Download stuck

[esterin]

Hello,

I'm trying to run Bitcoin Core version v0.15.0.1 (64-bit) but the block download is stuck at 92%.

It says connecting to nodes in the status bar but nothing ever happens anymore.

Restarting increases the remaining block counter as it should, but that's it.

Any idea what to do?
 

[aleksej996]

Look at the debug.log in the data directory, it might give you some clues. Are you running WIndows? Do you perhaps have a firewall? Maybe try deleting banlist.dat and peers.dat in the data directory.

[esterin]

Thanks for your reply,

This is on windows, no firewall, nothing changed.
I tried with renaming peers.dat banlist.dat and restarted
The new peers.dat which is created stays at 5KB while the old one is at 4MB.

Still stuck at the same block, I don't want to restart the download, it took almost a week

The debug.log file I can't understand well enough to make any of it, the last bit of look like

2017-10-13 16:01:08 Invalid or missing peers.dat; recreating
2017-10-13 16:01:08 init message: Laddar svarta listan...
2017-10-13 16:01:08 ERROR: DeserializeFileDB: Failed to open file D:\BitcoinCoreData\banlist.dat
2017-10-13 16:01:08 Invalid or missing banlist.dat; recreating
2017-10-13 16:01:08 init message: Startar nätverkstrådar...
2017-10-13 16:01:08 net thread start
2017-10-13 16:01:08 dnsseed thread start
2017-10-13 16:01:08 Loading addresses from DNS seeds (could take a while)
2017-10-13 16:01:08 addcon thread start
2017-10-13 16:01:08 init message: Klar med laddning
2017-10-13 16:01:08 msghand thread start
2017-10-13 16:01:08 opencon thread start
2017-10-13 16:01:08 GUI: Platform customization: "windows"
2017-10-13 16:01:08 GUI: PaymentServer::LoadRootCAs: Loaded  20  root certificates
2017-10-13 16:01:09 ProcessMessages(version, 102 bytes) FAILED peer=0
2017-10-13 16:01:10 142 addresses found from DNS seeds
2017-10-13 16:01:10 dnsseed thread exit
2017-10-13 16:01:10 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56568, peer=1
2017-10-13 16:01:11 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0.1(HMZK.NET)/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56570, peer=2
2017-10-13 16:01:11 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.14.0/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56571, peer=3
2017-10-13 16:02:28 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.14.2/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56607, peer=4
2017-10-13 16:02:34 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56612, peer=5
2017-10-13 16:02:47 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56617, peer=6
2017-10-13 16:02:50 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.12.1(bitcore)/: version 70012, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56621, peer=8
2017-10-13 16:03:30 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.15.0/: version 70015, blocks=489649, us=92.254.x.x:56634, peer=9
2017-10-13 16:08:33 receive version message: /Satoshi:0.14.1/: version 70015, blocks=489650, us=92.254.x.x:56708, peer=10

[achow101]

Please post the entirety of the debug.log file.

[esterin]

I can't I started a new download |o|

The strange thing is, I'm at 40% and the download has slowed down to 0.7% an hour?

It will take another 3 days to download this, this can't be normal?

Maybe the same this will happen again, it just stops at 90%.

I don't know. 

[AdolfinWolf]

I can't I started a new download |o|

The strange thing is, I'm at 40% and the download has slowed down to 0.7% an hour?

It will take another 3 days to download this, this can't be normal?

Maybe the same this will happen again, it just stops at 90%.

I don't know. 

What is your internet speed?

I'm not entirely sure how bitcoin core calculates percentages, but if it is calculated time wise, and not MB wise, it could indeed be that it slows down, since the first 1/2/3/4 years of blocks were probably all half-empty / not filled up, which means they are less MB to download.

Which would explain why it would be slower further down the road, as more and mre transactions went through = more MB to download.

If the same thing happens be sure to get the log, and post it, as that indeed shouldn't be happening.

[esterin]

I have a 100/25 Mbit connection so that's not it.

It varies between 0.5% and 1,5 % per hour now.
I opened up my router this time to see if that helps.

I really wish there was an easier way to run a node.   

Thanks for your input, I will post the log if it stalls again.

[achow101]

What are the specs of your machine (CPU, RAM, Disk type, etc.)? With the initial sync, other than the internet connection, the next bottleneck is usually the disk (hard drives are much much slower than SSDs) or the CPU (it does a lot of computation).

[esterin]

I'm using an old phenom ll x4 955 with 4MB memory and win7.

Yes I was thinking it might be a hard drive issue, the OS is
on a SSD but node data is saved to an old disk.

But still, it should not stop as it did last time, right?

It's very slow right now, I'm at 50% and it it says 4 more days...

[ranochigo]

I'm using an old phenom ll x4 955 with 4MB memory and win7.

Yes I was thinking it might be a hard drive issue, the OS is
on a SSD but node data is saved to an old disk.

But still, it should not stop as it did last time, right?

It's very slow right now, I'm at 50% and it it says 4 more days...

Do you mean GB?

Anyway, the root of the problem likely lies with your CPU as opposed to your disk. As you synchronize, you are synchronizing blocks which are nearer to the future and they are usually quite filled. As such, with the client verifying every single transaction, CPU would likely be the bottleneck. Can you monitor the CPU and disk activity? If the CPU is heavily utilised, then your CPU would likely be the bottleneck.

If you have enough ram, you can speed up the process by increasing dbcache. I would recommend you to use Electrum as a wallet instead since its much more lightweight.

[esterin]

Yea GB , and the CPU usage is at 3-10%, so that's not it.

It's not wallet usage I'm after, but programing against a node...
I would not create a wallet on a windows machine anyway

I'm at 55 %, 3 more days to go

[esterin]

Sorry for being short ranochigo, I was in a bit of a hurry.

Thanks for the db-cache tip I'll try that. About the disk activity,
it's constantly busy, kind of, it pauses, short periods but that's
probably normal.

Does anyone know if 0.5% progress per hour is normal, when at 55% ?

[aleksej996]

Sorry for being short ranochigo, I was in a bit of a hurry.

Thanks for the db-cache tip I'll try that. About the disk activity,
it's constantly busy, kind of, it pauses, short periods but that's
probably normal.

Does anyone know if 0.5% progress per hour is normal, when at 55% ?

It is not insane. It is worrying when it stops or when it estimates a sync time of more then a week.

[esterin]

No worries then, thanks for telling, I'm at 63 % now.

[monkeydominicorobin]

Sorry for being short ranochigo, I was in a bit of a hurry.

Thanks for the db-cache tip I'll try that. About the disk activity,
it's constantly busy, kind of, it pauses, short periods but that's
probably normal.

Does anyone know if 0.5% progress per hour is normal, when at 55% ?

That is not normal. Try resetting your router. Or most probably it is a DNS problem.

[Jonashe]

Downloading blockchain is a pain in the ass. I moved to ELECTRUM years ago. It's the best wallet IMO. You can stofe in offline computer, sign a TX and brodcasting with online computer via USB STICK.

[boltz]

Better to move to blockchain or a cold wallet for bitcoin instead of try to download the whole chain but if you have gigabit ethernet then you can download it . Also if you get stucked during the sync with the chain try to look intro debug file or try and search a bootstrap of bitcoin but like i said better to move to blockchain or something similar.

[esterin]

Well, I did not expect it to be this bad, now I have 19366 blocks remaining...

But as I said, I'm not doing this for a wallet, I want a node for programming purposes.

I'm a bit worried though, this does not bode well for the future. I guess making this
process smother is not the most "fun" part do get involve with, but it is essential
if this whole bitcoin thing is to succeed...

[noelwenceslao03]

This is too bad. My download also got stuck. And when I try to re-prompt the download, it just got worse. Now I don't know my ways around these technology stuff. But any practical tips on download errors? Should I post the debug file here?

[esterin]

Nice, finally it's running with all blocks downloaded.

I got a "block corruption error" at 98 % |o|.
It took 10 days on this machine at 24 / 7.

Now I need to backup this ....