Bitcoin Forum

hi, i need someone who is tech savy to give me some one to one help. i have tried posting and read and tried the starting up sites but i just cannot get the bitcoin program to run on my computer. no error messages. loaded several times but it just sits there on block 139205 with 8 connections?. i have two addresses in my wallet waiting for input-one from faucet and one from Mt.Gox but the wallet sits at zero untill i can get it to run and download blocks. i am using windows xp but maybe there is a speed problem or compatability problem beyond my ability to diagnose. is there anyone willing to advise or help me get going if so can we swap e-mails or on forum? thanks reg.

You need to download all blocks. You said you are at 139205 so it's downloading them. It will take some hours to download them all. Now we are at 153720 so, keep downloading.

Also you have only 8 connections, they are the default ones. Please open the 8333 port so the client can connect to other people too and download faster (also allow others to download blocks from you and relay transactions...you know, bitcoin is p2p!)

the client loaded block 139205 on first download initially about 8 days ago and has not moved since? is 8333 the same as sock4 proxy?

Here are a few steps to try:

1)COPY your wallet to a safe place(My Documents for example).  This is always a good idea before you go messing around with your client's file which you will probably have to do.

2)If you do not have the latest version f the client it would be a good idea to update it. I believe they removed the buffer which was causing this problem.

3)If step 2 doesn't work, then you should download the block chain(blk0001 and blkindex)and replace the files currently in your client's directory with those.

If you run into any problems because of my poor speed spelling or need to know some thing not stated here, just post and I will answer as soon as I can.

hi booklover, thanks for your info-i will excuse your spelling if you excuse my ignorance. if its ok we will need to go step by step! i downloaded the bitcoin prog about 10 days ago so it might be the newer version. because i have no transactions yet i presume the wallet is empty! i only know i have one because i have encrypted it under settings. but as to how to copy the wallet to my docs i don't know how unless you mean copy the client complete with wallet to my docs? i have the origional client in downloads anyway.               ( 0.4-win 32  23/09/2011  11MB) someone suggested it was downloading but my speed was too slow and suggested opening port 8333 but i do not know how to do that!.  what do you advise-shall i asume the prog is ok and try to open a port to get more connections or just delete everything and start again as my wallet shows o anyway? regards reg.

ports are opened on either a firewall app on your comp (if you dont have one, then dont worry about it), or your gateway/router.

the firewall for windows has two bitcoin exceptions ticked so i think that means its not the firewall but i have never had to look at the gateway/router so do not know where to find it!

try this client: http://ecdsa.org/electrum/
it should be easier to use (no blockchain)

of course, that won't help you recover the coins you are waiting for from mtgox...
if you can, ask someone to configure your firewall.

next time you send bitcoins to a client, make sure that it works for you.

You must not mess with the socks4 setting if you don't know what it is for. People read about ports here without understanding, and start putting wrong information into the Bitcoin options. So you don't have to search for the post I made three days ago, here's a cut-and-paste:

In the Bitcoin options, these are the best options for you:

☐ Start Bitcoin on system startup
☑ Minimize to the tray instead of the taskbar
☑ Map port using UPNP
☐ Minimize to the tray on close
☐ Connect through socks4 proxy

After verifying and pressing "OK", close and restart Bitcoin.

After this, for diagnostic purposes, I would just completely disable the firewall software on your computer and see if it solves any remaining problems.

The place where you would use "port 8333" is in an Internet router; it is not a setting in Bitcoin. Your Bitcoin should get up to eight connections to other peers, even without configuring port forwarding (http://www.zeropaid.com/news/6160/introduction_to_port_forwarding/#La) to forward inbound connections on port 8333 to the IP address of your computer.

No don't delete everything, I fairly sure I know how to solve this.  If I understand you correctly then many other people have had this problem and successfully fixed it.

Here is the step by step for a windows7 computer, if you have a different version of windows then your wallet may be in C:\documents and settings\Your username\program files\bitcoin.

*'s are note's for the next step

1)Backing up your wallet

     1-a)Make sure the client is not running before you proceed.

     *To get to your wallet you need to show hidden folders.

     1-b)Search folder options in the start menu and open Folder Options.

     1-c)Click on the view tab and double click the Hidden files and folders file if it is not open.

     1-d)Click the button labeled, "Show hidden files, folders, and drivers".
    
     *To get to C double click Computer in the start menu.
     **You wallet is in this folder you can know COPY it to a safe place.

     1-e)Go to C/Users/"Your username"/Appdata/Roaming/Bitcoin

     1-f)COPY the file labeled wallet to a safe place.

2)Fixing you problem

     2-a)Download the block chain from one of these links:

http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.001 (100MB)
http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.002 (100MB)
http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.003 (100MB)
http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.004 (100MB)
http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.005 (100MB)
http://we.lovebitco.in/blockchain-152663.7z.006 (88MB)(Links are no longer valid)

     *You may not be to extract the files without 7zip file manager.
     **7zip file manager has to be downloaded from the internet but I don't have a link for you.

     2-b)Extract the files if they are zipped files.

     2-c)Go to C/Users/"Your username"/Appdata/Roaming/Bitcoin

     2-d)Replace blk0001 and blkindex with the files you just downloaded/extracted.

     *If you don't have a shortcut, you can just make one.
     *It's not important where the shortcut is as long as it is a shortcut.

     2-e)Go to your bitcoin shortcut on your desktop and right-click it.

     2-f)In the field next to Target: scroll all the to the right and type -rescan

     2-g)Click Apply then Okay.

     2-h)Start up your client and see if it works!


P.S. If you run into any problems post in this thread and let me know.

You quote my thread here (http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=51456), it also has a link to 7zip, etc. Installing a copy of the blockchain will get you up and going quicker than waiting for a complete blockchain download, but if the central problem is that the client is not connecting or updating blocks at all, this problem will continue unless the cause is determined and rectified.

A lot of people seem to just get stuck around 120000, and once they've gotten past by downloading the block chain they only have smooth sailing.  I believe I read that the the blockchain size is hitting an old buffer and developers are working on a solution to the problem.

to booklover, progress report (lack of) following your instructions i was able to find a file in folder src called wallet! i managed to drag and copy it into note book- its just a prog and not in a format i would recognise! i downloaded a block chain nothing yet to indicate it is a zipped file and it is in downloads. but i cannot find anywhere where it says blk001 & block index all i can get are,daemon,locale,src,bitcoin,licence&readme? none seem to contain blk numbers-so i come to a stop. i am using windows xp so do not have c:/users but c:/docs/admin/mydocs/downloads/bitcoin ets?

I would suggest you use care when directly accessing the data directory, the information here sounds like you don't understand compressed (zip) files, and are also looking at the wrong stuff.

Change your Bitcoin options as I posted above, this is to ensure that you don't mistakenly leave Bitcoin running in the system tray when you think you closed it, and to ensure you have not misconfigured connections. Bitcoin must be closed when accessing it's data file directory. Close and restart Bitcoin after updating these options, and see if this allows Bitcoin to connect up to the connection limit and if blocks start updating. Then as I posted above, disable your OS's firewall for testing; you may have it misconfigured, so that p2p connections show in Bitcoin, but the inbound data cannot make its way through.

If you must take the shortcut of manually downloading and installing a copy of the blockchain, use the link I posted above, back to my original post (http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=51456), where:

1. I give you a link to download and install 7-zip. You will need to launch the 7-zip File Manager, and under menu->tools->options, select the checkboxes to associate 7-zip with .001 and .7z. You can also select .zip and .rar if you wish for this freeware utility to replace non-free WinRAR & WinZip too. Then the first file in the archive set will open with 7zip and the contents can be extracted.

2. I give you a link to the Bitcoin data directory that is independent of which version of Windows you use: %APPDATA%\Bitcoin. Opening Windows Explorer and putting this in the location bar will take you there.

3. While you have Windows Explorer open, you should enable showing file extensions so you aren't likely to make mistakes like you did copying files from the Bitcoin src directory. In the Windows Explorer you just launched, click "Tools" in the menu, and choose "Folder Options". Go to the "View" tab, and in Advanced settings, uncheck the box for "Hide extension for known file types" and press OK. This will allow you to see the full file name.

3. I advise you to back up the wallet, with a link to instructions to do this. In a nutshell, copy (do not accidentally move) the wallet.dat file (it may appear as just "wallet" if you have file extensions hidden) to a backup location such as a USB flash drive for safekeeping. The easiest way is to right-click on the file, and in the context menu, select send to -> USB drive (whatever your drive is called).

If the meaning of these instructions are still elusive, you should call a buddy over that knows more about computers. You'll probably need the help if you are going to set up Tor also...

many thanks to all who have commented on my post/problem. clearly i am out of my depth and will take the recent advice to get someone on my computer who is more able to understand and carry out the task to resolve my situation. fortunately i do not think i have changed or corrupted the origional bitcoin down load and have just not connected to my peers and completed initialisation. the two addresses i expect to receive bitcoins will appear eventually in my wallet and i will at some point be able to operate an account. i believe the concept of a p2p  currency is as great a leap forward as the internet was in regaining personal freedom. i will personally persevere and hope the concept becomes perhaps a little more user friendly! kind regards to all-reg