Problem with my wallet on electrum ""Cannot read the file"

[thenarog]

Ok so i did option one and i have this message :

"The wallet has been created. The legacy wallet type is becoming obsolete and support for creating and opening legacy wallets will be removed in the future. Legacy wallets can be migrated to a descriptor wallet with migratewallet."

It's working or i have to do something else ? If i leave the resync it will open my wallet ?

I'm trying to open multibit to see if i can catch my old account, to see old transactions multibit to electrum. But impossible to sync multibit it stuck at 87 % .

[nc50lc]

"The wallet has been created. The legacy wallet type is becoming obsolete and support for creating and opening legacy wallets will be removed in the future. Legacy wallets can be migrated to a descriptor wallet with migratewallet."

It's working or i have to do something else ? If i leave the resync it will open my wallet ?

Yes, it's now loaded, you can check the wallet name displayed in the title bar, e.g.: "Bitcoin Core - <Wallet Name>"
Or in the wallet drop-down menu on the right if you loaded more than one wallet.

The warning is just a reminder that Bitcoin Core will drop support to its legacy wallet format in the next version and recommends its user to use the migratewallet command/menu to update it.
You don't have to do that to check for transactions, just let it sync or dump the private keys if you want.

I'm trying to open multibit to see if i can catch my old account, to see old transactions multibit to electrum. But impossible to sync multibit it stuck at 87 % .

I don't know much about MultiBit but it's now deprecated so exporting the keys/seed is the most recommended solution I see in its dedicated board.
For the link to that board, check one of my previous replies.

[thenarog]

"The wallet has been created. The legacy wallet type is becoming obsolete and support for creating and opening legacy wallets will be removed in the future. Legacy wallets can be migrated to a descriptor wallet with migratewallet."

It's working or i have to do something else ? If i leave the resync it will open my wallet ?

Yes, it now loaded, you can check the wallet name displayed in the title bar, e.g.: "Bitcoin Core - <Wallet Name>"
Or in the wallet drop-down menu on the right if you loaded more than one wallet.

The warning is just a reminder that Bitcoin Core will drop support to its legacy wallet format in the next version and recommends its user to use the migratewallet command/menu to update it.
You don't have to do that to check for transactions, just let it sync or dump the private keys if you want.

I'm trying to open multibit to see if i can catch my old account, to see old transactions multibit to electrum. But impossible to sync multibit it stuck at 87 % .

I don't know much about MultiBit but it's now deprecated so exporting the keys/seed is the most recommended solution I see in its dedicated board.
For the link to that board, check one of my previous replies.

Thanks for your help, i'm waiting for the synchronisation of bitcoin core and i will let you know.

[thenarog]

So i made the synchronisation and there is nothing on the wallet 0

But the strangest thing is that there are two transactions no confirmed. One in 2018 +130 163.75 btc (LOL)
And the other one in 2021 -10001 btc

I never had in my life this kind of money or cryptos. Don't know from where this is coming for.

I think all wallet files is mix up. There is one that i can't open , my password doesn't work. And it's for sure Electrum wallet.
I will try pywallet with an usb drive to try to extract private adresses. If you have any other solution, please tell me.

And someone can explain the two transactions ?
Thanks

[nc50lc]

But the strangest thing is that there are two transactions no confirmed. One in 2018 +130 163.75 btc (LOL)
And the other one in 2021 -10001 btc

Remember the error that Bitcoin Core showed when you loaded the wallet without --walletcrosschain arg?
Those transactions that are not in the Bitcoin Blockchain must be related.

Here's what to do: Go to 'Transactions' tab, Right-click on the transaction and copy its "Transaction ID" (TXID).
Then, use your browser and go to a multi-coin block explorer like blockchair.com and search if those TXID belong to any Altcoin. (I bet it's Dogecoin)
If not, those are not in the supported coin by that blockexplorer or those are no-value TestNet transaction.

I think all wallet files is mix up. There is one that i can't open , my password doesn't work. And it's for sure Electrum wallet.
I will try pywallet with an usb drive to try to extract private adresses. If you have any other solution, please tell me.

If it's Electrum, I'm afraid that method will not work.
The magic number that it's looking for are based from how old Bitcoin Core wallet.dat files store the private keys.
Electrum doesn't use the same method.

[thenarog]

Remember the error that Bitcoin Core showed when you loaded the wallet without --walletcrosschain arg?
Those transactions that are not in the Bitcoin Blockchain must be related.

Here's what to do: Go to 'Transactions' tab, Right-click on the transaction and copy its "Transaction ID" (TXID).
Then, use your browser and go to a multi-coin block explorer like blockchair.com and search if those TXID belong to any Altcoin. (I bet it's Dogecoin)
If not, those are not in the supported coin by that blockexplorer or those are no-value TestNet transaction.


Bro you are good. Yes it's Dogecoin transactions.  I don't remember having any Dogecoins. So what's next ? Do i have to download the dogecoin wallet and put adresses on it ?
It's so strange.

If it's Electrum, I'm afraid that method will not work.
The magic number that it's looking for are based from how old Bitcoin Core wallet.dat files store the private keys.
Electrum doesn't use the same method.

Damn. So how can i do ?

Thanks for your help

[thenarog]

So i made the synchronisation of Dogecoin wallet (it was very long) and it open the wallet who i have 80 dogecoins on it.

It's not the primary wallet. Like i said before, all my wallets files are mix up and the problem, that i made a lot of it , in 2017-2018. I restored a lot of wallets so i have so many files.

Now, i don't know which one is the right one.  But there is one wallet that i can't open and its an electrum file, i think. Its password protected and i tried all variations of my primary password but it won't work.

Can i should try to open this file on Bitcoin core ?  What can i do now ? What's my option ?

Thanks

[nc50lc]

So i made the synchronisation of Dogecoin wallet (it was very long) and it open the wallet who i have 80 dogecoins on it.

Just as I thought, this is getting interesting.

Can i should try to open this file on Bitcoin core ?  What can i do now ? What's my option ?

You can try to load a copy of it to other wallets but it certainly wont work if it's an Electrum wallet file since wallet formats aren't compatible between different Bitcoin wallets.
You'll not harm the client if it fails to load nor the wallet file if you're always keeping a backup.

Now, i don't know which one is the right one.  But there is one wallet that i can't open and its an electrum file, i think. Its password protected and i tried all variations of my primary password but it won't work.

If this is just an issue with the password, you may try to hire a professional to bruteforce it.
A Legendary member offered his service to you in Page1, you might want to try it.
If you're into a more reputable service (user with 2 positive trust ratings), try this instead: /index.php?topic=240779.0

If you don't want to share the actual wallet for safety, you may export its "hash" via the tutorial that you shared recently.

[thenarog]

How did you know that it will be dogecoins ? I forget that i had dogecoins.

You can try to load a copy of it to other wallets but it certainly wont work if it's an Electrum wallet file since wallet formats aren't compatible between different Bitcoin wallets.
You'll not harm the client if it fails to load nor the wallet file if you're always keeping a backup.

Ok that's what i'm going to do.

i don't understand what i did back then. I'm so confused. I mixed all up. That is very disappointing

A Legendary member offered his service to you in Page1, you might want to try it

Maybe i will. But can i do it myself ? It's complicated that much ? I have a good pc. Do you have any idea how to bruteforce it ?

Because it has to be just a variation of my primary password, so i think it will not be so hard to crack it.

If you don't want to share the actual wallet for safety, you may export its "hash" via the tutorial that you shared recently.

How can i do it ? it's safe ? So if i give the hash, the person can't acces my wallet but it can restore it and crack it ?

THe problem is still the same, does the money still on it ? How can i know that ? Can i explore the file and found if there are money on the wallet ?

Thanks

[nc50lc]

THe problem is still the same, does the money still on it ? How can i know that ? Can i explore the file and found if there are money on the wallet ?

You're talking about a different Electrum wallet here than what you posted in OP?
Because that one wont load since the content isn't Electrum, if so:

You can't know the balance if it's fully encrypted (secrets and the entire wallet file), because in this case, you wont be able to open it in Electrum without providing the password first.
The wallet file when opened as text or the hex representation will look like jumbled data.

But if it's "secret-only" encryption, then it'll be visible when you load it to Electrum since it will only ask for the password when you need the private keys.
Opening that as text will show JSON encoded data, you'll see addresses and stuffs, just with keystore encrypted.

And that's simple to try like so.

Maybe i will. But can i do it myself ? It's complicated that much ? I have a good pc. Do you have any idea how to bruteforce it ?

Because it has to be just a variation of my primary password, so i think it will not be so hard to crack it.

You can try BTCRecover and construct your own token file based from your known passwords.
It already has an extensive documentation about setup and construction of token file so this should be enough: btcrecover.readthedocs.io/en/latest/TUTORIAL
Use the tab on top of the page for the other important sections. (they have video guides as well)

How can i do it ? it's safe ? So if i give the hash, the person can't acces my wallet but it can restore it and crack it ?

You quoted a part of that tutorial in your earlier reply: /index.php?topic=5559978.msg65891975#msg65891975
Basically, you'll just need "electrum2john.py" script from this repository: github.com/openwall/john/tree/bleeding-jumbo/run
And run it with python, e.g.:

Code:

python electrum2john.py "electrum_wallet_name" >> hash_output_filename.txt

[thenarog]

You're talking about a different Electrum wallet here than what you posted in OP?
Because that one wont load since the content isn't Electrum, if so:

You can't know the balance if it's fully encrypted (secrets and the entire wallet file), because in this case, you wont be able to open it in Electrum without providing the password first.
The wallet file when opened as text or the hex representation will look like jumbled data.

But if it's "secret-only" encryption, then it'll be visible when you load it to Electrum since it will only ask for the password when you need the private keys.
Opening that as text will show JSON encoded data, you'll see addresses and stuffs, just with keystore encrypted.

And that's simple to try like so.


Yes it's a different wallet that the original one. Like i said before, all is mix up. I can't be sure of anything , i'm only guessing. It's the only wallet that i can't access.
I open it with notepad : i see a lot of btc adresses (i think) with some + and /

Can i do something with it ? Are they rights adresses on the file ? Just one private keys will be great, just to restore it and see if there are money on this wallet.

I'm trying to use BTCrecover i will let you know.
 

[RoxxR]

You're talking about a different Electrum wallet here than what you posted in OP?
Because that one wont load since the content isn't Electrum, if so:

You can't know the balance if it's fully encrypted (secrets and the entire wallet file), because in this case, you wont be able to open it in Electrum without providing the password first.
The wallet file when opened as text or the hex representation will look like jumbled data.

But if it's "secret-only" encryption, then it'll be visible when you load it to Electrum since it will only ask for the password when you need the private keys.
Opening that as text will show JSON encoded data, you'll see addresses and stuffs, just with keystore encrypted.

And that's simple to try like so.


Yes it's a different wallet that the original one. Like i said before, all is mix up. I can't be sure of anything , i'm only guessing. It's the only wallet that i can't access.
I open it with notepad : i see a lot of btc adresses (i think) with some + and /

Can i do something with it ? Are they rights adresses on the file ? Just one private keys will be great, just to restore it and see if there are money on this wallet.

I'm trying to use BTCrecover i will let you know.
 

If you see a lot of btc addresses, it's not an Electrum file.
What other keywords do you see?

[nc50lc]

Yes it's a different wallet that the original one. Like i said before, all is mix up. I can't be sure of anything , i'm only guessing. It's the only wallet that i can't access.
I open it with notepad : i see a lot of btc adresses (i think) with some + and /

Can i do something with it ? Are they rights adresses on the file ? Just one private keys will be great, just to restore it and see if there are money on this wallet.

The "+" and "/" sounds about right, but with bitcoin addresses shown in there, it should be separate from the encrypted parts for "secrets-only" encrypted wallet and those should be properly labeled in each JSON object.
Since you're not sure if those are addresses, I'd take that you'd just assumed that some of the characters are addresses.

Just use this as comparison, if the contents looks like this, it's a fully encrypted wallet file:

Code:

QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/+B.....

But if it looks like this (starting line may differ per version), that's a secret-only encrypted wallet or not encrypted based from the how the keystore looks like:

Code:

{
    "addr_history": {
        "14JY8w2qBcqnPn...": [],
        "16BHVH92FCSHYq...": [],
        "16R9EQQxAyF3BQ...": [],

And no, you can't just get a private key from an encrypted wallet without the correct password.

[AdaSl0t]

Hi,

I tried to open an old wallet on Electrum. I install the last version of the software.

Then i had this :

"Cannot read the file"
UnicodeDecodeError('utf-8', b'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00b1\x05\x00\t\x00\x00\x00\x00

and to the end  52, 53, 'invalid start byte')

It's a very long error message. I can provide here the long version. Can't access to my wallet anymore.
Can someone help me ?

Thanks,

I will help you. Open you private messages. (Accept sending for  to newbies)

[thenarog]

If you see a lot of btc addresses, it's not an Electrum file.
What other keywords do you see?

Yes it is, and there is no keywords.


The "+" and "/" sounds about right, but with bitcoin addresses shown in there, it should be separate from the encrypted parts for "secrets-only" encrypted wallet and those should be properly labeled in each JSON object.
Since you're not sure if those are addresses, I'd take that you'd just assumed that some of the characters are addresses.

Just use this as comparison, if the contents looks like this, it's a fully encrypted wallet file:
Code:

QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/+B.....


Yes it's like that. Sometime shorter with a combination of letters and numbers like QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/vzxkpQ/QikTrCALopr+...

I try to use btcrecover but it's hard to use. Do you have a way to see if one number or one letter, its in the password ?
I'm pretty sure of the password but not the variation. Can i test just one letter or one number to find a password with btcrevover  ?   I'm sure of if i find one letter or one number of the password, i will now that i'm right and it's just a variation. Just one letter or one number. One by one.

I will help you. Open you private messages. (Accept sending for  to newbies)

No.

[RoxxR]

If you see a lot of btc addresses, it's not an Electrum file.
What other keywords do you see?

Yes it is, and there is no keywords.


The "+" and "/" sounds about right, but with bitcoin addresses shown in there, it should be separate from the encrypted parts for "secrets-only" encrypted wallet and those should be properly labeled in each JSON object.
Since you're not sure if those are addresses, I'd take that you'd just assumed that some of the characters are addresses.

Just use this as comparison, if the contents looks like this, it's a fully encrypted wallet file:
Code:

QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/+B.....


Yes it's like that. Sometime shorter with a combination of letters and numbers like QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/vzxkpQ/QikTrCALopr+...

I try to use btcrecover but it's hard to use. Do you have a way to see if one number or one letter, its in the password ?
I'm pretty sure of the password but not the variation. Can i test just one letter or one number to find a password with btcrevover  ?   I'm sure of if i find one letter or one number of the password, i will now that i'm right and it's just a variation. Just one letter or one number. One by one.

I will help you. Open you private messages. (Accept sending for  to newbies)

No.

In your previous messages, you also said the file contained plaintext addresses?

No idea about btcrecover but yeah it's expert-level stuff.  I also read that it has been unmaintained for many years, so not sure if it's safe to play with that.

[RoxxR]

How can i do it ? it's safe ? So if i give the hash, the person can't acces my wallet but it can restore it and crack it ?

THe problem is still the same, does the money still on it ? How can i know that ? Can i explore the file and found if there are money on the wallet ?

Thanks

The only way to know if it has money is to decrypt it. 
Based on what I heard, recovery experts accept to work on wallet hashes only if they get paid first, to avoid being scammed.  But if I understand correctly, you have no idea what is in the wallet.

[AdaSl0t]

If you see a lot of btc addresses, it's not an Electrum file.
What other keywords do you see?

Yes it is, and there is no keywords.


The "+" and "/" sounds about right, but with bitcoin addresses shown in there, it should be separate from the encrypted parts for "secrets-only" encrypted wallet and those should be properly labeled in each JSON object.
Since you're not sure if those are addresses, I'd take that you'd just assumed that some of the characters are addresses.

Just use this as comparison, if the contents looks like this, it's a fully encrypted wallet file:
Code:

QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/+B.....


Yes it's like that. Sometime shorter with a combination of letters and numbers like QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/vzxkpQ/QikTrCALopr+...

I try to use btcrecover but it's hard to use. Do you have a way to see if one number or one letter, its in the password ?
I'm pretty sure of the password but not the variation. Can i test just one letter or one number to find a password with btcrevover  ?   I'm sure of if i find one letter or one number of the password, i will now that i'm right and it's just a variation. Just one letter or one number. One by one.

I will help you. Open you private messages. (Accept sending for  to newbies)

No.

I am not fucking scummer. Noone will help you.

[nc50lc]

Yes it's like that. Sometime shorter with a combination of letters and numbers like QklFMQMsCcSNgIzV4XBAZKaH0lbcKDVGxScXbZ28UwJPdLL/vzxkpQ/QikTrCALopr+...

Okay, since you said that it's asking for a password and the contents look like a fully encrypted wallet file.
That particular wallet should be an Electrum wallet.

In your previous messages, you also said the file contained plaintext addresses?

This is why I was asking OP to post separate topics per wallet but he insisted so here we go, a confusing thread.
At least the OP's topic and this other wallet are both Electrum.

[flatfly]

A Legendary member offered his service to you in Page1, you might want to try it.
If you're into a more reputable service (user with 2 positive trust ratings), try this instead: /index.php?topic=240779.0

Yep, I'm still available for password recovery (through GPU-based bruteforce) if needed.