MultiBit

[marketorder]

Windows 8.1

Maybe you did not delete the Multibit settings directory? Which operating system are you using?

[1714098805]

1714098805

[1714098805]

1714098805

[1714098805]

1714098805

[1714098805]

1714098805

[1714098805]

1714098805

[jojo69]

wait what?  thing needs java?  why am I wasting my time?

[davidoski]

There's a new pay protocol in the works for version 0.9 of the standard client. Is there a risk that Multibit will be somehow incompatible with the new protocol? If yes, are we risking losing BTC by keeping them in Multibit because of that?

[jim618]

There's a new pay protocol in the works for version 0.9 of the standard client. Is there a risk that Multibit will be somehow incompatible with the new protocol? If yes, are we risking losing BTC by keeping them in Multibit because of that?

The new payment protocol is an extra layer on top of the regular bitcoin transaction.
It does not change the underlying sending of transactions.

(I plan to support the payment protocol in MultiBit but of course it's work - it does not magically happen).

[davidoski]

OK, thank you for the answer. Multibit is a great app - thank you for your work.

[ajax3592]

Important Limitations:
MultiBit is experimental code - do not use it for large amounts of bitcoin.  
The wallets are not encrypted. (This is a planned development).

OP, 2 years after the launch, can you commit it is a safe wallet now to store moderate amount of BTC Considering you've locked the wallet and have Malwarebytes running all the time ?

[jim618]

Hi Ajax3592,

Legal disclaimer: The MultiBit licence is MIT license so there is no warranty expressed or implied with MultiBit.


IMO the code is fairly stable now. Keeping your bitcoins safe is all about:

+ making sure your wallets are backed up (both on your computer and on separate media like USB drives).
+ keeping malware off your computer (especially the combination of trojans + key loggers which all online bitcoin clients are susceptible to).
+ not forgetting your password. This is probably causing more loss of bitcoin than any other cause.


A useful way of looking at your question is to see what goes wrong and what the causes are.
If you have a peruse of the MultiBit issues database you can see what sort of problems people have. Most of them now are things like people not being able to find their wallets and things like that.

There are still unfortunately a small number people losing bitcoin using MultiBit. This is always due to losing private keys (there is really no other way to lose bitcoin unless they are stolen from you). Computers have been stolen, drives have been formatted, Windows reinstalled with no backups made. People lose bitcoin from trying to do paper wallets and not understanding change addresses. Sometimes people delete all of the backups (DO NOT DO THIS) to be 'ultra-secure' and then lose their single remaining copy of their wallet somehow.


For storing large amounts of bitcoin personally I think you need to have a completely offline wallet (or a hardware wallet like Trezor when they become available) as general purpose personal computers are just not a secure enough environment for large amounts of money.

I know I haven't really answered your question but it does not have a simple answer.
That being said I keep a non-trivial amount of money in MultiBit so I'm eating my own dog food.

[jawnzer]

Hey jim wondering how I can extract a private key from a .key file? I am looking to inputting it into my mastercoin wallet, but unsure of how to do it.

[jim618]

Export your private keys unencrypted.
Then open the exported file in a text editor
The private keys are in the WIF format, one per row (followed by a date but you probably don't need that)

edit: secure delete the file once you have done with it.

[jawnzer]

Export your private keys unencrypted.
Then open the exported file in a text editor
The private keys are in the WIF format, one per row (followed by a date but you probably don't need that)

edit: secure delete the file once you have done with it.

Appreciate it, that was the problem was encrypting it before

[davidoski]

When I started to play around with Multibit it was with "small amount" of BTC. But now when the price has skyrocketed it's quite significant amount. That makes security increasingly important.

[tk1337]

Ran into my first odd issue since using MultiBit for awhile now...

I have a small incoming transaction, MultiBit has seen said transaction for the past 3 days it's been pending, in MultiBit, Status is 'Seen by 4 peers, Pending/unconfirmed', while at Blockchain 464 confirmations...

http://blockchain.info/tx-index/a314b9d728f17b3c11f2a8c543d68b076cde139711b0857861f18060efc8539d

[davidoski]

I've had similar issue - reseting blockchain helped in my case (Tools/Reset Blockchain).

[tk1337]

I've had similar issue - reseting blockchain helped in my case (Tools/Reset Blockchain).

that worked, thanks... could have sworn I tried that last night... meh, all good now though, thanks again.

[Gabriel]

After about two hours of fruitless efforts, I've just about given up. Please help, as I have no idea how to proceed any further.

I'm using Windows 7 64 bit.
Just a few hours ago everything worked fine with an earlier version of MultiBit I was using (4.23 I think).
I've imported some keys I was using on another PC.
No problems here either, imported just fine, synchronized, saw all the transactions and the right amounts.
Closed MultiBit.

One or two hours later tried starting it again.
Absolutely nothing at all happened.
Tried starting again, still nothing.
Tried an even earlier version that I also had (4.15 I think). Again, nothing.
Tried restarting PC, no success.
Tried downloading and installing the most recent MultiBit (5.14)...

Downloaded it OK. But when trying to run it, I first get the usual Windows prompt asking if I really want to run it, yes, of course, and then again, nothing at all happens. Tried a few more times - sometimes I also get a window saying that the program may not be installed correctly (Note: I'm still trying to launch the INSTALLER file itself when I get this message...) and that I can either reinstall it with "the recommended settings" or I can say that it is installed correctly. No matter what I choose, again, nothing happens.

Tried uninstalling the earlier versions first, both with the Uninstall provided with the MultiBit installation and from Control Panel as well, but again, nothing at all happened when I tried to start the uninstall.

So I tried it the hard way: deleted the program files I could find manually, then searched the registry for any entries containing "multibit" and deleted these as well.

Then restarted the PC and tried again.

And still I only get the above results. (And in case I'd have left this detail out, I can not launch any earlier version installers either - nothing happens with those either.)

So... I'm at the end of my wits and would much appreciate any help anyone could provide. Thanks a lot in advance.

Cheers,

Gábriel

[Gabriel]

Ah, and an interesting detail: on each occasion, when I try to start the installer, about 8-10 MB free space disappears from my system drive and I can't find where, how or why...? MultiBit's own directory does not seem to become any larger.

[Gabriel]

Issue resolved.

Apparently, something went wrong with a Java update in the meantime.
Removed and reinstalled Java properly and after that, could also install and use MultiBit without any problems as well.

And the space was eaten up by .jar files created in the Temp folder. (That gave the hint that helped resolve the issue.)

So, everything alright now, no more problems.

Sorry for disrupting any ongoing conversations.

[willwise]

I use multibit too and I have money on it. But I cannot spend it, it's not spendable, however if I click I see its approved by 600 peers. But in multibit it says 3 peers and pending. It is in this condition for a week now!!!

[Jochen]

Hey jim618,

I saw the new release of Multibit, but when i update i lose all my data? I use my backup of /Appdata/Roaming/Multibit but if i open my wallet in that map he doesnt do anything. On the previous version i can open without problems.
I only backup my /Appdata/Roaming/Multibit map and not /Program Files/Multibit whats right? Can u give a step by step guide for using my backup on the new Multibit version?

Thanks

[EFS]

I just updated too. I have no problem at all.