Electrum Help

[Waccoe44]

Hi, i am new to bitcoin and struggling to send payment via Electrum, i keep getting this message:

Best effort request failed ('no interface to do request on ... gave up)

Any ideas?

[djhomeschool]

Hi, i am new to bitcoin and struggling to send payment via Electrum, i keep getting this message:

Best effort request failed ('no interface to do request on ... gave up)

Any ideas?

What version of Electrum are you using? (Upper left corner)
Did you download it from the official Electrum site? (https://electrum.org/#download)
Is you wallet synchronized with Electrum server? (Green circle at the bottom right corner)
What is your OS?

[Waccoe44]

Hi, thanks for the reply, i did download from the official site, the light on the lower corner is red not green, I’m using version 3.3.4 and my Os is Mojave .. I appreciate your help 

[djhomeschool]

Hi, thanks for the reply, i did download from the official site, the light on the lower corner is red not green, I’m using version 3.3.4 and my Os is Mojave .. I appreciate your help 

The red circle means Electrum is not connected to the bitcoin network (Electrum server) and that is why you are getting this error.

Did you try to switch the server?

[Waccoe44]

 I have just tried switching servers but I can’t get the light to go green?

[djhomeschool]

I have just tried switching servers but I can’t get the light to go green?

Backup your seed and make a new wallet with the same seed, sometimes this works.
Let me know if this solved the problem.

[Rath_]

I have just tried switching servers but I can’t get the light to go green?

It's a known issue. Electrum developers are trying to force users to upgrade. Clients older than 3.3 can no longer connect to Electrum public servers (source). However, for some reason, users with the latest version are also experiencing problems with connecting to any Electrum server. If you need to spend your coins urgently, export your private keys and import them into other client.

[anu1908]

you should try to manually select the server, or maybe ask people here which server that they use in the recent ddos attack.
if you still can't connect to any server, either change your wallet momentarily or wait after the problem got fixed.

[Saint-loup]

Does anyone know what this error message means precisely and why we get it when there is no connection to the network?
What is a 'Best effort request' exactly please?
I didn't see my connection was lost because the window for broadcasting transactions is displayed above the one displaying the network status of Electrum.
So it would more convenient for users to get a more explicit message when a transaction can't be broadcasted because of a network failure IMO.




BestEffortRequestFailed('no interface to do request on... gave up.')

[o_e_l_e_o]

Does anyone know what this error message means precisely and why we get it when there is no connection to the network?

You can see the code for the best_effort_reliable function which generates this error here: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/ed65f335bd44c3430581c47e78db0a041540aa5c/electrum/network.py#L845. Essentially it tries multiple times to make a request, and then fails if it is unable to do so.

There has been an issue raised about the vagueness of this error message, but it generated no discussion and has not been actioned: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5815. There are more reasons it can fail other than just "not connected" though.

[Saint-loup]

Does anyone know what this error message means precisely and why we get it when there is no connection to the network?

You can see the code for the best_effort_reliable function which generates this error here: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/blob/ed65f335bd44c3430581c47e78db0a041540aa5c/electrum/network.py#L845. Essentially it tries multiple times to make a request, and then fails if it is unable to do so.

There has been an issue raised about the vagueness of this error message, but it generate no discussion and has not been actioned: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5815. There are more reasons it can fail other than just "not connected" though.

That's sad for users, they deserve a really more user-friendly and explicit message when a tx broadcast fails because of a connection failure IMO. The "Not connected" status is displayed on the bottom of the main screen of Electrum but unfortunately the screen for sending transactions covers it when it pops up. So I don't think the average Joe understands a network failure has happened when he get this message. If the network status is displayed I suppose it could be quite easily checked before or after the raising of this error and a more understandable error message could be written consequently.

[BitMaxz]

That's sad for users, they deserve a really more user-friendly and explicit message when a tx broadcast fails because of a connection failure IMO. The "Not connected" status is displayed on the bottom of the main screen of Electrum but unfortunately the screen for sending transactions covers it when it pops up. So I don't think the average Joe understands a network failure has happened when he get this message. If the network status is displayed I suppose it could be quite easily checked before or after the raising of this error and a more understandable error message could be written consequently.

There is another post on Github with the same issue he keeps repeating and the issue solve https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5317
But I think it is a server issue and maybe the server you are connected to, might be down which is why you get this error "BestEffortRequestFailed".

Based on what I understand about this error your wallet is trying to request data from the node/server as best effort but it still fails due to many reasons like hosting issue or the server you are connected to, currently under DDOS attacks. So I suggest try to connect to other servers.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

That's sad for users, they deserve a really more user-friendly and explicit message when a tx broadcast fails because of a connection failure IMO.  -snip-

To be fair, the actual info about the error is "no interface to do request on... gave up.", in which "interface" is the connection to a server.
Or the server since the term is appearing in the logs when mentioning a server.
e.g.:

Code:

INFO | network | connecting to bitcoin-test.electrumserver.com:50004:s as new interface

The message "no interface" may be vague but "gave up" is straightforward telling that all efforts are exhausted and Electrum stopped trying.

[Saint-loup]

That's sad for users, they deserve a really more user-friendly and explicit message when a tx broadcast fails because of a connection failure IMO. The "Not connected" status is displayed on the bottom of the main screen of Electrum but unfortunately the screen for sending transactions covers it when it pops up. So I don't think the average Joe understands a network failure has happened when he get this message. If the network status is displayed I suppose it could be quite easily checked before or after the raising of this error and a more understandable error message could be written consequently.

There is another post on Github with the same issue he keeps repeating and the issue solve https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5317
But I think it is a server issue and maybe the server you are connected to, might be down which is why you get this error "BestEffortRequestFailed".

Based on what I understand about this error your wallet is trying to request data from the node/server as best effort but it still fails due to many reasons like hosting issue or the server you are connected to, currently under DDOS attacks. So I suggest try to connect to other servers.

I'm not sure why I got it the first time since I didn't see the network status which was hidden by the screen as I said above and didn't check it (and I don't remember when it was precisely so I can't look at the logs) but when I try to broadcast a tx without a working internet connection I get this infamous "semi-cryptic error message" then it must be a pretty common case unfortunately as reported by the issue 5815 quoted by o_e_l_e_o https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5815

@nc50lc that must be the reason why they only called it "semi-cryptic" rofl

[BitMaxz]

I'm not sure why I got it the first time since I didn't see the network status which was hidden by the screen as I said above and didn't check it (and I don't remember when it was precisely so I can't look at the logs) but when I try to broadcast a tx without a working internet connection I get this infamous "semi-cryptic error message" then it must be a pretty common case unfortunately as reported by the issue 5815 quoted by o_e_l_e_o https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5815

Honestly, I never experienced that error I usually disable the connection of my Electrum for the offline transactions. Why not make a new transaction again and disconnect your laptop/PC to the internet while creating a transaction(for synced balance) under send tab let us see if the error comes up with disconnected internet.

Then if the error comes up then it is related to the network issue internet or the server/node.
You can try to ping google to test your internet and connect to other servers/nodes it should solve this case.

[Saint-loup]

Honestly, I never experienced that error I usually disable the connection of my Electrum for the offline transactions. Why not make a new transaction again and disconnect your laptop/PC to the internet while creating a transaction(for synced balance) under send tab let us see if the error comes up with disconnected internet.

Then if the error comes up then it is related to the network issue internet or the server/node.
You can try to ping google to test your internet and connect to other servers/nodes it should solve this case.

You mean you never get this message?  What message are you getting when you disable your connection and you try to broadcast a transaction precisely? Because the issue #5815 ("No connection error message could be more clear") which is still open, seems to assert the message is the common error message displayed when any user tries to send a transaction without a working internet connection.

[Pmalek]

I don't want to be a fuddy-duddy, but why attempt to broadcast a transaction with no internet connection or by using a node that is offline in the first place? It won't work and the error message the software displays doesn't really matter. Just connected to a fully functioning server and hopefully everything should be back to normal.   

[Abdussamad]

He's using an outdated version of electrum. He won't be able to connect to any server with it. He should upgrade to the latest version.

[FatFork]

He's using an outdated version of electrum. He won't be able to connect to any server with it. He should upgrade to the latest version.

I guess you probably didn't notice, the OP's question was posted back in 2019. I'm sure he's already upgraded to a newer version of Electrum wallet by now, if he is still using it.

[Saint-loup]

I don't want to be a fuddy-duddy, but why attempt to broadcast a transaction with no internet connection or by using a node that is offline in the first place? It won't work and the error message the software displays doesn't really matter. Just connected to a fully functioning server and hopefully everything should be back to normal.  

Why this error message would need to stay like that precisely? I don't understand. If an error message is displayed it must be understandable by the users, no? Otherwise it is useless. Moreover I don't think most of people willingly try to broadcast transactions without working connections.  

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Why this error message would need to stay like that precisely? I don't understand. If an error message is displayed it must be understandable by the users, no? Otherwise it is useless.

Let's try this PR: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/pull/7902 (Update "No Connection" error to be user-friendly)

The "BestEffortRequestFailed" can't be changed without changing every instance of it but the actual error message is simple.
So from "BestEffortRequestFailed('no interface to do request on... gave up.')",
The PR edited it to "BestEffortRequestFailed('cannot establish a connection... gave up.')"

[Husna QA]

He's using an outdated version of electrum. He won't be able to connect to any server with it. He should upgrade to the latest version.

I guess you probably didn't notice, the OP's question was posted back in 2019. I'm sure he's already upgraded to a newer version of Electrum wallet by now, if he is still using it.

Possibly what Abdussamad responded to was the following Saint-loup post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5129190.msg60586747#msg60586747, where the notification in his case is the same as in the OP.

Moreover I don't think most of people willingly try to broadcast transactions without working connections.   

But it can happen when the internet connection or the server is suddenly disconnected without the user realizing it when they are going to broadcast the transaction.

[nc50lc]

Let's try this PR: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/pull/7902 (Update "No Connection" error to be user-friendly)

Good news, the "Pull Request" has been merged, closing the linked issue as an automatic result.
You can expect it in the next release.

[Saint-loup]

Let's try this PR: https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/pull/7902 (Update "No Connection" error to be user-friendly)

Good news, the "Pull Request" has been merged, closing the linked issue as an automatic result.
You can expect it in the next release.

That's a very good news for the users, thank you very much nc50lc. I hope things will work nicely and there won't be bugs because of this update lol. Anyway I will be happy to see a clear and understandable message next time I will lose my connection and (average) Joe too I guess