Lost Bitcoins please help

[yo-yo56]

Hello,

I have previously been using bitcoin-qt; however, the other day ago it said no genesis block found and based on online advice I made a note of my private key and deleted it. I tried to import my keys into Electrum but when I go on restore it says I have zero balance. When I use the sweep function it said no input found. Any advice?
Thanks

[1000000]

Do you have a backup of your wallet.dat file?
If yes, then try to upload it here and send the coins to a newly generated address which was generated with Electrum.

[yo-yo56]

Thanks for the reply.

It says "unexpected end of file from server"

[shorena]

Do you have a backup of your wallet.dat file?
If yes, then try to upload it here and send the coins to a newly generated address which was generated with Electrum.

That site no longer works, please stop suggesting that. All anyone will see is the message:

Thanks for the reply.

It says "unexpected end of file from server"

If you still have the wallet.dat, get core, open it with it (does not need to by synced) and in console write[1]

dumpwallet wallet.txt

It will export all your private keys into the file. If you import all of them into electrum you should see your balance.

[1] unlock 1st ofc, but I assume you know that since you know how to export a single key.

[yo-yo56]

sorry I'm a bit new. How do I open core with the .dat file?

[shorena]

sorry I'm a bit new. How do I open core with the .dat file?

Close core, open the data directory[1], rename the wallet.dat you find there and put your into its place. You will find the .txt file in that directory as well once you exported the keys.

[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Data_directory

[yo-yo56]

Put my what in its place?

[shorena]

Put my what in its place?

your backup wallet.dat

[yo-yo56]

When I try to dump it, it says "Cannot open wallet dump file (code -8)"

[shorena]

When I try to dump it, it says "Cannot open wallet dump file (code -8)"

Did you unlock it?

walletpassphrase yourPASSWORDhere 120

will unlock it for 120 seconds.

[yo-yo56]

I don't have a passphrase? Are there any other ways to recover the coins?

[yo-yo56]

Now I've got the bitcoins on transactions but it says unconflicted? Do I have to wait for it to sync?

[hedgy73]

Now I've got the bitcoins on transactions but it says unconflicted? Do I have to wait for it to sync?

I think it will have to sync first.

[yo-yo56]

Ah okay

[shorena]

Now I've got the bitcoins on transactions but it says unconflicted? Do I have to wait for it to sync?

I think it will have to sync first.

No, synced or not does not change anything if OP has no password.

I don't have a passphrase? Are there any other ways to recover the coins?

So its not your wallet? No, you cant recover anything if you dont have the password.

[hedgy73]

Now I've got the bitcoins on transactions but it says unconflicted? Do I have to wait for it to sync?

I think it will have to sync first.

No, synced or not does not change anything if OP has no password.

I don't have a passphrase? Are there any other ways to recover the coins?

So its not your wallet? No, you cant recover anything if you dont have the password.

Ah ok I did wonder why OP created a brand new account just to ask this question .

[shorena]

-snip-
Ah ok I did wonder why OP created a brand new account just to ask this question .

Its not uncommon for peopel to make a new account just to ask for help. What struck me as odd however was when they didnt know how to unlock the wallet, but in the OP said

made a note of my private key

[crairezx20]

Hello,

I have previously been using bitcoin-qt; however, the other day ago it said no genesis block found and based on online advice I made a note of my private key and deleted it. I tried to import my keys into Electrum but when I go on restore it says I have zero balance. When I use the sweep function it said no input found. Any advice?
Thanks

What are you using do you use mac electrum or windows electrum? If you have a backup like a default_wallet.dat from appdata>electrum>wallets we can analys it...
or you can just simply click file from the top left then  click open wallet select your old wallet then check it if theres a changes about your balance?

[yo-yo56]

-snip-
Ah ok I did wonder why OP created a brand new account just to ask this question .

Its not uncommon for peopel to make a new account just to ask for help. What struck me as odd however was when they didnt know how to unlock the wallet, but in the OP said

made a note of my private key

Sorry I meant I had one from a while ago. Is there no way to recover the coins? And I never had a password in the first place it is my wallet

[achow101]

Sorry I meant I had one from a while ago. Is there no way to recover the coins? And I never had a password in the first place it is my wallet

As Shorena said earlier, open Bitcoin Core and go to Help > Debug Window. Then click the Console tab and in the box at the bottom type

Code:

dumpwallet wallet.txt

Then go to the Data Directory and you should see a file there called "wallet.txt" That is the dump of your wallet, it has all of your addresses and private keys, which you can now go to Electrum and import them.

[yo-yo56]

It says "Cannot open wallet dump file (code -8)". And I can't do the open wallet thing mentioned earlier because I don't have a password

[achow101]

It says "Cannot open wallet dump file (code -8)". And I can't do the open wallet thing mentioned earlier because I don't have a password

That error means that Bitcoin Core cannot create the output file, possibly a permissions problem. Try entering an absolute path like

Code:

C:\Users\USER\Documents\wallet.txt

where USER (not Users) is your username. There should then be a file called wallet.txt in your Documents folder.

[yo-yo56]

Would this be using in my file search in windows or bitcoin qt? Doesn't work either way, only wallet.dat file not wallet.txt

[achow101]

Would this be using in my file search in windows or bitcoin qt? Doesn't work either way, only wallet.dat file not wallet.txt

in the console, instead of using wallet.txt, use the path. So the command you enter should be

Code:

dumpwallet C:\Users\USER\Documents\wallet.txt

Then in the file explorer, you should see wallet.txt in the Documents folder

[yo-yo56]

Got my bitcoins back, thanks everyone!

[BitMaxz]

Got my bitcoins back, thanks everyone!

Just give a steps how do you solve the problem or what is your last step bro? do you do the steps from crairezx20 i think thats the way that you can see again your balance.

[yo-yo56]

I did what shorena and knightdk said. This is from the point where I had the conflicted transactions in qt.

1. I did the dump wallet thing where I specified the path e.g. C//:Users/User/documents wallet.txt
2. I went into documents and opened up wallet.txt
3. I copied it whole
4.Went onto electrum, import, then pasted it then I had the balance

[shorena]

I did what shorena and knightdk said. This is from the point where I had the conflicted transactions in qt.

1. I did the dump wallet thing where I specified the path e.g. C//:Users/User/documents wallet.txt
2. I went into documents and opened up wallet.txt
3. I copied it whole
4.Went onto electrum, import, then pasted it then I had the balance

Glad you have your coins back, sorry I suspected you of stealing someone elses wallet file. You get a bit paranoid here over time.

[yo-yo56]

Nah it's fine I wasn't clear, thanks for the help

[hedgy73]

Well done glad you got it sorted .

[TheRayven]

So I am facing a similar problem, but on a mac. Also somewhat of a newbie here. I have followed all of these steps and gotten the same error code. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[TheRayven]

Happy to send a .5 BTC finders fee to whoever can help me get mine back

[achow101]

So I am facing a similar problem, but on a mac. Also somewhat of a newbie here. I have followed all of these steps and gotten the same error code. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Can you describe what you are getting?

Did you do the dumpwallet command as I wrote above, because that won't work on a mac.

[TheRayven]

I tried dumpwallet and I tried   dumpprivkey YourBitCoinPublicAddress but it may have been the wrong public address. Basically the backstory is I had been using Bitcoin Core v0.8.5-beta and one day it would no longer open. It's been about a year now since I've tried but I have moved the Bitcoin folder from /library/application support/bitcoin to the desktop. From there I can open the client but it won't re-index the blockchain. My balance is at 0, which it shouldn't be, and the public keys I had used are no longer there... I've been browsing forums looking for anyway to get them back.

[achow101]

I tried dumpwallet and I tried   dumpprivkey YourBitCoinPublicAddress but it may have been the wrong public address. Basically the backstory is I had been using Bitcoin Core v0.8.5-beta and one day it would no longer open. It's been about a year now since I've tried but I have moved the Bitcoin folder from /library/application support/bitcoin to the desktop. From there I can open the client but it won't re-index the blockchain. My balance is at 0, which it shouldn't be, and the public keys I had used are no longer there... I've been browsing forums looking for anyway to get them back.

That folder is NOT the bitcoin installation. That is the data directory. It has the blockchain and wallet stored there. When you moved it, Bitcoin no longer sees the files since they are not where they are supposed to be. Move the folder back and copy out the wallet.dat file as a backup. Then try again.

[TheRayven]

Ok so now everything is back where it's supposed to be but the blockchain is syncing and I still show a zero balance. The good news is I'm now able to start the client without the typical Bitcoin QT Quit Unexpextedly message and subsequent shut down.

The bad news is the only public address in there was the one I tried dumpprivkey with before...

[achow101]

Ok so now everything is back where it's supposed to be but the blockchain is syncing and I still show a zero balance. The good news is I'm now able to start the client without the typical Bitcoin QT Quit Unexpextedly message and subsequent shut down.

The bad news is the only public address in there was the one I tried dumpprivkey with before...

Try doing the whole dumpwallet thing and make sure you set the path to a location you can access, like the desktop

[TheRayven]

dumpwallet doesn't seem to work on mac. dumpprivkey does, but I can't find the correct public key to pair. Looking for any sort of backup on my computer or external drives now.

I appreciate your time and help.

[achow101]

dumpwallet doesn't seem to work on mac. dumpprivkey does, but I can't find the correct public key to pair. Looking for any sort of backup on my computer or external drives now.

I appreciate your time and help.

dumpwallet should work, but maybe on mac it doesn't, IDK.

what do you mean you can't find the correct public key to pair? You only need to enter a bitcoin address for dumpprivkey to work. You can find all of your addresses by using the command

Code:

listreceivedbyaddress 0 true

That will list all of the addresses that you have used, including change.

[TheRayven]

Okay so I used listreceivedbyaddress 0 true and that kicked back an address that I successfully used with dumpprivkey to get my private key. I now have one private key and my password but don't know what to do from here. I have tried to import the private key to a separate wallet on blockchain.info but that has not changed my balance. I did not have to input the password that I encrypted the account with. Is there a chance that this is the wrong private key?

[achow101]

Okay so I used listreceivedbyaddress 0 true and that kicked back an address that I successfully used with dumpprivkey to get my private key. I now have one private key and my password but don't know what to do from here. I have tried to import the private key to a separate wallet on blockchain.info but that has not changed my balance. I did not have to input the password that I encrypted the account with. Is there a chance that this is the wrong private key?

If your wallet was encrypted, you need to use walletpassphrase before dumping the keys, the instructions are earlier in the thread.

Check the balance of that address on blocktrail.com (blockchain.info has been buggy and stupid recently).

Try importing the address (and any other that you have) to Electrum. Download and install electrum from https://electrum.org/#download and create a new wallet. Make sure you select the option to import keys and then just copy and paste all of your keys into the text box. Follow all of the instructions and you should be able to see your balance and spend from it.

[TheRayven]

Ok so ran walletpassphrase and it kicked back:

Error: running with an unencrypted wallet, but walletpassphrase was called. (code -15)

This wallet was absolutely encrypted. I know I tried downloading the newer version of the bitcoin client since this one would not start up, is there a chance the new client replaced the wallet with an empty and unencrypted wallet?

Still looking for a backup on an external drive around the house.

[achow101]

Ok so ran walletpassphrase and it kicked back:

Error: running with an unencrypted wallet, but walletpassphrase was called. (code -15)

This wallet was absolutely encrypted. I know I tried downloading the newer version of the bitcoin client since this one would not start up, is there a chance the new client replaced the wallet with an empty and unencrypted wallet?

Still looking for a backup on an external drive around the house.

It is possible, but if you did not run that version, then it shouldn't have done anything to the wallet. Check for a backup. Also make sure that the wallet file is the same one as the one I told you to backup earlier.

[shorena]

I suspect its a different wallet file. Do you maybe have an older backup somewhere else, e.g. on an USB stick? That way you know for sure its the wallet you used and not a different one bitcoin core created while you moved the data around.

About dumpwallet not working on Mac. I suspect (cant test, because I cant get a Mac VM :C) that its just a pathing issue. If you have to give a full path it would look quite different on a Mac than on Windows.

[idyu]

This made me scared i will make now serval copys on different harddisk to avoid the same situation as op

I hpe you will find your wallet.dat back very soon