Armory - Discussion Thread

[Raoul Duke]

Anyone have any comments about 0.77?  Given the lack of response to it, I suspect either no one is using it, or there are no complaints.  Either way, it's about time to release it, because I'm positive there are some users out there suffering (or stopped using) due to the table-sorting bug.

does this support satoshi v0.6 wallet.dat import?

No, it does not.

[etotheipi]

I didn't mention it anywhere, but here is my absolute top 4 priorities:

(1) New blockchain mgmt tools :  Armory is going to stop working soon without it!  Also, it will enable WinXP-32bit support and should reduce system requirements even further!
BETA!
(2)  The new blockchain tools will also make it easier to save indexing info between loads to avoid the full scan and long load times.  I liked the full scan because it added a statelessness to Armory that guaranteed everything would work if you just restart, and I didn't need to do anything... but the blockchain is getting too big to keep that solution.
(3) Coin control:  this actually won't be terribly hard:  the Armory codebase is already set up to handle it, I just need to make a GUI for it and test it.  This wasn't going to be a top priority, but I've reached a critical threshold of requests
(4) New wallet format -- will include ability to import Satoshi 0.6.0+ wallets and will use the same algorithm as the Bitcoin-Qt devs are going to implement in an upcoming release.  It will not only be faster, it will support arbitrary-dimensional wallets:  you can have all your wallets created from a single seed, or create subwallets, etc.  This is 1/3 done but had to quit because I didn't want to hold up the beta release...

Then... I will have to make a decision about whether to tackle independent networking or multi-signature transactions.  I'm tempted to do multi-sig, because, while Armory remains a tool for advanced users, advanced users can handle the Bitcoin-Qt dependency (but they don't have to be happy about it).  However, one of my original goals was to pioneer multi-sig interfaces, and it is something severely lacking from the community...

I'm happy to receive feedback about this.  I think multi-sig will come before networking independence, so that everyone has everything!  Then, with network-independence, I can stop adding new features and focus on interface design and the standard-usermode.  Possibly even a lightweight mode.

[Garr255]

I'd like an option to toggle update #2, but other than that, everything looks great!

[Red Emerald]

I just tested the tablesorterfix branch on my Linux VM and it works great.  The CPU issues are totally gone.  I'll test on my Mac next.

[jl2012]

I have a question about the security of the deterministic wallet algorithm of Armory. Is it possible to deduce the private key(s) of other addresses in the same wallet in the following situation?

1. Knowing private key of one of the addresses in a wallet
2. Knowing private keys of many addresses in a wallet
3. Knowing private key of one of the addresses in a wallet, and having the watch-only wallet
4. Knowing private keys of many addresses in a wallet, and having the watch-only wallet

For example, Alice shares a watch-only copy of her wallet with Bob, and she also needs to share private keys of some addresses with Bob. Could Bob deduce the the private keys of other addresses in Alice's wallet?

[etotheipi]

I have a question about the security of the deterministic wallet algorithm of Armory. Is it possible to deduce the private key(s) of other addresses in the same wallet in the following situation?

1. Knowing private key of one of the addresses in a wallet
2. Knowing private keys of many addresses in a wallet
3. Knowing private key of one of the addresses in a wallet, and having the watch-only wallet
4. Knowing private keys of many addresses in a wallet, and having the watch-only wallet

For example, Alice shares a watch-only copy of her wallet with Bob, and she also needs to share private keys of some addresses with Bob. Could Bob deduce the the private keys of other addresses in Alice's wallet?

Each wallet is based on base public-private keypair, and a single chaincode.

With PublicKey(n) and the chaincode, you can calculate PublicKey(n+1).  Thus you can compute all PublicKey(i) where i>n.  Therefore, a watching-only wallet consists of just PublicKey(0) and the chaincode.

The same goes for PrivateKeys.  If you have PrivateKey(n) and the chaincode (which is the same code for both public and private chains), you can compute PrivateKey(n+1).  Thus, the full wallet is just PrivateKey(0) and the chaincode. 

It seems that your (1) and (2) above assume the person does not have the chaincode to your wallet,  (3) and (4) assumes they do.  I would be hesitant to assume they don't have the chaincode because it is always on your computer unencrypted, so it's vulnerable.  Or in some cases you may have given away your watching-only wallet.  Either way, here's a more direct answer:

(1)  No other private keys are compromised
(2)  No other private keys are compromised
(3)  All PrivateKeys(i>n) are compromised.  Previous keys are not.
(4)  All PrivateKeys(i>min(n)) are compromised, where min(n) is the lowest of the many keys.

This will pretty much be the same with the new wallet format, too.

[cbeast]

I have a question about the security of the deterministic wallet algorithm of Armory. Is it possible to deduce the private key(s) of other addresses in the same wallet in the following situation?

I use unsalted deterministic Brain Wallets. You don't want to import a deterministic private key into any wallet until you are going to transmit, and then you'll want to destroy that wallet.

[molecular]

problem running:

so I just installed https://github.com/downloads/etotheipi/BitcoinArmory/armory_0.77-python2.7-1_i386.deb onto a freshly installed ubuntu alternate 11.04. Installer said "package has bad quality", offered me to ignore and install anyway, which I did.

It refuses to start ("python2.7 ArmoryQt.py") saying roughly (sorry, can't copy-paste, this is an "offline" machine):

ERROR: C++ block utilities not available.
Make sure you have these 2 files:
  CppBockUtils.py and
  _CppBlockUtils.so

both the files are there (from where I try to start Armory)

any ideas?

EDIT: trying to run "python CppBlockUtils.py" reveals:

ImportError: /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version 'GLIBCXX_3.4.15' not found (required by ./_CppBlockUtils.so)

[etotheipi]

problem running:

so I just installed https://github.com/downloads/etotheipi/BitcoinArmory/armory_0.77-python2.7-1_i386.deb onto a freshly installed ubuntu alternate 11.04. Installer said "package has bad quality", offered me to ignore and install anyway, which I did.

It refuses to start ("python2.7 ArmoryQt.py") saying roughly (sorry, can't copy-paste, this is an "offline" machine):

ERROR: C++ block utilities not available.
Make sure you have these 2 files:
  CppBockUtils.py and
  _CppBlockUtils.so

both the files are there (from where I try to start Armory)

any ideas?

EDIT: trying to run "python CppBlockUtils.py" reveals:

ImportError: /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6: version 'GLIBCXX_3.4.15' not found (required by ./_CppBlockUtils.so)

Strange, that's what happens when you use the wrong python version.  Try the python2.6 version.  My 64-bit 11.04 VM actually seems to run the python2.6 binary fine.  There's a good chance the 32-bit version will be the same way...

[Raoul Duke]

Do you have gcc installed?
GLIBCXX_3.4.15 is an object in libstdc++.so.6.0.16
'libstdc++.so.6.0.16' is part of gcc-4.6.x

[check_status]

I want to install this on ubuntu 11.04 64 bit.

I have added a repository:

Code:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin

Then I:

Code:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install bitcoind

I have downloaded the Armory .deb file for 11.04+

What do I do next?

Is bitcoind-qt required for an Armory install?
Do I have to start bitcoind first?
Does bitcoind have to complete downloading before I install Armory?
Once bitcoind is running how do I check it's progress?

[etotheipi]

I want to install this on ubuntu 11.04 64 bit.

I have added a repository:

Code:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin

Then I:

Code:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install bitcoind

I have downloaded the Armory .deb file for 11.04+

What do I do next?

Is bitcoind-qt required for an Armory install?
Do I have to start bitcoind first?
Does bitcoind have to complete downloading before I install Armory?
Once bitcoind is running how do I check it's progress?

You can install Armory whenever (double-click the .deb file and click the button to install it when it asks).  However, I recommend not starting Armory until Bitcoin-qt is running and sync'd with the network (i.e. completely up-to-date with the network and you see the checkmark).  Worst case, Armory will start and and be really laggy as it tries to "drink from the firehose" (i.e. reading and processing 2MB/s of blockchain data being downloaded).  Just restart Armory after bitcoind/-qt is sync'd.

EDIT:  You can use bitcoind or bitcoin-qt.  Both of them do what Armory needs:  which is to act as a single localhost peer that Armory uses as a gateway to the rest of the  bitcoin network.

I think most Armory users just start bitcoind/bitcoin-qt once, and leave it running in the background (minimized to tray).  It stays out of your way, and is always sync'd.  Then you can just start Armory whenever you want and never think about it.

You just reminded me I need to make some supplemental materials/instructions/tutorials for the beta release!

[check_status]

You just reminded me I need to make some supplemental materials/instructions/tutorials for the beta release!

When they are ready I'll add them to the How To's and Guides Mega List.

Is it easy to add private keys from addresses made with Vanitygen?

[etotheipi]

You just reminded me I need to make some supplemental materials/instructions/tutorials for the beta release!

When they are ready I'll add them to the How To's and Guides Mega List.

Is it easy to add private keys from addresses made with Vanitygen?

Yup, very easy

Just open the wallet you want to add the keys to, then on the lower right there is a button for "Import Private Keys."  It auto-detects the format, handling Casascius physical bitcoins, vanity-gen addresses, and the usual array of standard formats.

[marks1976]

I have been successfully using armory 0.77 for windows 64-bit up until this point.  There have been no changes to my pc in the last 24 hrs but for some reason armory has stopped working.  It will not even load today.  I tried to re-install and it still will not load.  Bitcoinqt is running and up to date as well.

[etotheipi]

I have been successfully using armory 0.77 for windows 64-bit up until this point.  There have been no changes to my pc in the last 24 hrs but for some reason armory has stopped working.  It will not even load today.  I tried to re-install and it still will not load.  Bitcoinqt is running and up to date as well.

Can you check to see if there is a logfile in your "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\Armory Bitcoin Client" directory (my .msi-builder program would not let me put it in the non-x86 directory, even though it really is a 64-bit build).  If there is, there will be an error message at the bottom that you could copy here.

Second, can you check your "C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin" directory and tell me the size of blk0001.dat. 

[marks1976]

I have been successfully using armory 0.77 for windows 64-bit up until this point.  There have been no changes to my pc in the last 24 hrs but for some reason armory has stopped working.  It will not even load today.  I tried to re-install and it still will not load.  Bitcoinqt is running and up to date as well.

Can you check to see if there is a logfile in your "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\Armory Bitcoin Client" directory (my .msi-builder program would not let me put it in the non-x86 directory, even though it really is a 64-bit build).  If there is, there will be an error message at the bottom that you could copy here.

Second, can you check your "C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin" directory and tell me the size of blk0001.dat. 

I did not find a logfile in the directory.  The size of my blk0001.dat is 2 048 006.

[etotheipi]

I have been successfully using armory 0.77 for windows 64-bit up until this point.  There have been no changes to my pc in the last 24 hrs but for some reason armory has stopped working.  It will not even load today.  I tried to re-install and it still will not load.  Bitcoinqt is running and up to date as well.

Can you check to see if there is a logfile in your "C:\Program Files (x86)\Armory\Armory Bitcoin Client" directory (my .msi-builder program would not let me put it in the non-x86 directory, even though it really is a 64-bit build).  If there is, there will be an error message at the bottom that you could copy here.

Second, can you check your "C:\Users\<yourusername>\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin" directory and tell me the size of blk0001.dat. 

I did not find a logfile in the directory.  The size of my blk0001.dat is 2 048 006.

Is there a blk0002.dat file?

[marks1976]

There is a blk0002.dat file its 1,197,237.

[etotheipi]

There is a blk0002.dat file its 1,197,237.

Okay, so here's a problem -- you have a double-stacked blockchain file.  The current blockchain size should be around 1.6 GB, and you just showed me 3.2 MB (blk0001.dat + blk0002.dat).  I would guess that you recently did something and your client ended up not recognizing the original blk0001.dat file and then started redownloading it on top.  So you ended up with a second copy on top.  This has happened to me before...

Armory does not handle this situation well.  Not only that, it only handles blk0001.dat, and doesn't even look for blk0002.dat (due to a poor design decision I made in the first month I developed the underlying library).  I am in the process of fixing this, and will have a fix out soon.  It looks like I got about 2 weeks before a fresh blockchain download overflows blk0001.dat.  It's like Y2K all over again!

Until then, the best thing you can do to get Armory running again is to close bitcoind/-qt, delete both blk000X.dat files, and then restart bitcoind/-qt.  It will re-download the blockchain, but the final product will be 1.6 GB and be contained entirely in blk0001.dat and then Armory should work again...