repost for advice (non tech user)solved by psy-"hero"

[reg]

hi, I wrongly posted my query in development and tech support . whilst some comments were interesting I am still concerned and need a good talking to! my original post is here:

 reg
Full Member

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Posts: 173

  
   
quick advice please
March 12, 2013, 05:57:01 PM
      #1
one of my recent transactions showed a weird sign (probably due to a power outage whilst updating) it was a box with arrows in and out? a small deduction on my balance and n/a  in subject?. I did a rescan and expected transactions to appear as it neared completion? its been running a few days and although nearly complete (less than 10000 blks to go nothing shows? yet I have been using client for nearly a year? I am now getting worried I have corrupted my wallet.dat by doing a rescan yet it shows 148 kb's any ideas please (I am not very technical) reg

latest: the rescan is nearly complete  <4000 blks to go but still "0" transactions. Its qt bitcoin 4.7.3

is this normal? I had receiving addresses in my wallet.dat from glbse and receive dividends from them.

I tried to copy my wallet.dat into a blockchain.info but could not do it because I can't get the memory stick and program on at the same time to click and drag? copy and paste does not work for some reason I don't know?.I am using Linux os a basic version! it has been running fine until a week ago? I am out of my depth and need to know if my client can be/will be saved? anyone?. reg      

[1715344673]

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[1715344673]

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[BookLover]

What do you mean you did a rescan?  What you are describing sounds nothing like the typical meaning or running Bitcoin QT with the -rescan option.

[reg]

BookLover
Full Member

not knowing how to do this I searched online  and found that you have to type in -rescan after the description in the client? so I opened the folder "bitcoin" and typed it in? when I restarted the client another folder was created called bitcoin.-recan and it loaded the blockchain but with nothing in the transaction window?. at first I was not worried because the client has been running 7-8 months but now with less than 3000 blks and still nothing it does not look right?. Also the original file has 68kb size wallet.dat and -rescan has a 148kb wallet.dat? I do not know what I may have done wrong? I have a memory stick with my first wallet.daf file on it and before I started i copied the wallet.dat file on it. it said file exists overwrite or rename so I renamed and its the wallet2.dat that is in the rescan client? I just do not know enough to recover the situation?. reg

[Stephen Gornick]

so I opened the folder "bitcoin" and typed it in? when I restarted the client another folder was created called bitcoin.-recan

I've no idea what you did but there should not be a directory called "bitcoin.-recan" or any new directory.  

Your wallet.dat contains the private keys necessary to spend.  As long as you still have that, you should still have access to spend those funds (once you get a client in sync).

At this point you are first simply trying to ascertain that the funds are still there.

In the bitcoin client click on Receive.  Do your addresses show?  If not, you are running the client against an empty wallet.dat.

You can stop the client and swap out wallet.dat files (e.g., rename the current one and restore from backup another one) to see if that shows any different.   With 4K blocks to go, that means if you did ANY spending with your wallet since January you shouldn't trust the balance that shows until it has sync.   Newer versions of the client don't show bogus results when not in sync, so if you had done any spending from your wallet then this is a problem that you see only because you are still on an older client.

[Raoul Duke]

Man, do you have teamviewer installed? Need a remote hand to help you?
If you got to that point by following written instructions I think accepting my remote assistance is your best option.

[reg]

Man, do you have teamviewer installed? Need a remote hand to help you?

hi, thanks- that may be the best way forward if I can install that on Linux? I think I am installing a new wallet.dat so I will try and do what was suggested. then look into installing   teamviewer and mail you back. thanks. reg.

[Raoul Duke]

Man, do you have teamviewer installed? Need a remote hand to help you?

hi, thanks- that may be the best way forward if I can install that on Linux? I think I am installing a new wallet.dat so I will try and do what was suggested. then look into installing   teamviewer and mail you back. thanks. reg.

Yes, you can install it in Linux, but you'll probably need wine or mono installed to run it.
I run it in ubuntu myself.

Send me a PM if you need help.
I could even write some detailed instructions, but if you got into that mess by following the wiki or some other thread in here I'm really doubting you can advance much more by following anything I write.
With Teamviewer you can see what I'm doing and we can talk in real time while I'm doing it.
I know it's hard to trust unknown folks over the internet, so, no hard feelings if you refuse this kind of help.

[reg]

psy Send me a PM if you need help.

hi I have pm'd you. thanks for your offer of help. I gratefully accept and hope you are patient with me. I need to know your time zone for your convienience of slotting me in a time to suit you. Like in the film "a beautifull mind" he said "I can solve this" reg.

[reg]

psy

further to my pm I have gone as far as I can with vnc! I typed in:
$ mkdir vnc
and -nothing? the command disappeared and I can't see any evidence it created the directory? so I can't create an initialization file etc etc. reg

[Raoul Duke]

The dir should have a dot at the beggining: .vnc
If you don't see it, open your file manager, go to your user home dir and press CTRL+H and see if it shows up. files or directories with a dot at the begining are hidden, so they must be unhidden.

[reg]

directories with a dot at the begining are hidden, so they must be unhidden.

ok found out how to create a directory but did not put a dot there. Should/could I put one or can we go to the next step? which is create a file xstartup in the directory. The directory exists in home, documents. reg

[Raoul Duke]

Yes, you should put the dot. The directory should be named .vnc
You'll need to unhide it after, tho.
And yes, create the xstartup file with this in it

Code:

# Execute common xstartup file 
[ -x /etc/vnc/xstartup ] && exec /etc/vnc/xstartup

# Load .Xresources file
[ -r $HOME/.Xresources ] && xrdb $HOME/.Xresources

# Run the vncconfig helper to enable clipboard transfers and control of the desktop
vncconfig -iconic &

# Launch a GNOME desktop
exec gnome-session &

Have you already installed the vncserver package for your distro?

[reg]

ive changed the directory but now of course its hidden so how do I create a file in that directory and list what you sent? no I haven't done anything else yet? reg

[Raoul Duke]

You need to press CTRL+H on your home dir, then you'll see all hidden folders, including the .vnc one you created.

[reg]

psy
You need to press CTRL+H on your home dir
I cant seem to get that to show anything? do you mean with the cursor highlighting the home directory? because I tried that and pressed ctrl and h together=nothing? reg (I am too overwhelmed to learn how to get a chat prog running just now)

[Raoul Duke]

No, I mean INSIDE your home dir.
In case CTRL+H doesn't unhide the folders you need to look in your file manager menus for an option to "Show hidden files and folders" or something along those lines.

[reg]

psy
No, I mean INSIDE your home dir
I did try that. under view I found "find hidden files alt+" so I tried that in home and documents it does not show the directory?

[Raoul Duke]

psy
No, I mean INSIDE your home dir
I did try that. under view I found "find hidden files alt+" so I tried that in home and documents it does not show the directory?

Well, may I ask in which folder you created the .vnc folder?
It should be in /home/YOUR_USERNAME/ If you created it there it should be there when you unhide files and folders.

[reg]

I created it in home /documents and thats where I looked? I also recreated it and it said file exists overwrite so I do not know why I cant see it/

[reg]

first the good news- I checked again and now I see the file plus another called directory! whats next while I have it?