Bitcoin QT problems after upgrade

[BittBurger]

I had several wallet.dat files stored on separate drives, using previous version of QT.  All encrypted.

Someone told me to back them up using the QT "backup" option in the software.  Not just manually move them offline.

1)  So I pulled one of the dat files off an external drive, and placed it into the QT directory.

2)  I loaded up QT

4)  The menu system now had "Encrypt Wallet" enabled.  This shouldn't be the case.  This wallet file was already encrypted.

5)  I chose to encrypt again, with the same passphrase, and it told me:

Wallet encryption failed due to an internal error.  Your wallet was not encrypted.

6)  I loaded the same DAT file into a fresh install of QT on an offline computer.  Same thing.

Any suggestions?   I am afraid to proceed. 

I have run into problems with the encryption system twice before, and this is the most worrisome aspect to 'break'.

I am going to reinstall QT and try sending money from this wallet to another wallet of mine.

I sure hope the whole balance doesn't suddenly disappear when I do so ...

Is there something I was supposed to do after the recent upgrade, if I had wallet dat files stored somewhere?

Thanks.

[1714180807]

1714180807

[BittBurger]

Bump.  Nobody at the QT software company has any input on this? 

I am really afraid to send any coins from this wallet. 

Why is the encryption suddenly screwing up / not being recognized?

[BittBurger]

As a test, I loaded up this wallet with quite a bit of BTC in it ... and tried to send just .0001 BTC

Just to see if all my BTC would suddenly evaporate into thin air.  Or if it would send a tiny amount as expected.

When I hit send, I got this message:

"This transaction is over the size limit.  You can still send it for a fee of 0.0001 BTC, which goes to the nodes that process your transaction and helps to support the network.  Do you want to pay the fee?"

Over the size limit?

I was trying to send 0.0001 BTC.

My paranoia is kicking in and telling me that the software thinks I want to send all my BTC somewhere.  That's the only way it would be over any limit.

Something is seriously wrong.  Can someone please help?  I can't afford to lose everything in this wallet.

[Oldgamer]

Does your wallet shows the correct balance?
Whenever you copied your wallet from backup place, you should start bitcoin-qt with rescan option:

bitcoin-qt.exe -rescan

I am not sure, but probably it will help.

[msc]

I don't know what's going on with QT, but over the size limit would refer to the size of the transaction in bytes, not in value.  It's better to make test transactions a larger size, like 0.1, because it's usually easier for the network to process, as I understand.  I'd also go ahead and include the 0.0001 fee to make sure the transaction gets processed.

[BittBurger]

Thanks guys.

1)  Yes, wallet shows correct balance, but as we have all heard - shit hits the fan with a compromised wallet only when you try to "send", right?

2)  QT rescans every time you put a new wallet file in, automatically.   Does that answer your question?

3)   Why would sending more BTC make the "transaction size in bytes" smaller ?

4)  I just loaded up my other wallet file and "Encrypt" is grayed out, as it should be.   So its definitely something wrong with the other wallet file.  I even loaded up a third saved wallet file and it too has "Encrypt" grayed out, indicating that it is already encrypted.  

Yet when I load the wallet file im concerned about, "Encrypt" is enabled, and it should not be, because the file is already encrypted.  And when I try to encrypt it again, it gives the error message above.

I really ... really ... really hate trusting this much money to a software program like this.  For this exact reason.

[BittBurger]

Update:

I just copied in another offline-saved wallet file and QT tells me its corrupted.

Bitcoin QT is a crap software as far as I am concerned.  This is totally unacceptable.   And this is not user error.  Several people are reporting this problem:

"Wallet corrupt, unable to salvage".

That's cool.  No big deal QT .... just lost $1,000 .... aint no thang ....

Nice job QT.   Fail.

[BittBurger]

By the way, why is this called the Bitcoin QT support forum when absolutely *nobody* from Bitcoin QT participates or helps anyone here?

Its not a software support forum when a bunch of end users have to sit around making clueless guesses.

Fail # 2.

[gmaxwell]

I asked this question a few days ago but the thread got dumped into the rather inactive subforum.

Can anyone here chime in on what might be going on?

I am really concerned that if I pull the trigger and try to send some BTC, the whole balance is going to disappear.

Something is not right with the way QT is handling this wallet file.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=300306

Thank you.

You received an accurate response here— the fee dialog is expected payments of less than 0.01 BTC.  I assume you received no further responses because it sounded like you got your issues figured out, as you see your correct balance.

I'm afraid you're a little confused about how this works. There is no "QT company". Bitcoin is open source software developed by volunteers. There is nothing but users.  There is an issue tracker you can report bugs to, but either in the tech support forum here or in the issue tracker you're going to have to put in the effort to articulate your problems clearly.  Avoiding being gratuitously insulting might also be wise, while your frustrations might be understandable no one is obligated to deal with them, and there are plenty of other things that need doing which do not involve harsh language.

So, lets try again.  What exactly is your problem?  Please be specific and complete, I don't have access to your computer and have know knoweldge of whatever mix of different wallets you have.   As a general starting point— do you have backups of your wallets?  And can you go ahead and make new backups before trying anything else (do not overwrite your old backups).  So long as you have backups actually losing coin is basically unheard of...

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
Nobody at the QT software company has any
- snip -

At the what?

What makes you think there's any such thing as a QT software company?

- snip -
Why is the encryption suddenly screwing up / not being recognized?

Sounds like you have a damaged wallet.dat file.  Hopefully you have a good backup from earlier?  Otherwise, you can try using the pywallet tool to extract the private keys.

As a test, I loaded up this wallet with quite a bit of BTC in it ... and tried to send just .0001 BTC
- snip -
I got this message:

"This transaction is over the size limit.  You can still send it for a fee of 0.0001 BTC, which goes to the nodes that process your transaction and helps to support the network.  Do you want to pay the fee?"

Over the size limit?

I was trying to send 0.0001 BTC.

My paranoia is kicking in and telling me that the software thinks I want to send all my BTC somewhere.  That's the only way it would be over any limit.

Bitcoin QT will require you to pay a fee of 0.0001 BTC on any transaction less than 0.01 BTC.  The message about "over the size limit" can be a bit misleading, but isn't an indication that "the software thinks you want to send all my BTC somewhere".

Something is seriously wrong.

Define "seriously wrong".  So far the only issue you've reported is:

- snip -
5)  I chose to encrypt again, with the same passphrase, and it told me:

Wallet encryption failed due to an internal error.  Your wallet was not encrypted.

- snip -

Which does sound like a damaged wallet.dat file, but isn't anything to panic about yet.  Panic is likely to lead you to drastic measures that will result in making things worse.

Can someone please help?

I'm trying.

I can't afford to lose everything in this wallet.

Then you probably shouldn't be using the software until you have a better understanding of how it works and how to properly protect yourself from loss.  Considering the significant volatility of bitcoin, you really should re-think your decision to use it for storing value that you "can't afford to lose".

- snip -
as we have all heard - shit hits the fan with a compromised wallet only when you try to "send", right?
- snip -

Where did you hear that?

Why would sending more BTC make the "transaction size in bytes" smaller ?

Generally, it wouldn't.  However, you can potentially eliminate the need to include a transaction fee if ALL the outputs of your transaction are more than 0.01 BTC (assuming of course that you don't have other factors reducing the priority of your transaction).

I really ... really ... really hate trusting this much money to a software program like this.  For this exact reason.

Then why are you?

Bitcoin QT is a crap software as far as I am concerned.  This is totally unacceptable.

Perhaps you should improve it?  Or hire someone to improve it for you if you don't have the skills?  It is open source software after all.

By the way, why is this called the Bitcoin QT support forum when absolutely *nobody* from Bitcoin QT participates or helps anyone here?

Nobody from Bitcoin QT? What do you mean?  Software developlers volunteer their own time to assist here.  They have no obligation to assist on your personal schedule.
You really shouldn't trust money that you can't afford to lose to something that you understand so little about.

Its not a software support forum when a bunch of end users have to sit around making clueless guesses.

Actually, that's exactly what it is.  Especially when the person having the issue provides so little information about their problem.

Here's a good start:

What operating system are you using?
What version of QT are you running?
What errors are you seeing in the logs?
Do you have any older (or more recent) backups of the same wallet.dat file that is damaged?
How many addresses are used in the damaged wallet.dat file?

[grue]

By the way, why is this called the Bitcoin QT support forum when absolutely *nobody* from Bitcoin QT participates or helps anyone here?

Because you have no patience to wait longer than 48 hours.

Its not a software support forum when a bunch of end users have to sit around making clueless guesses.

Fail # 2.

Yeah, I really hate it when volunteers don't instantly respond to your problems. /s

[bitgold1]

Can anyone here help?

I recently upgraded my Qt client to 0.8.5. Since doing so I have not been able to create addresses or receive bitcoins.
When starting the client I receive the following message:
Runaway Exception
A fatal error occurred. Bitcoin can no longer continue safely and will quit.
Exception: St13runtime_err
C\wallet:: GenerateNeKey() addkey failed
C:\program Files(86x86 bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe in runaway exception

The next day I receive the following message:
system error: CWalletDB::ListAccountCreditDebit(): cannot create DB cursor