Armory stays in "Initializing BitCoin Engine" forever

[pro-trader]

Hi dear community,

I do have a technical problem with Armory and hope you can help me.

Have been using BitCoin Core since ages. Currently running the latest version 0.13.1 (64 Bit) on a Windows 7 PC.

BitCoinCore is installed on C:\ which is a fast SSD with limited capacity. The whole blockchain is on a separate disk E:\ (I do have a path called  E:\Programme auf E\QtBiCoin).
Works perfectly since about 5 years.

Now I wanted to switch to Armory and installed latest version 0.95.1. Of course I had to adjust the path to E:\ where the blockchain is located, see screenshot: https://s19.postimg.org/5mh4dwng3/cf_1.jpg

But Armory does not work, it stays at this picture for hours & days. No change if I first start the BitCOinCore client, update the blocks, close the BitCoinCore again and then start Armory.
See screenshot: https://s19.postimg.org/qknabznar/cf_2.jpg

I de-installed Armory & BitCoin Core  completely with RevoUninstaller (to also clean out registry entries etc.) and re-installed it from scratch. Just copied in a backup of the huge Blockchain and my wallet, of course.

No change.

I checked under “C:\Users\My-Name\AppData\Roaming\Armory” the file „armorylog.txt“. The file grows and grows while Armory is running and it repeatedly adds the following log at the end (this entry repeats itself “endlessly”):

Code:

2016-12-23 10:16 (ERROR) -- SDM.pyc:791 - ValueError in bkgd req top blk
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "SDM.pyc", line 765, in __backgroundRequestTopBlock
  File "bitcoinrpc_jsonrpc\authproxy.pyc", line 105, in __call__
  File "json\__init__.pyc", line 351, in loads
  File "json\decoder.pyc", line 366, in decode
  File "json\decoder.pyc", line 384, in raw_decode
ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded

Does somebody have an idea what is going wrong?

[achow101]

That log entry is benign.

Can you please post your entire log file? If it is too large to fit in one post, post it to http://pastebin.com/ and post the link to the paste here.

In Armory, uncheck the box with that says "Let Armory run bitcoind in the background". Then start Bitcoin Core. Then start Armory with the command line option

Code:

--satoshi-datadir="E:\Programme auf E\QtBiCoin"

To start Armory with that option, right click the shortcut for Armory. There should be a box that is labeled "target". Click on the box and move the cursor all the way to the right. Then just add the option stated above making sure that there is a space between what is already in the box and that option.

[pro-trader]

Can you please post your entire log file?

Full Log - Here we go:
http://pastebin.com/WsujNUWA

In Armory, uncheck the box with that says "Let Armory run bitcoind in the background".

That alone (only unchecking the box) works! A new window (that looks like the one I get on entering “cmd.exe”) is opening and then each block is obviously scanned. Something like ..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:268 parsed block file #xx There was no need to start BitCoin Core, simply unchecking the box was enough.
After it finished, I closed this command-line-window and Armory kept on working. Without having me manually started BitCoinCore (And I can not see in the Task Manager that Windows Core would be running either).

When checking this box “Let Armory run bitcoinid in the background” again, then closing Armory and restarting it - Armory sticks at the same picture / problem as before.

So looks like only unchecking the box is the correct work-around for me?! Or might still something get wrong later?
Here is the Logfile for Armory when running with this box unchecked:
http://pastebin.com/VZVqhHER

In Armory, uncheck the box with that says "Let Armory run bitcoind in the background". Then start Bitcoin Core. Then start Armory with the command line option

Code:

--satoshi-datadir="E:\Programme auf E\QtBiCoin"

Out of curiosity, simply because I want to understand what is happening and why (despite I´m more a Noob than a Nerd in IT things and quite a heavy bit older than the average here on the forum, I guess) I did this as well.
First, this resulted in having BitCoinCore (v 0.13.1) to do a full verification of all my blocks. After that I started Armory and it worked the same way as described just above (a new command line-like window opened up etc.)

[goatpig]

That alone (only unchecking the box) works! A new window (that looks like the one I get on entering “cmd.exe”) is opening and then each block is obviously scanned. Something like ..\DatabaseBuilder.cpp:268 parsed block file #xx There was no need to start BitCoin Core, simply unchecking the box was enough.
After it finished, I closed this command-line-window and Armory kept on working. Without having me manually started BitCoinCore (And I can not see in the Task Manager that Windows Core would be running either).

While you can bootstrap Armory against just the blockchain data, you need to let Core run to receive block updates. Simply initializing Armory against the data on disk is not enough to actually be online. The distinction isn't visible in the GUI atm, but I'll be going over that for the next version. At any rate, once you are initliazed, Core should be running.

Out of curiosity, simply because I want to understand what is happening and why (despite I´m more a Noob than a Nerd in IT things and quite a heavy bit older than the average here on the forum, I guess) I did this as well.
First, this resulted in having BitCoinCore (v 0.13.1) to do a full verification of all my blocks. After that I started Armory and it worked the same way as described just above (a new command line-like window opened up etc.)

At some point Armory is failing to automate Core (bitcoind) properly. Most likely, it isn't passing the proper paths to the bitcoind.

[afunkyobject]

Greetings, (finally figuring out this forum sofware, pardon my newbieness!)

I was having the exact same problem trying to get up and running with 0.95.1, using the same configuration I've been using with 0.93.3 for a couple of years.  I normally like to enable:

   "Let Armory run Bitcoin-Core/bitcoind in the background."

but 0.95.1 will get stuck, producing those same errors in the log file.  I was eventually able to get it going by:

  1) starting Armory in offline mode, unchecking that box.  Exit.
  2) starting bitcoind myself with the -daemon argument.

       /my/location/for/bitcoin-13.2/bin/bitcoind -daemon

   3) starting Armory 0.95.1 again in online mode.

I definitely appreciate the faster and smaller database!

I rather prefer it to start bitcoind for me, but I guess this isn't too onerous.  I could autostart bitcoind upon boot, it was just nice for the wallet UI to also start/stop the bitcoin node for convenient and the novice end-users.

Just in case its helpful, I've pasted my full armorylog file, below, when I tried to leave the box checked.  (dbLog.txt was empty)

Best,
  Chris Muller

2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1137 - C++ block utilities loaded successfully
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: free -m
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: ['cat', '/proc/cpuinfo']
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1247 -
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1248 -
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1249 -
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1250 - ************************************************************
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1251 - Invoked: /usr/bin/../lib/armory/ArmoryQt.py
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1252 - ************************************************************
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1253 - Loading Armory Engine:
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1254 -    Armory Version        : 0.95.1
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1255 -    Armory Build:         : eb4d550091
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1256 -    PyBtcWallet  Version  : 1.35
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1257 - Detected Operating system: Linux
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1258 -    OS Variant            : Ubuntu-14.04-trusty
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1259 -    User home-directory   : /home/cmm
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1260 -    Satoshi BTC directory : /home/cmm/.bitcoin/
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1261 -    Armory home dir       : /home/cmm/.armory/
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1262 - Detected System Specs    :
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1263 -    Total Available RAM   : 15.54 GB
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1264 -    CPU ID string         : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790K CPU @ 4.00GHz
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1265 -    Number of CPU cores   : 8 cores
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1266 -    System is 64-bit      : True
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1267 -    Preferred Encoding    : UTF-8
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1268 -    Machine Arch          : x86_64
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1269 -    Available HDD (ARM)   : 330 GB
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1270 -    Available HDD (BTC)   : 330 GB
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1271 -
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1272 - Network Name: Main Network
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1273 - Satoshi Port: 8333
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1274 - Do wlt check: True
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1275 - Named options/arguments to armoryengine.py:
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     thread_count    : -1
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     rescan          : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     ignoreAllZC     : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     rescanBalance   : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     disableModules  : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     port            : None
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     interport       : 8223
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     skipStatsReport : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     forceWalletCheck: False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     regtest         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     rebuild         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     nettimeout      : 2
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     datadir         : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     clearMempool    : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     offline         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     coverageOutputDir: None
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     armoryDBDir     : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     armorydb_port   : 9001
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     satoshiPort     : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     useTorSettings  : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     netlog          : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     keypool         : 100
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     coverageInclude : None
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     forceOnline     : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     skipAnnounceCheck: False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     redownload      : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     armorydb_ip     : 127.0.0.1
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     multisigFile    : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     ram_usage       : -1
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     testAnnounceCode: False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     mtdebug         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     logDisable      : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     settingsPath    : /home/cmm/.armory/ArmorySettings.txt
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     db_type         : DB_FULL
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     doDebug         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     enableDetSign   : True
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     disableConfPermis: False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     testnet         : False
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     rpcport         : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     satoshiHome     : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     satoshiRpcport  : DEFAULT
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     logFile         : /home/cmm/.armory/ArmoryQt.py.log.txt
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1277 -     verbosity       : None
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1278 - Other arguments:
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1281 - ************************************************************
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:1684 - C++ block utilities loaded successfully
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- BDM.py:367 - Using the asynchronous/multi-threaded BlockDataManager.
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- BDM.py:368 - Blockchain operations will happen in the background. 
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- BDM.py:369 - Devs: check TheBDM.getState() before asking for data.
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- BDM.py:370 - Registering addresses during rescans will queue them for
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- BDM.py:371 - inclusion after the current scan is completed.
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:3597 - Using settings file: /home/cmm/.armory/ArmorySettings.txt
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2485 - loadWalletsAndSettings
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2539 - Loading wallets...
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2565 - ***WARNING: Duplicate wallet detected, 1x9gZpM9
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2575 - Second wallet is more useful than the first one...
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2576 -      Wallet 1 (skipped): /home/cmm/.armory/armory_1x9gZpM9_.wallet
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2577 -      Wallet 2 (loaded):  /home/cmm/.armory/armory_1x9gZpM9_encrypt.wallet
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2565 - ***WARNING: Duplicate wallet detected, rxPq829V
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2575 - Second wallet is more useful than the first one...
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2576 -      Wallet 1 (skipped): /home/cmm/.armory/armory_rxPq829V_WatchOnly.wallet
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- ArmoryQt.py:2577 -      Wallet 2 (loaded):  /home/cmm/.armory/armory_rxPq829V__WatchOnly.wallet
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2598 - Number of wallets read in: 4
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2603 -    Wallet (36G26ig9V):   "cmm-small-wallet                "   (Encrypted)
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2603 -    Wallet (1x9gZpM9):    "cmm-micro-wallet                "   (Encrypted)
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2603 -    Wallet (rxPq829V):    "Vault (Watch)                   "   (No Encryption)
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2603 -    Wallet (ULnDNsSZ):    "Vaul2 (Watch)                   "   (No Encryption)
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2608 - Loading Multisig Lockboxes
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2153 - Setting up networking...
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1412 - setupUriRegistration
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: gconftool-2 --get /desktop/gnome/url-handlers/bitcoin/command
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/bitcoin
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:546 - Usermode: Expert
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1708 - Changing usermode:
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1709 -    From: Expert
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:1717 -      To: Expert
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2217 - startBitcoindIfNecessary
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:2257 - setSatoshiPaths
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: ['whereis', 'bitcoind']
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:182 - Found bitcoind in the following places:
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:184 -    /home/cmm/work/cc/bitcoin/bitcoin-0.13.2/bin/bitcoind
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:186 - Using: /home/cmm/work/cc/bitcoin/bitcoin-0.13.2/bin/bitcoind
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:382 - Reading bitcoin.conf file
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:416 - Setting permissions on bitcoin.conf
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:460 - Called startBitcoind
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: [u'/home/cmm/work/cc/bitcoin/bitcoin-0.13.2/bin/bitcoind', '-datadir=/home/cmm/.bitcoin/']
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:574 - PID of bitcoind: 9350
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:575 - PID of armory:   9320
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryUtils.py:651 - Executing popen: ['python', '/usr/lib/armory/guardian.py', '9320', '9350']
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- SDM.py:756 - Creating proxy in SDM: host=127.0.0.1, port=8332
2017-01-17 20:28 (INFO) -- ArmoryQt.py:5542 - Dashboard switched to auto-InitSync
2017-01-17 20:28 (WARNING) -- SDM.py:679 - Overriding not-available state. This should happen 0-5 times
2017-01-17 20:28 (ERROR) -- SDM.py:791 - ValueError in bkgd req top blk
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/armory/SDM.py", line 765, in __backgroundRequestTopBlock
    numblks = self.proxy.getinfo()['blocks']
  File "/usr/lib/armory/bitcoinrpc_jsonrpc/authproxy.py", line 105, in __call__
    resp = json.loads(resp, parse_float=decimal.Decimal)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/__init__.py", line 351, in loads
    return cls(encoding=encoding, **kw).decode(s)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 366, in decode
    obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 384, in raw_decode
    raise ValueError("No JSON object could be decoded")
ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded
2017-01-17 20:28 (ERROR) -- SDM.py:791 - ValueError in bkgd req top blk
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/armory/SDM.py", line 765, in __backgroundRequestTopBlock
    numblks = self.proxy.getinfo()['blocks']
  File "/usr/lib/armory/bitcoinrpc_jsonrpc/authproxy.py", line 105, in __call__
    resp = json.loads(resp, parse_float=decimal.Decimal)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/__init__.py", line 351, in loads
    return cls(encoding=encoding, **kw).decode(s)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 366, in decode
    obj, end = self.raw_decode(s, idx=_w(s, 0).end())
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/json/decoder.py", line 384, in raw_decode
    raise ValueError("No JSON object could be decoded")
ValueError: No JSON object could be decoded
2017-01-17 20:28 (ERROR) -- SDM.py:791 - ValueError in bkgd req top blk
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/armory/SDM.py", line 765, in __backgroundRequestTopBlock
    numblks = self.proxy.getinfo()['blocks']
  File "/usr/lib/armory/bitcoinrpc_jsonrpc/authproxy.py", line 105, in __call__
    resp.....   (snip)

[goatpig]

I rather prefer it to start bitcoind for me, but I guess this isn't too onerous.  I could autostart bitcoind upon boot, it was just nice for the wallet UI to also start/stop the bitcoin node for convenient and the novice end-users.

It doesn't have to be bitcoind, you can also run BitcoinQt to the same effect.

Just in case its helpful, I've pasted my full armorylog file, below, when I tried to leave the box checked.  (dbLog.txt was empty)

It's failing to establish a RPC connection with bitcoind. Make sure your user can read and write bitcoin.conf, add server=1 in there and wipe the current log&pass for the good measure.

[afunkyobject]

It's failing to establish a RPC connection with bitcoind. Make sure your user can read and write bitcoin.conf, add server=1 in there and wipe the current log&pass for the good measure.

If I'm able to do

    ./bitcoin-cli getblockcount

successfully, does that mean the RPC server is at least working for bitcoin-cli?  If so, then maybe it means the issue is with Armory being able to access the rpcuser and rpcpassword values from the bitcoin.conf file..?

By "wipe" the current log&pass, did you mean I should delete those lines entirely?  Just FYI, here is the exact file contents.

rpcuser=rpcuser
rpcpassword=48djew8cjJDjhuHU7EKQUjs73hsJUXNEPOQBXBFUjsyu72j63y
server=1

I had tried changing the rpcuser from"user02" to "rpcuser" and also the rpcpassword, but it didn't help.  Hmm, I just noticed I have no blank lines after server=1.  That probably doesn't matter.

The file is in the default location, /home/myUser/.bitcoin.  Owner read and write, and I'm the owner..

[goatpig]

By "wipe" the current log&pass, did you mean I should delete those lines entirely?

Yes. I don't have either of these set in my .conf, I just let my node create a cookie file on each run and have Armory use that.