Help with Electrum

[romadelamar]

Help please. I have 3.1.3 version of Electrum. It won't allow me to send Bitcoin unless I upgrade to version 4.something.  I have my wallet and my password, but sadly, can't find the seed words and that space is grayed out in the wallet menu. I have backed up the wallet by the copy menu item and saved it to a fash drive. But that is the only way I know to back it up.  The problem is that my Mac OS needs to be upgraded because the new version of Electrum won't run on my el Capitan Mac OS. Beofre I begin upgrading and risk incompatibility I'd like advice on the best way to do this.  My prefered solution would be to upgrade to a version of Electrum that will run on El Capitan and allow me to send coins. I want to do that before upgrading my Mac OS. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

[jackg]

Can you load up your wallet and see what it says next to the version and the wallet name? It'll either probably be [standard wallet] or [2fa] or something else..

Take caution when you update your version of electrum as there's a phishing popup. For the safest option, download it from electrum.org and verify the signature if you want more safety.

My wallets from 2.7.x and it's still working with the same wallet file.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Download a new wallet, verify it, install it and you can open your wallet with a new version of Electrum.

Backup your wallet file into several copies. You don't have seeds so you don't want to lose your wallet file.

The newest version, 4.0.2 has some strange UI and I don't like it. I have to earn how to use it with some difference than previous version.

[romadelamar]

My wallet says default wallet, imported.
When I tried to send coins it told me I needed to upgrade.  I don't understand why your older version would work and mine won't.  Also, since that attempt to send which I canceled, at the bottom left where it used to say the balance it now says synchronizing... and it doesn't seem to synchronize. 

[decodx]

My wallet says default wallet, imported.
When I tried to send coins it told me I needed to upgrade.  I don't understand why your older version would work and mine won't.  Also, since that attempt to send which I canceled, at the bottom left where it used to say the balance it now says synchronizing... and it doesn't seem to synchronize. 

I believe you always have the option to export a private key. Just make sure your computer is secure and preferably offline.
Save the private key in a safe place and import it into a new wallet.

[romadelamar]

Are you saying to go offline then export the key (which I have on paper but will do digitally too). Then upgrade the Mac OS first so I can download the new version of Electrum. And when that is done I should be able to import the key and the wallet should work?

[bob123]

I don't understand why your older version would work and mine won't. 

His wallet file from the old version does still work. But he isn't using the old electrum version.
There is backwards compatibility. You can upgrade electrum and still use your current wallet file.

[...] at the bottom left where it used to say the balance it now says synchronizing... and it doesn't seem to synchronize. 

Yes, because you need to upgrade electrum.

I believe you always have the option to export a private key. Just make sure your computer is secure and preferably offline.
Save the private key in a safe place and import it into a new wallet.

There is no reason to do so.
1) If his computer would be compromised, his private keys are compromised already since the wallet is running on this computer. Whether he exports the private keys or not, does not matter.
2) He can always - if his wallet file won't work in the newer version, which won't be the case - just use the older version of electrum again to access his keys.

Your suggestion is by any means worthless.

Are you saying to go offline then export the key (which I have on paper but will do digitally too). Then upgrade the Mac OS first so I can download the new version of Electrum. And when that is done I should be able to import the key and the wallet should work?

No. Don't listen to him, he doesn't know what he is talking about.

First, the fact that you don't have your mnemonic code is extremely bad. You shouldn't use a wallet of which you don't have a non-digital backup.
Get the mnemonic code by going to Wallet -> Seed. If that doesn't work, create a new wallet and move your funds to your new wallet. This can be done after upgrading electrum.

Second, create multiple copies of your wallet file and do not only store them on your PC. After you have done that, upgrade your OS and electrum. Then open the backed up wallet file.
After that is done, create a new wallet and write down the mnemonic code. Send all your funds to that new wallet.

[hosseinimr93]

My wallet says default wallet, imported.

This is exactly why there is no seed phrase. The wallet has been created with importing private keys.
You have seed phrase only in HD wallets.

[BitMaxz]

The old version of Electrum would only ask for an upgrade if it's connected to infected servers. So if you can't upgrade it to the latest version of Electrum and can't upgrade your macOS. The first solution that I think will work if you need it right away is to make a raw transaction.

To be able to make a raw transaction you will need to turn off your internet/wifi and make a transaction.
After that, sign the transaction and use the export/copy button and paste it to notepad and then after that turn your internet/wifi again and browse to https://coinb.in/#broadcast
and paste the raw hex that you save on the notepad that you recently copied from Electrum and submit.
After doing this the transaction must be broadcasted and it should be shown on any explorer.

This is what it looks like below.


Source of image: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5129459.0

Hope it will work.

[decodx]

I believe you always have the option to export a private key. Just make sure your computer is secure and preferably offline.
Save the private key in a safe place and import it into a new wallet.

There is no reason to do so.
1) If his computer would be compromised, his private keys are compromised already since the wallet is running on this computer. Whether he exports the private keys or not, does not matter.
2) He can always - if his wallet file won't work in the newer version, which won't be the case - just use the older version of electrum again to access his keys.

Your suggestion is by any means worthless.

Are you saying that a private key cannot be exported from an old electrum wallet to a new one? I don’t know if you read above, but obviously he doesn't have access to the seed phrase because it's an imported wallet.

As hosseinimr93 also concluded.

My wallet says default wallet, imported.

This is exactly why there is no seed phrase. The wallet has been created with importing private keys.
You have seed phrase only in HD wallets.

As for the second part, it referred to potential malicious keylogger or clipboard interception software.

By the way, keep your cool. I just tried to help and gave one of the possible solutions.

[romadelamar]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will consider these options. I'm sure there's a way to make it work! The internet connection is a private, home service that is password protected. ...

[nc50lc]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will consider these options. I'm sure there's a way to make it work!

Sure there is!
Even wallet files from very old versions like v1.8.1 will open with the latest version 4.0.2.
The problem is when you want to do vice versa, eg.: 1.8.1 can't open upgraded (opened by later versions) wallet files.

Make sure to follow bob's suggestion to create a standard wallet to replace your current wallet.

[The Cryptovator]

The best solution is, move all the funds by following methods mentioned by @BitMaxz. Just make sure you have full control of the wallet where you are sending funds. Once the transaction becomes confirmed then remove your current version of the Electrum wallet including wallet files. Clean your computer and install the newer version of the Electrum from the original website. Then create a standard wallet and write your seed on multiple hard papers, keep them safe on multiple safe places. Backup your wallet files and don't save your seeds into any online machine.

Anyway, good to see that you are asking for advice before happening and incident.

[bob123]

Are you saying that a private key cannot be exported from an old electrum wallet to a new one?

No, i am saying that the advice to export the private keys on an offline computer is worthless, because the wallet itself is installed (and used) on the same device being online all the time.
This creates a false sense of security and therefore provokes mistakes leading to a loss of funds.

As suggested above, the best would be to simply backup the wallet file, update the OS, update electrum, open the wallet file and create a new wallet with the mnemonic code being backed up, sending all funds to the new wallet.

[Abdussamad]

The old version of Electrum would only ask for an upgrade if it's connected to infected servers.

how come no one else is emphasizing this part? make sure you only download electrum from electrum.org. don't visit the link in any in-app popups.

[bob123]

Actually there is no need in your Mac upgrade as you can send your Bitcoin via Electrum  which runs on Tails installed on USB stick.

Saying there is "no need" to upgrade an operating system which is no longer supported, is a bold (and dumb) statement..
And since you are already advising him to not upgrade his OS, there is no reason to use a bootable USB to run electrum instead of simply using a different wallet.

@OP
The best would be to upgrade your OS. You don't want to be using an outdated OS.
Don't listen to the people recommending you to not upgrade your OS. They literally have no clue what they are talking about.

[bob123]

BTW, my Mac is still run by Al Captain which I think is the best OS  I dealt  with and I didn't intend to upgrade it in the nearest future.

And exactly that is the reason you should not give any security advises at all.
El Capitan has reached its end of life in august 2018.

No one should be using an OS which didn't receive any security updates within the last 2 years. And especially not when storing crypto (or any other sensitive data).

You might not care about your security and privacy at all, and that is fine. That's what you are showing us.
But don't participate in discussions about security with such statements:

Actually there is no need in your Mac upgrade [...]

[NotATether]

No one should be using an OS which didn't receive any security updates within the last 2 years. And especially not when storing crypto (or any other sensitive data).

I'd say nobody should use an OS that doesn't have the latest security updates installed for sensitive stuff. Two years is quite too long for internet time. (Off-topic, but some operating systems like Windows have a long and frustrating procedure to install security updates, and I hate that. For crypto I'd stay away from even those. It's supposed to be straightfoward to install patches.)

There have been several cases of people getting targeted with phishing pages that exploit a remote code execution browser vulnerability which then runs a payload to exploit an operating system vulnerability that also lets them rum remote code. And it's easier to make them for older versions of software that have the associated CVEs and patch source code publicly available.

What if, somebody one day makes such a virus to read Electrum private keys or seed phrases from memory? There's nothing Electrum can do to defend itself at that point, because it gets targeted from a read-a-page-of-memory syscall, which is operating system territory, as soon as Electrum loads a private key or whatever the attacker wants to steal in memory, say while signing a transaction.

[igor72]

Help please. I have 3.1.3 version of Electrum. It won't allow me to send Bitcoin unless I upgrade to version 4.something.

Upgrade to 3.3.8 version https://download.electrum.org/3.3.8/electrum-3.3.8.dmg. It will work on your system (El Capitan) and allow you to send coins.

[bob123]

I'm free to participate in any discussion.

Yes, you are.
But unfortunately your sciolism may hurt others. Especially people who are new to crypto and/or InfoSec.

It is not my fault that you don't understand my wording.

I completely understood you.
You are using an OS which has reached its end of life 2 years ago and therefore is outdated and risky to use:

BTW, my Mac is still run by Al Captain which I think is the best OS  I dealt  with and I didn't intend to upgrade it in the nearest future.

I suggested to send from Tails (bolded for you if you still don't understand that)which is highly secure OS.

It is not.
Tails is a distro based on debian. It is not more or less secure than debian.
Tails has tools installed to preserve the users privacy and anonymity. For example by routing everything via TOR by default.

It has no direct effect on the security whatsoever.