Armory Wallet, with Bitcoin Depot issues - deposit is lost?

[Sprout_1]

Bitcoin Client Software and Version number:  Armory v 0.95.1
Operating System:  Windows 7 Professional SP1 with all current Windows Updates Installed
System Hardware specs:  Intel Core I5-3320M at 2.6GHz with 16mb memory and 320gb hard disk AMD Radeon HD7500/7600M
Bitcoin received in system but not in wallet
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Two bitcoin transactions from the Bitcoin depot one for $73.00 and another for $20.00 both transactions occurred on 1/27/2019.   Bitcoin Depot says that the funds are in the wallet.

After much difficulty Amory wallet version 0.95.1-beta-374627b751 was installed and online on an up to date Windows 7 computer.    Previously there were issues where Armory remained offline.  This was resolved by downgrading to v0.95.1 and/or installing bitcoin core.
The wallet is online but no funds are in the wallet, and Bitcoin Depot says the funds are deposited.

Armory has no phone number and their email address "contact@bitcoinarmory.com" returns as "unknown address."  

Is there another way to contact the armory site?    A website dns lookup for https://www.bitcoinarmory.com found a name "Alan" and a phone number with a 703 area code (virginia).

Does anyone recommend reporting the possible theft of these funds to to a law enforcement agency?  FTC? FBI?  

My cash deposited funds are not in the wallet.  

Please show me how to retrieve my funds so that I can complete my transaction.  

The log file is too long to post, it exceeds the maximum characters and will eat up bandwidthhttp://[img][img][img][img][img][/img][/img][/img][/img][/img].  Is there any way to post the log file as an attachment?

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[LoyceV]

Does anyone recommend reporting the possible theft of these funds to to a law enforcement agency?  FTC? FBI?

Lol, no, please stay calm

Armory requires to download the full Blockchain, 200+ GB. My guess is your wallet is still synchronizing, and your funds probably will show up when it's done.
If you enter your Bitcoin address in a block explorer, you'll see your funds are on your address.

[Sprout_1]

The wallet appears to be connected and synchronized.   It says Conneccted (119873 blocks) with 0 spendable funds.


How to tell if it is synchronizing?   Cash is immediate with banks and normally currency exchanges do not take very long.

How many days does it take for cash to show up in a wallet?    This Armory software is very touchy, it will not even open on an other Windows 7 based computer.     A hardware wallet is supposedly better but I just wanted to try Bitcoin if for only one transaction without purchasing an expensive hardware wallet.

[joniboini]

The wallet appears to be connected and synchronized.   It says Conneccted (119873 blocks) with 0 spendable funds.

That actually shows at which block your Armory is synchronized if I'm not wrong. The latest block is 560,000+ so you still have a long way to go before your Armory is fully synchronized. If you don't want to do this, then you should use an SPV client like Electrum.

How can I tell if it is synchronizing?   Cash is immediate with banks and normally currency exchanges do not take very long.

It's a bit of hassle but you can check the block height online and compare it to your connection status. If it shows offline then it means your wallet is not connected, but if it shows "Connected (xxxx blocks)" it means it's synchronizing. The funds are actually already on your address, but your wallet is not yet detecting it because it needs to download the entire blockchain (it's a full node). If you use SPV like Electrum, you should be able to access it as soon as the transaction is confirmed.

How many days does it take for cash to show up in a wallet?    This Armory software is very touchy, it will not even open on an other Windows 7 based computer.     I know a hardware wallet is better but I just wanted to try Bitcoin if for only one transaction.

Why did you choose Armory in the first place? Any full node requires you to download the entire blockchain, which could take days, weeks, depending on the speed of your connection. I suggest you use SPV client if you just want to try Bitcoin transaction or something similar.

[nc50lc]

The version that you're using was already outdated, in fact, the site (www.bitcoinarmory.com) has a link to the new official website.

NOTE
For latest news and release please see btcarmory.com or the discussion thread.

Try to upgrade Armory then your coins should show up. Just make sure that you have the backup SEED or wallet.dat just in case.
*This thread might be moved to Armory sub-forum.

I know a hardware wallet is better but I just wanted to try Bitcoin if for only one transaction.

An alternative (req. a full-node) client like Armory isn't the best choice then, just extract the address' Private key and Import it to Electrum (Electrum.org).

[Sprout_1]

Version 0.96 only worked in offline mode so the upgrade did not work.   One the Windows 7 Kernel Desktop Armory will not run at all now.  

Changing any of the Armory installation on the laptop might cans subsequent installs to work improperly.   This looks like a terribly buggy program.  Not sure why anyone anywhere would recommend this for a wallet.   No technical support either.  It's a really awful situation.

So the laptop needs to be on and connected to the net?  This laptop with the armory installation is offline all the time.  How long is it going to take before the bitcoin shows up?   If it is going to take too long to show up, it may just be easier to file a Police Report against the "Armory" url, and the FTC and be done with this.  No bitcoin by tomorrow, there is a local police Sargent that deals with bitcoin, that's easier than waiting.

Far too much time wasted just for one small transaction.   Or maybe the parts of the bitcoin system need to be shut down?   Maybe the other cyber currencies are better?  Maybe a letter to congress or something?    A bitcoin atm is  the most time consuming and least beneficial way to lose $93 imaginable.   Much better to give the money to a homeless person or friend or just someone walking down the street.   Then you loose your $93.00 and it goes to a better cause or even to a bad cause but still does not waste your time after you have given the money away.

[nc50lc]

If it comes to Bitcoin's performance regarding speed of transaction, your "Deposit" was already "there" 24 Hours ago.
The problem is your client's synchronization which will take time depending on different (PC specs.) factors, that's why Armory isn't the best choice for newcomers and non-technical users.
The best move is to export the funded address' private key from Armory then import it to Electrum.

One quick FYI: Bitcoin is a decentralized network, meaning, there's no central authority, no central server or mediator in transactions, there's no one liable on any mishandling.
On the other hand, Armory is not officially a part of Bitcoin, it is just an open-source client just like Electrum, Mycelium, etc.

But just relax, as long as you have the ROOT Key, you still have full control of your funds.

If you want to contact the main Developer of Armory (for technical inquiries), here's the link to his profile: goatpig, Github Page contributors.

[Sprout_1]

Bitcoin Core is running, it says 1.84% 20 hours estimated time until synched. 

It is just coincidental reading that led me to install Bitcoin Core. 

Does that mean that a faster internet connection will synch faster?   What happens if the internet goes out or a power loss?

I am a technical user. 

[nc50lc]

Does that mean that a faster internet connection will synch faster?   

Yes, but not entirely based to the internet speed.
Faster Disk I/O, CPU and Larger Ram all contributes to the speed of verification. It basically downloading data, writing it to the disk, reading and verifying the contents all at the same time, not totally download and write scenario.

What happens if the internet goes out or a power loss?

It will temporarily stop to the last height before the internet/power loss, but it's resumable.

[joniboini]

Far too much time wasted just for one small transaction.

If you're that impatient then use SPV client. It's far easier than filling a police report. You can simply install Electrum, open it, import your private key and then you can use your money for whatever you want. Installing a full node is in fact overkill if you just want to send and receive money for once in a week.

Or maybe the parts of the bitcoin system need to be shut down?   Maybe the other cyber currencies are better?  Maybe a letter to congress or something?

Maybe you can learn about Bitcoin first, what's a wallet, what's SPV, what's confirmation and so on before you start using it. Other cryptocurrencies are certainly not better when it comes to network security. Sending a letter to Congress won't help, I don't know what makes you get the impression that government can do as they please with the network when they can't even stop someone when they want to create a new address.

[HeRetiK]

Using Armory only makes sense if you have a cold storage set up (ie. an airgapped offline computer for secure transaction signing), for everything else it only adds unnecessary overhead.

As recommended by the others, download and install Electrum:
https://electrum.org/#home

You should be able to export your private key from Armory like so (at the bottom of the page):
http://docs.bitshares.org/muse/migration/howto-exporting-wallet-clients.html

(a) And import, or rather sweep your coins into your new Electrum wallet like so:
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/sweeping-your-private-keys-into-electrum/

(b) You can also directly create a new Electrum wallet by importing your Armory private keys like so:
https://bitcoinelectrum.com/importing-your-private-keys-into-electrum/

But in this case I'd recommend (1) creating a new Electrum wallet, (2) writing down the seed words that Electrum gives so you have a backup (very important) and then (3) sweeping the coins into your newly created Electrum wallet (Option (a) from above).

If you want the security that Armory in a cold storage set up provides you combined with the ease of a SPV wallet, I'd recommend getting a hardware wallet such as the Trezor (trezor.io) or Ledger (ledger.com). It is recommended to purchase hardware wallets directly from the respective vendors, lest you receive either a faked or a tampered with device.

Also this thread may be of interest to you, for future reference:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.0

[Sprout_1]

The 100gb free on this laptop hard drive now consists of the halted Bitcoin Core application and only 98mb free on the hard disk.  Multiple installs of Amory on a Windows 7 Kernel desktop with no success.   Had to use an uninstaller program for a "successful" uninstall.   All for one transaction.  Forums suggest that hardware wallets are certainly better, but why buy a $70.00 hardware wallet for what might be a single $70.00 transaction?  The complexity of Bitcoin is impressive.   The lack of large font warnings when installing Armory just adds to the damage.

Can Bitcoin core be run in a separate hard disk attached to the laptop?   That must be true because no on wants to share 100gb of Bitcoin core with their OS.  Mechanical hard disks are slow, people store this "Bitcoin Core" on solid state?   Solid State storage is less reliable than a hard disk unless you purchase at the Enterprise level. Even with a hard disk, a backup and of the "core" is expected.

Please do not comment or answer any of these questions below this sentence except to correct incorrect information.  The questions are rhetorical and will ruin the topic of this thread:  

The purpose of using a Bitcoin ATM is to purchase a computer security application.  Brief research in a couple of forums led to the installation of two programs, Armory and Electrum portable.  At the Bitcoin Depot kiosk the Electrum and Armory barcode would not scan.   A manually typed Electrum address with no success, and then the Armory manual address later worked.  The barcode did not scan and multiple attempts to enter in the code manually wasted maybe an hour of time plus the time to go there and back twice ten miles each way.  Even in a vehicle with good gas mileage that is 1.6 gallons of gasoline.

After making the transaction and researching the bitcoin market rate, the next surprise comes from the greedy Bitcoin Depot Company by including arbitrary markups in the currency exchange with no basis in fact.   A three dollar fee of 0.00084930 BTC and by selling Bitcoin on 1/27/2019 at an inflated rate of $4238.76, about $800 over market rate.  
The first deposit is $73.00 for the $70.00 online transaction, then later another $20.00 deposit to cover the inflated greedy, dishonest, hidden  $800 markup over Bitcoin rate including another 0.00084930 BTC fee.  

If this truly is a $3.00 fee, then it should be taken out in cash, not Bitcoin.  By converting the $3.00 to bitcoin it further erodes the spending power of your dollar because of the $800 over market rate "Bitcoin Depot" markup.   The $800 markup over bitcoin should be expressed in a percentage not an arbitrary value.

What type of entrepreneurial exploitation is this "Bitcoin Depot" place?   What types of people will bother to waste that kind of money to have a transaction "less traceable" than a Credit Card?   Why spend $19.00 for one $70.00 transaction at an eighteen percent markup?  Only a USA coin dealer  or pawn shop can make that kind of markup, but coins and merchandise are real and Bitcoin is just 0000's and 1111's.  

The good news is that the Bitcoin Depot people did respond to the phone call and email promptly.   Bitcoin is only a few days old for me.  Only wanted to do one transaction, and now have to do without the security application because the cash appears "lost" in Bitcoin or Armory wallet or Bitcoin core or something.

[LoyceV]

I noticed the high fee when I first look up your funded address. Bitcoin ATMs rely on either naive users, or users who are willing to pay a large premium to be anonymous.
Too bad your first experience with Bitcoin ended up this complicated. If you use an exchange in the future, you'll pay a much better rate.

I don't make backups of the blockchain, I have 1 copy, and if I lose it, I can always download it again. I just backup my wallet.
As for solving your problem: Exporting your private key and importing it into Electrum is the fastest way to go. You can of course us an external disk to store the blockchain. Armory sure has it's uses, and so do hardware wallets, but it feels a bit excessive for what you need.

[OgNasty]

As for solving your problem: Exporting your private key and importing it into Electrum is the fastest way to go. You can of course us an external disk to store the blockchain. Armory sure has it's uses, and so do hardware wallets, but it feels a bit excessive for what you need.

This is what I was going to recommend also.  If you aren't dedicated to running a node to help the network, use a lightweight wallet and save yourself a lot of hassle.  Electrum is a great one and you won't ever need to download the blockchain.

[HeRetiK]

The purpose of using a Bitcoin ATM is to purchase a computer security application.  Brief research in a couple of forums led to the installation of two programs, Armory and Electrum portable.  At the Bitcoin Depot kiosk the Electrum and Armory barcode would not scan.   A manually typed Electrum address with no success, and then the Armory manual address later worked.  The barcode did not scan and multiple attempts to enter in the code manually wasted maybe an hour of time plus the time to go there and back twice ten miles each way.  Even in a vehicle with good gas mileage that is 1.6 gallons of gasoline.

A short note for future reference: Most wallets will currently provide you with one of the following address types -- (a) Legacy addresses starting with "1", (b) nested (P2SH) SegWit addresses starting with "3" and (c) native (Bech32) SegWit addresses starting with "bc1". The latter (c) being the current cutting-edge standard that many services have yet to support; meaning that some services won't accept bc1 addresses. Electrum offers addresses of type (a) and (c) while Armory AFAIK offers (a) and (b), so that might be the reason the Electrum address didn't get accepted by the Bitcoin ATM. Obviously this won't get your wasted time back, but maybe this knowledge saves you some headache in the future (or whoever else may stumble upon this thread).

[Sprout_1]

Exporting the private Key into Electrum is not straight forward.  The armory menu has limited options for exporting anything, yet they have options for importing.   Armory must be a special application program only intended for very specific purposes.  This does not appear to be a general use program.

Hopefully in the comment links above it will explain to me hew to export a key from Armory to Electrum.

[HCP]

Version 0.96 only worked in offline mode so the upgrade did not work.   One the Windows 7 Kernel Desktop Armory will not run at all now. 

Changing any of the Armory installation on the laptop might cans subsequent installs to work improperly.   This looks like a terribly buggy program.  Not sure why anyone anywhere would recommend this for a wallet.   No technical support either.  It's a really awful situation.

Have you tried the Armory specific board here? https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=97.0

So the laptop needs to be on and connected to the net?  This laptop with the armory installation is offline all the time.  How long is it going to take before the bitcoin shows up? 

You need to have at least one "online" computer in your setup, otherwise nothing will show up... ever. Think of it like email... if you never connect to the net, how are the emails supposed to arrive in your inbox?

You can run Armory in an "airgapped" system, where the private keys are stored in the offline pc, and all you do is sign transactions with it. This computer will NOT show your correct balance. The online pc has the public keys only... so it will show all the transactions and correct balance etc, but cannot authorise transactions.

Bitcoin Core is running, it says 1.84% 20 hours estimated time until synched. 

Until Bitcoin Core is fully synced, you will likely not see the transactions and/or correct balance in Armory.

Can Bitcoin core be run in a separate hard disk attached to the laptop?

Yes, you can store the block data for Bitcoin Core on a separate hard disk. It is "slower" to sync and can cause problems with data corruption if the connection to the drive is removed during read/write ops etc... but it is doable.

Honestly, for fast easy access to your funds, I would recommend following the advice already given and extract your private keys from Armory and import them into Electrum. This will mean you do not need to download all 250gigs of blockchain, nor will you require Bitcoin Core.

To export your keys, you can use the following menu options in Armory:
- Wallet Properties
- Backup This Wallet


- Select "Export Keys List" (top left box)
- Click "Export Keys List" (bottom box)


- Select the following options: "Address String", "Private Key (Plain Base58)","Include Unused (Address Pool)"... and make sure "Omit spaces in key data" is checked


You'll end up with a list of all the addresses and private keys displayed in the text box. The private keys will be labelled as "Plain Base58". Simply find the key that matches the address you sent the coins to. Then, in Electrum, you use the "File -> New\Restore -> Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys" and copy/paste the key from Armory.

It should also be noted that Electrum will require that you be connected to the net to be able to view your coins and/or send transactions.

[Sprout_1]

Now the Bitcoin is showing up in the Electrum wallet, 19.81781 mBTC.  No idea how to complete the transaction with the bitcoin payment address but it does not matter because another $2.68 in BT is needed.

Calculating the sum  for $71.14 USD without calculating the exact amount of the BTC before using the "Bitcoin Depot" ATM is a mistake.

Having only 0.01981781 BTC the transaction is for 0.020593 BTC or $71.14.  That is 0.00077519 BTC or $2.68  less the correct amount.  

That means another twenty miles roundtrip to deposit $20.00 which includes another three dollar fee and gas and time and more bitcoin purchased at an eighteen percent markup.  

So the $71.14 transaction becomes a $113.00 transaction, including $9.00 in fees an eighteen percent markup on BT, about 2.4 gallons of gasoline at 25mpg, or seven dollars in gasoline lost time and with left over BT that might be a nightmare to liquidate to USD?   That brings the total to about $95.68 for a $71.14 transaction that is a twenty six percent markup plus about seven dollars in gasoline and $17.32 left to exchange back to USD from BT.

While all this time and money is lost, if the hard disk fails with no backup of the "wallet key" does that mean the Bitcoin is lost?

Assuming the transaction is finally successful, what is the best way to liquidate or store the remaining $17.32 in BT remaining?
A hardware wallet, but a good one cost $70.00?    How long before the wallet becomes obsolete?  

[HeRetiK]

Might be a stupid question, but why didn't you buy via Coinbase or some other exchange such as Kraken or Bitstamp? Nowadays there are a lot of well established options to convert from USD to BTC and vice versa via wire transfer or credit card.

[nc50lc]

-snip- if the hard disk fails with no backup of the "wallet key" does that mean the Bitcoin is lost?
Assuming the transaction is finally successful, what is the best way to liquidate or store the remaining $17.32 in BT remaining?
A hardware wallet, but a good one cost $70.00?    How long before the wallet becomes obsolete?  

For small amounts that you plan to use frequently, a payment processor "wallet" is much more preferable.
But you can always rely on Electrum as a Hot Wallet for any peer-to-peer transactions.

As for backups, do you remember the SEED (12 set of random words) that Electrum advised you to copy during wallet creation? That's the most important backup that you have and it can be used to restore the wallet and control the funds of any address within it.
As the matter of fact, if you know the addresses of the particular wallet as long as you have the SEED or Private Key(s), you can even receive bitcoins even without any hardware (PC, Phone or HardwareWallet), AKA: Cold Storage.