MultiBit

[Zeek_W]

I seem to have a problem. I withdrew BTC from my MtGox account in two transactions last night to two wallets in multibit. I can see via blockchain that they have been sent but still there is no sign of the funds in my local wallets.

What do I do now?

[jim618]

Hi Zeek_W,

You don't mention which version of MultiBit you are using. If you are on an older version please update to the latest on multibit.org before proceeding. (The version number is given on the "About MultiBit" menu option).

To track down your transactions, go through the following in order:
1) Find out if the transactions are on the block chain yet. You can do this in various ways but the easiest is to search for them in blockchain.info and see if they are confirmed.
(If they are not confirmed then you will just have to wait.)
2) Double check the transactions have been sent to one of your MultiBit RECEIVING addresses.
(If not then you have accidentally sent them somewhere else).
3) If 1) and 2) are OK then you should be able to do the following to see your coin:
3.1) Restart MultiBit and let it connect and sync.
3.2) Go to 'Tools | Reset Blockchain and Transactions'. Select the 'Specify reset date'' option and choose the day before the day you sent the MTGox transactions. (Choosing the day before avoids any time zone problems)
3.3) Press the 'Reset blockchain and transactions' button and let it replay the blocks that contain your transactions. Just let it finish syncing and you should see your transactions.

Let me know if you have any problems.

Jim

[Zeek_W]

Hi Zeek_W,

You don't mention which version of MultiBit you are using. If you are on an older version please update to the latest on multibit.org before proceeding. (The version number is given on the "About MultiBit" menu option).

To track down your transactions, go through the following in order:
1) Find out if the transactions are on the block chain yet. You can do this in various ways but the easiest is to search for them in blockchain.info and see if they are confirmed.
(If they are not confirmed then you will just have to wait.)
2) Double check the transactions have been sent to one of your MultiBit RECEIVING addresses.
(If not then you have accidentally sent them somewhere else).
3) If 1) and 2) are OK then you should be able to do the following to see your coin:
3.1) Restart MultiBit and let it connect and sync.
3.2) Go to 'Tools | Reset Blockchain and Transactions'. Select the 'Specify reset date'' option and choose the day before the day you sent the MTGox transactions. (Choosing the day before avoids any time zone problems)
3.3) Press the 'Reset blockchain and transactions' button and let it replay the blocks that contain your transactions. Just let it finish syncing and you should see your transactions.

Let me know if you have any problems.

Jim

Thanks for the indepth fault finding ideas Jim. I was on latest client, and were indeed sent to receive addresses - they were viewable on the blockchain as confirmed. I managed to get the coins by exporting private keys into blockchain.info - everything is all good now.

Cheers

[jim618]

Great - glad you got your coin successfully.

Of course things like this should never happen but it it is still pretty difficult to pin down every possible reason for things not working.

I think I will put that fault finding list into a troubleshooting web page as it might be of use to others. Exporting your private keys and importing them elsewhere is also a good solution.

[Mike Hearn]

If you trust Jim (or me) you could send your wallet and we'll examine it to look for clues as to what went wrong.

[Zeek_W]

If you trust Jim (or me) you could send your wallet and we'll examine it to look for clues as to what went wrong.

it might just be a case of having 4 wallets in the one client. Instead of 1 wallet and different recieve addresses.

I'll test out just a single wallet when I return home and deposit a small amount in there. It was really puzzling me as I could blatently see on blockchain that it was routed through :/

[jim618]

Hi Zeek_W,

If you could test it out and reproduce the problem that would be very useful. With a wallet that exhibits the problem I can then debug it to find and fix it.

Thanks,

Jim

[jim618]

The Arabic and Hindi bounties ended at the end of October so I have updated the multibit.org website and updated the bounties detail page:

http://multibit.org/bounties.html

Bounties work, but they are a bit time consuming to do and the translation stats don't quite give you want you want to know. Also, of the three languages that have been run as bounties (+ Farsi) the most prolific translators did not really want the BTC - they just wanted their mother tongue translated. (MBH, who did the majority of the Arabic translation, donated his share back to the multibit donations pot: Thanks!).

Once I have made all the relevant payments I think I will close off running bounties for the time being to concentrate more on the dev work.

[PTseller]

Help Regarding MultiBit !


1-> I am having problem due to some reason my wallet got corrupted and i saved my wallet in 3 places pen drive , hard disk and CD . Week back i have received few btc but i forget to make backup on other drives and yesterday when i open my wallet it showing me 0 BTC in my wallet i open my hard disk wallet its working but its not showing the amount which i received week back Please help me out how can i get my BTC back which i have received week back !

2-> yesterday i have generated new BTC address and given to my buyer the wallet was in hard disk and after generating new BTC address  i have removed my hard disk and in the morning when my buyer said BTC send i checked my wallet there is nothing.  On blockchain transaction was done ! but i didn't received anything even the BTC address which i have generated not showing in my multibit

Please friends help me out i am in bad situation !!

Regards'
PTseller

[wrend]

Help Regarding MultiBit !


1-> I am having problem due to some reason my wallet got corrupted and i saved my wallet in 3 places pen drive , hard disk and CD . Week back i have received few btc but i forget to make backup on other drives Sad and yesterday when i open my wallet it showing me 0 BTC in my wallet i open my hard disk wallet its working but its not showing the amount which i received week back Sad Please help me out how can i get my BTC back which i have received week back !

2-> yesterday i have generated new BTC address and given to my buyer the wallet was in hard disk and after generating new BTC address  i have removed my hard disk and in the morning when my buyer said BTC send i checked my wallet there is nothing.  On blockchain transaction was done ! but i didn't received anything Sad even the BTC address which i have generated not showing in my multibit Sad

Please friends help me out i am in bad situation !!

Regards'
PTseller

don't panic, but keep your backup safe in the meanwhile.

[jim618]

Help Regarding MultiBit !


1-> I am having problem due to some reason my wallet got corrupted and i saved my wallet in 3 places pen drive , hard disk and CD . Week back i have received few btc but i forget to make backup on other drives and yesterday when i open my wallet it showing me 0 BTC in my wallet i open my hard disk wallet its working but its not showing the amount which i received week back Please help me out how can i get my BTC back which i have received week back !

2-> yesterday i have generated new BTC address and given to my buyer the wallet was in hard disk and after generating new BTC address  i have removed my hard disk and in the morning when my buyer said BTC send i checked my wallet there is nothing.  On blockchain transaction was done ! but i didn't received anything even the BTC address which i have generated not showing in my multibit

Please friends help me out i am in bad situation !!

Regards'
PTseller

Hello PTSeller,

Good that you have multiple backups of your wallet. You have to be a little careful copying wallets around for a couple of reasons (similar to bitcoin-qt really).
1) when MultiBit is synchronising, it downloads the blocks and checks with all the open wallets if a payment needs to go into any of the wallets. It then adds it. If you have a wallet not open (ie a backup) it will not see this. This is the cause of your first problem.

You can do a 'Reset blockchain and transactions' to make MultiBit replay the blocks. I normally do it from the date of the last transaction in that wallet. (this wallet catch up really should be automatic - it is on my TODO list)
edit: I think you are in india so use the DAY BEFORE the transaction date just to avoid any time zone problems.


2) on your second point I would be careful removing and adding hard disks / USB drives. MultiBit writes to the wallet quite often (as data comes in). If you dismount a drive it has nowhere to write to. Also, backups are written to the same directory as the wallet (but with the date in the name). If you remove the drive it cannot write these. I do not recommend dismounting drives whilst MultiBit is running. Shut MultiBit down first so that it writes everything out to the wallets and shuts down cleanly. Then copy the wallets.

Anyhow, have a look in your wallet directory for files called 'your wallet'-'a date in format yyyymmddhhmmss'. These are the backup wallet files.

To be on the safe side, take a copy of them and then open them in MultiBit to see if they have your new address you created in.

edit: if you find the wallet where it saved the new address, use this wallet as your 'primary' wallet. You will probably have to do a 'Reset blockchain and transactions' from a date before when you were sent the BTC to get the transaction to appear.

Regards

Jim

[PTseller]

Help Regarding MultiBit !


1-> I am having problem due to some reason my wallet got corrupted and i saved my wallet in 3 places pen drive , hard disk and CD . Week back i have received few btc but i forget to make backup on other drives and yesterday when i open my wallet it showing me 0 BTC in my wallet i open my hard disk wallet its working but its not showing the amount which i received week back Please help me out how can i get my BTC back which i have received week back !

2-> yesterday i have generated new BTC address and given to my buyer the wallet was in hard disk and after generating new BTC address  i have removed my hard disk and in the morning when my buyer said BTC send i checked my wallet there is nothing.  On blockchain transaction was done ! but i didn't received anything even the BTC address which i have generated not showing in my multibit

Please friends help me out i am in bad situation !!

Regards'
PTseller

Hello PTSeller,

Good that you have multiple backups of your wallet. You have to be a little careful copying wallets around for a couple of reasons (similar to bitcoin-qt really).
1) when MultiBit is synchronising, it downloads the blocks and checks with all the open wallets if a payment needs to go into any of the wallets. It then adds it. If you have a wallet not open (ie a backup) it will not see this. This is the cause of your first problem.

You can do a 'Reset blockchain and transactions' to make MultiBit replay the blocks. I normally do it from the date of the last transaction in that wallet. (this wallet catch up really should be automatic - it is on my TODO list)
edit: I think you are in india so use the DAY BEFORE the transaction date just to avoid any time zone problems.


2) on your second point I would be careful removing and adding hard disks / USB drives. MultiBit writes to the wallet quite often (as data comes in). If you dismount a drive it has nowhere to write to. Also, backups are written to the same directory as the wallet (but with the date in the name). If you remove the drive it cannot write these. I do not recommend dismounting drives whilst MultiBit is running. Shut MultiBit down first so that it writes everything out to the wallets and shuts down cleanly. Then copy the wallets.

Anyhow, have a look in your wallet directory for files called 'your wallet'-'a date in format yyyymmddhhmmss'. These are the backup wallet files.

To be on the safe side, take a copy of them and then open them in MultiBit to see if they have your new address you created in.

edit: if you find the wallet where it saved the new address, use this wallet as your 'primary' wallet. You will probably have to do a 'Reset blockchain and transactions' from a date before when you were sent the BTC to get the transaction to appear.

Regards

Jim

done all whatever you said mate but nothing happen i have checked backup wallet files also also i have 'Reset blockchain and transactions'  back date nothing happen i get this error

Error in below bar ->  The new wallet "H:\wallet\multibit.wallet" could not be created. The error was "Could not write walletinfo file for wallet 'H:\wallet\multibit.info'".

please mate help me out !


story from start !

I have open my multibit 2 days back but there is no BTC in my multibit i check my wallet in Drive and mount it again but nothing then i went to Hard disk i mount that wallet and got BTC but weeks back transaction BTC was not there i was shocked and then 1 days back my buyer want to send BTC to me i have mount my hard disk wallet again and created new BTC address for BTC payment and i have given to him new address and then i plugged out my hard disk and done my pc hibernate ! and when i get confirmation from buyer btc send i checked my MultiBit there is no transaction and also the BTC address which i have created i am really in bad situation ! please help me out

My multibit Version is -> 0.4.2

[jim618]

Hi PTSeller,

The most important thing is to keep your current wallets copied somewhere safe. It is the private keys in your wallets that are irreplaceable and enable you to spend your bitcoin.

The version that you are on is 4 months old and unfortunately does not have the rolling backups I mentioned in the previous post. I strongly recommend you update to the latest version on the multibit.org site before proceeding as a lot of code has gone into MultiBit in 4 months.

Once you have done that try the 'Reset blockchain and transactions' I mentioned before.

Also it is important that you shut down MultiBit before you remove/ dismount your drive so that it can write all your wallets cleanly. (there is a better way to do it with everything on your portable drive but I will post about that later. First things first).

Jim

[HostFat]

Can you add a message that say to the user that there is a new version available?

[jim618]

Hi HostFat,

Yes I plan to have a little 'notifications' icon or small panel in the centre of the header that picks up the MultiBitOrg tweets. It will be to the right of the balances and to the left of the currency ticker.

It would be nicer to have a message key (like the Satoshi/Gavin/Theymos one) to send it over the bitcoin network as then it would be decentralised but only the Satoshi messages get propagated so currently that is not an option.

It is on the TODO list but, to be honest, not near the top as people can subscribe to the MultiBitOrg tweets to get the same info.

[PTseller]

Hi PTSeller,

The most important thing is to keep your current wallets copied somewhere safe. It is the private keys in your wallets that are irreplaceable and enable you to spend your bitcoin.

The version that you are on is 4 months old and unfortunately does not have the rolling backups I mentioned in the previous post. I strongly recommend you update to the latest version on the multibit.org site before proceeding as a lot of code has gone into MultiBit in 4 months.

Once you have done that try the 'Reset blockchain and transactions' I mentioned before.

Also it is important that you shut down MultiBit before you remove/ dismount your drive so that it can write all your wallets cleanly. (there is a better way to do it with everything on your portable drive but I will post about that later. First things first).

Jim

ok let me update my multibit and 'Reset blockchain and transactions'   will update you

[wrend]

if you have the private key of course you can import it. 
wallet properties -> import private key
copy/paste the key, then select second option "import this address" -> done.

Silly me. Still it would be useful to have an "import Satoshi wallet" button, for us non-technical users. Now I'm off to learn about extracting keys from Satoshi wallets. 

Your best bet is Joric's PyWallet.  About a month ago, Joric figured out the Satoshi wallet encryption, and released an update that will extract the keys if you enter the encryption passphrase.  I've used it once or twice, and it's pretty slick.  You can use it as a command-line tool, or you can run it in server mode, and access it via a nice web interface by putting "localhost:8989" into your browser. 

The biggest issue is that you're probably going to get a lot of keys dumped out, so you have to know which one is the right one.  Luckily with the full-RAM Armory, checking the balance of a fresh address takes less than 1 sec!  The copy&paste procedure will be the bottleneck (at least until I get a bulk-import UI).

I have not used Multibit, although jim618 could confirm if it's feasible to extract private keys using PyWallet.

[jim618]

Hi wrend,

I am not sure from your post which way you want to move your private keys. For MultiBit there is a 'Tools | Export Private Keys' and a complementary 'Tools | Import Private Keys'. PyWallet won't understand the MultiBit wallet format as it is different to the Satoshi format.

The import/ export screens are mainly designed for backing up the MultiBit wallets but you can use to move keys between apps. There is a how-to for importing a single sipa format key here:

http://multibit.org/v0.5/help_importASingleKey.html

[PTseller]

Hi mate i have install new version of multibit and i open my wallet from hard disk from which i have generated new BTC address but nothing happen also done reset blockchain and transaction i am not getting my BTC back

please help me out

[Kazimir]

Jim, I guess this request/suggestion is probably in vain... But with all the Java security holes we've seen earlier this year, is there any chance you could get rid of the Java dependency, and instead use a native multiplatform interface library, such as Qt, wxWidgets, or GTK?