Electrum - Bitcoin client for the common users (friendly and instant)

[BkkCoins]

Seems like some change in format of history data. All the exceptions I've been getting are related to data types not being correct on tx history data. Since my client has been working fine right up til just now I'm expecting something has changed in data from new version servers.

Does that make any sense at all?

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Just cloned the newest version 1.5.6 and tried this. It starts up ok. No errors.

Geez. That pruning really clears everything out. I have the right balance and right addresses but all my history of transactions are gone. And dates are all unknown. Seems it ignores all history info in the wallet and only lists what it could recover from the server. Nasty! No error messages though.

***This is strange. If I start in Lite Gui mode then the server list on the menu has only the first letter of each server available.

Oh. Blast it all. I suppose I'm now in the situation of having to go rewrite all my custom edits to merge into 1.5.6. I wasn't going to do that for a while yet but this sudden loss of being able to work with the old version doesn't leave much choice.

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[flatfly]

Seems like some change in format of history data. All the exceptions I've been getting are related to data types not being correct on tx history data. Since my client has been working fine right up til just now I'm expecting something has changed in data from new version servers.

Does that make any sense at all?

Yeah I guess this must be it, as the protocol has evolved a lot in the last few versions (and some new minor bugs have appeared)

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Just cloned the newest version 1.5.6 and tried this. It starts up ok. No errors.

Geez. That pruning really clears everything out. I have the right balance and right addresses but all my history of transactions are gone. And dates are all unknown. Seems it ignores all history info in the wallet and only lists what it could recover from the server. Nasty! No error messages though.

Timestamps are only unknown while the client is initializing the blockchain headers in the background (remember, Electrum now does SPV verification!) - Should take between 5 and 10 minutes.

If you want to get your full history back, try to restore from a full server (not pruning), such as Bysh.

***This is strange. If I start in Lite Gui mode then the server list on the menu has only the first letter of each server available.

Yeah I get this bug too (in Windows)

[BkkCoins]

Timestamps are only unknown while the client is initializing the blockchain headers in the background (remember, Electrum now does SPV verification!) - Should take between 5 and 10 minutes.

If you want to get your full history back, try to restore from a full server (not pruning), such as Bysh.

Just tried this and it did sync but no new info has appeared. So I'm likely doing something wrong. I didn't even realize at first that the server list now shows pruning and full mode. I may try to revert to previous wallet and then update with full server.

(edit - oh, patience, the full history is coming in now. nice.)

I see timestamps are showing now.

I'm unclear of advantage of SPV. Is it that now the client itself can verify trx and not rely on the server? And why use a pruning server? Is that just to reduce resource use on server or does it make some difference to the client as well?

Thx.

(( I guess I'm going to start working on migrating some of my "enhancements" to 1.5.6 as I really want some of them again. Pull requests to come... ))

[ThomasV]

I'm unclear of advantage of SPV. Is it that now the client itself can verify trx and not rely on the server?

yes, the client can verify that the transactions reported by the server are in the blockchain.
so, the server cannot invent a fake transaction.
however, it can still omit a transaction

And why use a pruning server? Is that just to reduce resource use on server or does it make some difference to the client as well?

pruning servers use much less resources.
they make a difference to the client only if you restore your wallet from seed; you will not restore your entire history with a pruning server, although you will see the same balance

[BkkCoins]

So I'm using the new 1.5.6 client fresh from github and have a small problem.

I received a mining payment about an hour ago. I saw it listed as pending as expected. Then I closed Electrum for a while and when I cam back and started it again it shows the payment with "unknown" date still - even after I left the client open for 30 minutes. There is no details available either.

From what I understand this is dependent on some updating of the blockchain but apparently this isn't happening. After waiting this long I closed the client. Upon restart a third time it shows the datetime and has details again.

So this seems to fix it self but surely we shouldn't have to restart a few times to get details updated. It appears that there is some issue with updating pmt details while the client is running. Is something only checked/updated during start up?

(btw I'm using my new Electrum server at electrum.tk - which is using leveldb, now shows up in list).

On server log shows this, after pmt and then after client logout (I believe):

Code:

[10/12/2012-06:05:29] cache: invalidating 1..edit..relevant address here
[10/12/2012-06:05:29] blockchain: 211586 (0.218s)
[10/12/2012-06:05:29] unsubscribed 1..edit..relevant address here
[10/12/2012-06:18:18] blockchain: 211587 (0.310s)

But maybe it never gets re-subscribed or updated?

[sacko]

Can we still use the "old" versions of the client (e.g. 0.60)?

[ThomasV]

Can we still use the "old" versions of the client (e.g. 0.60)?

no, you need to upgrade, because the protocol was updated.
the new version can read your old wallet.

[SebastianJu]

I was pleased with electrum because it was a small, fast and portable wallet. But lately i had the problem that i couldnt access my wallet because it stuck on synchronizing on all servers.
And now i start and nothing opens anymore.

I tried electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe but this thing seems not to be portable and it wants to create a new wallet.

I dont like to lose my wallet only because something was upgraded. And i really want a portable version because i dont want to have my money stored at some place windows is wanting it at.

So is there a solution or is electrum portable dead? The worse thing is, i dont know where i gave addresses from my wallet to. At least one was asicminer. I dont want to lose money only because of some upgrades.

So what now?

[flatfly]

I was pleased with electrum because it was a small, fast and portable wallet. But lately i had the problem that i couldnt access my wallet because it stuck on synchronizing on all servers.
And now i start and nothing opens anymore.

I tried electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe but this thing seems not to be portable and it wants to create a new wallet.

I dont like to lose my wallet only because something was upgraded. And i really want a portable version because i dont want to have my money stored at some place windows is wanting it at.

So is there a solution or is electrum portable dead? The worse thing is, i dont know where i gave addresses from my wallet to. At least one was asicminer. I dont want to lose money only because of some upgrades.

So what now?

If you miss the portable version, vote for it here:
  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=130473.0

Or have you tried the -w command-line parameter? It doesn't provide a fully portable solution but it could work for you.

Code:

electrum -w /path/to/my/wallet/wallet_name

[flatfly]

So I'm using the new 1.5.6 client fresh from github and have a small problem.

I received a mining payment about an hour ago. I saw it listed as pending as expected. Then I closed Electrum for a while and when I cam back and started it again it shows the payment with "unknown" date still - even after I left the client open for 30 minutes. There is no details available either.

From what I understand this is dependent on some updating of the blockchain but apparently this isn't happening. After waiting this long I closed the client. Upon restart a third time it shows the datetime and has details again.

So this seems to fix it self but surely we shouldn't have to restart a few times to get details updated. It appears that there is some issue with updating pmt details while the client is running. Is something only checked/updated during start up?

(btw I'm using my new Electrum server at electrum.tk - which is using leveldb, now shows up in list).

On server log shows this, after pmt and then after client logout (I believe):

Code:

[10/12/2012-06:05:29] cache: invalidating 1..edit..relevant address here
[10/12/2012-06:05:29] blockchain: 211586 (0.218s)
[10/12/2012-06:05:29] unsubscribed 1..edit..relevant address here
[10/12/2012-06:18:18] blockchain: 211587 (0.310s)

But maybe it never gets re-subscribed or updated?

Yes, I've had this happening to me occasionally as well, with the last few versions. 
Couldn't manage to reproduce it yet.

[SebastianJu]

The -w param doesnt work. Electrum starts for a second then it dies. And $400 for a portable version or judging from the number of posts in that thread my wallet looks dead. Looks like i have to find a replacement. Too bad that i have to spend time now to find out how to save my previous addresses and replace them at services so that they arent used anymore at some point.

Losing wallet by update... i dont like that.

[flatfly]

The -w param doesnt work. Electrum starts for a second then it dies. And $400 for a portable version or judging from the number of posts in that thread my wallet looks dead. Looks like i have to find a replacement. Too bad that i have to spend time now to find out how to save my previous addresses and replace them at services so that they arent used anymore at some point.

Losing wallet by update... i dont like that.

-w should work... Perhaps try again using a path without any spaces? 

Also you can try with the slush build to see if it works better for you.

My free time is now severely limited I'm afraid, but hopefully someone else will volunteer and work on portable builds.
 
But in any case you won't be "losing your wallet."

[SebastianJu]

I tried a shortcut with following target:

L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe -w "L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum"

I tried without double quotes too. A process is shown for a second then it dies.

[flatfly]

I tried a shortcut with following target:

L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe -w "L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum"

I tried without double quotes too. A process is shown for a second then it dies.

The path should point to the dat file itself, not just the containing folder. So, if the dat file is called electrum.dat:

L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe -w "L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum.dat"

[molecular]

I tried a shortcut with following target:

L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe -w "L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum"

I tried without double quotes too. A process is shown for a second then it dies.

The path should point to the dat file itself, not just the containing folder. So, if the dat file is called electrum.dat:

L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum1.5.6-flatfly.exe -w "L:\Tools\Hardware\Geld\Electrum\electrum.dat"

maybe you should change the thread title. Having to tell people to use a build of some other guy is not "friendly for the common users". Hell, most "common users" don't even know how to start electrum other that double-clicking.

• I have had to dig up old version of electrum to get to my money back and chang the seed 2 times because the seed format had changed.
• I have had a corrupted wallet and had to restore from seed at least 4 times, losing all my transaction labels every time.
• Often times I cannot connect to any of the servers.

I'm still using electrum because: fuck the transaction labels, I just don't use the feature any more at all because I'm pretty sure my electrum.dat will get fucked again and I'm pretty sure I can salvage my keys from the seed with help of developers if needed.

You have to admit you guys made users go through pretty rough patches in the past. I hope it'll stabilize at some point.

Thread title should read: "electrum - wallet for people with strong nerves"

I still love electrum, btw, many thanks for making it, guys, but this had to be said.

[ThomasV]

Thread title should read: "electrum - wallet for people with strong nerves"

can you please count how many users reportedly lost money because of Electrum?
sorry, but this too had to be said.

[ThomasV]

The -w param doesnt work. Electrum starts for a second then it dies. And $400 for a portable version or judging from the number of posts in that thread my wallet looks dead. Looks like i have to find a replacement. Too bad that i have to spend time now to find out how to save my previous addresses and replace them at services so that they arent used anymore at some point.

Losing wallet by update... i dont like that.

your wallet is not lost, even if your client cannot connect.
there are at least 3 ways you can recover your bitcoins:

1. use the -w parameter:  if that does not work with flatfly's version, it will work with slush's build.

2. recover your wallet from seed:  
start your old client, go to the seed dialog, and write down your seed.
then, start the new version of Electrum, and instead of creating a new wallet, select 'restore from seed'.

3. if you don't want to use Electrum at all, you can export your keys to another client:
you can do it offline, with the command:

Code:

electrum addresses -akb

[ThomasV]

Also, please understand that "portable wallets" were never officially supported in Electrum.
Flatfly's version is not the official version, so it is not as if I was removing support that existed in the past.

Please note that "portable wallets" expose users to a big risk of theft. This is why I never really wanted to support this function.
However, there seems to be a strong demand for it, and we cannot prevent users from doing what they want, so I guess it is better to include proper support for it.
I have been talking with slush about it, and we plan to support it soon.

[tnkflx]

(Removed irreleveant stuff for my answer)

• Often times I cannot connect to any of the servers.

I'm sorry, but that's not true (at least not with the Linux clients) and might be indicative of another network problem (on your end?). Most Electrum are pretty stable...

[slush]

• I have had to dig up old version of electrum to get to my money back and chang the seed 2 times because the seed format had changed.

This happen one time back in early times of Electrum (year ago?), when concept of deterministic wallets was completely new. Now it looks that Electrum wallet format is pretty good and the only ongoing change will be support for BIP32 wallets, when Bitcoin-qt will have support for it as well. I hope Electrum will then support both algorithms, so users won't be forced to migrate their wallets again.

• I have had a corrupted wallet and had to restore from seed at least 4 times
  

This happen to me on Android version, but I don't expect full stability of this version, Electrum for Android is mostly for geeks. Can you elaborate more when this happen to you? I'm using Electrum intensively, I had many weird bugs (all of them are fixed at this time), but I never lost my wallet and I never had to use my paper backup yet.

• Often times I cannot connect to any of the servers.

Yes, this was true few months ago. But I must say that server side has been incredibly improved recently and servers are much more reliable now. For example, I had been screwed few times when BitcoinSpinner server was down, but I always found at least one working server for Electrum every time. I see this as a nice benefit of open development of Electrum.

You have to admit you guys made users go through pretty rough patches in the past. I hope it'll stabilize at some point.

Yes, the development was a bit turbulent, but I see the most of them are major improvements done by Thomas.

Thread title should read: "electrum - wallet for people with strong nerves"

Currently I see problems in two areas:
a) lacking support for Windows users (most of "common users" work on Windows)
b) almost missing testing for every release

For this reason I made my own Windows builds (electrum.bitcoin.cz/download) which are open source, so can be improved in iterations by interested people (like there's still missing Electrum icon etc). And I'm also going to write down testing scenarios for future releases, so things like unability to send transaction in some scenarios (which happen in 1.5.4?) won't happen again.

I still love electrum, btw, many thanks for making it, guys, but this had to be said.

molecular, I understand your points, but things got improved recently and your moaning was mostly valid two or three months ago :-)[/list]