Having trouble connecting to peers

[Elwar]

I just got bitcoinj up and running. I have been able to run the example Kit program a few times which takes a long time before it connects to enough peers to download the latest block but occasionally it does, then ends as it is supposed to.

I'm trying it on testnet. I have run it for an hour and it won't connect to any peers. Is this just me or is it common?

I get warning messages such as this:
[NioClientManager] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - [46.19.33.249]:18333: Peer died      (0 connected, 8 pending, 12 max)
[PeerGroup Thread] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - Waiting 10000 msec before next connect attempt to [178.21.118.174]:18333
[NioClientManager] WARN org.bitcoinj.net.NioClientManager - Failed to connect with exception: java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: no further information
java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: no further information

....

[PeerGroup Thread] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - Waiting 10000 msec before next connect attempt to [78.47.230.62]:18333
[NioClientManager] WARN org.bitcoinj.net.NioClientManager - Failed to connect with exception: java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException: null
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerSocketHandler - [52.178.146.191]:18333: Timed out
java.nio.channels.ClosedChannelException

....

[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerSocketHandler - [194.187.248.133]:18333: Timed out
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - [194.187.248.133]:18333: Peer died      (0 connected, 1 pending, 12 max)
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerSocketHandler - [194.187.248.133]:18333: Timed out
[PeerGroup Thread] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - Waiting 10000 msec before next connect attempt to [78.47.230.62]:18333
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - [194.187.248.133]:18333: Peer died      (0 connected, 0 pending, 12 max)
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerSocketHandler - [144.76.75.197]:18333: Timed out
[PeerGroup Thread] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - Waiting 10000 msec before next connect attempt to [14.202.104.193]:18333
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - [144.76.75.197]:18333: Peer died      (0 connected, 0 pending, 12 max)
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerSocketHandler - [144.76.75.197]:18333: Timed out
[PeerGroup Thread] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - Waiting 10000 msec before next connect attempt to [50.39.117.154]:18333
[AbstractTimeoutHandler timeouts] INFO org.bitcoinj.core.PeerGroup - [144.76.75.197]:18333: Peer died      (0 connected, 0 pending, 12 max)



Is this common or no?

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[bob123]

This is definitely not normal. It might be a network issue. Did you check your firewall ? Does your FW forward packets sent to the corresponding ports?

According to their Github (https://github.com/bitcoinj/bitcoinj/blob/master/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md#contributing-guidelines) they prefer to get contacted via their Google group or bitcoin stackexchange.

[...]
However if you've got a question or would like to start a discussion, please post to the bitcoinj google group or the Bitcoin stack exchange.

You will get further guidance there.