Hi, I tried this today with another SD (taken a bit of time because I had some problems with bitcoin core) but it still doesn't work. If I insert the SD in my coldcard containing a PSBT, I get "Coldcard is ready to sign spending transactions" after I enter "Ready to sign". Any other suggestions? Maybe my Coldcard doesn't work properly?

 Thanks. This is the output of getblockchaininfo.  Can you see if it has reset the block download progress? Or maybe just again syncing?

"chain": "main",
  "blocks": 535936,
  "headers": 826689,
  "bestblockhash": "000000000000000000247fb1af3730f105ebf14b303d1c7eb6282cff46e94815",
  "difficulty": 5949437371609.53,
  "time": 1533817015,
  "mediantime": 1533815708,
  "verificationprogress": 0.3645248712057892,
  "initialblockdownload": true,
  "chainwork": "000000000000000000000000000000000000000002aae2c91fd6039d939eeb19",
  "size_on_disk": 567624183244,
  "pruned": false,
  "warnings": ""

This is a fragment of the debug.log file after restarting Bitcoin Core; does it contain any useful information?

2024-01-26T13:49:58Z Bitcoin Core version v25.1.0 (release build)
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z Qt 5.15.5 (static), plugin=cocoa (static)
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z Static plugins:
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z  QCocoaIntegrationPlugin, version 331520
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z  QMacStylePlugin, version 331520
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z Style: macintosh / QMacStyle
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z System: macOS 12.7, x86_64-little_endian-lp64
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z Screen: Colour LCD 1280x800, pixel ratio=2.0
2024-01-26T13:49:58Z GUI: Populating font family aliases took 231 ms. Replace uses of missing font family ".AppleSystemUIFont,13,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0" with one that exists to avoid this cost.
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z GUI: QFSFileEngine::open: No file name specified
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z GUI: QFSFileEngine::open: No file name specified
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z GUI: QFSFileEngine::open: No file name specified
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z GUI: QFSFileEngine::open: No file name specified
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z GUI: QFSFileEngine::open: No file name specified
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way),avx2(8way)' SHA256 implementation
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using RdSeed as an additional entropy source
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source

2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using data directory /Volumes/ext SSD
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Config file: /Volumes/ext SSD/bitcoin.conf
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Config file arg: datadir="/Volumes/ext SSD/blocks"
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Config file arg: server="1"
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (2560 file descriptors available)
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Script verification uses 3 additional threads
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z scheduler thread start
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Binding RPC on address ::1 port 8332
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Binding RPC on address 127.0.0.1 port 8332
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z [http] creating work queue of depth 16
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using random cookie authentication.
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Generated RPC authentication cookie /Volumes/ext SSD/.cookie
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z [http] starting 4 worker threads
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using wallet directory /Volumes/ext SSD
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z init message: Verifying wallet(s)…
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using /16 prefix for IP bucketing
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z init message: Loading P2P addresses…
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Loaded 63224 addresses from peers.dat  316ms
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z init message: Loading banlist…
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z SetNetworkActive: true
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Cache configuration:
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z * Using 2.0 MiB for block index database
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z * Using 8.0 MiB for chain state database
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z * Using 440.0 MiB for in-memory UTXO set (plus up to 286.1 MiB of unused mempool space)
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z init message: Loading block index…
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Assuming ancestors of block 000000000000000000035c3f0d31e71a5ee24c5aaf3354689f65bd7b07dee632 have valid signatures.
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Setting nMinimumChainWork=000000000000000000000000000000000000000044a50fe819c39ad624021859
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Opening LevelDB in /Volumes/ext SSD/blocks/index
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-01-26T13:49:59Z Using obfuscation key for /Volumes/ext SSD/blocks/index: 0000000000000000
2024-01-26T13:50:00Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file = 116
2024-01-26T13:50:00Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file info: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=237, size=104983793, heights=285502...286626, time=2014-02-12...2014-02-19)
2024-01-26T13:50:00Z Checking all blk files are present...
2024-01-26T13:50:00Z Initializing chainstate Chainstate [ibd] @ height -1 (null)
2024-01-26T13:50:00Z Opening LevelDB in /Volumes/ext SSD/chainstate
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Using obfuscation key for /Volumes/ext SSD/chainstate: c9419c6c1a4b94b7
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Loaded best chain: hashBestChain=0000000000000000ebed3e2b0cf036d577ffec8a7c4015d64499e8a791b82c0b height=286523 date=2014-02-18T14:46:52Z progress=0.036239
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z [snapshot] allocating all cache to the IBD chainstate
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Opening LevelDB in /Volumes/ext SSD/chainstate
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Using obfuscation key for /Volumes/ext SSD/chainstate: c9419c6c1a4b94b7
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 286523 (0000000000000000ebed3e2b0cf036d577ffec8a7c4015d64499e8a791b82c0b)] resized coinsdb cache to 8.0 MiB
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 286523 (0000000000000000ebed3e2b0cf036d577ffec8a7c4015d64499e8a791b82c0b)] resized coinstip cache to 440.0 MiB
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z init message: Verifying blocks…
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verifying last 6 blocks at level 3
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 0%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 16%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 33%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 50%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 66%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 83%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification progress: 99%
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Verification: No coin database inconsistencies in last 6 blocks (2990 transactions)
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z  block index            2066ms
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Setting NODE_NETWORK on non-prune mode
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z loadblk thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Reindexing block file blk00000.dat...
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z block tree size = 286627
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z nBestHeight = 286523
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z torcontrol thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Bound to 127.0.0.1:8334
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Bound to [::]:8333
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Bound to 0.0.0.0:8333
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Loaded 2 addresses from "anchors.dat"
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z 2 block-relay-only anchors will be tried for connections.
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z init message: Starting network threads…
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z net thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z dnsseed thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z Waiting 300 seconds before querying DNS seeds.
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z addcon thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z opencon thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z msghand thread start
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z init message: Done loading
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z GUI: Platform customization: "macosx"
2024-01-26T13:50:01Z UpdateTip: new

I let bitcoin core running again now and now I see in the SSD folder that it writes all kinds of .dat folders in the file chainstate at the moment, and not under blocks... could this mean something?

I understand what you say. But the debug.log file contains thousands and thousands of lines of information. I really wouldn't what to search for there...

Unfortunately nothing functions. If I put the datadir to my ext SSD, it Bitcoin Core still starts from the beginning with downloading.
If I try to do it through terminal, then I get this output:
ln: illegal option -- /
usage: ln [-s [-F] | -L | -P] [-f | -i] [-hnv] source_file [target_file]
       ln [-s [-F] | -L | -P] [-f | -i] [-hnv] source_file ... target_dir
       link source_file target_file

So I don't what to do. Probably have to download the entire blockchain again.

And FindingNemo, how I can ensure that the datadir parameter is correctly set to the directory where the blockchain data is stored?
PS What do you think what's the easiest way to run a bitcoin node? Bitcoin Core running by yourself has some problems obviously.

BitMaxz, thanks, but it didn't work. I added this text inside the bitcoin.conf file but after restarting, Bitcoin Core won't start at all anymore. It says "Error reading configuration file: parse error on line 2: -datadir=$HOME/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/blocks, options in configuration file must be specified without leading - "

OK thanks, will look into that but it sounds very complex. Are there any easier / better options? What is the better option to store the blockchain?

Hi, I had Bitcoin Core up and running on my macbook. When I restarted the macbook this morning, Bitcoin Core started again downloading the entire blockchain. I selected the right folder, I have an external SSD drive on which I previously already had downloaded the whole blockchain. Also I tried to click "reset options", but after restarting bitcoin core it again doesn't connect with the existing blockchain on the SSD drive but starts downloading from scratch. Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

Thank you! Probably then I will try another SD card first, before dismissing Coldcard altogether. I can also use the Coldcard with a USB cable and forget about the SD card, but the reason I got a Coldcard was just to prevent this kind of direct contact of a wallet with the internet.

Hi, today I have again exactly the same problem unfortenately. My coldcard cannot read the PSBT file. If I press "ready to sign" it says "Coldcard is ready to sign". I contacted the Coinkite support and they suggest using another SD card, but this SD card I ordered directly from them. So I don't think this it the issue. I also followed all steps from the Coldcard website, their manual. Also it doesn't matter if I turn the coldcard on before inserting the SD card, or if I first import the SD card and then turn on the Coldcard.
Anyone has some ideas still? I'm thinking about purchasing a totally other wallet, like foundation passport, and inserting the coldcard seedphrase there. Getting quite frustrated with coldcard.

Actually today it worked out fine. Maybe it was an issue with not turning the coldcard on before inserting the SD card, I don't remember exactly how I did that previously. Anyway, everyone thanks a lot for your help and suggestions!

Yes I use the SD cards correct side. I managed to also upgrade coldcards firmware using this SD card (downloading an upgrade file from the CC website) so the SD card itself seems just fine.

Thank you. I read that thread already and it doesn't help me further. It's about sending too many inputs, but I only tried a transaction to send with 1 UTXO containing really not much BTC. So I think there should be some other issue.

I cannot sign PSBT's with my coldcard. I use the latest version of Sparrow wallet. I manage to save a PSBT file on my sd-card, but when I put the sd-card in my CC and press "ready to sign" it doesn't find the PSBT but says "Coldcard is ready to sign spending transactions".

I have already updated Coldcard firmware to the latest version but it won't help, I have also updated my Sparrow wallet. The SD card has been delivered with my coldcard (so it is from coinkite) and it has been formatted in FAT 32.