Running Armory v0.96.5 with Bitcoin Core v28 or v29.

[ripple2]

For those having issues running Armory v0.96.5 after upgrading Bitcoin Core from v27 to v28 or v29 here are some tips:

When running Armory v0.96.5, Armory will work, with Bitcoin Core v27 or 27.2 present, but not running.

If you upgrade Bitcoin core to v28 v28.1 or v29, but load Armory on its own, you can get an error in Armory saying:  

  "Armory failed to spawn the DB!
  Continuing operations in offline mode instead.
  Refer to the dbLog.txt for more information."

I found the simple solution was to run Bitcoin Core, and keep it running, before starting Armory.

This way you can upgrade Bitcoin Core v28, v28.1 or v29.

All Bitcoin Core installations to a higher and lower release I tried were upgrades on top of the old rather than complete new installs of the blockchain.  I did NOT have to resort to "Add a blocksxor=0 line to bitcoin.conf file or use it as a command line arg: --blocksxor=0".   

I decided to revert back to v27.2, so I can run Armory on its own, which I feel is a safer option, however I am putting this information out there for those confident in running Armory v0.96.5 with the latest v29 of Bitcoin Core.

I run Windows 11 (64bit) on a PC.

Hope this helps.

[goatpig]

Also please note that 0.96.5 cannot talk to Core RPC starting 0.28.x

[ripple2]

Also please note that 0.96.5 cannot talk to Core RPC starting 0.28.x

Thanks your advice.

I understand Bitcoin Core RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a way for applications to interact with a Bitcoin Core node, enabling them to perform various operations like retrieving blockchain data, managing wallets, and sending transactions.

In light of your advice, could you explain what are the implications of running Armory v0.96.5 with Bitcoin Core v28, v28.1 or v29 ?

Does this advice come with any kind of recommendation to run Armory v0.96.5 with the older Bitcoin Core v27 or v27.2, in place of Bitcoin Core v28, v28.1 or v29 ?

[goatpig]

The JSON version was updated starting Core 0.28, likely a benign update of the underlying library. This broke Armory's handling.

In the previous JSON version, the "error" field is mandatory, regardless of whether the request was successful or not. Armory 0.96.x treats replies as malformed if the field is missing, which the new JSON version can omit.

Regarding your options with 0.96.5, you can either apply a patch yourself to 0.96.5, stick to Core 0.27.x, or run Armory without Core RPC support. If you're more patient, 0.97. I'm hoping to release it before the end of summer.

[nc50lc]

All Bitcoin Core installations to a higher and lower release I tried were upgrades on top of the old rather than complete new installs of the blockchain.  I did NOT have to resort to "Add a blocksxor=0 line to bitcoin.conf file or use it as a command line arg: --blocksxor=0".

It worth noting that this is because only Bitcoin Core v28+ clients with 'fresh' blocks directory will have XOR'd block files.
Otherwise, if the client was just upgraded, the block files should be the same as the previous version and doesn't require blocksxor=0 config.