Multibit problems?

[Tommytwo]

Ive been useing multibit for a few years now and lately nothing is showing in my wallet. Multibit has been acting strange and shutting down also. Is there any way i can import my wallet into multibit hd. There was coins before in the wallet and when it is populating its counting up then gets to 100% and showing 0. sometimes it just shuts itself down for no reason. Im thinking maybe i need to update to the hd version or something more secure.

[NeuroticFish]

Ive been useing multibit for a few years now and lately nothing is showing in my wallet. Multibit has been acting strange and shutting down also. Is there any way i can import my wallet into multibit hd. There was coins before in the wallet and when it is populating its counting up then gets to 100% and showing 0. sometimes it just shuts itself down for no reason. Im thinking maybe i need to update to the hd version or something more secure.

You clearly need to move out of Multibit, it's not maintained for long time and it has bugs.
First step is to make sure that you are on a very safe computer. Second, from what I know, is to save your key without password (at least that's what I've done long time ago). Multibit has that option, but I don't remember how to reach it, you'll have to search.
Then you go into that file (walletname.key) - you can use notepad - and you'll see (usually) one line that doesn't start with #. That line contains your private key, then space and a date. That private key is the thing that allows you to spend your Bitcoin, so keep it safe. Really. Also that key can be imported into another wallet.
I didn't like Multibit HD, I migrated to Electrum and I recommend you to do the same. Just make sure you get it from https://electrum.org and not from some scam clone sites.

[bob123]

Are you still able to open and use the app?
If so, to export the private keys, select the menu option 'Tools | export private keys'.
A file with the extension .key will be generated.

Then do what NeuroticFish described to get the private keys from this file.
The file itself will look like this:

Code:

# KEEP YOUR PRIVATE KEYS SAFE !
# Anyone who can read this file can spend your bitcoin.
#
# Format:
#   <Base58 encoded private key>[<whitespace>[<key createdAt>]]
#
#   The Base58 encoded private keys are the same format as
#   produced by the Satoshi client/ sipa dumpprivkey utility.
#
#   Key createdAt is in UTC format as specified by ISO 8601
#   e.g: 2011-12-31T16:42:00Z . The century, 'T' and 'Z' are mandatory
#
Labc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc 2013-01-01T12:00:00Z
Kdef456def456def456def456def456def456def456def456def 2013-01-01T12:00:00Z
# End of private keys

Labc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc123abc and Kdef456def456def456def456def456def456def456def456def are the private keys in this example.


If you are looking for another mobile wallet: Mycelium, electrum and coinomi are the most frequently recommended ones.

[HCP]

Ive been useing multibit for a few years now and lately nothing is showing in my wallet. Multibit has been acting strange and shutting down also. Is there any way i can import my wallet into multibit hd. There was coins before in the wallet and when it is populating its counting up then gets to 100% and showing 0. sometimes it just shuts itself down for no reason. Im thinking maybe i need to update to the hd version or something more secure.

MultiBit and MultiBit HD have been dropped by the developers since July 2017: https://multibit.org/blog/2017/07/26/multibit-shutdown.html

Both of these wallets are now very old, outdated and have some issues with newer transactions which result in some weird behaviour. You should follow the instructions in the MultiBit blog post to migrate to a new wallet. The video tutorial on how to extract your private keys from MultiBit (Classic) is here: https://youtu.be/LaijbTcxsv8

Note: the most important part when exporting your keys from MBC is to NOT use a password on the export file:


If you use a password, you will NOT be able to open the export file and read the keys as it will be encrypted.

[Tommytwo]

Thanks guys. I have managed to move it into electrum but its showing red with a minus next to it which i dont understand.
It says -12755.7 then next to it says 0. in black.
In multi bit it was all in bitcoins but this looks different

[HCP]

By default, Electrum uses mBTC as the units... If you go to "Tools -> Preferences" and then click the "Appearance" tab you'll be able to change the units to BTC (note: you might want to change the number of decimal places to 8 as well)

If the "amount" is in Red, then that is indicative of a "send" transaction. The number in black next to it should be the "running balance" when that transaction occurred.

Current wallet balance is in bottom left corner

[Tommytwo]

Is there supposed to be more than one .wallet file and .key files from multibit as i have quite a few that have different wallet addresses in them.

[HCP]

It's not impossible. MultiBit allowed you to create multiple wallet files. As I recall, there was a list displayed on the left hand side which showed all the wallets that you had created and you could switch from one to the other by just highlighting the one you wanted.




So, it really depends on your setup. MultiBit would not have created multiple wallets for you (aside from the backups, but they're technically the same wallet )... If you selected "File -> New Wallet" it would create a new wallet.

[Tommytwo]

I only created one wallet at the start but as i say now its showing multiple wallets in the folders. I know i made a backup which is put away. I havent spent any coins atall but im showing red transactions

[HCP]

I only created one wallet at the start but as i say now its showing multiple wallets in the folders. I know i made a backup which is put away. I havent spent any coins atall but im showing red transactions

Are the wallets all named differently? Or are they all similar with just a datetime stamp added? Which folder are the .wallet files in?

It could be that you're just finding the "auto" backups in the MultiBit folders. As I recall, MBC would create rolling backups at regular intervals (and also when certain actions occurred)...

refer: https://multibit.org/help/v0.5/help_walletBackups.html
and: https://multibit.org/help/v0.5/help_fileDescriptions.html


As for the red transactions... that would indicate coins have been sent. Either by you, or someone else with access to the private keys. Is the total balance in Electrum correct?

[Tommytwo]

Some are in backup folders yes, ive imported all wallet files i could find on the pc but it still showing i have no bitcoins left. I had over 1.5 bitcoins till it started acting up but now its showing nothing.

[HCP]

It probably won't show anything in MultiBit itself. It was "unreliable" at best when the support was dumped back in July last year, now it basically just doesn't work.

You'll need to make sure that you have properly exported all the keys, and then imported each one into Electrum.

It's possible you may have missed a key for a change address that has your coins. Either that, or your wallet got compromised and someone stole your coins

What is the date of the most recent transaction that Electrum is showing?

[Tommytwo]

Ive just went through all wallets that are there and imported them into electrum. They key that was on my slush pool is saying coinsd have went in and out by the looks of it. how would i go about tracing my coins or is there someone who could look at it and try get my coins back?

[cryptonerddy]

I think I might be able to help out, send me a PM

[HCP]

Ive just went through all wallets that are there and imported them into electrum. They key that was on my slush pool is saying coinsd have went in and out by the looks of it. how would i go about tracing my coins or is there someone who could look at it and try get my coins back?

Tracing the coins? Next to impossible for an "average person" if the person who moved the coins has taken some fairly simple steps (mixers and so forth)... But you can also do some basic research and follow the chain of transactions and use google and/or services like walletexplorer.com. You might get lucky and find a public reference to that ties an online identity to a given bitcoin address. If the sums are large enough, you might be able to get law enforcement agencies involved.

Additionally, there are also blockchain analysis and forensics companies in existence that specialise in the tracking of coins... but from what I understand, they charge significant fees... and generally work for law enforcement agencies etc. They don't really have any ability to recover funds.

At the end of the day... getting the coins back is pretty much impossible. Once they are moved to some place where you don't have the private key(s), then you have no way of moving those coins, unless the person who does control the private keys agrees to move them.


NOTE: Be wary of anyone asking for an upfront fee to assist with any of this... the chances of you a. finding the person who has your coins and/or b. retrieving those coins is slim to none.

[Tommytwo]

I think I might be able to help out, send me a PM

I tried to send you a pm but it says you dont accept pms from newbies.

[cryptonerddy]

Fixed it, try now.