Bitcoin can't connect to any server

[dree12]

I'm having a slight problem here: whenever I start the bitcoin client without parameters, it starts normally but can't get any connections (always at zero). What happens is

IRC got join
IRC got join
connection timeout
trying connection 94.69.147.4:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 99.9.200.216:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 46.160.108.99:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 152.98.218.1:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 81.229.89.130:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 76.175.90.117:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout
trying connection 77.46.135.73:8333 lastseen=69945.6hrs lasttry=-364549.9hrs
connection timeout

over and over again with different IP addresses. Figuring maybe port 8333 is blocked or something, I tried "bitcoin -port 80", "bitcoin -port 6667" but in these cases it simply exits with an error: "error - couldn't connect to server". Then, why trying "bitcoin -connect=192.168.0.100" it works, but still no connections. Using "bitcoin -addnode x.x.x.x" with every fallback node listed on the wiki produces the same "error - couldn't connect to server".

This is the precompiled 0.3.24 beta bitcoin client on Win7 32bit, can anyone help me with this?

P.S.: It was working 2 days ago, but suddenly stopped.

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[jmlm-1970]

Maybe the solution for server error is in firewall settings.

Just turn off the firewall, if it starts working, then adjust the firewall preferences, including disable (menu Edit/Preferences/Advanced Options):

block broadcasts from external network
block broadcasts from internal network
block traffic from reserved addresses on public interfaces

Have fun,
João Moreira.

[dree12]

Now, that was the first post I ever made you replied to . This type of problem seems to be caused by a corrupt bitcoin installation, according to a certain Bitcoin developer:

The "lastseen" value of the nodes your client knows about is 65000 hours in the future. My guess is that your system clock is set to somewhere in 2005.

Still, the client should warn you about this instead of having this erratic behavior.

(note: my clock is not set to 2005; therefore the client is broken).

I don't know what could be causing client problems, and it certainly is a problem only I have had. Both times, reinstalling Bitcoin worked perfectly (the first time by accident, so I thought little of it).

[deepceleron]

Bitcoin has a file in it's data directory called addr.dat, which contains a list of all IP addresses you've previously connected to. Providing that your clock is now correct, it looks like the cache of previously used addresses is bad. I would delete the addr.dat file to bootstrap your client again. You can also remove the command line options and any bitcoin.conf config file you created. When you run Bitcoin, make sure the "Connect through socks4 proxy" is not selected, some users mess with this not understanding what it does.

[dree12]

Bitcoin has a file in it's data directory called addr.dat, which contains a list of all IP addresses you've previously connected to. Providing that your clock is now correct, it looks like the cache of previously used addresses is bad. I would delete the addr.dat file to bootstrap your client again. You can also remove the command line options and any bitcoin.conf config file you created. When you run Bitcoin, make sure the "Connect through socks4 proxy" is not selected, some users mess with this not understanding what it does.

I think I narrowed it down to a client corruption somewhere, but if reinstalling bitcoin (which AFAIK does not change addr.dat) worked, I think addr.dat is not involved. I don't have the technology to run md5sums or something on my executables, so I can't prove any of this. But what happened is what happened and I shouldn't worry too much about it.