How good is prune mode!

[Slark]

So actually running Bitcoin Core in prune mode is only beneficial for you if you want to cut disk usage and if you run out of space on your SSD or something.
You can't help network, your online presence is not counting as a node.

But it still a great functionality nonetheless and I think this is the feature many of us find the most useful.

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[thejaytiesto]

So actually running Bitcoin Core in prune mode is only beneficial for you if you want to cut disk usage and if you run out of space on your SSD or something.
You can't help network, your online presence is not counting as a node.

But it still a great functionality nonetheless and I think this is the feature many of us find the most useful.

Do you people even take the time to read about things before claiming stuff? Right on this thread a couple of post above yours there is Gmaxwell himself explaining that you help the network by running a lite node so I don't know what you are talking about. How would it be useful if it still didn't help the network anyway.

[shorena]

When did you become someone that needs spoon feeding?

To recap, there are four types of data related to the blockchain in the bitcoin system: the raw blocks as received over the network (blk???.dat), the undo data (rev???.dat), the block index and the UTXO set (both LevelDB databases). The databases are built from the raw data.

Block pruning allows Bitcoin Core to delete the raw block and undo data once it's been validated and used to build the databases.

https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/blob/v0.11.0/doc/release-notes.md#block-file-pruning

i know i know as i said before, that the real definition of pruning was as you said..
but the 550mb has got alot of people into a pickle that it must cut out some of the UTXO (laymens:unspent) to get to a possible level of 550mb hard drive space.

it needs to be clarified better that the 550mb is not total hard drive storage allocation of everything related to the blockchain but the separate parts related just to recent data that can change. and not related to archival data of unspents.

it may be wrote down in some places as far back as 2013-4-5 when the term pruning first came about. but the 2016 info on the actual release has made some left in a pickle thinking v0.12 is not the same as the original definition of pruning

The quotes are one click away from the 0.12 released notes. If thats too much for "some" they can ask for help.

So actually running Bitcoin Core in prune mode is only beneficial for you if you want to cut disk usage and if you run out of space on your SSD or something.
You can't help network, your online presence is not counting as a node.

But it still a great functionality nonetheless and I think this is the feature many of us find the most useful.

A pruned node is still a full (verifying) node, it just cant help others become full nodes.

[hudd]

You can't help network, your online presence is not counting as a node.

Next time try to spend some time to read before typing. It's funny how braindead people can achieve "Hero member" status just by spamming posts.

[mickiya]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

[Lauda]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

Your question doesn't make much sense. What do you mean with "old wallet"?

[shorena]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

You cant change the wallet file with a pruned node, you cant import keys into the existing file either. Well you can do both, but it would require you to start from scratch, download the entire chain, build your databases and prune the raw blockchain data as you go along.

[watashi-kokoto]

Bitcoin core = gods

[franky1]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

You cant change the wallet file with a pruned node, you cant import keys into the existing file either. Well you can do both, but it would require you to start from scratch, download the entire chain, build your databases and prune the raw blockchain data as you go along.

to input a new privkey (EG a paperwallet ) requires starting from scratch each time?

any other work around, like disabling prune mode temporarily then enabling it again?

has anyone ran prune mode and then once pruned set it from 550 to 0 (disabling it) to see if it throws up errors, or if it just starts grabbing all data again, to allow people to get clogged up for an hour or less while they import privkeys and then enable prune mode again to then reprune whatever it grabbed in that hour..

rather than having to start truly from scratch?

[Amph]

Bitcoin core = gods

yeah i was thinking about the fact that from now spv client are pretty much useless, you don't have the excuse anymore about the blockchain size and the ssd space that is insufficient

all other client are obsolete if you're not a retarded at securing your coins, still offline signing are useful, i don't remember but they are not possible with core

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That was my problem, using my 5 year old wallet in a new prune node, only way around this (the only way to do this) use a full node data place your wallet.dat file load qt let it index all your txid's (like normal) shut down. Then enable prune mode. Basically prune mode makes a custom data folder just for your wallet. If you remove your wallet and reload prune qt, it will work ~ 2 weeks out but if you go past that you'll have to start all over. Best bet is to keep the wallet.dat and pruned data folder together and each time you run qt in prune mode make sure you keep the same wallet.dat file you started with. You cant resync in prune mode.

That or just make a new wallet.dat and keep using it. Basically the prune qt works in tandem with your wallet.dat they have to stay in sync ~ under 2 weeks together, else it wont work.. Due to you only having the last 2 weeks of blockchain data.

Or you can start from scratch place your wallet.dat file into a empty data folder and start from 6+ years ago. It loads ALOT faster through prune mode.

Hope this made a little sense

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[johnyj]

Does not work for me who constantly swapping wallet.dat

[Icon]

ya likewise, what i have done is run 2 nodes, 1 full node other pruned and sync my "cold wallet" and removed the wallet.dat file, and shut down the prune node. When i want access to my cold wallet i'll do like i did before with the full node, copy my wallet.dat file unto the custom prune data folder and let it "catch up" to the latest blocks.

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[EdenHazard]

I literally last night moved a lot of my coins off core to a copay wallet because my mac had run out of disk.  I wake up this morning and read the awesome news!

Installed, changed the bitcoin.conf file, started core, about 1min later I had reclaimed 55GB.

Thanks core devs!

congratulation for some people who had installed latest stable version of Bitcoin Core: 0.12.0
i wish i can mine bitcoin and use the latest bitcoin core next version.

[mickiya]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

You cant change the wallet file with a pruned node, you cant import keys into the existing file either. Well you can do both, but it would require you to start from scratch, download the entire chain, build your databases and prune the raw blockchain data as you go along.

So if I have a wallet created a year ago, and had several transactions by receiving funds, but did not sync. So I have to download the whole chain again to sync, is that right?

[shorena]

If I use the pruned block chain, and then I have a old wallet, how do I update the wallet.dat file?

You cant change the wallet file with a pruned node, you cant import keys into the existing file either. Well you can do both, but it would require you to start from scratch, download the entire chain, build your databases and prune the raw blockchain data as you go along.

So if I have a wallet created a year ago, and had several transactions by receiving funds, but did not sync. So I have to download the whole chain again to sync, is that right?

Im not entirely sure I understand your question, but if you did not sync a pruned node for too long it might have to start from scratch yes. If you have an existing non-pruned node that you last synced a year ago and want to turn into a pruned one now you can do that and only need to sync the last year.

[RussianRaibow]

Is this better than using an SPV wallet, or is it the same?  I don't get the benefit of storing any of the blockchain, if you aren't going to store the whole thing.  Maybe I just don't understand how it works.

Of course it is. You are a pruned node, which is not the case with a SPV wallet. Essentially you can help others become pruned nodes as well, but you are unable to help people become full nodes. Security also depends on how many blocks (storage) you set to hold.

No, you cant help anyone else become any form of node as a pruned node. You dont share old blocks and in order to become a pruned node all blocks must be downloaded and verified.

Lauda, thanks for clearing this up.  I thought there must be a big "catch" if you aren't storing the whole blockchain.  This makes perfect sense.  I'm going to continue running a full nodes so that I can help other new nodes.  Right now I am running a full node on a Raspberry Pi 2, I'll probably need to upgrade within the next year.

[Icon]

Well just tried loading my cold wallet, with my "cold" pruned blockchain data and did not work, wont sync or what ever even though they both stop at the same place in the blockchain, in theory they should just start where it left off at. But its not, like it doesn't know where it stop at and it only has access to the latest 2 weeks of data...

Not a happy camper with this "pruned" version

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[maokoto]

I never installed core because of the so high disk consumption, but this "pruning" does not seem to be too different from other lightweight clients. If you are not going to have the whole blockchain, what is the point of it really?

[Icon]

Honestly only reason i keep a full node to have access to my wallet.dat file and no one else. I don't even have port forwarding opening hate all those connects/reconnects tearing down my poor router..

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