Armory+Core+Win10 - How I made it work

[HCP]

I have seen quite a few users in recent times, having issues getting Armory+Core+Win10 all playing nicely... I too had a few issues getting it all going ("Connected but not receiving new blocks until restart", "Purple Connected, but warning about RPC not working", etc etc)...

However, I finally seemed to have found a combination that is working (touch wood), so I thought I'd share my setup in the hope that it might help someone else get it all working.

Software versions
I have Windows 10 Pro... Armory 0.96.3 (previously 0.96.2) and Bitcoin Core v0.15.0.1 (previously v0.14.2).


Bitcoin Core
- Bitcoin Core is installed to default location of C:\Program Files\Bitcoin
- I have my Bitcoin block data stored in a "custom" location of E:\Bitcoin

I have the following entries in E:\Bitcoin\bitcoin.conf

Code:

walletrbf=1
addnode=127.0.0.1
server=1

Fairly sure that only "addnode" and "server" are important for getting Armory working

Note: Today (after seeing the Armory 0.96.3 release) I decided to upgrade to Bitcoin Core v0.15.0.1... I'm happy to report that it has not affected my setup at all, everything is still running well There is a bit of a wait for the UTXO database upgrade, but other than that... v0.15.0.1 seems to be fine.



Armory
- Armory is installed to default location of C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory

I have set Armory settings as follows:




Initially, I started Bitcoin Core GUI up and let it fully sync to the current block height, so that it wouldn't be attempting to sync too many blocks while Armory was doing it's initial setup/scanning... then I shut down the Bitcoin Core GUI, waited until the little warning box disappeared... and then started up Armory. It successfully kicked off the "bitcoind" process in the background (visible in armorylog.txt)... and started building the databases etc (visible in dblog.txt)... admittedly, this took a while but eventually it go there.

Now, I can start Armory and it will launch bitcoind in the background, sync up and away it goes... New blocks are detected and scanned.

Notes:
- I initially get the "disconnected from Node" Windows notification when Armory starts and is "Initializing Bitcoin Engine", and "Preparing Databases" etc but after a few sections, i get the "Blockchain Loading is complete" notification... I see "Connected (xxxxxxx Blocks)" in green and when a new block is mined, Armory is updating correctly.

- One of the big issues I seemed to have was having Bitcoin Core GUI open and trying to use Armory at the same time. The Bitcoin Core GUI seems to interfere with Armory's ability to connect with bitcoind... I highly recommend not having Armory and the Bitcoin Core GUI open at the same time.

- I didn't make any changes to Windows settings for this to work... it was basically, the "addnode" and "server" entry in bitcoin.conf and letting Armory run bitcoind that seemed to make it work for me


Anyway, hopefully this helps others having issues with Armory+Core+Win10

[achow101]

- One of the big issues I seemed to have was having Bitcoin Core GUI open and trying to use Armory at the same time. The Bitcoin Core GUI seems to interfere with Armory's ability to connect with bitcoind... I highly recommend not having Armory and the Bitcoin Core GUI open at the same time.

If you enable manual mode that shouldn't be a problem. Manual mode is done by unchecking "Let Armory run Bitcoin Core in the background". This means that you will need to run Bitcoin Core yourself every time you want to run Armory and Bitcoin Core must be running before Armory starts.

- I didn't make any changes to Windows settings for this to work... it was basically, the "addnode" and "server" entry in bitcoin.conf and letting Armory run bitcoind that seemed to make it work for me

The addnode doesn't matter. It does not do anything that makes this different at all because Armory is not a node that accepts incoming connections nor is it bound to the default incoming connection port because Bitcoin Core is.

server matters as that is what starts the RPC server if you are using the GUI and not bitcoind.

[Aegean Skipper]

Thanks HCP

Your guide is very helpful, I have been trying for many days to resolve some issues that i had.
Let me ask you something else,
After this setup, in Armony down at the right side, the node is meant to be online or offline?

If we try to send a transfer, it will take place or not if the node is offline (but nodes are updated through the core wallet)

Thanks again

[HCP]

After this setup, in Armony down at the right side, the node is meant to be online or offline?

It *should* say "Connected" in green... and show the current number of blocks that Bitcoin Core node is synced to. If it doesn't then it is possible that your Armory and Bitcoin Core are not talking to each other correctly...

If we try to send a transfer, it will take place or not if the node is offline (but nodes are updated through the core wallet)

Armory relies on the Node to be able to send and receive transaction information... if the Node is "offline", you will not be able to send a transfer as there is nothing to broadcast the transaction to the network.

[Aegean Skipper]

If it doesn't then it is possible that your Armory and Bitcoin Core are not talking to each other correctly...

The odd is that they are talking to each other because the node is update... but stays offline

Armory relies on the Node to be able to send and receive transaction information... if the Node is "offline", you will not be able to send a transfer as there is nothing to broadcast the transaction to the network.

Indeed, just tried to send an amount and the transaction failed

I have the latest version of both, Core and Armony, on Windows 10
Can you suggest me a way of making things work ?

Thanks again

[Searinox]

I always had flaky connection to the core. Will check out rbf and servee. Already had addnode.

[HCP]

The odd is that they are talking to each other because the node is update... but stays offline

Then they are NOT talking to each other. The Node is completely separate from Armory... If it is launched (via Armory or manually) it will most likely update and download blocks from the bitcoin network, regardless of whether or not Armory is successfully retrieving information from it.

Indeed, just tried to send an amount and the transaction failed
I have the latest version of both, Core and Armony, on Windows 10
Can you suggest me a way of making things work ?

I honestly tried so many things to get it working, like manually launching Bitcoin Core, then opening Armory... it would sync to current block but would not get new blocks. I tried running Bitcoin Core using "listen=1" but that opens your Node up to incoming connections and drastically increases bandwidth usage as you start sending data to peers etc...

My suggested way is in the OP... if this did not work for you... then I can only suggest posting your armorylog.txt and dblog.txt logfiles into your own thread asking for help...

[Aegean Skipper]

Thanks again for your time