Bitcoin-Qt Client - (out of sync) - 23 connections; 40 days and counting

[GRogue]

I transferred about USD 800 from Dwolla to Mt. Gox in early December 2012.  I acquired my Bitcoin and transferred to two new addresses, both of which were generated from the the Mac OS version of the bitcoin client that can be found at http://bitcoin.org/clients.html. 

The client has had, on average, 8 - 24 connections over the last ~40 days.  The message I show is:

"Wallet (out of sync"
"Warning: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade."
"Downloaded 210534 of 218520 blocks of transaction history (96.35% done).  Last received block was generated 58 days ago."

Interestingly, but sadly, when the client first started, I was 98% done and the last received block was 23 days ago.  The 210534 never changes, only the 218520, although the last received block has moved from, as mentioned, 23 days to the current 58 days.

The wallet still doesn't reflect my USD 800 in bitcoin I purchased in early December.  Mt. Gox says that they can't help, as they verified the bitcoin transfer in the block chain (which I too have verified).

My questions:

1.  How can I obtain my bitcoin?
2.  I have used this Bitcoin-Qt client for many transactions in the past.  I was offline for two months, and now this problem.  Any ideas how to fix this?
3.  Is there any method(s) I can use to speed up and get the wallet properly synched?  Does bitcoin.org provide any support at all?  If so, how?

 

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[bootmii]

I transferred about USD 800 from Dwolla to Mt. Gox in early December 2012.  I acquired my Bitcoin and transferred to two new addresses, both of which were generated from the the Mac OS version of the bitcoin client that can be found at http://bitcoin.org/clients.html. 

The client has had, on average, 8 - 24 connections over the last ~40 days.  The message I show is:

"Wallet (out of sync"
"Warning: Displayed transactions may not be correct! You may need to upgrade, or other nodes may need to upgrade."
"Downloaded 210534 of 218520 blocks of transaction history (96.35% done).  Last received block was generated 58 days ago."

Interestingly, but sadly, when the client first started, I was 98% done and the last received block was 23 days ago.  The 210534 never changes, only the 218520, although the last received block has moved from, as mentioned, 23 days to the current 58 days.

The wallet still doesn't reflect my USD 800 in bitcoin I purchased in early December.  Mt. Gox says that they can't help, as they verified the bitcoin transfer in the block chain (which I too have verified).

My questions:

1.  How can I obtain my bitcoin?
2.  I have used this Bitcoin-Qt client for many transactions in the past.  I was offline for two months, and now this problem.  Any ideas how to fix this?
3.  Is there any method(s) I can use to speed up and get the wallet properly synched?  Does bitcoin.org provide any support at all?  If so, how?

 

I've been having the same problem; nevertheless, it will resolve itself. It may help to use Multibit or some other client, because the developers of Bitcoin-Qt have stated this themselves and will improve transfer rates in a later release.

[tehace]

Is this a laptop by any chance?

It sounds like your local copy of the blockchain has been corrupted somehow this manifests itself as an inability for the satoshi client to download new blocks. Synching the blockchain on a full node should only take 1-2 days on decent hardware. Makes sure to backup your wallet.dat ($800) is a lot of money. Then delete all files except wallet.dat and bitcoin.conf from your bitcoin directory. After this you will need to redownload the blockchain (it should only take 1-2 days max this time). If all this downloading is frustrating an online wallet like Blockchain's my wallet or a local thin client like electrum will allow you to spend them much quicker. All you need is to export your privkey and import it into the new client. If you go down the route of exporting and importing your private key into a new client just reply and asking about it and i can  help with any problems.



Just remember to keep your wallet backed up as there is no way whatsoever to get your coins back if you dont keep your wallet secure.

[GRogue]

@tehace -

Yes....if you could provide some input as to how to export the Bitcoin-QT private key into a Blockchain wallet, that would be appreciated.  I already took some of your advice and used the "Add Watch Only Address" function in the Blockchain application.  I see my transactions, but clearly I need to import the private key into the Blockchain wallet.  I am not sure how to export this key from the Bitcoin-Qt client.  Any help is appreciated.

[GRogue]

(I should add this I am using a MacPro, desktop with the Lion OS)

[DannyHamilton]

. . . how to export the Bitcoin-QT private key into a Blockchain wallet . . .

https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

[tehace]

 

. . . how to export the Bitcoin-QT private key into a Blockchain wallet . . .

https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

Wow I have never seen that feature of blockchain.info before. It look really cool though. You should use this or if you want to actually see your private keys you can use bitcoind exportprivkey [your pubkey] or just open up the debug console in bitcoin qt and type that command minus "bitcoind". Just remember to not show your private key to anyone you wouldn't trust with the amount of bitcoin belonging to them and use a very very very safe password with blockchain.info and maybe even multiple passwords and verification methods. You could even open up a savings wallet with a very strong password system requiring multiple methods of confirmation and a spending wallet with an easier way to get to your funds. Lastly be sure to select a backup method for your wallet in case you forget the password or blockchain.info goes offline.

(I should add this I am using a MacPro, desktop with the Lion OS)

I had a similar problem on  a laptop I own. Apparently sometimes laptops overheat or lose power an they don't properly save the blockchain.

[Trevor Lyman]

I have the same warning message about displayed transactions not being correct.  I was looking at my data folder (where the blk.dat files are) and I noticed that while I couldn't see any updates happening in my client I did see the file blk0003.dat updating (growing larger) right before my eyes.  So, I'm assuming the client is still working but is simply not displaying correctly?  I'm going to let this continue to run and see if it resolves itself on it's own.  Unless someone else has some better advice of course.

But I'm wondering... does anyone else see the file updating even though they have this warning message?

[Gabi]

Everytime you start the client it will says out of sync, because it is downloading all the blocks. That's why the file grow. If you use the client once per day, it will have for example to download like 150 blocks.

Note that this is not an answer to GRogue, he seems to have a problem. As others said, use another client (electrum or multibit) or blockchain.info, no more messing with blockchain!

[zvs]

Is this a laptop by any chance?

It sounds like your local copy of the blockchain has been corrupted somehow this manifests itself as an inability for the satoshi client to download new blocks. Synching the blockchain on a full node should only take 1-2 days on decent hardware. Makes sure to backup your wallet.dat ($800) is a lot of money. Then delete all files except wallet.dat and bitcoin.conf from your bitcoin directory. After this you will need to redownload the blockchain (it should only take 1-2 days max this time). If all this downloading is frustrating an online wallet like Blockchain's my wallet or a local thin client like electrum will allow you to spend them much quicker. All you need is to export your privkey and import it into the new client. If you go down the route of exporting and importing your private key into a new client just reply and asking about it and i can  help with any problems.



Just remember to keep your wallet backed up as there is no way whatsoever to get your coins back if you dont keep your wallet secure.

on a half-decent system the first 180,000 (or whenever satoshi dice appeared) blocks will depend mostly on your bandwidth.  the fastest way to download the whole blockchain is to modify your bitcoin.conf file, set listen to 0, max connections to 1, and put connect=5.9.24.81 (or some other node on a good connection) in it.  that way you dont have to deal w/ it trying to DL blocks from someone in zimbabwe with 5kb/s upstream or somesuch.... or it trying to DL blocks from someone that disconnects (I think you have to wait like 3 minutes until it tries someone else)
 

[GRogue]

I think something is dramatically wrong for me.  I cannot find my wallet.dat file.  Where on an iMAC should this file be located?  When I look at "package contents", I see four folders:

1/ Resources
2/ Frameworks
3/ Plugins
4/ MacOS

Wallet.dat is not within any of these folders.  I am now concerned that I am not going to be able to extract my private key so I can obtain my "lost in space" bitcoin.  While I appreciate the link to

https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

If I can't locate the wallet.dat file, this is no good.  Any advice/help?

[GRogue]

Ok.  So, no worries on the wallet.dat.  Found it at:

~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

via Finder

However, when I try to use the:  https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

The error message I receive from blockchain.info is "Unexpected end of file from server."

Any ideas?

[Driice]

Ok.  So, no worries on the wallet.dat.  Found it at:

~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

via Finder

However, when I try to use the:  https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

The error message I receive from blockchain.info is "Unexpected end of file from server."

Any ideas?

I've never used blockchain, so I would have no idea.

Try restarting your browser and if it still doesn't work contact support.

In the future you can use Electrum for your wallet. It doesn't need to download the blockchain.

[DannyHamilton]

Ok.  So, no worries on the wallet.dat.  Found it at:

~/Library/Application Support/Bitcoin/

via Finder

However, when I try to use the:  https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet

The error message I receive from blockchain.info is "Unexpected end of file from server."

Any ideas?

Try sending a Personal Message to piuk.  He's the local blockchain.info expert.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=pm;sa=send;u=17928

[GRogue]

UPDATE:

The https://blockchain.info/wallet/import-wallet finally worked.  I guess there was a problem on the blockchain.info side.

Glad it is now fixed!  Thanks to all that helped!!!!