my Bitoin Core is stuck "connecting to Peers"

[gretzky1129]

hey,

I have been downloading Bitcoin Core for five weeks and made 69% progress.  Suddenly its getting stuck and has not made any progress in the last 4 days.  The computer is all frozen/unresponsive and won't let me open anything up.  I have windows 10 with 8 GB RAM, 1000 GB hard drive.  There is Norton running in the background but other than that, there are no other programs running on the computer.  Really need some help here, this is a very frustrating situation.  I tried to attach a photo of my screen but I don't know how to do it in html.  its been stuck in "connecting to peers" on the bottom left of the screen for like 4 days

[ABCbits]

Few question,
1. What is version of your Bitcoin Core?
2. Did you configure Bitcoin Core to use proxy/tor?
3. Can you share output of debug.log so we could find out the problem? You can post it here or at https://pastebin.com and share the link to us.

I tried to attach a photo of my screen but I don't know how to do it in html.  its been stuck in "connecting to peers" on the bottom left of the screen for like 4 days

You can upload the image to website such as Imgur and simply copy the Imgur link.

[LoyceV]

I have been downloading Bitcoin Core for five weeks and made 69% progress.

First, I have to say this is terrible performance.

The computer is all frozen/unresponsive and won't let me open anything up.

If you can't open for instance your task manager anymore, that's a Windows problem, not a Bitcoin Core problem. I would have hit the reset button much faster than waiting for 4 days, but that's probably why I don't use Windows.

My advice would be to start over, but not before upgrading your hardware. To compare performance: on my old Linux laptop with slow CPU but 16 GB RAM and Bitcoin Core's chainstate directory on SSD (with the blocks directory on HDD), I can sync the full blockchain from scratch in just over 24 hours. If you insist on running Bitcoin Core, and if your computer can handle it, I suggest to add at least 8 GB of RAM, and a solid state drive.
With your current hardware you're probably better off running a less demanding wallet (such as Electrum). Unless you have a specific reason to use Bitcoin Core.

[SFR10]

Suddenly its getting stuck and has not made any progress in the last 4 days.  The computer is all frozen/unresponsive and won't let me open anything up.
~Snipped~
1000 GB hard drive.  There is Norton running in the background

Restart your computer > stop Norton > if you still experience frozen screens or screen stutters without running Bitcoin Core, then it could be one of the following things:

• Your 1TB HDD is almost full ^{[due to other stuff (e.g. movies, games and etc...)]}.
• Your HDD is starting to fail.

[BitMaxz]

Just adding this if the above suggestion doesn't work try to change your DNS to Google DNS/Cloudflare for temporary to know if it was ISP DNS blocking your Bitcoin core from connecting to any peers.

Or try to delete the peers.dat then rerun the bitcoin core.

[gretzky1129]

Few question,
1. What is version of your Bitcoin Core?
2. Did you configure Bitcoin Core to use proxy/tor?
3. Can you share output of debug.log so we could find out the problem? You can post it here or at https://pastebin.com and share the link to us.


1) I am using version 0.21.1
2) no
3) where would the log be? what folder would the program write the log to?


My advice would be to start over, but not before upgrading your hardware. To compare performance: on my old Linux laptop with slow CPU but 16 GB RAM and Bitcoin Core's chainstate directory on SSD (with the blocks directory on HDD), I can sync the full blockchain from scratch in just over 24 hours. If you insist on running Bitcoin Core, and if your computer can handle it, I suggest to add at least 8 GB of RAM, and a solid state drive.
With your current hardware you're probably better off running a less demanding wallet (such as Electrum). Unless you have a specific reason to use Bitcoin Core.

I have been using Bitcoin Core because unfortunately I have some Bitcoin in my Armory wallet and would love to get Armory up and running so I can get my bitcoin out of there and not have to use Armory anymore.  Being a new person, I did not realize that you needed to go through all of this in order for your Bitcoin balance to be displayed prior to sending coins to my armory wallet

[hosseinimr93]

I have been using Bitcoin Core because unfortunately I have some Bitcoin in my Armory wallet and would love to get Armory up and running so I can get my bitcoin out of there and not have to use Armory anymore.  

You don't have to use Armory.
As suggested by LoyceV, you can use a SPV wallet like electrum to access your fund. In a SPV wallet, you don't have to download the blockchain.
In order to access the fund using electrum, you must export your private key(s) from Armory. To do so, follow the guide provided by HCP. (Click here)
In electrum, create a new wallet, select "Import bitcoin addresses or private keys" and then enter your private keys.

Warning:
Download electrum only from its official website and do not forget to verify your download.

[nc50lc]

-snip-  The computer is all frozen/unresponsive and won't let me open anything up.

This happens if your RAM is fully utilized and your Disk I/O is near 100%.
Have you set your Bitcoin Core's "database cache" (dbcache) too high that it eats up all of your RAM?

Also, the log ETF requested is essential for solving the issue.