Armory - Discussion Thread

[Ente]

On another note, I played with message signing a bit, before I updated.
It seems like I can't sign with keys in encrypted wallets (not asked for password, nothing happens). When trying with an offline wallet, Armory closes completely.

Same behavior in 0.88.2.
Effectively, I can only sign messages with keys from unencrypted wallets, or copy a privkey manually into the window.
Encrypted or offline wallets don't work or crash Armory completely.
I, personally, simply removed encryption for a minute and re-encrypted it after my message was signed.

I almost feel bad reporting a bug, I love Armory so much! :-)

Ente

[etotheipi]

On another note, I played with message signing a bit, before I updated.
It seems like I can't sign with keys in encrypted wallets (not asked for password, nothing happens). When trying with an offline wallet, Armory closes completely.

Same behavior in 0.88.2.
Effectively, I can only sign messages with keys from unencrypted wallets, or copy a privkey manually into the window.
Encrypted or offline wallets don't work or crash Armory completely.
I, personally, simply removed encryption for a minute and re-encrypted it after my message was signed.

I almost feel bad reporting a bug, I love Armory so much! :-)

Ente

Because of the incompatibility with Bitcoin-Qt (and thus, lack of usefulness), I haven't really maintained that interface at all.  I was waiting for the message signing bounty, and then I was going to redo the whole interface.

[itsgoldbaby]

I have just started encountering an issue which prevents the blockchain from loading. I have 0.87.2-beta, it worked perfectly the first few times, and I didn't open it for awhile. Now every time I try to open it I get a runtime error. I have already un-installed and re-installed armory. What should I try now? I have both wallets backed up and paper wallets made for each as well.

[Ente]

I have just started encountering an issue which prevents the blockchain from loading. I have 0.87.2-beta, it worked perfectly the first few times, and I didn't open it for awhile. Now every time I try to open it I get a runtime error. I have already un-installed and re-installed armory. What should I try now? I have both wallets backed up and paper wallets made for each as well.

What's the error you get, exactly?

Ente

[itsgoldbaby]

I have just started encountering an issue which prevents the blockchain from loading. I have 0.87.2-beta, it worked perfectly the first few times, and I didn't open it for awhile. Now every time I try to open it I get a runtime error. I have already un-installed and re-installed armory. What should I try now? I have both wallets backed up and paper wallets made for each as well.

What's the error you get, exactly?

Ente

"Runtime Error!

Program: C:\program files\Armory\Armory Bitcoin Client\Armory.exe

This client has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information."

This is the error message that pops up each time. Does that help? 

[Ente]

I have just started encountering an issue which prevents the blockchain from loading. I have 0.87.2-beta, it worked perfectly the first few times, and I didn't open it for awhile. Now every time I try to open it I get a runtime error. I have already un-installed and re-installed armory. What should I try now? I have both wallets backed up and paper wallets made for each as well.

What's the error you get, exactly?

Ente

"Runtime Error!

Program: C:\program files\Armory\Armory Bitcoin Client\Armory.exe

This client has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information."

This is the error message that pops up each time. Does that help? 

Ah, windows.
Sorry, I'm outta here!
(As the error message is pretty generic)

Ente

[kerogre256]

I update to new armory and it not starting do I need 6GB of Ram to start it ? I have only 4GB

[etotheipi]

I update to new armory and it not starting do I need 6GB of Ram to start it ? I have only 4GB

You might just have to wait for the next update when I fix the RAM issues.  I'm a little caught up in some paperwork, but I'm going to try to at least get a beta version out that will work for moving money from an offline computer, without need any special RAM req'ts on the online computer.

Stay tuned!

[CanadianGuy]

When my bitcoins get low and I try sending some, I get this strange message about Selectcoin not working, followed by reassurance that it's probably not my fault (?).  lol

[OpenYourEyes]

Potential bug: When using the on screen keyboard, clicking a number enters two characters into the password box.
Unless the #1, #2, #3 etc is meant to include a # sign?

[etotheipi]

Potential bug: When using the on screen keyboard, clicking a number enters two characters into the password box.
Unless the #1, #2, #3 etc is meant to include a # sign?

It's not intended to do that.  I stupidly tested the OSD Keyboard with passwords that didn't have numbers, so I missed that.  This was reported a few weeks ago and I updated it in my major dev branch, but it still may be a couple weeks before it's merged (along with a ton of other changes).

[TsuyokuNaritai]

I'd like to use Armory with the offline version on an Ubuntu live CD environment (on an iMac) rather than a separate machine. If done carefully, is this riskier than using a separate machine?

Is there a risk of malware/rootkits sneaking through at BIOS-level?

For transferring files back and forth via USB: autorun is set to notify by default (Ubuntu 12.04) - can I depend on this being malware-proof?

Is it safe to have the printer connected when the live CD environment is running? I wouldn't actually print anything sensitive or have the printer connected to any network, but could an already pwned printer infect the offline environment?

Are there other possible attacks I haven't thought of? (Assuming modem always off for live CD environment, nothing else with any kind of storage is allowed near it except the Truecrypt USB for the offline Armory, and no other people can access anything physically).

Thanks for your help.

[chrisrico]

I was going to install armory some time ago, but whenever I go back at the site, I see this warning message about 6 GB of RAM and it stops me from downloading and finally starting using this software. If I have 4 GB RAM, it won't even start, eh? Should I try installing now or just sit back and whait until this will be fixed? Thanks for answers.

I used to have 4 GB of RAM and Armory took forever to load. The reason for this is that it would start using swap space which is much slower than main memory. So yeah, I would hold off for now. Etotheipi should have an update soon that will trade the need for memory for disk space.

[Ente]

I was going to install armory some time ago, but whenever I go back at the site, I see this warning message about 6 GB of RAM and it stops me from downloading and finally starting using this software. If I have 4 GB RAM, it won't even start, eh? Should I try installing now or just sit back and whait until this will be fixed? Thanks for answers.

I used to have 4 GB of RAM and Armory took forever to load. The reason for this is that it would start using swap space which is much slower than main memory. So yeah, I would hold off for now. Etotheipi should have an update soon that will trade the need for memory for disk space.

4gb was just fine here, with Armory munching away around 2.5gb. No swapping as I deactivated it.
Linux, that is, here.
I got me 8gb more, just for Armory :-)
(Just like Bitcoin was the main reason for a smartphone, pack then)

Come on, people! This is the first time in history that we can buy more ram than needed for small money! The cheapest brand-ram is fine, a lot of cheap ram beats little but fast/expensive ram easily.

Ente

[13Charlie]

Come on, people! This is the first time in history that we can buy more ram than needed for small money! The cheapest brand-ram is fine, a lot of cheap ram beats little but fast/expensive ram easily.

Ente

+1
Great point! I wish someone would have brought that up on this thread a while ago.

[Progresso]

Come on, people! This is the first time in history that we can buy more ram than needed for small money! The cheapest brand-ram is fine, a lot of cheap ram beats little but fast/expensive ram easily.

Ente

If you live in the wealthier part of this world you might be absolutely right. But a majority of the world population lives in poverty.

One of the real use cases of Bitcoins is to transfer value from one country to another country. Remittances by Moneygram or Western Union are extremely expensive for those immigrants who will send money back home to support their families. Having a secure wallet at lowest possible cost is also for these people important.

[Ente]

Come on, people! This is the first time in history that we can buy more ram than needed for small money! The cheapest brand-ram is fine, a lot of cheap ram beats little but fast/expensive ram easily.

Ente

If you live in the wealthier part of this world you might be absolutely right. But a majority of the world population lives in poverty.

One of the real use cases of Bitcoins is to transfer value from one country to another country. Remittances by Moneygram or Western Union are extremely expensive for those immigrants who will send money back home to support their families. Having a secure wallet at lowest possible cost is also for these people important.

I hear you.
And I will take my part in "enabling" those parts, all parts of the world to use technology and Bitcoin to change for the better.

For now, I don't see Bitcoin and the whole ecosystem around Bitcoin ready for this. For the great picture, I see Bitcoin, Armory, cryptocurrency in beta, maybe even alpha status. Getting to a stable, useable, fair and sound system is our job. Like, the job of everybody in this thread. And until Armory is a 'global player' (whatever this may mean and bring) and comes preinstalled on every 5$ mobilephone, I encourage everyone here to invest in (cheap) ram. For alpha-testing, and, together, getting there!

:-)

Ente

[Progresso]

For now, I don't see Bitcoin and the whole ecosystem around Bitcoin ready for this.

Ente

Fair observation. A lot have to be done. For money transfers an open-source Ripple system would be far better. Bitcoin (or may be Freicon) would be the best store of value.

This would basically split the public function of "money" as a way to exchange and the private function to store value (hoarding).

As you correctly observed, it is all in Beta and Alpha. Ripple is not open source and might be face the same treatment from the US law enforcement entities as Liberty Reserve. Just tick the boxes "child pornography" and "terrorism" in your press releases and the general public believes it is all bad.
 



 

[chrisrico]

For money transfers an open-source Ripple system would be far better.

I'm not so sure. I'm not a Ripple hater, I think it's interesting... but I think it may be based far too much on trust. I'd have to constantly worry that for any debt I was owed, the issuer did not default.

This would basically split the public function of "money" as a way to exchange and the private function to store value (hoarding).

I'm not so sure that can even happen. What good is a store of value unless you can easily exchange it for other goods? I guess gold is sort of like that today, but I think in part because it is difficult to transfer except for face to face transactions.

[runeks]

For money transfers an open-source Ripple system would be far better.

I'm not so sure. I'm not a Ripple hater, I think it's interesting... but I think it may be based far too much on trust. I'd have to constantly worry that for any debt I was owed, the issuer did not default.

As far as I can see, Ripple is no worse than any other centralized exchange in that respect.

If you have 100 USD in Mt. Gox, you also can't be sure you will get these back. Whether these 100 mtgoxUSD exist within the Ripple network or just in Mt. Gox databases makes no difference in that regard, as far as I can see.

But when they exist within the Ripple network, you have the benefit that you can send those mtgoxUSD to everyone else that trusts Mt. Gox. This isn't possible for USD in a Mt. Gox account.

I know Ripple has received a less-than-warm welcome in the Bitcoin community, but as far as I can see they are simply systematizing an already-existing system of mutual debt, that we all use every day.

Imagine depositing USD into Mt. Gox, then depositing EUR into Bitstamp, then crediting your account on a poker site with 10 BTC, then funding your btct.co account with 20 BTC. In the existing system, the balances are spread out over various servers, relying on that particular site to track your deposits, and, effectively, locking them in with the site in question. In the Ripple system, all these balances could co-exist in the same system, allowing the free movement of credit between trusted actors. It's not a step back in any form, it's simply a way of organizing, in a more effective way, the credit relations that are a part of daily life, whether we like it or not.