Great explanations, thank you.

I’ll digest this and let you know if anything isn’t making sense.

I just got a lightning node up and running with this guide - https://medium.com/lightning-power-users/windows-macos-lightning-network-284bd5034340

Wasn't too difficult to get going. I would rate myself a 1/10 in technical abilities so i'd say almost anyone could do this.

Good luck!

https://github.com/lightning-power-users/node-launcher/releases

Not sure what i'm supposed to be calling it haha. I guess really it's just bitcoin core that i'm opening? with an attachment of some sort for lightning?

Hey Guys,

Apologies if this has been answered already, didn't see much in search results though. Just looking to get some clarity on how lightning nodes work and how private keys are stored (via lightning node ... I think).

So I have installed Pierre Rochard's Lightning Power Node Launcher, it worked great and is now fully synced. I then installed both the Joule Chrome extension and the Zap Desktop wallet. I then sent some satoshis to the Joule Extension and waited for confirmations. After that, I launched the Zap Desktop wallet (by right clicking the BTC symbol in windows tray, then advanced options, then "Open Zap Desktop") and it seemed to automatically import whatever data it needed from the lightning node to have control over the satoshis that I previously sent to the Joule extension.

So here is my question - Where are the keys for these satoshis being held? How was I able to see satoshis in the Zap Desktop application without doing anything except clicking a button? They seem to still show up in the Joule extension AND the Zap Desktop wallet. How is this possible? From what I understand so far, it's something to do with the "Macaroons" that are included in the lightning nodes files? Maybe all of the data and "keys" are stored in the lightning nodes files, and both Joule extension and Zap Desktop are just an interface to those files/funds?

Any help/explanation is appreciated - apologies for the long post.

SUCCESS! Thanks everyone here for your help. If I need to close this thread or mark it in some way let me know. Here’s what I did if anyone else runs into this problem:

1.) Closed Node Launcher (was showing 100% synced but didn’t have little green dot beside BTC in tray)
2.) Installed BItcoin core and let it sync overnight (was done the next morning)
3.) Closed Bitcoin core and opened the Node Launcher
4.) Synced in about half hour, and got little green dot next to BTC in tray

Now in the process of setting up the node and opening some channels. Woo!

So, woke up this morning to 100% synced, but the little dot on the BTC symbol was still red. The console said “out of memory”.  I closed the program and re-opened, and it has been re-syncing ever since. Now back to 90% or so with 5 hrs left

What is supposed to happen when it’s done? I thought that the little dot should have turned green? Once that happened I was going to install the Jewel chrome plugin and continue the instructions from the medium post.

Any thoughts/help appreciated.

Thanks for the help guys. At 97.45% - hopefully it finishes tonight.

Look forward to learning lots on this forum!

And if running Windows?

Thanks guys. ^ Do I do this through the Bitcoin Console? apologies... very new to this.

Hello,

I am trying to sync up a lightning node (as per https://medium.com/lightning-power-users/windows-macos-lightning-network-284bd5034340) but not sure I have the hardware that will allow it to work.

I found this computer in a dumpster, rebuilt it, and added a few parts. It's running an old xeon processor (2.67 GHz), 12 GB of DDR3 RAM, an 80GB SSD, 500GB HDD (64MB Cache). My internet is 100 up/down.

I've been syncing for about 24 hours at this point and the ETA shows 12 hours remaining, with 77.48% done. It seems to have slowed down significantly in the past few hours. I just replaced the HDD last night (realized during previous sync attempt it was done for).

Has anyone gone through this process before with a similar (garbage) PC? Also trying to get Lightning Labs new desktop wallet up and running on my laptop. Very into this stuff. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks.