Bitcoin-qt 26.0 keeps crashing on Ubuntu 22.04.3 lts - Help please

[suffolk]

Hi Can anyone help me please. I am running it in pruned mode and it keeps crashing. Sometimes it runs for days and sometimes for minutes. I am not a coder so don't understand the debug.log.

[1714541812]

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[1714541812]

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[1714541812]

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[satscraper]

Hi Can anyone help me please. I am running it in pruned mode and it keeps crashing. Sometimes it runs for days and sometimes for minutes. I am not a coder so don't understand the debug.log.

Stop bitcoin-qt, clear the content of debug.log file and run bitcoin-qt again. After the crash (if any) place the content of debug.log into your post in this thread. We will examine it and hopefully help.

With our  eyes closed, nothing can be done, unfortunately.

[ABCbits]

Is bitcoin-qt the only application that crash randomly on your device?

Hi Can anyone help me please. I am running it in pruned mode and it keeps crashing. Sometimes it runs for days and sometimes for minutes. I am not a coder so don't understand the debug.log.

Stop bitcoin-qt, clear the content of debug.log file and run bitcoin-qt again. After the crash (if any) place the content of debug.log into your post in this thread. We will examine it and hopefully help.

With our  eyes closed, nothing can be done, unfortunately.

There's no need to clear content of debug.log file. OP just need to copy part of debug.log starting from next time he open Bitcoin Core until it crash.

[satscraper]

Is bitcoin-qt the only application that crash randomly on your device?

Hi Can anyone help me please. I am running it in pruned mode and it keeps crashing. Sometimes it runs for days and sometimes for minutes. I am not a coder so don't understand the debug.log.

Stop bitcoin-qt, clear the content of debug.log file and run bitcoin-qt again. After the crash (if any) place the content of debug.log into your post in this thread. We will examine it and hopefully help.

With our  eyes closed, nothing can be done, unfortunately.

There's no need to clear content of debug.log file. OP just need to copy part of debug.log starting from next time he open Bitcoin Core until it crash.

Sure, the clearing is not obligatory but I just wanted to make stuff to be much easier for him  because of his    acknowledgment of being  "not a coder so don't understand the debug.log". Trying to follow your advice he could  just not find the correct part of "debug.log starting from next time he open Bitcoin Core until it crash".

[BitMaxz]

How did you set it up to pruned mode?
What is your HDD/SSD size?
Maybe your storage size is full which is why it works sometimes or maybe the HDD/SSD is defective.
Or possibly bitcoin core may run out of memory when you open it which causes this issue.
Is there any other program running on the background?

What are your current system specs?

[suffolk]

This was the first crash yesterday and the following error message comes up when re-started:

Settings file could not be written.

A fatal error occurred. Check that settings file is writable, or try running with -nosettings.

- Failed renaming settings file /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/settings.json.tmp to /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/settings.json






2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Qt 5.15.10 (static), plugin=xcb (static)
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Static plugins:
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z  QXcbIntegrationPlugin, version 331520
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Style: fusion / QFusionStyle
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z System: Ubuntu Core 18, x86_64-little_endian-lp64
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Screen: XWAYLAND0 1920x1200, pixel ratio=1.0
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way),avx2(8way)' SHA256 implementation
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Default data directory /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using data directory /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Config file: /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Setting file arg: prune = "1907"
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (1024 file descriptors available)
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Script verification uses 3 additional threads
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z scheduler thread start
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using wallet directory /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/wallets
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z init message: Verifying wallet(s)…
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using /16 prefix for IP bucketing
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z init message: Loading P2P addresses…
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Loaded 64659 addresses from peers.dat  276ms
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z init message: Loading banlist…
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z SetNetworkActive: true
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Cache configuration:
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z * Using 2.0 MiB for block index database
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z * Using 8.0 MiB for chain state database
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z * Using 440.0 MiB for in-memory UTXO set (plus up to 286.1 MiB of unused mempool space)
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z init message: Loading block index…
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Assuming ancestors of block 00000000000000000001a0a448d6cf2546b06801389cc030b2b18c6491266815 have valid signatures.
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Setting nMinimumChainWork=000000000000000000000000000000000000000052b2559353df4117b7348b64
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Prune configured to target 1907 MiB on disk for block and undo files.
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Opening LevelDB in /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/blocks/index
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-02-20T11:49:29Z Using obfuscation key for /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/blocks/index: 0000000000000000
2024-02-20T11:49:47Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file = 4123
2024-02-20T11:49:47Z LoadBlockIndexDB: last block file info: CBlockFileInfo(blocks=33, size=56082978, heights=831200...831250, time=2024-02-20...2024-02-20)
2024-02-20T11:49:47Z Checking all blk files are present...
2024-02-20T11:49:47Z LoadBlockIndexDB(): Block files have previously been pruned
2024-02-20T11:49:48Z Initializing chainstate Chainstate [ibd] @ height -1 (null)
2024-02-20T11:49:48Z Opening LevelDB in /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/chainstate
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Using obfuscation key for /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/chainstate: af5953ce51263588
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Loaded best chain: hashBestChain=00000000000000000000aec504cc038872a25d031eb9af22c0a95039e835e3fd height=831250 date=2024-02-20T11:13:18Z progress=0.999987
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Opening LevelDB in /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/chainstate
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Opened LevelDB successfully
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Using obfuscation key for /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/chainstate: af5953ce51263588
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 831250 (00000000000000000000aec504cc038872a25d031eb9af22c0a95039e835e3fd)] resized coinsdb cache to 8.0 MiB
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z [Chainstate [ibd] @ height 831250 (00000000000000000000aec504cc038872a25d031eb9af22c0a95039e835e3fd)] resized coinstip cache to 440.0 MiB
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z init message: Verifying blocks…
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Verifying last 6 blocks at level 3
2024-02-20T11:49:49Z Verification progress: 0%
2024-02-20T11:49:55Z Verification progress: 16%
2024-02-20T11:50:00Z Verification progress: 33%
2024-02-20T11:50:04Z Verification progress: 50%
2024-02-20T11:50:06Z Verification progress: 66%
2024-02-20T11:50:09Z Verification progress: 83%
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Verification progress: 99%
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Verification: No coin database inconsistencies in last 6 blocks (17489 transactions)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z  block index           44104ms
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z init message: Pruning blockstore…
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z block tree size = 831256
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z nBestHeight = 831250
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z initload thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z torcontrol thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:f824:2f84:f9cb:2bd2]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:f824:2f84:f9cb:2bd2
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:8004:fb44:a6a:eded]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:8004:fb44:a6a:eded
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:2224:e991:7be6:b7a1]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:2224:e991:7be6:b7a1
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:3759:e22d:d365:16b0]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:3759:e22d:d365:16b0
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:2b71:5f44:42a2:146]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:2b71:5f44:42a2:146
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:fdb0:3eb8:9285:8c77]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:fdb0:3eb8:9285:8c77
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:fd14:4dc:24a7:c3a7]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:fd14:4dc:24a7:c3a7
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z AddLocal([2a02:c7c:7549:2200:f553:9b5c:f14f:4cf2]:8333,1)
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Discover: IPv6 wlp2s0: 2a02:c7c:7549:2200:f553:9b5c:f14f:4cf2
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Bound to 127.0.0.1:8334
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Bound to [::]:8333
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Bound to 0.0.0.0:8333
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Loaded 0 addresses from "anchors.dat"
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z 0 block-relay-only anchors will be tried for connections.
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z init message: Starting network threads…
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z net thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z dnsseed thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z Waiting 300 seconds before querying DNS seeds.
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z addcon thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z opencon thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z msghand thread start
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z init message: Done loading
2024-02-20T11:50:13Z GUI: Platform customization: "other"
2024-02-20T11:50:17Z Leaving InitialBlockDownload (latching to false)
2024-02-20T11:50:26Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=0
2024-02-20T11:50:29Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=1
2024-02-20T11:50:35Z P2P peers available. Skipped DNS seeding.
2024-02-20T11:50:35Z dnsseed thread exit
2024-02-20T11:50:38Z Saw new header hash=00000000000000000000fc6c3bd42580fd775018a31c65d48c65044cb6fca34d height=831255
2024-02-20T11:50:38Z Saw new header hash=00000000000000000002aa1eb19a4709e1603e7698feba14521b89323160ed9f height=831256
2024-02-20T11:51:54Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000011d451873abac8bb49b18ae31ef6e875ee2c8adafe6c5 height=831251 version=0x2f88e000 log2_work=94.744010 tx=967526073 date='2024-02-20T11:14:25Z' progress=0.999987 cache=1.7MiB(13539txo)
2024-02-20T11:52:23Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000001d0a7fb0caba42a4243d4c2f52424a9c18d01a0265e89 height=831252 version=0x20552000 log2_work=94.744026 tx=967528426 date='2024-02-20T11:14:36Z' progress=0.999987 cache=3.5MiB(27047txo)
2024-02-20T11:52:46Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002ca8017a49c6211bef9be98e3f82fb17109bf9565bf90 height=831253 version=0x29478000 log2_work=94.744041 tx=967531835 date='2024-02-20T11:23:02Z' progress=0.999990 cache=5.0MiB(39379txo)
2024-02-20T11:53:19Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002ff9793d9c30b83c05660d3e33ec2417850a460dcd88b height=831254 version=0x34082000 log2_work=94.744056 tx=967534169 date='2024-02-20T11:30:09Z' progress=0.999992 cache=6.8MiB(50907txo)
2024-02-20T11:53:51Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000000fc6c3bd42580fd775018a31c65d48c65044cb6fca34d height=831255 version=0x20000000 log2_work=94.744072 tx=967537359 date='2024-02-20T11:47:00Z' progress=0.999998 cache=8.5MiB(65804txo)
2024-02-20T11:54:12Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002aa1eb19a4709e1603e7698feba14521b89323160ed9f height=831256 version=0x3fff0004 log2_work=94.744087 tx=967539317 date='2024-02-20T11:49:11Z' progress=0.999998 cache=10.3MiB(79980txo)
2024-02-20T11:54:14Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=831256, peer=10
2024-02-20T11:54:18Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=11
2024-02-20T11:54:29Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=12
2024-02-20T11:54:58Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=15
2024-02-20T11:55:00Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=16
2024-02-20T11:55:01Z New block-relay-only v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=17
2024-02-20T11:55:01Z New block-relay-only v1 peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=831256, peer=18
2024-02-20T11:55:42Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=19
2024-02-20T11:56:46Z New block-relay-only v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=20
2024-02-20T11:57:57Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831256, peer=23
2024-02-20T11:59:09Z Saw new header hash=00000000000000000002f33e6009092a906fbe5a718082ac9b67c5e43d89238c height=831257
2024-02-20T12:00:15Z UpdateTip: new best=00000000000000000002f33e6009092a906fbe5a718082ac9b67c5e43d89238c height=831257 version=0x24000000 log2_work=94.744102 tx=967542888 date='2024-02-20T11:58:57Z' progress=1.000000 cache=14.3MiB(110869txo)
2024-02-20T12:08:48Z Saw new header hash=000000000000000000020776a231088e06cc00459f4cc7f6b91a3fb84a5beec1 height=831258
2024-02-20T12:10:10Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000020776a231088e06cc00459f4cc7f6b91a3fb84a5beec1 height=831258 version=0x255e2000 log2_work=94.744117 tx=967545952 date='2024-02-20T12:08:34Z' progress=0.999999 cache=18.7MiB(149472txo)
2024-02-20T12:10:42Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831258, peer=26
2024-02-20T12:15:13Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70015, blocks=831257, peer=29
2024-02-20T12:16:50Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831258, peer=32
2024-02-20T12:16:58Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831258, peer=34
2024-02-20T12:20:20Z New block-relay-only v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831258, peer=37
2024-02-20T12:22:28Z New block-relay-only v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831258, peer=38
2024-02-20T12:27:13Z Saw new header hash=000000000000000000015424ce638cd4f6742b259afd6f3358d8a8248f647d8a height=831259
2024-02-20T12:29:01Z UpdateTip: new best=000000000000000000015424ce638cd4f6742b259afd6f3358d8a8248f647d8a height=831259 version=0x20002000 log2_work=94.744133 tx=967549018 date='2024-02-20T12:26:49Z' progress=0.999999 cache=27.6MiB(223808txo)
2024-02-20T12:29:27Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831259, peer=40
2024-02-20T12:31:10Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831259, peer=43





2024-02-20T13:41:18Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z Qt 5.15.10 (static), plugin=xcb (static)
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z Static plugins:
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z  QXcbIntegrationPlugin, version 331520
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z Style: fusion / QFusionStyle
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z System: Ubuntu Core 18, x86_64-little_endian-lp64
2024-02-20T13:41:18Z Screen: XWAYLAND0 1920x1200, pixel ratio=1.0
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Using the 'sse4(1way),sse41(4way),avx2(8way)' SHA256 implementation
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Using RdRand as an additional entropy source
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Default data directory /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Using data directory /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Config file: /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Setting file arg: prune = "1907"
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (1024 file descriptors available)
2024-02-20T13:41:19Z Using 16 MiB out of 16 MiB requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements

[suffolk]

My system is a 2014 mac mini with 8gb memory and 1 TB disc. Ubuntu installed. Pruned mode selected as I was trying different options to stop it crashing. I can't recall how I selected pruned mode but it can't have been anything but obvious.  All other programs seem stable.

Thanks for your help.

[nc50lc]

2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Bitcoin Core version v26.0.0 (release build)
2024-02-20T11:49:28Z Qt 5.15.10 (static), plugin=xcb (static)
-snip-
2024-02-20T11:50:17Z Leaving InitialBlockDownload (latching to false)
-snip-
2024-02-20T12:31:10Z New outbound-full-relay v1 peer connected: version: 70016, blocks=831259, peer=43

Your log looks fine and seem to be cut off while running, leaving no errors.

The error message concerning the settings.json file will also occur if it can't write to or find the path where it should dump the temporary settings.
Or try to follow its instructions.

All other programs seem stable.

Sometimes it runs for days and sometimes for minutes.

The range is too loose to be specific on Bitcoin Core, perhaps it's your drive failing at some point.
I'd suggest you to test your hardware with stress tools specially the SSD/HDD/RAM.
And check the drive for bad sectors.

Take note that Bitcoin Core pushes your drive to its limit unlike other programs.

[ABCbits]

There's no need to clear content of debug.log file. OP just need to copy part of debug.log starting from next time he open Bitcoin Core until it crash.

Sure, the clearing is not obligatory but I just wanted to make stuff to be much easier for him  because of his    acknowledgment of being  "not a coder so don't understand the debug.log". Trying to follow your advice he could  just not find the correct part of "debug.log starting from next time he open Bitcoin Core until it crash".

He just need to pay attention to date and time on each line, which should be easy since he know how to install Ubuntu by himself.

This was the first crash yesterday and the following error message comes up when re-started:

Settings file could not be written.

A fatal error occurred. Check that settings file is writable, or try running with -nosettings.

- Failed renaming settings file /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/settings.json.tmp to /home/hg/snap/bitcoin-core/common/.bitcoin/settings.json

--snip debug.log content--

Unfortunately the debug.log doesn't provide any helpful information. But since you install Bitcoin Core using Snap, you might want to uninstall current Bitcoin Core and reinstall it using different method (e.g. using .tar.gz file).

[satscraper]

Check that settings file is writable,

Given this message I would first check the permissions of settings.json file to make sure it is writable.

The similar problem with settings.json.tmp  has been encountered by the user  posted on stackexchange  (https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/107115/i-cant-start-bitcoind-on-raspberry-pi-why-do-i-need-settings-json-tmp-when-i-d)  and it seems that he got the solution.

[suffolk]

Check that settings file is writable,

How would I do that?

[nc50lc]

How would I do that?

Go to the directory pointing to "settings.json" file in the error message in your previous reply.
Open it as "text" and see if you can make some edits to the contents and save without errors (but make sure to revert the changes after).

But the failed write attempt to settings.json is less likely the culprit of the random crash but most likely a side effect of the underlying issue.
Furthermore, if it's the issue to begin with, Bitcoin Core will immediately alert you that it can't write to the file during its start process and will not proceed.

[satscraper]

How would I do that?

Code:

 ls -l /path-to-settings.json-file-on-your-machine 

If it has the permission to write try to run bitcoin-qt as a root using sudo command.

Also that comment of achow101 can be relevant to your issue:

The error that you get is specifically related to being unable to write the settings.json file. This would be caused by filesystem permissions errors and just filesystem errors in general.

[LoyceV]

try to run bitcoin-qt as a root using sudo command.

Don't do this!

Running anything with rood privileges when it's not needed is very bad practice. It's an unnecessary security risks, and doesn't fix the actual problem. If permissions are a problem, check all file permissions. Or create a new user and start fresh. But don't give root-access to anything that doesn't require it.

[NotATether]

The problem is that Bitcoin Core is running inside a SNAP package. Ubuntu comes with snap, and snap packages use their own home folders and such like that, and also the snap daemon itself has its own user account, which is what is causing the permissions error you just described.

The solution to this problem is uninstall the snap package, and download and install bitcoin core from https://bitcoincore.org. This will rectify the problem that you are facing.

[suffolk]

The problem is that Bitcoin Core is running inside a SNAP package. Ubuntu comes with snap, and snap packages use their own home folders and such like that, and also the snap daemon itself has its own user account, which is what is causing the permissions error you just described.

The solution to this problem is uninstall the snap package, and download and install bitcoin core from https://bitcoincore.org. This will rectify the problem that you are facing.

Thanks everyone. I will try this as nothing else seems to have cured it yet!