Advice on Raspberry pi hardware for running full BTC node

[Icygreen]

Success! Finally got MyNode running on Raspberry Pi 4.
Took about 28 hours to download it and finish the sync to the pi and powered only with the official RPi cable.
I'll be trying to upgrade it manually next and then, figure out how to access it from another network.

[1715636715]

1715636715

[DaveF]

Off network is easy all you have to do is forward the ports in your firewall to the ip of your mynode and access it by your public IP.

It has these ports open in it's own firewall by default. I closed a bunch of mine, but that's just me....

Code:

22                         ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow SSH
80                         ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow WWW
443                        ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Secure WWW
1900                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow SSDP for UPnP discovery
10009                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Lightning gRPC
10080                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Lightning REST RPC
9735                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Lightning
8333                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Bitcoin mainnet
18333                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Bitcoin testnet
2222                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow WebSSH2
3000                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow LndHub
3002                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow BTC RPC Explorer
3010                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow RTL
5353                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Avahi
50001                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Electrum Server
50002                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Electrum Server
56881                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow myNode QuickSync
51413                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow myNode QuickSync
6771                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow myNode QuickSync (LPD)
19999                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Netdata
51194                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow VPN
61208                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Glances
Anywhere                   ALLOW       127.0.0.1                  # allow from localhost
8332                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Bitcoin RPC - filtered by rpcallowip
28332                      ALLOW       172.17.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqrawblock
28332                      ALLOW       172.28.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqrawblock
28333                      ALLOW       172.17.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqrawtx
28333                      ALLOW       172.28.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqrawtx
28334                      ALLOW       172.17.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqhashblock
28334                      ALLOW       172.28.0.0/16              # allow Dojo zmqhashblock
4080                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Mempool.Space
8899                       ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow Whirlpool
49392                      ALLOW       Anywhere                   # allow BTCPay Server-direct

[fillippone]

Success! Finally got MyNode running on Raspberry Pi 4.
Took about 28 hours to download it and finish the sync to the pi and powered only with the official RPi cable.
I'll be trying to upgrade it manually next and then, figure out how to access it from another network.

28 hours is impressive.
It took one full month to reindex and vaidate  the blockchain (downloading was pretty fast actually) on my Rpi3.

[philipma1957]

Success! Finally got MyNode running on Raspberry Pi 4.
Took about 28 hours to download it and finish the sync to the pi and powered only with the official RPi cable.
I'll be trying to upgrade it manually next and then, figure out how to access it from another network.

28 hours is impressive.
It took one full month to reindex and vaidate  the blockchain (downloading was pretty fast actually) on my Rpi3.

28 hours is good.

I did 6 with a 2000 dollar pc.

seems like it is competive at last.

so this was a rasp pi 4. correct?

what is it loaded to a ssd or a hdd or a sd card?

[Icygreen]

Success! Finally got MyNode running on Raspberry Pi 4.
Took about 28 hours to download it and finish the sync to the pi and powered only with the official RPi cable.
I'll be trying to upgrade it manually next and then, figure out how to access it from another network.

28 hours is impressive.
It took one full month to reindex and vaidate  the blockchain (downloading was pretty fast actually) on my Rpi3.

28 hours is good.

I did 6 with a 2000 dollar pc.

seems like it is competive at last.

so this was a rasp pi 4. correct?

what is it loaded to a ssd or a hdd or a sd card?

Yes, rasp pi 4 with the image flashed to the sd card and core downloaded and synced to a 2 tb hdd (no external power)

[Icygreen]

Trying to update mynode last couple hours and its proving to be beyond my understanding. If anyone's able to help, I'm stuck.
Here's the instructions:

1. Start by running myNode on your device via the instructions above in "Running myNode"
2. Clone the latest release from the git repo on your PC or laptop
    * Run 'git clone https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode.git --branch latest_release'
    * Run 'cd mynode'
3. Run 'make rootfs'
4. Run 'make start_file_server'
    * This will run a local HTTP server so your device can download files
5. On your device, run 'sudo mynode-local-upgrade [dev pc ip address]'
    * This will download your locally generated artifact and install it on your device
    * Your device will automatically reboot to ensure updates take effect
6. Optional: Run 'make stop_file_server'
    * This will stop the local HTTP server
7. You are now running the latest version of myNode software!

I'm stuck at #3
Using git bash on windows 10 I get this:
user@mycomputer MINGW64 ~/mynode (master)

Code:

$ make rootfs
bash: make: command not found

Not sure what I'm doing wrong 

[ABCbits]

Trying to update mynode last couple hours and its proving to be beyond my understanding. If anyone's able to help, I'm stuck.
Here's the instructions:

1. Start by running myNode on your device via the instructions above in "Running myNode"
2. Clone the latest release from the git repo on your PC or laptop
    * Run 'git clone https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode.git --branch latest_release'
    * Run 'cd mynode'
3. Run 'make rootfs'
4. Run 'make start_file_server'
    * This will run a local HTTP server so your device can download files
5. On your device, run 'sudo mynode-local-upgrade [dev pc ip address]'
    * This will download your locally generated artifact and install it on your device
    * Your device will automatically reboot to ensure updates take effect
6. Optional: Run 'make stop_file_server'
    * This will stop the local HTTP server
7. You are now running the latest version of myNode software!

I'm stuck at #3
Using git bash on windows 10 I get this:
user@mycomputer MINGW64 ~/mynode (master)

Code:

$ make rootfs
bash: make: command not found

Not sure what I'm doing wrong  

Your mistake is using Windows, tools/software make isn't available by default on Windows. I saw people port tool make to Windows, but i don't know if it's stable or still updated.

My suggestion is run the guide from linux distro which have live OS feature such as Ubuntu. If you're not sure how to do it, see https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

[Icygreen]

Trying to update mynode last couple hours and its proving to be beyond my understanding. If anyone's able to help, I'm stuck.
Here's the instructions:

1. Start by running myNode on your device via the instructions above in "Running myNode"
2. Clone the latest release from the git repo on your PC or laptop
    * Run 'git clone https://github.com/mynodebtc/mynode.git --branch latest_release'
    * Run 'cd mynode'
3. Run 'make rootfs'
4. Run 'make start_file_server'
    * This will run a local HTTP server so your device can download files
5. On your device, run 'sudo mynode-local-upgrade [dev pc ip address]'
    * This will download your locally generated artifact and install it on your device
    * Your device will automatically reboot to ensure updates take effect
6. Optional: Run 'make stop_file_server'
    * This will stop the local HTTP server
7. You are now running the latest version of myNode software!

I'm stuck at #3
Using git bash on windows 10 I get this:
user@mycomputer MINGW64 ~/mynode (master)

Code:

$ make rootfs
bash: make: command not found

Not sure what I'm doing wrong  

Your mistake is using Windows, tools/software make isn't available by default on Windows. I saw people port tool make to Windows, but i don't know if it's stable or still updated.

My suggestion is run the guide from linux distro which have live OS feature such as Ubuntu. If you're not sure how to do it, see https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

Damn, windows 
Thanks, recently I made a bootable ubuntu flash drive and followed directions to install alongside Windows for a dual boot experience however I'm not sure its working, still can't figure out how to boot into ubuntu (just goes to windows). I can use ubuntu live from usb at startup but cannot save anything locally.  Tried this tutorial.   

[Rath_]

Wouldnt you want to use a much faster hard drive to run bitcoin on such as a "Samsung 960 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD" or something of that speed? Or would that not be able to connect to the Rasberry Pi? You would think you would want something faster than 100mb/s though, especially for a public node... those usb thumb drives arent very fast...

Such an SSD would be a huge waste of resources. The latest Raspberry Pi has USB 3.0 which allows for speeds up to ~600 MB/s while that drive can perform much better. I don't think if there is any point in buying an expensive SSD for such a budget setup. A cheap HDD is enough.

[DaveF]

Wouldnt you want to use a much faster hard drive to run bitcoin on such as a "Samsung 960 Pro NVMe M.2 SSD" or something of that speed? Or would that not be able to connect to the Rasberry Pi? You would think you would want something faster than 100mb/s though, especially for a public node... those usb thumb drives arent very fast...

The RPi only has USB so the NVMe and other drives will not work.
You can get a 500GB SSD usb drive for under $90.

-Dave

[DaveF]

Bit of humor.
The RPi2 and RPi3 look very similar.
When they are in a clear case they are almost impossible to tell apart.

You then can spend about an hour trying to get the non existent wi-fi on a RPi2 to work.

I may possibly have some recent experience with this.

Also, for sale 1 slightly used RPi2 only thrown at wall once.

-Dave

[ABCbits]

Bit of humor.
The RPi2 and RPi3 look very similar.
When they are in a clear case they are almost impossible to tell apart.

You then can spend about an hour trying to get the non existent wi-fi on a RPi2 to work.

I may possibly have some recent experience with this.

Also, for sale 1 slightly used RPi2 only thrown at wall once.

-Dave

Tip : you can use command sudo dmidecode -t1 to find type of your raspberry, notebook or motherboard. neofetch also can show your device type & specification in general.

[DaveF]

Bit of humor.
The RPi2 and RPi3 look very similar.
When they are in a clear case they are almost impossible to tell apart.

You then can spend about an hour trying to get the non existent wi-fi on a RPi2 to work.

I may possibly have some recent experience with this.

Also, for sale 1 slightly used RPi2 only thrown at wall once.

-Dave

Tip : you can use command sudo dmidecode -t1 to find type of your raspberry, notebook or motherboard. neofetch also can show your device type & specification in general.

That would have required me to think in that way.
I really thought it was a 3. Through the years I have had a bunch of them with troublesome Wi-Fi & BT. I figured it was just one of them. Did not notice that I grabbed an older one.

-Dave

[DaveF]

So I have spent more time with mynode https://mynodebtc.com/  along with RaspiBlitz  https://raspiblitz.com/
Both are solid and both do work well.
The RaspiBlitz does not have all the features that mynode does, but it also does not limit you asking to buy the paid version to unlock more stuff.
mynode can run on different hardware even a VM where RaspiBlitz is only for a RPi (which this thread is about)

If you don't want to play and learn, get an RPI4 with 2GB or 4GB, an SD card and a USB SSD, burn the SD card with one of them and you will have a running node with Lightning in a very short time.

Both offer good support (although not here more github / telegram)

Both do work, have had both of them running for a while.

-Dave

[DaveF]

@DaveF Does RaspiBlitz support read existing blockchain files from your external HDD/SSD? I'd be interested if it's possible since myNode doesn't support such feature (unless i didn't check configuration/read documentation properly).

You can copy all the files to /mnt/hdd/bitcoin/blocks
You will probably have to play with the permissions
They do have another option to import according to the docs but I never used it:

Getting the Blockchain
If you have a HDD/SSD with a prepared blockchain (e.g. a ready2go-set or you are at a workshop) you have the option to trust that data and skip to the next chapter. If you started with an empty HDD - you will see the following screens:

Do you mean good support from developer, good support from community, have complete/easy-to-understand documentation or all of them?

All of the above. The docs are good, but make some assumptions at times about your linux knowledge.
I have never seen a support question go unanswered, but it does at times take a while.
And in Telegram you do get some people who think they are helping when they are not, but I find that in any user to user support when waiting for the dev.
And on the lightning side he has used (possibly correctly) the "talk to the lnd developers" line. But since I have never had an issue, I cannot comment on that.

-Dave

[DaveF]

...snip...

Let me know how it goes for you.
Side note, be aware that the fanshim ( https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/fan-shim ) has been causing all kinds of issues and is no longer recommended.
There are a few screens with fans that power the fan from connectors on the back of the screen that are better. To an extent. The fans are not great but they are cheap and easy to replace so there is that.

-Dave

[DaveF]

As an interesting aside I just did a "test" while I was setting up a mynode for someone.
RPi4 4 GB $50
32 GB Samsung PRO Endurance $10
500GB Samsun SSD $79
Authentic RPi Power Adapter $10
Cheap case with fan $15
So $165 + tax since I had a USB keyboard & mouse and the mini (micro?) HDMI to full size adapter sitting around. If you have to get them figure another $20
(all prices are US based)

Took about 20 minutes to put it all together and burn the SD card.
Plugged it into my cable at home which was actually working full speed the weekend.

And....it's done. Finished up overnight.
So if you have a good high speed connection and $200 lying around you can do this project easily.

Stay Safe

-Dave

* Due to corona prices & delivery for some of the stuff is all over the place. The SSD is now $110. but I can get it locally for less. The adapter HDMI cable that I know I paid like $5.00 a while ago on eBay from someone in Florida is now 0.99 but no firm ship date.

[serje]

I was thinking to set up a full btc node and was wondering where the hell I would find a 1TB SD card.....


Thank you all for the info!
Love to everyone

[fillippone]

I was thinking to set up a full btc node and was wondering where the hell I would find a 1TB SD card.....


Thank you all for the info!
Love to everyone

What you need a 1TB Sd Card for?
If you read this thread basically everyone has been telling that SD card are notoriously unreliable for continuous R/W operations required by running a node.
Or, better, the price of very reliable SD card is not justified for the "cheap" setup we are trying to discuss here.

So, the best option is to attach a decent SSD (superfast units are not required either) unit and use a 32 GB SD card to burn the raspi OS.

If in doubt, just follow his very simple guide:
https://stadicus.github.io/RaspiBolt/

[DaveF]

I was thinking to set up a full btc node and was wondering where the hell I would find a 1TB SD card.....


Thank you all for the info!
Love to everyone

Do not put the blockchain on an SD card. Get an external SSD.
If that is not an option for some reason get an industrial high endurance card.
Something like this one: MTSD1T0AKC7MS-1WT

Now sit down......sitting?

Good...

click here for the price: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Micron/MTSD1T0AKC7MS-1WTCS?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtyMAXUUxCBEyyNWGvzIQqLJkNPd2KN5CDKtzB7QXtViw%3D%3D

Yeah, now go get the samsung 1TB USB SSD

-Dave