Electrum does not recognize seed [solved]

[james-osburne]

28 FEB 14 I created an Electrum Wallet.  

I attempted to access it until now.
I have what I believe to be the correct seed.  

The earlier version 1.8xxx? when asked to "recover", entered seed; "Cannot Decode".  I have not found a "recover" function in the latest version. When I use the latest version it treats the seed as that of a new wallet.

Please advise.

[1714795785]

1714795785

[BitMaxz]

How many phrase in your seed? i mean how many words?
Also check carefully your seed spelling much better to check this list of words
here https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/lib/wordlist/english.txt

1. To recover your seeds just open electrum and the the wizard will popup
2. and then choose auto connect click next
3. choose the wallet you use before mostly wallet we use is standard wallet and click next
4. keystore choose i already have a seed
5. put your seed in sequence click next
6. it will ask if you wanted to change password just click yes.
7. your wallet should be fully recovered.. done..

And update us here if your problem was solve..

[james-osburne]

12 words, carefully written and typed. 

I also have a name for the wallet.  I have a Key.  I do not know how to use them. 

[BitMaxz]

12 words, carefully written and typed.  

I also have a name for the wallet.  I have a Key.  I do not know how to use them.  

If you have the private keys just follow the step by step that i edited post above and choose keystore public key or private key
And that all it should recover your wallet..

Also check the words if its spelling correctly from old words to new english words try the old words
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1012475.msg10984869#msg10984869

[james-osburne]

Six words in my seed are not found in the word list linked above.

I will do as you instruct and get back.

Thank you very much for your instant responses.

james-osbourne

[james-osburne]

When I open the latest version of Electrum there is no wizard; there is what appears to be an account transaction listing, blank
The menu is:

File Wallet View Help
History Send Receive

Some of my words are in the latest list; some are not seen on any list.

[james-osburne]

ELECTRUM INSTALL NOTES


I.   DESTINATION PROG. FILES X86 ELECTRUM
II.  INSTALL BUTTON
III.  INSTALLATION COMPLETE; NO OPTIONS DURING INSTALL.
IV.  Open Electrum
V.  File>New/Restore

No wizard opens when I click New/Restore

VI.  I Must choose from newly created wallets.  
VII.  I chose default_wallet
VIII. I  Entered seed as requested. I am certain I copied the seed correctly when I first created the wallet on Feb 14.  Note that some of the words do not appear in the word lists.
IX.  Wallet opens, empty. Sync Button is Green.

My Guess:  The system is not finding the wallet with that seed; it is creating a new wallet with that seed.  

The Wallet was initially created on or about 28FEB14.  I have Never attempted to access it until now.


Thank you for your help.

[BitMaxz]

When I open the latest version of Electrum there is no wizard; there is what appears to be an account transaction listing, blank
The menu is:

File Wallet View Help
History Send Receive

Some of my words are in the latest list; some are not seen on any list.

Click the file option in the top left of electrum under that menu you can see New/Restore click it. It will show new window

open it its should be install wizard. the same as image below



I think you are looking for your wallet.dat since if you are using windows you can find your
Wallet.dat in this folder C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\electrum\wallet

But this time you need to choose Open option under File menu and locate that link electrum wallet from your old wallet..

[james-osburne]

C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Roaming\electrum\wallet

But this time you need to choose Open option under File menu and locate that link electrum wallet from your old wallet..

No "Admin" there I choose user me, "JIM"\appdata\roaming\electrum\wallet. 

The two wallets I create while trying to recover the old are there; no wallet.dat file.  I will search for that.

[Abdussamad]

Here's a guide to restoring your wallet:

https://bitcoinelectrum.com/restoring-your-standard-wallet-from-seed/

[james-osburne]

Thank you Abdussmad.

1.  Open latest version Etherium. It opens with wallet_2, one that I previously created with File>New/Recover.
2.  File>New/Restore. Wizard opens with wallet_4.  Not wanting to keep creating wallets, I choose a previously created wallet, default_wallet.  Next.
3.  Wizard opens; File>New/Restore Opens wallet_4.  Select Standard Wallet. Select Have Seed.  Enter Seed that I received when creating the original wallet in 2014.
4.  There are three buttons; Options, lit; Back, lit, and Next, greyed out.  The only viable choice is Options.  Options has two choices: Extend the seed with additional words, or
     BIP39.  I do not know the consequences of extending the Seed, so I select BIP39.
5.  This opens Wizard page: Derivation, with the message, "Put your wallet derivation here. If you are not sure what this is, leave this field unchanged. I do not know what the
     derivation is, so I leave it unchanged.  I searched for the meaning of the word but could find nothing I understood.  Next.
6.   Wizard wants a new password.  I have the password given when I created the original wallet in 2014.  I do not understand the consequences of creating a new one, so I left
      the file unencrypted.
7.   Wallet_4 opens with no data and a zero btc balance. The sync button, far right, is green.

[Abdussamad]

1. Provide a unique file name for your new wallet. Something meaningful like restored-wallet-2017-10-27 .

2. a) Don't use the bip39 option. That is not for you. If the next button is greyed out then that means your seed is incorrect. How many words does your seed have? It should have 12 words.

2. b) The list of words you were provided before is not relevant to your old seed. Instead check this list below and make sure that all the words in your seed are present and spelled correctly: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/master/lib/old_mnemonic.py

If you have words that are not on the old list then what you have there is not an electrum seed.

[james-osburne]

Will Do.

What about this?

5.  This opens Wizard page: Derivation, with the message, "Put your wallet derivation here. If you are not sure what this is, leave this field unchanged. I do not know what the
     derivation is, so I leave it unchanged.

What is the derivation, and what should I do about it.

There are 12 words in the Seed.  I will check them against the list.

I checked the Seed words against the list; they are all on the list.  The last three were very suspenseful. I missed several words the first time or two...or three times down the list. 

[HCP]

Derivation path is only important for non Electrum (aka "BIP39") seeds...

If you have an Electrum seed... DO NOT select "BIP39 seed" from the Options.

If you have entered your Electrum seed and the "next" button is greyed out, then you have an error in your seed. Triple check all the spelling... One letter wrong will prevent the seed from working.

If you are 100% sure that you've typed in the words exactly as they're written down... Then you've written them down wrong!

Now triple check the words you've written down against the appropriate word list... Making sure you're using the "American English" spelling for words like "labor" and "color".

Also be wary of "similar" words like "then" and "them"... "rape" and "rare"... "make" and "made"... "walk" and "talk" etc...

As long as you haven't made too many errors in transcription or typing, you sound be able to figure it out.

If you have any knowledge of any addresses that this seed contains, you could also try using the seed recovery script in "btcrecover" (https://github.com/gurnec/btcrecover/blob/master/docs/Seedrecover_Quick_Start_Guide.md)

[james-osburne]

SUCCESS!

Here is the error. 

When I wrote down the Seed for the first time, I used irregular mixed case.  Some first letters upper and other lower.
I then copied a neater version of the scribbles, and, not knowing Electrum is case sensitive, I wrote them in all caps, to make them easy to identify.

Abussamad recommended carefully finding the exact words in the older Electrum word list. They are all lower case.

Today, I remembered that the list was all lower case.

I entered the Seed all lower case and "Next" lit up.  It was like a red-hot neon sign on the Vegas Strip.  When I hit next, the file opened. 

I am literally in tears. 

I live on < 1400 per month SS.  I am getting too old to be going up ladders at late night, lugging an 85 pound sewer machine. 

The IRS unlawfully stole my home and business property in early 2000.

There is not much in the account, by most standards, but there is enough to get my teeth fixed.

My first transaction will be a donation to you fellows. 

I am thankful I did not have to use that recovery software:  I had not looked at a DOS prompt ifor 15 years.

Love and care to all,

james-osbourne, holmes
You are doing a great service. It is demanding focused work requiring a very high level of skill and expertise.  May God/Goddes/Great Spirit/The Great White Lizard From Orion......whatever.... bless you all.

[Abdussamad]

Well that's a new one. uppercase vs. lowercase. this qualifies as a bug that affects old wallets. I've reported it https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/3143

[james-osburne]

How do I mark this issue solved, and do anything else that is useful?

[HCP]

Edit your first post, add "[solved]" to the "subject"... Then, after you have saved that edit, there should be a "lock thread" link, right at the bottom on the left hand side, just above the "quick reply" box...

Click that to close the thread so no more posts can be made