Electrum private keys issue

[axel88]

Hi, I havn't used an Electrum wallet in several months. As you know they've suffered some nasty Phishing attacks. So I couldn't send BTC out of rarely used wallet and tried to upgrade to 3.0 but having issues on Mac (when I try to open Electrum it just bounces around and fails to open) so moved to PC.

Ok, on PC when I go to import my 12 word private key, Electrum won't accept them. The 'next' button simply will not activate. I'm at a real loss here. I know these are the correct keys but cannot get them to work. Also, being stoopid I deleted old Electrum 2.9 on Mac.


Thank you in advance

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[harizen]

Don't have an access to Electrum here for reference but as far as I remember, Standard Wallet - I Already Have A Seed - Enter Seedphrase

Are you sure you input it to the right path? There are cases wherein it was put on Private keys section out of confusion.

If yes, then review your seed phrase. If you aren't sure if the word is correct, check this: https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt

More to follow after you respond here.

[djhomeschool]

Are you sure you did not use a bip39 word seed?

Try this: Create new wallet, Standard wallet, I already have seed and on the next screen enter your seed. When the next button does not light up click options and select "BIP39 seed" and see if this helps.

[BitMaxz]

So I couldn't send BTC out of rarely used wallet and tried to upgrade to 3.0

Did you read the Electrum warning from electrum.org?

Code:

Warning: Electrum versions older than 3.3 can no longer connect to public servers, and must be upgraded. This is in order to prevent user exposure to phishing messages. Do not download Electrum from any another source than electrum.org.

It means that lower than 3.3 is no longer working anymore if you upgrade your wallet to 3.0 it won't work.

You must upgrade your wallet to Electrum-3.3.4 this is the latest version of electrum but make sure that you have a backup phrase/seed or private keys before the upgrade so that you can recover your wallet properly.

[axel88]

ok that worked now it asks 'Script path and deviation type' followed with choices 'legacy', 'p2sh-segwit', 'native-segwit'
which should I choose?

[axel88]

Are you sure you did not use a bip39 word seed?

Try this: Create new wallet, Standard wallet, I already have seed and on the next screen enter your seed. When the next button does not light up click options and select "BIP39 seed" and see if this helps.

please see my reply above

[TryNinja]

How did your addresses look like?

If they started with a 1, choose Legacy
If they started with a 3, choose p2sh-segwit
If they started with bc1, choose native-segwit

[NeuroticFish]

and tried to upgrade to 3.0

Please get from electrum.org (and not other sites with similar names) the latest version, which should be 3.3.4
If we talk about big funds, you should check the signature and make sure it's the right electrum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5130429.0

Ok, on PC when I go to import my 12 word private key, Electrum won't accept them. The 'next' button simply will not activate.

There are more possible options there, just read https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5121860.msg50217689#msg50217689
I am almost sure your seed is fine and with some patience and following what people wrote you'll be able to recover the wallet.

[axel88]

How did your addresses look like?

If they started with a 1, choose Legacy
If they started with a 3, choose p2sh-segwit
If they started with bc1, choose native-segwit

I don't remember what my address started with

[BitMaxz]

How did your addresses look like?

If they started with a 1, choose Legacy
If they started with a 3, choose p2sh-segwit
If they started with bc1, choose native-segwit

I don't remember what my address started with

That would be your another problem why not try the legacy and maybe your wallet is there or much better if you deal with someone before check the transaction ID and check it in blockchain.com to find your correct bitcoin address.

If you don't have an idea you can check them from legacy to native-segwit one by one.

[HCP]

How did your addresses look like?

If they started with a 1, choose Legacy
If they started with a 3, choose p2sh-segwit
If they started with bc1, choose native-segwit

I don't remember what my address started with

Then just try each one... you can create multiple wallet files in Electrum, so just repeat the process, put in seed words, then try the different script types until you find the wallet.

If you still don't find the correct wallet, then it would appear you have written the seed down wrong... When you selected the "BIP39" option... did it say "BIP39 (failed checksum)" on the screen?

Ok, on PC when I go to import my 12 word private key, Electrum won't accept them. The 'next' button simply will not activate. I'm at a real loss here. I know these are the correct keys but cannot get them to work.

How do you know that these are the correct 12 words? Have you ever used them before to restore your wallet? Were these 12 words generated by Electrum, or did you create them in another wallet and import them when moving to Electrum from another wallet?

[bob123]

You can also just try to copy the wallet file from your MAC to your PC, given that you didn't delete the wallet file.

Note that the wallet file does NOT get deleted when you uninstall electrum. You can usually find the wallet file in ~/.electrum and it usually is called default_wallet.


But even if this works, you should make sure that you have the correct seed. You should always be able to restore your wallet with your seed.

Therefore it is important to answer these questions:

How do you know that these are the correct 12 words? Have you ever used them before to restore your wallet? Were these 12 words generated by Electrum, or did you create them in another wallet and import them when moving to Electrum from another wallet?

[Abdussamad]

ok that worked now it asks 'Script path and deviation type' followed with choices 'legacy', 'p2sh-segwit', 'native-segwit'
which should I choose?

If the 12 word seed was originally generated by electrum then they are leading you down the wrong path. bip39 option is only for seeds generated by other wallet software.

See here for help with your problem.

[axel88]

ok that worked now it asks 'Script path and deviation type' followed with choices 'legacy', 'p2sh-segwit', 'native-segwit'
which should I choose?

If the 12 word seed was originally generated by electrum then they are leading you down the wrong path. bip39 option is only for seeds generated by other wallet software.

See here for help with your problem.

Ah, ok maybe this is the solution. Still working on it. Thank you all will update.

[axel88]

ok that worked now it asks 'Script path and deviation type' followed with choices 'legacy', 'p2sh-segwit', 'native-segwit'
which should I choose?

If the 12 word seed was originally generated by electrum then they are leading you down the wrong path. bip39 option is only for seeds generated by other wallet software.

See here for help with your problem.

OK, I discovered seed is from an old Multibit HD wallet that I imported into Electrum a year ago. Any thoughts?

[TryNinja]

OK, I discovered seed is from an old Multibit HD wallet that I imported into Electrum a year ago. Any thoughts?

Do the above (select BIP39) and when it asks to select legacy/p2sh/native segwit, just write this in the box bellow the options and click next:

Code:

m/0'

(single quote included)

[axel88]

OK, I discovered seed is from an old Multibit HD wallet that I imported into Electrum a year ago. Any thoughts?

Do the above (select BIP38) and when it asks to select legacy/p2sh/native segwit, just write this in the box above the options and click next:

Code:

m/0'

(single quote included)

YES you magnificent Ninja it worked!!! Thank you everyone for your help and I hope this thread can aid others.

[50 Cent]

my 12 word private key

12 word is seed not private key. seed use for generate private key.