CREDITS [CRE] | SHA256 | SIDECHAIN | NEW BLOCK-DEPOSIT FEATURE | OFFICIAL THREAD

[Eastwind]

Thanks the dev.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Info on the delayed 0.70 release and causes

It was discovered very late in the process of releasing the 0.9.1.70 version that there are slowness in parsing blocks on the main chain. This lead to a delayed release.

I have since then been doing investigations into what is causing the slowness. The problem seems to be present in version 0.9.1.60 as well, but is less pronounced there. The reason for this is that structural changes to the working directory causes the problem to be noticed more widely in version 0.9.1.70.

The main reason is due to slowness in the Bitcoin_UpdateCoinsForClaim function, probably due to slow creation, reading and writing of the CTxOutClaim class. The problem has been verified to almost disappear when removing lines 68-70 in core.cpp and line 196-198 in core.h.

Unfortunately, the same effect can not be achieved, at least not to the same extent, when applied to the codebase of version 0.9.1.70.

Believe me when I say that I work very intensively on this problem right now. If it work out as I hope, a perceived slowness that some people have complained about in the wallet from the very beginning will be permanently solved.

This testing takes a lot of time. Will give result reports here much more frequently from now on.

I'm happy to still try beta versions in Linux and Windows. At least Ican give you feedback for both systems on the same machines.
As usual just let me know.

Also do you know how to save the blockchain for others? It seems that nobody knows but as you've done it previously I guess you do.

Very good to hear, thanks.

By saving the blockchain, do you mean packing it up into a distributable torrent or something else?

Yes that's what I mean. If I can do it then I can provide a link for everyone to download it instead of doing the whole shebang.

The market on c-cex is a bit morose so I'm happy to give any help I can anywhere.

As soon as the release is out, I'll prepare a new torrent that people can use to initiate.

Right now parallel tests are ongoing where I sync from scratch on two different win PC, applying the patches for the latest (unfinished) release one by one to see where the sync gets slow.

So far, after approx 20 hours, one is at BTC block 330000, and one after approx 11 hours is at btc block 201000.

Takes some time to run and rerun those tests...

[Cinnob0n]

Gabriel. How is Bitcoin XT's implication going to affect Credits as a currency? 

[Gabriel Eiger]

Gabriel. How is Bitcoin XT's implication going to affect Credits as a currency? 

Good question.

My main plan is to get up to date with all the development in bitcoin-core in the coming months. The version of Bitcoin used internally, that is.

IF I won't have the time to update everything and IF it seems as if XT will be on the winning side, I will apply the specific larger block patch from XT separately, well in time for it to be available in a Credits release before the larger blocks may start to appear (late january 2016).

In short, it should not be a problem. At least not more than it is a problem for Bitcoin.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Release version 0.70 performance issue hunting progress

Three different completely similar Windows machines have been used for testing. Each one of the machines has been given a release build version with various levels of patches applied to them so that the updates ranging from the latest released version up to the coming version can be applied gradually. Each of the computers have then been allowed to sync from start.

Each computer is a simple desktop Win 8, 4 GB RAM, 3Ghz Pentium processor. In short, a very basic desktop PC.

The time to get each node synced have ranged from 25 hours up to 35 hours. No notable difference have been found between the different versions. The performance problem has only occurred late into the sync process and very intermittently.

However, the problem always have seemed to occurred when the Bitcoin blockchain and the Credits blockchain are syncing at the same time. This leads me to believe that it is a contention (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock_(computer_science)#Granularity) problem between the two main message processing threads, where the threads are competing for the same resources. A new test is being setup where the two threads are merged into one.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Possible progress on performance issue

After merging the two processes that handles messaging for Credits and Bitcoin into one single thread, indications are VERY good so far. Chain download is ongoing, more reports will be given as soon as whole chain has synced.

- Sync from empty at block 316000 after approximately 10 hours. If this trend continues, syncing from empty working directory will be a whole lot faster.
- Block parsing times down with a factor of 10 to a factor of 100, depending on how thread competes for resources. If this trend continues until full sync, it is of course a huge performance boost. This performance issue has been haunting us since inception, although less pronounced in earlier versions. Do note that it will be not tested fully until whole chain have synced.
- These performance gains will not be limited to Windows, but will affect all operating systems.

Binaries for windows for beta testing will be published for Windows soon.

THESE ARE PRIMARY INDICATIONS! FULL VERIFICATION WILL NOT BE DONE UNTIL BOTH CHAINS HAVE BEEN FULLY DOWNLOADED. THE CRITICAL SECTION WHERE BOTH CHAINS DOWNLOAD SYNCHRONOUSLY HAVE NOT BEEN REACHED YET.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Beta version 0.9.1.71 released for testing

A beta release with the separate messaging threads joined has been released for testing. Follow the link below to download. If you have been testing beta version 0.9.1.70 you will be able to just replace the binaries, otherwise, upgrade acording to instructions in download link.

http://credits-currency.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17430&p=19594

[GreydonIselmoe]

Wow! This is extremely good news, I was kind of bummed seeing how I use Linux and thought the improvements weren't going to affect me... Great to hear that it's a boost on ALL operating systems! Wishing good luck to the beta testers, unfortunately I'm away and can't help! :/

[shojayxt]

Beta version 0.9.1.71 released for testing

A beta release with the separate messaging threads joined has been released for testing. Follow the link below to download. If you have been testing beta version 0.9.1.70 you will be able to just replace the binaries, otherwise, upgrade acording to instructions in download link.

http://credits-currency.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17430&p=19594

Is there an updated blockchain torrent for this or do we need to synch from the beginning?

Thanks

[Gabriel Eiger]

Beta version 0.9.1.71 released for testing

A beta release with the separate messaging threads joined has been released for testing. Follow the link below to download. If you have been testing beta version 0.9.1.70 you will be able to just replace the binaries, otherwise, upgrade acording to instructions in download link.

http://credits-currency.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17430&p=19594

Is there an updated blockchain torrent for this or do we need to synch from the beginning?

Thanks

Still syncing, unfortunately... I'll publish it as soon as it's done. Look here for more info.

[Markov]

Beta version 0.9.1.71 released for testing

A beta release with the separate messaging threads joined has been released for testing. Follow the link below to download. If you have been testing beta version 0.9.1.70 you will be able to just replace the binaries, otherwise, upgrade acording to instructions in download link.

http://credits-currency.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17430&p=19594

So far I can't see any speed improvement on Windows 10 but will give you an update tomorrow

[Gabriel Eiger]

Beta version 0.9.1.71 released for testing

A beta release with the separate messaging threads joined has been released for testing. Follow the link below to download. If you have been testing beta version 0.9.1.70 you will be able to just replace the binaries, otherwise, upgrade acording to instructions in download link.

http://credits-currency.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=17430&p=19594

So far I can't see any speed improvement on Windows 10 but will give you an update tomorrow

Ok, are you running with a working dir that is synced/up to date or syncing from start?

You know that you can start with the parameter -benchmark=1 to get extra info about speed of block parsing in debug.log?

[Gabriel Eiger]

Later test stages negative for version 0.9.1.71, continued investigations are ongoing.

Unfortunately what seemed to be a very large step forward with regards to syncing times turned out to slow down in later stages of chain block sync (approx at bitcoin block 330 000).

The upside is that I at this stage believe I have identified the specific commit that is causing the slowdown. I will have to ask you for a few more days of patience.

I am very concerned about these issues. Therefore I will re-prioritize the task list, to create a Bitcoin-decoupled version of the wallet as soon as I have this issue firmly under control. Such an update would sidestep the issue completely until I find a permanent solution.

[Markov]

Later test stages negative for version 0.9.1.71, continued investigations are ongoing.

Unfortunately what seemed to be a very large step forward with regards to syncing times turned out to slow down in later stages of chain block sync (approx at bitcoin block 330 000).

The upside is that I at this stage believe I have identified the specific commit that is causing the slowdown. I will have to ask you for a few more days of patience.

I am very concerned about these issues. Therefore I will re-prioritize the task list, to create a Bitcoin-decoupled version of the wallet as soon as I have this issue firmly under control. Such an update would sidestep the issue completely until I find a permanent solution.

Well it's good to know that you are working on it and have ideas how to best deal with it even though it might be short term until you find a better solution.
As you said it is not working, I was trying on a part synced folder and it was barely moving. Next time I'll use the benchmark option as I didn't know it.

Take your time to get it fixed, there is no rush at all.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Later test stages negative for version 0.9.1.71, continued investigations are ongoing.

Unfortunately what seemed to be a very large step forward with regards to syncing times turned out to slow down in later stages of chain block sync (approx at bitcoin block 330 000).

The upside is that I at this stage believe I have identified the specific commit that is causing the slowdown. I will have to ask you for a few more days of patience.

I am very concerned about these issues. Therefore I will re-prioritize the task list, to create a Bitcoin-decoupled version of the wallet as soon as I have this issue firmly under control. Such an update would sidestep the issue completely until I find a permanent solution.

Well it's good to know that you are working on it and have ideas how to best deal with it even though it might be short term until you find a better solution.
As you said it is not working, I was trying on a part synced folder and it was barely moving. Next time I'll use the benchmark option as I didn't know it.

Take your time to get it fixed, there is no rush at all.

Thanks for the input, good to hear that you do not consider it a rush.

And I agree, apart from that this has been holding me up for quite some time from further development, which I'd really like to get into. Instead of chasing esoteric bugs. At least we are not struggling with a discussion over block sizes, that is a problem to, I guess.

The -benchmark option is quite useful. Measures (mostly) the time it takes to read and write to and from the chainstate, or the UTXO set as it's called in other places.

[Gabriel Eiger]

Update on coming release

Due to the difficulties in getting the release correct with regards to speed on initial sync on Windows, I have decided to postpone parts of the updates, since these issues have stalled development long enough. Disk usage optimisations will however be included, to further shrink the size on disk. A beta release (0.9.1.73) will be done today. Further info to come.

[Markov]

Update on coming release

Due to the difficulties in getting the release correct with regards to speed on initial sync on Windows, I have decided to postpone parts of the updates, since these issues have stalled development long enough. Disk usage optimisations will however be included, to further shrink the size on disk. A beta release (0.9.1.73) will be done today. Further info to come.

Maybe through various upgrades you will manage to eliminate the issue, i.e. moving to latest bitcoin core. Still, it is good to see an upgrade and some movement.
Are there any new functionalities being added as well?

On a separate note, anyone enjoying those ridiculously low prices?

[GreydonIselmoe]

Update on coming release

Due to the difficulties in getting the release correct with regards to speed on initial sync on Windows, I have decided to postpone parts of the updates, since these issues have stalled development long enough. Disk usage optimisations will however be included, to further shrink the size on disk. A beta release (0.9.1.73) will be done today. Further info to come.

Maybe through various upgrades you will manage to eliminate the issue, i.e. moving to latest bitcoin core. Still, it is good to see an upgrade and some movement.
Are there any new functionalities being added as well?

On a separate note, anyone enjoying those ridiculously low prices?

Yes, was just about to pick myself up some cheap CRE
Take advantage while you can haha.

Also, movement on the development/bug fix front is great! Must be frustrating to have been stuck with that small speed issue but good to see things are moving forward now!

I was planning on setting up a new signature campaign as well, now that we have an exchange to trade on and a bit more stance in the crypto-sphere, so look out for that!

[Markov]

I've been collecting coins where I can but I'm a bit worried it all goes in the same hands until actually people start to claim Credits against their BTC.
Signature would be nice but we need something simple that explains what Credits are and their use.
I think not many understand why it is so cheap now and will sell thinking it is useless and worthless.

[Eastwind]

When I put 500 credits as deposit in mining, all the 500 is taken as deposit, there is no change, is that normal? That is included in block 33338