[solved] How do I install and run the Bitcoin GUI on Linux 11.10?

[Rygon]

I searched first, and suprisingly could not find any clear instructions on how to do this. From what I understand the bitcoin-qt program is the GUI for bitcoin, correct? But how do I install that, do I need to have source code and compile it from this location? https://github.com/laanwj/bitcoin-qt

I downloaded what I thought was a compiled version the other night, that had a bitcoind and bitcoin-qt file, but I couldn't run them. Then I got something going with some install commands on the terminal so I have a Bitcoin executable in Ubuntu that shows up when I search for it in Ubuntu. But when I click on it, an image of a Bitcoin wallet shows up for a brief instance, then disappears. So I don't think I've installed this right, or that isn't the GUI program.

I'm not an expert at Linux, but I'm not a beginner either, so this is kind of frustrating. The "Getting Started" link listed in the forums doesn't even contain instructions for Linux (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Getting_started), which seems kind of silly to me. Isn't there just a compiled version for Ubuntu since it's a popular platform? All the instructions for making a secure wallet reference using UbuntuLive for a temporary OS, and running Bitcoin, so it makes sense that there should be an easy way to load the Bitcoin GUI.

[1714158868]

1714158868

[1714158868]

1714158868

[Explodicle]

You're on the right track. Bitcoin-qt IS the GUI and you want to add the Bitcoin PPA, which works like a tiny software repository. No compilation required.

Official directions here:
https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/bitcoin

So I think you should type:

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt

Hope this helps!

[Rygon]

You're on the right track. Bitcoin-qt IS the GUI and you want to add the Bitcoin PPA, which works like a tiny software repository. No compilation required.

Official directions here:
https://launchpad.net/~bitcoin/+archive/bitcoin

So I think you should type:

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt

Hope this helps!

So, maybe I'm missing something, but there aren't any clear direcions on that main page you linked. I understand adding the ppa. But what file do I download? Since I'm running 11.10 and a 32-bit system, is it :
"bitcoin-qt_0.5.3-oneiric1_i386.deb"? Or is it all 7 of the package files under the folder "bitcoin - 0.5.3-oneiric1"?

Sorry if these seem like really obvious questions, I feel kind of silly asking because installing software should be pretty easy...

[Explodicle]

All the downloading should be done automatically when apt installs bitcoin-qt. Did the three commands return any errors? You can check if they worked by typing "bitcoin-qt".

[Rygon]

Since I'm not at that machine right now, I can't double check, but I believe those are the commands I used when I tried last night, and there weren't any errors. I might have typed in "sudo apt-get install bitcoin" instead of "bitcoin-qt" which could be where I went wrong.


I'll have to try again tonight. What is the program that comes up when you type in "bitcoin" into the Ubuntu search? Since it has the Bitcoin icon, I thought it would have been the GUI, but now I'm not sure because of the error I mentioned in the first post.

[P4man]

I think its the daemon. It produces no output. But if you started, the good news is that it has already started downloading and indexing the blockchain

[Rygon]

All the downloading should be done automatically when apt installs bitcoin-qt. Did the three commands return any errors? You can check if they worked by typing "bitcoin-qt".

I suppose if I'm running this offline (as when making a secure wallet), I'd have to download everything beforehand? Thanks for the help too, I'm really curious to learn more about bitcoins as an alternative (or hedge really) to fiat money. I can see the potential, but I want to do my homework and become comfortable with how the whole system works, securing my own funds, etc.

[Explodicle]

All the downloading should be done automatically when apt installs bitcoin-qt. Did the three commands return any errors? You can check if they worked by typing "bitcoin-qt".

I suppose if I'm running this offline (as when making a secure wallet), I'd have to download everything beforehand? Thanks for the help too, I'm really curious to learn more about bitcoins as an alternative (or hedge really) to fiat money. I can see the potential, but I want to do my homework and become comfortable with how the whole system works, securing my own funds, etc.

I'm not sure what the Bitcoin icon points to, but it should be the GUI. Could you type "bitcoin-qt" into a terminal and paste the terminal output (if any) here? It should do one of two things:
A) Crash, giving us a hint as to what went wrong, or
B) Start up and spend hours syncing with the network
Syncing with the network will only take a long time when you first install Bitcoin, after that it just downloads updates in minutes.

The standard "Satoshi" client doesn't create offline transactions, you'd need a more advanced client like Armory for that. But Armory depends on the Satoshi client to run, so let's keep it simple until you're up and running.

[Rygon]

Here is the error I get when typing bitcoin-qt

Code:

************************
EXCEPTION: 22DbRunRecoveryException       
DbEnv::open: DB_RUNRECOVERY: Fatal error, run database recovery       
bitcoin in Runaway exception       

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'DbRunRecoveryException'
  what():  DbEnv::open: DB_RUNRECOVERY: Fatal error, run database recovery
Aborted

So, what does this mean?

[Explodicle]

I'm not sure, but if no one else has any suggestions I think it might be a corrupted database. Since there are no coins to recover, try temporarily renaming your hidden ~/.bitcoin/ folder to something else and running bitcoin-qt again, that might fix it. Bitcoin makes a new wallet if it doesn't detect one.

If any gurus can chime in at this point, I would appreciate it too.

[paraipan]

Here is the error I get when typing bitcoin-qt

Code:

************************
EXCEPTION: 22DbRunRecoveryException       
DbEnv::open: DB_RUNRECOVERY: Fatal error, run database recovery       
bitcoin in Runaway exception       

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'DbRunRecoveryException'
  what():  DbEnv::open: DB_RUNRECOVERY: Fatal error, run database recovery
Aborted

So, what does this mean?

open up a terminal and start typing:

bitcoind stop

rm .bitcoin/database/log.*

bitcoin-qt&

this error is caused by a mismatch in Berkeley database libraries at compile time, so in order to fix it you need to delete some log files in the bitcoin dir, hope it helps

[Rygon]

Great! That worked, thanks for the help everyone!