But... that just didn't work. The 0.5.5 client included a fee (see my original post) and the transaction never came through.
It's probably going to be hard for anyone to try to reconstruct exactly what happened in your instance. If you are still stuck with a problem, please describe the current problem you are having.
But here are the various scenarios each time you spend:
When the bitcoin.org client sends a transaction, it shows 0/unconfirmed for the transaction and at all times one of the following three things are happening:
1.) The transaction was broadcast to the rest of the network but has not yet been included in a block (i.e., shows up on
http://Blockchain.info but even there it shows zero confirmations ).
This is because no miners have yet included the transaction in a block. It will confirm eventually (unless it is a double spend or you are doing something other than using the bitcoin.org client). There is nothing that can be done to speed things up. There is no mechanism to cancel the transaction. It can take minutes to an hour, or if it is a low priority transaction (small amount, well under 1 BTC or uses coins you had just received) it can take a full day or more
2.) The transaction was broadcast to the rest of the network and has been included in a block (i.e., shows up on
http://Blockchain.info with one or more confirmations ), but your client still shows 0/unconfirmed.
This occurs when your client hasn't caught up to the most recent block and thus won't show the confirmations when they occur.
The advice from the following applies:
-
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ#I_was_sent_some_bitcoins_and_they_haven.27t_arrived_yet.21_Where_are_they.3F3.) The transaction appears to not have been broadcast to the network. (e.g., Blockchain.info) doesn't show it.
This could be for one of two reasons.
3.a.) The transaction is invalid because the coins were already spent. This could happen accidentally if you have two copies of the wallet and spend from both copies without letting the client catch up first. There is no easy way to fix this (for the client that is currently available). Simply, don't run two copies of the same wallet in two different places and you'll be fine. If this truly is what happened, wallet surgery with pywallet is an option or remaining coins can be transferred to an address in an EWallet or a new wallet and start over with an empty wallet. (back up the old / bad one first though)
or
3.b.) The client was not connected when the spend transaction was made or or for some reason the nodes you were connected to did not relay your transaction. Simply leave the client running -- a couple times an hour the client will attempt to re-broadcast the transaction to peer nodes.
