Wallet loading failed.

[jwi5]

Hi,

I am trying to restore my bitcoin core wallet from another device. When I try to restore my wallet with my .dat file I get this message on bitcoin core: "Wallet loading failed. Prune: last wallet synchronisation goes beyond pruned data. You need to -reindex (download the whole blockchain again in case of pruned node)." I dont really understand what this means, not tech savvy. How can I upload my old wallet on my new mac?

[hosseinimr93]

You are running a pruned node and you don't have the entire blockchain in your hard disk. A pruned node keeps the latest blocks and remove the old blocks as time goes on.
If you want to import the other wallet in bitcoin core, the only solution is to redownload the blockchain.

[BitMaxz]

This error always comes up when you are trying to import a wallet with old pruned data meaning it can't find any transactions from the current blockchain data.

This is my own solution that works to me but I do not know if it will work for you.

Try to disable the pruning mode first and close the Bitcoin core> Go to the blockchain data folder and delete all data and then open Bitcoin core again and enable prune mode again and let it sync.

Update here if it didn't work.

[promise444c5]

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I think OP does not want to do the whole sync process from the beginning but I don't  think OP has any choice because  the re-index will probably  restart a new sync process which OP is trying to avoid in the first place ... that's part of disadvantage of prune mode any corruption or error  that leads to re-index willstart the whole process again 

if your blockchain is pruned, it'll have to redownload the blockchain to rebuild the chainstate.
.

[BlackBoss_]

This error always comes up when you are trying to import a wallet with old pruned data meaning it can't find any transactions from the current blockchain data.

This is my own solution that works to me but I do not know if it will work for you.

Try to disable the pruning mode first and close the Bitcoin core> Go to the blockchain data folder and delete all data and then open Bitcoin core again and enable prune mode again and let it sync.

Delete all but don't delete the wallets folder with wallet.dat file inside. Before doing this, OP must have a copy or some copies of the wallet.dat file.

In Bitcoin Core, OP can click on Windows, Information and get the Data direction (datadir).

Go to that folder, delete all sub folders, except wallets sub-folder. Close the Bitcoin Core, then open it again and let it download the block chain from Genesis block and syncs.

[nc50lc]

I am trying to restore my bitcoin core wallet from another device.

Is your other device the one you described in this thread: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5498921.msg64172253#msg64172253?
If so, despite seemingly "stuck in loading", it should still be running in the background unless you've forced it to close somehow.
And that reindex (msg: "Processing blocks on disk...") should be faster than starting IBD again (msg: "Synchronizing with network...") even on a newer Mac.

Have you checked the progress in your "debug.log" file like I've instructed?
It should be updating the tip every few minutes but you need to refresh or restart the text editor to see the updated logs.

[Pmalek]

I think OP does not want to do the whole sync process from the beginning.

BitMaxz's solution disables pruned mode only to enable it after deleting blockchain data. OP's node would go back to being a pruned node like it currently is. He won't have to re-download the entire blockchain, but just the size as configured by his pruned node. The syncing shouldn't take long if his pruned node isn't big and he has good hardware and bandwidth. 

[Cricktor]

I think OP does not want to do the whole sync process from the beginning but I don't  think OP has any choice because  the re-index will probably  restart a new sync process which OP is trying to avoid in the first place ...

Where do you read from OP's post that he tries to avoid a new sync or re-index?

OP clearly states he's not tech-savvy and likely lacks some Bitcoin Core knowledge and thus he doesn't understand what the error message tells him and implications from that.

We can't know for sure why his node is pruned, might just be the default setting and he didn't know about potential consequences, especially when you introduce foreign wallet.dat file to such a pruned node. Could also be that his device lacks the necessary amount of storage to hold an unpruned blockchain.

OP can't avoid a new sync of all blockchain's blocks for his pruned node to properly sync his foreign wallet.dat file.

BitMaxz's solution disables pruned mode only to enable it after deleting blockchain data. OP's node would go back to being a pruned node like it currently is. He won't have to re-download the entire blockchain, ...

To my knowledge turning of pruned mode forces a new IBD when you acknowledge that action when Bitcoin Core tells you about the consequences. Of course you should've the wallet file loaded in Core then. When the new IBD started, you don't have to wait until it finishes, you can re-enable pruned mode if you must due to lack of storage space. Then let Core finish the sync process and your wallet should become fully synced once the full blockchain sync process is finished.

Your device should've better at least 8GB RAM and it helps if you can devote about half of it to dbcache. With 8GB RAM set dbcache=4096 in your bitcoin.conf file. If you have more RAM and don't need it for other stuff on your device during blockchain sync, assign more of it to dbcache. It speeds up the blockchain sync.

[promise444c5]

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Apologies for any misinterpretations

[Forsyth Jones]

That's why I think it's not worth having a pruned node, when transactions are older than the current number of blocks of the pruned node, you'll have to download the blockchain again and reindex it.

My tip is to keep the node full (no pruning) and leave it running. Have an SSD of at least 1TB for future storage (thinking 2 to 3 years from now).