, but if it's still possible to buy into 25% of a MN and reap the 20% profit's they provide (from what I believe this had to be before the fork ... just hoping there's an opening in MN 3 or 4) I want in IMMEDIATELY.

Going to go hunting for Canadian DRK market's but like I said i'll Bank Wire the money directly to DZ if it can get me in on 25% of an MN.

If anyone need's to contact me with sensitive information pls encrypt it to the public key below.  Otherwise any information would be appreciated ... i'm admittedly quite new to this whole thing, I just want to get in early while theres still a chance I can make a good return over time.  Disability = SH** can't afford anything so this would be beautiful thing if it pan's out.

Please keep me posted.

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (MingW32)

mQENBFO57vEBCACzfW2oUEuDZ66jXClGSW2NeTbuqfMvMof+2ySnzvSYwYoKRIHy
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k2iCp11stSexZbXAFdfG0DXoc4WINWAg19rTABEBAAG0GERhcmtjb2luIDxEYXJr
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Ah4BAheAAAoJEK2bWPjxVWw+tNEH/A9t5Axr1xMxB2XD6jiXuVbP+nbrxenGMeFQ
nzTWp5opteQzsAA88ufXwKgayUwess4WpOzyL0N0aGSc1re7V4/xkf+Rze0mJVrg
i3nxqdGmX0bIJ+UpfzIvLr6f6HenEQX1lptaTB84cRBE2uIS8Q/6hQdk8hJGuObm
PwhYsZ7g97+ouYi+BgyRCUkqItMlELFswoCQ1B+CEpAf9mvvikU5HApxM9wl+NcR
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Once you have BTC then you can easily buy DRK on MintPal (https://www.mintpal.com/market/DRK/BTC#), good price atm ;)

Yeah I spent what BTC I have at Bittrex.  It will take until mid-week for Cavirtex to process a cash deposit to buy more BTC with that's why i'm worried because I only had enough BTC to buy 71 DRK (I have enough cash to buy the remaining 179 DRK it's just that Cavirtex is a bitch about releasing your funds to buy BTC just so I can buy DRK ... seems very redundant and i'd like to not have to pay that crap exchange fees for slow service).

Oh well, if DZ can hold 250 DRK of an MN for me i'll do it, it'll just take upwards or longer then a week like I said, I can send him 71 DRK right now dunno if he wants it in split payments or not.

DZ,  Sent you a PM over the weekend.  Very interested in going in on the 25% stake.   Currently about 1/2 there to obtaining my 250 DRK (waiting for some coinbase BTC to clear.)  Also I realize this is my first post here but I have been lurking since January.  Would like to be more active here now!  Anyway I sent you my email via PM, or if you'd like to discuss via Skype or other communication, LMK.

thanks,
Mike

please put me down for a 50% stake. 500drk
ozziecoin told me about the service weeks ago so please see that he gets compensated, thanks

It would sound like between the 3 of us we easily satisfy the 1000 DRK requirement for another MN.  I hope it bode's well for the three of us :)
*bows*

Indeed, you three (Mike6099, MasterMined710, and masterof101010) are already enough for a masternode :D congratz! You might already be the next upcoming batch (4 or 5).

Could you tell me what node I am a part of? I didn't see my transaction in the list you posted here

My transaction ID is:
7b116016a78cbeacbaf8ec1f674a78c029aacfdd3acfaa13c02a1993d020c163

I PM'd you on reddit a few days ago but you don't seem to check those as often.

As an update my coinbase coins should clear by Friday and will be able to transfer to crypsy then to exchange to DRK to complete the needed 250.  Any updates on further MN's?  Looks like we have a full crew for another. :)

-Mike

Nice Post~ Hope everything goes well~ ;D

Hi, DZ,

I'd also like to know some more details. How is the progress with the master nodes, etc.

Please reserve some time to give us feedback.

Cheers.

wtf is going on ? ...

I have BTC coming in Monday to buy my 250 DRK with but uh, there's good's I wouldnt mind spending part of it on and I have no idea whats going on with this project.

Is there a MN which I can be a 25% investor?  I need to know this and I asked originally like 5 day's ago.  Please somebody update me as best you can.

Thanks

My guess is his time us being taken up with technical issues again with the nodes?
He posted this to the Darkcoin Reddit 5 days ago:
http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/2a0nlg/database_rebuilt_on_local_wallet_now_cold_wallet/
Hoping he still does payouts on the 15th.

O I didn't mean DZ specifically, just anyone that's part of running the show that might know more.

I'm sure DZ is up to his balls in work so I don't mean to be rude to him.

Very quiet - no news is good news? :-\

It's not good news at all. It's a community project, such lack of communication should not happen. I'm sorry to say, it's not correct.

DyslexicZombei has never connected again since July 06, but even DZ's partner, "thomas_s (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=138415)", who whenever I check is always online, has NEVER replied to my PMs.

The idea for this service is great, but there seems to be nothing good coming from here, and (even if they reappear tomorrow, and even bring us payouts) I do not want to continue. (edited, for the moment, as long as we work together for a necessary contingency plan. This service is very important. I agree that it just needs improvements after all)

I do not believe they are going to run away, because there's not this much money involved: reputation value still matters, but unfortunately things went the way they are until now.

Does anyone know the IP of node 4 and can PM'ed to me? The Spreedsheet link I received from DZ is not working on TOR.

Lets all calm down and wait for DZ.
I m confident that he ll explain in detail how this lack of communication / TOR link not working, happen.

Little patience... but I can agree that it is weird for over a week not having any feedback.

Hello, my friends, according to the people at the Darkcoin Talk, it is possible that DZ is in a holiday trip.

Please, have a look at the Darkcoin Talk discussion thread here: https://darkcointalk.org/threads/dyslexiczombeis-darkcoin-community-masternode-services.1780

Regards

That's why I used the question mark.
I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, until evidence shows otherwise.
What if DZ got in an accident, was in the hospital, or had a family emergency?
That tumblr link/road trip - I don't know what to think.
If he's so busy, why would he go on an unannounced vacation?
Not sure if it even belongs to him.

thomas_s not replying to PMs is disconcerting, agree.

He told everyone he was going on vacation....

Thank you for reminding us of this post.

Although I do not believe DZ would make anything stupid (It would make no sense / So many posters have put their trust on him), I still cannot agree with this communication failure.

If he knew he was going to be absent from here, DZ should have had his partner thomas_s (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=138415) to respond here. It would be not only obvious, but also natural. The thing is that even thomas_s does not reply our PMs!

I repeat what I have said earlier: I have no intention to continue in this service like this. Even if DZ comes today (or tomorrow) makes the payouts, and brings spreadsheets, I am sorry, but I quit. No matter if I have to pay the 1.5% fee. (edited, for the moment, as long as we work together for a necessary contingency plan. This service is very important. I agree that it just needs improvements after all)

Now, if the situation gets worse, then we must act.

The service idea is good, and important. It is not a matter of quitting it. It just needs to become "trustless" in order to be "riskless".

This is starting to be in discussion here: http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/2aopdl/trustless_coin_leasing_system_that_would_allow

If this feature is implemented, it will be a wonderful achievement to the Darkcoin Community.

But while this trustless coin leasing system is not available, maybe it is possible to use something like a "Split Wallet" (see how bitaddress.org does it) or "Shamir's Secret Sharing" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamir's_Secret_Sharing )

UPDATE:

I have just received a reply from DZ's partner as follows:


My reply:


What we can do now:

(inappropriate reactions deleted. excuse me)

 Let's exchange PMs. let's act.

I haven't been following this thread at all, but he (DZ) just disappeared? :(

The next payout was scheduled for tomorrow, right? I'd probably not do anything until then?

Also, are the involved Masternodes known? As in, are they all still there, etc.? If so, he hasn't really done anything wrong yet, just disappeared (I agree, disappearing is "bad", but I don't think there's anything illegal about it?).

Yes, you're right, luigi1111. Let's wait. It's too early.

Too early. DZ's communication sucks and he should have told Thomas what's up but this is not criminal yet by any means.

I am calm ... my sense for scammers always alarms me in advance...
think logically, why he should loose great income stream from managing MNs for one rape shot, loosing all of his credibility in community!
It is simply not logical...

Lets calm down and wait for an update from DZ.

BR all

At the beginning (6/16), when DZ was setting this up and (to me) appeared overwhelmed, I asked DZ if I could help with some of the admin stuff, like spreadsheets.
He responded in this PM:


I respected that, and took it as someone who gets things done by doing everything himself, instead of delegating - maybe too much, perhaps?

This is starting to smell, but I'm willing to give DZ a few more days to show up.  
Tomorrow is July 16 - the deadline for me would be midnight Saturday, July 19.
Posts in the scammer section would be next.

I truly hope DZ didn't have some emergency, and that he is okay.
Maybe it's just a matter of bad communication - we'll see.

Agreed. I would actually give him till Sunday the 20th though just in case he was on vacation for an extended time.

Okay, till 23:59:59  Sunday, July 20, 2014 HST.

DZ, please check in - let us know you are still alive and well.

"I do want to believe in DZ. I do hope I am wrong. And I already apologise if I have been unjust. But the moment thomas_s said he has nothing to do with it, while DZ said, many times, that thomas_s is his partner, and responsible for part of the works, I can hardly have any hopes any more.

"Thank you for your post. I agree with you, Let's wait and see."

I last heard from him 30th June I think, he didn't say that he'd be out of communication, but had earlier sent this:

 "Late July works for me. I wasn't able to travel this year, but some of the family is heading this way. I have a mini-family reunion but they all leave by the middle of the month."

Thanks for this - reassuring, to say the least.


However, this brings up the issue of a backup - what if there was a REAL emergency or for whatever reason, DZ was unable to perform?
Shouldn't we have a contingency plan in place?
Verified and tested - not just someone saying, "thomas_s has all the details" or whatever.

I know there are other larger players here that would - or should - be interested in a "plan B".

Maybe we can take this incident as a "wake up call"?

Indeed. This shows that communication is king. This piece of information can explain many things that before were open to interpretation.

A contingency plan IS indeed necessary. For example: having a someone else responsible, trustworth to DZ and to the group, for unexpected situations is very important.

The idea with this service is great. I have always believed in it. And it is from difficult moments like these that it gets improved.

I'm happy for you all.

Thank you so much Otoh, for your post. I am really glad to see things getting cleared after all.

Also, 2dogs, thank you for your post. If the community works on a solution for a contingency plan, I want to collaborate as best as I can.

Cheers

The payout date has passed, even though promised by DZ that they would be on schedule this time around. Disappointed.

Still only 6:57 PM, here - HST.

But reading other posts of payouts received by others, earlier.

Come on DZ,  we don't want to go down this path.

Well, DZ has been online today. At least we can assume that he is well.

Guys, I'm here. I absolutely can't run off with peoples funds as I'd lose my job/clearance and many forum members including Otoh know my real ID and have my real contact info. I did have to take time off for a family reunion as mentioned and didn't have access to my usual IT gadgets. Was my first real break in 2 years. My wife said I was getting way too snappy with everything going on and I left off with several hundred reservations for full nodes that I completely stopped because of Node 3 problems.

The sum of it is Node 3 is offline and showing problems, Node 2 needs to be brought back up again and showed modest returns, and Node 4 is up but has had crappy mining returns.

When I did have time to break away from family I was working on problems with Node 3 or bringing Nodes back up that didn't go offline as remote servers but became disconnected as Master Nodes. Node 3 has been driving me nuts and after problems with our Hot Wallet in Node 1, where I was completely ignored by Evan regarding problems I was seeing as a Beta tester for his network with Node 1's hot wallet, I don't feel that I'll get any help/support with this one either. The best way to describe the problem is in picture form:

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/Corruptedblockdatabase.png (http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/Corruptedblockdatabase.png)

=66771012&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2]http://s286.photobucket.com/user/SurfSkateKauai/media/coldwalletdisappears.png.html?filters[user]=66771012&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2 (http://s286.photobucket.com/user/SurfSkateKauai/media/coldwalletdisappears.png.html?filters[user)

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/ReceivingAddressesonDZNode3.png (http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/ReceivingAddressesonDZNode3.png)

Currently working on node 3 at the moment and that's priority 1. It's showing possible progress (finally) but I hope to be able to regain association with the Node 3 stake. Yes, the node 3 stake has been disassociated with the local wallet, but this latest rebuild appears to be working so far...but I can't guarantee jack with with beta software and a coin creator/programmer that wouldn't even look into our RC2 Node 1 wallet problem.

I've been one of Darkcoin's biggest and most public cheerleaders but I am re-thinking this whole community and even multiple full node service: I had original wallet files and even a copy of the blockchain and database for Node 3 from prior to the disassociation. Didn't seem to make a difference whether I was using an old copy (which appears to be a copy of a corrupt file) of the database/blockchain or the latest copy of the these two sets of files.

There's funding for half of node 5, with an offer to fill the rest from a community member & I would be turning down *several hundred* node reservations but I can't, at the moment in good faith, recommend a multiple node setup for anyone unless they use separate PCs or virtual machines where they make several offline copies of the wallet file *&* database/blockchain. I can't recommend that anyone set up a cold wallet without realizing that they're depending on zeroes and ones and the perfect harmony of beta software, and that even with backup wallet files and backup databases/blockchain, the cold wallet may *still* be at risk, as I unfortunately found out.

I may end up just finishing out the month and refunding everyone without penalties based on how this latest rebuild attempt goes for Node 3. It's been a bit disheartening to see the nodes just fall offline like that and one node (Node 2) which is actually the best earning node is requiring its 3rd setup/restart in 2 weeks. Every node has required a restart and reactivation at least once in the last two weeks; at this point these nodes can't be set and forgotten about for weeks or months.

I'm working on the spreadsheets and the payments will go out tomorrow morning, including Node 3, whatever it's showing. For Node 3, I said I wasn't going to guarantee payouts when nodes were down/problematic but I will send the mining output of 2 Zeusminer Blizzards and my 750TI from the 2nd to the 15th as a partial compensation. I have no idea what they've earned but whatever they've earned I'll convert to DRK and split that among Node 3 owners along with the last Node 3 payments withheld while I tried to reassociate the local wallet with the cold wallet deposit (yes, as awful and scary as that sounds).

TL;DR: Node 3 owners will see two sets of payouts tomorrow. Node 2 and 4 will see payouts from July 1-15.

I was supposed to send the Node 3 payouts from late June but I wasn't touching anything related to the balance of Node 3 and its local wallet until I was convinced there was no hope in regaining association with the cold wallet stake payment for Node 3.

DZ suggest you just run MN with wallet.dat. If it's good enough for Satoshi, it's good enough for me.

With node 1, physically copy wallet.dat to a local comp. Then send exactly 1000 darks to a fresh wallet from the copied wallet.

I do. Only Node 1 was set up via the hot wallet method.

I'd say including copies of wallet.dat: make copies of your database and blockchain in your user's AppData folder (if using Windows) while things are working well and hope that the copy you made isn't corrupt if you need to use it.

Rebuild *appears* to be going well so far: was showing about 3.5 DRK previous to this evening's latest rebuild attempt (of many). Still syncing but finally seeing 1000DRK as the balance at the moment! Crossing fingers, toes, etc.

Glad to hear that you are fine, I was worried that something happen to you.
Problems with MNs will be solved dont worry, it just takes time, lets all try to be constructive here and try helping DZ at least to pull pressure off him as much as we can!

DZ I dont know if you have contact with chaeplin or GhostPlayer, they seems to be very handful in masternodes issues on main thread, maybe they can help since devs are too busy with RC4.

We all have to realize that this project is still in development and problems will be rising in the future as well, before we are in production 100%.

Stay well,
and if you find anything further we as your clients could help you, feel free to ask, at least you can count on me for any assistance!

Yeah, regarding that one. Node 1 re-build attempt was attempted a final time when I wasn't trying to rebuild Node 3's local wallet association. I moved away 1K from this Node 1/2 wallet (that originally had at least 2k) and restarted the node using a different PC. Therefore, the local wallet was now only associated with just one node instead of using a Cold Wallet and a Hot Wallet with different launch conf files to try to connect to 2 nodes.

So, the local wallet was the orig. wallet associated with the Hot Wallet payment. Problem was even with a fresh darkcoin client install and restoring the orig. wallet file, the hot wallet stake payment still looks to go to some accountaddress0 representing a privkey that never released the coins back when I took the RC2 Hot Wallet node down.

I can't regenerate another privkey because we never got our DRK back (45% which was mine) after the hot wallet payment was sent to whereever it is that hot wallet payments hold these funds to register as a masternode.

Thanks. I actually reached out to one of the guide creators to be a co-admin but this person went on vacation, then I went on vacation. I have been too busy after getting back from this short vacation to follow up with this individual. This person is interested so perhaps reinforcements and improvements in code could convince me to continue this service which I think has a lot of potential (if the dang bugs and masternode disconnects could be stomped out).

Do you mind me to rise this issue on main thread?

Or even better to PM ghost and cheaplin?

Glad that you're back, Ewan has been and is also on a well deserved holidays/break, actually on your islands atm, hopefully to return well rested and restored, there are good things for DRK going on behind the scenes, for me it's a long term play, I've sold none of my main initial stake and don't intend to anytime soon:

http://bitinfocharts.com/darkcoin/address/XosXcEm3Y6Mv6tmBKd1rUWhqB9Pf1hABj7

The coins are always on wallet. They are not used for coin mixing or anything. You can simply copy the wallet.dat to another machine and transfer out. You can do this even on a functioning hot wallet to transfer mined coins out. Hope that helps.

 this is your address??? :)

Hello DZ
I'm trying to figure out what is your problem on node 3 as I have a myself some nodes running.
What I can't understand is why you do not reset the whole setup (sending all the funds to a new wallet, regenerating the masternode privkey and reassociating the MN with the cold wallet)

My current setup: all my cold wallets are copied three times in different location on a linux vm - I just need to copy the darkcoin.conf files and wallet.dat corresponding to the node I need to activate into the .darkcoin folder each time. I don't use the qt wallet, and I generated the wallet files using the open sourced darkcoind compiled by myself. I would never use MS Windows to manage my wallets, but that is my personal opinion.
All wallet.dat files have been encrypted using OpenSSL and sent by emails from the vm to 2 inbox.
The vm itself has been fully copied on my ZFS RAIDZ-3 NAS, with monthly backups.

The MN instances are hosted by a reputable third party company remotely .

I can't understand why you struggle so much to have the service up and running, honestly.

DZ, I am so happy that you are here. Actually I am very proud for you and for our community, at the same time that I am so ashamed and sorry for my recent lack of trust of you.

Communication can be (and is) very crucial to a community. Please receive my recent criticism with this in mind, understand that it is meant to be constructive criticism, and that I am here at your disposal, and at the disposal of this community and of the Darkcoin community as a whole, to help in whatever I can be useful.

As wisely said before, let's take these last incidents as a wake up call for us all, as a community (including here the Darkcoin Community) to make our best for the improvement of your service, that IS very important to Darkcoin development as a whole.

I wish you (and, of course, all of us) all the success. I already know that you are doing your best, and once more I put myself available for anything needed.

Thank you DZ, thank you all.

I don't know, I've had 3 nodes up for just over 3 weeks now with zero problems or downtime with any of them (local separated wallet.dat(s) launched with win-qt and remote Ubuntu VMs). Now payments over the last couple days are a totally different issue.  ;D

Very unprofessional!  Please take me off the list.

Glad you're okay DZ, and that you got some much-needed R&R.
I would post those issues to darkcointalk ASAP; it definitely sounds like there's some major issues and it's wearing on your personal life...not good.
JL

Oh, it definitely is! I am so stressed out trying to do right by you guys. This was also in the middle of tense negotiations with a Govt. Accreditor re: the prototype Linux system I designed and hardened recently. As for Node issues: I donated the last of my held DRK (only about 6.5-7 DRK) to Node 3 and Node 4. This is the last of my DRK held after I couldn't regain control of our Hot Wallet in RC2 Node 1 which held 450DRK of mine.

To Node 3 Owners: My apologies that this is so late or if you didn't hear about the problems with Node 3 or that I was trying to deal with it during a family reunion. I froze this account while I was dealing with Node 3's local wallet database becoming corrupt on 7/2 and trying to fix this (and Node 1 and negotiations with a difficult Govt. Accreditor) during breaks during a family reunion. The latest rebuild still fails when the local wallet syncs to July 2.

All mining payouts have been sent and everything should up to date. I took the day off from work this morning and have been doing additional efforts to deal with the corrupt database error I saw on 7/2 and to get your mining payouts sent out. chaeplin and Propulsion have been contacted to see if they've ever seen this database error or if this is recoverable somehow.

It appears to be a phantom self-payment after the database was rebuilt (transaction shows a weird time of 00:16; I wasn't even up at midnight but would match a database being rebuilt at a perceived system time of about 00:00): http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll87/SurfSkateKauai/coldwalletdisappears.png

If its an external payment its supposed to show the receiving address as solid black instead of gray and there shouldn't be parentheses around the address. If it's a self-payment for a cold wallet node registration its supposed to show as 0 DRK with an address of (n/a), and our balance isn't supposed to be affected.

If I could somehow freeze the sync at 7/1 and then move the coins elsewhere, everything would be hunky dory. I have to get some work at the lab done but I'll send out the latest spreadsheet links this evening (which includes more info on Node 3 problems with the Cold Wallet). If you don't already have it: Please download and run the Tor Onion Browser to be able to access the PM link(s).

Good evening, DZ,

Please let me know if I have been already fit into a node (and which), as I have sent you the "odd amount" of 280 DRK. Also, what is the most convenient solution for this "odd amount thing": I could send you 20 DRK more, in order to complete 300 DRK; or else you could simply make me a 28% stake. If not, then you can send the 30 DRK refund to my previously informed wallet payout address.

Cheers

Hey CripLib,

You would be in Node 5, but the problem is I'm concerned about starting a 5th community node with all the unintended extra work and troubleshooting just 4 beta nodes has caused me.

I'm concerned enough to hold off full node setups unless the full node user only does 1 Node...and they may have to find someone else to manage it because 10% really isn't enough if some nodes require literally 5 rebuilds in a 2 weeks span. I can't be servicing full nodes in volume if each one is going to require excessive troubleshooting or that a cold wallet could get hosed from.

*If* I can get Node 3's control of the stake back into the wallet its meant to be in, I'll continue this service past this month. If not, I'm going to have to consider this too high risk for even someone with my high risk threshhold. This software's essentially Version 0.61 at the moment, before Version 1.0 in a few months.

Let me know if you just want me to send the 280DRK back or if you want to hold off to see if Node 3's phantom self-payment can be resolved.

Ok, spreadsheet links sent to BTC members. I'll have to track down non-redditors tomorrow as its 11PM here (bregge, RyanArr, sabermage, mm....j).

I need an easier way to share these links with non-BTC members.

==

I capped fees at 10% otherwise with the poor mining results due to constant rebuilds (where a new privkey had to be prepped. Sometimes more than once a day) the fee percentages would have been very high, and unfair.

I'm having some difficulty access the Tor link, in Tor.
I was able read the Node 4 spreadsheet originally, and now am unable to.
I also have DRK in Node 3, and that spreadsheet is also unablet to open.

I sent a PM as well.

I know you are swamped, and we really appreciate the help, DZ.

Thanks man!

jwuerz

Oh, thank you, DZ,

I hope you manage to figure out a solution for the node 3 problem.

Please let me know.

Success!

Weird. The PC that hosts those files is up 24/7 except for patch reboot because it does Scrypt and x11 mining, so those files should always be available from this end.

Then again, it's the first public release of Onionshare (and I opted for this as there's no centralization of data by a corp. 3rd party like Dropbox) so bugs may need to be squashed. I'll send you another link tomorrow evening and if that doesn't work I'll just email you instead.

Still working it. Have some promising things to try. One of the DRK talk forum admins has seen this database error problem before but it was on a Linux PC and his fix may not be directly applicable to our error.

As for Node 2 which was down: Couldn't get it working no matter what I tried so I transferred the 1000DRK to a different local wallet and started from scratch on a different server. It was up during the weekend then it went down again yesterday. At least I only had to restart it this time instead of having to do July rebuild #7 for this node.

Node 2 has a new IP address since I had to house it on a new server. I'll just list it here so I don't have to re-share the Node 2's spreadsheet: 54.186.252.193

Node 4 has been steady (knock on wood) and has been up since the 7th without incident. All of these nodes are configured the same; just seems to be random chance whether a node is stable or if it needs constant rebuilds or re activations.

OK, thank you for the update, DZ. I wish I could help. Funny that the guys at the darkcointalk are not being able to help either.

So let's see how things develop. Next week, by the end of the month, we decide if you just send me the 280DRK back, or if it'll be possible to fit me into a MN batch.

Hey DZ,

I sent you a PM about the MN service over week ago - I know you're likely busy, but please could you give it a look?

Thanks,
John

54.186.252.193 node 2 is up again and already has 2 payments :)
Hope DZ solved issue with stability of a node!

Thank you for the news update. I am glad that it's good news, and really hope that DZ is successful fixing the issues.

54.186.252.193 node 2  - 4 payments :)
lucky

Hi, DZ, it seems that it was not possible to fit me into a MN batch after all. So you can just send me the 280DRK back. I believe you already have my Wallet Payout Address.

Thank you

End of month payouts a go?

I'm noticing a huge lack of communication.

Guys, the nodes are down again but doesn't seem to be related to masternode software; seems to be cloud provider related this time (the first time a node issue was cloud provider related from what I can tell). The bad news is they need to be rebuilt (yet again) which is what I was attempting again this evening. Sigh. They're cloned servers but there's still things you need to customize or set up from server to server.

Wish I had some good news to report on Node 3's database error. Was giving it another go but it seems to be out of my hands that when the wallet updates to July 2, it executes the phantom self-payment to an inaccessible self-address the same day the database error showed up. System restore points and having access to the orig. wallet file (and a copy of the corrupted database) are useless to address this database error. I can add an address label but there doesn't seem to be a way to manually add a receiving address (the receiving address is grayed out on the local wallet using the latest wallet client) else this would be a simple fix.

Re: Community and Full Nodes: Had to do some soul searching about this and made a difficult decision. I've talked this over with my wife; these nodes are just too finicky, and unstable right now IMO. Having to do constant server rebuilds and trying to troubleshoot Nodes 1 & 3 during a short vacation attempt wasn't fun either.

The nodes that were running operated at a net loss since payouts are so hit and miss and stability was a major issue. For over a decade I've worked with dozens of remote and local servers of various types and applications; remote servers running a non-taxing single simple task aren't supposed to need this much babysitting. For a remote server - except for patches and updates - You should be able to "set it and forget it" for the most part. I admin many remote servers that need attention a few times a year, if at all.

The excessive troubleshooting of this RC3 beta software and nodes might be worth the trouble if they paid out more often but to run these nodes with the services currently set up they would have to average more DRK a day for this to not be a net loss.

==

I'll be shutting down this community node service tomorrow on 8/2. Even with 2 nodes "running" they weren't profitable with current payouts and node instability. Perhaps they'd be more profitable if they weren't so unstable (IMO).

I may look at opening up this up again if nodes seem to be more stable after RC4 or RC5 but I feel that I may have gotten involved with this too early. There doesn't seem to be a good mechanism to get help if something weird goes on with node transactions: such as Node 1's RC2 hot wallet never being returned from mempool (where Evan ignored my polite request to take a look) or a database error on Node 3's local Cold wallet introducing a phantom self-payment to a self-address that doesn't appear accessible.

For myself: I'm out 450 DRK from Node 1's hot wallet payment never being returned from mempool when the orig. first server was shut down for a rebuild, and the node service/management fees have been a net loss so far, so I've lost funds on that end as well. In perfect hindsight, if I could pick a better time to be involved, I would've gotten involved either after RC5 or during Version 1.0 (whenever that is) and I would've spread that 450 DRK out to 4 nodes with 100 DRK in each node, to have spread "risk" to 4 nodes instead of 1.

==

Thank you for being part of this experiment/project. I didn't want to shut this down because I was the first to offer these setup services. I wish I could report this as being more successful but for now I deem this as too high risk even for someone with my high risk tolerance and willingness to operate and troubleshoot beta software/servers. Even though its beta software, I've spent way too much time troubleshooting what are supposed to be simple, single use application servers.

In the morning: I'll finish the payouts I didn't get to because I was trying to get the nodes back up this evening without having to build new servers or having to do another round of self-payments for cold wallets (because these self-payments sometimes"go bad").

In the afternoon/evening after those payouts: I'll be refunding Nodes 2, 4, 5 without any refund penalties. Please provide a payout address for this refund if I don't have one on record for you.


I am halting the setup AND management of full nodes as well. I'll still be willing to set them up but besides one large previous agreement which I plan to co-admin with another administrator, I'm now unwilling to manage a bunch of nodes if they're going to be this much trouble. Except for a large order I'll be able to focus on: the only nodes I plan to set up going forward would be 1 or 2 full nodes where I don't touch funds...and they'll need to find someone else to manage them (which I could point out to a couple of capable and experienced admins I met on DRKcoin talk).

Hello DZ,

I am so sorry to hear about that. It is sad that even the DRK community and Devs weren't able to help you.

Of course this is sad for the people participating here in this thread, but IMO it is worse for Darkcoin itself, because it shows the lack of support from Devs/Community for what seems to be huge problems with the masternodes, and it scares "normal" people away from the Masternodes idea and also from Darkcoin in a whole.

Thank you for your efforts. We know you have tried to help Darkcoin Community grow, and that is the most important.

I too am disappointed, not in your efforts DZ, but just in general that the service proved to be so difficult. I hope that in the not so distant future, we'll be able to once again join this venture with much greater success. I commend you for your efforts and your honesty and would like to tip you after the last batch of payouts and refunds go out. Thanks again for your efforts and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you again in the future.

Daddeo

I'd try to work it out but man its taking up too much time even just for 2 simple servers on Amazon.

Its so hit and miss too. For instance: Node 2 didn't have any mining payouts from 7/15 to 7/20 having gone down on 7/19. Couldn't revive the node no matter what I tried so I had to transfer the stake & rebuild the node on another local wallet/PC and another remote server on the 20th. It was up without incident but then nothing happened from the 20th to 27th. However from the 27th to the 1st  it did about 6.9 DRK over 6 days which is great if it was consistent; then it'd actually be profitable and worth the amount of troubleshooting effort involved. As far as luck: they seem to be streaky. It was on a hot streak but as of last night I can't seem to remotely log into the server itself for some reason.

Node 4 also saw that same inconsistency. This was actually the most stable node of the four I had set up, but that didn't help its profitability much IMO. It "only" needed one re-activation during 2 weeks and only proved problematic last night on 8/1 when I couldn't log in to the remote server itself. There were 2 payouts on the 19th, then nothing till the 25th six days later, then nothing again until the 1st last night, meaning there were only 4 payouts for a node that was relatively stable in that it only had to be dealt with twice (the second time "fatally", unfortunately) from the 16th to the 1st.

At the moment my best bet would be to do another 2 server rebuilds since as of last night I can't get into either instance even after rebooting them. Regardless of the alleged safer cold wallet method introduced by RC3, I'm tired of fighting these things at a loss and at risk with everyone's funds.

I work in labs and field tests of mostly low Tech Readiness Level products and prototypes that are usually between TRL levels 2-7. For a consumer products example: a new refrigerator model would likely be TRL 9-10. I'm comfortable working with and troubleshooting or assisting with troubleshooting various types of early beta software and hardware. Some would see it as a bad sign that an ubernerd like myself that makes a living in R&D no longer wants to lose money managing beta masternodes.

Nodes 2 and 4 should be seeing payouts in a few hours. The refunds should arrive in the evening after I get back from the beach.

Final tally:

Node 1: RC2 Hot wallet method; stake funds never sent back from mempool when server shut down/rebuilt prior to RC3. Owned 45% stake in this node and no idea who has control of the address the getaccountaddress 0 command yielded on the local wallet with RC2. Asked for help but ignored by Evan.
Node 2: RC3 (as are Nodes 3/4). Refunding. Luckiest of the nodes but still a net loss to operate even with low cloud hosting fees. 7 rebuilds in July, about 10 rebuilds total. Ended w/ inaccessible remote server which doesn't appear to be MN software related but can't be rules out either.
Node 3: Was operational from about 6/25 to 7/2. Database error appeared on 7/2. Phantom self-payment upon rebuild to inaccessible self-address not listed in receiving addresses. Shows up as grayed out address in parentheses but balance of payments equal 1000DRK instead of 0DRK. Copies of orig. wallet file and database/blockchain weren't helpful as soon as it syncs to 7/2, the phantom self-payment appears rendering the stake as unreachable. No idea where this DRK is or if its recoverable. Community help (including offers to pay for help) didn't yield a fix for something that could happen to anyone that sees a database error.
Node 4: Refunding. Most stable of nodes, needed 2 rebuilds in July and 1 re-activation. Had highest uptime of nodes set up but earned less than node 2 in latter half of July.
Node 5: Refunding, was half full and could've been filled easily with community support but declined to host with problems shown and costs of running nodes taken into consideration.

Full Node setups AND management: Canceled.

Full Node Setups ONLY: Available shortly. After refunds are complete, will shift to only doing cold wallet setups for 1 or 2 full node setups (since multiple wallet setups are still somewhat complicated) where I don't have to touch stake funds. More importantly: I won't have to be responsible for stake funds. Except for one large order: Management will have to be self-management or management by a 3rd party. Client will need to set up a host service and allow me temp. admin access. Setups should take less than an hour providing the hosting service is set up and 1000DRK is ready.

MN Repair services: Considering this for a worthwhile fee but would rather just set up nodes and turn over admin access going forward.

All 4 nodes operated at a net loss from 6/25 to 8/2, with 2 of 4 nodes stake funds currently (and possibly permanently) inaccessible without some sort of developer (or divine) intervention. I wasn't trying to get instantly rich from offering this service but I can't operate at a net loss with what appears to be a coin that has twice showed me whimsical and capricious loss control of hard earned stake funds from external/internal factors at a 50% rate, and requires excessive babysitting for the nodes that do work without major issues.

DZ, sorry you had so many issues. However, in defence of drk, my MNs did not experience any downtime since I set them up from end of May until now. I did not use cold wallet setup, reasoning too many issues with connectivity. Also, Linux is far less vulnerable with ports closed compared to windows and passphrases are impossible to brute force, to the best of my knowledge. Good luck to you.

Sorry to hear that as well - I have also got several masternodes using the cold storage mechanism and have been running for months without issue.

Not sure what VPS service, Network configuration, Operating System or Darkcoin daemon version (possibly old) you have been using. Not being able to remote in and access servers with corruption etc doesn't sound like a darkcoin problem but possibly a OS configuration / VPS reliability issue.

As you can see from https://elbzo.net/masternodes.html there are now over 850 masternodes and the Darkcoin talk forums or darkcoin threads have not had any other people come in discussing instability or problems.

Possibly you could reach out to GhostPlayer who has been setting up Masternodes for many people who have been running without a hitch. There might be factors causing the issue that you might not have been aware of. i.e if you had antivirus software that was corrupting/blocking commits to certain wallet dat or system files etc.

All the best :)

seems like a very bad news for me :'(

I am so sorry that this community node service is shutting down. I wish I could have been of any help, but I am far from having any useful technical knowledge.

Thank you for your honesty and your efforts.

(edit: I have successfully received my initial investment)

Thank you

Thanks for the feedback guys. The loss of access/control on 8/1 of two nodes at Amazon doesn't appear to be MN software related at first glance.

These were all Amazon Linux remote servers with Windows local wallets. All nodes had cold wallets except Node 1 with an RC2 hot wallet that we never got our funds returned back after server shutdown/rebuild prior to RC3's release. Setups were basic except that I added additional node connections besides the default IP address to try to improve node stability. Besides the fact that they were unprofitable at 10% management fees with inconsistent payouts, I just can't go on with 2 completely failed nodes with irretrievable stake funds and having to worry that I could see another database error or yet some other weird crap that causes additional loss of control of stake funds.

These nodes *should* be able to just run weeks or even months without issue (barring updates) like a good server should, but I just haven't seen it and I had 4 different nodes running at one point to give me my own "field data" to draw my own conclusions. Even if everything was running perfect, with current exchange rates the nodes would have to average something like 0.8 to 1 DRK a day for it to not run at operating losses at 10% management fees. I only saw an average like this over the course of 6 days and that was only for 1 of the 4 nodes.

==

Final payouts have been sent and refunds were sent for Nodes 2 and 4.

Since not everyone has a BTC account to share this, here's the spreadsheets on Node 2: http://xle3harsc3jjowqx.onion/omqmyb5w5k6nfaefol32yisvke

and Node 4: http://3edyzzs7i4sj6rxu.onion/4hou5odynz7ioh4tnavss2u6ai

You'll need to have the Tor Browser running to view it.

It's late I'll finish up tomorrow. Approx. 2650 DRK refunded so far during this project. To do: refunding Node 5 tomorrow (thanks for the DRK address CripLib), and catching up on a ton of PMs.

Received all my DRKs! Thank you

Hey DZ,
When can those of us in node 3 expect refund?

Received my initial investment. Thank you. If you post an addy, I'll send a tip for your troubles. Thanks again for your honesty and integrity.

Thanks for everything you attempted to do here, DZ!

I PM'd you a few additional questions!  I would appreciate it, if you had time, to answer these questions,  regarding refunds.

Thanks,

jwuerz

It is a pity that you could not find stable solution DZ.
Thank you for your effort and if you ever again open this kind of service, feel free to contact me.
I received my DRKs back.
BR.

Sorry it didn't work out. I may revisit this service in the future but for now your DRK was sent back via Tx ID a71949c665945339f1f01a40c1f459d9b7434a9250379167e19268d4033e86b0 to the address above.

Cheers.

Thanks gents. Thank you all for trusting me with your DRK. I may revisit this in the future if I'm convinced that I won't see weird issues if I were to jump back in. I still feel awful that I can't seem to get the funds back from Node 1 and 3. Perhaps if only one node was fatally problematic I'd tough it out and hope they become profitable and that code and network would improve over time, but to have two nodes go down permanently for different reasons was too much and the results have been weighing heavily on my mind although I can't think of anything I couldn't have done differently at the time, since the setup processes for RC2 and RC3 nodes are the same steps we all have to take to set them up. C'est la vie.

It's been an interesting experiment/project and I wish I hadn't seen these problems. I would've been willing to operate them at a loss for months if necessary but all the troubleshooting, rebuilds, and transferring of funds to other local wallets I had to do to get just a handful of nodes back up and running over and over again were a PITA that a user shouldn't have to go through just to get a node working again. Anyway, enough of that. Just a bit of post mortem analysis and another major contributing factor to end this community service.

Tips are appreciated: XcbPGJKXPq4UMNrCBzza7kWEWeDjLSsTdq

Cheers.

So you're basically sitting on 2,000 Darkcoins that you supposedly cannot access or refund? Do you have an address we can look into or non-blurred out screen shots of the address? I have never heard of coins just disappearing randomly to non-accessible addresses and frankly I'm now very worried and wondering what you're going to do about it because honestly if I were in your shoes I'd be posting all over bitcointalk and darkcointalk nonstop every day if need be until the entire community realized what happened and banded together to help. Putting the onus on Evan and his 'beta software' is not going to save you from lawsuits.

Here you go, DZ: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg8180766#msg8180766

DZ, this looks very dodgy. Also, there is no stake mechanism in Darkcoin. You can easily transfer funds out from a MN wallet at anytime, hot or cold.

Could you please post here your progresss in returning 2000 darkcoins? They need to be returned anyway I hope you understand this

Given that the screenshots are censored, I was able to track down the funds from the "phantom self-transaction." Its interesting to note that there are quite a few transactions that occurred after the initial one.

Address: http://chainz.cryptoid.info/drk/address.dws?Xdm1jwKeGbYbxFfTdwWSdjTzpbcAtLTVa9.htm
Transaction: http://chainz.cryptoid.info/drk/tx.dws?428200.htm
Block: http://chainz.cryptoid.info/drk/block.dws?95264.htm


the bulk of the funds ended up here: http://chainz.cryptoid.info/drk/address.dws?XbJprnaLJKVDLQdi3UJuy2yJhjXUBTWdou.htm

DZ, if you haven't already I would recommend you try this from chaeplin (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg8180766#msg8180766) and if that doesn't work go to the #darkcoin IRC for assistance and give a step by step on what you did to cause this node 3 fiasco. I'm having a hard time believing that the coins are lost forever to this 'phantom address' but frankly I just want my principal Darkcoin deposit back ASAP without pursuing legal means.
JL

The language DZ uses, and the  "woe is me" tone of his posts, read exactly like the Silk Road 2.0 "I can't believe we got robbed when everything was in hot storage" dribble.

DZ, give these people their money back.

Thank you, I have received it.

I thought I was in Batch 2 and getting a refund, but nothing received  ???.

So, I'm in Node 3 to the tune of 200DRK.

Sorry DZ, this is all just too suspicious.

- The poor communication from DZ.
- The poor communication from his business partner thomas_s, even though he was seen to be online.
- The inaccessible spreadsheet for Node 3, even though the Node 4 spreadsheet worked.
- A 'phantom transaction' -- This really shouldn't be possible without intention or malware.
- The fact that there are hundreds of other masternodes working fine, without these kinds of problems.
- The fact that this happened with a coin which will soon allow whoever has the money, to spend it without being tracked.

Whether there really has been any intentional wrongdoing or not, I hope you'll see my point, and set up a schedule for repayment for we affected.

I too have heard nothing from DZ.  I was in node 3 and lost 100 Darkcoin.  A good 500 hundred dollars...gone.

I put in 550 + 250 = 800 DRK

Current value > $4,250

I haven't tried to follow what happened, I expect to hear how and when DyslexicZombe intends to repay these coins, I will take this matter further if necessary, to start with 250 DRK should be returned to me immediately at:

XxbLzT82ps5XNwTMY39rd23nSF9eGVaCZu

I asked Thomas_s if he had DZ's real-world contact info. Here's his reply:
"Hi Jesse,

Yes I do, if it comes to it and legal action is being pursued please tell me which lawfirm to send the information too, I prefer not to give someones personal information to just anybody.

--Thomas"

So, assuming Thomas follows-through, at least we will have DZ's name to aim these lawsuits at.
I remain hopeful though that if DZ just signs on and takes the advice of chaeplin, he might figure some shit out.
DZ go here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg8180766#msg8180766

Also wondering this.  You can't just give up after losing thousands on others' behalf.  Keep trying at the devs, they've helped people before

http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/29fpft/successfully_recovered_private_keys_from/

Everyone, update his trust for starters:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=140437

Next is (sigh) another thread in the Scam Accusations.
Already has:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=543080.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=469017.msg5190738#msg5190738
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=469017.msg5191043#msg5191043


This is BS.  Why can't he release the details to the investors?
If thomas_s isn't actively trying to correct the situation, he is aiding and abetting a scammer.
thomas_s, your past association with DZ is quite solid as an accomplice.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=336828.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=335145.msg8252183#msg8252183

Otoh, ball is in your court:

http://www.reddit.com/user/DyslexicZombei?count=50&after=t1_ci4xpqu

DZ, please solve this mess asap!
it is in your best interest.

Dude has to sign on first (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=140437).
He hasn't even signed on since Aug. 4. Shows exactly where we rank on his priority list.
DZ, if ever you sign on, go here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg8180766#msg8180766
and then here if that doesn't work:
http://www.reddit.com/r/DRKCoin/comments/29fpft/successfully_recovered_private_keys_from/

what a shit show the zombie crew is starting to look like the trailer park boys.

don't bring the trailer park boys into this, they just want to get greasy and grow some dope

Remember the episode where they invest their life savings in a shady Madoff node, intending to help God-knows-who launder money?

The part where they take it to court is hilarious.  That poor lawyer!

Good times!   :D

It looks like DZ was on btctalk this morning, said nothing and left.
Anyhow, I will be submitting a consumer complaint against DZ with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since they just started accepting virtual currency complaints yesterday.
So we'll see if the Feds can do anything about this.
To file a complaint: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/#money-transfer

Edit: I just filed a complaint against him through this CFPB. I'll let you all know what happens. I have a feeling though like this might end up in Hawaiian Small Claims Court though.

I was looking for his RL ID, not sure that I have it or what ever it was that he told me, I didn't try to make sure that I had it at the time or that it would be genuine, I spoke with him on Skype, I gave him help and a chance - if he's abused that then he will pay one way or another.

DZ, not sure you're keeping up with what's going on with Darkcoin but Camosoul basically has had the shittiest day ever with corrupted wallets galore and malfunctioning software, however he managed to save the vast majority of it by going to the Darkcoin IRC and getting help from seasoned pros and he may in fact save all of it if community member, Propulsion, is able to salvage a corrupted wallet of his.
You need to do this kind of outreach.

I've been reminded of his RL ID and additional info on him, address etc, it will be released in early September unless he responds to posts and PMs before the end of August.

DZ, Yet another example of Evan helping fix someone's corrupt wallet file, or at least get their coins back.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=421615.msg8354196#msg8354196

OMG what's going on here :(

I know that communication has always been a huge problem from your part, DZ, but that was only a communication problem, ok... Now, to simply disappear leaving such a mess behind: That's much more serious!

DZ, please, solve this situation. The DRK community wants to help, now it's up to you.

We have trusted you. You cannot just leave us disappointed like this.

hard to believe that DZ is still not responding...
cmon DZ solve this mess, please ask for help from community!

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said they can't do much against individuals (they could have if DZ ran this as a corporation of sorts) however they suggested taking it to court.

I have recently become quite impatient at DZ's inactivity and am ready to get his ass served. So...

Here's DZ's real-life ID: Jason Badua
I confirmed it with thomas_s.
I found all his address/phone/email info here in this lawsuit (mainly under the 'billing address' info) he took up recently against a bitcoin miner manufacturer:
http://www.deanslyons.com/PDFs/2014-03-25-Plaintiff-s-First-Amended-Petition.pdf

I've been emailing the addresses he has listed in this without reply of course for a couple weeks now. Haven't tried the phone number listed though.

Out of curiosity, who all of us had stakes in this non-refunded nodes? I only had 100 in node 3. I know Otoh probably had the largest.

I'm missing 100 DRK in node 2.

Jason should take advantage of DRK's haircut and BTC's pullback and buy some cheap DRK.
He can now clear his name for a lot less than when he disappeared.

Unless, of course, his intentions were never to pay back the missing DRK.

I truly believed he would solve this problem(as I thought It was) and return my 250 Drk, but when he disappeared for a month.... We need a lawyer
https://pp.vk.me/c9975/u55770179/-14/x_000ce6e9.jpg
 :D

I had a 250 DRK share that was originally in MN #4, but was then moved into MN #3 for some reason. If anyone knows how to proceed with this, please keep posting.

DZ got a National Security Letter.  Big Brother does not approve of soliciting unregulated investments on the internet to use in Madoffnodes, for the purpose of laundering god-knows-who's money.

I thought node 2 was refunded?

I had 200 DRK in node 3.

I'm not sure what node anymore and are you gonna believe what DZ posted?
Missing 100 DRK.
I gave him negative feedback -  anyone else care to update his trust?
One can always delete the negative post - as in my case, if I am wrong and the DRK gets
refunded, I can later correct the trust to positive.
Who wants to start DZ's scammer thread?

I was a 25% stake holder in node 2 and received a full refund. I assumed DZ made good on the nodes in which he wasn't having issues with. The longer this lingers without further communication, the worse it gets. I'm stunned by the lack of effort by DZ here in the forums to try to come up with a solution. It seems I've read of others who've had corrupted wallets that were recovered by members of the DRK community. I truly do hope this has a positive outcome for those who have lost investments.

I have updated his trust with negative feedback.
And it looks like he did sign on yet again and said nothing here.
DZ, let's discuss this in the Darkcoin IRC. You pick a time and we'll meet you there and get some in the Dark community to join and help.

I had 250 in Node 3


Edit:  communication with DZ (https://i.imgur.com/8Q6xxEB.png)

TxID:  7b116016a78cbeacbaf8ec1f674a78c029aacfdd3acfaa13c02a1993d020c163

For the record, I am not interested in any group actions against DZ; my preference is to proceed as a single plaintiff at this time.

EDIT:  Out-of-pocket costs may be allowable for reimbursement in small claims.  These would be added to the judgment and could include filing fees, airfare, etc.

11. Will court costs, such as filing fee, be added to the amount of the judgment?

Yes, the judgment will include the principal amount, interest if applicable, the filing fee, service costs, and any out-of-pocket costs that are awarded by the judge.

http://www.courts.state.hi.us/self-help/small_claims_info.html

So essentially 2dogs is telling us to find our own way to do this?

Small claims limit is $5K, and collectively, we are over that amount.

Attention, fellow monumental assholes! I'm more than welling to do the legwork provided I'm given something to work on.

Depending on what's owed, I'm sure you'll find Jason's assets on selves adjacent to BFL wares at Aaron Wendel's facility (http://whois.arin.net/rest/org/WHOLE-125/pft).

Wanna see something funny?

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1346461


Aaron Wendel, Joe Morgan and Josh Zerlan have been sucking on each other's Popsicle (with apologies to Hal) stick for years prior to the advent of Bitcoin. Ironically, all four of CoinWares entities are utilizing Wendel and Mogan's facilities... and then some.

Now, Joe claims to be suing Aaron, BFL no longer ships to Joe, but to NimbusMining, et al., and LiquidBits is suing HashFast while they await in BFL's queue like a good ol' boy to get their Monarchs so that they, too, can operate at a further lost. They, along with Netsolus, are in line after HashTrade (not HashFast) receives their multi-million dollars worth of Monarchs.

Pretty fucked up, eh?

On top of all that, I got this via PM early this morning:


Talk about flies gravitating to shit: http://www.trademarkia.com/fufs-85547687.html

http://www.entitysource.com/details/entity/hi_92705/fly-away-technologies-llc


https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jason-badua/13/943/311

I think one phone to Oceanit should just about end his career there.

I live in Hawaii and I know a WHOLE bunch of Baduas. He must be related to them. I need to find Zombei and get my DRK back.

Yups, dat's da ting - you got one village here - braddahs, sistahs, aunties, uncles, etc.
If not already family, everyone know everyone, or everyone's business on da coconut wireless.
You cannot hide here in the islands - it's too small, connected and inbred.

fo real kine. Gotta be one filipino doe.

Any success with your small claims?

 :D  Thanks for the IRL chuckle!

Can't wait to hear the latest from DarkCourt.   ;D

Please upload your bank statements here or STFU.