Google Authenticator is no longer 'connected' to Electrum

[dermusicfreak]

Hi all,

sorry if this has been answered already, then I wasn't able to find it.

I'm using Electrum 3.3.8 on Win10(64bit) and had some minor transactions in the past. All went well, the authentification via google authenticator (GA) was self explaning. Last transaction: April 2018, everything fine.
Now I wanted to transfer some coins but I'm failing to 'connect' GA to Electrum. I simply don't know how... And yes, I have a new phone. Updating the old Electrum 2.xx to 3.3.8 brought no advantage. GA wants me to enter or scan a code, but none of the qr's I found in Electrum or in the transactions worked.

I tried several things like a new wallet, but failed to 'transfer' the coins (via private keys??). In fact I read a lot and tried a lot but since I don't completely understand what I'm doing, I failed.

So... How can I access my coins again?

Regards and merry christmas
dermusicfreak

[GSpgh]

Do you still have some money in the wallet, or is it a brand new empty one?

If it's a new one you need to choose 2FA option when you create the wallet. If you need to access funds from the old wallet you will need the old seed and use it to restore the wallet.

https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/2fa.html

[dermusicfreak]

Hi

thanks for your answer.

I still have some money in my current wallet ("default").
Wallet name:       default_wallet
Wallet type:         2fa
Script type:         p2sh
Seed available:    false

I can access my default wallet via password, but I can't transfer because Electrum wants me to enter the GA-code but GA doesn't show a code...

I'm not even sure if making a new wallet is the appropriate way. I don't also want this if not necessary. I was just trying to understand what I read in other threads and trying to solve my issue... :-)


Regards

[Loganota]

Google Authenticator does not back up your codes, if you changed your phone and did not back up the QR Code, unfortunately you have lost access to your wallet. Do you still have your old phone? If so, you can use the code generated by the old phone.

Who can help you right now is Truted Coins, who is responsible for managing 2fa at Electrum. They will ask you for some personal information from you and if they find that the wallet is really yours, they will solve this problem for you.

Next time, either back up the QR Code yourself or use another 2fa application like Authy that backs up your codes in your email.

[50 Cent]

If you have an electrum seed easy way to restore your wallet and access your coin.
on Electrum wallet click New wallet > standard wallet > I already have seed > enter your seed
When 2fa appear click disable

[RapTarX]

When 2fa appear click disable

He has 2FA enabled when he created the electrum wallet. His seed key is now protected with 2FA. I guess now there's no way of recovering the wallet without cooperation from the TrustWallet or the phone he used to generate the seed key.

Edit-

Electrum gives you the seed which holds 2-of-3 keys of his wallet and asks you to back it up. If he did save/write down that seed, he can use it to effectively disable the 2FA even if he lost access to the device. We still don’t know if he saved that somewhere.

My bad, I didn't know that. OP said he had a new phone. I guess he has the seed key.

[TryNinja]

He has 2FA enabled when he created the electrum wallet. His seed key is now protected with 2FA. I guess now there's no way of recovering the wallet without cooperation from the TrustWallet or the phone he used to generate the seed key.

Electrum gives you the seed which holds 2-of-3 keys of his wallet and asks you to back it up. If he did save/write down that seed, he can use it to effectively disable the 2FA even if he lost access to the device. We still don’t know if he saved that somewhere.

[bitmover]

When 2fa appear click disable

He has 2FA enabled when he created the electrum wallet. His seed key is now protected with 2FA. I guess now there's no way of recovering the wallet without cooperation from the TrustWallet or the phone he used to generate the seed key.

Edit-

Electrum gives you the seed which holds 2-of-3 keys of his wallet and asks you to back it up. If he did save/write down that seed, he can use it to effectively disable the 2FA even if he lost access to the device. We still don’t know if he saved that somewhere.

My bad, I didn't know that. OP said he had a new phone. I guess he has the seed key.

2fa in any wallet serves just as a wallet lock. Just like a pin,  a fingerprint,  or whatever.
Those secondary authenticators gives no extra security at all, as the only thing you need to access your coin is the seed/private keys.

This is because of the way blockchain is designed. What matters for the blockchain is just the private keys. Fingerprints, 2fa, pin, etc are all off chain gadget's which really doesn't matter.

[dermusicfreak]

Hi all,

thanks for that many answers.

I'm not sure if I phrased it clear enough, thus I try to summarise in order to avoid misunderstandings.
I can access my wallet. After double-clicking Electrum, I enter my password and then it opens my wallett. I can see the balance, the few transactions I did, edit preferences, etc.
When I want to transfer money, I click the icon on the merchant's site and it pre-fills everything in Electrum. So far, so good. But when I want to send the money I'm asked to enter the GA code which doesn't appear in GA. GA wants me to scan/enter a code, but none of the QRs I can find in electrum is working. Thus I can't finish the transaction.

So my understanding from your answers above is: I have to get in contact with TrustedCoin and ask for.... what? ...for getting GA re-connected to Electrum? What exactly do I have to ask for? Sorry for that noob questions but honestly I'm not sure I understand the root cause of my trouble...

And just to answer the questions:
- My old phone is broken, no chance!
- I can't remember having a seed, but I have to search my papers/files once I'm back home.

It appears a bit strange to me, that I, according to above answers, I should have a seed but the table in 'wallet/information' says 'seed available: false'. Is it still correct I should have a seed?

Thanks again for this very good support here!
Merry christmas.

[nc50lc]

1 I can't remember having a seed, but I have to search my papers/files once I'm back home.

2 It appears a bit strange to me, that I, according to above answers, I should have a seed but the table in 'wallet/information' says 'seed available: false'. Is it still correct I should have a seed?

1. It's the 12-word backup that Electrum prompted you to write during the wallet creation.
2. A wallet with active 2FA wont save the SEED to the wallet file, that option will only be available "true" if you disable 2FA.
And the only way to disable it is to restore using the seed.

You have two options: find the seed (100% reliable) or contact TrustedCoin using the email that you've used to register.

[BitcoinsGreat]

Do you still have some money in the wallet, or is it a brand new empty one?

If it's a new one you need to choose 2FA option when you create the wallet. If you need to access funds from the old wallet you will need the old seed and use it to restore the wallet.

https://electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/2fa.html

Just there is any need for the 2fa for the electrum wallet when you have the seed. I mean the saving the seed to a same place is enough security and therefore i never use 2fa with Electrum. It just creates extra trouble as in the OP case. Just want to know if i am doing it right without 2fa ?

[Artemis3]

Hi all,

thanks for that many answers.

I'm not sure if I phrased it clear enough, thus I try to summarise in order to avoid misunderstandings.
I can access my wallet. After double-clicking Electrum, I enter my password and then it opens my wallett. I can see the balance, the few transactions I did, edit preferences, etc.
When I want to transfer money, I click the icon on the merchant's site and it pre-fills everything in Electrum. So far, so good. But when I want to send the money I'm asked to enter the GA code which doesn't appear in GA. GA wants me to scan/enter a code, but none of the QRs I can find in electrum is working. Thus I can't finish the transaction.

So my understanding from your answers above is: I have to get in contact with TrustedCoin and ask for.... what? ...for getting GA re-connected to Electrum? What exactly do I have to ask for? Sorry for that noob questions but honestly I'm not sure I understand the root cause of my trouble...

And just to answer the questions:
- My old phone is broken, no chance!
- I can't remember having a seed, but I have to search my papers/files once I'm back home.

It appears a bit strange to me, that I, according to above answers, I should have a seed but the table in 'wallet/information' says 'seed available: false'. Is it still correct I should have a seed?

Thanks again for this very good support here!
Merry christmas.

When you create the wallet, the very first time, it will show you the seed words for you to write down and verify. Those seed words are the most important thing, you should write with your own hands in a piece of paper, and secure that very well. It is more important than anything else, really.

It appears you don't understand well how 2fa works, but anyway. Always, whenever you activate 2fa, the first thing you see for activation is a qrcode with a 16character "key" below. In the case of 2fa, THAT IS YOUR BACKUP. Again, you should write that key somewhere you won't lose it. With this key, you can reuse your 2fa in a different device, what you call "sync".

OR.

Don't use Google Authenticator, and instead use Authy or similar, which do provide backup if you don't mind learning yet another password for the backup and trusting a third party to secure them for you (its supposedly password encrypted).

Those things you have to do at creation time, not afterwards. If you are missing either the wallet seed words or the 2fa key, you are in trouble. You'd think the wallet password or the 2fa are important, but all you really need are the seed words. Without them, your chance lies in still having the other two.

PS: 2fa apps never connect to anything, its just some crypto math trickery with time. You could have your GA in a tablet without wifi and it would work identically (as long as the clock is also correct). There really is no sync.

[50 Cent]

'seed available: false'. Is it still correct I should have a seed?

When seed available false
in this case, You don't make seed on electrum but by importing a private key or imported seed by generated BIP39 wallet.
When you already generated on electrum, seed will appear if you click seed button.

[nc50lc]

'seed available: false'. Is it still correct I should have a seed?

When seed available false
in this case, You don't make seed on electrum but by importing a private key or imported seed by generated BIP39 wallet.
When you already generated on electrum, seed will appear if you click seed button.

Please read my reply above *2.

It will always say "false" for an active 2FA wallet because the SEED wasn't saved to the wallet file.
If it's available, then it defeats the purpose of using 2FA because when the user's PC/device and passphrase got hacked, the hacker can just get the seed using that option.

[dermusicfreak]

Ladies and Gents,

found seed, restored & removed 2FA and finally transfered money! Cool!
Thanks to all!

 

Merry christmas...