Cant sync core wallet, have wallet passcode but lost recovery phrase

[Gtr003121]

Hello all, noob here. I bought a little btc in '13 and have had it in my desktop(HP Pavillion p6720f) core wallet ever since. I have been unable to sync with the bitcoin network. I lost my 12 word recovery phrase. The wallet opens and I have the wallet passcode, it's just not synced. Is/are there any alternative way/s to get the coins out? I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

[TryNinja]

Since the only problem seems to be your old computer not syncing with the blockchain and you are using Bitcoin Core, you could try copying your wallet.dat file to another computer, download the same wallet there and sync with the Blockchain.

Then move all your coins to another wallet, even a lightweight one like Electrum where you don't need to download the whole blockchain to spend/receive your btc.

If you are using Windows, your wallet file can be found in the folder %APPDATA%\Bitcoin.

Some articles on how to backup and restore your wallet in a new pc:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Backingup_your_wallet
https://freedomnode.com/guides/14/how-to-backup-and-restore-bitcoin-wallet
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/10974/import-wallet-dat-into-a-new-bitcoin-qt-client

[Gtr003121]

Since the only problem seems to be your old computer not syncing with the blockchain and you are using Bitcoin Core, you could try copying your wallet.dat file to another computer, download the same wallet there and sync with the Blockchain.

Then move all your coins to another wallet, even a lightweight one like Electrum where you don't need to download the whole blockchain to spend/receive your btc.

If you are using Windows, your wallet file can be found in the folder %APPDATA%\Bitcoin.

Some articles on how to backup and restore your wallet in a new pc:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Backingup_your_wallet
https://freedomnode.com/guides/14/how-to-backup-and-restore-bitcoin-wallet
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/10974/import-wallet-dat-into-a-new-bitcoin-qt-client

Thank you for the response. I copied my wallet.dat file to a USB drive. What would you say the minimum requirements are for a computer to be capable of downloading all blocks/syncing to the blockchain? I don't want to waste the time if the next computer I try can't sync either. Any idea?

[HCP]

Hello all, noob here. I bought a little btc in '13 and have had it in my desktop(HP Pavillion p6720f) core wallet ever since. I have been unable to sync with the bitcoin network. I lost my 12 word recovery phrase. The wallet opens and I have the wallet passcode, it's just not synced. Is/are there any alternative way/s to get the coins out? I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

Bitcoin Core (aka Bitcoin-QT) never used 12 word recovery phrase. Also, it has only had HD support as of v0.13.0 which was released in August of 2016. If you have had the wallet since 2013, it is NOT an HD wallet. It is just a "traditional" wallet comprised of a collection of private keys.

Have you upgraded to the latest version? (currently v0.14.1)... if not, this may explain why you are unable to sync.

If you have upgraded... and still can't sync, is your instance connecting to the network ok? If you goto "Help -> Debug Window -> Information" what does it say for "Network Connections"? It may be your firewall and/or router blocking the inbound/outbound connections.

If you just want to move to a new wallet... Goto "Help -> Debug Window -> Console" and then:

1. use the

Code:

listaddressgroupings

command to see all your addresses. (As a bonus, it also enables you to see which ones contain coins )

2. use

Code:

walletpassphrase "YOURPASSWORDHERE" 600

to unlock the wallet for 10 minutes (600 seconds)... you can use whatever number you like, just make it long enough to give you time to get all the keys out

3. use

Code:

dumprivkey "BITCOINADDRESS"

for each of the addresses you got in Step 1. You can do all, or only the ones with coins, it is up to you and whether or not you expect to receive payments to these addresses in the future.

4. Sweep (or Import) the private keys from Step 3. into the wallet of your choice. Sweeping is the recommended procedure as it effectively moves the coins to the new wallet/address... whereas import keeps them on the current (and now 'exposed') private keys...

Thank you for the response. I copied my wallet.dat file to a USB drive. What would you say the minimum requirements are for a computer to be capable of downloading all blocks/syncing to the blockchain? I don't want to waste the time if the next computer I try can't sync either. Any idea?

Minimum specs here: https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-core/features/requirements

[Gtr003121]

Hello all, noob here. I bought a little btc in '13 and have had it in my desktop(HP Pavillion p6720f) core wallet ever since. I have been unable to sync with the bitcoin network. I lost my 12 word recovery phrase. The wallet opens and I have the wallet passcode, it's just not synced. Is/are there any alternative way/s to get the coins out? I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

Bitcoin Core (aka Bitcoin-QT) never used 12 word recovery phrase. Also, it has only had HD support as of v0.13.0 which was released in August of 2016. If you have had the wallet since 2013, it is NOT an HD wallet. It is just a "traditional" wallet comprised of a collection of private keys.

Have you upgraded to the latest version? (currently v0.14.1)... if not, this may explain why you are unable to sync.

If you have upgraded... and still can't sync, is your instance connecting to the network ok? If you goto "Help -> Debug Window -> Information" what does it say for "Network Connections"? It may be your firewall and/or router blocking the inbound/outbound connections.

If you just want to move to a new wallet... Goto "Help -> Debug Window -> Console" and then:

1. use the

Code:

listaddressgroupings

command to see all your addresses. (As a bonus, it also enables you to see which ones contain coins )

2. use

Code:

walletpassphrase "YOURPASSWORDHERE" 600

to unlock the wallet for 10 minutes (600 seconds)... you can use whatever number you like, just make it long enough to give you time to get all the keys out

3. use

Code:

dumprivkey "BITCOINADDRESS"

for each of the addresses you got in Step 1. You can do all, or only the ones with coins, it is up to you and whether or not you expect to receive payments to these addresses in the future.

4. Sweep (or Import) the private keys from Step 3. into the wallet of your choice. Sweeping is the recommended procedure as it effectively moves the coins to the new wallet/address... whereas import keeps them on the current (and now 'exposed') private keys...

Thank you for the response. I copied my wallet.dat file to a USB drive. What would you say the minimum requirements are for a computer to be capable of downloading all blocks/syncing to the blockchain? I don't want to waste the time if the next computer I try can't sync either. Any idea?

Minimum specs here: https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-core/features/requirements

I tried the debug window and list adresss groupings. Next question/issue: it's showing zero balance. A while back I sent the total wallet contents to a friend and because the wallet wasn't synced, they were never sent. But when I type in my wallet address on the blockchain, it shows the correct balance. What do I do in this case?

[HCP]

Ok, so I'm assuming that the transaction that you sent to your friend is showing in your transaction list (as unconfirmed)? If you are using 0.14.1, you should be able to right click on the transaction in the transaction list and select "Abandon Transaction".

If that doesn't work, then I would suggest shutting down your Bitcoin Core client... and restarting it using the "-zapwallettxes" commandline option... This will remove all unconfirmed transactions from your wallet, which, in theory, should then mean that your balance reflects what is in your wallet.

Having said that, if you wallet is not synced, and there are transactions on that address AFTER the last block that has been synced, you may get an incorrect balance.

I take it you still haven't been able to get the sync working? What version of the Bitcoin Core client are you using?

EDIT: Actually, it probably won't really matter... if you can see your addresses, proper balance or not... you can still dump the private keys... once you import the private keys into another wallet, that wallet should be able to scan the blockchain and get the correct transaction history and balance for your address.

[Gtr003121]

Ok, so I'm assuming that the transaction that you sent to your friend is showing in your transaction list (as unconfirmed)? If you are using 0.14.1, you should be able to right click on the transaction in the transaction list and select "Abandon Transaction".

If that doesn't work, then I would suggest shutting down your Bitcoin Core client... and restarting it using the "-zapwallettxes" commandline option... This will remove all unconfirmed transactions from your wallet, which, in theory, should then mean that your balance reflects what is in your wallet.

Having said that, if you wallet is not synced, and there are transactions on that address AFTER the last block that has been synced, you may get an incorrect balance.

I take it you still haven't been able to get the sync working? What version of the Bitcoin Core client are you using?

EDIT: Actually, it probably won't really matter... if you can see your addresses, proper balance or not... you can still dump the private keys... once you import the private keys into another wallet, that wallet should be able to scan the blockchain and get the correct transaction history and balance for your address.

It was showing as unconfirmed as you said. I am using 0.14.1. I abandoned the transaction. It still isn't showing up in my balance though. Currently it's a year behind, but moving at .2 to .5% per hour.

EDIT: I closed and re-opened the wallet and the correct balance is now reflected, thank you for that! But I know very little about importing a private key into a wallet, or which wallet I can use a private key with for that matter.

EDIT II: I went ahead and dumped the private key. It starts with a capital L. I thought it was supposed to start with a 5. What does that mean?

[SopaXT]

I went ahead and dumped the private key. It starts with a capital L. I thought it was supposed to start with a 5. What does that mean?

This is okay, as there's actually two types of private keys, uncompressed (WIF starts with a 5) and compressed (WIF starts with a K/L).
The only difference is that the compressed keys are suggesting to generate the address from a compressed public key, while the addresses generated with the ordinary keys are generated from an uncompressed public key.
If you have the private key of any format, both the compressed and the uncompressed address are yours.

By the way, if you use bitaddress.org (I don't recommend it though, if you ever use it, DOWNLOAD RUN ON AN OFFLINE MACHINE), keep in mind that you have to use the compressed address in the Wallet Details section.

[Gtr003121]

I went ahead and dumped the private key. It starts with a capital L. I thought it was supposed to start with a 5. What does that mean?

This is okay, as there's actually two types of private keys, uncompressed (WIF starts with a 5) and compressed (WIF starts with a K/L).
The only difference is that the compressed keys are suggesting to generate the address from a compressed public key, while the addresses generated with the ordinary keys are generated from an uncompressed public key.
If you have the private key of any format, both the compressed and the uncompressed address are yours.

By the way, if you use bitaddress.org (I don't recommend it though, if you ever use it, DOWNLOAD RUN ON AN OFFLINE MACHINE), keep in mind that you have to use the compressed address in the Wallet Details section.

Ok, so now that I have the private key, what specifically(in the most layman terms possible) should I do with it to safely get my coins into a new wallet? My knowledge is clearly lacking and I don't want to screw this up obviously. I have a breadwallet and just started a blockchain wallet. Can it(or should it?) be done with either of these? I don't intend to ever use my old desktop again(aside from photo storage etc), I just want to safely get my coins out ASAP.

[HCP]

Personally, I can't really recommend either Breadwallet or Blockchain.info wallet... Breadwallet just annoys me with it's over the top security requirements and constant data usage. Blockchain.info is just full of bugs, has

Install Electrum on your desktop. During the wallet creation, instead of "Create a new seed", select the "Use public or private keys" option:


Then you can put your private key in... click next and then the transaction history and balance for that address/private key will show up... and you can spend it as required.

Alternatively, you can just create a new Electrum wallet using a seed and then "Wallet -> Private Keys -> Sweep" and put your key in there. This will create a transaction that sends from the address/private key to any address you specify (like one of the addresses in your new Electrum wallet )

Sweeping is recommended over importing... as with importing your private key has been 'exposed' to a certain degree...