Armory - Discussion Thread

[Gladamas]

And even with my 0.005 fee my 3-input, 2-output (including change) test transaction (send-coins-to-self) is still not in a block after 50 minutes. Then again there has only been 3 blocks in that time frame.

EDIT: Two Deepbit blocks 15 seconds apart and my test transaction has two confirmations. It now shows in my 'Unconfirmed' and 'Maximum Funds' balance, but not in my 'Spendable Funds'.

It sounds like what was displayed in this case was as expected (except for the "unconfirmed balance" at zero confirmations).  Is this correct?  The issue was actually time to first-confirmation of the network, not Armory itself.

That is correct, I just wanted to verify that it showed up in the Unconfirmed balance once it had a confirmation.

[etotheipi]

And even with my 0.005 fee my 3-input, 2-output (including change) test transaction (send-coins-to-self) is still not in a block after 50 minutes. Then again there has only been 3 blocks in that time frame.

EDIT: Two Deepbit blocks 15 seconds apart and my test transaction has two confirmations. It now shows in my 'Unconfirmed' and 'Maximum Funds' balance, but not in my 'Spendable Funds'.

It sounds like what was displayed in this case was as expected (except for the "unconfirmed balance" at zero confirmations).  Is this correct?  The issue was actually time to first-confirmation of the network, not Armory itself.

That is correct, I just wanted to verify that it showed up in the Unconfirmed balance once it had a confirmation.

"Unconfirmed" should mean "less than 6 confirmations", not "1 or more".  However, I need to modify that to mean "less than 6" for regular tx, and "less than 120" for coinbase.  Spendable should be "1 or more" for regular transactions, "more than 120" for coinbase.

[check_status]

Sent the Armory debug sys info to your gmail. If you were looking for something else or want me to run xyz, let me know.

[etotheipi]

Okay!  Coinbase transactions have been fixed!    


I'm going to find the source of the zero-confirmation-but-not-unconfirmed bug, then probably consider releasing this 0.80-alpha.  I think beta will have to wait until I have something that won't take 4 minutes to load every time (first load is fine...)

EDIT:  I won't recompile all the versions yet, but since I already did the Linux-64bit version, so you can download it here if you want to try it... It's 0.79.99.2.

[etotheipi]

Sweet!

Armory 0.79.99.3 Downloads Page

-- Fixed coinbase transactions in the ledger.  Completely.  Seriously.
-- Fixed zero-confirmation transactions not being added to unconfirmed balance
-- Fixed change-to-self being marked unconfirmed
-- Changed optimization settings on Windows builds (don't know if it makes a difference at all)

AND I noticed an opportunity for optimization that I thought I had implemented months ago -- perhaps I did so in another dev branch that got orphaned.  Or maybe there was a reason it didn't make it in...

I will probably make 0.79.99.3 into 0.80-alpha, then work on those optimizations, and saving data between loads.

[Gladamas]

If we create a wallet in Armory 0.79.99.x, can we make it a brain wallet (backup to memory) in a later Armory version? Or does a brain wallet have to be created as such?

[etotheipi]

If we create a wallet in Armory 0.79.99.x, can we make it a brain wallet (backup to memory) in a later Armory version? Or does a brain wallet have to be created as such?

In a month or two, I will be implementing a new wallet format -- with the intention of being compatible with the new wallet that the core bitcoin team will be switching to.  This means two things:

(1)  The deterministic algorithm will be changing.  Completely.  However, I have every intention of maintaining support for the old wallets (if possible... I think it is). 
(2)  The new wallet will be using a much shorter seed.  The current wallets require 512 bits of information to reconstruct your entire wallet.  The new wallets will only require 160 bits.

So this means that if you insist on memorzing your wallet seed: (1) it would be really hard to do it right now.  128 hex characters is a lot.  (2) It will get considerably easier with the new wallet format.

[molecular]

Sweet!

Armory 0.79.99.3 Downloads Page

-- Fixed coinbase transactions in the ledger.  Completely.  Seriously.
-- Fixed zero-confirmation transactions not being added to unconfirmed balance
-- Fixed change-to-self being marked unconfirmed
-- Changed optimization settings on Windows builds (don't know if it makes a difference at all)

AND I noticed an opportunity for optimization that I thought I had implemented months ago -- perhaps I did so in another dev branch that got orphaned.  Or maybe there was a reason it didn't make it in...

I will probably make 0.79.99.3 into 0.80-alpha, then work on those optimizations, and saving data between loads.

Are you going to offer source downloads or tell us which branch this is or not?

[etotheipi]

Sweet!

Armory 0.79.99.3 Downloads Page

-- Fixed coinbase transactions in the ledger.  Completely.  Seriously.
-- Fixed zero-confirmation transactions not being added to unconfirmed balance
-- Fixed change-to-self being marked unconfirmed
-- Changed optimization settings on Windows builds (don't know if it makes a difference at all)

AND I noticed an opportunity for optimization that I thought I had implemented months ago -- perhaps I did so in another dev branch that got orphaned.  Or maybe there was a reason it didn't make it in...

I will probably make 0.79.99.3 into 0.80-alpha, then work on those optimizations, and saving data between loads.

Are you going to offer source downloads or tell us which branch this is or not?

Sorry, it's the blkchainagain branch.  I'll merge it into master when it becomes 0.80. 

[molecular]

Sorry, it's the blkchainagain branch.  I'll merge it into master when it becomes 0.80. 

Thanks!

[check_status]

Installed the new Bitcoin 0.6.3rc1, that took 11 hours to load the blockchain. Now I've been trying to open Armory and it's been loading for a few hours.

I ran some sysstat to get data, is there anything specific you would be interested in?
I have run various ps options, iostat, vmstat, sar (not historical), and top.

[etotheipi]

Installed the new Bitcoin 0.6.3rc1, that took 11 hours to load the blockchain. Now I've been trying to open Armory and it's been loading for a few hours.

I ran some sysstat to get data, is there anything specific you would be interested in?
I have run various ps options, iostat, vmstat, sar (not historical), and top.

What's the current memory usage?  Is it increasing?  The longest I've seen it take is 5 minutes and that was a VM that was swapping.  And that should be improving soon...

I'll try to get this optimization in soon and see what comes of it.  But honestly, I don't know what to make of your situation.  Can you run it from the command line and tell me what the console output is?  Where is it frozen?  Any error messages?

[check_status]

It looks like the memory is down a bit, hovering right around 410m-475m while swap is at 3000m.
According to top, total RAM consumption by processes is equal to or less than 60%, buffers and free equal 1.2%, 30%-40% unknown.

top 1:

Code:

top - 19:47:39 up 2 days,  3:34,  4 users,  load average: 5.28, 4.08, 3.20
Tasks: 137 total,   2 running, 135 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s):  1.7%us,  1.7%sy,  0.3%ni, 88.6%id,  7.7%wa,  0.0%hi,  0.1%si,  0.0%st
Mem:   1021836k total,  1010296k used,    11540k free,     1620k buffers
Swap:  4192252k total,   674568k used,  3517684k free,    51276k cached

  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND
18079 user      20   0 2995m 445m  560 D    0 44.6   1:12.57 python

vmstat 1:

Code:

procs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ----cpu----
 r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in   cs us sy id wa
 0  4 779304  12624    712  56608    7    4    79    98   41   21  2  2 88  8
 0  6 781008  11876   1280  58360  457  498  1248   552  354  416  0  1 45 54
 1  4 782136  15388   1656  57444  550  379   966   673  447  519  0  1 56 43
 0  3 782704  17828   1628  55844  790  381   819   631  477  558  1  1 40 59
 1  2 781416  12628   1640  56584  750    0   886   288  451  549  2  0 73 24
 0  2 779672  27012   1648  56836 1029    0  1094    18  405  550  0  1 75 24
 0  2 778036  28012   1656  58236 1018    0  1279     4  392  534  0  1 73 26
 0  2 776976  19076   2248  62524  678    0  1361   151  362  432  1  1 74 25
 0  2 776244  19052   2256  61532  952  161  1066   172  402  541  0  1 73 26
 0  2 775080  15688   2264  61768  698   23   858    33  404  521  1  1 72 27

top 2, 3 hours later:

Code:

top - 01:18:38 up 2 days,  9:05,  5 users,  load average: 2.83, 2.69, 2.76
Tasks: 140 total,   1 running, 139 sleeping,   0 stopped,   0 zombie
Cpu(s):  1.6%us,  1.6%sy,  0.3%ni, 86.4%id, 10.2%wa,  0.0%hi,  0.1%si,  0.0%st
Mem:   1021836k total,  1010740k used,    11096k free,     1228k buffers
Swap:  4192252k total,   957816k used,  3234436k free,    38512k cached

  PID USER      PR  NI  VIRT  RES  SHR S %CPU %MEM    TIME+  COMMAND                                         
18079 user      20   0 3177m 412m 1036 D    0 41.3   4:09.62 python

vmstat 2, 3 hours later:

Code:

rocs -----------memory---------- ---swap-- -----io---- -system-- ----cpu----
 r  b   swpd   free   buff  cache   si   so    bi    bo   in   cs us sy id wa
 0  1 952564  23104    920  38844   21    9    99    97   46   29  2  2 86 10
 0  1 949684  10680   1196  39784 1144    0  1266     6  473  674  0  1 73 25
 1  3 953348  17040   1180  44040  819  574  1750   686  466  494  1  1 73 25
 1  2 952292  17588   1008  43064  902   97  1216   518  436  500  0  1 66 33
 0  2 956724  29144    640  35876  827  640  1165   687  443  572  1  1 73 26
 1  1 955868  19812    760  42568  397    7  1220    15  407  561  1  1 72 26
 0  1 953800  15328    768  40524 1096   40  1390    54  435  600  1  1 74 25
 0  1 952620   9472    760  40040  968   97  1523   160  389  453  1  1 73 25
 0  1 955092  18528    584  37932 1136  508  1161   510  428  555  0  1 75 24
 0  3 954888  11276    592  39480 1114  218  1376   229  397  489  1  1 72 26
 0  4 954408  13888    548  40220  570   86  1870   216  516  570  1  0 33 66
 0  3 955060  15648    536  38408  910  281   936   476  554  685  1  1 42 56
 1  1 956664  13704    592  41472  748  354  1203   769  622  783  1  1 72 26
 0  1 956812  13484    596  39128 1064  257  1146   260  616  859  1  1 71 27
 0  1 955760  13072    616  39732  879   91  1134   505  443  546  0  1 69 31
 0  1 955552   9096    624  40184 1077  208  1252   210  389  485  0  1 73 26
 1  1 957000  10096    640  40392  892  348  1131   353  411  479  1  1 71 28
 0  1 957204  12220    620  39380 1133  289  1410   349  397  518  0  1 74 25
 1  6 956872   8524    584  38432 1000  228  1008   254  449  551  0  1 60 39
 0  4 957624  10360   1232  38412  601  234  1095   334  412  411  0  1 43 56
 0  6 959648  17668   1156  37200  964  412  1386   461  447  496  1  1 48 51

[check_status]

Code:

cg@miner:~$ sudo python /usr/share/armory/ArmoryQt.py --offline
********************************************************************************
Loading Armory Engine:
   Armory Version:       0.77
   PyBtcAddress Version: 1.00
   PyBtcWallet  Version: 1.35
Detected Operating system: Linux
   User home-directory   : /home/cg
   Satoshi BTC directory : /home/cg/.bitcoin/
   Satoshi blk0001.dat   : /home/cg/.bitcoin/blk0001.dat
   Armory home dir       : /home/cg/.armory/
Using settings file: /home/cg/.armory/ArmorySettings.txt
Loading wallets...
Number of wallets read in: 1
   Wallet (BgQ9BDU3):     "ref52632                        "    (Encrypted)
Internet connection is Available:  True
Satoshi Client is Available:       True
640 480
Usermode: Advanced
Attempting to close the main window!

Code:

cg@miner:~$ sudo python /usr/share/armory/ArmoryQt.py
********************************************************************************
Loading Armory Engine:
   Armory Version:       0.77
   PyBtcAddress Version: 1.00
   PyBtcWallet  Version: 1.35
Detected Operating system: Linux
   User home-directory   : /home/cg
   Satoshi BTC directory : /home/cg/.bitcoin/
   Satoshi blk0001.dat   : /home/cg/.bitcoin/blk0001.dat
   Armory home dir       : /home/cg/.armory/
Using settings file: /home/cg/.armory/ArmorySettings.txt
Loading wallets...
Number of wallets read in: 1
   Wallet (BgQ9BDU3):     "ref52632                        "    (Encrypted)
Internet connection is Available:  True
Satoshi Client is Available:       True
640 480
Loading blockchain
Attempting to read blockchain from file: /home/cg/.bitcoin/blk0001.dat
/home/cg/.bitcoin/blk0001.dat is 1804.52 MB  <---This is the point when hang-time occurs.

It appears to be interacting in some way with cgminer. If I run '--offline' there are no issues, but if I run the normal version it kills the hashrate in cgminer.

[Red Emerald]

It appears to be interacting in some way with cgminer. If I run '--offline' there are no issues, but if I run the normal version it kills the hashrate in cgminer.

The "interaction" with cgminer is likely that they are using the same CPU.  Armory's CPU usage spikes for me on initial load and seemingly randomly while using the program.

[check_status]

This system has a quad core 2.8GHz processor, also CPU doesn't appear to be spiking according to top.

[Gladamas]

Is it possible that Armory is using up too much RAM on the machine on startup (spiking the RAM), causing CGMiner to not have enough RAM to run Diablo/other hashing algorithm appropriately?

[etotheipi]

My guess is that 1 GB is not enough for the new blockchain utilities.  Or it's not enough in the presence of other resource-heavy applications.

I don't know why it doesn't load at all, though.  I would just expect it to take a while ... perhaps 5 minutes?

I just tested it on a 10.04-32bit VM with 1 GB of RAM and it took 58s to load.  Not fantastic, but it works.   I wonder what else could be causing it...

Anyone else have any issues with it?  I was hoping to get some positive responses about the fixed coinbase transactions and unconfirmed values :-/

I'll probably convert make the last version 0.80-alpha and get started on the next round.   Which by the way, I looked and found I had already put in the optimizations I thought I had -- they were just in a differnet place.  So I don't know what else I can do other than just making it save data between loads...

[check_status]

If the current tools are not able to determine what the offender is, assuming some application may be running, what other diagnostic tools or techniques can I use that may help resolve this?

[etotheipi]

New features and bug-fixes!    (Unofficial 0.81-alpha)

• Export Transactions Window:  Right now, it only exports in .csv format.  You can select which wallets to export, sort order, and date format.  It's a .csv so there's no way to integrate formatting or formulas, but I want to eventually add the capability, if possible (I found a python-xls-writer module that appears to have a very permissive license I might be able to use for this purpose).  For now, I'm happy just to have the export capability implemented at all!
• Options/Preferences Dialog:  Set your default transaction fee, date formats, usermode, and system tray notifications!
• Major bug fix (spend zero-conf change):  If Armory needs to use zero-confirmation sent-to-self outputs to construct your transaction, it will crash.  No more.
• Major bug fix (address importing):  How did I miss this?  This is why I need more testers!  It's not 100% -- I've witnessed a crash while rescanning in Windows, once.  Can't reproduce it again in Windows or Linux.  Please let me know if you find a way to trigger it -- but worst case it will only cause Armory to crash after importing, and then everything will be functional and correct after restarting Armory.

Win64 installer and a Linux64 installer