DyslexicZombei's Darkcoin Community MasterNode Svcs: CLOSED. Nodes 2 4 5 Refunds

[CripLib]

54.186.252.193 node 2 is up again and already has 2 payments
Hope DZ solved issue with stability of a node!

Thank you for the news update. I am glad that it's good news, and really hope that DZ is successful fixing the issues.

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[rentahash]

54.186.252.193 node 2  - 4 payments
lucky

[CripLib]

Hi, DZ, it seems that it was not possible to fit me into a MN batch after all. So you can just send me the 280DRK back. I believe you already have my Wallet Payout Address.

Thank you

[Jesse Livermore]

End of month payouts a go?

[2C-Bee]

I'm noticing a huge lack of communication.

[DyslexicZombei]

End of month payouts a go?

Guys, the nodes are down again but doesn't seem to be related to masternode software; seems to be cloud provider related this time (the first time a node issue was cloud provider related from what I can tell). The bad news is they need to be rebuilt (yet again) which is what I was attempting again this evening. Sigh. They're cloned servers but there's still things you need to customize or set up from server to server.

Wish I had some good news to report on Node 3's database error. Was giving it another go but it seems to be out of my hands that when the wallet updates to July 2, it executes the phantom self-payment to an inaccessible self-address the same day the database error showed up. System restore points and having access to the orig. wallet file (and a copy of the corrupted database) are useless to address this database error. I can add an address label but there doesn't seem to be a way to manually add a receiving address (the receiving address is grayed out on the local wallet using the latest wallet client) else this would be a simple fix.

Re: Community and Full Nodes: Had to do some soul searching about this and made a difficult decision. I've talked this over with my wife; these nodes are just too finicky, and unstable right now IMO. Having to do constant server rebuilds and trying to troubleshoot Nodes 1 & 3 during a short vacation attempt wasn't fun either.

The nodes that were running operated at a net loss since payouts are so hit and miss and stability was a major issue. For over a decade I've worked with dozens of remote and local servers of various types and applications; remote servers running a non-taxing single simple task aren't supposed to need this much babysitting. For a remote server - except for patches and updates - You should be able to "set it and forget it" for the most part. I admin many remote servers that need attention a few times a year, if at all.

The excessive troubleshooting of this RC3 beta software and nodes might be worth the trouble if they paid out more often but to run these nodes with the services currently set up they would have to average more DRK a day for this to not be a net loss.

==

I'll be shutting down this community node service tomorrow on 8/2. Even with 2 nodes "running" they weren't profitable with current payouts and node instability. Perhaps they'd be more profitable if they weren't so unstable (IMO).

I may look at opening up this up again if nodes seem to be more stable after RC4 or RC5 but I feel that I may have gotten involved with this too early. There doesn't seem to be a good mechanism to get help if something weird goes on with node transactions: such as Node 1's RC2 hot wallet never being returned from mempool (where Evan ignored my polite request to take a look) or a database error on Node 3's local Cold wallet introducing a phantom self-payment to a self-address that doesn't appear accessible.

For myself: I'm out 450 DRK from Node 1's hot wallet payment never being returned from mempool when the orig. first server was shut down for a rebuild, and the node service/management fees have been a net loss so far, so I've lost funds on that end as well. In perfect hindsight, if I could pick a better time to be involved, I would've gotten involved either after RC5 or during Version 1.0 (whenever that is) and I would've spread that 450 DRK out to 4 nodes with 100 DRK in each node, to have spread "risk" to 4 nodes instead of 1.

==

Thank you for being part of this experiment/project. I didn't want to shut this down because I was the first to offer these setup services. I wish I could report this as being more successful but for now I deem this as too high risk even for someone with my high risk tolerance and willingness to operate and troubleshoot beta software/servers. Even though its beta software, I've spent way too much time troubleshooting what are supposed to be simple, single use application servers.

In the morning: I'll finish the payouts I didn't get to because I was trying to get the nodes back up this evening without having to build new servers or having to do another round of self-payments for cold wallets (because these self-payments sometimes"go bad").

In the afternoon/evening after those payouts: I'll be refunding Nodes 2, 4, 5 without any refund penalties. Please provide a payout address for this refund if I don't have one on record for you.


I am halting the setup AND management of full nodes as well. I'll still be willing to set them up but besides one large previous agreement which I plan to co-admin with another administrator, I'm now unwilling to manage a bunch of nodes if they're going to be this much trouble. Except for a large order I'll be able to focus on: the only nodes I plan to set up going forward would be 1 or 2 full nodes where I don't touch funds...and they'll need to find someone else to manage them (which I could point out to a couple of capable and experienced admins I met on DRKcoin talk).

[raganius]

Hello DZ,

I am so sorry to hear about that. It is sad that even the DRK community and Devs weren't able to help you.

Of course this is sad for the people participating here in this thread, but IMO it is worse for Darkcoin itself, because it shows the lack of support from Devs/Community for what seems to be huge problems with the masternodes, and it scares "normal" people away from the Masternodes idea and also from Darkcoin in a whole.

Thank you for your efforts. We know you have tried to help Darkcoin Community grow, and that is the most important.

[daddeo]

I too am disappointed, not in your efforts DZ, but just in general that the service proved to be so difficult. I hope that in the not so distant future, we'll be able to once again join this venture with much greater success. I commend you for your efforts and your honesty and would like to tip you after the last batch of payouts and refunds go out. Thanks again for your efforts and I look forward to the opportunity to work with you again in the future.

Daddeo

[DyslexicZombei]

I'd try to work it out but man its taking up too much time even just for 2 simple servers on Amazon.

Its so hit and miss too. For instance: Node 2 didn't have any mining payouts from 7/15 to 7/20 having gone down on 7/19. Couldn't revive the node no matter what I tried so I had to transfer the stake & rebuild the node on another local wallet/PC and another remote server on the 20th. It was up without incident but then nothing happened from the 20th to 27th. However from the 27th to the 1st  it did about 6.9 DRK over 6 days which is great if it was consistent; then it'd actually be profitable and worth the amount of troubleshooting effort involved. As far as luck: they seem to be streaky. It was on a hot streak but as of last night I can't seem to remotely log into the server itself for some reason.

Node 4 also saw that same inconsistency. This was actually the most stable node of the four I had set up, but that didn't help its profitability much IMO. It "only" needed one re-activation during 2 weeks and only proved problematic last night on 8/1 when I couldn't log in to the remote server itself. There were 2 payouts on the 19th, then nothing till the 25th six days later, then nothing again until the 1st last night, meaning there were only 4 payouts for a node that was relatively stable in that it only had to be dealt with twice (the second time "fatally", unfortunately) from the 16th to the 1st.

At the moment my best bet would be to do another 2 server rebuilds since as of last night I can't get into either instance even after rebooting them. Regardless of the alleged safer cold wallet method introduced by RC3, I'm tired of fighting these things at a loss and at risk with everyone's funds.

I work in labs and field tests of mostly low Tech Readiness Level products and prototypes that are usually between TRL levels 2-7. For a consumer products example: a new refrigerator model would likely be TRL 9-10. I'm comfortable working with and troubleshooting or assisting with troubleshooting various types of early beta software and hardware. Some would see it as a bad sign that an ubernerd like myself that makes a living in R&D no longer wants to lose money managing beta masternodes.

Nodes 2 and 4 should be seeing payouts in a few hours. The refunds should arrive in the evening after I get back from the beach.

Final tally:

Node 1: RC2 Hot wallet method; stake funds never sent back from mempool when server shut down/rebuilt prior to RC3. Owned 45% stake in this node and no idea who has control of the address the getaccountaddress 0 command yielded on the local wallet with RC2. Asked for help but ignored by Evan.
Node 2: RC3 (as are Nodes 3/4). Refunding. Luckiest of the nodes but still a net loss to operate even with low cloud hosting fees. 7 rebuilds in July, about 10 rebuilds total. Ended w/ inaccessible remote server which doesn't appear to be MN software related but can't be rules out either.
Node 3: Was operational from about 6/25 to 7/2. Database error appeared on 7/2. Phantom self-payment upon rebuild to inaccessible self-address not listed in receiving addresses. Shows up as grayed out address in parentheses but balance of payments equal 1000DRK instead of 0DRK. Copies of orig. wallet file and database/blockchain weren't helpful as soon as it syncs to 7/2, the phantom self-payment appears rendering the stake as unreachable. No idea where this DRK is or if its recoverable. Community help (including offers to pay for help) didn't yield a fix for something that could happen to anyone that sees a database error.
Node 4: Refunding. Most stable of nodes, needed 2 rebuilds in July and 1 re-activation. Had highest uptime of nodes set up but earned less than node 2 in latter half of July.
Node 5: Refunding, was half full and could've been filled easily with community support but declined to host with problems shown and costs of running nodes taken into consideration.

Full Node setups AND management: Canceled.

Full Node Setups ONLY: Available shortly. After refunds are complete, will shift to only doing cold wallet setups for 1 or 2 full node setups (since multiple wallet setups are still somewhat complicated) where I don't have to touch stake funds. More importantly: I won't have to be responsible for stake funds. Except for one large order: Management will have to be self-management or management by a 3rd party. Client will need to set up a host service and allow me temp. admin access. Setups should take less than an hour providing the hosting service is set up and 1000DRK is ready.

MN Repair services: Considering this for a worthwhile fee but would rather just set up nodes and turn over admin access going forward.

All 4 nodes operated at a net loss from 6/25 to 8/2, with 2 of 4 nodes stake funds currently (and possibly permanently) inaccessible without some sort of developer (or divine) intervention. I wasn't trying to get instantly rich from offering this service but I can't operate at a net loss with what appears to be a coin that has twice showed me whimsical and capricious loss control of hard earned stake funds from external/internal factors at a 50% rate, and requires excessive babysitting for the nodes that do work without major issues.

[Ozziecoin]

DZ, sorry you had so many issues. However, in defence of drk, my MNs did not experience any downtime since I set them up from end of May until now. I did not use cold wallet setup, reasoning too many issues with connectivity. Also, Linux is far less vulnerable with ports closed compared to windows and passphrases are impossible to brute force, to the best of my knowledge. Good luck to you.

[stealth923]

Sorry to hear that as well - I have also got several masternodes using the cold storage mechanism and have been running for months without issue.

Not sure what VPS service, Network configuration, Operating System or Darkcoin daemon version (possibly old) you have been using. Not being able to remote in and access servers with corruption etc doesn't sound like a darkcoin problem but possibly a OS configuration / VPS reliability issue.

As you can see from https://elbzo.net/masternodes.html there are now over 850 masternodes and the Darkcoin talk forums or darkcoin threads have not had any other people come in discussing instability or problems.

Possibly you could reach out to GhostPlayer who has been setting up Masternodes for many people who have been running without a hitch. There might be factors causing the issue that you might not have been aware of. i.e if you had antivirus software that was corrupting/blocking commits to certain wallet dat or system files etc.

All the best

[Gospodaar]

seems like a very bad news for me

[CripLib]

(..)
I'll be shutting down this community node service tomorrow on 8/2. Even with 2 nodes "running" they weren't profitable with current payouts and node instability. Perhaps they'd be more profitable if they weren't so unstable (IMO).
(...)
In the afternoon/evening after those payouts: I'll be refunding Nodes 2, 4, 5 without any refund penalties. Please provide a payout address for this refund if I don't have one on record for you.
(...)

I am so sorry that this community node service is shutting down. I wish I could have been of any help, but I am far from having any useful technical knowledge.

Thank you for your honesty and your efforts.

(edit: I have successfully received my initial investment)

Thank you

[DyslexicZombei]

Thanks for the feedback guys. The loss of access/control on 8/1 of two nodes at Amazon doesn't appear to be MN software related at first glance.

These were all Amazon Linux remote servers with Windows local wallets. All nodes had cold wallets except Node 1 with an RC2 hot wallet that we never got our funds returned back after server shutdown/rebuild prior to RC3's release. Setups were basic except that I added additional node connections besides the default IP address to try to improve node stability. Besides the fact that they were unprofitable at 10% management fees with inconsistent payouts, I just can't go on with 2 completely failed nodes with irretrievable stake funds and having to worry that I could see another database error or yet some other weird crap that causes additional loss of control of stake funds.

These nodes *should* be able to just run weeks or even months without issue (barring updates) like a good server should, but I just haven't seen it and I had 4 different nodes running at one point to give me my own "field data" to draw my own conclusions. Even if everything was running perfect, with current exchange rates the nodes would have to average something like 0.8 to 1 DRK a day for it to not run at operating losses at 10% management fees. I only saw an average like this over the course of 6 days and that was only for 1 of the 4 nodes.

==

Final payouts have been sent and refunds were sent for Nodes 2 and 4.

Since not everyone has a BTC account to share this, here's the spreadsheets on Node 2: http://xle3harsc3jjowqx.onion/omqmyb5w5k6nfaefol32yisvke

and Node 4: http://3edyzzs7i4sj6rxu.onion/4hou5odynz7ioh4tnavss2u6ai

You'll need to have the Tor Browser running to view it.

It's late I'll finish up tomorrow. Approx. 2650 DRK refunded so far during this project. To do: refunding Node 5 tomorrow (thanks for the DRK address CripLib), and catching up on a ton of PMs.

[bregge]

Received all my DRKs! Thank you

[Jesse Livermore]

Hey DZ,
When can those of us in node 3 expect refund?

[daddeo]

Received my initial investment. Thank you. If you post an addy, I'll send a tip for your troubles. Thanks again for your honesty and integrity.

[jwuerz]

Thanks for everything you attempted to do here, DZ!

I PM'd you a few additional questions!  I would appreciate it, if you had time, to answer these questions,  regarding refunds.

Thanks,

jwuerz

[rentahash]

It is a pity that you could not find stable solution DZ.
Thank you for your effort and if you ever again open this kind of service, feel free to contact me.
I received my DRKs back.
BR.

[DyslexicZombei]

Hi, DZ, it seems that it was not possible to fit me into a MN batch after all. So you can just send me the 280DRK back. I believe you already have my Wallet Payout Address: XnuBH4bHQwqSCgc1dmP8RK1ZhrusBW33DM

Thank you

Sorry it didn't work out. I may revisit this service in the future but for now your DRK was sent back via Tx ID a71949c665945339f1f01a40c1f459d9b7434a9250379167e19268d4033e86b0 to the address above.

Cheers.