problem restoring wallet in armory

[vinciguerra]

First of all, apologies for my 2nd noob-thread in one day

After having gotten Armory to work, I found I forgot my passphrase which I set in 2013. No worries, I've got the paper back up, which works fine.

https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/tutorials/armory-basics/restore-wallet/

However, when I reach the option of either merging or overwriting in the "You already have this wallet loaded!"-stage, nothing happens. I click it and it seems there's some sort of error showing for 1 microsecond (which is unreadable to the human eye as it immediately disappears), and then nothing.

Alternatively, I could delete my wallet, and then try to restore, but I'm reluctant to try this (as when it also doesn't work, my balance is gone completely), and also my screens match the screens from the guy in the tutorial perfectly until the very last step so this shouldn't be necessary.

Any suggestions or logs I could send in? Thanks.

[goatpig]

For starters, post armorylog.txt

[vinciguerra]

it's shown in http://pastebin.com/cuktu6aG

[goatpig]

What you've got here is a bug. The log file will help me fix it, but that doesn't help you in the immediate future.

Currently your solutions are:

1) Delete the wallet, then restore from backup

2) Use Armory 0.93 in offline mode to restore the wallet with meta data.

3) Wait on 0.96 with the fix.

I personally recommend solution #1.

[vinciguerra]

Thanks. Deleting and restoring fixed it.

[FredCailloux]

Exactly, how did you proceed to delete the wallet? I tried deleting my empty wallet, which seams to be a simple procedure, but following the instructions would endup doing just nothing. Am i missing someting here ?  Thanks for your help

[goatpig]

Exactly, how did you proceed to delete the wallet? I tried deleting my empty wallet, which seams to be a simple procedure, but following the instructions would endup doing just nothing. Am i missing someting here ?  Thanks for your help

First elaborate on your issue.

[gangtraet]

Exactly, how did you proceed to delete the wallet? I tried deleting my empty wallet, which seams to be a simple procedure, but following the instructions would endup doing just nothing. Am i missing someting here ?  Thanks for your help

Perhaps you missed that there are two wallet files, one with backup in the name.  If the main file is missing, Armory will just use the backup file (at least that was how it worked a year ago or so).

[goatpig]

(at least that was how it worked a year ago or so).

That has not changed

[FredCailloux]

Exactly, how did you proceed to delete the wallet? I tried deleting my empty wallet, which seams to be a simple procedure, but following the instructions would endup doing just nothing. Am i missing someting here ?  Thanks for your help

First elaborate on your issue.

OK let's elaborate.

Last year I installed Armory, created a new wallet, printed the Armory Wallet Sheet with the Root Key and stored the sheet somewhere. Never purchased any Bitcoin on that wallet and never did any transactions. The wallet is empty.  Since then I lost my computer ( pass the details )  Now I want to return to Bitcoin and start investing. I reinstall a totally new version of Armory (version 95.1 64bits). At install I do not create a new wallet, instead I attempt to reinstate my previously created wallet. It is then that I got into all kinds of strange behaviors from Armory. 1- The current status keep Offline  2- Get a message "Cannot find Bitcoin Installation - Check Again"  3- Many attempts to setup Armory to the target installation folder did not fix the problem.  4- Import or Restore wallet would give an error: "Armory is currently in the middle of scanning the blockchain for existing wallets. New wallets cannot be imported until this operation is finished" 5- I got annoyed a bit bit this uncontrollable behavior and decided to create a new wallet, same error message.  6- then finally for some strange reason Armory let me create a new wallet. I thought that may unlock the software and then let me reinstate my previous wallet. No, still cannot reinstate my old wallet. 7- Then decided to delete that new wallet. Armory would not delete the wallet. I could go through all the steps but it was just like if I was doing nothing. The wallet would stay there no matter what.  8- Then, as a desperate solution I decide to erase the whole installation and start from scratch with a new installation, this time I install Armory into the default C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\ folder. Maybe choosing another location is what triggers the whole problem? No! I still am stuck Offline. But this time I was able to reinstate my old wallet, Now that's an improvement. But, I am still getting the error "Cannot find Bitcoin Installation - Check Again" even though I check the Armory installation folder and is correctly entered into the Settings.

Current status: I have my old wallet installed but I am Offline and can change it.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks

[goatpig]

2- Get a message "Cannot find Bitcoin Installation - Check Again"

You need Bitcoin Core installed in the default folder for Armory to find it. You can specify custom folders in File -> Settings. 0.95 doesn't behave so well while managing Core for you, so you should turn off the option and deal with Core manually, which amounts to starting BitcoinQt before you start Armory and closing it once you're done.

Auto bitcoind should work again in 0.96

6- then finally for some strange reason Armory let me create a new wallet. I thought that may unlock the software and then let me reinstate my previous wallet. No, still cannot reinstate my old wallet.

It won't let you restore a wallet until it is done initializing Core and the DB. You are much better off dealing with backup and restoration in offline mode (you can force offline by running the binary with --offline).

Armory would not delete the wallet.

Known bug, fixed in 0.96

[FredCailloux]

Goatpig Thank you for clearing a few details. I now know why I had so much problems. I never realized Bitcoin.Core was necessary. Should have done a little more reading. Actually, is there a source of down to basic instructions on how to install Armory correctly (including the Bitcoin.Core necessity) ?
As for 0.96 version, do you suggest I jump to that version immediately or as a beginner, wait until it is fully tested ?
thanks again...

[goatpig]

Actually, is there a source of down to basic instructions on how to install Armory correctly (including the Bitcoin.Core necessity) ?

Not really. Armory is set by default to look for a default Core installation. If you install Core by default and Armory by default, Armory simply knows where to look. It's when you start using custom paths that you need to tell both Core and Armory where to look.

As for 0.96 version, do you suggest I jump to that version immediately or as a beginner, wait until it is fully tested ?

0.96 is still under testing. You could participate to the testing phase, but you shouldn't consider software in testing as release ready.