Database Corrupt and recovering question

[gabrio81]

hi there,

I am running bitcoin-0.17.1-win64-setup, the other day I sent a transaction, went in the pool and stayed there for a while (I was a bit stingy with the fee have to say), anyway, after that, while waiting Bitcoin core to catch up, had a database corruption on the external hdd since i had to unplug it or something (shut down Core of course, but it was not finished with the syncing) where I keep bitcoin files and the blockchain's stuff... btw i got that transaction where it had to be so it's in the chain OK.

Long story short, after a few re-starts to see if it would catch up, it would say database corrupt, so I hit OK and is reprocessing all blocks starting with a 0 balance wallet - not re downloading the entire blockchain - have seen the log, and it's about 1.5 days, I reckon today it will complete....wallet balance is weird right now.

Main thing is how to handle the wallet, is it going to catch up when it picks up last transaction before I got the corruption in the database and all be back OK?

OR shall I restore the last wallet (pre latest transaction) when it finishes catching up?

many thanks,
Gabrio

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[nc50lc]

You just need to wait for Core to re-sync, that's all.
1.5 days, so that's about 210+ blocks and if the previous transaction was new, that might be the cause of the "weird balance".

If you want some assurance about you wallet's balance, check the address' balance on an online blockexplorer like: liveblockcypher.com or blockchain.com/explorer.

[NeuroticFish]

OR shall I restore the last wallet (pre latest transaction) when it finishes catching up?

Just wait it finish catching up. There's a very high chance that will be enough.
However, if it'll still be odd, before doing anything else (eg. restore), make sure you backup even that current wallet.

[gabrio81]

thanks guys, it's still processing blocks.... argh..takes forever, 95% now.... and still strange numbers on the wallet, let's hope for this evening, I just came back!

Gabrio

[gabrio81]

You just need to wait for Core to re-sync, that's all.
1.5 days, so that's about 210+ blocks and if the previous transaction was new, that might be the cause of the "weird balance".

If you want some assurance about you wallet's balance, check the address' balance on an online blockexplorer like: liveblockcypher.com or blockchain.com/explorer.

btw how do I check my wallet's balance on the blockchain.com ? shall I use the last address I sent payment to?

thanks

[gabrio81]

You just need to wait for Core to re-sync, that's all.
1.5 days, so that's about 210+ blocks and if the previous transaction was new, that might be the cause of the "weird balance".

If you want some assurance about you wallet's balance, check the address' balance on an online blockexplorer like: liveblockcypher.com or blockchain.com/explorer.

btw how do I check my wallet's balance on the blockchain.com ? shall I use the last address I sent payment to?

thanks

1. Open list of bitcoin address generated by your wallet (You can find it by select File > Receiving addresses)
2. Copy each bitcoin address listed and paste into blockchain.com (or other block explorer) search bar

thanks, sent you a PM.

[gabrio81]

Everything back to normal - correct balance updated at the end of the sync!

It's the 3rd time I get the database corrupt though, is there anything that can be done as a maintenance to prevent this? Or is it due to the fact that I keep it on external hdd and sometimes that happens? With that plug/unplug devices, etc

thanks,
Gabrio

[NeuroticFish]

Everything back to normal - correct balance updated at the end of the sync!

Great news!

It's the 3rd time I get the database corrupt though, is there anything that can be done as a maintenance to prevent this? Or is it due to the fact that I keep it on external hdd and sometimes that happens? With that plug/unplug devices, etc

I'm 99% sure that the issue is caused by the external HDD.

Two things to start with would be:
1. After closing Bitcoin wallet, check with task manager it was indeed closed (check, but not kill).
2. Use the "safely eject" functionality and wait for "it's now safe to" before unplugging.

Maybe some will hate me for this advice, but if you don't need Bitcoin core wallet, maybe you could use a SPV wallet (Electrum), or at lest use Bitcoin wallet in pruned mode (much smaller blockchain), on the internal HDD.
I think that you can also set in your system for external HDD (or USBs) to make it safer for unplugging, but I expect that'll make the data transfer much slower (and not sure how it can be done).

[gabrio81]

Everything back to normal - correct balance updated at the end of the sync!

Great news!

It's the 3rd time I get the database corrupt though, is there anything that can be done as a maintenance to prevent this? Or is it due to the fact that I keep it on external hdd and sometimes that happens? With that plug/unplug devices, etc

I'm 99% sure that the issue is caused by the external HDD.

Two things to start with would be:
1. After closing Bitcoin wallet, check with task manager it was indeed closed (check, but not kill).
2. Use the "safely eject" functionality and wait for "it's now safe to" before unplugging.

Maybe some will hate me for this advice, but if you don't need Bitcoin core wallet, maybe you could use a SPV wallet (Electrum), or at lest use Bitcoin wallet in pruned mode (much smaller blockchain), on the internal HDD.
I think that you can also set in your system for external HDD (or USBs) to make it safer for unplugging, but I expect that'll make the data transfer much slower (and not sure how it can be done).

thanks for the tips!

[Jet Cash]

It's the 3rd time I get the database corrupt though, is there anything that can be done as a maintenance to prevent this? Or is it due to the fact that I keep it on external hdd and sometimes that happens? With that plug/unplug devices, etc

Eject the drive before you shut down the computer. If I remember correctly, you right click on the drive letter in file manager, and then select eject.

[HCP]

Ejecting the drive may not be necessary... as long as you ensure you shutdown Bitcoin Core properly before disconnecting the drive or shutting down the computer.

In general, keeping the database on a removable drive isn't recommended as the chances for corruption are a lot higher than on a "fixed" drive. Even a slight accidental knock of the cable could be enough to unseat the plug from the socket enough that it disconnects/reconnects and could lead to corruption.

You could also try turning off "write caching" for that specific device... Right click the drive in explorer, select properties... click the "Hardware" tab, select the device from the list, then click the "Properties" button. Click "Change Settings" button... you'll get yet another properties window that has a "Policies" tab... select the "Policies" tab... and you should see the following "Removal Policies"...

Make sure it is set to "Quick Removal":