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While messing about with Electrum 4.0.0a0... I stumbled across a relatively minor change which I think is actually a huge improvement to the UI and might help prevent some confusion for new users:
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLzTH.png


A simple change that I think clearly shows the difference between opening an existing wallet file and creating a new one when you start up. Thoughts?

i think it is helpful but not by a lot. people who have been missing the fact that they are "opening" an already existing  wallet even though the GUI was clear about it could similarly miss that additional button and still click next instead to end up opening the existing (default_wallet) file.

I guess they'll fall into the same group as the "Didn't read the 2FA explanation dialog and are now wondering why they are now 'missing' 0.001 BTC" users.

You just can't help some people :P

That is a good change. Lots of people get confused about this.

There was talk of copying the layout of MS office or libreoffice's open dialog box. A collection of links to recent wallets and a big ass new wallet button. Bauerj was brainstorming it on github:

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/3916

The whole box that shows the word "wallet:" looks very misleading. I think it would be better if there is an option for the user as follows:

 - Create a new wallet:
 - open your old wallet:

* If your wallet is not present in the wallet files, insert it by clicking here or drop it here.

I also think that's a good change.

Maybe at some point in the future we'll also see a popup (obviously with a "never show this again" option) after each start asking if the user wants the current wallet or another one (existing or new). I've noticed that File->New is (for some) not as straightforward as we'd expect.


Yep, this would be great, but at every startup, not at install, as the window title suggests.

I like the change too.  Personally I think I would know whether or not the wallet I am opening is a new one or not, but I can visualize how a newer person might get confused.  Another thing that causes "pain" is when a person transfers BTC into a watching wallet, only to realize they lost the matching private keys.  Disabling this possibility is outside of Electrum's capabilities but any warnings about it helps.

There is a watching only warning?

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It'd be nice if they had something like the seed input there where it suggests all the wallets avaliable as a bavigatable drop down scroller.
(I have a default_wallet and a bech32 native segwit one - and typing in the 6 letters gets tedious when I could just use 4 "be" <arrow down><enter>".

Did you try to enable the Lightning? I can't seem to find the option to open a channel from -testnet.
I already have some testcoin but I can't find where I can enable the off-chain feature.

I tried to enable the "Run as daemon after the GUI is close" but nothing shows something like channel tab? Also tried to use the command "add_lightning_request" or any lightning command but the results are nothing.

The functionality seems "disabled" for me on Mainnet... as you can see from this screenshot, the lightning options are both grayed out in the menus:
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLZ1T.png


I'm guessing it is either not fully enabled as yet or requires an Electrum server that is compatible with Lightning... or both? ???

Weird I don't have that option even mainnet/testnet.

https://i.imgur.com/25u9kqT.png




Another thing that I noticed is this feature when making a transaction as an advanced preview.
https://i.imgur.com/jKbrlyJ.png

I just check I also have no options even mainnet this is wired :(

Where did you guys get this version? Did you all build it by yourself from the source code?

Yea, but not build by myself I got the copy from HCP because I can't build on my very slow laptop.

exactly what i had in mind. although as i said it is a helpful change nonetheless.

i believe this feature is about BIP-174 and the Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions where it "joins" the transaction with another or merges their signatures.

Mine shows the options but grayed-out like HCP's, whether the lightning setting in the preferences are filled-up or not.

https://i.imgur.com/WJ8WiUM.png
*I just highlighted "Local Watchtower" but it's not clickable too.

I'm running it directly through python 3.8 (not compiled) on Windows10.

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-edit-
https://i.imgur.com/YDtJ0M7.png
There's an "enable" button after 'lightning' in the Wallet->Information window.
But it always ends up with an error whenever I click it.

I was interested in the same thing because the only 4.0.0 version I know of is that fake wallet that is using original Electrum for phishing. I hope this doesn't confuse some beginners or maybe even the more experienced ones to search for this version online. The latest official version is still 3.3.8 and can be downloaded from the official Electrum site https://electrum.org/#download

I don't also have this button on the information window. I'm using Windows 7 and installed python recently but I can't still find those buttons. It seems it works on Windows 10 and Linux based OS.

I found this guide below
Source: https://twitter.com/lukechilds/status/1195760853703749632

It seems you will need to install libsecp256k1 dep to make lightning buttons works. I didn't try it yet since the lightning buttons don't show on my end.
Try it and maybe it will work on Windows 10.

I can confirm that I don't have secp256k1 installed as I'm having trouble with it on Windows10.
My log also indicated that the error message that I'm getting after clicking "enable" is about lacking the said library.

I'll just try it after a few google searches :)

Unfortunately, I just don't have much time this week due to "work stuff"™ requiring most of my attention... but if I find a couple of hours, I'll see if I can figure out the "libsecp256k1" stuff... I vaguely recall seeing some errors relating to this while I was building the Windows binaries. :P

EDIT:

With Ubuntu 18.04 VM:

I can run Electrum 4.0.0a0 within the Ubuntu 18.04 VM using ./run_electrum and then after using the "enable" button on the "wallet->information" dialog, I got a message saying lightning keys had been enabled and the wallet would be closed. Restarting Electrum and re-opening the wallet... I can see this:
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLw5N.png


clicking the lightning bolt gives this:
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLHUa.png


I'll have to see if this now works on Windows 10 after compiling the Windows binaries.

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EDIT2:

The answer is yes... the Windows binaries appear to function the same ;)
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLSRo.png

How? Did you recompile them that includes "libsecp256k1-dev" for Windows?

If ever please give me another copy let me test it on Windows 7 if it will work.

I can't find the lightning option in wallet>information>lightning so maybe it will appear if it includes the "libsecp256k1" additional file.

Yeah... once "libsecp256k1-dev" was installed on Ubuntu, after recompiling with build-wine, the Windows binaries automagically include everything required. ;)

I've PM'd you the link to the new version.


Seems to be working OK (at least on TestNet):
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zL2QZ.png

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/zLUY8.png

OMG it works
https://i.imgur.com/OxaA6tF.png


But the weird thing is that the old one(The file that you sent to me a few days ago) the lightning button appears but when trying to click it doesn't work unlike the one that includes the "libsecp256k1".

https://i.imgur.com/595UCSN.png?3


Edit: Weird,
Now both of them works.

https://i.imgur.com/7B3LmiU.png

I'm going to test it on BTCpay in testnet mode.

Also, don't be alarmed if you get a "KeyError" when you receive a payment (and/or open a channel)... It seems to be a known (and fixed) issue (https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5728), and doesn't seem to actually affect the receiving of the payments. They still show up.

If I get brave enough, I'll try and see what happens if I run it on MainNet :P

I did not install libsecp256k1-dev prior to compiling the windows binaries, but I didn't have the issue with missing lightning button.  Once I finally got past the other issues I was having, the software seems to be working fine.


Did you have to run the installer file to get on Testnet?  I don't see that as an option with the portable exe.

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I'm liking the new version, the gui updates are cool.  The main page now includes a field for your password if you're opening an existing wallet file.  Seems more streamlined, less clicking involved.  

https://i.ibb.co/423SwRF/Untitled1.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

No, nothing complicated like that... it's a simple "--testnet" command line argument... you can do it by creating a shortcut.

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/15/z1lWf.png

And it works with the portable version too, I use that pretty often.
I usually have a batch file (run.bat) with the content:


in the same folder as electrum-3.3.8-portable.exe

why it's not happen automatically would in a way easier

Anyone knows the actual link to download the latest electrum LN test version?? I'd like to test it on linux.

Just use the source code from github and compile yourself. The alpha updates are merged regularly. It's not stable yet though, use with caution.

https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum

Or, if you don't want to compile yourself, you can use a virtual machine to try Electrum LN.
Some time ago, I also tried (on a parallels desktop) to use the Testnet version and transact using the lightning network in Electrum.

There's no need to compile anything in Linux.  As long as Python is up to date, and you have all the dependencies installed Electrum will run right from source.

Download the source code, browse to the directory where you saved it and run the following command:

if I have never used Electrum I should press create a new wallet

This thread is about the alpha release of the next version of Electrum, and it's new Lightning Network capabilities.  You're question is off-topic, so I suggest you find a thread that already discusses beginner questions or start a new thread to ask your question.

Also, there's a lot information in the official documentation that can help you get started. 
Look here: https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

oh okay I get that it's about new version thanks

A beta version of Electrum 4.0 was released a few hours ago (https://twitter.com/ElectrumWallet/status/127589010964531200). You can download it directly from the official website (https://download.electrum.org/4.0.0b0/). Don't forget to verify the signature (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5240594.msg54223763#msg54223763).

it is worth mentioning that this version is not backward compatible for some functionalities such as signing transactions with multiple parties in multi-sig designs or signing with the offline wallet due to changing how partially signed transactions work (BIP-174). if switch to new version is made in one wallet it must be done on all involved wallets.

I'm not seeing it mentioned on the front page of the website, nor is it listed on the downloads page.  Obviously it's hosted on the official site, which does mean it's legit, but yes, verify, don't trust.

I'll assume this beta version is compatible with the upgraded firmware Trezor released a couple of weeks ago.  Has anyone had a chance to confirm?

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I noticed this while playing around with the Alpha source.  One of my hot wallet files would no longer open in Version 3.3.8 after creating a transaction with the newer version.

Yes, it works fine with my Trezor T. By the way, some time ago, Trezor changed the passphrase entry. Before the update, users could choose the way of passphrase entry directly on the device. After the update, the default method was set to host computer which broke third-party software compatibility. Now, the passphrase entry looks like this.

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

I have also sent 2 transactions from my Nano X. It worked fine, but I still got a message about outdated third-party software before I was able to confirm those transactions.

Can you share some screenshots next time this shows up? One of my friends said he didn't get this notification while using his Nano X with Electrum 3.3.8, and it's my first time hearing about this too. Does this mean Nano X judge that a beta version is the latest version that the user should use then?

I am quite sure I got the same message on Electrum 3.3.8 a few days earlier. It is related to this vulnerability (https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014191540) which has been fixed in the Ledger Live and Bitcoin app update. Third-party software needs to be updated as well (see #6230 (https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/pull/6230)). Your friend might have not updated his device. Here (https://imgur.com/a/S2UpgLw) are the photos you asked for.

By the way, a new beta version (https://download.electrum.org/4.0.0b1/) has been released.

I see, thanks. I was kinda confused before but now I get it. You're right, he's using the old version of the apps and that's why there' no pop-up saying unverified inputs.