RAM-Reduction & Backup Center Testing (version 0.89.99.16)

[els]

Update:  0.89.99.10-testing

Mac/OSX 0.89.99.10-testing:  Download the ArmoryQt.app for OSX

a quick check of this build looks good on my OS X 10.9!

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[etotheipi]

as with the .8 version, i get errors trying to run on a fresh install of win 7 home premium w/sp1 and all updates.  (nothing else installed at all).  this is a VM (which shouldn't matter, but who knows).

anybody know if there is something else i must install first (as perhaps implied by the logfile errors below)?

(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1041 - C++ block utilities not available.
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1042 -    Make sure that you have the SWIG-compiled modules
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1043 -    in the current directory (or added to the PATH)
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1044 -    Specifically, you need:
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1045 -        CppBlockUtils.py     and
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1049 -        _CppBlockUtils.pyd
(ERROR) Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "ArmoryQt.py", line 31, in <module>
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 1037, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 26, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 18, in swig_import_helper
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 12, in <module>
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 10, in __load
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

Error in sys.excepthook:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 617, in logexcept_override
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute '__excepthook__'

Original exception was:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "ArmoryQt.py", line 31, in <module>
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 1037, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 26, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 18, in swig_import_helper
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 12, in <module>
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 10, in __load
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

Perhaps there's some kind of MSVC redistributable to be installed.  In the past, there was a couple users that needed the MSVC 2008 Redistributable installed, when I was still compiling with MSVS 2005.  Perhaps goatpig has some ideas...?

[etotheipi]

Oh, I haven't been building the Debian packages, but it's actually pretty easy, so I don't know why not.  I just built the package and put it in Dropbox:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1139081/ArmoryTestingReleases/armory_0.89.99.10-testing_amd64.deb

It is signed by my online GPG key (not the offline key, but better than nothing).  Use "dpkg-sig --verify armory_0.89.99.10-testing_amd64.deb" and check that the signature is valid for key FB596985.  You may have to install the "dpkg-sig" package first ("sudo apt-get install dpkg-sig").

If you are on 64-bit Ubuntu-Debian, please try it and let me know if it works for you the same as building it yourself.

[Rogue Star]

I'm seeing the same error as "els", for Win7 Ultimate x64, also a VM with all Windows updates.

I have the following MS VS related entries listed in Programs and Features

Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.6161

[etotheipi]

Rogue Star & els,

I just dumped a "standalone" version into dropbox.  It should be exactly the same as the installed version, but it hasn't gone through the NSIS installer-builder process.  I want to see if that makes a difference.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1139081/ArmoryTestingReleases/ArmoryStandalone_0.89.99.10-testing.zip

Just unzip and double-click on ArmoryQt.exe.  Let me know if that works. 

P.S. - I wonder if maybe the presence of 2008 redistributable is actually hurting you.  Total longshot, but possible.  Since I changed compilers, I doubt having that installed would benefit you (though there may be other reasons you have it installed)

[Rogue Star]

I just dumped a "standalone" version into dropbox.  It should be exactly the same as the installed version, but it hasn't gone through the NSIS installer-builder process.  I want to see if that makes a difference.

It was a nice thought, but the standalone version has the same error. One slightly odd thing about the standalone is it logs in both the User\App Data folder and the Standalone folder, but I think that may be normal. The Standalone log had a slightly more detailed stack.

Code:

(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1041 - C++ block utilities not available.
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1042 -    Make sure that you have the SWIG-compiled modules
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1043 -    in the current directory (or added to the PATH)
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1044 -    Specifically, you need:
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1045 -        CppBlockUtils.py     and
(CRITICAL) armoryengine.pyc:1049 -        _CppBlockUtils.pyd
(ERROR) Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "ArmoryQt.py", line 31, in <module>
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 1037, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 26, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 18, in swig_import_helper
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 12, in <module>
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 10, in __load
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

Error in sys.excepthook:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 617, in logexcept_override
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute '__excepthook__'

Original exception was:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "ArmoryQt.py", line 31, in <module>
  File "armoryengine.pyc", line 1037, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 26, in <module>
  File "CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 18, in swig_import_helper
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 12, in <module>
  File "_CppBlockUtils.pyc", line 10, in __load
ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

[EDIT] Removing the redistributable and .NET Framework 4 Client Profile didn't have any impact. Is there any particular versions that should be installed? From what I understand about VS, it's normal to have multiple distributable versions installed and the app should select the appropriate one automatically. I don't know much about VS, so I could be totally wrong.

[Rampion]

Update:  0.89.99.10-testing

Windows 0.89.99.10-testing:  Download the NSIS installer
Ubuntu 0.89.99.10-testing:  checkout and build "testing" branch (see instruction in first post)
Mac/OSX 0.89.99.10-testing:  Download the ArmoryQt.app for OSX

What's new:

• (1) For my life, I cannot figure out the orphan chain bug.  It is very complicated to debug even with the tools I've got right now.  Instead, I work around it by detecting it and rebuilding the databases when it happens.  This won't solve it for everyone, but it does happen most often if a build/update is interrupted, so perhaps it won't be an issue if you're nice to Armory  For now, I don't see another way that gets me to a release in the near future.
• (2) Thanks to CircusPeanut, this version of Armory detects non-standard signature padding and corrects it before broadcasting!  If you had trouble broadcasting transactions from an offline computer runnning an old version of Armory, updating the online computer to this version will allow your offline tx to work again!
• (3) Goatpig helped update the "bitcoin:" URI-handling in both Linux and Windows.  I have no idea if it works:  try it!  (both with Armory open, and without)
• (4) Added three new items to the "Help" menu:
      "Clear Unconfirmed Transactions" (mempoool.bin)
      "Rescan Databases"
      "Rebuild and Rescan Databases"
  All three operations require restarting Armory, and signal to it by touching a file in the ARMORY_HOME_DIR -- meaning you can do it yourself externally.  You can simply touch "clearmempool.txt", 'rebuild.txt' or "rescan.txt".  The file will trigger the appropriate behave and then be deleted so it doesn't trigger on the next load.
• (5) Added a popup to warn users about sending money to their Armory wallet without ever getting online first.  This should prevent users dumping money in before they realize that it doesn't work on their system.
• (6) Fixed the "memory pool file is corrupt" messages on Windows.  It should now successfully save zero-conf transactions between loads.
• (7) If a rebuild operation is interrupted, Armory usually picks up where it left off when it restarted... but the meter would reset to 0% giving the user the impression it is starting from scratch.  That has been fixed.

News on OSX:

The OSX recipe prepared by picobit that i used to compile the OSX testing version, appears to be pretty unreliable on some systems, with lots of crashing.  It appears that, with enough effort, you can eventually get out of Armory what you need, but will likely involve lots of restarting and rescanning.  

The good news is that it appears this is a known problem affecting the combo of PyQt4 & OSX 10.9.  Not sure when there will be a fix, but even without fixed PyQt4 binaries, I might be able to work around it (it has to do with nested modal dialogs).  Therefore, I suspect the issue is not picobit's recipe -- even if I rebuilt higuys' package for 10.9, it would likely still be unreliable.

Message Signing!
Almost... should be in the next testing version.  I hadn't planned on including it in this release, but getting this release out has taken so long that it gave me time to delegate that integration to CircusPeanut.  Will include a Bitcoin-Qt compatible version, as well as an Armory-specific version that is based on RFC2440, so I'm hoping that others will feel inspired to support it (it's makes much more sense than the bare signatures).

Wow, the last OSX version works even better than the previous one. On 10.8.5 (no Mavericks for me, it screws up my system) with 8GB RAM it takes only a few seconds to boot up! The screwed fonts are also gone.

One question Alan: are these testing version safe to be used to manage our funds, or are they supposed to be used for pure testing only on testnet? I wouldn't like to screw up

[etotheipi]

Wow, the last OSX version works even better than the previous one. On 10.8.5 (no Mavericks for me, it screws up my system) with 8GB RAM it takes only a few seconds to boot up! The screwed fonts are also gone.

One question Alan: are these testing version safe to be used to manage our funds, or are they supposed to be used for pure testing only on testnet? I wouldn't like to screw up

I wonder if maybe things were updated on OSX 10.9 between the last version and now.  Because I didn't really do anything differently.  The only thing was that I installed the latest updates on 10.9...

As for reliability of this version:  I have to give the usual caveats about it being a testing version of beta software.  But it has proven to be quite reliable.  And I've been using it exclusively for the past month.  However, the backup system is still only 99% complete.  I've got some more testing to do on it before an official release, but I'm fairly confident it won't change (but we have some more tests to run, and I want to implement a way to test all fragments at once).

I am comfortable using it for offline transactions, for sure... because the offline computer (running a stable version) would  catch any issues with the tx created by the new version -- but so far there hasn't even been a hint of a problem with hot wallets, etc.

I have one more major bug to catch, which results in zero-conf transactions disappearing from the interface when they are included in a block.  It doesn't happen to all tx, and they should reappear when you restart.  But it can lead to incorrect balances which can be somewhat dangerous.  It seems that all the other bugs are simply usability issues, which I'll have to live with for now.  I think the combined usability problems of this version still sum to something far less than the problems with the old version with the RAM consumption...

Also, if you run across the following error in your logfile:

Code:

 Cannot get tx copy, because don't have full StoredTx

please stop Armory and make a backup of your database directory.  Then rebuild.  I will find a way to get a copy of the DB from you so that I can debug it.  But doing a rebuild should fix it in the short-run.  (sadly, I even caught this bug in my windows debugger, but accidentally did a rebuild over it.  D'oh!),

[goatpig]

Windows Builds:

Try the MSVS 2012 redist, that's the only one I can think off that may be missing. This is the same issues as the WinXP builds I've distributed recently and I have to investigate the error on a clean install to find it out.

[Rogue Star]

Windows Builds:

Try the MSVS 2012 redist, that's the only one I can think off that may be missing. This is the same issues as the WinXP builds I've distributed recently and I have to investigate the error on a clean install to find it out.

I installed the MSVS 2012 redist, which added "Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) - 11.0.60610" as an entry to Programs and Features.

Unfortunately, I still get the same error. Thanks for the suggestion goatpig.

Is there also a .NET Framework that should be installed along side it?

[goatpig]

Windows Builds:

Try the MSVS 2012 redist, that's the only one I can think off that may be missing. This is the same issues as the WinXP builds I've distributed recently and I have to investigate the error on a clean install to find it out.

I installed the MSVS 2012 redist, which added "Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x86) - 11.0.60610" as an entry to Programs and Features.

Unfortunately, I still get the same error. Thanks for the suggestion goatpig.

Is there also a .NET Framework that should be installed along side it?

I'm now 99% sure this issue stems from a file missing in the package. Give it until Alan gets back and confirms this, he'll build a new installer with the fix.

This build shouldn't require those runtimes nor .NET framework binaries that aren't already packed with stock Win7

[Dabs]

Okay. Mr. goatpig, let me know if you have a new XP build for me and others to test. I have a (almost) clean install of XP SP3, and I keep it that way.

[Portnoy]

Is there anything that can be done when it is stuck at "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds"?
The 'Transactions' tab is greyed out; the lower right status bar says connected and seems to show
the correct number of blocks; the wallets all display the correct balances( haven't tried any
transactions to see if they update correctly ).

I shut it down and restarted it several times and each time soon after starting it gets to a point where
it is displaying properly; the transaction tab is accessible and scrollable and everything seems to be
working properly and then after a short while it switches to the Dashboard tab and says it is not
connected ( even though the text in the status bar still says it is ) and then after a few minutes it goes
back to that "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds", like I describe above, and just stays like that...

This is with ArmorySetup-0.89.99.8-beta_win32.exe
on Windows 7 64-bit.

The latest test version starts for me but never even gets to displaying wallet balances or saying connected in the status bar...

Thanks

[etotheipi]

Is there anything that can be done when it is stuck at "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds"?
The 'Transactions' tab is greyed out; the lower right status bar says connected and seems to show
the correct number of blocks; the wallets all display the correct balances( haven't tried any
transactions to see if they update correctly ).

I shut it down and restarted it several times and each time soon after starting it gets to a point where
it is displaying properly; the transaction tab is accessible and scrollable and everything seems to be
working properly and then after a short while it switches to the Dashboard tab and says it is not
connected ( even though the text in the status bar still says it is ) and then after a few minutes it goes
back to that "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds", like I describe above, and just stays like that...

This is with ArmorySetup-0.89.99.8-beta_win32.exe
on Windows 7 64-bit.

The latest test version starts for me but never even gets to displaying wallet balances or saying connected in the status bar...

Thanks

Since I messed a bit with the DB ops, go ahead and do a rebuild if you don't mind waiting for it.  From the help menu "Rebuild and Rescan Databases".  Let me know if you have the same problem after that.

[Portnoy]

Is there anything that can be done when it is stuck at "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds"?
The 'Transactions' tab is greyed out; the lower right status bar says connected and seems to show
the correct number of blocks; the wallets all display the correct balances( haven't tried any
transactions to see if they update correctly ).

I shut it down and restarted it several times and each time soon after starting it gets to a point where
it is displaying properly; the transaction tab is accessible and scrollable and everything seems to be
working properly and then after a short while it switches to the Dashboard tab and says it is not
connected ( even though the text in the status bar still says it is ) and then after a few minutes it goes
back to that "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds", like I describe above, and just stays like that...

This is with ArmorySetup-0.89.99.8-beta_win32.exe
on Windows 7 64-bit.

The latest test version starts for me but never even gets to displaying wallet balances or saying connected in the status bar...

Thanks

Since I messed a bit with the DB ops, go ahead and do a rebuild if you don't mind waiting for it.  From the help menu "Rebuild and Rescan Databases".  Let me know if you have the same problem after that.

I don't see that option under the help menu. Do I have to be in expert mode?

[etotheipi]

Is there anything that can be done when it is stuck at "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds"?
The 'Transactions' tab is greyed out; the lower right status bar says connected and seems to show
the correct number of blocks; the wallets all display the correct balances( haven't tried any
transactions to see if they update correctly ).

I shut it down and restarted it several times and each time soon after starting it gets to a point where
it is displaying properly; the transaction tab is accessible and scrollable and everything seems to be
working properly and then after a short while it switches to the Dashboard tab and says it is not
connected ( even though the text in the status bar still says it is ) and then after a few minutes it goes
back to that "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds", like I describe above, and just stays like that...

This is with ArmorySetup-0.89.99.8-beta_win32.exe
on Windows 7 64-bit.

The latest test version starts for me but never even gets to displaying wallet balances or saying connected in the status bar...

Thanks

Did you install 0.89.99.10?  It was just posted yesterday.

Since I messed a bit with the DB ops, go ahead and do a rebuild if you don't mind waiting for it.  From the help menu "Rebuild and Rescan Databases".  Let me know if you have the same problem after that.

I don't see that option under the help menu. Do I have to be in expert mode?

[goatpig]

Okay. Mr. goatpig, let me know if you have a new XP build for me and others to test. I have a (almost) clean install of XP SP3, and I keep it that way.

Working to resolve the current Windows issue, this should give me a clue as off what's wrong with the WinXP build.

[Portnoy]

Is there anything that can be done when it is stuck at "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds"?
The 'Transactions' tab is greyed out; the lower right status bar says connected and seems to show
the correct number of blocks; the wallets all display the correct balances( haven't tried any
transactions to see if they update correctly ).

I shut it down and restarted it several times and each time soon after starting it gets to a point where
it is displaying properly; the transaction tab is accessible and scrollable and everything seems to be
working properly and then after a short while it switches to the Dashboard tab and says it is not
connected ( even though the text in the status bar still says it is ) and then after a few minutes it goes
back to that "Build Databases and Scan - 62% 15 seconds", like I describe above, and just stays like that...

This is with ArmorySetup-0.89.99.8-beta_win32.exe
on Windows 7 64-bit.

The latest test version starts for me but never even gets to displaying wallet balances or saying connected in the status bar...

Thanks

Did you install 0.89.99.10?  It was just posted yesterday.

Since I messed a bit with the DB ops, go ahead and do a rebuild if you don't mind waiting for it.  From the help menu "Rebuild and Rescan Databases".  Let me know if you have the same problem after that.

I don't see that option under the help menu. Do I have to be in expert mode?

Yes I installed 0.89.99.10 and tried it and then uninstalled it using the control panel
and reinstalled 0.89.99.8.

I am now in expert mode and under the help menu it still just lists the 3 choices:
About Armory
Armory Version...
Revert All Settings

[etotheipi]

Yes I installed 0.89.99.10 and tried it and then uninstalled it using the control panel
and reinstalled 0.89.99.8.

I am now in expert mode and under the help menu it still just lists the 3 choices:
About Armory
Armory Version...
Revert All Settings

Those three options were added in 0.89.99.10. 

[Portnoy]

Yes I installed 0.89.99.10 and tried it and then uninstalled it using the control panel
and reinstalled 0.89.99.8.

I am now in expert mode and under the help menu it still just lists the 3 choices:
About Armory
Armory Version...
Revert All Settings

Those three options were added in 0.89.99.10. 

Hmm...
Well I reinstalled 0.89.99.8 and that is what displays in the left side of the client now: "Armory 0.89.99.8 / Expert"
When I choose that 'About Armory' option it displays 0.89.99.8-beta as well.
When I choose 'Armory Version' it says I am in offline mode and can't retrieve the version from the internet, even though the status bar says I am "Connected (268942 blocks)". 

Now, after another restart it seems stuck at "Initializing Bitcoin Engine"... but all the wallets display their balances and the status bar saying what it says above:
"Connected (268942 blocks)"